Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

219. The Fluttershy Mission

Applejack took a step back as Fluttershy roared for the entire Grand Galloping Gala to hear, ponies in the gardens frantically running away in an effort to escape to the castle where they thought they might be safe; Luna was there after all, surely she’d do something about this, right?

Well the way Applejack saw it, she needed to do something about it before things got much, much worse.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack instinctively reached for her hat, a reminder of her bond with her family, but remembered it was now resting atop Fluttershy’s head instead. “I don’t wanna fight you! But I will if I gotta!”

Fluttershy snapped her jaws at Applejack, who jumped back; she didn’t wanna think what would’ve happened if she hadn't gotten outta the way. Like she said, the last thing she wanted was to hurt Fluttershy, but at the very least she was gonna knock some sense into the girl!

Applejack wound up and landed a hard punch against Fluttershy’s snout, the dragon moaning in pain and reeling back before snarling at Applejack and baring her fangs.

Fluttershy swiped her tail at Applejack, tearing through hedges and small trees in the garden that was far too small to accommodate a fully transformed dragon. Applejack was able to block the tail with her hands, though just barely, bringing Fluttershy’s attack to a stop.

Or at least Applejack thought she did, but Fluttershy’s tail just slithered around Applejack’s body and wrapped her up, Fluttershy flicking her tail and Applejack into the air where Applejack quickly found herself falling toward Fluttershy’s open mouth and her rows of sharp fangs.

With not a whole lot going for her in terms of aerial mobility, Applejack just had to brace for impact.

The impact she felt though was one she was not expecting; a pony ramming into her at high speed, picking her up and carrying her away from danger.

“We gotta stop running into each other like this,” Rainbow Dash cackled, and Applejack knew it wasn’t a time for swooning, but she let herself swoon a little bit anyway as she wrapped her arms around her brave, strong girlfriend.

Before Applejack could utter a witty reply, the two women were smashed in between Fluttershy’s claws, the dragon trying to crush them into dust.

Applejack was able to use her strength to push Fluttershy’s claws apart just a smidge, enough that the two gals wouldn’t be turned into a mushy paste at least, and Rainbow flew up and tackled Applejack to the ground to get her out from between the claws without her getting stuck.

Applejack hit the ground with a thud, but it could’ve been way worse, so she wasn’t complaining. Rainbow hovered above her, looking in horror at the snarling beast Fluttershy had turned herself into.

“What happened to her?!” Rainbow exclaimed, and Applejack wished she knew how to answer. “Wait, no, I know exactly what happened!”

“You do?” Applejack balked.

“Yeah!” Rainbow said frantically, pumping her fists. “We ran into something like this in the Big Thunder Mine! She’s being hypnotized!”

“How do you figure?” Applejack asked, avoiding another claw swipe and jaw snap from Fluttershy, hitting her in the nose with another punch for good measure.

“Just trust me on this!” Rainbow said, and despite Applejack’s misgivings, her girlfriend didn’t have to ask her twice.

Rainbow Dash flew up to Fluttershy’s nose, Fluttershy growling and taking a hesitant step back. If it’d been any other opponent, that would’ve been the perfect time to charge in with an attack and shift the momentum of this battle, but against Fluttershy, Applejack couldn’t help but hesitate herself.

“Fluttershy, hey! It’s me, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow said, in a commanding but calm voice; Applejack was honestly really impressed by how Rainbow measured her tone, Applejack didn’t know she had it in her. “I know you’re pissed off, but this isn’t what you want, is it? You don’t really wanna hurt anyone, even Applejack! And I know you didn’t mean to transform in the middle of the Gala, right?”

Fluttershy whimpered and scuttled back. She wasn’t talking, but honestly Applejack didn’t know how much of that was hypnosis and how much was just cuz Fluttershy was kinda like that. Either way, the miserable look on her face made Applejack think that Rainbow really was starting to break through to her.

“Let’s turn back, okay?” Rainbow said softly, putting a hand on Fluttershy’s nose. “Turn back into your small form, and we can fix this together, alright?”

Fluttershy growled and moaned, shaking her head violently and letting out a pained whine before roaring. She reeled back and Rainbow immediately flew in front of Applejack in a protective stance, Applejack grabbing her hand; they were gonna protect each other.

