> New Rules > by lightningstorm > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > *revised* Origins > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- They never believed me possible of such distruction. These crumbled homes, these dead corpses, are all my work. Yet they still believe they can ‘fix’ me, save me. But I like this, I won’t be pushed around anymore. As I look out on what once was my home, as I look upon the crumpled body in front of me, I see what I have become. I became what I swore against, I did this. The forest lays as desolate ruins of a once great world. Burnt to a crisp, all the animals long gone. But what strikes me the most, is the pony laying in front of me. Her body twisted in weird ways, blood staining her mane. How could I do something like this. But I do remember, I remember that dreadful day this began, when we found it. When we got those powers, everything. This is their fault, they brought this upon themselves. I never wanted any of this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I remember the sun shining down on the grass that day, as we lay out in the field, gossiping and giggling as mares do. My best friends Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Of course Rainbow Dash wasn't much one to giggle, she moaned at our conversations mostly. Pretending she wasn't a little interested. We would head to this meadow in the woods everyday to picnic and play, it was very peaceful. Twilight would read us a book, or rainbow might show us a new trick, or even I might show them my new animals. Twi came across it during one of her studys, I think it was of the Nocturnus Butterfly, and she found this spot sitting untainted by society. Today Rainbow was performing her new trick (she would do so many back flips in a row that she would become a spinning ball of relentless speed) while me and Twilight cheered for her on the ground. I wasn't much of one for speed, and Twi lacked legs, so we always remained down here. “So Flutter, hows life been treating you?” That was a good question, for my life was barely there at all. At least Twi's intentions were honest. I spent most my days alone at home playing with angel, even after I made my new friends I would do the same routine. Get up, feed the animals then me, go to pick stuff up, take care of the animals, then sleep. Nothing else usually occurred. “Its...nice. Kind of lonely though.” I sighed. I didn’t want to bother them with my problems. “You know you can always come hang out with us, we always have time for you Flutter.” I knew that was a lie. They were always too busy when I came by, or they hardly paid attention to me when they weren’t. Rainbow would always joke at me too, which quite angered me. She was my best friend, but she could be a real jerk sometimes. But I always kept my emotions in. Not wanting to bother others with them. “Y-yeah... I know. Its just ever since Big Mac started dating Rarity, I’ve been all alone. I hardly even see you guys besides on these outings.” I had loved Big Mac with all my heart. Plain and simple. I paid the price for that. We had dated for two months, the best two of my life. I had never been so happy, so completed. But our relationship ended four months ago. I have no clue why he ended it, he just showed up one day and broke it off. I’m not mad at him, I’m sure he had his reasons. But it broke my heart. Now I had lost him to Rarity. They started dating last week, and although they were cute together I was more alone than ever. It hurt thinking he loved her now, especially when I saw them in town. That pain is how me and Rarity's friendship ended. I snapped. “Fluttershy, you’ll get over him. Now just try to enjoy yourself, you’ve put on alot of stress taking in all those new animals.” I was furious, Twilight saying I’d get over him, how did she know!? It was not her place to say such a thing! “Well fine! Maybe I will! I loved him! But you wouldn’t understand that since your alone!” I was surprised with myself, I don’t know where this anger came from. It just came out, and it felt good. Twilight seemed stunned too, hurt even, just looking on in disbelief. Rainbow must have heard me yell, because she looked down stunned trying to pick up what was happening. While she was looking at me, she wasn’t looking where she was flying, and she flew too close to the tree line and the tip of one tree skidded along her gut and she spiraled off down into the woods. “Rainbow!” Twilight cried out. She ran off into the woods after her, and I followed quickly behind. How had I caused something like this? After we had searched for a few minutes we realized we had no clue where to look. The trees were so high, and cast dark shadows we couldn't tell which way was which. All the trees and rocks looked the same, but Twi used some magic to get oriented again and we were soon once more on our way. “Where did she land?” Obviously we had no clue where we were running off to, but the confusion was broken by a mares wails. Rainbows wails. They sounded in pain, not