Continuity Disrupted

by Doug Graves

111 The Twilight Moon, Part Two

Doug knocks on the door to Fluttershy’s cottage again, leaning his tower shield made of blue crystal against the wall. His crystal tipped javelin waves back and forth on his back as he steps back, trying to peer through the windows of the upper level. Still dark, but he swears he heard something creeping around inside. His armor clinks as he raises his hand again, but his fist settles against the door instead of pounding loudly.

“Fluttershy,” Doug calls out, pausing a moment. “It’s Doug. Can I come in?”

Several seconds pass in silence before Doug sighs, staring down at his steel-shod feet.

“Look,” he says, no longer shouting, “I know you don’t want to do this. But it means a lot to me, and to the herd. I know Rarity is especially looking forward to seeing you out there, looking amazing in that costume of hers.” He pauses again before chuckling, “She’ll probably even be jealous of how well you pull it off.”

The door creaks open ominously, nearly pitch black inside the cottage except for the thin ray of light faintly illuminating a pathway to the stairs. The windows are still boarded up from earlier, now with cobwebs cluttering each, obscuring what little light makes it in from outside. Except for the eight eyes that occasionally flicker in and out, or the glint of beady eyes from the rafters.

Doug shudders as he slips inside, carefully maneuvering the javelin. He shuts the door behind him, extinguishing the one source of light and casting the cottage into darkness. “My feet are big and heavy,” he says to nocreature in particular, “and I’ll be walking upstairs. I certainly hope that I don’t step on anything.” He pauses a few seconds. Silent, except for his own breath. Then, a rustle of feathers from the ceiling, the scrabbling of claws along the floorboards. “Well, here goes.”

Doug takes two steps forward, immediate bellowing in pain as his shin, just below the knee and just above his sabaton, collides with something large and heavy. The object falls with a loud crash as he crumples to the floor, his leg spasming; he’d be lucky if he just has a bruise. What did she do, move a table in front of the door or something?

Doug grimaces as his hand rubs at his leg. No sticky wetness, fortunately. A thunk comes from upstairs, suspiciously similar to a skull knocking into a block of wood. Doug struggles to his feet, roughly kicking the downed ponnequinn to the side. He must have clipped it just wrong. His hands search in front of him, quickly finding the stairs. He peeks into Fluttershy’s room. A mess of firefly filled lanterns light the area, his eyes drawn to the pink tail slithering on the floor. Following it leads to a yellow rump halfway under the bed, a quilt doing a poor job of concealing the rest.

“So, you got enough supplies under there?” Doug asks as he plops down on the bed, massaging a bit more of the pain out of his leg. The light of the lamp shows that he did cut himself, but not terribly badly. He’s gotten worse handling the blade on his spear, and those wounds don't like to stop bleeding. He looks up, Angel Bunny standing in the doorway with his forelegs crossed, foot thumping on the floor, an impatient stare.

A quiet ‘eep!’ comes from under the bed as Doug sits down, followed by the mare bumping her head against the underside of the bed again. She wriggles back and forth as she pushes herself from her nest of pillows, a sheepish look up at Doug. Her eyes widen as she sees the trickle of blood, her hooves coming up to her muzzle as she gasps. “Doug! Your leg!”

“Yeah,” Doug says, “I noticed it, too.” He goes to stand, immediately pushed back down by Fluttershy.

“Oh, no, don’t go anywhere. I’ll get you cleaned up, real quick!” Fluttershy zips under the bed, grabbing the first aid kit stashed underneath, and bonks her head as she pulls herself back out.

“Maybe you should get yourself a taller bed,” Doug says, peering underneath the bed barely spacious enough for two ponies and a human. Good thing they don't mind getting cozy.

“Oh, no, this one’s just fine. I use the space underneath when Nightmare Night comes around.” Fluttershy’s voice steadily gets quieter, “Or when there’s a thunderstorm. Or just a storm.” She whispers, “Or when I’m scared and alone.” She glances up at Doug, “Maybe you should stay with me. Tonight.” Her eyes quiver with tears, "Please?"

“Well, I can make sure that you’re not alone.” Doug grins as Fluttershy wraps a bandage around his leg, a pink butterfly clasping it in place. “See? Nothing to be afraid of.”

“Um, I don’t mean to disagree with you, but there are lots of things to be afraid of.” Fluttershy shudders. “Like vicious monsters, and sharp objects, and ponies staring at you, and going outside, and-”

Doug rubs his hand across Fluttershy’s head, scratching against her ears as he tugs her next to him. “But you’ve got me with you! I’ll defend you from all of that!”

“Mm, I like the sound of that,” Fluttershy smiles seductively as she pushes Doug over, standing on top of him on the bed. “You’re just going to have to spend Nightmare Night with me!”

Doug nods solemnly, “I can do that.” His arms come up, pulling Fluttershy to him and sealing his promise with a kiss.

Fluttershy pants as she sloppily returns the kiss. Her hoof starts at his neck, tapping against the cuirass, traveling down to the metal covering his thighs. She frowns as she runs out of reach, her foreleg not long enough to snake underneath without breaking away from him. And Doug isn’t letting her go. She pulls back, a little harder this time.

