Six Ways, Book 2: Duty

by the_bioXpony_guy

Chapter 3: Vineyin Returns

Before the other ponies could get a chance to turn their heads and see whom it was Fluttershy had seen, the peach-colored pony broke out of her moments’ pause and shouted, “What are you doing here?! What are any of you doing here?”

With a tip of her hat, Applejack was the first to speak. “Sorry ma’am! We didn’t know this was somepony’s property.”

The stranger ground her teeth. “This is not somepony’s property, you nitwit!” Seeing all six of these ponies and their dragon friend made her wonder, Just how did they get here? How did they find this place to begin with? Frustration invaded the peach pony’s thoughts as she raced up to the stones. Halfway to the rocky canvas, she found herself face-to-face with Fluttershy.

Being that Fluttershy was closest to the rocks than anybody else, the stranger brought a hoof to the pegasus’ chest, pushing her a few steps back. “Don’t you dare think about touching these rocks. Or moving them. Or destroying them!”

Confused and slightly offended, Fluttershy recovered from the light blow to her chest and said, “I wasn’t even going to touch them, Miss Overprotective!”

The stranger’s teeth started grinding. “I don’t need to take that from somebody who cries over petty little bunnies!”

With that, Fluttershy froze and stepped back. How does she know that? she wondered. Oh no—it's no wonder she looks so familiar! I have seen her before!

Twilight felt the same way—but such thoughts went interrupted when the peach pony landed a powerful smack to Fluttershy’s face. The force of such an attack—in addition to the weight of her horseshoe—proved nearly enough to knock out one of Fluttershy’s teeth. The pegasus went dizzy as she fell face-first to the grassy ground, blood gushing from her nose and dripping down on the grass.

The six Equestrians watched in horror as their friend seemed to lose consciousness. Of the lot of them, Twilight seemed most distraught—for all she could seem to do was stare back, her jaw hanging, before she snapped out of her trance and cried, “Fluttershy!” The unicorn rushed up to her fallen friend as fast as she could, nearly knocking Spike off her back as she went.

Horrific as the nearby stones were, nothing compared to the sight she had just witnessed. Never before did she think anybody would have had the nerve to beat one of the kindest ponies to ever walk the face of Equestria. The aura brought about by the Teridax stones were now insignificant to the unicorn—who now braced through and came down to Fluttershy’s side.

Twilight could hear a little moan escaping Fluttershy as she rolled the pegasus over on her back. “Are you okay?” asked Twilight, ignoring the peach pony's presence entirely. She felt like asking more, but the disfigured look on Fluttershy’s face kept any words from coming out. Already the pegasus’ upper lip began to puff up. Her once purely-pink hair now had spots of red splashed upon it. Her nose was clearly broken; Twilight could tell by the awkward angle at which it now hung.

Now belly-side up, Fluttershy tried her hardest to look into Twilight’s eyes when she rasped, “I’m so sorry…so sorry, Twilight!” In her pain, Fluttershy winced and seemed to bite the inside of her cheek. “Twilight,” she began. “I know who she is!”

You do? thought Twilight, as if relieved by such news. “Who is it?” she asked.

“It’s the waitress mare!”

The waitress mare—from when we were getting lunch the other day? The thought made her ears twitch. “Vineyin?” Upon realizing this, Twilight lifted her gaze from Flutershy’s fatigued stare and took a look up toward the peach pony. “Well, Vineyin—it looks like you weren’t kidding when you said you like to travel from place to place.” She raised her voice when she continued, “But it seems you forgot to tell me that you like to beat other ponies on occasion, huh?”

Vineyin bit her lip as those words stung her ears. “You’re right, Twilight,” she said. “I wasn’t kidding; I was lying.” She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the long explanation to come. “You see, little pony, I was only at Ponyville so I could retrieve my lost Teridax stone.” As she said this, Vineyin pulled out her silver amulet from one of her velvet locks, revealing the shining ruby now encrusted within it.

“Of all things to find near this—pitiful friend of yours,” she pointed a hoof toward Fluttershy, “I saw one of Teridax’s stones, waited for the right moment, and snatched him up. Once that was taken care of, I scratched out a bit of the stone and put it in my amulet. Then I took the rest of the rock right back to put him here—where he belongs.”