dying, just deeply injured. I heard it close to my left ear, past some shurbs it looked like. “Shes down here.” I pushed away a shrub next to me, revealing a huge crater in the middle of a opening in the trees where Rainbow was laying in the middle. The crater dug deep into the ground, and it seemed to be in a near perfect circle. I wonder what could've made this? Her wings were mangled, and one of her legs twisted the wrong way. “Fluttershy you nincompoot! Look at me! You distracted me and this happened! How stupid can you be!” She looked me in the eyes furiously, like she was going to kill me. She sucked up the pain and walked over to me, pushing me down on the ground. “How am I supposed to fly like this exactly?” My eyes started watering, and even though I tried to suck it up, wimpers escaped my mouth. “I-im sorry r-rainbow, I-i didn’t t-think...” I broke out into full out crying, how could she yell at me like that? I didn’t mean anything. She sighed and looked down at me guiltly “I’m sorry Flutter, I shouldn’t have yelled like that...” She looked down at the ground and all though it didn’t sound like much, an apology from Rainbow meant alot. She gave me her hoof, and helped me back up onto my hoofs. “Rainbow did you make this crater” Twilight hadn’t heard a word either of them had said, she’d appearently been studying the crater the whole time as I noticed her walking over from the far corner of it. It was a impressive crater, perfectly round and huge! Just imagining what could have caused this made me want to pee. “Can we please go home?” “No it was here when I landed. Its huge! what do you think caused this? Whatever it is probably is super awesome, like a behemoth or somthing!” She traveled off into a list of possible monsters, and I could see in her eyes we lost her in her fantasy world. No one seemed to hear me. “Maybe your answer is down there.” Twilight nodded to a hole in the ground of to the side of the crater. Not a big hole, about big enough for a pony to fit down. About the shape of a rabit hole too. “Oooh, can we go see what it is?” The look in Rainbows eyes were dangerous. She craved adventure, I knew this look from experiance. “Come on, we need to get you to the hospital Rainbow. You can go monster hunting later.” Twilight plopped Rainbow up on her back and made her way off to the hospital without even taking notice of me still standing there. Of course once again everyone forgot about me. No one cared about me just like usual. I just stood their looking at the hole, wondering what was inside. Whatever it was it could wait, I needed to make sure Rainbow was fine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I looked around the town, taking everything in as I followed after Twilight. Oh was it a beautiful day, everypony was so happy under the sun. I saw all the pony couples spending time together. Why couldn’t me and Mac be like that? I saw little foals playing, their life being so easy. Lets not forget the ponies hard at work for their job. Everyone seemed to be doing something. But I also spotted Big Mac and Rarity having lunch together at the Hay Barrell. I couldn’t look, it hurt worse than death itself. Seeing them so happy, without me. My eyes started to water again, but this time I kept my tears inside. I didn't want to embarrass Twilight or Rainbow, so I just looked away and tried to forget. But then I saw Rarity lean in and kiss Big Mac right on the lips. This pushed me over the edge. I couldn’t hold it in but I didn’t want anyone to see my cry, so as the tears began to come out, I made a rapid sprint for home. There I could be alone. As soon as I got home I plopped my face into my pillow and let out sobs. I missed him so much, but he seemed so happy without me. How could he kiss another mare while my heart was still trying to mend? He didn’t even know I felt this way though, but why would he care? Later that day somepony knocked on the door, but I simply ignored it. All I wanted right now, was to be alone. Couldn’t they understand that? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I passed out sometime in between my cries, and it must have been awhile for I woke up and found night had already came, and it seemed to be about midnight from my clocks. I needed to clear my head, though so as much as it terrified me I went for a walk around town in the dark. I found only a handful of ponies were out, and they were only there to finish their jobs. It was nice though, having the quiet night to myself. Not saying of course I'd have preferred company, mostly in fear of a monster attack, but it was still nice. I walked through the whole town, and then took a trail to the meadow we were at earlier. It looked like a good night for star gazing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After about an hour of walking I finally found the meadow. It was right between two mountains, with only the stars above.. It looked gorgeous under the moonlight, the damp grass sparkling from starlight.. Everything was still, and I didn’t hear a sound