Answering the Call

by Sigil Flare

Chapter 3

Warning contains Fluttershy having a rather nasty breakdown. if you don't like how she is played in this story you should put your fist through your monitor, jump in your car drive into the middle of the nearest four way intersection and then scream come at me bro while dancing shirtless.

The three friends stepped off the train, their hooves sinking into the snow covered earth. A blizzard had started up on the train ride north to Stalliongrad and it had only gotten worse, since their arrival. The winds had picked up covering everything in a snow filled haze.

"Where's that pony?" asked Rainbow Dash wrapping her scarf around her face her goggles blocking the snow from her eyes "He was supposed to meet us here"

"Don't worry he'll be here" yelled Spitfire over a sudden gust her own scarf already wrapped around her muzzle

"Twi" pleaded Rainbow Dash placing a hoof on her marefriend "Please tell me you can do something to get us out of this blizzard?"

"Hey I thought that was my job" said a figure appearing out of the blizzard

"Soarin" replied Spitfire giving her teammate a hoofbump "I knew you'd never let me down"

"Not a chance Captain" said Soarin with a smile He was currently wearing his wondersuit which was well insulated from the cold and was keeping his eyes clear of snow. "I see you brought friends"

"I'd say hello Soarin but I can't seem to find my lips through all this blizzard" remarked Rainbow Dash bluntly

"Yep that's Rainbow alright" said Soarin waving them to follow him "Always so straight to the point"

"So Soarin why did you choose to go vacationing up here?" asked Twilight curiously, wiping some snow out of her goggles

"Truth be told I only came up here because Scootaloo asked me too" replied Soarin with a nod "She wanted me to find out where Fluttershy was and to make sure she was okay. I owed her for covering for me a while ago so it was the least I could do."

"So what have you found out?" asked Rainbow Dash worry noticeable in her voice

"Not much" replied Soarin regretfully as he led them over a snow dune "What I have found out is that she has taken refuge in a forest close to here."

"Well that's good" replied Spitfire hopefully "Right?"

"No not if what I've heard from the locals is true" said Soarin shaking his head "That forest or Wolf's Bane Forest as it's called locally," The three mares all looked at each other in worry "Is home to creatures of all kinds including Dire Wolves."

"I thought Dire Wolves were extinct?!" yelled Twilight

"So did everyone else" replied Soarin stopping suddenly "But a Dire wolf has been spotted entering and leaving that forest for the last 2 yeaars now. And sometimes ponies say they saw it carrying the body of a cream colored Pegasus"

"Fluttershy..." mouthed Rainbow Dash looking at her hooves Twilight noticed the motion and wrapped her hooves around her mare friend

"We'll find her Rainbow, don't you worry" comforted Twilight

"Thank you Soarin" said Spitfire waving goodbye to Soarin as he walked away and was lost to the blizzard once more

"Wait he's not coming with us?" asked Twilight confused

"And I don't blame him" answered Spitfire shaking her head "Why in Celestia's name did it have to be a dire wolf?"

"We're still going after Fluttershy" said Rainbow Dash shrugging off her marefriend's embrace "Now is no time for second thoughts we came up here to get her and that's what we're going to do"

"Rainbow is right" said Twilight in agreement

"Alright then Soarin said the forest is this way." said Spitfire trotting off to the west After what seemed like an eternity the forest came into view. It was so massive it stretched long enough that you couldn't see it end no matter which direction you looked. Not to mention how tall the trees were. This forest must be almost ancient.

The three mares started into the forest at a brisk trot. Immediately upon entering the wind died down to a mere whisper and the blizzard let up. Now that they could see better the forest didn't seem as bad as it did from the out side. It was still massive, just not as foreboding.

"How are we supposed to find Fluttershy in this place?" asked Spitfire in puzzlement "It looks like it goes on forever"

"We just have to keep looking" said Rainbow Dash taking a step forward ready to charge in head first, when she was blocked by a purple hoof.

"If I may try something first?" asked Twilight with a chuckle at her marefriends determination, it was something she admired Rainbow for after all. Without waiting for an answer she began to weave her magic, her horn glowing bright. She released her spell and four shimmering owls appeared in the air around her.

"Wow Twilight" said Rainbow Dash in admiration at the unicorn's talent "When did you learn to do that?"

"Well when you left I took the time to study up on just about everything" replied Twilight bopping Rainbow Dash on the nose "These are called Familiars. I can use them to scan the entire forest and report back to me. I can see what they see, hear what they hear."

