Prisoner of Butterfly Island

by Magic Step

Wings

“You told him what!?”

“That I’d get the medal and come back.”

“Twilight, how could you!?”

Starlight Glimmer paced frantically around the cave, looking ready to bite her own tail off in frustration. “All my work and planning to get this far, and you have to go and give up like this…”

“What was I supposed to say!? He had me cornered!” Twilight said. “Can’t you just cast the spell now?”

“No, it wasn’t- it doesn’t- give me a minute!” Starlight Glimmer yanked a book off her worktable and flipped through it. She glared hard at one of the pages.

Then after a moment, she slammed the book shut with a huff. “Okay. Here’s what I can do for you. I can cast most of the spell and give you wings, but they won’t function until I cast the final part. For which I need that rubber chicken.”

“But then I can give the medal back?” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Yes, you can give the stupid medal back,” Starlight Glimmer said. “I wouldn’t be needing to do this if you weren’t such an idiot, you know.”

“Stop yelling at me!” Twilight said. “I’m trying my best. Do you think I want ponies to suffer? Do you think it’s easy betraying everypony like this?”

Starlight Glimmer sighed. “Let’s just get this over with… please stand in the star.”

Twilight cautiously stepped into the center pentagon. “Is there anything you want me to do?”

“No. Just stand very still. And if your sides start itching try to resist touching them.” Starlight Glimmer set the book down and levitated the five stolen items into the air, setting one on each point of the star. “You might want to close your eyes.”

Twilight did. A moment later she felt her body heat climb and her skin tingle. Her sides felt like they were contracting. And then the predicted itching began. It felt like ants were wriggling around in her sides. Then it felt like the ants were biting her, gnawing their way out.

Twilight screamed. Pain spread through her skin. She was on fire. She couldn’t feel anything anymore, not the ground beneath her, not the cool air of the cave. She couldn’t hear Starlight over her own screams. Time itself seemed to be frozen in this horrific state.

Then the itching feeling gradually subsided. Twilight could feel the tears running down her cheeks, hear the pounding of her heart. She gasped for breath.

“I’m so sorry!” Starlight said. “I had no idea… my book didn’t say it would hurt that much!”

Twilight couldn’t reply, only sob, for another minute. Slowly, she tested her limbs. Her front legs were fine, her back legs were fine… what were these strange wriggling things at her sides!?

Twilight jolted upward and whipped her head around, staring at the fluffy purple wings that were suddenly attached to her. Tentatively, she flexed the extra side muscles she’d acquired and watched them slightly unfold, then cling back to her sides.

“It’s s-so real…” she whispered. She’d thought this would be a happy moment somehow. Instead she just found it creepy.

“Again, they won’t do anything without the last step,” Starlight said. “Don’t mess with them too much; you might hurt them.”

“How do I hide these!?” Twilight asked, alarmed. “Shining might be waiting for me right outside the pool!”

“You told him where I was hiding!?” Starlight asked.

“And that I was planning on giving myself wings,” Twilight said miserably. “So if I show back up with a cape over them he’ll know what’s up. Do you have a spell to make wings invisible?”

“I only have one to make ponies invisible,” Starlight Glimmer said, frantically flipping pages. “Why didn’t you think of this before I started?”

“We just have so little options as it is,” Twilight said.

“Yes, because you choked and told your precious non-brother the whole plan,” Starlight said.

Twilight was going to yell at her again, but then Starlight pressed her face against the pages and started to sob.

“I… I was so close… to saving them… saving you…” she sobbed.

Twilight hugged Starlight gently. “Look, don’t give up. We can figure this out. We can defeat Celestia.”

Starlight lifted her face from her book and sniffed. “I just don’t know what to do…”

“What about an, um, amputation spell?” Twilight asked. “Or a spell to make my wings look like something else?”

“Like something… Twilight, you might be onto something.” Starlight flipped through her book again. “Illusions… illusions… okay, I think I can do something. But if you move your wings the effect will be shattered. I should have used that first…”

“It’s okay,” Twilight says. “No one’s perfect. Let’s do this.”

***
Twilight trotted over to Rainbow Dash, hanging her head. The medal bobbed in the air a few inches in front of her, suspended in her telekinetic grip.

Shining Armor had arranged her five friends in a circle of shame on the Party Playset. He’d insisted that all of them needed to hear what Twilight had done.

Fluttershy looked upset; Pinkie Pie and Rarity looked worried. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked angry.

Rainbow Dash’s death glare didn’t subside.

“Rainbow,” Shining Armor hissed.

“I can’t believe you could do this-” Rainbow Dash snarled.

“Rainbow!” Shining Armor shouted.

“It’s okay!” Pinkie Pie leapt over to hug Twilight. “We know you’ve felt alone.”

“No, it’s not okay!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I thought you were our friend!”
“We’re not here to yell at her, dearie!” Rarity said. “What’s done is done. Please. We’re here to offer forgiveness.”

Fluttershy nodded. Tears streamed down her soft yellow cheeks.

