Chapter 7
The Ponyville library lost much of its cozy demeanor when a squad of well-armed and severe looking Royal Guards were packed in between the bookshelves. Having Princess Celestia vanish from beneath their noses left the bulky stallions in an ill mood, and they weren’t shy about expressing it.
Suspended in a sphere of magic energy in the middle of the room lay the bat-winged pony, her hooves crossed over her face to shield her eyes from the Guards’ cold stares. Her coat was damp again, this time with sweat. As soon as Twilight had transferred her to their care, she’d started running like a hamster in a wheel until she’d inevitably collapsed from fatigue. There she had remained, curled into a frightened ball and refusing to answer any of the angry questions flung at her by the Guards. Their interrogation methods, with a heavy reliance upon spittle-filled shouting, had been less than productive, but they had persisted with the blind endurance of soldiers on parade drills.
Despite knowing just how unpleasant being on the receiving end of an angry Guard could be, Twilight couldn’t scrounge up much sympathy for the mare. The metal pendant with the crescent moon marking lay on a nearby table, and Twilight glowered at the metallic reproduction of Nightmare Moon’s cutie mark. The only thing keeping her from exploding herself was the determination to do things properly and as efficiently as possible. With the Princess’ life on the line, she couldn’t afford to be angry. She couldn’t afford to feel any guilt.
Everything she did was methodical. Parchment, ink, and every reference guide she could possibly require covered the circular table beneath the levitating mare. Suitably prepared, she had proceeded to debrief Spike and – once the doctors were done – Rainbow Dash. Twilight had dug out every detail she could before they’d ushered her out of her bedroom, leaving the bandaged pegasus to sleep in the same bed Twilight had left Fluttershy in hours before.
Fluttershy. Twilight considered the name Spike had given her. Even as pathetic looking as she was, it hard to reconcile such a gentle-sounding name with how thoroughly Fluttershy had savaged Rainbow Dash.
With the sun trapped behind a permanent eclipse, it was hard to tell how long the soldiers had taken, but by the time Twilight was ready, every stallion in the Guard looked cross enough that she found herself reconsidered the wisdom in leaving them in charge of their prisoner.
Twilight moved to the center of the room. Copious notes covered the table in neat lines of ink like some bizarre wallpapering experiment gone horribly wrong. It wasn’t much as far as a ‘Twilight study session’ went, but it was a start.
She picked out the clipboard bearing the most germane notes and double-checked them out of habit. The sphere of magic shifted a shade lighter as the Guards maintaining the spell dropped the sound-dampening component. Twilight spoke slowly, her words delivered with the calm authority of a bored lecturer. “I talked to Spike. He tells me your name is Fluttershy, and that you claim to be a thestral.”
Fluttershy raised a single tufted ear, but otherwise remained motionless.
“Which is quite funny, really, as thestrals don’t exist. The universities in Canterlot will tell you that they’re just an old tribal myth. The few representations of bat-winged ponies in the oldest of illustrated manuscripts are metaphorical. Symbolic.” Twilight began to pace around the table and the magical prison, her voice growing more animated the longer she spoke. “They’re just a bored artist’s visual short-hoof to help the illiterate ponies of the age. They represent those who sided with Nightmare Moon in her assault on Equestria so long ago, in the same way all those who stood with Princess Celestia are bathed in sunlight and wear golden haloes.”
The thestral’s ear tracked Twilight as she circled the table.
“So the last few hours are particularly difficult for a scholar such as myself to really understand. First, a living impossibility arrives in Ponyville in the dead of night, half-drowned and unconscious. Hours later, the Mare in the Moon returns after a thousand years of exile to foalnap Princess Celestia and declare the beginning of an eternal night.
“Two long-forgotten myths from ancient history returning on the same night? That is no coincidence.”
She paused, hoping for some reaction, but there was nothing. No response, no rebuttal, not even a desperate plea to use the bathroom. Nothing but the one infuriating ear following her every movement.
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Even more damning is that we found you wearing Nightmare Moon’s mark around your neck – right after you assaulted one of this town’s citizens who was in pursuit of the fleeing Nightmare Moon! It’s obvious you are working together! Now tell me where Nightmare Moon took Princess Celestia!”
Fluttershy let out a pathetic squeak when Twilight slammed her hooves down on the table. Curling up even tighter, she lay at the bottom of the magic bubble, shivering uncontrollably. A small pool of tears was forming in the lower curve of the bubble.
The rest of Twilight’s angry accusations fizzled. She felt like she’d caught herself shouting at a little filly. Decidedly uncomfortable, she lowered herself down and glanced over at the Sergeant of the Guard. He just shrugged. The sphere darkened as the soundproofing spell was restored.
Casting aside the clipboard with a groan, she retreated to the far-side of the library where the few ponies not in armor lingered. Twilight didn’t know how concerned she should be for Ponyville that the only ponies who hadn’t just panicked and wildly fled back to their homes were the same crazy ponies she’d suffered with yesterday. It only made matters worse that they, like the Guards, seemed to look to her for answers. She should have sent them on their way so she could continue her research and try to find the right answer, but something held her back.