"That's great Twilight" nodded Spitfire with appreciation "I'm glad we have you along"

Twilight casted out her influence and the owls took off in four different directions. She cast her eyes open wide letting her magic flow through her. The four owls cast their sight back to her all at once. Normally this would be impossible for any normal unicorn, but not Twilight. To her it seemed rather simple.

She looked around with her new eyes, but could only see snow covered earth and trees. Once she thought she saw movement but it was only a branch blowing in the breeze. She cast her influence out even wider this time stretching herself to her limits. She could feel her hold loosening, when suddenly a massive paw caught the western owl and it's vision blinked out casting darkness on Twilight.

Curious as to what happened Twilight redirected all three remaining owls in that direction. One by one just as they reached her range of 10 miles they got taken down by a massive paw, or sharp teeth. As the last image of her familiars lingered in her eyes she shut them on a pair of ferocious teeth. When she opened them again she was looking right into the face of Rainbow Dash.

"What did you see Twi?" asked Rainbow Dash curiously "It's not something good I can tell from the look on your face"

"I found where she is I think" replied Twilight putting a hoof on the cyan pegasus's shoulder "but it's guarded by what could only be described as the dire wolf Soarin mentioned."

"So it's true" said Spitfire looking down at her hooves in dismay "This is going to be harder than I thought"

"So what" yelled Rainbow Dash "We are still going after her aren't we?"

"It's not that easy Rainbow Dash" answered Spitfire trying to get the brash Pegasus to understand

"Yes it is" said Rainbow Dash confidently "we go in there we find Fluttershy and we get out. Simple as that"

"Rainbow Dash have you every seen a dire wolf before?" asked beginning to lose her temper Spitfire "Do you even know what they are?"

"No, but I don't see what..." replied Rainbow Dash stumbling over her words

"Exactly you have no idea what you're dealing with" said Spitfire anger burning through her voice making Rainbow Dash cringe away a bit "If you go in there without a plan your going to get your self killed!"

"How can you be so sure" asked Rainbow Dash defensively "You've never seen them either"

"A dire wolf killed my parents..." said Spitfire her voice cold as ice "They were on a mission with the Royal Equestrian Air Force for Princess Celestia searching for signs of Nightmare Moons return. The only one who made it out of their unit alive to tell us what happened died a few days later from severe blood loss. He started out a pegasus but he wasn't when he died..."

"Sounds like we all have secrets better left buried" said Twilight trying to salvage the situation as best she could She desperately tried to change the subject "What do you suggest we do Spitfire?"

"Stealth will do us no good" said Spitfire shaking her head regaining her wits, glad to ge rid of those bad memories "Dire Wolves have incredibly sharp senses of smell and hearing. We need to play on it's sense of sight if we are to succeed."

"You think an Illusion would work?" asked Twilight hopefully

"Maybe but we'd still need to mask our scent" replied Spitfire thinking hard "Any ideas about how to do that though?"

"What if it just doesn't notice us?" replied Rainbow Dash grabbing an idea out of thin air "It can't hear or smell something it never notices in the first place"

"Rainbow that'll never work..." started Twilight then sudden sprang up and clacked her hooves together "Rainbow your a genius!" She hugged the cyan pegasus and twirled her around before stepping back and revealing her plan.

_______________________________________________________________

"You sure this is gonna work Twi?" asked Rainbow Dash trying to hide the nervousness in her voice

"Have a little faith Rainbow" said Twilight giving her marefriend an affectionate nuzzle "I'd never let anything hurt you"

"You know I'm beginning to feel like a third wheel here" giggled Spitfire watching the two mares smile at each other awkwardly

Twilight's plan had been pure genius of course. She had been doing a late study session a few weeks ago and stumbled upon what she believed was an invisibility spell. Upon further inspection she realized it was an inperceiveable spell instead. One might wonder what the difference is between the two.

Well Invisibility make you unable to be seen. It doesn't cover up your tracks or smell or soften your hoof steps so you can't be heard either. Inperceivability on the other hoof does something ingenious. Instead of affecting the user it effect others. It makes them so they can perceive nothing you do. They can't heard, see or smell you or anything you do or touch as long as your within range.

So using this spell Twilight covered everything in a half a mile radius with it with her as the epicenter. They can see everything but no one can see them.