“I… I made a mistake…” Twilight said over Pinkie Pie’s shoulder. “We’ve all made mistakes before, haven’t we? But friends can forgive friends… can’t they….?”

Rainbow Dash pulled her lips back into a snarl.

“Why were ya keeping secrets from us!?” Applejack demanded.

“Both of you, cut it out,” Shining Armor said. “Twilight… didn’t have enough information to make an informed decision. Now she understands, and we can all go back to normal.” He spoke with grim authority, but then he whispered, “Please,” in a near-desperate tone.

Rainbow huffed. “Just…. Don’t ever mess with my stuff again. My treeclouds are special to me and those trophies are everything.”

“Not more important than our friendship,” Pinkie Pie said, tightening her hug.

Twilight gratefully hugged Pinkie Pie back…. And then heard something crack.

And everypony gasp.

“Twilight!?” Shining Armor shouted.

“Are those… wings?” Rarity cried.

Twilight pushed Pinkie Pie away and whirled around in shock. The hug had broken the illusion; her fledgling wings were fully visible again.

“Twilight! You promised!” Shining Armor shouted.

“What the hay did you do to yourself, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“I-I don’t know how those got there!” Twilight shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. Maybe she was panicking enough to be convincing. “I swear-”

“Why won’t you stop lying!?” Shining Armor stomped his hoof into the ground, stunning everypony into silence. “I told you the truth! You promised you’d be honest in return!”

“Oh, that was the truth, was it?” Twilight Sparkle turned to the other girls. “Girls, I want you to admit to me why I really can’t leave the island. See if it matches Shining’s story.”

Fluttershy and Applejack looked panicked. Pinkie Pie looked on the verge of tears.

“No, stop it! The project was top secret!” Shining said. “That doesn’t prove anything!”

“Mmm-hmm, sure. But then what’s the real reason behind why ponies have to keep leaving the island?” Twilight asked.

“Stop changing the subject! This isn’t about what I told you; it’s about what you told me,” Shining Armor said.

“Why? Why am I the one getting picked on when you’re also a liar?” Twilight shouted.

“That’s not true!” Shining said.

“Did you ever love me?” Twilight asked. “Am I even your sister?”

The question seemed to truly cut Shining to the quick. His face contorted in pain. “Twilight…. You’re my everything!”

“Liar,” Twilight spat out. “Nothing but lies, lies, lies.”

“Stop it!” Shining looked near tears. “It’s all for you! Everything I’ve ever done is all for you!”

“You have a warped way of showing love,” Twilight said. “I’ll see you and call your bluff!”

And then she turned and fled.

“No, stop!” Shining shouted. “Rainbow!”

“I’m on it!” Rainbow shouted.

Twilight made it to a small sand dune, then whirled around to face her attacker. Reflexively, she fired off a random laser shot.

The blue pegasus cried out and crashed to the ground at Twilight’s hooves. She gave Twilight a hurt expression.

Twilight had no time to apologize. She turned and continued her mad dash away.

She had to get back to Starlight Glimmer. The two of them had to be able to stop this-

A sharp gemstone hit her in the side. Twilight screamed in pain and turned to see her other friends coming after her.

“Why are you hurting me!?” she shouted.

Rarity, who’d been preparing more gems to throw, suddenly stopped and looked horrified.

Fluttershy kept going, her eyes filled with tears as she flew towards Twilight. “Please! Stop!”

Twilight fired another laser, this time letting it just hit the ground in front of Fluttershy, making the shy pegasus screech and flap backwards.

“Leave me alone!” Twilight shouted at them. “All of you are liars!” She stumbled backward, keeping more spells at the ready. Why wasn’t Shining Armor pursuing? Why was he letting the grunts do all the work?

Then one of her hooves scraped into thin air. Twilight whirled around; somehow she’d approached a cliff unaware. Rarity, Applejack, and a recovered Rainbow were closing in on her.

The cliff was only a dozen feet high and the water below didn’t look too rocky; she had to take a chance; she had to escape…

Twilight didn’t let herself think. She leapt off the edge, hooves first, wings flapping. Maybe they could slow her descent if nothing else--

With one single flap, she was already higher than her original jumping off point. Flapping harder, she soared forward almost effortlessly. It was so surreal that Twilight burst out into gleeful giggles.

She was dancing on air! The sky felt like a trampoline beneath her wings. She flapped further out into the dark sea surrounding Butterfly Island.

“Twilight, no!” Pinkie Pie shouted somewhere behind her.

“You can’t leave!” said Rarity. “Not like this!”

“Rainbow!” Pinkie Pie pleaded.

Twilight spun gracefully around in midair. Time to test how powerful she really was.
With a burst of magical energy, Twilight conjured a jet of water to blast Rainbow Dash back to the shore and then freeze her in a block of ice. Her friends gaped at her in horror, but Twilight felt like laughing.

Then another pony flew out from behind her friends.

It was Shining Armor. Now with his own set of white wings.

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[Viper Pit]

Day as shiny has wings