Nopony Can Do That!

by bigbear

You Can Do Things Nopony Can Do!

Quickly, the Royal Guard arrived to quell the panic. Some guard ponies led the girls and Spike to Canterlot Castle. The guards were silent and kept their distance from Fluttershy. Spike, on the other hand, was talking to her non-stop.

“It was very cool when you were flying the train, Fluttershy,” said Spike animatedly. “Just like a Power Pony. When did you know you could do that?”

“I didn’t know...” Fluttershy whispered.

“And then when you just reached out and picked up the train, like it weighed nothing! How did you do that?”

“I didn’t know...” Fluttershy whispered a little louder.

“And if a train was so easy for you to carry, how strong are you? Ten times? A hundred times? A thousand times!”

“I didn’t know!” Fluttershy said and raised her foot as if to stomp in frustration.

Applejack quickly put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Whoa there sugarcube, maybe you oughta be a might careful with that hoof until we know more about what could be happening." She turned. "And you Spike, stop bothering Fluttershy. Them’s good questions, but you’ll probably learn the answers as soon as anypony.”

“Sorry Fluttershy,” said Spike.

Fluttershy froze. She never liked to get angry, especially at a friend like Spike. But what would a little stomp do?

Then she realized, it might not be a ‘little’ stomp. It might be a ‘big’ stomp! Fluttershy didn’t know what a ‘big’ stomp might do, but suddenly she didn’t want to touch anything or anypony. She shrunk away from her friend’s touch.

“You okay, Shy?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t want to hurt anypony,” whispered Fluttershy. She shut her eyes and shivered.

“You’ve done nothing bad, and a whole lot o’ good so far,” Applejack pulled her hoof away slowly and straightened her hat. “Just step lightly like you always do and you’ll be fine. Let’s go to the castle and see the Princesses. They and Twilight will figure out what’s going on.”

Fluttershy opened her great blue eyes and looked at Applejack.

Applejack had seen fear in those eyes many times before. But she had never seen Shy afraid of herself.

---

Fifteen minutes later, the guards led everyone through the great iron shod gates, into Canterlot Castle. The entry hall huge and ornate, with golden adornments on lavender walls and giant windows of stained glass. The guards detoured the group around the throne room, and moved down a series of smaller corridors. Even these side routs were lavishly decorated, with fantastic statuary, elegant paintings, and luxurious tapestries. The group was led through a door and into a large outdoor garden, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting.

“Welcome my little ponies.” Celestia smiled radiantly. Sunshine glistened off of the large white alicorn’s golden regalia. “I was troubled to hear of the distress on your journey, but gladdened to hear that nopony was hurt.”

“We hear tales of extraordinary deeds.” Luna stood ramrod straight. The midnight blue alicorn’s dark regalia was polished to an equally high sheen. “Let us adjourn to the Royal Study and you can tell us what hath occurred.”

“And we can tell you, why the Element Bearers have been summoned to Canterlot.” Celestia gestured toward the door.

Before anypony could move, all were shocked by a feeling, like something unimaginably powerful had shot through the garden past them, but otherwise left no blade of grass disturbed. A moment later there was a sound like thunder from within the castle.

Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all stood bolt upright, their eyes shocked fully open. They had all felt an immensely powerful magic spell shatter, like glass.

“The Keystone spells,” cried Celestia, “Come Luna, we will do what we can inside. Twilight, take charge outside.” Celestia and Luna bolted into the castle, leaving naught but golden and midnight blue trails in their wake.

“It's an emergency! Get everypony out of the castle,” Twilight cried to her friends.

“I’ll alert the commander of the Royal Guard!” called Spike.

The rest of the girls galloped and flew toward the castle door.

Twilight took off into the air. Then she had a thought; Fluttershy had done several amazing things recently... maybe she could help. Twilight called back, “Fluttershy, follow me!”

Twilight sped off, leaving a long trail of purple magic in her wake. Fluttershy followed. If anypony were left to notice, they would have seen a long yellow and pink trail behind her.

Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie rushed into the castle entry hall. Crowds of ponies were all atwitter, disturbed by Princess Celestia and Luna zooming past. But they were not sure what the excitement meant. Applejack yelled out, “Everypony evacuate the castle by orders of the Princesses!” Now they knew. The crowds bolted towards the doors.

