Chapter 10
Fluttershy was kicking herself. Twice on this trip, she had lost track of her student. Twice now. She felt like a crummy teacher.
The group had managed to find their way to a cave to catch their breath. It was Xieru who spoke first.
“Okay... let’s not rush into anything. Let’s keep our priorities straight.”
Fluttershy didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean?”
“I think we’re going to have to keep going to our goal.”
“No! No!” Fluttershy said. “The kids...”
“Are strong and capable. It was why we brought them along. We have to have faith that they can take care of themselves. Meanwhile, there are countless lives counting on the success of this mission.”
Fluttershy hated how much sense that was making.
“But...” She let out a sigh. “Okay.”
“Now, we aren’t going to be safe here for long, so we’re going to have to...”
Sadly, Xieru had less time than he thought. At that point, a shadow imp jumped out of the cave and brought its claws down. Xieru was just quick enough to dodge.
Sadly he wasn’t quick enough to dodge the second imp, who was right behind the first. It slashed across Xieru’s chest, a light splatter of blood flying.
It was chaos once more. Imps were everywhere, clawing away. The three dragons and Fluttershy all began to scramble.
“Don’t fight! Fly!”
Fluttershy didn’t need to be told twice. She pumped her wings, flying high into the air.
She was the only one to get away.
Of all the crummy luck, it had to rain that night. Smolder sat in silence, not wanting to face reality. She wanted to be back in Ponyville. She missed Yona, and Sandbar, and Ocellus, and… everybody, really.
Jaden stayed silent. Well, as silent as he could. He was in an immense amount of pain. Moans escaped his lips, despite his efforts to keep it down.
Smolder had foraged some food, and was a bit ashamed how hard it was for her to do. She loved Equestria, but living as a pony had made her soft. It hadn’t been enough, especially for a dragon as injured as Jaden.
As they sat there, Smolder finally broke the silence. “Do you have a fever?”
Jaden looked at her. “What?”
“If you have an infection, getting home’s going to be harder. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“No, no fever. Just a lot of pain.”
“We aren’t going anywhere in this weather. We should try and sleep for now.”
“Why? What about the imps?”
Smolder sighed. “We’re pretty much dead if they catch us at this point. I’m dead tired, and you won’t last long in a fight. If we’ll die anyway, best get some sleep.”
“...That isn’t a comforting thought to sleep to.”
“Well, let’s talk about something else.” She thought for a moment. “What was the place like before this whole mess started?”
“A lot less chaotic,” Jaden said. “It wasn’t like the ponies’, but there was more of a community. We banded together to do things like hatch eggs...”
“Yona always thought bunnies were cute, but Yona is starting to reconsider.”
Yona said these words as Ocellus struggled against the ropes that were binding them together. As she struggled, she looked at the yak. “This would go faster if you would help.”
“It would go faster if you would turn into something small and slip out.”
There was a moment of silence. Then Ocellus changed into a rock, allowing the ropes to loosen and fall, freeing Yona to step out. Ocellus turned back to herself with a sheepish look.
“Sorry.”
“You changelings don’t know how to use your powers.”
“...What?”
“Yona just saying, you have those shape changing powers, yet your only invasion strategy for Canterlot was to Zerg Rush...”
“...What’s Zerg Rush?”
“Yona not know. Professor Pinkie said it once.”
“Alright, main point, what are we going to do about Angel?” Ocellus looked around Fluttershy’s basement. “That little rabbit is slippery, and I don’t think Professor Fluttershy will be happy with us if we let him get away with it.”
“Yona thinks the others are going to be needed,” she said. “Yona hopes they haven’t been caught too.”
At that moment, the basement door opened, and Cozy Glow snuck down.
“He’ll never find me here,” the pony said with a sigh of relief. Then she saw that the others were present. “Oh... hey guys,” she said.
“Cozy, what’s the situation with the others?” Ocellus asked.