"This was pure genius Twilight" commented Spitfire with a smile

"Thanks" replied Twilight sending out a hoof as a silent word to stop advancing "We're here"

"I can see smoke over in the distance" said Rainbow Dash straining her eyes and using her hooves as makeshift binoculars "I bet that's where Fluttershy is"

"Alright let's move keep your eyes out for any sign of movement" said Spitfire cautiously taking a step forward

The three made there way slowly forward. Every so often they would turn around and make sure there was nothing following them. It began to grow quiet the farther in they went. The smoke from the fire was just over the next hill.

"Wait did you girls here that?" asked Rainbow Dash looking around nervously There was a crunch just behind them. Rainbow whirled around to look behind and saw a bush tremble. "Um... Girls I think we have a problem"

A massive wolf erupted out of the bush as Twilight and Spitfire turned around. It towered over them easily twice to three times their height. It had gray dappled white fur and you could see muscles rippling under it's pelt with every step it took. It opened it's mouth to lick it's shoulder revealing it's rows of deadly razor sharp teeth. It flexed it's paws into the soft snow revealing the unmistakably deadly claws on it's paws.

"That's a Dire Wolf?" whispered Rainbow Dash suddenly feeling very small compared to what she could only describe as a walking behemoth

"Yes" whispered Spitfire covering Rainbow Dash's mouth with her hooves "now shut up"

The dire wolf looked around. When it got to where the three mares were sitting it stopped. It took a long sniff and then shook it's head and began to walk up over the hill. As it took the step over the hill, Rainbow noticed a lock of unmistakably pink hair flowing off it's back. She immediately tried to go to her friends rescue, but was restrained by Spitfire.

Once it was over the hill and gone Spitfire released her grip on Rainbow Dash but put a hoof down firmly on her tail, so she couldn't fly off.

"That thing has Fluttershy" said Rainbow Dash "What are you doing" She began a weak attempt at un hooking her tail from Spitfires iron grip

"And what is it you plan to do?" asked Spitfire sarcastically "Fight the dire wolf for her?"

"Rainbow listen to Spitfire on this one" said Twilight putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder to calm her down "Chances are that Fluttershy is still alive otherwise the wolf would have already eaten her. There's a reason it's keeping her with it. All we need to do is wait and then we can sneak her out"

"Fine" muttered Rainbow Dash looking defeated

"I know you feel like this is your fault Rainbow" said Twilight hugging her marefriend "but please keep your wits about you. I don't know what I would do if I had to lose you again, okay"

"Alright" said Rainbow Dash submitting herself to Twilight's embrace

"We'll wait until nightfall and plan our next move" said Spitfire "Make sure your spell holds Twilight"

The three friends took refugee in a near by snow drift and waited for nightfall. As the sun dipped below the treetops Spitfire made ready for what was to come next. She roused her companions and made her way up the hill to peak over the top. She waited for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to join her before continuing.

"What should we expect?" asked Twilight nervously following Spitfire

"To tell you the truth I've never seen a Dire Wolf myself" said Spitfire with a weak smile "This is as new to me as it is to you Twilight. Let's just stay calm and hope nothing goes wrong"

"If anything does go wrong Twi" said Rainbow Dash punching her marefriend lightly in the shoulder "I'll distract it and you just teleport us out of her alright"

Reaching the top of the hill they pressed themselves belly down into the snow and crawled up over the crest to see what they are dealing with. The snow on the other side of the hill had been removed. From the look of the grass, it was removed with a gust of wind of considerable force. A fire pit had been dug into the ground and the timber inside had been lit.

Through the flickering of the flames Rainbow spotted a little cream colored figure laying in the grass. It had long pink hair flowing down covering it's face from view.

"Twi" said Rainbow Dash standing up and sliding quietly down the hill "watch for the wolf I'm going in"

"Rainbow Dash" said Spitfire right on her heels "I'm right behind you" turning back to Twilight she waved a hoof and added "Be ready to get us out in a flash Twilight"

Rainbow Dash and Spitfire split up and walked around both sides of the fireplace taking painstakingly slow looks around watching for the dire wolf. When Rainbow Dash reached Fluttershy she put a hoof on her friend and shook her gently.

"Fluttershy?" whispered Rainbow Dash gently "Are you asleep?"

"Rainbow?" muttered Fluttershy twitching in her sleep her tail flicking once

"Oh thank Celestia she's alright" said Spitfire looking the cream colored Pegasus over quickly "I don't notice any signs of bodily harm at all"

"Who's that?" asked Fluttershy starting to sit up She brushed aside the hair covering her face with a hoof. Fluttershy's eyes went wide as she saw a familiar looking cyan colored Pegasus sitting only inches away from her. "Rainbow?"

