The next day, Rarity went to see Fluttershy. It was the afternoon, and Rarity was concerned because she hadn’t seen her friend all day. Fluttershy had even missed the weekly spa get-together, and that was concerning in itself. Fluttershy never forgot her promises unlike Rainbow Dash, and she always arrived early so nopony would be offended. Rarity felt for sure that something was wrong.
It was another unusually silent day, Rarity reflected. Usually, the woods around Fluttershy’s house would be filled with sounds of countless woodland creatures. But for some reason she couldn’t see any other living being nearby. It was truly strange, and a bit concerning. Rarity picked up her pace to a trot until Fluttershy’s cottage came into view.
At last the small cottage was just around the next bend. Rarity rounded a stand of trees, looked at the cottage, screamed, and passed out. When she woke up, Rarity took one horrified look at the cottage, and then ran back to Ponyville as fast as she could.
----
Rarity returned less than ten minutes later with the other Elements of Harmony and much of Ponyville in tow. The ponies stopped and gasped or screamed when they saw Fluttershy’s house. They clustered together, nervously watching the cottage but too afraid to get closer. At the head of the crowd, Rarity argued with Twilight and the others. None of them wanted to approach.
Applejack pushed Rainbow Dash forwards, but Dash refused to fly closer. Pinkie Pie was hiding behind a tree, and Rarity refused to move an inch. In the end, it was Twilight who was forced to slowly ascend the dirt road to Fluttershy’s door. She knocked, once, holding her breath as she did. Slowly, the door opened just the tiniest crack, and Twilight saw one of Fluttershy’s eyes staring back at her.
“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. “What’s happening? Rarity saw your cottage and couldn’t believe her eyes. Was it an attack? Are you in trouble?”
“Oh, not really Twilight,” Fluttershy said. She was slightly muffled from behind the door, but Twilight had no inclination to open it any further. She was doing her best not to breathe in as it was. “It wasn’t an attack. They’re very peaceful creatures, you know.”
“They look pretty dangerous to me. Are you sure you don’t want any help? I mean…” Twilight waved one hoof helplessly. “They’re all over.”
“It’s no problem Twilight. I’ve got it all under control. They’re just going to be here for a little while.”
“Uh, how long is ‘a little while?’”
“A week maybe?”
“A week!?” Several of the listening ponies groaned and Rarity swooned again.
“Oh yes. It’s a family gathering. I’m sorry I didn’t give you any warning, but it was rather sudden for me too.”
“Um, no problem. At least they’re here and not in Ponyville, right? On that note, are you okay Fluttershy? Your voice sounds a bit hoarse. I can’t see you when the door is in the way you know.”
Fluttershy looked a bit worried and closed the door until Twilight could see only the tiniest sliver of her in the gap. “Well, I’d like to open the door Twilight, I really would. But, uh, some of the children are in here and, well, they don’t have the same kind of self control the adults do. It smells…a bit worse in here. A lot worse, actually. In fact, it’s sort of hard even to breathe. I could open the door if you really want me to—”
“No, no, that’s fine. Keep the door closed. Please.” Twilight hurriedly backed away and covered her face with one hoof. “Did you say a week? That’s okay, I guess. Just so long as you tell your guests to stay away from Ponyville. Maybe a mile away. Or two. We’ll leave you be, okay Fluttershy?”
“Okay Twilight, have a nice day!”
Twilight hurried back down the path as quickly as she could and explained matters to the other ponies.
“She’s gonna stay in that house?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “For a week?”
“I think…she might smell like them right now,” Twilight said carefully. “It uh, apparently smells worse inside. It might be best if she stays there. Unless anypony else wants to offer her a room?”
The concern on the faces of the other ponies immediately turned to horror and they shook their heads quickly. Even Pinkie Pie looked ready to run at the thought of offering Fluttershy a place to stay.
“Right then. I think we’d better leave, before we make them mad.” The other ponies agreed, and the crowd dispersed with speed as every pony made haste back to Ponyville.
Twilight stopped and took one look back at Fluttershy’s cottage. What a nightmare. Fluttershy’s house was practically covered in the creatures. Fluttershy might love all animals unconditionally, but there had to be limits. Twilight personally would have rather had changelings instead.
Fluttershy’s house was covered in skunks.
----
Fluttershy let the drapes fall as Twilight’s figure disappeared back down the road to Ponyville. She let out a sigh of relief, and then winced. Angel, who had been hovering by Fluttershy’s side gave a squeak of alarm.
“I’m fine, Angel. Don’t worry about it.” Fluttershy forced a smile onto her face. “But having broken ribs is quite painful. I don’t think I care for it much. At least the others are gone, though.”
Angel shook his head and muttered a stream of invectives under his breath.
