• Published 30th Jan 2019
  • 19,145 Views, 1,324 Comments

Knowledge is Power - hydra30

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32 Centurion conundrum

Fluttershy tossed and turned in her sleep, crying as her dreams were plagued by horrible images.

---

"Twilight, its okay," said Fluttershy as she stood before the purple unicorn lying prone on the floor, nothing around but pure darkness as Twilight sobbed into her hooves. "I'm here, I will help you get through...

Fluttershy gasped as something coiled around the hoof she was reaching out to Twilight. It was an ornate ribbons, violet in color, and when she followed it she gasped in fear. Hovering behind her was her ornate bridesmaid dress, the ribbons that make up the neck wiggling like tendrils.

"NO!" Shouted Fluttershy, reaching her other hoof to Twilight, only to have it wrapped in a ribbon to. "I won't...Twilight needs me...NO!"

She squirmed and flapped, but was ultimately powerless to stop herself from being drawn into her Bridesmaid dress, which molded around her like liquid as she made contact. Then the ribbon tendrils began dragging her backwards, and when she looked, she saw her friends and Princess Celestia standing upon an ornate altar, where Cadance and Shining Armour stood with an expecting smile.

"NO! I WON'T DO THIS AGAIN!" Shouted Fluttershy as she tried to crawl against the floor to return to her friends side. "TWILIGHT! "

"Twilight can join us when she is ready to apologies for her uncouth behavior," said the apparition of Rarity as Fluttershy was dragged next to her, being anchored in place as the ribbons dug themselves deep into the unseen ground next to her. "Come now darling, surely you don't want to miss the wedding."

"THE WEDDING DOES NOT MATTER!" Shouted Fluttershy frantically, still struggling to return to her friend who she had not taken her eyes off of. "TWILIGHT NEEDS US, WE CAN'T JUST..."

"HAHAHAHAHAAA."

Fluttershy was struck silent with fear as two huge black tendrils sprang up besides Twilight, who didn't even lift her head. She watched on, for despite the lack of light, the tendrils cast a shadow over Twilight, masking all but her silhouette. The unicorn still remained unmoving.

Then a mighty silhouette of membranous wings flapped open above Twilight, a mighty roar sounding throughout the area.

"Rise, my champion. Rise, and show them your power."

Twilight finally stood up, her silent sobs ceasing. She stood, steady as a rock, her posture carrying none of the distress she was extruding mere moments ago. Then eyes open in the dark, blood red eyes that glowed sinisterly in the great darkness.

Fluttershy was speechless.

Then Twilight let out a fierce battle cry, leaping forward and over the stunned Fluttershy, who now stood alone on the steps of the altar, other than Cadance. Twilight tackled her to the ground, the purple unicorn and the pink Alicorn rolling across the unseen floor, wrestling viciously.

"TWILIGHT," screamed Fluttershy, still struggling with the dress that kept her rooted in place.

Then Twilight and Cadance separated, leaping to their hooves and facing each other with angry sneers. From this point, Fluttershy could see Twilight had tendrils covering her flank, the eye in the middle looking into her very soul. Then, without warning, Twilight let loose a blast of sound from her mouth, a blue mist striking Cadance and pushing her back.

Leaving the image of Cadance behind.

Fluttershy watched in horror as Queen Chrysalis landed in the embrace of a mass of tendrils, letting out one unnatural scream as they wrapped her up. Then a vortex of tentacles opened above, and Fluttershy screamed as they plunged into Chrysalis's skull, her scream of fear morphing into a scream of pain.Then she was dropped to the floor, unmoving.

"Hmhmhmhm...hahahaha," Fluttershy turned from the prone Changeling to see Twilight hovering in the air, laughing sinisterly at the still queen.

Then her laughter changed in pitch, becoming deeper until it didn't sound pony at all. Then horrible realization struck Fluttershy as the laughter changed another pitch. She knew who this laughter belongs too and it did nothing but elevate her fear.

"Hahahahahahahaaa" the laughter of Hermaeus Mora echoed through the air as his tendrils extruded out on either side of Twilight.

"TWILIGHT, NO!"

---

Fluttershy awoke with a scream that was quickly muffled when her thrashing got her tangled in her blanket. Cut off from seeing, the frantic pegasus took to the air Instinctively, her wings having enough room to flap. She crashed through the door of her room and down the hall to where Twilight was doing her research, getting caught on the chalkboard and flipped end over end in the rotating frame.

"WOAH...WOAH...WOAH!"

Fluttershy slipped out of her blanket like the contents of a squeezed burrito.

She landed on a bookstand with a black book on it.

A book that grabbed her in a black tendril when it accidentally opened, and dragged her inside.

---

"And your certain this will work?" asked Hermaeus Mora, uncharacteristic wonder in his voice.

"Definitely," replied Twilight, firing up her horn. "A little assistance from you, and some Equestrian knowledge, courtesy of the brilliant pony Hay Cart, I am certain it will work."

"Intriguing..., I must find out more about this 'Hay Cart'," stated Hermaeus Mora.

"Later, for now..." Twilight let loose a blue beam from her horn that impacted the huge book Hermaeus Mora had been merging other books into before. As soon as it made contact, Hermaeus Mora extended his tendrils and grasped the edges of the open books cover. A Daedric Prince and a powerful unicorn, together their magic amplified each other and made the spell that much stronger.

"With each passing moment, I learn something incredible about this new world," said Hermaeus Mora, the book pages flying back and forth as magic from two world's was infused with it. "Such integrity to this spell."

