Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

222. Apologies Can Come In Time

Twilight and the girls arrived at the cave where Fluttershy took Pinkie at an interesting moment, with Fluttershy facing the cave mouth drooling and snarling, her eyes bloodshot and glaring fiercely as she held Pinkie in her tail.

So far, the group had been shockingly fortunate; they were able to locate Fluttershy easily thanks to Fluttershy’s own detection magic that she had taught Twilight how to use— and that Twilight was able to expand upon— and they were able to revive Tempest Shadow before she suffered any life-threatening injuries, though she was absolutely out of commission for a while.

And while Fluttershy holding Pinkie hostage and growling at the girls who were there to rescue her may not have seemed like good news, it was to Twilight. It was proof positive to her that Fluttershy was undoubtedly under some kind of magical control; Twilight could feel the hideous, sickening magic pouring off of Fluttershy’s body in waves, and it felt completely alien compared to Fluttershy’s magic.

Applejack tried to take a step forward but Twilight held her back, stepping forward in her stead and speaking calmly to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight said; she needed to know how deeply entrenched the magic holding Fluttershy was. “We’re not here to hurt you, but you need to release Pinkie Pie.”

Fluttershy roared and spat a stream of ice at the party, but Twilight and Rarity were able to protect everyone with a pair of layered barriers. Rarity’s barriers were getting seriously impressive now, clearly all that making out had paid off.

“Twi?” Applejack said bleakly. “She ain’t listenin’. What do we do?”

That was truly the million bit question, wasn’t it? What were they supposed to do? Untangling mind-controlling magic could be an extremely complicated process depending on a lot of factors, and subduing Fluttershy while keeping both her and Pinkie Pie safe would be a challenge in and of itself.

Twilight was finding it hard to breathe until Rarity touched her hand.

“We disable Fluttershy’s magic and pacify her,” Rarity said. “Then we find out what’s wrong with her and correct it.”

“That sounds simple enough to me!” Rainbow cheered. “Let’s stop wasting time and get to it!”

Rainbow flew up to Fluttershy’s snout and tackled her, causing Fluttershy to stumble back half a step. Fluttershy tried to swat at Rainbow with her claws, but Rainbow was far too small and too dexterous for the dragon to land a hit.

Twilight’s horn flashed with magic as she teleported Applejack right up to Fluttershy’s chest, and as Applejack wound up a punch, Fluttershy flew into the air to avoid her, only to slam into a barrier that Rarity had created above her.

“Sorry, darling,” Rarity said as Fluttershy collapsed to the ground, and Applejack slammed into her nose with a powerful punch.

Fluttershy reeled back and spat out blood, which then came pouring out of her mouth.

“Uh, Applejack?” Rainbow asked concernedly. “Did you hit her too hard?”

“I didn’t think so,” Applejack said, sounding as genuinely confused and concerned as Rainbow.

The blood pouring from Fluttershy’s mouth turned ink black and the bloodshot red lines in her eyes followed suit as she glanced at the party with a completely dead-eyed expression on her face.

“Everyone! Listen!” Pinkie cried out, still caught in Fluttershy’s tail but at least her head was free now. “Fluttershy’s got a thorn in her paw!”

“A thorn!?” Rainbow and Rarity exclaimed in unison, Applejack and Twilight quickly picking up on their alarm.

Just like the manticore and the cragadile that Rarity had told Twilight about. This revelation brought with it some very interesting theories about how the thorn and its corruption and/or hypnosis worked, but those would have to wait until Fluttershy was free.

Fluttershy charged the party, dropping Pinkie on the ground before whipping her tail at Rarity, knocking the unicorn hard against the wall. Distracted by this, Rainbow didn’t see Fluttershy’s claw until it had already slashed a hole into her and she was falling to the ground with blood spraying out of her body.

Fluttershy flared out her wings and the cave walls became coated in ice, the temperature of the room dropping to a point where even Twilight felt like she was freezing.

Applejack charged in and punched Fluttershy in the chest, but Fluttershy barely flinched and snapped her jaws at Applejack, Twilight keeping Fluttershy’s fangs away from Applejack with her magic, but Applejack wasn’t as protected from Fluttershy’s claws that dug into Applejack’s skin and pinned her to the ground.

Twilight was holding Fluttershy at bay, but the freezing temperature was making it hard to focus on Twilight’s magic, and her grip was getting weaker. She didn’t know how long she could keep Fluttershy’s fangs at bay as Applejack struggled to free herself from Fluttershy’s claws.

“Fluttershy?” Pinkie walked right up to Fluttershy’s gaping maw and spoke firmly, even as she was trembling from the cold. “Stop this. Let Applejack go.”

Fluttershy growled and snarled but didn’t say any words. Twilight wasn’t sure if that was because of her magic or the thorn’s.

Pinkie walked over to Fluttershy’s claws and, one by one, dug them out of Applejack with little resistance from Fluttershy. Pinkie wasn’t as strong as Applejack, but she was still an earth pony and she was strong enough to lift a dragon’s fingers at least.