"Shy your okay" cried Rainbow Dash hugging her fillyfriend tightly "I was so worried about you"

"Were you really" said Fluttershy sarcastically pushing Rainbow Dash off of her "Took you quite a long time. What's it been 3 years?"

"Shy?" asked Rainbow Dash confused "You feeling okay"

"I'm fine" replied Fluttershy opening and closing her wings "In fact I don't think I've felt this great in years"

"What's gotten into you Shy?" asked Rainbow Dash taking a step back She could feel it something was wrong here.

"Is something wrong Rainbow you seem lost?" said Fluttershy with a mischievous grin "All I did was follow your advice. I've learned to stand up for myself"

"Shy I never meant..." started Rainbow Dash trying to find some hope in her old friend

"Meant to what?" growled Fluttershy "Toss me aside? Break my heart? Shatter all my dreams?"

"Fluttershy leave Rainbow Dash alone" yelled Spitfire her temper flaring again "She was the one who dragged us here to rescue you in the first place"

"Spitfire stay out of this!" yelled Fluttershy fixing her gaze on Rainbow Dash "This is a personal matter"

"What do you want me to say?" said Rainbow Dash tears streaming down her cheeks This isn't what she expected at all. What had she done to Fluttershy?! "What is it that you want from me?"

"I want you accept me for me Rainbow that's all I ever wanted" said Fluttershy taking a few steps towards Rainbow Dash closing the distance between them fast. "I am shy. That's who I am and always will be. That doesn't make me weak."

"Fluttershy I'm sorry" said Rainbow Dash looking Fluttershy in the eyes She let out a cry of pain as a hoof met with her chest. There was no impact, but the light tap pushed the air out of Rainbow Dash's lungs muffling her scream and making her fall to the snow. It felt as if a hot knife had pierced through her chest and impaled her heart.

"What did you do?" yelled Twilight sprinting towards them at full gallop "Rainbow!"

"I only did to her what she did to me" replied Fluttershy inspecting her hoof, simply not noticing the cyan pegasus writhing in pain on the ground next to her "Nothing more, nothing less"

"She only did it because of me Fluttershy" cried Twilight trying desperately to stop Rainbow Dash's trembling "I'm so sorry that this happened. Rainbow Dash never meant for this surely you know that"

"She had the ability to choose between us Twilight" said Fluttershy with an icy chill to her breath her breathing was fast and shallow and her eyes had a eerie glaze to them "In the end it was her decision who she chose. She knew that she never truly loved me. Not like she did you. She used me, and tossed me aside. I have no quarrel with you Twilight so don't get in my way"

"Stop it now Fluttershy" cried Twilight "You don't want to do this"

"In that case you leave me no choice Twilight" said Fluttershy beginning to walk slowly towards Twilight

Spitfire raced forward to try and help but felt a great weight descend on her back crushing her into the dirt. Twisting herself around to look at her assailant she felt a wave of despair as she realized she was crushed under the paw of the dire wolf. She struggled helplessly against it's iron grip, but it was no use she was forced to watch the following confrontation and there was nothing she could do about it.

Fluttershy was about to tap Twilight with her hoof, when Rainbow Dash stood up abruptly throwing Twilight out of the way and taking another hoof to the chest. The pain was almost unbearable. She stumbled onto her knees and her vision began to blur. Another knife had dug itself into her chest and refused to leave.

"Rainbow!" cried Twilight getting back to her hooves She tried to use her magic, but her concentration wavered. Twilight's mind was a tempest of emotion and terror. She couldn't cast a spell if she tried.

"Fluttershy" groaned Rainbow Dash coughing up a little bit of blood getting to her hooves. She was shaky but determined "You can do what you want with me, but I will not let you hurt Twilight! Not because of something I did"

"As you wish" said Fluttershy taking a seat on the ground and just staring at Rainbow Dash for an uncomfortably long time "Do you really love her?"

