Love is Power II: Crash and Burn

by ThaStrangr

What Has Been Lost

The small yellow wings were spastic, swinging this way and that in a desperate attempt to add what little momentum they could muster. Though their efforts proved a waste. The incredible shimmer dissipated, leaving no trace of a lavender unicorn in its wake. With sheer disbelief Fluttershy focused on the small patch of land on which, mere seconds ago, her love had stood. The pain she felt in this moment was beyond what some giant bull could inflict. A pain which resonated from her very being and sent her crashing to the hard ground beneath her. A liquid stung her eyes as it washed out onto the grass. Her sobs blocked even the sound of approaching hooves.

“Oh, don’t be sad, dear,” a familiar voice boomed into her ears, quickly reclaiming her attention, “If it’s any consolation, she fought well. Just not well enough.” An uproar of hysterical cackles flew through the darkness. Suddenly, silence fell across the town. Torero found himself strewn across the cold dirt with a minor pain gathered in the left side of his face and a blood-thirsty pegasus looming above him.

Her tears had ceased, and her green eyes flashed fiery red. With no hesitation, no remorse, no mercy, she pushed her forehooves firmly down on the stallion’s throat. He began to gag and squirm, which she took as her cue to further tighten her grip. She had never imagined herself in such a position, slowly squeezing the life from another pony. Of course, she had never felt such an unbridled rage before. He took the most important thing in her world from her, and she was going to make certain he suffered for it.

She felt something gently caress her shoulder, and turned her head to acknowledge the source. Four mares, eyes all glossy with their own inner turmoil, looked upon her sympathetically. The nearest, a unicorn with a pale white coat, wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy and pulled her close. The pegasus released her potential victim and returned the embrace. She began to wail uncontrollably whilst simultaneously staining her friend’s coat with her tears. She then felt three more sets of hooves cling to her, and heard the indecipherable sobs of three ponies near to her.

The sounds of hooves drawing nearer echoed through the area, and with them came more howls of immeasurable sorrow. The citizens of Ponyville grabbed the villain, still gasping for air on the ground, and dragged him to a nearby dungeon. Though, many contemplated so much more for the beast who had taken their beloved friend from them.

The five mares heard the mob retreat into the city, but they did not look back. The did not follow to observe the monster being chained. They remained sitting there, allowing the flood of their tears to grow. They hadn’t the strength or care for anything more.

_________________________________________________________________________

They did not bow as the regal hoof descended from the carriage. The tall white mare seated herself next to the distraught pegasus. A slightly smaller dark-blue mare joined her a moment later.

“Fluttershy, what seems to be the problem?” pondered Princess Celestia, “All Spike’s letter stated was that there was an emergency.” The yellow pony nodded.

“We haven’t told him yet. We want to keep him ignorant for a little while.” At this response, the princess suddenly grew deathly serious.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s about Twilight.” She was visibly shaking now as she the image of the unicorn flashed into her mind. Just when she believed she had run out of tears to cry.

“She’s… She’s…” The word stuck sorely in her throat. She didn’t want to say it. She couldn’t say it. She crumbled to the floor with the force she was exhausting attempting to ease the word out. The orange earth mare brushed a hoof through her mane in an effort to relax her.

Applejack hushed the shivering mass beneath her.

“It’s okay, ‘Shy. You don’t have to talk to anyone right now.” She then focused her attention on the royal sisters before her.

“There was a fight with one o’ them constellation critters. It was bein’ controlled by a unicorn. We arrested him and locked him up in there.” She pointed to the dungeon a block away. “But, before we could, he… Princess, Twilight’s dead.”

Her response was not what any of them had been expecting. Her face showed confusion rather than sorrow.

“B-but… she can’t be.” The orange mare looked over her pitifully.

“I know it’s tough, princess, but-”

“No, I mean she really can’t be.” A small box, wrapped in a radiant golden glow, drifted toward the group. The lid slowly flipped open to reveal the contents, five necklaces and a crown, each adorned with a different symbol.

“You see, when you girls first wielded the elements of harmony, you did not simply use them, you bonded with them. Only you can use the elements because they share a magic link with you. Everypony has what is known as an Essence, a Magic Core. It grants the pegasi the ability to touch and move the clouds, the earth ponies incredible strength but a gentle grip to harvest crops, and unicorns the ability to use magic. The Elements of Harmony connect with the Essences of the ponies that wield them. If one of you dies, then your element dies until it can find a suitable replacement. All magic drains from it, and your cutie mark would dissipate from the design of the element.” The golden aura gripped the crown and raised it for all to see. It seemed no different than any prior occasion during which they had seen it. A smile adorned the orange pony’s face.

“So… Twilight’s alive?!” The princess believed a simple, curt nod to be an adequate response to this query, as it seemed to rocket the earth pony into the air with a “YEE-HAWW!”

“Ya hear that Fluttershy?” She turned to the spot where the pegasus previously lie shaking on the floor, but found no sign of her.

“Fluttershy?”

___________________________________________________________________

He sat quietly facing the rear wall of the small room. He stared in silent contemplation at the discolored stones. He did not look away when the slow creak of a rusty old door sounded throughout.

“Finally figured it out, have you?” the stallion softly chuckled to himself, “Took you long enough.” A gentle clip, clop pattered along the marble tiles.

