The Kindness of Strangers

by Wheller

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Morning came quickly, Fluttershy returned along with her friends to find the Princess still sitting beside the colt as he lied back.

"So, he's the one who wondered into town?" Rarity asked. "I say Fluttershy; you must have had quiet the effect on such a handsome colt for him to faint upon seeing you."

Fluttershy turned a bright pink, almost matching Pinkie Pie as her embarrassment filled her face.

"Just look at him, what a wonderful orange mane! He looks so peaceful when he's resting," Rarity continued, not noticing how much she was actually embarrassing her friend.

Pinkie Pie took a few steps closer to the colt lying on the bed, giving him a quick look over, she smiled at him. "Silly, He's not asleep! He's just pretending!"

The colt's eyes popped open, realising he'd been made. He lifted his head up, looking Pinkie Pie in the eyes.

Pinkie Pie looked back at him, however her smile seemed to fade the longer she looked, almost as if she was losing awareness of the world around her. Pinkie Pie felt something beginning to overtake her, a feeling she had only felt once before at Gummy's after-birthday party. Pinkie's eyes snapped wide open; she screamed at the top of her lungs and frantically fled the clinic at breakneck speed.

The other ponies looked around at each other, then back at the colt, who were mesmerised by what had just happened. He shook his head from side to side, as if to shake off sleepiness.

"What just happened?" He asked, looking around at the mares around him.

Twilight shrugged as she looked over the colt. "I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie pie," she attempted to reassure the colt with an awkward smile. Princess Luna however was quick to break the silence.

"Everyone, this is Floppy Disk," she said with a smile.

The group gave the colt a round of greetings, to which he smiled in return.

"Thank you, thank you," He said politely, "I don't suppose anypony has something to eat on them? It's been a really long time since I had food."

On cue, Applejack produced an apple from under her hat. "One of Sweet Apple Acres best, try one and ya'll never want to eat anythin' else, ever," she said kindly, holding the apple out for the colt to take.

Floppy Disk obliged, and took a bite of the apple, the sensation of having food for the first time in a week proved too much for the colt; he promptly vomited on the clinic floor. He guiltily looked up at Applejack.

Applejack merely smiled at the colt. "Don't worry, it ain't the apple, it's the lack o' real good food. I ain't offended."

The group chuckled with each other. They had bonded instantly.

--

A week passed, Floppy Disk was welcomed warmly into Ponyville society, even by Pinkie Pie, who was not able to remember their original misunderstanding.

"... So we're good then?" The colt asked the bouncing pink earth pony.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie pie said. She fell over attempting to walk and swear at the same time. To which the colt smiled and couldn't help give a small chuckle.

Pinkie Pie got up to continue walking, but was unable to make even a step before she began to shake uncontrollably, as if she were having a seizure, Floppy sprung into action, attempting to hold the mare down to keep her from hurting herself. After a few seconds the seizure stopped.

"Oh dear," Pinkie Pie said looking up at Floppy.

Her eyes caught his again, and she found herself unable to look away. Pinkie screamed, tossing the colt off her and running east.

--

Twilight Sparkle was trotting along through the High Street of Ponyville, going about her day as she usually did. She smiled as she looked ahead. Pinkie Pie was galloping at full speed towards her, likely having something exciting to tell her.

Pinkie Pie did not stop however, instead, she continued onwards. "Run! It's coming! Run!" she screamed as she passed.

Twilight turned east, watching her friend as she ran. Twilight was puzzled. Pinkie Pie rarely made sense when speaking, but this was weird ever for her.

"Hello Twilight Sparkle," a voice from behind her said.

Twilight turned and smiled at the colt that had approached her, "hello Floppy, what's up with Pinkie Pie?"

The colt shrugged, "she started shaking uncontrollably, I thought she was seizing, so I held her down to keep her from getting hurt, when she stopped, she looked at me, started screaming, and then took off running, shouting 'run! It's coming! Run!'"

Twilight turned back to the east, "that's weird even for Pinkie Pie."

The colt frowned and his head drooped, "I think it's my fault."

Twilight turned to look at her new friend, trying to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, and that Pinkie Pie was just weird, but she didn't get the chance. The ground began to rumble, the entire town shook as if an earthquake had just hit.

"Earthquakes don't happen here! There aren't any faults in a thousand kilometres!" Twilight shouted, "What in Equestria is going on?"

She did not need to wait long for an answer. Bursting from the Everfree forest was a dragon. Scales a shimmering green, and eyes that could only belong to a creature with the collective anger of hell itself.

Floppy Disk's eyes widened with fear, he looked at Twilight who shared his expression. He blinked. Now was not the time to be afraid.

"Get everyone out of town. I'll keep its attention away from you." He said.

Twilight's mouth widened, "are you crazy?"

"Very," the colt said, "swear to me, swear on something that matters that you will not follow me for any reason."

