The Reception's Been Canceled

by sister_mike

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Fluttershy

Fluttershy knew she was the last of her friends to go through her doorway. She knew the soothing voice sounded like Celestia, but this just seemed all too familiar, too much like something Discord would do. Was he back? Was he working with Chrysalis? Why would Celestia separate them? Fluttershy didn't do so well on her own, not when they were under attack by scary changelings.

She knew she was the last of her friends to go through because she kept calling out to them and got no answer. For a while Pinkie Pie was coaxing her with her optimism, telling her everything was going to be ok. The doors were light and right now they were somewhere dark. Surely that was a good sign. But soon Pinkie Pie stopped talking and Fluttershy was all alone. What if she was sent into a pod? What if this was a trap by Chrysalis? She could easily disguise herself as anypony—she had clearly done a good job pretending to be Cadance. Therefore she could easily be putting on Celestia's voice and sending them through these doorways straight back into pods.

Her friends were already gone. What if they were back in their pods already? Or worse, fighting off a herd of changelings and they failed because they were one pony short? What if Fluttershy was supposed to save them all? What if she was their last hope?

The pressure was too much. Maybe she should just hide here, in the labyrinth until one of her friends found her. But they were supposed to meet in Ponyville. Staying in this labyrinth wasn't going to help her get there. What if the doorway led her straight to Ponyville and she was worrying about nothing? But what if it's a trap...

Be brave. It was Celestia's voice again, soothing, whispering in her ear, telling Fluttershy to be brave. Bravery wasn't something she easily came by. But her friends were gone. They were brave enough to go through their doorways. And how long before the changelings made their way into the maze?

Ok. Be brave Fluttershy. Your friends are depending on you. Go to Ponyville. It'll be ok, she told herself.

Closing her eyes and letting out a little "eep!" she ran through the doorway.

Be brave the Celestia voice said again as she stepped through to the other side. Fluttershy kept her eyes shut for a while. She listened carefully. Nothing. It was silent. No sounds of a fight or an attack.

Timidly, she began to open her eyes. It was dark. Very dark. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but she could still just barely see. Tall silhouettes surrounded her. Something rustled. A twig snapped. Fluttershy jumped, skittering forwards a few feet, until she realized it was she who had stepped on the twig.

She let out another squeaky "eeep!!" as she began to realize where she was.

"T-the E-E-Everfree-ee Forest!" she squeaked. Why would Celestia send her here? It didn't matter how many times she had been in it before—it was still the scariest place she knew. She especially hated being in here by herself. It seemed three times more scary when her friends weren't here.

Clearly this had been some sort of trap set up by the changelings to scare her. To separate her from her friends, send her to the scariest place, and then attack her. Her heart began to race and panicking, she began to look for any sign of an exit. But she was in the thick of it, trees packed tightly everywhere.

But slowly, she began to calm. She'd been standing there, panicking for several minutes, and so far nothing had attacked her. As she calmed further, she noticed that there was no scary green glow above the forest. There were no pods in here. The sky was clear. She was... safe? In the Everfree Forest? Celestia had sent her to safety! Maybe her friends were a few feet in front of her, waiting, plotting, getting ready for their next move! But the more she thought of it, that wouldn't be true. If they had all been sent here, they would have been waiting for her when she arrived. She was alone. There was something here that Fluttershy had to do. Be brave.

Be brave? That meant she had to go deeper into the forest. But why? What if there were changelings in here? What would Mare Do Well do? She knew that the principle behind Mare Do Well, was that she could be anypony, anyone could be a hero and do good. But sometimes, when Fluttershy was alone, she liked to think that Mare Do Well was a real hero, some unknown pony, who would always save Ponyville— save Fluttershy. And sometimes, when she really panicked and wondered what Mare Do Well would do, she had to firmly remind herself that she was Mare Do Well. And she could do anything.

There's no green sky above the forest. There can't be changelings in here. They can't get to you here. You're safe. Be brave. Go further. Maybe there are other ponies in the forest, waiting for your help. Maybe together you can go to Ponyville.

Suddenly, Fluttershy thought of something very important. Of course there was a pony in the Everfree Forest. Except she wasn't a real pony; she was a zebra. Zecora! How could she forget about Zecora? Once she feared the mystical striped pony, but now she knew better. Zecora would help her—or at the very least calm her down.

But which way to Zecora's hut? Being already deep in the forest, she wasn't sure which way to go.

Be brave. Fluttershy closed her eyes and held the words close to her. She would be brave.

