The Greatest Show of Kindness
Chapter Thirteen: Self-Promise
After the two broke their embrace, Fluttershy jumped down from the bed to the floor. She turned towards him with a huge smile on her face, and noticed that he had lay down on his side and let himself sink into the soft, plush mattress. He used his fore hooves to pull the protecting blanket over his frail form.
Lovingly she went over to him and laid a kiss on his forehead, which made him squeak from happiness. He set his head on the pillow as Fluttershy nuzzled him.
“Are you going to sleep, little bee?” she asked him, her head right next to his.
“Yeah, mommy,” he affirmed.
“Okay. I’m going into town to get some food and supplies, all right? I’ll be back in a few hours, sweetie,” she softly informed, pulling her saddlebags over herself.
“All right, mommy.”
“Sweet dreams!”
With that, she walked down the stairs from her bedroom and out the cottage.
As Fluttershy walked into Ponyville, she decided that it would be the best if she got some relaxation. Thus, she went to the spa.
At the spa was Rarity, who was there for her weekly treatment. She was currently enjoying a mud mask. Deciding that she could use some quality time with her friend, she paid her bits and went to join her. She lay down on the bed and engaged in conversation.
“Um… Good afternoon, Rarity,” she greeted.
“Fluttershy, darling, how nice to meet you here! It’s been a while since I’ve had the quality spa time that I oh so enjoy with one of my best friends!” she exasperated.
“Oh, I know. I’ve just been so busy recently that I haven’t had enough time to do this,” she explained. The spa pony gave Fluttershy her mud and massaged it over her face, putting a slice of cucumber over each eye.
“Understandable; however, I’ve noticed that you haven’t been in Ponyville very much in the last few months. Is everything all right, darling?”
“Yes, everything’s just fine. It’s just that I’ve had some… important things that I’ve been taking care of recently.”
“Oh. Is there anything you might need help with? I’d be more than happy to lend some help if you need it.”
“No, that’s okay. Thank you, though.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Again, thank you. I just feel that this is something I should deal with on my own.”
“Okay, darling, if you insist. What is it that you’re doing, just out of curiosity?”
‘Oh, what do I say?
“Um… It’s a little personal. I’d rather I take care of this one by myself without bothering anypony about it.”
“All right, all right, darling. I just noticed that you started staying home more often than usual right after the wedding. I was just worried that a changeling had gotten its dastardly grips on you.”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that.”
“Well, that’s good. I do hope that you can fix your problem. Please, do come into Ponyville a little more often to tell us that you are all right,”
“Okay, Rarity. I promise that I will.”
For a while, the two lay there on the two beds, letting the mud set into their faces. After about an hour of sitting there in complete serenity and relaxation, she got up and removed the mud from her face.
“Um… Well, Rarity, I’m going to go now. It was nice seeing you again. I’d like to do this again soon… if that’s okay with you.”
“Why, of course, darling! Ta-ta!”
With that, Fluttershy walked out of the spa and went on to her next destination, which was Sugarcube Corner. She walked into the giant gingerbread house and was immediately greeted by her friend.
“Hey there, Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie excitedly yelled out, causing Fluttershy to flinch slightly. Upon seeing her friend, she sighed and smiled at her.
“Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie. How are you today?” Fluttershy greeted.
“I’m awesomely fantabulous! How about you?” the sugar-rushing pink pony responded, smiling with a grin so side that it went off the sides of her face.
“I’m well,” she answered.
“Great! Hey, it’s been a really, really long time since I’ve seen you! Are you okay!? Did a changeling get you!?” she worried.
“Oh, no. I’ve just been dealing with some personal issues, that’s all,” she declined.
"Omigosh! Is everything okay? Are you being haunted by ghosts that are working with aliens who want to abduct you!?” Pinkie quickly hypothesized, confusing Fluttershy.
“Uh… No, that’s not it. It’s just some… um…” she stumbled, trying to think of something to say. The pressure she was feeling was like that of having your body squeezed by a giant, crushing wall. “It’s… just some light family issues that I’m dealing with. It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal!? Family issues are the worst kind of issues! This is absolutely a big deal!” Pinkie exasperated.
“Pinkie…” Fluttershy sighed.
“I mean, if you aren’t close to your family, how are you going to talk with them when you need them!?” she continued, beginning to frustrate Fluttershy.
“Pinkie,” she firmly said.
“Is there any way that I can help!? I know how to get you all to be happy-“ she once again started.
“Pinkie!” Fluttershy shouted, causing Pinkie to quiet down. “We’re already better. Everything’s okay now. Don’t worry about it, all right?”
“Okay! If you ever have problems in your family again, come tell me! I promise I’ll help!” Pinkie said.
“Um… okay, Pinkie. I will,” Fluttershy promised.
“Are there any other issues you’re having?”
“Not at the moment. Anyways, I think that I’m going to go now.”
“Oh, okie-dokie-lokie! I’ll see you later!”
“Okay, bye.”