“You know that’s not fair Angel. I’m sure they’d be quite willing to give me some space, but you know my friends. They would want to know why.” Fluttershy sighed. “Escpecially Rarity. There’s such a thing as too much generosity.”
Angel cocked his head to one side in puzzlement.
“I think it’s called…nosiness. Unless you think that’s too harsh a word.”
Angel nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
“Well, Rarity certainly has a lot of it,” Fluttershy conceded. “Which is why your help was so essential, Mr. Fumes.”
That last comment as addressed to a rather large and elderly skunk resting on Fluttershy’s window ledge. On the outside, as it so happened. Fluttereshy had to raise her voice so he could hear her. “Thank you for coming all way here with your family. I’ll try to make your stay as pleasant as possible.”
Mr. Fumes waved one paw and went back to sunbathing. Skunks young and old lounged around him, on Fluttershy’s roof, porch, and frolicked on the grass outside. It was a sight guaranteed to instill fear in the hearts of any who saw it.
Fluttershy slowly and painfully walked back to a large armchair in the center of her room by the fireplace. It was a large antique and one of the few remaining pieces of furniture in her house still intact. The upholstery was torn and one of the legs was bent slightly, but Fluttershy gratefully collapsed into it as if it were the finest of beds. Angel slowly limped over to a much smaller chair, using a small crutch fashioned out of a splinter of wood.
“Are you still hurting Angel?” Fluttershy asked with some concern, but her rabbit just shook his head. Fluttershy knew this was a blatant lie, but Angel was stubborn, and at least his arm and leg were properly bandaged. There wasn’t much more she could do for him at the moment, and at least the merry fire helped ease their pain.
“I hope we get that package soon. I know it’s sudden, but I think I can count on a speedy delivery, don’t you?” Angel nodded slightly, and Fluttershy continued. “I’m rather looking forward to that. It’s a bit…uncomfortable at the moment.”
Angel glanced sideways at Fluttershy. She was sitting relaxed against her chair, a faint smile on her lips as she stared into the fire. At first glance, she appeared very peaceful. Well, what could be seen of her looked peaceful.
Fluttershy’s face was covered by an enormous bandage, as her wings and chest were heavily wrapped as well, her right wing also carrying a splint. Patches of red soaked through a few of the bandages on Fluttershy’s chest, but they were nothing to the mass of bloody bandages around her neck.
Beneath the bandages were a mass of stitches barely holding together Fluttershy’s skin. Angel knew this because he had been the one to sew Fluttershy up. When Fluttershy turned to smile at Angel reassuringly, it was possible to see two gaps in her teeth. A faint sheen of sweat coated her brow. There was only the slightest hum of tension in Fluttershy’s voice when she said, “I do wonder what’s taking so long. We sent a message hours ago, right after…the incident, didn’t we Angel? I hope there hasn’t been a problem.”
Angel made no comment. He just looked at Fluttershy’s face, and noticed how she was clenching her jaw hard enough to make her teeth creak. He continued watching Fluttershy as she turned back to the fire. It was only a matter of time before the pain from her wounds cracked her like an egg. Angel’s only concern was whether he should try hitting her with something heavy before that happened.
It may seem like a lot had changed in Fluttershy’s house since the events of last night. Certainly the room was different. All the furniture that had been in Fluttershy’s house was gone, leaving only Fluttershy’s armchair, a small coffee table, and a stool. The rest had been disposed of out back, or used for firewood. It made the house look empty, but that was still far better to how it had looked a few hours ago.
The bodies were gone. That was one thing different. They had been taken away and buried at the same place the others had been, taken by family members rather than buried in one grave out back as Fluttershy had first done. That fate had now been given to the bodies of the two changelings, or rather, what was left of them. Their corpses has remained relatively intact during the fight last night, but the other animals had taken a certain pleasure in tossing them off the roof several times, stomping them into the dirt, and hitting them repeatedly against rocks. What few pieces that remained had been covered with dirt deep in the earth.
The blood was gone too. That had been another task for the other animals, the rodents, birds, and of course, Harry the bear. They had done a quite a thorough job, but Angel could still see a few darker stains where the changeling’s blood had etched the wooden floor. That would require replacement of the boards, not an easy task.
Still, compared to how the house had looked nine hours ago Angel reflected, it was nothing short of a miracle. They had had to work quickly, and in utter secrecy. It was just as well Harry had come when he did.
To summarize the day so far, it would be best to recount the events that occurred shortly after dawn, when Fluttershy had killed the changeling. Harry the bear had entered Fluttershy’s house just after 3 AM, having discovered the upturned earth around the changeling’s grave on the way to the bathroom from his home in the woods. He’d entered the cottage, seen the slaughter, the dead changelings, and Fluttershy and Angel, and sounded the alarm.