Some of the ponies in their group of six gasped; Spike scooted a bit away from Vineyin—but Fluttershy remained the only one unafraid of the sly pony’s words. “So it was you!” she hissed, struggling to rise back up on her hooves. “You’re the one who took Teridax from me!” As soon as those words left her tongue, Fluttershy wobbled back on her hooves and proceeded to tackle Vineyin to the ground, catching all the standingby Equestrians by surprise.

Is she really? wondered Twilight, her jaw dropping once more. She’d seen Fluttershy bring an angry bear down, but never one of her own kind! Then again, Vineyin really had it coming.

Vineyin’s shoulders stapled themselves to the ground as the crippled pegasus planted herself on top of them. “Who in Equestria do you think you are?” screamed Fluttershy. “On what planet did you think it would be okay for you to come out of nowhere and steal the only person who’s ever shown me any sympathy or kindness?”

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash each exchanged offended, almost disgusted glances amongst one another.

Fluttershy’s puffy lip curled back in a snarl as she pushed her nose against Vineyin’s and asked, “Did you think it was wise to take Teridax away? Did you think it was clever?!”

From what seemed out of nowhere, Vineyin delivered a kick to Fluttershy’s flank, forcing her to leap, letting Vineyin free. Once free, the peach pony got behind Fluttershy and butted her head against her back. A scream escaped Fluttershy as she collapsed to the ground in defeat.

“Pitiful,” mumbled Vineyin as she brushed the dust off her legs.

Fluttershy looked up toward her friends—seeing them stand idly by as she struggled to stand back up. Her voice no louder than a moan, she fought back tears and demanded, “Help me; don’t just s-stand there! Help!”

Yet even as the others realized how much their friend needed help, neither of them had the nerve to come up and fight Vineyin. The only pony daring enough to take the first step forward was Rainbow Dash—who still could manage no further than that one step.

“T-Teridax,” murmured Fluttershy. “H-help me!”

At that, Vineyin took a step back and snorted, “What? You think my Makuta is going to help someone like you?”

Those words proved nearly enough to make Fluttershy lurch right back up on her feet—but with her strength already so diminished, she could manage no more than to angle her head toward Vineyin. “D-don’t say that—of course he’ll help me!”

Vineyin wrinkled her nose. “You pony freaks make me sick to my stomach! I’m the one who saved Makuta’s heartstone and took the final blow for him during the Great Rescue. Let’s compare that to what you did: steal one of his stones. I deserve more respect from him than anyone living in the universe—especially someone of the likes of you!”

The familiar green-blue gradient flashed in her eyes as she smashed her hoof against the rocky ground. As her hoof came crashing down, a tint of red enveloped the black rocks behind her.

Vineyin closed her eyes and inhaled—then opened her eyes back up and revealed two shining cyan lights. “Spirit of Darkness,” she began. “Hear me, O Spirit of Darkness. It is I—your servant, Roodaka—and I have returned to you, dear Master. I have retrieved the final rock and set it here in Kumo, as you requested.

“O Makuta Teridax, the sister plane is yours for the taking. When Spherus Magna falls under your control, this place they call Equestria will be ours! The Brotherhood is eternally grateful for your promise to expand our territory.”

A low rumble shook the ground beneath the ponies’ hooves; it was enough to knock Rarity into the dirt and make Spike fall off Twilight’s back. Darkness clouded the sun in what seemed a matter of seconds, bringing with it barely audible words: There is but one task I still require of you, servant.

At that, the peach pony turned around to face the red stones. “What is your request, Spirit of Darkness?”

Everyone within the vicinity listened as the ghastly voice commanded, Get the Elements of Harmony out of our path.

A grin turned up the corners of the pony’s mouth. “As you wish.”

At that point, Roodaka closed her blue eyes and let the darkness take over. Had she the strength, Fluttershy would have picked herself up and stepped away—but instead could only lie down as Roodaka underwent a horrifying metamorphosis.

The creature of darkness stood up on her rear hooves and let the shadow of Makuta take over her entire being. One by one, patches of her skin seemed to peel away and fall to the ground—a sight that sickened the watching ponies to their stomachs. The silvery ruby amulet seemed to tear through Roodaka’s skin and attach itself to what looked like a metal socket within metallic skin. Roodaka’s rear hooves were replaced by sharp, black feet and her front hooves were replaced with silver claws. Her once peach-colored skin was replaced by black and silver patches of metal—all of which led up to forming a creature beyond the ponies’ imaginations.

