With Blood and Swords

by FALG

Silence

It was around 3 PM when I left the library, Twilight calculated that the Guardians could be near Ponyville around midnight.

I took Fluttershy to her cottage, it was imperative (at least for her) to warn the animals about the impending attack.
Much to my worries, Fluttershy didn't regain full conciousness. She was still asleep on my back.

When we were arriving to her home, I tried to wake her up carefully, but she was still asleep.
I entered the house, and there was the same disorder of before. I picked up a sofa and put it correctly, so I could lay Fluttershy there.

I looked around again, and picked up the other stuff laying around. I put the furniture back in place. And suddenly, a few critters started to roam the room. I could see some curiosity in their faces.
When they noticed Fluttershy, they instantly directed their attention to her.

At that same instant, almost a hundred of other animals appeared and surrounded her.

After flattening carefully the main carpet, I joined the circle of animals. A bunny hopped onto the sofa and started to stroke the pegasus' mane.

"I'm sorry I didn't bring her in a better state, Angel." I adressed the bunny
He didn't reply, but gave me a forgiving look.

"I have to go now, I'll be back. Would you all please take care of her?" I pleaded the group of animals. It was rather needless to say that.

So I just left.

---

Back to my house, my brother was worried to death after I went to Anvil. So he was more than happy when I entered:

"I thought I'd never see you again dude!" he said.

"Listen, we have to get out of here. Well, YOU have to get out of here." I quickly replied.

"What? Why?"

"The Guardians, I'm pretty sure they will retaliate after we sneaked in their headquarters." I explained.

"Wait a minute. You've been seen!?"

"They tricked us. They had a plan for when we arrived at the city, and we fell right into it."

"But why is it that I'm the only one that must leave? What about you?"

"I'll stay here to protect the village."

"WHAT?! Nonononono I almost lose you in that little 'rescue' of yours, I'm not gonna let you risk your life again!" he protested.

"Stop me if you must, but I'm not gonna desert the village now that it needs help!"

"The army will come and protect the village! Why do you have to stay? They can do this without you!"

"IT'S NOT THAT THE ARMY CAN'T DEAL WITH THEM WITHOUT ME! IT'S BECAUSE ALL OF THIS IS MY FAULT!"
Plaid stepped back.

"I'm the responsible for this! I sneaked in and proved the red idiots that I'm an assassin!" I insisted.

"But you're not!"

"But I can't reason with them now! Instead of sneaking in their fortress, I could have explained the situation that I'm not an assassin! But noooo, I HAD TO SNEAK IN!"
At this point, my throat started hurting after shouting and screaming.

"I can't believe I haven't thought of confessing everything to them, we could have saved us the problem of a comeback." I said sadly.
A moment of silence.

"And now Ponyville must be evacuated." I continued.

Right then, a bell started sounding.

"It's from the Town Hall. Seems like the news had reached the mayor." said Plaid.

"Twilight went there to tell her of the situation." I explained.

"Let's go, we need to hear what they have to say."

"Yeah, you go ahead. I have something to do first." I said while going to my wardrobe.
My brother then left the house, to Town Hall.

I opened my wardrobe and glanced at it's contents: clothes, the suit I wore in the Gala, there was also an empty clothes hanger, where my hoof-made armor should be.

I looked at the last hanger, there it was.
A grey plate armor, lighter and more maneuverable than the standards but quite as resistant. I noticed I was still wearing the beige cloak, so I took it off and threw it on my bed.
Then I put the armor on, adjusted it tightly, with the sachet which had Fluttershy's feather inside the chest plate.

Then I hurried out, I took too much time putting this armor on.

---

Just as I arrived, the mayor started her speech.

"Fillies and gentlecolts! We are gathered here on such short notice because there is an announcement I have to make!" she said "There is a threat coming to Ponyville today, and we must leave the town!"
Whispers and exclamations of astonishment were heard throughout the crowd.

"I have somepony right here that will explain the situation better than I can, miss Sparkle, you may come." the mayor called.
I saw Twilight walk over the stand where the mayor was.

"Ponyville! As the mayor just announced, there is a threat coming to this town and it must be evacuated!" she addressed to the crowd "I warned Princess Celestia already and she is taking instant action in defending the village!"

"What's this threat you speak of?" somepony in the crowd asked.

"An ancient guild is coming to attack, and all of you must be evacuated to Canterlot. The princess is already sending a group of soldiers to defend here, but we can't take any chances." Twilight answered.

"Why are they attacking us?! We didn't do nothing to anypony!" a mare in the crowd pointed.

"Yeah! Why are we being attacked?! We want answers!" a colt demanded.
The place now was filled with talk, screams, and demands.

"Everypony please! We can't talk of this right now!" Twilight tried to maintain the calm to the crowd "We need to evacuate the village and let the army take care of this!"
The mayor now took over the stand:

"Please everypony! Keep quiet!"
The crowd then calmed down a little.

"Once the army arrives, I want you all to leave for the train station to Canterlot! This meeting is over! Pay attention!" she ordered.
With that, the crowed dispersed. I noticed my brother among the crowd. So I walked to him.

