“FLUTTERSHY!!!”
Time had indeed resumed normally for Fluttershy, but at the same time she was hyper-aware of everyone around her. She could see Twilight dropping her sword and reaching into her bag with a look of alarm. Rarity and Sunset were only just turning towards her, their horns lighting up. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who the Manticore had run between to get to Fluttershy, were both diving towards the beast with looks of determination.
And Rainbow Dash, the one who had shrieked her name, had a familiar look in her eyes, a look that had haunted Fluttershy’s nightmares for years. It was a look that spoke volumes of her character. Her eyes were narrowing in righteous rage, the pupils narrowed, and a snarl was stretching across her face as she tensed, her wings flaring out.
It declared her intention to protect her friends… even if it meant sacrificing herself in the process.
‘No…’ she thought, feeling her heart fall into her stomach. ‘Not again… Not again…’ Fluttershy could see the Pegasus magic, a hazy muted blue, as it flooded the rainbow maned Pegasus’ wings.
Very few ponies knew that Rainbow Dash didn’t use her magic when flying. It was a self-imposed limitation, at first done as a means to train herself. After all, Pegasus magic aided in flight… but what if you were already a really fast Pegasus without the magic? What would happen if you flew with it? Well, one thing Rainbow hadn't taken into account was inflation. Without anywhere for her already rather potent magic to go, it just kept building in her, stretching her reserves bigger and bigger, getting stronger and stronger.
And then she used it.
That was what started the Cloudsdale incident, and Rainbow Dash decided that using her magic like that was a last resort, if that. It was dangerous. It was lethal. Her body could barely handle the strain of that much power running through it.
And she was about to use it.
‘No…’ Fluttershy didn’t want this. ‘No…’ She didn’t want her best friend to take that risk, not for her. ‘No.’
Twilight was now pulling a much longer device than her gun from her pack. Like the gun she tried to shoot Nightmare Moon with, it had a barrel, though this one was longer and thicker. She was speedily… bending it in half? Oh, it was meant to open that way. She stuck something in it and closed it with a snap.
Whatever this thing was, it was likely just as lethal as the gun. If Twilight was fast enough and accurate enough, she would likely kill the Manticore before it could kill Fluttershy, and hopefully before Rainbow Dash could act.
While that should have reassured Fluttershy… it didn’t.
Why did it seem that violence was suddenly the answer to everything? Fluttershy hated violence. Violence led to hate. Hate led to anger, and anger led to violence. This was a cycle she knew all too well, and refused to be a part of.
But if she didn’t do something, someone was going to get badly hurt. Her, Rainbow Dash, and/or the Manticore.
“Well, if it’s power you need, I have it.”
If she had power she could stop them, stop the Manticore herself. Then there would be no need to kill it, and no need for Rainbow Dash to risk herself.
“It’s all or nothing though. If you use my power against the Manticore, you’ll kill it.”
But… she didn’t want to kill the Manticore. Chances were they had just encroached in its territory. It was acting odd, yes, but the world was currently in a permanent Night with living shadows attacking anyone and anything. Odd stopped applying days ago.
“Make your choice, little Sapling. Power, or no power?”
She didn’t like these choices.
“Kill, or be killed?”
She didn't want either one.
“Death… or Life?”
And with a suddenness that would have given a cheetah whiplash, Fluttershy understood.
“Life,” she whispered, her eyes glinting with resolve and her heart beating with the surety of her decision.
“Good! Very good! I look forward to meeting you, little Sapling. Until then…”
“Stop.”
Everything came to a dead, screeching halt, including the Manticore. Everyone was slightly confused, not sure why they had stopped. They all looked at Fluttershy, who was the one that spoke, and gasped.
Her eyes were shining with green light.
She stared up at the Manticore, not with determination, not with anger, and not even with pity. She smiled and raised a hoof, petting its red mane. Some of the green energy flowed gently, like smoke on a breeze, down her leg and into its head. To the shock of everyone, it started to relax, and then purr, of all things.
“Come on, what’s wrong? What scared you so badly into lashing out at everything?” she asked in an almost cooing voice, her eyes still shining.
The Manticore gave what sounded like a half whimper, half growl.
Fluttershy nodded, glancing at the stump that used to have a paw attached to it. “I know she did, but she was protecting us.” She looked around at the unicorns of the group. “Do any of you know anything that could reattach his leg?”
Sunset, Rarity, and Twilight blinked. “Ah…” Twilight hesitated, before raising a hand. “I can’t reattach it, but I can close the wound.”
The Manticore growled at her, hiding its injured leg away from her. Fluttershy tapped its nose, getting its attention. “She won’t hurt you anymore, I promise.” She looked at Twilight. “Right?”
Twilight barely restrained herself from shuddering. Those eyes shone with kindness, love, and the desire to help everyone around her… but there was also a glint in them.
There was steel in this Pegasus.
“Sure. I won’t hurt him.” She said. She was very proud of herself for not stuttering.
Fluttershy looked at the Manticore with a smile. “See? Let her heal you.”
The Manticore still growled, but presented its paw. Twilight slowly walked up, trying to be as non-threatening as she could. Whether she was trying to not aggravate the Manticore, or Fluttershy, she wasn’t entirely sure. Her hand lit up with purple magic and she started to direct it into the limb.
“Now, why were you acting out? What happened?” Fluttershy asked the Manticore, drawing its attention off of Twilight so she could work.
It growled and gave a weird half-snort and half-whimper.
Fluttershy gasped. “What? Oh no!”
“What? What happened?” Applejack asked.