She listened to the wind, the slight breeze that wafted through the forest. Turning to the right, she began to walk. There was something in her gut telling her she was going the right way. She'd find Zecora because it was what she was meant to do. To face her fears in order to gain an ally. And together, with that ally, they'd band together with her other friends in Ponyville and fight those changelings. And then everything would be better. And Fluttershy wouldn't have to be afraid any more.

The walk was long. Fluttershy wasn't sure how long she had been wandering around the forest. Many times, she was sure she was going in the wrong direction. Many times, she stopped and cried, too afraid to press on. But then she'd listen to Celestia's message, get up off the ground and start walking again. When she was really afraid, she'd fly, because it was faster. It was a little ironic, since Fluttershy was actually afraid of flying, but it just happened naturally. The faster she moved, the farther and faster away she got from the things frightening her.

Finally. She stepped out into a small clearing in the forest, and there, in the centre of the trees, was Zecora's hut. Smoke came from the chimney—regular smoke, not scary green energy. Zecora was home. She was safe. And soon, so would Fluttershy.

She raced to the house and knocked on the door. There was some rustling from the other side. Something banged, and then there were whispers. Slowly, the door opened a crack and a yellow eye appeared at her. Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak when the door slammed shut. There was the sound of locks and chains, and then the door flew open again, Zecora standing on the other side.

"Can I believe my eye? Is that really you, Fluttershy?" Zecora said. She pulled Fluttershy into the hut and into a hug.

"Fluttershy!"

Zecora pulled away and stepped aside to reveal Apple Bloom under the table. She raced out and hugged Fluttershy as Zecora secured the door again. Tears ran down Apple Bloom's cheeks.

"I'm so glad to see you! What happened to the others? Is Applejack ok?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Twilight Sparkle set us free from the pods. We escaped the palace, but were soon separated in the labyrinth. We were each transported to a place where we needed to be. I was sent here," Fluttershy said. "Apple Bloom, how did you get here? You were at the wedding with us..."

"Princess Luna saved me," Apple Bloom said, sitting at the table.

"You were never put into a pod? Do you remember what really happened?" Fluttershy asked. She sat down across the table from Apple Bloom. Zecora was stirring something in her cauldron, listening quietly.

Apple Bloom closed her eyes for a moment, fresh tears appearing. She shuddered slightly.

"These questions she cannot answer willy-nilly, for a lot has happened to this little filly," Zecora said, as Apple Bloom struggled to find the right words.

"It's ok Zecora. I s'pose I'm one of the only ponies who weren't put into one of 'em pods. Lots of ponies are going to wonder what happened," Apple Bloom said. She then turned to Fluttershy.

"I guess it all started when Shining Armor told Twilight she couldn't be in the weddin'. Twilight came in and said Cadance was evil, and made her cry, and Shining Armor wasn't happy. But after that, Twilight just... disappeared. Nopony knew where she went. Shining Armor searched for her, to apologize. Of course he wanted her in the weddin', she was his little sister. But no one knew where she was. Cadance persisted that the weddin' go on anyways, and eventually got her way.

"We were all excited to be flower girls, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and I. Thought maybe we'd get our Cutie Marks, but it didn't happen o'course. Anyways, it all went down during the weddin'. We did our part, and then the bridesmaids came down the aisle. And then it was time for Cadance to come down, and we all started to feel a little dizzy—'cept for Princess Celestia. She asked what was going on, and somehow Shining Armor snapped out of his daze, and started shouting how Twilight had been right, something wrong was going on.

"And before we knew it, Celestia exposed Cadance for who she really was, that Queen Chrysalis. Celestia demanded to know where the real Cadance was, and where Twilight was, but the Queen just laughed. Then suddenly there were changelings storming the palace, and everypony started screamin' and tryin' to escape. Everyone started being zapped into pods.

"Queen Chrysalis n' Celestia were fightin', and the changelings were attacking everyone. So many ponies, so fast, were put into pods. Applejack jumped in front of me as one tried to imprison me. After that I started cryin' and tryin' to free her. Someone else knocked me out of the way as her pod attached to the roof. It was then that Twilight's pod was exposed. Shining Armor lost it. I ain't sure what happened to him after that.

"Before I knew it, Sweetie Belle and Rarity were imprisoned too, and then you were, and it seemed like I was one of the last ponies to be standin'. And then outta nowhere, Luna bursts in and demands to know what's goin' on. Some of the changelings try to attack her, but she swats them outta the way like they're nothin'. You shoulda seen her power! She started throwing changelings off of ponies, started making real progress in the fight.