"Hey there." I greeted.

"You finally have the opportunity to wear that." he pointed at my armor.

"And you thought I was never going to be able to use it, huh?" I joked.

"Oh shut up."
I laughed a little.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Plaid asked.

"Well, when the army arrives, they'll escort everypony to the train station. Although maybe dad will come and pick you up personally, but you'll know soon enough." I answered.
Then I noticed a familiar pegasus exiting the crowd.

"Uhh, er..." I stammered, and left my brother alone "I have to talk to somepony, you go home until the army shows up!" I ordered from behind my shoulder.

I ran to the pegasus, I was nervous, but it was very recomforting to see her.

"Fluttershy!" I called.
She turned around, and when she saw me, she gasped and ran towards me. I hugged her as soon as she was at reach, sinking my face in her neck.

"How wonderful to see you're alright." I said.
She didn't say anything. And I separated from her.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you when they took you, I'm deeply..." I was saying but Fluttershy cut me off putting a hoof on my mouth.
And she shuffled her head.

"Well I'm glad to know you are alright. I was so afraid I could lose you thanks to those idiots." I said while caressing her cheek.
She responded by leaning her face to my hoof. And then coming closer to me for another hug.

"Thanks Celestia you're alright." I started "Listen, we can't stay here for long, the army will come soon and you will need to go to the train station."
She nodded and waved a hoof, implying that she already knew what to do.

"I'm staying here to defend the town."
She opened her eyes in surprise.

"Well? What do you want me to do? I brought this conflict upon us! The least I can do is help!"
She looked at me with a worried face.

"I have to. Well, not really... but I can't let the army fight those people while I'm deserting. Even if I don't help at all, I can't leave."
She tried to protest, but no words came from her mouth, so now it was me that shushed her with a hoof.

"Don't say anything, because I made my decision. I'm staying here and I will help the army defend Ponyville." I assured.
Fluttershy was in the verge of tears, she bit her lip in frustration and planted me a fierce kiss. We kept like that for some time, until we separated.

"Let's go, let me take you home until the army arrives." I said.
She simply nodded.

---

When we arrived at her house, the critters received her at the door, most likely worried to see how she was.

I entered too, and Fluttershy sat on the couch where I laid her when unconscious. There, she patted a side of the couch so I could sit with her. I obliged.

"What will you do with your animals? They can't stay here during the attack." I pointed out after a while.
She looked at them, and sighed.

"Well?" I insisted.
Fluttershy looked at me, and tried to say something again, but nothing came out. She tried a few more times before finally giving up.

"What's the problem? Tell me." I said.
She put her hooves on her cheeks and pressed, hoping that something would come out, but nothing.

"If you don't tell me your problem, I can't help you."
After saying that, the white bunny hopped in and landed in front of me to give me a slap.

"Hey! What was that for?!" I asked angrily.
He then made a few motions, trying to say something. First he signaled her, then he shoved his paw in a "no" signal, and then he made a few more with his mouth, like he was talking.
Trying to guess what he was showing me, I attempted to make up a phrase, it took me several chances to finally put up the next guess:

"Wait, 'she'... 'no'... 'speak'? She... doesn't speak?"
He shuffled his head. And tried again.

"She doesn't? She mustn't? She can't?" I guessed.
He pointed at me with the last one, trying to make a point.

"Oh! She can't talk! Is that so?" I said, and then it hit me "Wait... you can't talk?" I looked at Fluttershy.
She gave me an apologizing smile.

"How did this happen? Are those Guardians responsible for this?!"
She made a grimace and shuffled her hoof, implying that they were "kinda responsible".

"Did they do something to you?"
She denied.

"So why can't you talk? If they didn't do anything to you?"
She thought a little, and finally shrugged.

Somehow, the sight of her opaque eyes came to my mind. Some flashbacks appeared to me, the first one showed me her eyes while in the room, the next showed me her during the trap, and the last one showed her hugging me at Twilight's library.

I remembered something I read in a book, and tried to see if Fluttershy's muteness had something to do with it.

"Do you remember anything from what happened to you? During this last few days?" I asked.
She started thinking, and I could notice in her face that she didn't like what she was remembering. To the extent that she started crying after some minutes.

She was shocked.

They say that if somepony is shocked (as in, very scared) in any way, that shock might lead to some consecuences. I read a story once that a pony received such a shock that after the event, the pony went mute.
There is no actual way to cure it, because it isn't an illness. One way to solve it could be to help the pony to talk again.

But they also say that, the only way to solve the consecuence of a shock, is by giving her another stronger one.

"You're just shocked. That's the reason why you have gone mute." I explained to the pegasus.
She looked at me, still crying.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy, I wanted to rescue you without mourning any kind of casualty. Now I made you lose your voice." I said looking down.
She put a hoof on my shoulder and shuffled her head again. Even muted I could know what she was trying to say.

At that moment, the door of the cottage opened and an unicorn appeared.

"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" Twilight asked.

"It's okay, don't worry. What is it?" I asked coming down from the sofa.

"The army is here. They are taking everypony to the station." she said.