Fluttershy turned to them, looking badly rattled. “It’s the Shadows. They’re attacking everything in the forest,” she whispered. “His family was caught in it, and he lost his mate. He was hiding with his daughter, and we were approaching the hiding spot.”
Applejack’s eyes widened, and she felt her heart clench. Her eyes narrowed and she snarled. “She’s tearing families apart?!” she growled in rage. “I’m beginning to think Twi’s got the right idea here!”
A hoof on her back made her flinch, but she calmed when she realized it was Pinkie Pie, giving her a sad smile. After a moment, she responded with one of her own.
“We need to hurry.” Sunset said into the sudden silence. “Our absolute goal is to find the Elements before Nightmare Moon and get back to Canterlot with them. The Princess will know what to do then.” Her eyes roamed the faces of everyone gathered, and she sighed. “I know you want revenge,” she said, more to Twilight than anyone. “I understand. Believe me, I do… but this is more important. Nightmare Moon is causing death and destruction on a level not seen in hundreds of years. The Elements of Harmony are the only thing that we know can stop her. Recovering them intact is our primary goal.”
Twilight frowned, but kept her focus on the leg, carefully pulling the Manticore’s hide over the stump and quickening his healing factor.
Everyone agreed with her, some a bit hesitantly, and when Twilight was done and the Manticore was on its way, they resumed their trek deeper into the woods. Some a bit more determined to have a go at the Nightmare.
Man this si getting good, but feel worst for Luna and Celestia, when this isall over there going to be a ton of guilt and regret over this.
just waiting for twilight to pull an M60 out of a pocket dimension or you know a 50. cal. sniper rifle
Hmmm....,I have a sneaky suspicion that Sunset will be the Element of Magic......so:
Rainbow Dash: Loyalty
Pinkie Pie: Laughter
Fluttershy: Kindness
Applejack: Honesty
Rarity: Generosity
Sunset Shimmer: Magic
Twilight Sparkle: Forgivness
Reason I said forgiveness is because that is a very important (but often overlooked) part of friendship, you need forgiveness to help yourself when someone does something wrong to you to give them another chance
7768786 celestia will probably kill herself with guilt for all of this
7768927
I hope not. Celestia has much to answer for but killing her self would only compound on her mistakes.
Overall nice to see how things are playing out and how Twilight's actions can affect the group. The manticore was pretty forgiving of her for possibly causing an injury that could be detrimental to caring for its family.
Twilight got a nice gun
7768969 only detrimental? the manticore's only hope would be to stay at fluttershies, an injury like that is fatal in the wild, even if healed
Not much I can say other than excellent job on this chapter. Once again, the action, emotional content, exchanges and future chapter content are all well done in all the right places. And, yeah, I particularly liked the scene with Fluttershy and Sunset talking down Twilight. And, yeah, as one of the other reviewers already said, the idea that there could be a seventh Element of Harmony that, while not needed to make the other Elements work, DOES still increase the power of the Elements when added and that the aforementioned seventh Element could be Forgiveness DOES actually make a lot of sense (especially since the "seventh element" thing could double as half-Mythology Gaga/half-Foreshadowing for "the Legend of Everfree") . At any rate, I will definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
I hope that when Nightmare Moon changes to Princess Luna, she will be jailed and/or face true consequences...
If 1/3rd of Ponyville's population was killed, then Princess Celestia comes in to take her sister back to Carterlot without ANY consequences... (crime committed after her banishment, not before or during... after) That would be the limit which my logical mind wouldn't be able to comprehend.
7768821 I agree with you,
Got reminded of this and decided I might as well post it.
heh not that impressive, the way you wrote, it could have more potential
7769685 It's the old 'how responsible is the good person for their actions when they're turned into a monster?' question. There should be no coercion involved. Consider how guilty Luna felt in canon when she hadn't killed anyone. When she's turned back to normal, she's almost certainly going to try and kill herself. Forget the Tantabus, she'll need a suicide watch.
What I don't understand is why in this version of reality, Nightmare Moon is killing anyone. Well, I understand from a Doylian view, it's a cheap way to raise the stakes make this story 'darker and edgier'. It takes more skill to make something dark and edgy without pulling out the random slaughter card. However it's directly opposed to the show's canon.
AU's are fun, but if you're starting from canon and diverging, you have to keep those aspects of canon that aren't directly affected by the divergence point, or at least have a good reason for why they diverged. Otherwise it's basically cheating. The real trick is using all canon elements to pull of an AU.
Case in point, in A Different Bridal Path, Twilight has ended up at the Crystal Empire, alone after defeating Chrysalis at the wedding by basically stabbing her with her horn while she was in the middle of a beam duel with Celestia. That's the divergence for the AU. The magical explosion teleported her to the far north. She was rescued by Thorax, who'd fled north after the battle and found caves near the Empire to rest (technically in canon he says he came to the caves because of the love radiating from the Empire, but I can easily see him going to the area to hide and then going to the caves underneath it once the Empire is restored. )
At the key point, Thorax touches the Crystal Heart, and rather than Twilight knocking the heart out and getting trapped, she rescues Thorax from being speared by the shield that grows up. Since they don't have the Heart, Thorax fakes it by using the canon ability of changelings to turn into non-pony forms. By touching the heart, he's linked to it, and like the heart, he basically collects positive emotional; energy and converts it to magic, so he can act as a conduit.
All canon elements, put together differently.
7798265
Weren't Celestia and Luna both cannonicaly warriors in the past before the banishment? I feel like she would be no more upset than she originally was... about betraying her sister and her people... im sure there was untold damage in the show where people were hurt.