It would be wrong to say that Fluttershy had no friends, as some unkind ponies in Ponyville sometimes claimed. It was true that her social network among ponies extended to very few ponies outside the Elements of Harmony, but the amount of friends she counted among the animas of the Everfree Forest numbered at least in the thousands, if not tens of thousands. She knew every creature within miles of Ponyville, and they in turn spread the word of the pegasus who could talk to animals wherever they went.
Therefore, it was not a swarm or horde or even army, but a legion of animals that descended on Fluttershy’s cottage. They found Fluttershy, dying of blood loss and Angel, stopping the blood flow from her neck with only his paws and a blanket. Fluttershy had managed to splint his arms and legs before fainting, but she hadn’t tended to her own injuries first.
Chaos reigned, with animals running, flying, and screaming until Angel brought order with shouting and Harry the Bear. Birds were sent to fetch Owlowicous, Winona, Opalescence, and Gummy. The other animals cleared up the bodies and cleaned the rooms while a smaller detachment of the larger beavers, raccoons, snakes, and other of the more dangerous animals had gone with Harry to find out if any other changelings had survived.
When Owlowiscous had arrived, followed by the rest of the ‘pet’ animals, Angel had stitched Fluttershy up under the owl’s direction. Owlowiscious was Twilght’s assistant, and as such knew a lot more about medical techniques and pony anatomy than any other animal. In fact, it would be fair to say that all of the animals owned by the Elements of Harmon were unique in some way. Certainly they possessed a greater standing in the animal community, and not just because they were owned by important ponies.
Angel was undisputedly most important, and violent rabbit in all of Ponyville. It was certainly true that Fluttershy had the respect of all the animals in Ponyville, but it was also true that if Fluttershy had their respect, Angel commanded it.
Owlowiscous was looked upon as the learned scholar among animals, even more so for the fact that he could speak to ponies, even if it was only one word. Tank likewise was considered a model of wisdom, however slow, and Winona was bright and cheerful and had a lot of pull among the bovine crowd. It went without saying that Gummy was revered for different reasons, and as for Opelescence, there was possibly no other animal so widely feared in all of Equestria than her.
In short, the animals gathered in Fluttershy’s cottage were the VIP’s of the community, and together, they got the job done. Fluttershy’s house was cleaned in short order the bodies of the fallen were taken away to be buried by families, and the changelings disposed of. Owlowiscious had been sent off with a note as soon as Fluttershy was conscious, and the rest of the animals had scattered, some into the woods at Fluttershy’s request, the rest to prepare. They had left Fluttershy alone with Angel in their cottage.
Well, nearly alone. Angel glanced at a trio of mice in one corner and two birds perched outside on a tree branch. They were there to take messages or get other animals if need be. Angel was just considering having a bird sent to check on Owlowiscious, when a knocking came from one window.
Angel sat upright and Fluttershy slowly stirred as a mouse unlatched the window. Owlowiscious swooped in, carrying a basket in his talons. He set it carefully on the floor before Fluttershy, who grabbed at the contents quickly.
Five sparkling bottles of purple, blue, red, yellow, and a darker blue seemed to glow in the fire’s light. Fluttershy checked the labels affixed to each, and opened the dark blue bottle with hooves that shook. She made to drink it, and then hesitated before turning to Angel.
“You should have some first, Angel.”
Angel shook his head vehemently and waved for Fluttershy to continue. She hesitated only for a second, but the internal reservoirs of kindness and concern were quickly swamped by the oceans of pain. She gulped all but a tenth of the bottle down in seconds, and then carefully passed it to Angel.
He sipped at it more cautiously with the help of mouse to hold the bottle. The liquid tasted like the bottom of Big Mac’s hoof after a long day working out in the sun, but the effects were immediate. He felt the pain in his paw and foot ease, and then nearly vanish, becoming a slight buzz on the edge of his awareness. Carefully, he put down the now-empty bottle and relaxed. Good. The pain was gone for him, which meant it was also gone for Fluttershy. His work was done, for the moment. Two other mice had to help catch the bottle as it slipped from Angel’s paw. In moments, he was unconscious.
----
Fluttershy hardly noticed Angel passing out. The relief from the pain had sent her body into a state of euphoria, and the mental high she was one completely wiped every thought from her body for a moment. When she did relax again, she took another look at the bottles Zecora had sent her. The yellow bottle was labeled for quick healing, so Fluttershy downed most of that, as well as the one for quick hair growth. The rest she left for Angel, only a fraction, but the difference in their body masses meant that was all he would need. Then Fluttershy read the note that had been attached to the basket.
Fluttershy at your request,
I have brewed these potions my very best.