"Sure, okay." I said, and then looked to Fluttershy "I'll take you to the station myself, if you don't mind."
She nodded, leaving the sofa, and then she went to Angel.

"Let's leave them alone Twilight." I addressed the unicorn.

"Okay." she simply said.

We left the house. A few hours had passed since we came back from rescuing Fluttershy, so it was now around 5 PM.

"If you want to wait for her, don't worry, I'll go help with the evacuation." Twilight said.

"Is anypony else besides me staying here to protect the village?" I asked.

"Well, the hospital staff has to stay, to tend the fallen. And the families that have a farm have to stay to provide the army with food."

"Wait a minute, that means Applebloom will stay here!"

"No, Applebloom is just a filly, she will be evacuated along with her grandmother. Only Applejack and Bic Macintosh will be staying here." she explained.

"Do they have any escape route? Just in case... well, we aren't able to hold the line."

"Don't worry, we will. But in any case, Celestia put to our disposition the use of a few carts pulled by guards. Once the Guardians arrive, we'll raise an alarm so they can leave safely." she explained.

"Well that's good to know." I said.

"I have to get going, I'll meet you at the library later okay?"

"Sure."

I waited for Fluttershy for another while, until she came out with the animals behind her.

"Will they follow you?" I asked.
She denied.

"Oh so they will leave to someplace safe until this whole thing ends, right?"
She nodded.

"Well, let's go to the station, let's just hope the train didn't leave yet."

---

We arrived at the station some minutes later, we accelerated the pace a little just to be sure we weren't late.
The place was holding a few soldiers to help the evacuation.

"Well, here we are. " I said to Fluttershy "Get in there, try to find your friends." I said.
At that same moment, Rarity came out of the train, which was half full by now.

"Oh thanks Celestia you both came, I was getting worried!" the unicorn said.

"Don't worry, I brought her to make sure nothing else happened." I answered.

"C'mon Fluttershy, come in." Rarity started to pull her friend to the train, but Fluttershy resisted.

"Fluttershy, please get in there." I pleaded.
She shuffled her head and sank her face in my neck, hugging me.

"It seems she doesn't want to let you go." said Rarity.

"Please Fluttershy, if you don't get in the train, all the work I did with Twilight and Rainbow would be in vain." I tried to reason to her, but to no avail.
She just kept sinking her head into me.

"Leave us alone a few minutes Rarity, okay?"

"Don't take too long, the train will leave anytime soon." she said while getting back into the train.

"Fluttershy, look at me." I grabbed her by the face and forced her to look at me. "I know you don't want me to stay, I don't want to either! But I can't leave, I started this conflict, and even if I don't finish it, I will help in the process of it."
She then started to cry again, I closed in for another hug.

"Is there something I can do, to help you leave? Anything, just... um, try to tell me." I suggested.
She separated and dried her tears with her hoof. She tried her voice another time, trying to make sure of something. Once she was ready, she waved a hoof to make me go closer, and whispered something to my ear. I didn't get it the first time.

"What was that?" I asked, she tried again "I don't understand, can't you whisper a little louder?"
With that, Fluttershy took a deep breath, and closed in more to my ear.

"S---paaaa---niishhh" she mumbled with a raspy voice.

"Spanish?" I asked rather confused. But then I remembered.

I think I already told you my memory wasn't very good. If I didn't, well, now you know.

I couldn't believe I totally forgot about that, right when I met her:

"Oh gosh!" I gasped "I totally forgot! You want to hear something in spanish!" I realised.
She smiled, I haven't seen that smile since a few days ago, but that time felt like an eternity.

"Okaaay, what can I tell you?" it was funny, because I never thought of anything interesting to tell Fluttershy in spanish. And I had to be quick, the train was about to leave soon.

"Oh yeah!" I came out with something, and chuckled.

I closed in to Fluttershy's ear, and whispered:

"Tiempo de vals, es el tiempo hacia atrás

donde hacer lo de siempre es volver a empezar

donde el mundo se para y te observa girar

es tiempo para amar

Bésame en tiempo de vals

un dos tres, un dos tres

sin parar de bailar

Haz que este tiempo de vals

un dos tres un dos tres

no termine jamas"

Unconsciously, I was also swinging from side to side along with Fluttershy to the song's rhythm. It was a shame, I had to shorten that up, but at least I could say something.

She looked at me with disbelief.

"I translated the song myself." I explained.
She mumbled something inaudible, not able to believe what she just heard.

"Tell ya' what, I promise you to tell you the rest of the song, when you come back. Okay?"
I don't know if she paid attention or not, but the next thing I remember was that she kissed me again, quite vigorously.

Suddenly, the train whistled.

"Fluttershy dear! Get in already!" Rarity called her friend.

"It's time Shy. Go! Don't fall behind!"
Fluttershy left out in even more tears, but followed the train and hopped in. And she waved a hoof to me. I did the same to her.

"Farewell Fluttershy."

I grabbed the sachet inside my chestplate and looked at it's content sadly.

I stroked the yellow feather a little, and then put everything back in place.

And adjusting my armor again, I left for the library.