With that change came a beautiful, yet terrifying servant of the darkness. From what seemed out of nowhere, she spawned a staff in her left hand—but her right hand looked as if it had been cut off. It proved almost enough to make a cocky one like Rainbow Dash chuckle, as if to say, What could a one-handed monster do to us?

Fluttershy began trembling as she witnessed this alien being. I—I tried to fight that? she wondered. Oh, Teridax—help me!

Glimpsing toward the jittery pony, Roodaka sneered, “He’s not going to help you now, little pony.”

Her ears struck with vile lies, Fluttershy lied back in anticipation, waiting for Roodaka’s next blow to come. Just as expected, Roodaka shoved the pony off the rocky base with her foot. “Makuta is only loyal to those who swear to serve and protect him.”

“Fluttershy!” cried Twilight. Ignorant of Roodaka’s true intent, she rushed toward her injured friend one more time. “Fluttershy?” The last few blows dealt upon her body left the pony merely injured, but now there was no doubt about it: Twilight now stood in the presence of an unconscious pegasus.

A deep freeze took over Twilight’s body as Fluttershy’s breathing slowed. Even lying here now, she could visualize Fluttershy drifting away to fly above Celestia herself, floating upward until her soul got itself trapped within Roodaka’s clutches.

“You!” hissed Twilight. “Who do you think you are?!” Like Fluttershy before her, she found herself standing up to the monster.

A smile appeared upon the feisty creature’s face.

“I am only what the Brotherhood makes of me,” she responded. “Only what they say is what I shall ever be. All I have to do is follow Makuta’s orders, gain his respect—and maybe have a little fun somewhere in between.” Her smile grew even broader; Twilight swore she could see the metallic teeth lined within this creature’s mouth. “And now, little pony—well, now is the perfect time to have some fun!”

Right on cue, Roodaka’s stub of a right arm spawned an end to it: the likes of which came in the form of a hand made entirely out of red clouds. Hundreds of storms enveloped the arm, thundering and flashing before the Equestrians’ eyes. All these little storms spiraled up to Roodaka’s shoulder, down to her clawed fingertips.

To an ignorant bystander, it seemed as if no one, not even this foreign animal, could hope to control a gas-crafted hand—but Roodaka proved otherwise as she reached out and snatched Spike from under Twilight’s nose. Quicker than anyone could predict, the artificial claw extended itself toward the dragon and picked him off his feet. Consequently, Roodaka now had a hold of Twilight’s childhood friend.

Realizing how quickly it had all happened, Twilight jerked her head toward Spike and gasped. It seemed he was trying to squirm his way out of Roodaka’s grip, but could manage very little, if anything at all. “Twilight!” the dragon shrieked, only seconds left to free himself. “Help me!” But his cries for help, no matter how agonizing to Roodaka's ears, did nothing to free him.

“Master of Shadow,” Roodaka chanted. “See to it that this obstacle never again sees the light of day.” And with that, a portal appeared within the ground behind Roodaka. She grinned once more before flinging Spike down into the portal, leaving him screaming and flapping his undeveloped wings to no effect.

“Spike!” cried Twilight. “No—no, Spike!” Tears began leaking from her eyes. That little egg she’d hatched herself—all those years ago in Magic Kindergarten—now would become little more than a prisoner to the realm beyond Roodaka's portal. One day he was her best friend in the world; the next, he was nothing but a ploy in Roodaka's game. Alone, simply thinking about it made Twilight scream.

She could recall many times when others would push her over the edge—just to get a reaction out of her, yet no matter what they did to her, she felt no need to give them the response they deserved. Now she wasn’t the one being attacked; the closest person, her dearest relative’s very fate now rested in the audacious servant's hands.

“You monster!” she yelled, blinded by her own tears. “You—” But before she could let loose those final words, Roodaka grabbed her, as well.

Within a matter of seconds, everypony in the area had been plunged into the portal below—down into the uncharted abyss. It all happened too quickly for either of them to retaliate, to recall, to react. But as for what lied below: nopony knew.