Fluttershy spat a freezing gust of icy breath, and while the air around Applejack and Rainbow was chilled, the pair found themselves mostly unaffected by it, as the brunt of Fluttershy’s attack had been eaten by a raspberry and blue colored magic shield, the casters of which were standing right in front of them, the two unicorns’ horns glowing in unison, one hand each outstretched and the other holding each other.

“Nice save, Twilight, Rarity!” Applejack cheered, clapping Twilight on the back and getting a little chuckle out of her.

“Geez, could you be a little faster next time though?” Rainbow complained, but Applejack could see the relief on her face, and hear it in her cracking voice, plain as day. “Like Twi, I know you’re hanging out with Rarity again but you don’t have to take after her melodramatic ‘always fashionably late’ nonsense.”

“Darling, please,” Rarity scoffed. “As if I needed to teach Twilight Sparkle anything about being suitably dramatic.”

“Twilight! Do you know what’s wrong with Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked frantically.

“Hypnosis,” Twilight said calmly. “You can tell from looking at her eyes, and the way she keeps twitching. She’s trying to fight it, but she’s being brainwashed into attacking us. Although…”

“Her genuine animosity toward Applejack,” Rarity said coldly, “is making it much more difficult to fight through, correct?”

“Right,” Twilight nodded.

“See, Applejack?” Rainbow puffed up her chest. “I was totally right about the hypnosis thing! I toldja!”

Fluttershy’s roar cut off Rainbow’s bragging, though the barrier was still in place protecting the party from Fluttershy’s icy breath.

“Applejack!” Twilight called out. “I need you to disable Fluttershy’s magic! Once we’ve done that, subduing her and reversing the hypnosis should be a simple enough task.”

“You can count on me, Twi!” Applejack nodded confidently, scraping a hoof across the grass.

Fluttershy gasped for breath after she finished spewing her icy magic, and that was Twilight and Rarity’s cue to drop the barrier, and Applejack’s to charge in, which Applejack did until she was stopped short by a pony’s shriek.

“WAAAAIIIIITT!!!!”

Pinkie cried out, the five girls immediately turning their attention to her.

“Pinkie Pie, don’t get any closer!” Applejack called out desperately. She had no idea how Fluttershy would react to Pinkie’s presence, but it couldn’t have been good.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity yelled. “Get her out of here!”

Before Rainbow had a chance to react, Fluttershy whipped her tail over at Pinkie, wrapping Pinkie up in it and buffeting her wings, forcing the four girls on the ground to brace themselves from the sudden blast of wind.

Fluttershy took off into the air, the echoing of Pinkie’s screams quickly disappearing into the night air.

Rainbow immediately took off after them, only for Twilight to grab Rainbow’s tail in her magic and drag her back down to the ground.

“What are you doing?!” Rainbow screamed at Twilight. “We gotta go after them!”

“Of course we do!” Twilight shot back. “But if you go by yourself, you’re only going to get yourself hurt!”

“Then transform and let us hop on your back!” Rainbow said, Twilight taking a step back and the color draining from her face. “We don’t have any time to lose!”

“I—I can’t do that,” Twilight said.

“What about Pinkie Pie, Twilight?!” Applejack shouted, grabbing Twilight by her shoulders. “Her life could be in danger and we’re just standing around—”

“Applejack,” Rarity said firmly, putting her hand on Applejack’s until she released the obviously stricken and terrified Twilight Sparkle.

“I’m— I’m sorry, Twi,” Applejack said. “Weren’t right for me to treat you like that, regardless of the circumstances.”

“Thank you, Applejack,” Twilight sighed, Rarity gently squeezing Twilight’s hand and bringing a smile to her lips. “Pinkie Pie isn’t in any danger. Fluttershy would never hurt her, but that’s not a luxury the rest of us have.

“We need to confront her together, but me revealing myself to anybody who could still be watching won’t accomplish anything but putting me in more danger and causing ponies to panic more than they already are.”

“How can you be sure?” Applejack growled. She was quite literally worried sick about Pinkie at this point, her stomach tearing itself to shreds as every horrible thing that might happen to her best friend ran through her mind. “Yer gamblin’ with Pinkie’s life, Twilight!”

“I know!” Twilight screamed, her voice cracking. “I love her too, Applejack! You think I don’t know that?!”

“I trust Twilight’s judgment, Applejack,” Rarity said. “And you know I’d no sooner have Pinkie Pie come to harm than a member of my own family.”