Twilight frowned, but understood, and she wracked her brain for something meaningful. Her frown faded quickly, and a small smile grew in its place. "Cross my heart, and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Floppy was satisfied. She had just sworn on friendship itself.

The colt ran towards the dragon, charging the massive creature and hoping to be annoying enough to get its attention. He ran faster than he had ever run before. Lives depended on it. Unfortunately the dragon saw him coming, and despite its large size, it was quick with its response, the giant tail swung, hitting the colt in his flank and sending him flying into the edge of the building with full force.

Crack!

The colt found himself lying on the ground, he'd felt his own spine break from the force of impact, and now he was barely able to move at all. His hind legs unresponsive, he used his fore legs to crawl upon the ground. The dragon took notice of the colt, and swung its tail again, sending the colt flying into the building again. The sharp spines on the tail caught him this time, and the colt felt flesh tare. He screamed in pain as he hit the ground. His hind legs were gone.

--

Twilight Sparkle and her friends had gathered upon a hill with the rest of the townsfolk, they'd gotten everyone they could together in one spot, safe, for now, while the dragon was preoccupied in the destruction of their town.

Behind them, Pinkie Pie was lying on the ground, shuttering intensely, repeating "it's here, it's here" over and over again. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were doing their best to calm her, but it wasn't working.

Twilight was watching through a pair of Binoculars she'd had in her bag as Floppy hit the building the first time. She cringed; she could tell from here that he was in serious pain.

"We have to go help him!" Rainbow Dash cried out.

"No," Twilight said, "He made me swear that no matter what, I wouldn't go after him. He said he would hold its attention as long as he could, if we go down there now, it'll be in vain."

Rainbow Dash was about to protest Twilight's decision, she looked over at her friend and saw that she was crying. This was the hardest thing Twilight had ever had to do in her life. Instead, Rainbow sat down next to her, and embraced her, the two shed tears for their newfound friends noble sacrifice.

He was running on pure adrenaline. By all accounts, Floppy Disk should have been dead. But he couldn't lie down and die, not yet. He had to go on as long as he could.

What's the use? What can I do against that?

In the back of his mind, a voice belonging to a sweet mare spoke to him.

"Why are you doing this?" it asked him.

"It's the right thing to do. My entire life is meaningless, always has been. I have to do this because it's the right thing."

"You are willing to sacrifice yourself to save others?"

"Every moment of my life, I've been willing."

"And you would give up your life now, to save everyone in this town?"

"Yes. I'm not coming back from this. I'm going to die; I want it to mean something!"

"Very well then."

Floppy looked up into the sky, he saw a bright orb of light form in the High Street, he looked into it and smiled, it was at this moment, his life ended.

--

Twilight and Rainbow Dash's embrace ended, and she found herself immediately looking back into town. It was horrible, she couldn't bear to watch, but was at the same time unable to look away.

Pinkie Pie lay on the ground, but she stopped shaking, and she stopped speaking. She sat up and looked out into the carnage before them. "It's free."

She collapsed back on the ground, unconscious, but still alive.

The ponies on the hill had all turned towards town, as if something had suggested that they should look. Twilight took up her binoculars again, she looked out into the ball of light, at the centre of it there was a pony with a Unicorn horn and Pegasus Wings, and while the light was too bright to get a good look at the pony, Twilight knew for sure who it was.

"It's Princess Celestia!" she cried out in excitement.

Luna looked up at this comment and smiled, her big sister arrived in the nick of time to save the day. It was just like her.

The ball of light focused itself on the dragon, and an intense beam of light pierced the dragon's heart. The dragon roared loudly before being vaporised by the blast, the dragon seemed to explode from the light, and the brightness filled the air, everypony was forced to look away lest they go blind.

After a few seconds, things returned to normal. The light persisted, but it was not as intense as it had been. It darted to the ground as Princess Celestia landed on the High Street, but she was no longer visible to Twilight Sparkle from where she and her friends had gathered.

"Keep everypony here. I'm going to make sure everything is all right," Twilight said.

Her friends nodded, and Twilight raced down the hill towards the high street. Her mentor was here, and this time as her saviour.

Comments

thas not nice celly :( tsk tsk tsk killing things is not the way to get yourself loved

[ProBrony]

This fic is broken... There's no real emotional attachment for me.

[Csquared08]

I am terribly confused. The part where Floppy died didn't make much sense. There seems to be something going on here. And since this is part of a large series, I'm going to assume that things will be explained as the series progresses.

Although I will agree somewhat with ProBrony. When Floppy died, I didn't feel much other than confusion regarding his final thoughts. At the same time, though, I'm not sure if I was supposed to feel much.

[CuriousCurse]

It's unfortunate but this chapter was pretty bad. Death dealing feels REALLY OC for Celestia, dragon or not. Floppy's death felt pointless and bland as I didn't really have much attachment to him yet. I suppose his final thoughts and possibly his past life were respectable enough but the lack of character development meant that this had only a fraction of the impact it should have had. Hope it gets better.

[Aaron]

What