The farmer – Applejack – removed her hat as Twilight drew closer. The way the hat shook in her grip as she glared past Twilight made it clear it wasn’t out of politeness. She’d helped carry the unconscious Rainbow Dash back to the library and had remained by her side until the doctors had forced her out with Twilight. A few smudges of crimson still stained her coat. “That thing still ain’t talking.” It wasn’t a question.
“No,” Twilight admitted. “And I’m not sure how I could get her to talk, either. If I hadn’t seen her attacking Rainbow Dash myself, I could never believe that a scaredy-cat like that could be working with Nightmare Moon. I mean, look at her. She’s a mess.”
“I’m not surprised. The Guards certainly put her through the wringer,” the decorator Rarity said. “It’s obvious she’s terrified.”
“But is she scared of us, or scared of revealing something she knows?” asked Twilight.
“I can make her talk,” Applejack said as she flexed the muscles in her leg, her target never leaving her sight.
“No!” Twilight said. “We are not savages. Princess Celestia may be gone, but we’re not about to throw away our laws for the sake of revenge. She’s a criminal and will be treated as such.”
Applejack had the decency to look ashamed at Twilight’s admonishment, but her eyes soon found their way back to the thestral, her grimace not far behind it.
“Yes, one can never lose their composure, even in the most extraordinary of times,” said Rarity. Her voice dropped a few degrees. “Though I certainly can sympathize. It’s not like the little beast doesn’t deserve it.” It had been Rarity who had provided Rainbow’s first bandages.
“What if this whole crying thing is just her playing possum?” asked Applejack. “You know, to throw us off the scent and make us think she doesn’t know anything?”
“It’s possible. I’m not exactly experienced with… interrogations…” The word left a sour taste on Twilight’s tongue. “So whether she’s so petrified with fear she can’t talk, or she’s just putting on a show, we’re stuck all the same.”
Rarity tapped her chin. “She’s quite a skilled actress if this is all just a part.”
“And I sent a summons to Canterlot for assistance with our prisoner, but that is going to take some time. If Ponyville is any indication, the Royal Guards will have their hooves full keeping things from becoming a full blown panic. So until then, I’ll just have to keep asking her questions and hope something changes.”
“Can’t you use some kind of unicorn magic to, like, read her mind, or make her talk?” asked Applejack.
“No!” Twilight and Rarity said together, disgust on both their faces.
“I told you, we’re not savages,” said Twilight, earning a nod from Rarity, though she ended up giving Twilight a sideways glance when Twilight continued. “Besides, it would take days, maybe weeks, to find such a spell.”
Applejack held up a placating hoof. “Sorry I asked. It was only a thought. I just, you know, hate sitting around doing nothing.”
“I don’t like it either. I’ll resume my questioning, but if the Guards couldn’t get it out of her…” Twilight sighed, hanging her head in defeat. “I knew something was going to happen tonight,” she muttered to herself.
“Hold up.” Applejack turned her gaze on Twilight. “You knew this was gonna happen?”
Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. “Not... exactly. During my studies I found an old prophecy saying Nightmare Moon would return on this night, and all my research suggested there was more to this than an old ponies’ tale, but…”
Rarity’s eyebrow gave a deliberate, graceful leap upwards. “But?”
“Princess Celestia wouldn’t listen to me!” said Twilight with a huff. “I told her something disastrous was about to occur! There were too many connections, too many references, all pointing to this event coming true.” She stomped her hoof. “And… and it’s all my fault! If I had just tried harder and made the Princess see what danger Equestria was in, she would never have sent me out to do something as worthless as making friends! Instead, we could have found whatever the Elements of Harmony are and banished Nightmare Moon all over again!”
Applejack and Rarity shared a glance. Rarity opened her mouth.
“Worthless?” The other two mares leapt aside as a fuzzy-pink explosion of frosting and cake batter blasted out of the kitchen. Pinkie Pie stopped in front of Twilight, shock and horror on her face, before levelling a dripping mixing spoon at Twilight like a dagger. “How can making friends be worthless? It’s the absolute opposite of worthless! It’s one of the best things ever!”
Twilight wiped a strand of the gooey batter from her face – and froze. The unshelved books that had been shunted to the walls to make way for last night’s intrusive party were spackled with batter. Dozens and dozens and dozens of them, all ruined. She looked at Pinkie Pie and croaked, “Why?”
Blinking, Pinkie Pie glanced around herself. Her cheeks grew crimson. “Oops! Oh, wow. I’m sorry, Twilight! I promise I’ll clean up everything!”
Twilight ground her teeth together. “It’s... fine.”
“Really?” Pinkie asked, leaning in closer with wide-open eyes.