“Where is she?” At the sound of this gentle, yet somewhat venomous whisper, he turned to face his interrogator. The anger she had so actively displayed before was less apparent behind her pink locks.

“You have a deceptively firm grip, you know. One would not expect such strength from such a gentle pony.” The mare began to move upon him.

“Where is she?” repeated again from her throat.

“What? No time for polite conversation? You’re not nearly as kind as the papers led me to beli-” A sharp pain grew in one half of his face as he fell to the floor. Then, just as suddenly, he felt himself being lifted just before his back was slammed into the wall behind him. He now locked gazes with his attacker.

“WHERE IS SHE?!” Once again, the sound of his amusement flooded through the room. He ended his fit of laughter for but a moment to relay a simple message.

“Often, our greatest dreams are shrouded by our worst nightmares.”

__________________________________________________________________

“Get out of the way,” roared a blue pegasus at two ponies keeping watch over an uninteresting metal door.

“I’m sorry, Miss Dash, but Miss Fluttershy asked not to be disturbed during the interrogation.” The green stallion maintained his position.

“And since when does Fluttershy interrogate?” She turned to regard the other pony watching over the prison, who had thus far remained silent. She stood before him and stared into his eyes, attempting to get some read on him. Her actions weren’t met with even a hint of acknowledgement. Rainbow’s brows rose as she reached a startling epiphany.

“She… she ‘Stared’ him.” The three mares behind her gasped. Fluttershy swore to never use that on a pony. Rainbow walked back to the door and gave the obstacle in her path the most menacing leer she could muster, sending a shiver down his spine.

“Move… NOW!” The stallion prepared to step aside, but stopped as he heard a door behind him creak open. A yellow pony looked over the crowd amassed before her.

“I know where she is.”

____________________________________________________________________

Deep in the heart of the notorious Everfree Forest, a lone violet light glowed through the trees, guiding a lavender unicorn through the darkness.

Author's Note:

Finally, this story is over!!!
I hated writing this one. But now, this series can TRULY begin!
Sorry it took so long. My computer broke, so I have to use friend/family computers whenever I get the chance.
(If you're wondering why Fluttershy is so aggressive, sorry. It might be a while before a write the series prequel.)

Comments

[Voidwalker]

I don't know how to vote for this one. If those first two parts are just the prologue to a longer story, then my decision might not be correct, seeing as a lot of the actual story is missing thus far. Then again, at least in my opinion, every entry should be able to stand alone somehow. I don't know.

This second part felt rushed. That was the first thing I noticed. There wasn't any explanation to why Rainbow looked like a guard, was there? What bugged me the most, though, were the OCs. That new fiend introduced in this chapter seemed to act like the classical movie-villain. Telling the hero you want to defeat just how you intend to defeat them is pretty stupid. Maybe he'd get a lot more background in later parts of this story, but his introduction felt... bumpy.
Aaaand I have a problem with Nyx. You mentioned she's somehow 'famous' or at least, could be known in some way. But it's risky to just assume one knows her. Because... I don't. I know her name now. That she's an alicorn? A filly? Black? And that's about it. I don't know what happened to her parents, why Twilight of all ponies considered to adopt her, why she stays at the library, I don't even know anything about her personality. It sometimes felt like she was there for the sake of, yeah, well, being there.
I really liked the idea of Fluttershy trying to express her feelings through a song in the first installment of this story. Although I don't understand why she ran of at the drop of a hat once Twilight didn't respond the same second she finished their kiss. Or why Twilight would plan a probably devastation 'rogue storm' to talk to her again. Or why Twilight would wait two weeks for her plan to roll out, allowing Fluttershy to torture herself for two weeks more. There were just some decisions I can't follow through, there should've been better explanation to those.
I up-voted the first story and gave it a favorite, too. This second one, though... I think I'll hold back my decision and wait for the third part.

[Lily Gingertail]

It was good, a bit to short for my liking, but it was good nonetheless.
Looking forward to this series to relay take to the air.
~Tobben

[ThaStrangr]

5412125
1. I personally admitted that this story was rushed. When I originally drafted all of these in my head, they were much shorter. I did alright expanding the first, but this one was kind of a duck.

2. Rainbow was meant to simply keep Twilight away.

3. The villain in this story, like the story itself, went through drastic change from my original "draft". He was a little more interesting initially, but I needed him changed, because reasons.

4. Nyx is the OC from possibly the most famous fanfic, "Past Sins". I added her for multiple reasons, though mainly for fic #9 in my series (if I ever get to that ) If you haven't read "Past Sins" you should. It's an incredible read.

5. Fluttershy is experiencing a certain change that the series hasn't gotten to address yet. She is meant to be very emotional (more so than usual) and OOC.

6. The storm was actually completely under control. The weather team concentrated it so no damage would be done.

7. Twilight was facing her own internal struggle. She had no idea Fluttershy was suffering.

8. Please don't upvote this story. I'm disappointed as a writer to upload it. But it was necessary to introduce the central conflict in fic 3.

I promise the next stories will be better.

[ThaStrangr]

5567431 You have very lenient tastes. This story was horrible. Thanks, though.
It's been months since I've been to this site. No more hiding.
I will make you all proud with the next story.

[Lily Gingertail]

5582432
I wouldn't say lenient, more like OTP blindness.
The story itself wasn't that good but it's still better then anything i have made.
And it was a good build up for the next one
~Tobben