“C’mere,” Pinkie held out her arms as Applejack scurried away from Fluttershy and Pinkie.

“Pinkie, are you—”

“Shhh, Applejack, shush,” Pinkie whispered. “Just trust me. Twilight? Let her go.”

Twilight took a deep breath and eased her magic, before eventually letting Fluttershy go entirely. This whole situation hinged on Pinkie Pie, it would be completely unreasonable not to trust her to handle it.

“C’mere, c’mon,” Pinkie whispered as Fluttershy lowered her head and Pinkie put her hands on Fluttershy’s snout, giving her a soft hug. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Fluttershy whimpered and purred, but then suddenly lurched up and gasped.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash were over by her paw, and they had just pulled out the thorn from her body, the evil object evaporating into dust and mist in front of everyone’s eyes.

And with that, the temperature in the cave returned to normal.

Fluttershy broke down into weeping sobs, her body returning to the size and shape of a pony as she sat with her head down on the ground clutched in her hands, sobbing her eyes out.

Pinkie was the first to comfort her, of course, but Rarity and Rainbow Dash weren’t far behind her, the three women covering Fluttershy in hugs with their arms and wings, Rarity putting the shawl of her dress around Fluttershy’s shoulders, since Fluttershy’s own Gala dress had been torn to shreds during her transformation.

Twilight looked Applejack in the eyes as she healed the mare’s wounds. Twilight honestly wasn’t sure how to react to Fluttershy’s crying, and she wanted to follow Applejack’s lead.

Applejack picked something up off the ground; her hat, that Fluttershy had been wearing. Applejack walked over to Fluttershy and placed the hat on Fluttershy’s head.

Twilight walked over and saw Fluttershy look up at Applejack with tears in her eyes, and Applejack held her hand out. Fluttershy took it with her own trembling hand, and Applejack pulled Fluttershy up to her feet and into a hug, which Fluttershy emphatically reciprocated.

Twilight naturally followed suit, and soon all five women were hugging Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry everyone,” Fluttershy sobbed.

“Apologies can come in time, hon,” Applejack said. “Right now we’re all just glad yer okay.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy sniffled, and a hint of a smile appeared on her lips. “Okay.”

Author's Note:

whew. i am..... RLY GLAD this arc is over. i've been nervous about how i handled fluttershy's behavior and struggle with her demons, and this emotionally brutal arc is the last thing i wanted to be working on while dealing with so much personal life stress rn x_x

BUT! that's a wrap, and i think i'm proud of how it came out. :>
there's gonna be i think four (4) denouement chapters next, and then the grand galloping gala arc will officially be complete. i'll probably take a short break once those chapters are published; probably only a week, maybe two. i'll keep y'all posted.

And with that, 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]

“Twi?” Applejack said bleakly. “She ain’t listenin’. What do we do?”

Pray Pinkie knows what she's doing. And hope Rarity remembers the thorn.

“Everyone! Listen!” Pinkie cried out, still caught in Fluttershy’s tail but at least her head was free now. “Fluttershy’s got a thorn in her paw!”

Oh good. She told them.

“Shhh, Applejack, shush,” Pinkie whispered. “Just trust me. Twilight? Let her go.”

Pinkie, I HOPE you know what you're doing.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash were over by her paw, and they had just pulled out the thorn from her body, the evil object evaporating into dust and mist in front of everyone’s eyes.

Oh thank GOD.

Fluttershy broke down into weeping sobs, her body returning to the size and shape of a pony as she sat with her head down on the ground clutched in her hands, sobbing her eyes out.

That sounds about right, honestly. In the sense that she's in a lot of pain, a lot of emotional turmoil and she hurt Pinkie, something she never wanted to do.

BUT! that's a wrap, and i think i'm proud of how it came out. :>

I think it went great.

[Kaleido]

Fluttershy roared and spat a stream of ice at the party, but Twilight and Rarity were able to protect everyone with a pair of layered barriers. Rarity’s barriers were getting seriously impressive now, clearly all that making out had paid off.

omg
i love magic sharing

Fluttershy charged the party, dropping Pinkie on the ground before whipping her tail at Rarity, knocking the unicorn hard against the wall. Distracted by this, Rainbow didn’t see Fluttershy’s claw until it had already slashed a hole into her and she was falling to the ground with blood spraying out of her body.

oh geez
oh no
never invite the pony to the dragon gore battle

Twilight naturally followed suit, and soon all five women were hugging Fluttershy.

awwww

[AppleTank]

I am very concerned about a great many ponies seeing the giant yellow and pink dragon.

[Timuri]

I'm assuming Twilight was playing healer, since it was specifically mentioned that she healed AJ, but when would she have had time to heal Rainbow's gaping wound in her belly or Rarity's likely broken ribs and possible concussion before the two of the were up and pulling the thorn from Fluttershy's paw?

Did Rarity heal them? She hasn't shown any aptitude for healing wounds like what Fluttershy inflicted upon Rainbow before, though her own broken ribs are within the range she's shown.