Friendship is Power: The Nightmare Returns

by Aiyonbeam

Chapter 10.5: Kindness and Laughter

Fluttershy

I need to tell Pinkie right away.
I fly over to Pinkie Pie's house as fast as the anklets can take me. When I knock on the door, Pinkie Pie opens it and lets me in.
"What's wrong, Fluttershy? You look worried." she says, sitting down at a table and offering me a cupcake.
I look at Pinkie Pie and frowned. Her hair is straight in some places while remaining poofy in others, giving her a lopsided look.
This whole changeling business is getting to her.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news, Pinkie." I say, sitting down at the table and taking the cupcake. Angel Bunny hops down from my shoulder and starts munching on the pastry.
"What is it?" Pinkie asks.
"It's about the changelings. They've taken Applejack." I say.
Pinkie gasps. "Not Applejack!"
"I saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash follow her down an ally, and I saw a green light come from there a few seconds later. When they came back, Applejack's hair was all ruffled up, and her hat was gone."
Pinkie gets up and starts pacing the room, thinking.
"We're outnumbered now. They could be here any minute to get to us."
Pinkie Pie turns to me, and I see a very un-Pinkie like expression on her face: Grim determination. I look away.
"Fluttershy, if things get too hot to handle - and they will - I want you to get out of Ponyville as fast as you can. Run, fly - go into the Everfree Forest if you need to - just get away from here. They can't be allowed to capture all of the old Elements of Harmony. Do you understand?"
I look back at Pinkie Pie. There is a fire in her eyes that I've never seen before.
It looks like I'm not the only one who's changed inside after we became human.
"Do you understand?"
"But what about you?" I ask. "What'll happen to you if I run away?"
"Don't worry about me. As long as one of the Elements is okay, the others can be brought back. I'll be fine; you need to stay safe."
There's a knock at the door.
"Pinkie Pie..." Twilight says.
"Fluttershy..." Applejack says.
"Let us in..." Rainbow Dash adds.
"We want to talk to you..." Rarity finishes.
A purple aura surrounds the doorknob.
"Fluttershy, run." Pinkie Pie whispers.
"B-But..."
"Run!"
I go through the kitchen to the back door and open it. Looking back at Pinkie Pie, who's reaching for her sword, I step out of the door into the cool evening air and close it silently behind me.
"Come on, Angel Bunny." I whisper, the rabbit in question hopping onto my shoulder, still holding the cupcake. "We need to leave."
I run.

Pinkie Pie

I reach towards my sword as the magical aura deepens around the doorknob, unlocking the door.
The door opens, and Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash step in, all smiling.
"Fancy meeting you here, Pinkie Pie." Rarity says, stepping forward. Twilight glares at her, and she steps back, allowing Twilight to step in front of the group.
"Do you know where Fluttershy is? We were hoping to talk to both of you." Rainbow Dash asks.
"No." I reply, holding my sword behind the counter of the kitchen, keeping it hidden.
Not yet. Maybe they'll go away if they can't get both of us at once.
"Oh well." Applejack says. "We'll just talk to her later."
"After we talk to you, that is." Twilight says, stepping towards me. The others start to spread out, meaning to flank me.
I guess they're not going to leave quietly.
"What do you want to talk about?" I say, furtively wrapping the strip of cloth attached to the handle of the blade around my wrist.
"Oh, y'know... Stuff." Applejack says, almost to my left.
If I can just buy Fluttershy enough time to get away, it'll be worth it. Worth getting captured. Worth get-
Rarity jumps at me, interrupting my thoughts. I duck, and Rarity goes flying over the counter, crashing into Applejack. I draw my sword, stepping back so that the four of them are in front of me.
"I know what you are." I say. "And you're not taking me without a fight."

Fluttershy

I fly down a back road towards my new cottage, my anklets creating a field of light that lets me find my way home.
Pinkie's orders or not, I need to get some things from my house.
I grab some food and water, say goodbye to the few animals that had survived the dragon attack, and climb the stairs to my room.
I don't want to use it, but it'd be good to have it if I need it.
I open the door to my closet, placing my hand on the upper-leftmost panel and pushing, opening the secret compartment. Inside is my weapon, crafted by Lyra for me after the dragon attack; a chain whip shaped like a long, snaking vine, each leaf bladed and razor sharp. Angel Bunny, precocious animal that he is, had had Lyra make a full suit of armor in the style of the armor I'd worn while facing the dragons. It fit him perfectly, and had clawed gauntlets. Angel jumps off of my shoulder and puts on the armor. He jumps back on my shoulder, and I turn the handle of the whip just so, retracting the blades. I place the whip in a sack with my supplies and fly out of the window, landing on my cottage and taking one last look at the town.
Goodbye, Ponyville.
I notice four figures approaching down the back road. I look closer and see Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, who is holding her side and grimacing. Twilight isn't with them.
"Time to go." I say quietly, and fly towards the forest.

Author's Note:

I've fallen prey to an interesting conundrum: I have the beginning of the story already written, and I have the ending all worked out; I just need to connect the two, and frankly I have no idea how I'm going to do that. So for now, I'm going to work on the later chapters until I have the middle down and then I'll do the middle of the story. So here's more of the subplot. Enjoy.

Comments

[reader238]

okay i have to ask about fluttershy's weapon? was that a reference to yoko kurama's rose whip? because if so that would be the second yuyu hakusho kurama reference i saw today

also i am guessing that pinkie pie may have taken ouyt the twilight wanna be

[Aiyonbeam]

2628927
If it's a reference, it isn't intentional, and yes. Pinkie Pie is such a boss that she took out Twilight, and although I haven't written it yet - I'll go back and put it in, though - whenever I look at Pinkie Pie's last stand in my head, she wounds Rainbow Dash too, albeit not too badly.

[Aiyonbeam]

2632739
Yeah. I totally planned that. That was completely intentional...