However, these guests who at your house stay,
Make me want to run away.
Please take this medicine and drink it well,
I will see you in a week’s spell.
It was signed ‘Zecora’, but anyone who didn’t recognize that rhyme had never met a zebra before. Fluttershy sighed in relief. It was good that she had written about the skunks to Zecora as well. If the zebra had come in person, Fluttershy would have had a hard time explaining that the shape of her injuries. It was just as well that Zecora had accepted her explanation of an injured Angel, a balding beaver, and five sick sparrows.
Owlowisious swooped down to land on the back of Fluttershy’s armchair. Fluttershy didn’t notice this, because she was now busy looking at Angel. Her rabbit companion was still in a splint with his right leg and paw crushed, and even with Zecora’s medicines, it would take time for him to heal properly. That Fluttershy herself was injured far worse didn’t matter to her, but with her mind clear of pain, Fluttershy could now devote all of her energy to dwelling on what had happened last night.
Fluttershy turned her head carefully to look at the room behind her. It was clean, unnaturally so and empty too, but she could still see the changeling’s bloodstains etched on the floor. Her hoof twitched slightly, and Fluttershy turned back to Zecora’s medicine.
----
“I think we should deploy more scouts into the forest.” Fluttershy didn’t look up from Zecora’s writings but spoke to the air. “Have Harry and a group ready to move out in a minute’s notice. Once we get word from a scout, we’ll send them out.”
“Who?” Owlowiscious wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. His opinion from the start had been to talk to Twilight, but the other animals and Fluttershy had overruled him. He was quite smart even for an owl, which meant pretty smart for a pony as well. Owlowiscous had an accurate grasp of what had happened last night, and he could do the math. Why try to handle this alone? Ponies were far stronger than animals, and they had fought changelings before.
“I’ve made up my mind, Owlowiscious. We don’t bring other ponies into this. They don’t understand how serious this threat is. These changelings are fighting to kill, not to capture. I don’t want to bring my friends into this situation unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
Owlowiscious was silent, but pointedly so. As an owl that helped Twilight with her research and cataloguing every night, he had an expanded knowledge that covered psychology and medical practices among other things. Fluttershy had just killed a changeling if what he understood was true, and she had just lost all of her friends that had been under her care. Again. Her mental state was beyond fragile, and Owlowiscious was sure that she was not acting normally.
“Who who?” He ventured, but Fluttershy ignored the comment.
“Tell them I want them brought in alive, Owlowiscous. No ‘accidents’. Just do it quickly and quietly and report to me when you get them. We won’t find them for a few days I expect, so we’ll need to rotate everyone on shifts. But I want to be prepared, understand?”
Owlowiscious flinched as Fluttershy glanced at him. She didn’t say anything, but her gaze passed over him, and the look in her eye…very quietly, he shuffled away into a corner and turned his head to face the wall. His feathers shook violently.
“Good. Do it, Owlowiscious.” Fluttershy turned back to Angel and continued stroking his head. “Tell everyone.”
The firelight threw Fluttershy’s shadow across the wall and the light played across her face in odd patterns, had any of the animals been brave enough to look at her.
“It will take some time before they’re ready in any case,” she whispered. “That’s a given. We’ll take some time too. To heal, to plan. To prepare. But I’ll be ready.”
Fluttershy’s hoof stopped and she held Angel gently as she stared into the fire. “This time, none of my friends will die. I swear it.”
----
A week later, Fluttershy flew into Ponyville looking like she always did. Even before she had landed, Rarity was waiting for her. Most unusually, Rarity was levitating several bottles of what turned out to be perfume in the air. As Fluttershy touched down, Rarity immediately sprayed he perfume into the air, creating a cloud of scent that was probably flammable.
“Fluttershy, how wonderful it is to see you! I take it your, uh, guests are gone?”
Fluttershy coughed a few times and smiled at Rarity warmly. “Oh yes. They’ve all gone back home. Well, except for the ones who live here of course. They stuck around a bit longer.”
“Of course, of course.” Rarity carefully sprayed more perfume into the air around Fluttershy. “It’s really lovely to see you again, though. Are you here for some kind of errand?”
“As a matter of fact, I was going to see Twilight.”
“Oh really? Well, don’t let me keep you. I’ve got work waiting for me, but I’m sure we can talk again. In a few days. In the open. I’ll buy more perfume.”
“Of course. I’ll see you later Rarity.” Fluttershy smiled as Rarity made a hasty retreat, the perfume cloud following her like one of Dash’s rainclouds. Then she trotted towards Twilight’s house.