Only for Doug to release her, but shift his hands to her flanks and lift her to his shoulder. She ducks as he stands, now in danger of hitting her head against the ceiling. “Doug!” she calls, but he merely repositions her to a one armed carry. “What are you doing?”

“Going outside,” Doug replies, grabbing one of the lanterns and walking past Angel Bunny.

“But, you promised!”

“No, I promised not to leave you. Now, you’re not going to make a liar out of me, are you?” He looks over at her, “Pinkie Pie would be very disappointed in me if you did. And probably Applejack, too.”

Fluttershy sighs loudly, eventually shaking her head no.

“Good.” Doug scratches Fluttershy with the lantern. He grunts to the bunny attempting to block his way. “Yes?”

Angel Bunny raps his foot against the wood twice.

“Oh, dear!” Fluttershy exclaims, “I forgot all about your salad! There was this knock at the door, and I didn’t know who it was, so I ran up here!” Fluttershy glances to Angel Bunny, the corners of her lips forcing a smile. His thumping merely gets faster.

Doug rolls his eyes, “Yes, I’ll get him a salad. While you change into your costume. Deal?”

Fluttershy moans, looking at the downed ponnequinn and the armor partially fallen off. She hops from Doug’s shoulder, watching as the human and bunny leave the room.

No sooner has Doug opened the pantry than the loud clank of metal on wood echoes from just behind him. He turns, snippets of yellow pegasus underneath the black and purple armor. A short pink mane sticks out the back of her black helmet in a high ponytail, her tail similarly having lost its extensions and barely covering herself. She stands in the doorway, standing at attention. She barks out in a rough voice, "Reporting for duty!"

“At ease,” Doug says, the guard moving to parade rest, as he gathers Angel Bunny’s meal. He scarfs it down as soon as Doug places it in front of him, the human quickly exiting the kitchen. He grabs his shield as he leaves the cottage, the mare closing the door behind her.

“Hey, there’s Zecora!” Doug says with a cheerful grin, motioning to the zebra leading a large number of ponies, mostly fillies, to the giant pile of rocks near the Everfree Forest. A small, unlit campfire is next to one of the rocks, carved into an incredibly lifelike statue of Nightmare Moon in all her armored glory.

“Z-Ze…” Guard Shy clears her throat. She continues in a deeper, rough voice, “Zecora? Haven’t seen her ‘round these parts after the incident. She up to something?”

“She’s trying to make amends, I heard,” Doug replies, scanning the area. He narrows his eyes at seeing a few more of the beetlepony costumes, their teal eyes devoid of pupils. His hand, almost on its own, fingers the javelin secured to his back. Zecora turns to address the fillies around a campfire. Doug cautiously glances to Fluttershy, his attention immediately returning to the crowd, “Maybe we should check it out.”

“Roger.” The two walk closer, an acknowledging nod to Twilight, Rarity, and Spike on the other side. Doug gets a few vigilant glances from several of the ponies, a chain reaction of wary steps away from him. He sighs as he stops, barely able to hear the zebra.

Zecora strides back and forth, the spiders in her mane crawling up and down as she turns and bobs her head. She gathers a hoofful of green dust, blowing it into the fire and sending up a large cloud of bright green smoke. “The tale of Nightmare Moon is meant to scare, to teach fillies and colts to beware! As you can see, it must be so, that we hide whenever she would come and go.”

The campfire ignites, seemingly of its own accord, a second burst of smoke emanating forth. “Nightmare Moon came with many demands, to spread her curse to all the lands. Endless darkness would she see, for ponies to join in her misery!” Zecora spins around, whipping a bit of blue dust into the air, “For Nightmare Moon’s appetite was great! Many were the ponies that she ate!”

The ponies all gasp as the blue dust transforms into a ghostly caricature of Nightmare Moon, the teal and purple armor swooping down on a few of the fillies. “But, if nopony does she see, then she passes on most swiftly. But her hunger is not to be understated; greed like that, it must be sated!”

Zecora motions to the statue of Nightmare Moon, “If you wish her not to return, your bags of candy you must upturn! Fill up her belly with a sweet, and she will not see you as her next treat!”

Pipsqueak shouts, “I don’t want to be a treat!” as he rushes forwards, dumping his candy in front of the statue. Many of the mares giggle to themselves, trading knowing looks as many of the other fillies follow suit.

The merriment ceases as the night sky swiftly darkens, a large mass of roiling storm clouds rolling in from the Everfree Forest. Just underneath the shadows flies a single chariot. At the front fly two winged, armored creatures, their dark blue and purple armor a dead ringer for the raiment on several of the ponies in the crowd.

A single figure lifts herself from the chariot, only a malevolent white smirk escaping the hood that covers her face in shadow. Her back fades into the darkness, but that may just be a trick of the cloak stretching from withers to tail.

Her eyes snap open, two voids of white, as lightning crackles above. She leaps out of the chariot, gravity seemingly ignorant of the normal rate of descent. Her gaze pierces through everypony’s soul, as if staring into each of their darkest dreams.

Ponies awkwardly attempt to back up, unable to wrench themselves away from the terrible sight. It could only be one thing, if she could even be called that.

Nightmare Moon.

Comments

[f0st3r21]

Fluttershy really likes to get into a character. I like that attention is given to this trait and spread around more often.