“Yes. I’ll take care of them later. Right now, we have bigger issues than some... ruined books.” Just saying those words made Twilight wince. Adding another note to her list of reasons for why Ponyville was inferior to Canterlot – and permanently marking the kitchen as off-limits to Pinkie Pie – she looked at each of the mares. “We’re on a deadline. We need to find some way of getting our prisoner to talk before all of Equestria gets turns into an icicle.”
Rarity removed a speck of batter from her coat with a tendril of magic. “If you and the Royal Guard can’t get her to tell us what she knows, I dare say we won’t either.”
Applejack just snorted. “Y’all already know what I think we should do.”
“Why don’t we just talk to her?”
They all turned to stare at Pinkie Pie. Applejack spoke first. “What?”
Pinkie Pie gestured at the mare in the magic bubble with her mixing spoon. “Why don’t we just talk to her and see if she’ll help us?”
“Sugarcube, if you didn’t notice, that’s just what everypony’s been doing. And she didn’t tell us nothing.”
Pinkie’s shook her head. “That wasn’t talking. That was shouting.”
“And she deserves it!” said Applejack, anger souring her voice. “She helped kidnap the Princess and beat Rainbow Dash black and blue! I’m not gonna shed any tears just because she is having a rough time.”
“Would you want to talk to us if you were in the big bubble?”
Muttering something beneath her breath, Applejack turned away.
“I’ll admit, I lost my composure at the end there. But my inquiries were calm and reasonable.” Twilight rubbed her leg. “For the most part. But we don’t have the luxury of waiting around and hoping she decides to talk to us when she feels like it. Equestria doesn’t have that long.”
Rarity stepped forward. “Pinkie does have a point, darling. We’ve trying forcing the information out of her, but that bat pony–”
“Thestral,” interrupted Twilight.
“Pardon?”
“She’s a thestral, not a bad pony.”
The lines at the corner of Rarity’s eyes tightened. “Thestral, then. What I was trying to say is that our guest doesn’t exactly look like she’s in much shape to answer anything at all. Do you really think more shouting is going to help when she’s like… well, that?” She nodded at the unmoving Fluttershy.
“She’s a criminal who helped return Nightmare Moon and foalnapped our Princess,” said Twilight stiffly, fighting to keep the last of her patience from unravelling. “We don’t have time to play nice with her like she’s just some common criminal from a backwater town like Ponyville. If I don’t get that information out of her soon, then all of Equestria is in danger. Understand?”
“Backwater town?” Rarity let out a most unladylike snort. “Why, the nerve! I will be the first to admit this isn’t Manehattan or Canterlot, but this is still my home! And, and...”
“Hey there. Everypony take a deep breath.” Stepping between the two, Applejack calmly met Twilight’s irritable gaze. “Look, Twilight, I don’t want to see her get off easy anymore than you do. But these ponies here, they’re good friends of mine. I trust them, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I reckon they’re on to something.” The corner of her mouth turned up into a half-smile. “We’ve already tried the stick. Maybe it’s time for the carrot instead?”
Twilight’s frowned as she looked from one mare to the next. The argument was sound, rational, and she could find no flaw in their logic. Her frown deepened. “Fine!” she said loudly. Even to her own ears she sounded uncomfortably close to a petulant foal throwing a fit, eliciting a long sigh from Twilight. “Sorry. You’re absolutely right.”
“Aw, you don’t have to apologize!” Pinkie Pie declared as she leapt forward and gave Twilight an uncomfortably tight hug. “You’re just all topsy-turvy upside down because Princess Celestia is missing and there’s a big monster on the loose and you feel responsible but don’t know what to do. We’ve all been there before!”
Blinking, Twilight looked over at the other two mares. “Is she always like this?”
Applejack shrugged. “That’s just Pinkie Pie.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Rarity added. “Eventually.”
Twilight disengaged from Pinkie’s tight grip. “So… what do you recommend?” Twilight asked as she picked dried batter from her coat with a burst of magic.
“A party!” Pinkie declared as she reared back in a shower of confetti.
“No,” all three mares said as one.
Pinkie Pie dropped back down with a dejected look.
“I reckon we could start by making the Guards wait outside,” said Applejack as she rubbed her chin. “I don’t think having spears jabbed in your muzzle all night is gonna make any pony talkative.”
Rarity blanched. “Let’s not be hasty, now. I’m all for trying something new, but what if she tries to escape again? You saw what she did to Rainbow Dash.”
“Don’t remind me,” grumbled Applejack.
A dozen books flew across the room to begin circling a beaming Twilight. “I know! I’ll look up a spell on how to keep her from flying away. The differences between thestrals and pegasi shouldn’t be too hard to account for, with the proper research.”
“And how long would that take?” Rarity asked sweetly.
The books wavered in flight before dropping one by one into a neat pile.
Applejack chuckled. “Y’all are just overthinking this.” She looked at Pinkie Pie. “Rope.”
“Rope?”
“Rope.”
“Will super industrial-grade streamers work?”