“I’ll spread the word up in the tops of the towers,” called Dash. She sped away up the wide winding staircase, calling out, “Everpony, out of the castle!”

“I’ll take the Throne Room and the Archives” said Rarity, and galloped away down the hall.

“I’ll take the kitchens and the barracks,” said Pinkie, disappearing into the crowd of rushing ponies.

“I wish I knew what we are evacuating from,” said Applejack. Then the castle shuddered, and a loud grown drowned out Applejack’s voice. The ground dropped out from under her hooves a few inches, and the castle seemed to... tip... just slightly.

“That must be it,” Applejack opened the nearest door and called out, “Everypony out, now!”

---

Canterlot Castle was built on a plateau on Canterlot Mountain. A third of alabaster castle, including the highest tower that housed the suites of the Royal Pony Sisters, cantilevered majestically over the valley. The castle’s magical construction was one of the wonders of the ages, a testament to pony aesthetics, ingenuity, and mystic power.

Twilight and Fluttershy sped around the spires of Canterlot Castle until they passed the final castle wall and flew over the valley. They could hear the castle groaning, and there were rockslides wherever the castle attached to the rock.

Canterlot Castle was falling off the mountain.

Twilight and Fluttershy stopped a pony-length from the bottom of the castle and hovered.

Twilight grimaced in concentration. Her horn sparked, then flared like a purple star. The field she created was larger than anything Fluttershy had ever seen Twilight do before. The flare spread to cover the entire bottom of Canterlot Castle.

Fluttershy retreated and cringed away from the blazing purple magic. She started at the crash of falling rocks. Her body shook with fear.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight called through gritted teeth. “I need your help!”

“What am I supposed to do?” Fluttershy whispered.

“It’s just like the train,” Twilight pointed at the castle. “It's easier for me to hold things together when I'm outside the field, rather than inside, but still don't know if I can do this. And I don’t know how much you can help. But I know we are better when we work together!”

“Help you with the entire castle? I could never do that. Nopony can do that!”

“Just like nopony could shatter a crystal guardian, or carry a whole train. Right now you can do things nopony can do!”

“This is crazy!” Fluttershy thought. She couldn’t stop shaking. But Twilight needed her. That was more important than her fear. Tentatively she inched forward into the aura of Twilight’s magic. The purple field tickled as it rippled over her body. Fluttershy lightly touched her hooves to the bottom of the castle. She took in a breath, steeled herself, and started to push.

---

Inside the castle, Applejack finished clearing the last rooms on the ground floor and ended up back in the entry hall. Dash and Pinkie rushed into the hall from different directions moments later. “Clear?” asked Applejack. They all nodded.

“Where's Rarity?” Dash looked around.

“She was headed to the Throne Room and the Archives. We'd better go get her out.” Applejack led them down the hall yelling, “Rarity, where are you, we got to get out now!” The Throne Room was clear, so they went on to the Archives.

Dash got there first and flew inside. The Archive’s main hall was filled with rows and rows of massive wooden bookcases, stocked with ponydom's greatest collection of the wisdom of the ages. Near the back of the hall, next to the wall that faced the mountain, there was a great swirling mass of shadow. It roiled like it a boiling liquid. Around the edges of the shadow, sunlight from outside filtered through the cracks between the side walls of the main hall and the back wall against the mountain face.

“Over here!” Rarity yelled. She was up against the back wall, cut off from escaping by the shadows roiling about her.

“I’ve got you!” Dash sped toward Rarity. The shadow bubbled and popped, tentacles emerging and swiping at the blue pegasus. But Dash was too quick. The swipes were always a few hoof-lengths behind her.

Applejack and Pinkie scrambled through the Archive’s door, just as Dash scooped up Rarity. Tentacles of shadow converged toward the pegasus and the unicorn.

“We gotta distract it Pinkie!” Applejack twirled the rope she always carried and lassoed one of the tentacles. Pinkie pulled a mini-party cannon from her mane, and set it off, showering the shadow with confetti.