She made good time, as every pony was giving her a wide berth. This wasn’t so much due to her supposed proximity with the skunks this last week, as Rarity’s perfume. It had a lasting odor in the air that, while not unpleasant per se and such, was strong enough to overpower any nose in seconds. The skunks, Fluttershy reflected, would have been quite impressed.
----
Twilight answered the door on Fluttershy’s third knock, smiled at Fluttershy, and then nearly gagged at the heavy perfume in the air. She quickly blew it away with a gust of wind spell from her horn.
“You’ve spoken to Rarity I see,” Twilight commended dryly.
“Oh yes. She was quite busy I’m afraid, but we had a nice chat before we had to go.” Fluttershy stepped into Twilight’s house and politely sat in a chair while Twilight got some oatcakes. Spike was out at the moment, or else he would have taken care of the matter himself, and far more efficiently too.
“It’s rather silly of Rarity,” Twilight said as she magically tossed aside pots and pans and rifled through her cupboards in search of the elusive oatcakes. “Skunks aren’t that smelly unless they spray you, and unless you surprise them or threaten them, they won’t spray you. You don’t smell any different than you normally do in any case.”
“That’s quite nice of you to say Twilight,” Fluttershy accepted a rather crumbly oatcake as Twilight took a seat across from her. “But I do smell a tiny bit. Some of the young skunks can get rather excited, and they don’t mind the smell.”
“Well, Rarity’s perfume covers it up nicely. Anyways, what brings you here Fluttershy? Did you need something or are you just here to hang out?”
Fluttershy put down the oatcake to one side. “As a matter of fact, I was looking for a few books and I thought you could help me out, Twilight.”
“Really? That’s unusual for you Fluttershy. Well, this is a library so go ahead and tell me what you’re looking for.” Twilight ate the oatcake rapidly, sprinkling bits of it everywhere.
Fluttershy winced as the crumbs fell to the floor. She decided to bring up raising Spike’s allowance with Twilight when she got the chance. Any dragon who had to clean up after Twilight deserved a lot of bits.
“As a matter of fact, I was looking for books on military tactics and warfare. Strategies for smaller groups taking on bigger, stronger armies. That sort of thing.”
“Well, that should be too hard.” Twilight got up from her seat, trampling the oatcake under her hoof as she turned to her bookshelves. “I don’t have as many books as the royal library in Canterlot, but I’m sure I have some books on military strategy.”
A thought occurred to Twilight as she was halfway to her bookshelves. She turned back to Fluttershy. “Uh, Fluttershy.”
“Yes Twilight?”
“Why do you want books on military strategy?”
Fluttershy seemed to freeze up for a second, and Twilight thought she looked panicked. But then she smiled, and Twilight wondered if she had just imagined it.
“Well…it’s for Gerome you see.”
“Gerome?” Twilight was very confused now. “Who’s that?”
“Gerome, you know, one my animal friends.” Fluttershy looked innocently at Twilight. “Don’t you remember him?”
Twilight’s mind raced frantically. Fluttershy’s friends were numerous and varied and while she knew all of them by name, her pony friends did not. But clearly Fluttershy had mentioned this friend to Twilight before…Twilight decided to bluff it out.
“Oh Gerome!” Twilight said clapping a hoof to her forehead, “of course I remember him. I haven’t seen him scampering around your cottage lately, that’s all.”
Fluttershy looked puzzled. “Scampering?”
Twilight felt a drop of sweat start to materialize on her brow. “Uh, of course. He’s always moving about, isn’t he? Energetic little guy.”
“Gerome is a lobster, Twilight.”
Beads of sweat were now rolling down Twilight’s face, but Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, right. Of course. How silly of me! Gerome the Lobster, how could I forget?”
“Yes, well, he’s a major military buff as I’m sure you’re aware.”
“He is?”
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy said seriously. “I told you all about him, don’t you remember? He’s a huge fan of military history and he’s quite the amateur expert in the field. It’s hard for him to find good books what with being a lobster and all, so I sometimes read to him. I think I introduced you sometime last week. I’m sure you wouldn’t forget.”
“Of course not,” Twilight said hastily. “I’m just a bit scatterbrained right now, that’s all. A book on military strategy you say? No problem.”
Twilight turned and fled back into her bookshelves, reemerging a few minutes later with two books hovering behind her.
“Here we are. War: Kicking Other Ponies in the Face by Tacticus Strategus, and Guerilla Warfare with Gorillas by Ishmael.”
“Ishmael?”
“Yep. He was a gorilla.”
“Oh. Well, thank you Twilight. I’ll be sure to bring them back in a few days, okay?”
“No problem. Take your time.” Twilight waved one hoof airily. “Not many ponies come in here for books, so I doubt anyone’s going to miss them. Just make sure the mice don’t try eating the pages, okay?”