“Well... I’m pretty sure they’re all captured,” Cozy said. “I tried my best, but I’m just an innocent little pony. I can’t be expected to help out all that much.”
“Yona thinks this is ridiculous.” The yak suddenly stepped forward. “Yona have mighty strength! Ocellus change shape! Gallus swift and mighty! We all have great power! One little bunny rabbit should not take us down.”
“Yeah,” Cozy admitted. “This does seem rather... ridiculous.” She rubbed her chin. “There has to be something we can do.”
Angel made several large hops as he sped down the hallway. He had to laugh. This was just too easy. He was actually starting to hope that Fluttershy left town more often. If these were the kinds of pet sitters she hired, he’d have free run of the place.
Sandbar galloped after him. “I’m going to get you! I mean it this time!”
Angel blew a raspberry at him and kept going.
Sandbar chased after him. “Seriously, Angel! Come take your bath! Now!”
Angel kept hopping, giving a smile. He jumped toward the bathroom.
“Finally, getting some common sense...”
Sandbar entered the bathroom, and had his sentence cut off by a well placed bar of soap. He heard Angel’s giggles as he slid until he hit the toilet, falling face first into the bowl
Thankfully, it wasn’t used.
Angel jumped on the handle, giving Sandbar a swirlie. The pony kicked, trying to pull himself out. Angel jumped on top of his head, then back to the ground, hopping out of the bathroom.
He jumped down the stairs, laughing. That was three down. Now, the only one he really had to worry about was...
“Gotcha!” Gallus jumped out, holding a vacuum in his claws. With a flick of his tail, he hit the on switch, turning the machine on.
Angel, who did not get where he was today by letting himself get caught easily, began hopping frantically. He was widening the gap, but he knew it was a matter of time before he was caught, especially since Gallus was coming closer.
“Nice try, rodent,” he said, using his tail to turn the power up. Angel looked around frantically. Finally, he thought to look at the floor, and saw that the rug was beginning to lift off it.
He jumped and kicked the rug back, causing the rug to go flying (seriously, who made a vacuum that powerful?). It hit the vacuum, blocking the passage for only three seconds before it crumpled up and entered the funnel. Still, that pause was enough, and Angel was able to get some distance.
He jumped onto the couch. As Gallus turned the vacuum on him, he grabbed a throw pillow and tossed it. It entered the vacuum even quicker than the rug, but it gave Angel enough time to grab another. He hopped to the end table, grabbing a vase of flowers for his next item. Then he threw a picture of Discord with a rose in his teeth, then a lamp.
Each item bought him seconds, but he needed to keep going.
He hopped to the cupboard, grabbing plates and tossing them. The vacuum took it all, the items entering the funnel with some difficulty.
“Keep it coming, Angel. You’re just delaying the inevitable.”
Angel hated how little confidence he had at this point. It did seem inevitable Gallus would catch him. He needed to think up a plan, and fast. Right now he could only keep throwing items...
He stopped. Only for a split second, as Gallus was still after him, but he suddenly realized this was the answer. Quickly he upped his game, grabbing every knickknack he could and throwing it at his opponent. He threw more, and more, until...
“Give it up, Angel,” Gallus said. “You’re running out... of...”
He trailed off as he noticed that the vacuum was stuttering. He also noticed that the room seemed darker. He turned around.
The vacuum bag was now huge, double his size... and it was rumbling.
“Oh...snap...”
The loud bang sounded, and all of Fluttershy’s possessions, some of them breakable, went flying out of the back of the vacuum, and the force knocked Gallus to the ground, his chin hitting the wood with a painful thud.
As he lay there moaning, Angel hopped up to him, slapped him in the face, and hopped off.
Angel hopped into the kitchen. Okay, that was... the yak, the changeling, two ponies, and the griffon. With the dragon with Fluttershy, that left....
“Gotcha!”
Silverstream grabbed Angel, lifting the little bunny in the air. “Now, what are you going to...”