"More than life itself" answered Rainbow Dash determination read clearly on her face

"Aren't you going to do anything more" asked Twilight using her shoulder to help steady Rainbow Dash

"No" said Fluttershy shaking her head to clear it "I'm done" She looked behind her at the dire wolf and said "Fang let Spitfire go I'm done here"

The dire wolf raised it's paw off of Spitfire and grabbed the scruff of her neck in it's teeth and gently picked her up and put her back on her hooves. Spitfire's face was a mask of shock and fear.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash" said Fluttershy apologetically blushing a bit from embarrassment "I feel horrible about doing that to you Rainbow Dash. I usually don't hold a grudge on anypony"

"Funny how usually works huh?" chuckled Rainbow Dash weakly coughing up a little more blood "Are we cool now?"

Fluttershy looked at Fang as if a silent message was going between them before replying "We are more than cool Rainbow. I don't know why I snapped like that." Fluttershy wiped something off of her hoof before grabbing something from a bag stashed under a nearby fallen tree "Here take this hurry" Fluttershy handed Twilight a handful of herbs

"What are these?" asked Twilight sniffing them cautiously

"That's Sageroot" said Fluttershy "When crushed it make a soothing sap. It should soothe Rainbow Dash's pain and get her back on her hooves"

"How do you know so much about herbs?" asked Spitfire "I though you were an animal caretaker"

"Living on your own makes you pick up a few things" smiled Fluttershy "Of course Fang has been helping me out as well. He knows just about everything"

"Fang?" asked Spitfire slowly backing away from the dire wolf not taking her eyes off of it

"Yes" replied Fluttershy with a chuckle "He's my best friend"

"Your joking?" said Twilight in disbelief

"Nope" said Fluttershy walking over and patting the big wolf on the side receiving a lick in return "Thing about Dire wolves is they can imprint on a pony. Fang here imprinted on me when I nursed him back to health 2 years ago"

"Imprint?" asked Twilight confused

"When a Dire wolf imprints on a pony" explained Fluttershy "It creates a mental link between the two. They can talk to each other and share thoughts and feelings with out the hassle of language barriers"

"What did you use on me?" asked Rainbow Dash sighing as Twilight rubbed the sap onto Rainbow Dash's chest "Some kind of herb?"

"I used a herb called Firestalk" said Fluttershy clacking her front hooves together in a familiarly shy way "Is's a very dangerous herb found in northern climates. When touched it releases a kind of toxin which seeps through the pores on your skin and starts to release a burning pain at the point of contact and spreads slowly to the rest of the body"

"Why did you do it?" asked Rainbow Dash letting out a breath of relief "and why weren't you hurt by it?"

"I had some mint between my hoof and the firestalk to stop it from hurting me" said Fluttershy "As to why I don't know..." Fang bumped into Fluttershy with a grunt "Alright" whined Fluttershy looking down at her hooves "I guess I was just hurt. I couldn't understand how you could say you loved me everyday and then just tell me to leave. I became angry at you and wanted to get revenge for what you had done"

"You know you could be exiled for what you just did?" asked Twilight seriously

"I know" said Fluttershy remorsefully "I'm sorry Twilight"

"How about this instead?" asked Spitfire "We came here because Princess Luna has been kidnapped and we need your help to get her back. Help us with this and we'll forget this whole thing ever happened?"

"But I almost...." tried to object Fluttershy pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash

"Shy I'm fine look" said Rainbow Dash doing a quick aerial somersault "Your my best friend and the element of kindness itself. I don't know what happened but I do know, that when you say your sorry, your actually sorry"

"You were coughing up blood Rainbow!" said Twilight "You could have died!" At the word died Fluttershy let out a small yelp. She was still trying to come to grips with what she had just done.

"How many times have I been in the hospital in just the last month?" asked Rainbow Dash with a grin "Me and danger have a special relationship by now" She gave Fluttershy a warm smile and the cream colored pegasus let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's just get out of here" said Spitfire trying to lighten the mood "I'm freezing my tail off just sitting here"

Had fun with this chapter it makes use of a fav phrase of mine. Every rose has it's thorns. even fluttershy. please comment and tell me what you think

Comments

[Sigil Flare]

Okay fixed some grammar in the third chapter rearranged somethings and made it a bit more smooth in what i like to believe is the stories flow. Also if your going to dislike my story I'd like you to tell me why your disliking it I take critisim well you know

[SnapShot]

Alright at the spot where Fluttershy was saying the other plant name it got me confused because you didnt clear it up saying about whether or not if it was the one to heal or the one used to hurt Rainbow . Also you need to have more AJ in this story. She's not here yet!! lol but over all a good chapter. I still want to read the rest of the original story but oh well

[GarnetFlower3991]

I love the comments at the beginning and end of each chapter. especially the one at the beginning of this chapter.