“I’ll be sure to tell them. Thank you, Twilight. I’ll see you later.”
“See you Fluttershy. And uh, say hi to Gerome for me too will you?”
“No problem.” Fluttershy trotted out of Twilight’s door and back through Ponyville towards her cottage. Along the way, she mentally made a note to find a lobster and name him Gerome in the near future. It never hurt to cover your tracks.
----
Fluttershy was halfway to her cottage when the bushes beside her rustled and a hare jumped out. He waved and gesticulated at Fluttershy who bent her head to the ground to listen.
“Very well Theodore,” she said at last. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll go right away.” She carefully laid the two books on the ground in front of the hare. “Could you bring these back to the cottage for me? Make sure the mice don’t eat the pages please.”
Theodore nodded and bounded off with the two books as Fluttershy turned off the dirt path to her cottage and towards the Everfree Forest. She moved faster now, and not just because she was unburdened of the two books. She had finally received the news she had been waiting an entire week to hear.
The journey was short, as Fluttershy’s destination was on the outskirts of the Everfree. It was a small glade in the forest, but most unusually, this glade had a rickety shack built out of wood in the center. It wasn’t the most stable of constructions, being held together with lots of nails and luck, but it was mainly there just to keep anyone from seeing inside. Not that this was a problem here, of course.
Ever since the Crusaders had gotten in to trouble in the Everfree they had been banned from entering the forest, and no other pony would ever enter it in any case. Only Zecora regularly traversed the woods, and this spot had been chosen well away from her normal route. Just in case, there were two beaver sentries keeping watch outside. They slapped their tails and saluted Fluttershy with a paw as she got closer.
She nodded to them and carefully stepped into the shack. It was quite dark inside, but her eyes soon grew used to the dim lighting. And what Fluttershy saw inside the shack were changelings.
Three, to be exact. They were sitting in the center of the shack, surrounded by wary animals. The changelings were somewhat worse for wear, their carapace scratched and cracked in places, but they were otherwise unharmed. They were also tied up and secured with so many ropes that they looked like worms, but the animals weren’t taking any chances.
Around the changelings were the more dangerous animals, the eagle, hawk, badgers, more beavers, Opal, a small army of squirrels, Angel, and of course, Harry the Bear. He was occupying most of the small building and his expression was not something you ever wanted to see on a creature Harry’s size. The changelings were watching all the animals, but their gazes kept flickering back to Harry.
All eyes turned to Fluttershy as she walked in, and there was a moment of stunned silence from the changelings. Then they hissed and spat at her, fighting their bonds until Harry brought one heavy paw down on the ground with a thump that shook the entire shack. Fluttershy waited until there was complete silence and every eye was on her before speaking.
“Good day everyone. Hello, Harry. Hello to you too, Mr. Changelings.”
The changelings stared at Fluttershy with what could only be called wary suspicion. She only smiled and walked around them so that they were forced to turn their heads. “It’s quite a nice day outside. Lovely weather and a cool breeze. Perfect for having a stroll, wouldn’t you say?”
Several of the animals around Fluttershy nodded and voiced agreement. She waved them to silence.
“A lovely day,” she repeated. “So it’s curious to me why my friends found a group of changelings just wandering through the forest. Rather suspicious, wouldn’t you say?”
The changelings were silent as Fluttershy walked around them in a slow circle.
“Given the history of changelings in Equestria, I can’t think you’re up to anything but mischief here. And I’m quite familiar with the…mischief changelings can get up to. But I also know that changelings don’t usually work alone. You wouldn’t be wandering through the Everfree unless something or someone ordered you to.”
One of the changelings twitched at this, and the changeling next to him kicked him hard.
“Oh, there’s no need to pretend,” Fluttershy said. “I know you’re working for Chrysalis.”
Three hostile glares were leveled at Fluttershy, but the changelings said not a word. Fluttershy circled them once, and then came to stand in front of the three changelings.
“I’m not trying to pry or anything, but I would like to know why Chrysalis is in the Everfree Forest. It seems to me that she’s not here for anything good, and I’d like to know what mischief she has planned. If you’d like to tell me anything of what she plans, I’d be very grateful.”
One of the changelings spat at her. His green saliva landed on Fluttershy’s cheek where it sizzled. Angel quickly tossed Fluttershy a handkerchief and she calmly wiped the spit away. The changelings grinned maliciously and laughed. Changeling vocal chords are not like ponies, so what emerged was a high-pitched crackling sound.
Harry hit the changeling who had spit at Fluttershy. It was a casual slap across the changeling’s face, but it came from a bear’s paw. The changeling flew and smashed into the wall. Parts of his exoskeleton cracked and the changeling crumpled to the ground soundlessly. The laughter of the other two changelings cut off at once.