Angel grabbed a lock of her mane and pulled. Silverstream let out a cry of pain, dropping Angel. Or at least, she would have if Angel hadn’t kept a death grip on her mane. Angel hopped onto her back, hopping across it and jumping to the fridge. He had long since figured out how to open it to get his food without Fluttershy’s permission. He popped it open and was inside quickly.
Silverstream turned, diving into the fridge. “Come here, you...”
Silverstream got a face full of whipped cream for her trouble. It then got topped with two cherries and an orange slice, forming a smile. Silverstream shot that off angrily.
“You knock that off...”
An apple hit her between the eyes. Grabbing her head in pain, the next one flew straight into her mouth. She angrily bit it in two. The pot of pasta hit her head. The contents stayed on her head, looking like a wig.
Angel then grabbed a turkey leg and started to throw it.
...
Angel lowered what he had grabbed, really looking at it. Silverstream stared at it too. They looked at each other, silently wondering why Fluttershy of all ponies would have such a thing in her fridge.
“Let’s pretend we never saw that,” Silverstream said. Angel nodded, awkwardly throwing the item aside.
With that out of the way, Angel grabbed the mustard and squeezed it into Silverstream’s face. This really hurt, the substance burning her eyes. She turned away, trying to wipe the condiment out of her eyes.
This left her wide open for the watermelon that struck her on the back of her head. She stumbled forward, pain exploding in the back of her head.
She was beginning to consider taking Gallus up on his offer to see what roasted rabbit tasted like.
She rose up. Angel seemed to have paused his onslaught, but hearing the chuckle made it clear he was reveling in his victory, not cutting her a break. Still, she wasn’t about to give up. Taking a deep breath, she turned around.
She got a face full of lemon in the eyes.
She shrieked again, her claws reaching up to her eyes, trying to wipe away the juice. This left her exposed to a strike to the chest. Angel reached for his next weapons.
A pineapple struck Silverstream square in the cheek. She yelped in pain, quickly swiping at the fruit. It fell off, leaving only the pain in her eyes. To add insult to injury, Angel decided to squeeze a bottle of ketchup at her. It hit her square in the barrel.
“What...?” Still not able to see, she pressed a claw to her chest.
“What the...?”
She stopped. She felt a liquid.
Her vision was starting to return. As she looked at her claws, she saw the red substance. “Blood... am I... dying?”
She felt herself shake. This couldn’t be the end. She had so much she wanted to do. She wanted to graduate from the School of Friendship. She wanted to see the homelands of her friends. She wanted to go right up to Tempest Shadow and smack her in the face for helping the Storm King.
No... she was doomed. She was...
She closed her eyes, falling to the ground. This was it.
“Any minute now I’ll see the gates of Paradise.”
A few seconds passed.
“Paradise is boring. It’s dark... and there’s nothing.”
Angel hit her in the face with a pie.
“Oh no... cherry... this must be the other place...”
...
“Uh... Silverstream? Why are you laying on the floor covered in ketchup?”
Silverstream opened her eyes to see Cozy standing over her. She looked at her chest again, seeing only ketchup.
“I guess I’m making an idiot of myself.” Silverstream stood up.
“So... nothing new.”
The others were filing into the room. Angel had already scampered off, feeling proud of himself.
“We need to go after him,” Sandbar said.
“Or we can go get some hamburgers, come back, and fix Professor Fluttershy’s cottage before we make bigger idiots of ourselves,” Cozy said. “Let’s fold for now and come back with a better plan.”
They looked around at the destroyed cottage, which would likely give Fluttershy an aneurysm upon seeing it, and silently agreed. Angel watched as the students left one by one before chuckling to himself. He then quickly hopped to his little comfy bed and pulled out a notepad and pen. There was plenty of time to make some more plans to deal with those idiots when they came back.
He really should consider asking Fluttershy to let them babysit him more, he thought to himself. This was the most fun he’d had in months.