"By this point, Celestia had disappeared, and so had Chrysalis. Luna saw me and saved me. She briefly said my name, like she was rememberin' meetin' me at Nightmare Night. She zapped her horn at me and told me she was sendin' me somewhere safe. Next thing I knew, I was in Zecora's hut."

Apple Bloom closed her eyes again and began crying. Zecora came over and put her arm around her. Before Fluttershy could even respond, Apple Bloom began bawling and sputtering.

"Sc-c-Scootaloo didn't make it," she said.

"Is she in one of the pods?" Fluttershy asked, "When we figure this all out, we can go back and save her and Sweetie Belle."

Apple Bloom shook her head and sobbed harder. "O-one of the change-gelings tried to put her in a pod, but Sc-c-c-ootaloo got away—'cept she was knocked outta the window durin' the batt-ttle. The fall killed her."

"Why didn't she just fly away?" Fluttershy asked softly.

"Sc-c-ootaloo can't fly," Apple Bloom sobbed, "it was her biggest secret. Her wings didn't work."

Apple Bloom couldn't stop crying after that. Zecora patted her on the back, murmuring softly to her.

After a while, the crying stopped. Apple Bloom had cried herself to sleep. Zecora tucked her into a small bed.

"The others and I need to meet in Ponyville," Fluttershy said. She didn't know how else to respond. There was just too much sadness in the air.

Zecora nodded. "Yes, to Ponyville in due time, and we'll rid Equestria of changeling's slime. But now it is time for some rest; for plotting is better while at our best."

Comments

[sister_mike]

Just as someone predicted! Zecora!
Didn't quite turn out like I wanted to, but none of them really seem to. And please forgive me, I'll get better at writing Zecora's rhymes.

And just as a side note, I absolutely hate Scootaloo. Ask BronyMike, she is my most hated pony. Ever. Hence why she has no place in this story.

[DreadedCandiru2]

Ah. Well, the others seem to have a certain measure of fondness for her so it's "Let's kill Chrysalis" time.

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

You killed scoots nooooooooo i love everypony :(
Good work tho i love this story so far

[Natzo]

[sister_mike]

It's ok everypony, she's in a better place now.

[mbpony 512]

Man, Rainbow Dash is just going to lose it when she finds out that Scootaloo's dead... + =

Nice update, and I was kind of shocked that you killed Scootaloo. I can almost see Dash just losing it and having somepony hold her down.

Please do keep up the good work upon such a great storyline as I cannot wait to see what happens next in this tale.

[jamlamin]

1336222
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Scootaloo.png While you shouldn't hate Scootaloo, I find it ironic that somewhere on the Ponynet, I read that the word of Faust is that Scootaloo really can't fly. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Scootaloo_lolface.png She apparently is handicapable and was never meant to fly by Faust's design.

[sister_mike]

1352931

Everyone has their most disliked pony, and mine just happens to be lil' Scootaloo.
And I got word of Faust's design and that was a little Easter egg I threw in there ;)

[themanesix]

you killed Scootaloo.......OFFSCREEN............

[Corundum]

1336222 YOU !#$% SCOOTALOO WAS MY FAVORITE OF THE CMC AREERGAEAKNFBDNABFBAID .....at least shes happy in heaven

[Oniram]

Scootaloo's death almost made me quit reading your Story .
It wasnt for the fact that you killed her, actually her Death is especially tragic when you consider she cant fly .
No it was how the Characters reacted to it .
Bloom tells Fluttershy Scootaloo died, and Fluttershy asks imediately afterwards :"Why didnt that dumb b!tch Fly?"
Fluttershy would never react to her Death like this because they were so close to each other .

It made me wonder if you would handle every Characters Death so loveless, but then i remembered how you described Sweetie Belle and Rarity's situation and your Comment about how you hate Scoots (how could you btw?) made me think differently of it .

Just saying this 'cause you almost lost a reader .
I havent read past this Chapter btw

[Kupe Akemi Navigator]

I am more upset at this then Granny Smith's death. Y Granny is an old pony and she was going to be dead soon anyway ( please do not think I hate Granny Smith or I am a heartless monster. What I mean is even if she survived the attack she would not have lived long afterwords naturally.) Scootaloo on the otherhand is just a filly... I really hate young ones getting killed. And Yeah you could've handle it better maybe make Fluttershy cry a dry tear like this: Afterall She knew scotaloo and I just think your hatered of character intervined with your story here.