“So let’s get a move on already!” Rainbow threw her hands in the air and yelled.

“Yeah,” Applejack took a deep breath, her body trembling but especially her hands, that she couldn’t get to be still no matter how hard she tried, at least not until she felt Rainbow’s fingers intertwined with hers. “I trust you, Twilight.”

Author's Note:

If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know by leaving a comment! I absolutely adore reading them!
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

Or at least Applejack thought she did, but Fluttershy’s tail just slithered around Applejack’s body and wrapped her up,

Ah crapbaskets.

“We gotta stop running into each other like this,” Rainbow Dash cackled, and Applejack knew it wasn’t a time for swooning, but she let herself swoon a little bit anyway as she wrapped her arms around her brave, strong girlfriend.

Gotta love having a pony who can fly at near supersonic speeds on your side.

“Yeah!” Rainbow said frantically, pumping her fists. “We ran into something like this in the Big Thunder Mine! She’s being hypnotized!”

Yeah, about that...

Fluttershy growled and moaned, shaking her head violently and letting out a pained whine before roaring.

This isn't hypnosis at all. That black thorn is corrupting more than mind fucking.

“Hypnosis,” Twilight said calmly. “You can tell from looking at her eyes, and the way she keeps twitching. She’s trying to fight it, but she’s being brainwashed into attacking us. Although…”

“Her genuine animosity toward Applejack,” Rarity said coldly, “is making it much more difficult to fight through, correct?”

Basically.

Fluttershy took off into the air, the echoing of Pinkie’s screams quickly disappearing into the night air.

Ah shit.

“Thank you, Applejack,” Twilight sighed, Rarity gently squeezing Twilight’s hand and bringing a smile to her lips. “Pinkie Pie isn’t in any danger. Fluttershy would never hurt her, but that’s not a luxury the rest of us have.

I cannot praise you enough for having the characters be smart.

[Kaleido]

Fluttershy swiped her tail at Applejack, tearing through hedges and small trees in the garden that was far too small to accommodate a fully transformed dragon. Applejack was able to block the tail with her hands, though just barely, bringing Fluttershy’s attack to a stop.

woah
AJ stronk

Or at least Applejack thought she did, but Fluttershy’s tail just slithered around Applejack’s body and wrapped her up, Fluttershy flicking her tail and Applejack into the air where Applejack quickly found herself falling toward Fluttershy’s open mouth and her rows of sharp fangs.

this is not rescue-vore this is much worse

“Yeah!” Rainbow said frantically, pumping her fists. “We ran into something like this in the Big Thunder Mine! She’s being hypnotized!”

oh thank goodness rainbow remembers, it was gonna be real bad if nobody remembered any of the siren's effects since rainbow and fluttershy maybe haven't actually told anyone about it

Fluttershy spat a freezing gust of icy breath, and while the air around Applejack and Rainbow was chilled, the pair found themselves mostly unaffected by it, as the brunt of Fluttershy’s attack had been eaten by a raspberry and blue colored magic shield, the casters of which were standing right in front of them, the two unicorns’ horns glowing in unison, one hand each outstretched and the other holding each other.

omg
it's the raritwi magic gang

Fluttershy took off into the air, the echoing of Pinkie’s screams quickly disappearing into the night air.

pinkie why
that was probably *not* a good time to interrupt

“I know!” Twilight screamed, her voice cracking. “I love her too, Applejack! You think I don’t know that?! ”

awww
operation save pinkie and un-berserk fluttershy is a go

[Leaf Blade]

10260920

oh thank goodness rainbow remembers, it was gonna be real bad if nobody remembered any of the siren's effects since rainbow and fluttershy maybe haven't actually told anyone about it

funny u mention this; i actually wrote a line where twilight establishes that rainbow and flutters hadn't told anyone about the mine mission, but i cut it cuz i realized it makes no sense for the girls to not keep each other in the loop. but writing those kinds of scenes is pretty boring, so if there's any kind of big plot revelation that happens, u can be sure that the girls just talk about it off-screen

[Timuri]

Better hope that Tempest had not gotten to the garden fast enough after hearing that roar to hear Rainbow shout at Twilight to transform and go after Fluttershy. Or any other Slayer for that matter, but Tempest is particularly skilled and observant.