Fluttershy was starting to hate Rainbow Dash. Years ago, when they were still in flight school, she had told her that she couldn’t spend her whole life locked in her bedroom. She had made her go out, live experiences, get her cutie mark, and it all had led her to the life she lived now.
If she ever got back to Ponyville, she was locking herself in her cottage for the rest of her life.
Her wings were so heavy they felt like they were going to fall off. She wanted so badly to rest, to go to sleep, but she couldn’t.
She was beginning to give up on ever fixing this mess.
She felt despair like she hadn’t felt before. So much had gone wrong, and even under the worst circumstances in her other adventures, she always had faith that Twilight or one of the others would know what to do. Here, there was only her. No Rainbow Dash, no Twilight, no Princess Celestia. It was only her, and she had never been enough by herself.
Sighing, she scanned the ground. She finally noticed a cave. At least she could rest for the night. Even if she found anyone, she’d be useless in her state. She only sighed as she began her descent. Smolder would just have to wait.
Smolder was beginning to feel a bit better as she rested. Jaden sat nearby, and while he was trying to keep a stoic demeanor, it was clear that even he was grateful for the chance to rest his muscles.
The silence hadn’t been as awkward as she had been expecting, mostly because both of their exhaustion just made it feel natural. Still, there was something they needed to discuss.
“What do you think our next move should be?” Smolder asked. “Are you going to be good to move?”
“...I don’t know,” Jaden said. The lack of confidence in his voice was unnerving. Undoubtedly, the adrenaline had worn off and the real pain was setting in. “But we’re going to have to move sooner or later anyway. We can’t count on the others.”
“Then let’s make our next move count. What should we do?”
Jaden sighed. “I hate to say it, but I think we need to retreat. I’m going to be pretty much useless in a battle. We show up on the battlefield, we’ll probably do more harm than good.”
“Yeah, probably,” Smolder said. She looked frustrated. “I wish my friends were here.”
“Other chromatics?”
“No, my friends at the School of Friendship,” she said. “I’d give anything to just be hanging out in the library again.”
“A library?” Jaden asked. “You consider that exciting?”
She shrugged. “No, the library’s just where we are a lot of the time. It’s just spending time with them I like.”
“What are they like?”
Smolder was a bit surprised at the question. “Well, there’s Yona, she’s a yak. Really excited, really clumsy. Was destroying stuff left and right because things weren’t built to accommodate her. She’s been better, but Headmaster Twilight still doesn’t let anything valuable be kept in the halls.
Then there’s Ocellus. She’s a changeling...”
“A what?”
It took Smolder a minute to remember. “Yeah, they’re a race that’s been in hiding for a while. They used to be ruled by a Queen that tried to conquer Equestria, but they deposed her and put a new king in charge. They can change shape.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She’d probably be a big help here... if we could get her moving. She’s really shy, hates being outside. Still, I think she would be willing to help.
“Gallus is a griffon. He’s kind of a jerk, but he has a practicality I respect. Real rough-and-tumble, too.
“Silverstream is a hippogriff. And... well, if I didn’t know Professor Pinkie, she’d be the most excited creature I know. She has a million questions a minute about everything. Really hard for her to sit still.
“And Sandbar is... well, he’s just really laid back. He goes along with the flow and usually is the one who can figure out what to do when things are going wrong. I remember one time, we had a big project due, and we ended up not being able to find the book we needed in the library. We were all panicking. But he calmed us down. He started sending us out to different places to find it. “
“Really?”
She nodded. “I guess ponies have that in common. Or at least, the ones I’ve met do. The other pony I know, Cozy Glow, is great. Whenever we work with her, she always seems to know what to do.”
“This school... I’m sorry, but it sounds boring.” The statement lacked his usual condescension. It was simply him stating a fact.