Fluttershy walked out of the confectionary and decided just to go home for the day. She already had two encounters in which she could’ve given away Bumble’s presence, and she didn’t want another, in fear of losing him.
Before doing that, however, she went to get some food for birds and other small animal friends. There was a neat little store called “Food for Friends” that had all sorts of bird seed and lots of different kinds of vegetable, fruit, and protein pellets for mice, rats, squirrels, and other smaller creatures.
Once she finished up there, she started the long trek back to her cottage, and like before, she was stopped by Twilight.
“Fluttershy!” she called out.
“Oh, Twilight… hi. Is there something you needed?” she responded, nervously turning around.
“It’s been a while, Fluttershy. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s fine.”
“Have you seen any changelings?”
“No, Twilight. I still haven’t.”
“Really? Because you haven’t been in town much recently, and all I ever see you coming into town for anymore is food and cleaning supplies. I believe that you’re under a mind-controlling spell by a changeling that is making you only come out when you need to get supplies that you need to survive.”
“What? No, Twilight, I-“
“Stand still, Fluttershy, I’m only doing this to protect you.”
When she said that, she aimed her horn at Fluttershy and cast a spell over her. It was a transparent colored spell that surrounded her entire body. Fluttershy’s eyes glowed white as a vortex of light swirled around her. Once the spell finished, her eyes turned back to their normal hues.
“What was that?”
“It was a spell that disables any spells cast on you prior that are still in effect. Do you feel any different?”
“Twilight, I never had any spells cast on me!”
When Fluttershy realized how forcefully she had yelled, she shied away a little bit. With a whimper, she looked down at the ground.
“…Sorry…”
“It’s okay, Fluttershy. I just wanted to make sure that you had no manipulation in your mind. You seem clean, so that means everything’s okay. Those changelings are popping up everywhere.”
“Speaking of the changelings, when you catch one, what do you do with it?”
“Well, first, we tranquilize it, to make sure that there’s no resistance. Then, we bring it to the jailhouse, where we tie up its forelegs and hindlegs and put a suppresser ring over its horn, to eliminate all chance of attacks. After that, once it wakes up, we ask it some questions, most of which are like ‘Where is your home at?’ and ‘What other plans does your queen have?’”
“Depending on their answers, we do one of two things. If they cooperate and answer our questions, which unfortunately doesn’t happen often, we allow them to start integrating into pony society. Of course, this comes with certain restrictions: They can’t use magic, they can’t change forms, they can’t live without a guard, etc.”
“The most changelings, however, decide to resist answering our questions, so those changelings are deported to Canterlot for more rigorous interrogation. I'm not exactly sure about what kinds of things they do, but it's probably nothing more than questions that are more focused and forceful than the preliminary interrogations."
"Okay... Well, I must be getting home now to feed my animals."
"Well, I'll see you later then."
"Good-bye, Twilight."
When she got back to her cottage, Fluttershy closed the door and set her groceries down in her small kitchen. She thought back to what Twilight said to her regarding the mysteriousness of what kinds of things would happen to changelings at Canterlot.
She envisioned her little Bumble tied down to a table, with a royal guard speaking down to him very forcefully. Bumble was oddly growling and snapping his jaws at the interrogator. His eyes were narrowed. Suddenly, the scene glowed crimson and Bumble was now shackled to the floor. The thought-up guard smacked him across the face, leaving a bright-green mark on his cheek. The scene once again changed to Bumble chained a second time to a table, with water dripping down on his head in various amounts, sometimes individual drips, sometimes torrents of water of which washed, tortured, down a drain.
These images all flashed within her mind in what felt like a second. His screech accompanied these terrible thoughts, pushing Fluttershy into a panic.
‘Oh, Celestia…’ she thought.
Her heart began to race, cold sweat dripped down her face. She could feel a hammer being smashed against the sides of her skull, right behind her eyes. Her vision blurred slightly.
‘Can’t let them find out about Bumble! Won’t, never, can’t do it. He’ll suffer, burn, drown, die, decay. I have to protect him always, support him, shield him…'
She realized that she was hyperventilating intensely, so she took deep breaths.
‘One, two, three… tick-tock… four, five, six, seven… tick-tock… eight, nine, ten.’
She calmed slightly at her counting, and the sound of her clock helped her time her breaths. The banging in her head stopped, and the knots in her stomach unwrinkled. She looked intently at her dimly lit bedroom, got up, and walked slowly over to it.
Up the stairs she went, and she saw that Bumble was still lying there, fast asleep under the covers. She flew onto the bed, curling up beside him and pulling the blanket over herself.
“Oh, sweetie… I’ll never let them take you away. I can’t, I won’t,” she promised, falling asleep with him in a hugging position.
Little to her knowledge did she know that there was a pair of eyes belonging to a Pegasus looking in through her window. In a flash, it flew off towards Ponyville.
oh my those poor changelings who gets tortured
i hope Bumble never gets that treatment if or when he is found out
btw congrats on getting featured today!
good story, i really like it.
That is some harsh torture
Might need to alert MY queen
My heart is beating so fast right now. Badump.