“I’m terribly sorry about that.” Fluttershy gestured towards Harry, whose expression was murderous. “Harry is just a bit irate at the moment.”
The two changelings edged as far back from Harry as they could until their backs hit the wall. Harry took a step forwards, but Fluttershy put one hoof on his leg and shook her head. Harry met her eyes briefly. Then, to the changeling’s amazement he grumbled and left the shack.
“Harry is just collecting his thoughts.” Fluttershy gave the changelings a sweet smile. “I’m sure he won’t be needed here. I’d just like to ask you a few questions, that’s all.”
The changelings were silent again, but now they were nervous. They eyed the exit of the shack, where they could see part of Harry’s body as he un-surreptitiously lurked there. Their eyes turned as one back to Fluttershy.
“A few questions,” she repeated. “If you answer a few simple questions for me, I’ll be happy to let you go back to Chrysalis. We’ll even bandage up your friend here.” She waved to the prone changeling on the ground. “But if you don’t want to tell me anything well, I suppose I’ll have to let Harry ask the questions.” Fluttershy sighed.
“Harry is quite good at asking questions. Unfortunately, he’s not very nice when he asks questions, and he has a bad temper. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see Harry mad.”
The changelings looked back at the entrance to the shack and flinched as one. They most definitely did not want to see Harry mad.
“So just answer a few questions and you can go. Okay?”
The changelings considered this. They looked at Fluttershy, and then at the shadow of Harry lurking outside. Then they thought of Chrysalis. Slowly, both changelings shook their heads.
“You won’t tell me?” Fluttershy looked from changeling to changeling. “No one will ever know. It’s not that hard.”
The changelings shared a look. Then each one studiously looked at the floor or ceiling, avoiding Fluttershy’s gaze.
She stepped closer to the changeling on the left. He couldn’t avoid her, and she stared deep into his eyes. There was nothing but kind concern in hers. “Won’t you please tell me?”
The changeling seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second, but then his head turned away and he stared fixedly at the wall. He heard Fluttershy give the tiniest of sighs.
Thirty seconds later the other animals managed to drag Fluttershy off of the second changeling. It took twelve of them to do it, and six more to drag the stunned and bleeding changeling away from Fluttershy.
The last changeling looked in horror at what had happened to his companion. The unlucky changeling’s face was crack and bleeding from several spots where Fluttershy had hit him with her hooves. Part of his horn was snapped off, and his right eye glued shut with his green blood. He had tried to cover his face with his hooves, which is why one of them was broken.
Fluttershy got up carefully as the other animals released her. She had green blood on her hooves and wiped it away carefully on the dirt floor. She walked slowly to stand over the last changeling, who flinched away from her.
“I do hope you want to talk,” she said to him. “Otherwise I’m afraid it’s Harry’s turn. If you still don’t want to talk, we’ll have to let you heal—I mean rest for a while. Then we’ll try again. And again. Until you’re ready to answer our questions. And then we’ll compare what you have to say with your friends and if it doesn’t match, we’ll have to get…unfriendly.”
Fluttershy leaned down until there was only an inch between her and the changeling.
“So tell me. Are you ready to talk?”
The changeling looked at Fluttershy. He looked at Harry’s shadow. He thought of Chrysalis. Then he looked at his companions. He opened his mouth and began to speak.
----
Fluttershy walked alone through the forest. She waited until she was well away from the other animals and the changelings before she found a group of bushes. She stepped into it and made sure no one else could see her. Then Fluttershy vomited everything in her stomach, again and again until nothing came up. Shaking slightly, she left the bush.
Angel hopped around a nearby tree holding the handkerchief. Fluttershy stared at him in surprise for a few seconds, and then took the cloth and wiped her mouth. Angel waited patiently, but Fluttershy seemed to forget that she held the handkerchief. At last, Angel hopped over and took it out of her hoof. Fluttershy gave a start and looked down.
“Oh, thank you Angel. I’m sorry it’s so messy.”
Angel made no comment. He was used to cleaning up after Fluttershy when she was upset. A thought struck him suddenly, and he looked at the handkerchief in his paws. It was messy, stained with digestive juices and undigested food and partly eaten-away by the changeling’s acidic spit. But there were no tearstains. Angele looked up at Fluttershy’s face. It was dry.
“I’ve never hit another person before, Angel.” Fluttershy said, oblivious to his scrutiny. “Never. But now I’m hitting changelings and threatening them. What’s happened to me?”
Angel said nothing. Fluttershy stared blankly at a tree.
“Where is the kind Fluttershy now I wonder? She is not here. No, not here. She has gone away. Far away to mourn her friends. All that remains is me. Not mean Fluttershy, or even jerk Fluttershy. Cruel Fluttershy is here to kill and stop the changelings. And I’ll do it. Again and again, until kind Fluttershy can come back.”