“Is that the stuff you used when you suspended Rarity’s grand–”
“Yep!”
“Then yes. Yes it will.”
“Applejack, what are you…” Twilight began, but she was cut off when a couple of brightly-colored spools passed by inches from her face.
Applejack caught them, casually setting all but one to the floor. Pulling out a length of green streamer, Applejack gave it a firm tug, testing its strength. She smiled. “Perfect.”
“Hold on,” Twilight said, raising a hoof like a referee calling a foul. “You’re not seriously suggesting that we’re going to keep the only lead we have for finding Nightmare Moon and rescuing the Princess bound up with… party decorations?”
Pinkie Pie bounced up and down. “Yup!”
Twilight’s mouth flapped uselessly. When she finally recovered, all she managed was a loud, “What?” Wrenching the roll from Applejack’s hooves with a burst of magic, Twilight unspooled some and began tugging at it. “That’s a ridiculous idea! We’re not going to… hah… to trust the future of Equestria… hrrn… to a piece… nnng… of... paper?” Panting as sweat dripped from her brow, Twilight brought the streamer up close to her horrified expression. “Just what is this stuff made out of?”
“Trade secret!” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle. She pulled the roll from Twilight’s slack hooves and tossed it back to Applejack.
“Trust me, Twilight, I’ve seen Pinkie Pie suspend a piano with that stuff before,” said Rarity. She gave Pinkie a piercing gaze. “Which is something she will never, ever, do again.”
Blushing, Pinkie mumbled something between an apology and an agreement.
Twilight watched as Applejack began to unroll more of the green streamer. She chewed on her lip. “This seems so… wrong. It’s wrong! They’re streamers!”
“They’ll do the job,” Applejack said as she moved to the center of the room, drawing the attention of the guards. Their commander, Sergeant Battleaxe, stepped between her and the inert thestral.
“Can I ask what you intend to do with our the prisoner?” he asked Applejack, though his eyes were on Twilight.
“It’s okay, Sergeant,” said Twilight. “We have a theory that we want to test.”
He shifted his gaze from Twilight to Applejack to the roll of streamers and back again. “You’re going to throw her a party.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, no. We think the prisoner will respond to a softer touch, so we’re going to release her and use those streamers to bind her wings and keep her from escaping.”
He continued to stare at Twilight. “That is a ridiculous idea.”
“... and I’d like your men to go outside as well, so she doesn’t feel as threatened.” Twilight ended on a nervous high note, like she was asking a question.
There was a long silence before Sergeant Battleaxe finally spoke. “If it were anypony else asking this, I’d laugh in their face. But these sorts of things are way above my pay grade. You’re the Princess’ star pupil, so I’ll trust your judgment on this one.” He leaned forward. “Just remember that if you don’t get something from the bat pony–”
“Thestral,” Twilight corrected, but the stallion just continued over her.
“–soon, I’m taking her back to Canterlot with me and we’ll see if we can make her talk again. And if she somehow escapes from this library...” He left the threat unspoken. Waiting for Twilight to nod her understanding, he turned and barked a command at the unicorn Guards. The sphere of energy flickered, and Fluttershy gave a short gasp as she was dropped unceremoniously onto the table beneath her.
The impact broke her out of her spiral of fearful trance, and Fluttershy jerked up with a start. Twilight had to remind herself that the thestral was an intimate player in the foalnapping of Equestria’s monarch when she saw the look of wide-eyed terror on Fluttershy’s face.
Fluttershy shivered like she’d just been pulled from an ice flow. “P-Please, don’t hurt me!” she whimpered as she pressed her back against the horse-head carving in the middle of the table.
“Smile, girls,” Twilight whispered from the corner of her mouth, giving Fluttershy her toothiest grin. The other mares followed her lead. “It’s okay. Calm down, Fluttershy. We’re not going to hurt you. We just want to talk.”
“Yes you are!” Fluttershy declared with an accusatory thrust of her hoof, although it came out as a hoarse squeak. “You’re going to give me to the Sun Tyrant so she can burn me up and eat me!”
The group of mare’s glanced at one another in confusion. “Does she mean Princess Celestia?” whispered Rarity through a plastic grin, earning a slight shrug from Applejack in return. Twilight looked around. Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen.
Pushing the hyperactive mare from her mind, Twilight focused her attention back on Fluttershy, keeping her tone low and reassuring like she were addressing a nervous foal. “I promise, we don’t want to hurt you. We just want to ask you a few questions. Is that okay with you?”
“You c-can’t fool me! I know who you are. You’re the Tyrant’s successor!”
That drew Twilight up short. “Successor? That’s… No. I’m just Princess Celestia’s student.”
Paranoid eyes continued to dark around the room as Fluttershy tried to keep everypony in front of her. Her slitted eyes lingered on the dour guards.
“Fluttershy…” Twilight began.
Fluttershy shook her head, mouth firmly closed.