The roiling shadow roared and advanced toward the ponies at the door. This left Dash free to fly Rarity up and over the shadow and drop her with the girls.

The castle groaned and lurched again. The crack between the mountain side walls and the rest of the castle widened. “Time to take our own advice and get out.” called Applejack.

The floor fell away from them. They all scrambled in the air, and all but Dash began to fall.

---

Outside, a third of Canterlot Castle detached from the side of the mountain and began to fall. Twilight’s purple levitation magic kept the Castle together, but could not stop its descent. The only thing between the castle and the valley floor was a butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane and outstretched forehooves.

The bottom of Canterlot Castle dropped into Fluttershy’s hooves. She winced, tensed every muscle in her body, and flapped for all she was worth. It didn’t help, the castle kept falling. Fluttershy beat her wings faster... harder. The castle still fell.

Twilight screamed in agony. Purple magic roiled about her horn. The levitation field around the castle roiled in sympathy. Still the castle fell.

Fluttershy groaned and redoubled her effort, wings moving so fast they were buzzing. Her wings and shoulders burned. She closed her eyes. It had worked once before. “Please...” she pleaded. “Let me help Twilight save my friends in the castle.”

The fall continue, hoof width by hoof width. Then half a hoof width. Then a quarter. Miraculously, the castle’s decent slowed. Fluttershy beat her wings even harder, and the descent finally stopped!

“We’re doing it!” Twilight called.

“We are?” Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked up at the great expanse of stone, wrapped in Twilight’s purple magic. The enormity of the great castle she helped hold aloft with her wings and hooves loomed above her. But, she felt that together, the two of them could keep the castle from falling “We are!” Fluttershy called.

“I can feel great magic being worked. It’s Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, reweaving the Keystone spells from somewhere inside Canterlot Mountain,” Twilight was breathing heavily. “The spells anchor the castle to the ancient crystals in the caves there.”

Fluttershy’s wingbeats had slowed. But each beat was deliberate... powerful. Her panic was set aside for now. She could do this. Barely. “How long will it take the princesses to fix the spells?”

“I don’t know, but it feels like the spells are almost back,” Twilight scanned the places where the castle had come loose from the mountain. “I know this is crazy, but is there any chance we can push the castle back up to where it used to be? The castle and mountain will fit together perfectly then, so the Keystone spells should be stronger.”

Twilight wanted her to do more? Fluttershy felt panic returning, her heart rising in her throat. She swallowed hard to force it down. Her friends needed her.

“We can try.” Fluttershy put both hooves under the castle and accelerated her powerful wingbeats.

---

Inside the Castle Archive, the floor shook a final time and stopped falling. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie crashed into a heap on the floor of the Archive. They scrambled to their hooves. When the floor stabilized, the shadow retreated toward the back wall.

“Isn’t that the vault where the Elements of Harmony are stored?” Rarity pointed a hoof at the back wall, where the shadow was thickest.

Black tentacles converged on the back wall, penetrated the stone with a loud crash, then pulled a large, metal door off its hinges. The shadows covered most of a series of golden flashes, as dozens of protective spells were overpowered and shattered. The tentacles tossed the massive door toward the ponies at the archive’s front door. They all scrambled to get out of the way, and the door hit the floor with a mighty CRASH!

Tentacles flowed into the open vault, and moments later flowed out, with five necklaces of gold, each set with a unique jewel, and a golden crown with a jeweled purple star.

“Hey, those are ours, give ‘em back you tentacle meanies,” cried Pinkie.

The castle groaned and lurched again. But the sound was different this time, and the floor bucked up, rather than falling down. The cracks along the back wall closed, so no sunlight could get through anymore.

---

“Just right, hold it there, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “I can feel the Princesses reweaving the Keystone spells. They’re almost finished.”

“OK,” Fluttershy replied. Once she got over the bizarreness of the situation, there really wasn’t much more to be said about holding up the castle. Both ponies beat their wings in powerful steady beats. Twilight was straining, but looked like she could hold up her magic for a while longer. Once Fluttershy got into position, and her wings found their rhythm, all she had to do was keep flapping.

“I think you got hit,” Twilight said.

“Got hit by what?”