All fell silent as Twilight discontinued her magic, the pages of the book falling still. With great excitement, plus a little suspension, Twilight stretched her hoof. As soon as it made contact with the paper(which glowed blue) her hoof sank into the book like she was stepping into water.

"It worked," said Twilight, clapping her hooves in excitement. "With this my friends will have no trouble learning the Thu'um and more."

"Congratulations, my champion, you have succeeded in your endeavors once again," said Hermaeus Mora, Twilight bowing to him respectfully. "Although, regarding your companions...you may want to act before one is lost."

"LOST!?" Gasped Twilight, her demeanor changing to one of concern."What do you mean?"

"The timid pegasus...she has found herself in a bit of a situation."

"FLUTTERSHY!?" Inquired Twilight frantically, losing her composure in her fear. "What happened? "

"Your friend has not the time for me to explain," said Hermaeus Mora, a tendril extending a black book to Twilight. "You had best hurry...my champion."

---

Fluttershy could only stare on with dread as the huge metal creature bore down on her in the corner she was huddled into. The first thing she noticed when she found herself here was the strange metal spiders that were scurrying all over what she thought was a fallen brass statue. She had approached them hoping to get directions out of here.

But then, one of the metal spiders put a spinning orb into the statues chest, and it stood up.

It didn't take long for it to notice her, brandishing the axe and hammer it had for arms. Now she was trapped in a place with no escape, a horrific mechanical monster blocking her in this small space. And it looked at her without pity or mercy, clearly going to end her without hesitation.

Fluttershy cringed as the Dwemer Centurion raised its hammer, tears streaming her eyes, to scared to even scream.

'VEN GAAR NOS'

Fluttershy looked up at the strange noise in time to see the huge monster get carried away by a small tornado, spinning and spinning as it was deposited on the ground about half a yard away. It stood up, looking in all directions, seeking its assailant. Fluttershy was still to scared to move, so she stayed hunkered down and watched.

"Hey, Cheese brain."

The echoing voice sounded to the Dwemer Centurion's left, drawing its attention, Fluttershy noticing a purple flash in the distance.

" Hey, Skeever butt."

Another echo brought the Dwemer Centurion's attention to another direction, holding its weapons posed as it stepped forward, unaware of the next purple flash.

" Hey, slug breath."

Another echo brought the Dwemer Centurion close to the wall opposite of Fluttershy.

"Hey, you overgrown toaster!" Said a familiar voice.

Fluttershy looked up to see Twilight standing on a ledge a couple feet up. The Dwemer Centurion looked at her as she stared at it with an unamused look. Then, without much fanfare, Twilight pulled a lever that was up on the ledge with her that Fluttershy hadn't noticed.

There was a loud twang, and Fluttershy watch as a huge crossbow that was just above Twilight’s head let loose its projectiles. Three pointed cylinders raced through the air at a slant, speeding towards the Dwemer Centurion at a blinding speed. There was the sound of metal tearing through metal.

Fluttershy watched as the machine that threatened her fell to the ground, three huge darts protruding from its chest as it threw out arches of electricity.

"FLUTTERSHY!" In a flash of purple, Twilight appeared on the floor, racing up to her cowering friend. "Fluttershy, are you alright?"

Raging fear from her brush with that horrible mechanical monster, plus the fresh trauma from her nightmare slammed into Fluttershy like a falling boulder, and her tears returned. She sobbed openly in front of her friend, who only felt her worry increase. Slowly, she reached out a hoof...

Only to have the sobbing pegasus leap up and tackle her to the ground, sobbing loudly into her chest.

"I'm sorry," mumbled Fluttershy, rubbing her tear stained face into Twilight's purple chest.

Twilight was at a loss for words, for she knew Fluttershy was sensitive when it came to danger, but she had never seen her break down this hard, especially now that the danger had past. But something deep inside her told her words of comfort would only make things worse. So she wrapped her pegasus friend up into her own embrace and nuzzled her mane with her nose. She actually smelled quite nice.

But hearing Fluttershy repeatedly say she was sorry brought her back to reality.

Channeling her magic, Twilight made both herself and Fluttershy vanish, reappearing on a soft surface. Fluttershy looked up in time to see Twilight roll them both over onto their sides, covering them both with a blanket. The group photo of them, yellowing with age, told her this was Twilight's room.

"Twilight...what?" Fluttershy was cut off when Twilight put a hoof over her mouth.

"Shhh," she cooed gently, pulling Fluttershy to her chest. "Just rest...I will stay with you until you wake."

Tear's budded in Fluttershy's eyes again as her emotions boiled to the surface again, crying silently into Twilight's chest. Twilight stayed as she said she would, stroking her friends mane, relief to have gotten to her in time flooding her, making her shed some tears as well. That was close, too close.

She would need to thank Hermaeus for this later.

After a while, Fluttershy ceased crying and just begun breathing calmly, fast asleep at last. But Twilight was still awake, captivated by how soft Fluttershy felt in her arms. The gentle heartbeat of the pegasus lulling her into a sense of tranquility she never knew of before.

Other thoughts began to form in her mind as Twilight herself began transcending the waking world as well. After such a horrible experience, she could not just thrust Fluttershy into the knowledge required for the task ahead. Her pegasus friend was so fragile, she needed something to counteract what had happened just moments ago.

She had an idea, she just hoped Hermaeus Mora agreed, as well as hoped that her friends could wait a little bit longer before they really started on the road home.

Author's Note:

I had to play Skyrim for a while to see which shout works the best on a Dwemer Centurion. Damn things are hard to find after clearing all the ruins, and I got lost in Blackreach six times.