Twilight pressed on. “Fluttershy, we just want to figure out what’s going on. We’re all confused and a little scared right now. I know we’ve… been a little harsh, but look at it from our perspective. A monster from ancient history has suddenly returned, the sun is trapped behind a perpetual eclipse, and we found you attacking one of our friends. Surely you can understand why we’re nervous?”
A cold pall came over Fluttershy’s face. She looked down at the table. “Is… is she okay?”
“Who?”
“Your friend.”
“Her name is Rainbow Dash,” said Applejack, no longer smiling. “And she’s in a pretty bad state. The doctors are with her now. She’ll get better, but they don’t know when she’ll be able to fly again, much less get out of bed.”
Fluttershy’s expression continued to sink lower and lower, until she looked on the verge of crying again. She clamped her eyes shut as she took a few calming breaths. “I didn’t want to … I mean, she grabbed me and, and I was really s-scared and… and… Oh, I never wanted to hurt anypony!” Fluttershy draped her hooves over her head. “This whole week has been a nightmare...”
Stepping closer, Applejack removed her hat and gave Fluttershy a measured look. “I ain’t pretending I know what’s all going on around here, but Rainbow Dash is a good friend of mine. I won’t lie and say I’m not angry at you for what you did, but… well, I’m willing to listen to your side of the story, if’n you’ll tell me the truth.”
“But I c-can’t…”
“I’m thinking you owe us an explanation at the very least.”
“I can’t!” Fluttershy repeated. “It’s against orders to talk to the enemy and… oh, shoot.”
“Orders? Why would you have orders not to talk to us?” Rarity kept her voice gentle, digging like an archeologist trying to free a priceless artifact.
"Because then I would be a traitor to the Legion!"
"Legion?" Twilight asked.
Fluttershy winced. "Double shoot."
"What's the Legion? Is that where you're from?" continued Rarity, but Fluttershy pressed her lips firmly together and shook her head.
“We’re not in the military, if that's what you're worried about. I’m just a farmer,” Applejack pointed to her side, "and Rarity makes dresses."
Fluttershy's gaze drifted to Twilight and the Guards. "But she works with the Sun Tyrant and commands their soldiers."
"I'm just Princess Celestia's student," said Twilight again, stressing the proper name. "And I don’t command anypony. We all just want to get our Princess back. Without her, the sun will never rise again."
“Which is a good thing!” Fluttershy closed her eyes like she was repeating a school lesson. “The Sun Tyrant uses her natural control over the sun to oppress all of ponykind. Those who displease her are burned to a crisp or melted in public as a warning to others. Only in the familiar safety of darkness can ponies truly be free.”
“That… I don’t...” Twilight trailed off.
“Fluttershy. Darling. The sun doesn’t melt ponies,” said Rarity.
“Maybe not right now, but it happened before! To my ancestors and, and my friends’ ancestors.” Fluttershy replied, a little more passionately. “Besides, living in the dark isn’t so bad. You’ll like it, once you get used to it.”
Applejack met Fluttershy’s gaze. "But without the sun, I can't grow any apples. We need the sun to grow our crops. My family needs those apples to live," said Applejack.
“I mean, I don’t want anything bad to happen to your families,” admitted Fluttershy with a grimace. “We don’t want innocent ponies to suffer.”
“And we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to your family, either,” said Twilight, taking a step closer. “Wouldn’t it be better if we found a way to resolve our differences without anypony getting hurt?”
Fluttershy pressed two hooves together. “But… how can I trust you?”
“How can we trust you?” Twilight retorted, though she softened it with a light smile. “Trust isn’t something you just possess. You have to earn it. And we can’t do that if we’re not willing to sit down and talk about it.” Fluttershy glanced at the Guards, but said nothing. “I know our introduction this morning hasn’t been the very best, and I know the guards aren’t exactly making things easier. So we have a… proposition for you.” Applejack moved forward as Twilight spoke, revealing the brightly colored streamers. “If you allow Applejack to bind your wings, the Guards will step outside and leave us alone. That means it would be just us, talking together.”
Fluttershy blinked a few times. “Why would you do that? You have superior numbers.”
“Because we’re not lying, Fluttershy. We really do want to get to know you.” Twilight had to give Rarity credit: she made it sound like Fluttershy was being invited to tea and sandwiches rather than asked to have her limbs bound like a prisoner.
“But that’s a tactical mistake. You’d be lessening your advantage for no gain.” Fluttershy blushed. “I’m sorry! Oh, that was rude of me.”
Rarity dismissed her concerns away with a nonchalant wave of her hoof. “Darling, please. We told you, we’re not soldiers. We just want to chat. And I don’t know about you, but I would feel a little more free to talk if there weren’t armed ponies around.”
Eyes moving from pony to pony before finally settling on the ribbons in Applejack’s hooves, Fluttershy’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”
“This is the best I could manage. The guard’s don’t trust you outside their magic. They want to haul you off to Canterlot tonight. But this way, you can stay here, with us.” It was an exaggeration, but under the circumstances, Twilight felt entirely justified.