Fluttershy looked up into the sky. The sun still shone overhead and the sky was blue and clear. But down in the forest, the shadows still grew and there was as much darkness and light.
“I can’t go back now Angel. It’s too late for me. But maybe I can make it so I’m the only pony like this. No one else has to do what I’ve done. And maybe, if I do it right, no one else will die.”
Angel was silent, but his eyes were locked on Fluttershy’s face. She smiled slightly as she looked up, but it wasn’t her normal smile. It wasn’t full of happiness or kindness. It was just a small, sad smile. It had only regret to offer.
“Cruelty isn’t easy Angel. It’s hard to be mean. But I guess there’s no one better suited to it than me.”
Angel looked bewildered. Fluttershy smiled again and brushed at her cheek where the changeling had spat at her. The fur there had dissolved away, and the skin was red.
“It’s quite simply, really. I’m the Element of Kindness. I know so much about being kind. So all I have to do to be cruel is to think of the opposite of what I normally do. Instead of hug, hit. Don’t kiss, but bite. Where I should comfort, I scare and frighten.”
Fluttershy paused as if a realization had struck her.
“Maybe that’s the truth of the Elements of Harmony. We can be the best or the worst if we choose. Rarity can be amazingly selfish, and Applejack goes could be the best liar since everypony trusts her. Rainbow Dash can abandon everything and just fly away. Pinkie Pie could bring about screams and tears just as easily as laughter. And Twilight…I guess few ponies know more of the magic than her. If she wanted to, she could bring about the end to magic itself.”
Fluttershy scuffed at the ground with one hoof.
“That’s all what we could be, of course. But my friends aren’t bad ponies. They’d never do something like that. But I killed two changelings. It’s different with me.”
Fluttershy turned and looked Angel in the eyes.
“Chrysalis is coming, Angel. You heard what the changelings we captured said. She sent these scouts into the forest. Even as we speak, she’s gathering the changelings and coming with an army. I know what she wants. She’s not coming for Canterlot again, or trying to deceive her way to power. She’s coming for revenge. She’s coming for the Elements of Harmony. She’ll wipe out Ponyville and kill us all if no one stops her.”
Angel looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, and then away. For once, he couldn’t meet her gaze. There was an alien, cold light there, and it was far more terrible than her stare. He felt Fluttershy’s hoof caress his head gently, but dared not look up at her face.
“Get ready, Angel. Tomorrow we go to war. Chrysalis is coming with the greatest army Equestria has ever seen in years. But I’ll stop her, I promise. Even if it means killing. Even if I have to be cruel.”
Angel felt the hoof withdraw, and heard Fluttershy walking away into the forest. He trembled slightly. He could still feel the touch of her hoof on his head. So gentle, as she always was. But her eyes haunted him. They weren’t her normal eyes. He shivered in memory, uncontrollably.
But so what? Fluttershy was acting tougher, stronger. She was ready to fight changelings, threaten them if need be. That was what Angel had always wanted, wasn’t it? A more capable Fluttershy, not one that crumpled at the touch. He had wanted that, right? Well, perhaps, but not like this. But what choice did they have?
They, the animals of the forest, needed a leader now. A strong one. One who could fight changelings and win. There would be time later to figure out what do to with Fluttershy. They’d return her to normal when this was all over. Angel would see to that. But for now, let her be as ruthless as it took if it meant their survival.
Slowly, Angel’s shaking slowed and stopped. He looked down at the handkerchief in his paws and then dug a small hole and buried it in the forest floor. Above all, no one else could see signs of Fluttershy’s weakness. Then he hopped through the woods after Fluttershy. She needed someone to carry out her orders, and to give orders in her name. That was Angel’s duty, and he’d do it well. He’d protect her, until she no longer needed protecting herself.
----
In the forest, Fluttershy walked alone. Her mind raced with thoughts. Plans, terrible ideas that flitted through her brain. She had so much to do. But there was another part of her that was whispering. It was a small part of her now, and its voice no longer filled Fluttershy’s mind as it used to. It could only whisper, and the rest of Fluttershy no longer heard it. But it still whispered out into the forest, a poem, or perhaps a song.
Where has the kindness gone?
Far away, far away.
Gone to mourn the friends who have died.
And only cruelty remains.
Come to kill and hurt and maim,
In order to protect and save.
There are no options left now,
Not any others for me to take.
It’s too late to turn back.
Too late to turn another page.
So until kindness can return,
Cruelty is here to stay.
And the forest absorbed the poem and returned nothing. And in time, the sun set and the forest was filled with shadows. Until only darkness remained.