“I don’t blame you. It sounded boring to me too. I only offered to go because the Dragon Lord asked for a volunteer, and whenever the Dragon Lord says to do something, you do it.”
He nodded. “I guess that’s one thing our civilizations have in common,” he said. “Still, you seem to enjoy it now.”
“Yeah, I do,” she said. “You know, it honestly didn’t take me long to enjoy spending time with them.”
“Even with no other dragons?”
“There is one other dragon. Spike. He was hatched and raised by Headmaster Twilight. Kind of a wimp, but nice enough.”
“Really? How did he end up in pony territory?”
Smolder shrugged. “He’s never said. Only that his egg somehow ended up with Princess Celestia. I never asked.”
“You never asked?”
“I don’t think he knows. Some dragon showed up claiming to be his father once, and he believed it. If any Princess knows, they aren’t saying.”
“That sounds... odd.”
Smolder shrugged. “It does, but... I don’t know. There’s just this feeling that I can trust the Princesses. I really don’t think they’re playing games.”
“I don’t know. Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious? This new princess comes along and all of a sudden races with isolationist policies are all coming together?”
“You’re being paranoid. It’s just that once you spend time around others, you start seeing that they’re not so different from you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Trust me, all those friends I mentioned? I know them well. They’re all great. Even Cozy Glow, though I don’t get to hang out with her too much. Besides, the dragon lands weren’t that great. Look at us; it’s a day to day fight for survival.”
He grumbled. “Yeah, well...” he didn’t have as much heat in her words.
“Trust me, seeing how it is where you aren’t constantly being paranoid about everything is a gamechanger. You aren’t always worried about another dragon wanting to hurt you.”
“Right... So the ponies have this perfect society?”
“Oh, no. The ponies have their problems. The one in charge of Equestria’s schools is a massive bigot.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah. Hates Princess Twilight for letting us in the school in the first place. Thinks we’re going to destroy Equestria somehow. He’s delusional, ranting about a group of creatures he’s never met.”
“Sounds like a real ashbrain.”
“Tell me about it. I don’t think he realizes how stupid he looks.”
There was a long silence.
“Jaden,” Smolder said at last, “I...’”
“Smolder!”
The two dragons jumped. It hadn’t been them who had spoken. Still, relief flooded over them quickly when they saw who it was.
“Fluttershy!” They both jumped up and ran to her. Smolder got there first, throwing her arms around her. Jaden reached second, doing the same.
“We thought we weren’t going to see you again.”
“I was worried about you two as well,” Fluttershy said. “Are any of the other dragons with you?”
The two young ones shook their heads. “It’s just the three of us,” Smolder said.
“What should we do?” Jaden asked.
“I think we should keep moving forward.”
The words surprised Fluttershy… despite her being the one who said them. She was remembering a time when she would run and hide. From Trixie and the Alicorn Amulet, from dragons, even from Princess Luna long after she stopped being Nightmare Moon. Now she was insisting on heading towards the danger, even though it terrified her.
Then again, maybe she wasn’t giving herself enough credit. After all, she hadn’t hesitated to follow Twilight into the Everfree just hours after meeting her. But then she had Twilight and the other backing her up. Here, she had to be the leader.
She pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind. She needed to focus.
“If the other dragons manage to escape, it’s where they’ll be headed. And we can’t complete the journey until the shadow demons are beaten.”
“That’s true,” Jaden said. “But we’re in no shape to travel right now. We need to rest.”
“I agree. Let’s get some sleep, then move in the morning.”
“Uh, professor? Shouldn’t one of us stay awake to keep watch?”
“No,” Fluttershy said. “It’s important we rest. We’re not going to be any good to anybody like this.”
“Besides,” Jaden said. He paused for a moment, looking like he was going to regret his words, but decided to say them anyway. “We’re as good as dead if they find us like this anyway. We’re all tired, and those things hunt in packs. Yeah, we better risk it.”
Even Jaden looked unnerved by his own words, but he pushed them aside.