“Just… no questions about anything military related. Please.”
“We told you, we’re not soldiers. We just want to get to know you as a pony and not just as an enemy.”
Surrendering to the inevitable, Fluttershy nodded and stepped down from the table. Applejack advanced carefully. There was mutual tension as they eyed one-another.
“Hold still now,” Applejack said as she unspooled a length of green streamer and began wrapping it around Fluttershy’s barrel.
As she watched Applejack bind a mythical breed of pony with high-strength party favors so they could obtain the information they needed to save Princess Celestia from an ancient monster, Twilight contemplated the long road that had lead her to this very moment.
She sighed.
“There!” Applejack stepped back to admire her work. “I reckon that there knot would hold a charging chimera.”
Fluttershy wheezed, looking a little pale. “It is certainly… tight.”
Rarity moved forward with an air of refined graciousness. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take a look at it? Fabric bindings and ribbons are part of my calling, after all.”
“I think a farmer like myself can manage a simple knot,” Applejack replied, rolling her eyes.
“Really tight…”
Twilight thanked her lucky stars when Rarity pretended not to notice Applejack’s reply. Only one day in Ponyville and she could see there was plenty of room for drama between them. If they could be friends, then maybe she really didn’t know anything about friendship.
Or maybe this friendship thing was just as confusing and worthless as she’d always maintained.
“Could someone, um, undo it just a bit? No? Okay...”
Focusing on the quietly murmuring thestral, Twilight couldn’t keep a smirk off her face. Despite her down on the farm sensibilities, Applejack couldn’t help but put a little bow in the final knot, making Fluttershy resemble a very sullen Hearth's Warming present.
Satisfied Fluttershy wasn’t going anywhere by wing in the near future, Twilight gestured for the Guards to excuse themselves. They complied slowly, barely glancing away from the bound up thestral.
As the rest of the Guard’s filed out into the late-morning darkness, Sergeant Battleaxe paused in the doorway, looking at Twilight from beneath his helm. “We’ll be right outside. Shout if you need us.”
Twilight wished she was as confident as the smile she flashed him.
Fluttershy watched them carefully. She felt her body uncoil a fraction when the last armored stallion disappeared.
“This feels so much better,” Rarity declared as she filled her lungs. She smiled at Fluttershy. “I feel like I can breathe easy again. Don’t you?”
Fluttershy tried to move her wings. “Not really.”
“So why don’t we just get to know each other?” Rarity continued over her, stretching her gleaming smile even wider. “We can just put this little disagreement behind us and start fresh.”
‘Little disagreement’ was putting it mildly, but Twilight forced another smile to her face, nodding along with Rarity’s words. “Yes! That’s a fantastic idea!” She stuck out her hoof. “Hello Fluttershy, I’m Twilight.”
“Oh.” After a moment Fluttershy returned it, though her eyes never quite met theirs. “Uh… hi. I’m Fluttershy.”
“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” the eponymous pony shouted as she leapt into the middle of the group, a mountain of food trays swaying from side to side on her back. There was an explosion of confetti as she threw her arms wide to the cry of party horns. “And welcome to Ponyville! I don’t know what bat ponies like to eat–”
“Thestrals!” said Twilight.
“–so I decided to bake a little bit of everything for your official greeting! I got cakes and pies and cupcakes and donuts and eclairs and those little swirly cinnamony sticks and cookies and muffins and brownies!” Pinkie Pie pointed out each item in turn, somehow managing to avoid sending the tower of baked goods crashing to the floor. As she spoke she laid out each tray around her until she was a cheerful island in a sea of sweet-smelling treats. “And I even have some ice cream for dessert!”
Fluttershy peeked out from around the horse-head statue she was crouched behind, eyes wide with alarm.
“So what do you want to start with? I know! How about a cupcake?” She stomped on one of the trays and launched a barrage of cupcakes into the air. As they came down she caught each one with the deft hoof of a circus pony, the stunning display only marred by Pinky’s devouring of every other cupcake until her cheeks bulged like a greedy chipmunk. Setting the survivors out across the table she gave Fluttershy a puffy grin before swallowing the whole lot.
How she managed it without choking would force Twilight to pour over her anatomy books in the coming days.
Fluttershy kept a wary eye on Pinkie Pie as she slipped out from behind her refuge. Bending low, she sniffed carefully at one of the cupcakes. She stuck out her tongue and tentatively licked the tower of multi-colored frosting. Her expression widened. “Oh my!” she gasped. She picked it up and inspected it closely before taking another nibble. A muffled moan escaped her lips. “What is this made of?” she asked, licking her lips clean. “It’s delicious!”
“Just flour and milk and eggs and butter and salt and milk and flavoring,” Pinkie Pie rattled off as she popped another in her mouth. She gave a crumb-filled smile. “And best of all, sugar!”
Applejack looked at the kitchen. “So that’s where you’ve been hiding.”