“I don’t think the crystal guardian shattered because it was old,” Twilight turned her head to face Fluttershy. “I think it shattered because you hit it really, really hard with your hooves. And if the spider was at full power, I think you got hit by lightning. Maybe many times. I’ll bet you were strong then and didn’t even know it.”

“When the spider flashed, it didn’t hurt... exactly.” Fluttershy ducked her head..

“It fits together," Twilight continued. “I don’t sense any levitation magic on the castle, other than my own. You must be pushing with an unimaginable amount of force to help keep the castle aloft. Your body would have to be incredibly tough in order to withstand the strain.”

“Oh...” Fluttershy whispered. She looked down at her body. It didn’t look any different than before.

Canterlot Castle suddenly lit up, with a golden radiance that rivaled the sun. Moments later, a deep indigo magic glow replace the golden radiance. The castle flickered, gold, then indigo, flickering faster and faster, until the castle seemed to glow both gold and indigo at the same time. There was a sound, like a chorus of bells ringing throughout the land, then both glows flashed to the horizon and disappeared.

“The Keystore spells are restored,” cried Twilight. “Celestia and Luna did it!” She smiled widely. The castle had been a home to her for years, and she was overjoyed that it was safe once more. “Let’s pull our support away slowly, Fluttershy, it should be safe now.”

Fluttershy released one hoof from below the castle. Feeling no strain, she released the other hoof. When nothing untoward happened, Twilight released the purple flare that had encompassed the bottom of Canterlot Castle. The castle made no unusual movement or noise. It was as again as solid as the mountain.

“Wooo…” whispered Twilight. She was dizzy from the strain of using so much magic. Her wing beats faltered.

Fluttershy zipped over to support the alicorn. After a moment, rhythm returned to Twilight’s wing beats. “I’m okay,” she said.

Twilight felt an anomaly in the flow of magic around her. She looked up toward the top of Canterlot Castle. “Look, up there!”

A loud rumble rocked the top of Canterlot Castle. Twilight and Fluttershy separated, and watched in horror as an explosion blew a huge hole in the roof, and black clouds billowed out. Three streams of shadow, like black rainbows, shot out of the hole. Two rocketed across the land toward the horizon in different directions, North and East. The third rose infinitely into the sky.

Fluttershy pointed at the stream flying North. “It’s taking the Elements of Harmony, I can feel Kindness receding to the North.”

Twilight did some mental calculation. There was no way she could keep up with the receding shadows. But..

“Can you follow it?” Twilight said.

“I don’t know.”

“There’s nopony else. Try to follow them, or we could lose the Elements,” Twilight said. Fluttershy looked hesitant. “Follow if you can, return if you can’t. For the girls. For Equestria!”

“I will,” Fluttershy said. She turned toward the North. The tail end of the shadow trail was already fading. She had no time to lose. With powerful wingbeats, she rocketed off after the Elements.

Twilight eyed Fluttershy’s departure. She compared Shy’s speed to the shadows, and did some more mental calculations. This just might work.

---

Discord slithered out of a crack in the side of Canterlot Mountain. He peered under the portion of the castle that cantilevered over the valley. His eyes scanned the underside, until her spotted two tiny hoofprints. Discord smiled. “Better and better!”

Comments

[kurusagi16]

Aha! I knew it! Discord is behind this! Except for the tentacles, that was probably somepony else's doing. Can't wait to see what happens next!

[Filraen]

Discord seems to be behind those crisis. It makes sense, however: after all, how would Fluttershy help resolving a crisis if there isn't a crisis to resolve?

While it isn't story breaking there's one thing that bothered me: Twilight seems to be too fine to have just exhausted magically (previous chapter, which happpened immediately before)

[bigbear]

Fair point. I surmised that it was easier levitating things from the outside then from the inside. I made an edit to try and make that clearer in the story.

[bigbear]

I am trying an experiment. I updated the title and description of the story. I'll be interested to see how that impacts how much traction the story gets.

[Meadow Feather]

Applejack had seen fear in those eyes many times before. But she had never seen Shy afraid of herself.

for some reason I wanted to cry when I read that line. Also HOOVES not hands!!!! I've seen that error too many times already!!