They all laid down. Despite how uncomfortable they all were, they fell asleep quickly.
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If you're talking about angel then yeah he's a crazy little demon bunny
Simple explanation: either she's developed a taste for meat from working with omnivores and obligate carnivores, or she simply keeps meat on hand for said carnivores. Either way, equines aren't obligate herbivores, so what's the issue?
Congratulations on uploading the last chapter Darth Link 22 wrote before his tragic passing. You don't need to apologize for not uploading this sooner, sometimes real life gets in the way and makes you forget some stuff, but nobody is holding it against you.
The students failing against Angel was my favorite part of this. When even Silverstream is pissed off at you then you know you are a pain.
I bet that was a gift from Discord himself.
That whole part was comedy gold!
Oops kind of forgot that you overload the vacuum and I know what's going to happen it's a classic cartoon logic here and it's going to hurt
Angel then grabbed a turkey leg and started to throw it.
...
Angel lowered what he had grabbed, really looking at it. Silverstream stared at it too. They looked at each other, silently wondering why Fluttershy of all ponies would have such a thing in her fridge.
Uhh I'm afraid where she get the turkey leg from then again I probably know the answer and probably that's for the wolf
Lol classic gag
😡
Yeah yeah just wait until season 8 finale she's going to show her true color
Both Spike and Sparky have in common with each other somehow when they were eggs they were separated from their kind question is why exactly that's never been answer
Awww I actually like that one not just only smolder really is happy to see Fluttershy but even Jaden was pretty happy as well
Hey don't feel bad I'm sure you've been pretty busy lately so no need to apologize but it's good to hear from you and also you did this for your friend so you're okay man
Wow that was a pretty intense and also comedy gold chapter here so apparently Fluttershy and the other dragons escape from those heartless Shadow things but they attacked them again and forcely split up meanwhile back at Fluttershy's house Angel is really giving these kids so much trouble giving them a little bit of Looney Tune and Tom and Jerry classic gag on them and Angel outsmarted them again he's not going to get away with it he's going to get what he deserved meanwhile back where smolder and Jaden are hiding from those Shadow creatures it is pretty interesting they're having a little conversation with each other despite they have not have a good start when they first met each other but somehow they actually are getting along despite the situation they're in right now she even told him about the school of friendship and her friends even Princess Twilight she was about to say something else but Fluttershy interrupt them but they were not too angry about it they were very happy to see her alive and here Jaden was about to suggest to make a run for it back home but Fluttershy wants to keep going which she was pretty surprised that she said that again character development here but they had to rest knowing to the fact it could be very risky for all of them to fall asleep while those Shadow creatures are out there but they have to take the rest because none of them are not in good shape so they rested for now I wonder what's going to happen next and how they're going to get through their destination I guess we'll find out next time
And hey you got all of his chapters that he worked on I'm sure he appreciated what you did for him and that was very cool of you that you did this for him rest in peace to him
I have doubts Smolder actually volunteered to go to the school, considering she was clearly objecting to even being there to the point Ember had to stress Smolder wasn't going to get a say in it at this point back when she first arrived. I always had the impression it was more Ember's decision than it had ever been Smolder's.
That happened during season 9, after Cozy had failed in her attempt to take Equestria and was no longer attending the school. So either this story is taking place in an AU where Cozy was still at the school and not found out in her dark plans--which I do not recall this story (overall) ever indicating--or that's a small continuity error, as I had previously been under the impression this had been taking place sometime during season 8, before Cozy had been found out.
Take however long you need to get the next chapters out!
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Yeah he did appear in season 9. I think we both missed that when he wrote it.
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Uh, no it wasn’t in Season 9. Sludge appeared in the Season 8 episode "Father Knows Beast", which was also the last episode before the two-part season finale.
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Yes, yes, SuperSonicHeroes is right, my apologies--I had posted from a different device where I couldn't stop and double-check at the time.