“Yup! Can’t have somepony new not get the full Pinkie Pie greeting!” she announced proudly. “Although I think I’ll save the party till after we get the Princess back. Don’t need any mopey-dopey party-poopers around, after all.”
“That sounds like a smart decision,” Twilight said. She watched Fluttershy finish off the cupcake and reach for another. “So, Fluttershy, what do you normally eat?”
“Me?” She swallowed. “Nothing special. Mushrooms and lichen soup and spore bread. Stuff like that.”
Pinkie Pie stuck out her tongue. “Ewwww! That sounds icky! What, do you live under a rock?”
“Pinkie Pie!” chided Rarity, although her face had turned a shade of green. “Don’t be so rude to our guest just because her cuisine is different. I’m sure for bat ponies like her–”
“Thestrals!”
“–that sort of food is very tasty.”
Fluttershy picked up a third cake. “It’s really not.”
Rarity deflated. “Oh.”
“So the fangs are just for show?” asked Applejack.
Fluttershy’s mouth snapped shut. She blushed. “We’re not carnivores,” she said defensively. “I don’t care what the propaganda says.”
“I wasn’t implying nothing,” Applejack added quickly. “I just, you know, never seen a pony like you before.”
Rarity nodded. “They certainly are a striking feature.”
Fluttershy glanced away, her cheeks crimson. Twilight watched her run her tongue over her teeth.
“Still, I think they’re quite impressive. Dangerous and exotic,” Rarity continued, her voice growing more excited as she paced from side to side. “I can see it now. A line of dark dresses for the adventurous mare to wear about town. Nocturna, I’ll call it! Shades of silver and midnight blue, with a night’s sky of gems sewn into the – gah!” There was a wet squish as she stepped onto an éclair, splattering cream over her leg.
There was a chorus of laughter as she danced backwards, shaking her leg wildly. Catching herself, she just gave Pinkie Pie a single burning look before lifting her nose into the air and marching away, the squish-clop-squish-clop following her all the way to the bathroom. Even Fluttershy had a faint smile on her face.
Twilight helped herself to one of the cookies, careful not to repeat Rarity’s mistake. It really was quite good. “Considering your diet, does that mean you’re a subterranean species?”
Fluttershy dropped her half-eaten cupcake, her body suddenly stiff. “No!” she almost shouted, her voice stilted. “We do not live underground or in caves or in the mountains or anywhere really dark and rocky!”
Twilight winced. “Sorry! I promise, I wasn’t prying. I just want to get to know you better. You’re the first thestral any pony has met in a thousand years, and there are a lot of blanks to be filled in.”
Fluttershy sat down again as some of the tension leaked out, leaving her looking forlorn. “Have other ponies really forgotten about us? We were… I thought you hated us?”
Applejack shrugged as she helped herself to a treat. “I can’t say I ever heard of you or your kinfolk before. And I reckon if Twilight doesn’t know anything about you bat ponies–”
“Thestrals!”
“–then nopony else does, either. She’s a pretty smart cookie.” She looked down at the half-eaten cookie in her hoof. “Uh, no pun intended.”
Twilight placed a hoof against her own breast. “Fluttershy, if there’s any questions you feel uncomfortable answering, just let me know and I won’t ask them again. We can just skip it and move on.” She glanced around the library. “Oh! What about books? What sort of books do you like to read?”
Taking a slow bite from her cupcake, Fluttershy mulled over her thoughts. The other ponies stood by as she quietly chewed her meal. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but after so long without anything more than a hoof-full of dried rations, she was utterly famished. And whatever sugar was, it was incredible.
But it was more than just hunger gnawing at her insides now. She could feel them watching her, patiently waiting for her to continue. Everything had seemed so certain before, she thought as she took another bite. I was surrounded by guards and being interrogated by the Sun Tyrant’s own student. But now? She glanced around herself. The guards are gone, I have food in my belly, and I’m being asked what sorts of books I like to read. These are the enemy? The same ponies who pulled me from the river Dusk left me to die in?
The cupcake took an age to finish. When Fluttershy finally spoke, her voice was a dessicated whisper. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Why are you treating me so nice?” She looked from one mare to the next, finishing on Twilight. “You’re supposed to hate us. We fought against your Princess! I’m your prisoner. You’re supposed to be torturing me for information, or using your magic to rip open my mind and taking what you want to know. Instead you’re… you’re feeding me sweets and talking to me like… like I’m just another pony… and it’s my own kind who want to hurt me!”
The others stood in shocked silence as she turned away, hiding her face behind her mane – but not before Twilight spotted more tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “It’s like everything I know is wrong! I was told all my life that we were the loyal ones, the honorable few who stood by the True Princess when she rose against the Sun Tyrant. I used to be p-proud of that. But now?” Her whole body shook as she struggled to keep talking. “My enemy is feeding me cakes while my own unit tried to… to kill me! They tried to murder me and if you hadn’t… if you hadn’t...”