OMG! Dashie is gonna turn her in to Twilight.
It has. On her heart. And it's mutual
Dash could not rat them out it wouls be disloyal to her first friend
Real torture methods? In Equestria?
The US has prisons where inmates die from human rights abuses and the people in charge proudly declare that they spend more on feeding the prison dogs than the inmates, but nobody seems to care. However, when word got out that POWs were being tortured people flipped their shit.
In a place where love, tolerance, and forgiveness are THE pillars of society the use of torture is completely unthinkable. You really, REALLY should revise this chapter so that Twilight doesn't know what methods are used, and Flutters immediately assumes the worst.
On a related note, anybody who would expect a foal to know anything of military value would have to be a complete idiot, and in this case asking politely would have Bumble telling them everything he knows. I just hope Fluttershy is there when the confrontation happens so nobody traumatizes him. He's a refugee seeking asylum, and he has witnesses who can attest to where he was and what he was doing when the invasion happened, so if Fluttershy is with him it'll be easy to defend him.
Sadly, conventions in fiction hold that Chrysalis's parting words are going to be reinforced due to a comedy of errors resulting in Shy not being able to defend him for some reason. I dislike conventions in fiction like that. :/
hum is where it gets messy!
Now the element of kindness must find a way to keep safe the little shapeshifter without the other ponies suspect its existence.
Certain that the attack of the shapeshifters has brought out the worst ADHD pony Equestria.
Gawd damn it Rainbow if you ruin this for me... prepare rage cannon!
4393572
Not only that. The "integration" part sound suspiciously similar to slavery.
4393572 how about no. it brings more fun to the chapter.
Rainbow Please don't!
..
..
Equestria it's so much like the USA!
Surly Shining Armor would never torture a child. If he does I hope Fluttershy ends her friendship with twilight!
Cute how fluttershy called bumble little bee. Also good call with bumble calling fluttershy mommy rather than mama. It's still a very endearing term without replacing her for Flutter. Fluttershy's bond with him is adorable.
"Omigosh! Is everything okay? Are you being haunted by ghosts that are working with aliens who want to abduct you!?” Pinkie quickly hypothesized, confusing Fluttershy."
Lol very spot on with Pinkie XD
Yikes I knew this would happen sooner or later, but I can't see any pony hurting a child but it still would traumatized bumble. Good that fluttershy is on his side.
Can't wait for the next chapter
Sure
I think you could find an other way to say that
Alright... I'm game... I will be keeping a very close eye on this. Also somepony needs to tell Dashie that it is in fact a crime to peep on other ponies... oh well, the more you know... you know?
4395897 Hm... Yes, that is a bit redundant. I'll get on that.
Shotgun, check. Ump, check. P90, check. Compound bow, check. Lav-25, check. Okay, time to hold off the royal guard!
4398817 Here's an EMP, just for your use. It won't do anything, but will serve as a distraction.
4398840 I'm getting the feeling that's a halo, or battelfield reference?
4398846 Actually, it's a GoldenEye (James Bond) reference.
4398848 yup, that sounds right, (uses google) :/
holy s**t , as someone who visited the memorial at Auschwitz, this chapter really struck a nerve with me
Okay, when I hear this song, I think of Bumble and Fluttershy. It's so cute, just like them
Dashie, please rat them out and stomp on their hearts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvzJCVZCgPo
4402139 That's a good song, my friend.
4402826
Glad u approve. I think it suits them!
4405884 Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own tastes.
exasperated... I don't think that means what you think it means...
Guards are needlessly cruel to stimulate feels. And hatred for ponies, so we have to root for bumble and fluttershy, because everyone else is either morally apprehensible, or have done nothing about the morally apprehensible chaps.
Dash would probably storm straight into the house instead of going to get others. She's brash, and brazen. Going for help probably wouldn't cross her mind. Especially If fluttershy was in danger. Especially, especially, if fluttershy was in danger from one changeling.
Also, to dissuade questions asking me about my string of comments; I'm posting these as I go, Instead of saving all these until the last chapter where I'd give out all of these issues in one long comment. So... There.
4576006 so right! Dashi would storm right on in there, lol but it probably is Dash
damn it, dash! I just know you've jumped to the way wrong conclusion.
Though if twilight thinks rationally about this (something tells me she won't) she'll remember that, when she used that spell on Fluttershy, nothing happened, meaning bumble isn't controlling her.
After twilight used the spell on fluttershy all I could think is "just another friendly check from your local morale officer" let's just hope fluttershy doesn't leave her papers at home
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG RAINBOW
5088893 Felt the same way, fucking Rainbow intruding on personal shit as always.
5282753 guess what i just thought of right now
SONIK!!! AUTHOR! DO SOMTHING!!!! YOUR THE ONLY ONE FAST ENOUGH TO CATCH THAT NOSY RAINBOW BITCH!!!
I'm starting to think ponies are worse than changelings. And RainowDash is a stalker.
Oooo nooo
It better not be RainbowDash
But I’m pretty sure it is her