The struggle was over. Sobbing, Fluttershy collapsed. She shook uncontrollably as she curled in on herself, once again reduced to a whimpering little filly in front of her people’s destroyers. Her shame scoured her throat as she wailed.
Something soft and warm grappled with Fluttershy. She stiffened, her muscles tensing as a decade of stern military training took control. Fluttershy lay there, frozen in place, as Pinkie Pie began to hum a little lullaby to her. “It’s okay,” she said as she hugged Fluttershy close, rubbing the thestral’s back. “Just let it all out.”
Attack them! They’re the enemy! her drill instructor shouted through the vast expanse of her memories, his voice overlaid across her Aunt’s. Attack! they demanded. Attack! Attack! Attack!
She felt a second, third, and then a fourth pair of arms embrace her. She was trapped. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity had surrounded her. It was a combat threat, a gross violation of private space, and brought about by a pathetic display of sentimentality and emotion unbefitting a Legionary. Her thoughts hardened. She knew what she had to do.
Wrapping her arms around Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy hugged her back.
“What. The. Hay.”
Five pairs of shocked eyes glanced up the stairs to find Rainbow Dash standing there, balanced atop a pair of crutches halfway down the stairs, her body wrapped tight in a cocoon of bandages. She ground her teeth together. “Okay. Seriously. Just what in the name of Celestia is going on here?”
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It's alive!
YES, finally this story is updated. Thank you, Deamon.
Nice to see an update on this great story after so long, I am really happy to see it around again. I wonder his infiltrators have been known to pull out their wings and fangs to pass as the enemy? I wonder if Shy is much less scared of horrifying creatures then even in the show.
Happy to see you're okay! Great chapter as well. Though I'll have to reread the rest to remember what's going on.
Ohh reread time!! Glad to see more of this.
This fic:
See, I knew there was a reason I kept this fic in my faves. Always hoped it'd update again.
Little fuzzy on the finer details seeing it's been so long since it last updated, but I'm so game to see more! So hopefully this isn't just a fluke, and plenty more chapters are on the way soon.
That's whatcha get for letting yourself get beat up by Fluttershy of all ponies, RD--you miss out on things.
Ah heck, didnt realize I caught up to this so quickly. This is certainly an interesting AU, one i would love to read more of :3
I've certainly missed this story.
Maaaaan i was waiting for this.
Well! Wasn't expecting to see another update to this! Welcome back!
"She’s a thestral, not a bad pony."
"She’s a thestral, not a bat pony."?
"with our the prisoner"
"our" or "the" but not both?
"flour and milk and eggs and butter and salt and milk and flavoring"
Was milk supposed to be in there twice? With Pinkie, I'm not sure.
And a good chapter, I found this. :)
Congrats on FINALLY updating. Hopefully this is the restart of something good.
I need to re-read it a little to remember what's going on
Wuuuuuuuuut?? New chapter what a day to be alive!
Oh hi, Rainbow! Glad you could join us!
Poor Fluttershy, how does it feel to be a traitor to a false worldview?
Keep going! ;)
7446429
Longest freaking week-long break ever? 🙃
Jeez, had to re-read all the previous chapters to know what was going on.
But happy to see an update!
So very glad to see this update. Love this fic. Glad you’re back and (presumably?) okay.
oh boy oh boy oh boy, is it Christmas already?
Alright, the necromancer that woke up the soviet spike gets a cookie!
Wonder if Thestralshy is fluffier than the average pone 🤔 questions that arise from hugs
I wonder what the fangs are for if they're not carnivores? Fruit holders I summrise
This updating
In any case, wonderful to see more of this. I especially appreciate Twilight struggling to understand this strange pony emotion called friendship as much as Fluttershy is. Looking forward to more.
8415211
Yes.
derpicdn.net/img/2019/1/20/1940444/large.png
I have missed Thestralshy, and I am eagerly anticipating what happens next. Will FLuttershy and Rainbow ever be friends? Will the Elements of Harmony be assembled despite determined military resistance? Will FLuttershy get to talk to animals? You have sparked my imagination, good author.
I have looked forward to this for years, thank you.
Please keep the resurrection alive? And more than once a year please.
9763359
so, you going to now?
it's a good story
well, now at any rate
the first few chapters got me so fuckin pissed
I hate cliffhangers, if you want to enjoy a good story despite it ending in the worst possible way this is your story soldiershy is awesome.
Well let's just wait for new chapter.
It is one of my favorite fics so I hope it will be finished before 2040.
This chapter was a refreshing contrast from the previous ones :)
Hey, Arkane here from Nailah's Reviewer Mansion
I've finished my review of your story, which you can find here
I enjoyed the read, and hope you plan to continue the story!
The review you requested is done, you can find it here : My little Reviews & Feedback
Bro you can't leave me like this
Brooooo
Hello, are you still active?, I beg you to upload a new chapter because this story is really amazing, I'm even willing to pay money if you continue this story!