although I felt the tiny eyes of little animals following me as I walked along the meadow.. It was a picture perfect moment. I laid on my back gazing up at the moon, it was beautiful tonight, I only wished Big Mac was here to share this night with me. Maybe cuddle me to sleep, he could tell me some crazy story Granny Smith told him about the moon. But no, he might as well be making love to Rarity, all I knew was he wasn’t here with me. And for once, I was fine with that. I had tried to make conversation with him, but failed miserably everytime. Either from my shyness or... well my shyness. He helped me get out of me shy little shell, we even shared a first kiss. But that was all gone. Crumpled up and in the past, most likely never to be uncrumpled. Me and Rarity weren’t on speaking grounds. After I exploded at her in public for dating him, I bleieve it was at our spa trip I yelled at her, and so we stopped going to the spa together, and stopped being around each other in general. That was one more pony I had lost. I had no one to talk to. Just so called friends. No one who really cared about me. I just had these stars. The constellations I knew by heart and the ones Twi told me about. So many were out tonight, and you could even see a galaxy if you squinted enough. I eventually grew board of even these beautiful stars, so I walked again. I didn’t realize it, but I found myself in the crater we found Rainbow in again. I saw the infamous looking hole, and I tried to pull myself away, not wanting to be stuck in their alone. But something entered my brain though, like I was being pulled in, like I was a magnet. I tried to pull away but I couldn’t resist the feelings, so I peaked my head over the edge looking inside for just a moment. All I saw was darkness, but the same sensation convinced me to lean in closer, I knew there was something in there. I leaned closer and closer but still saw nothing. But then the ground broke from under my back hooves, and I stumbled down the abyss. I tried to grab for a hoof hold, but got nothing. I felt my body become lighter as the speed caught up. The wind whipped harder past me, pushing against my body. I knew this is where I would die, when I hit the bottom, it would be the end. I started to scream, but then realized I had nothing up there.. nothing in this world. Why was I afraid? When I died I would finally be free of all my problems. Then something hard impacted against my skull, the floor of the cave, sending shock all up my body, cracking my bones. I couldn’t move my body, I just lay looking up through the hole of the cave, looking up at the moon at the moon. I started to drift off, my eyes closing more and more, until eventually everything went black. All I wished was I could’ve said goodbye to Twilight and Rainbow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up sadly, still laying on my back in the cave. It seemed to once again be day time for the sun was shining down. How had I lived through that fall? That should’ve killed even the strongest pony. Then I heard moans next to me, somehow Twilight and Rainbow were next to me. How did they get here? When did they get here? “H-how did you all get here? How am I alive?” I asked. My voice was a little shaky, but stable. They jumped at hearing my voice, apparently they had not yet woken, and jumped even higher when they realized our sorroundings. “What the buck is this place?” Rainbow started spazzing, but Twilight got her to settle down by using a sleepy spell. “It looks like a cave.... but how did we get here? What do you mean how are you alive?" Twilight looked at me expectantly. “This is the hole we found in the crater the other day, I fell down and when I woke up you two were here. I swear I don’t know anything beyond that.” I’m sure it sounded odd but it was true. “Well Rainbow can you fly...” She caught herself as she looked at the still injured Rainbows bent wings. Rainbow looked down sad, for she obviously wanted to help but remained rather useless at the moment. “No, sorry Twi. I would if I could but...” “Its no problem. Well I guess all we can do is look for another way out.” She knew not to ask me to fly, I was terrified of it. She looked down at a tunnel leading out from the cave. It seemed to go deeper down into the ground. Nothing good could be down there. But yet her and Rainbow started galloping down there. How could they be so headstrong? Or maybe I was just too pathetic. “A-are you sure its a g-good idea? W-what if a m-monsters there?” Honestly I didn’t feel comfortable at all with this. “Come on flutter, we’ll make sure your safe. I am a unicorn after all.” I trusted my friends, and so I followed them down the dark cave. Biggest mistake of my life. It spread out for miles, no end in sight, and eventually the beginning was out of sight too. It was pitch dark, I couldn’t see anything. Also it was wet. I mean soaking, the floor was completely flooded. I stepped in something sticky, but kept following after my friends not desiring ot be left behind. I was terrified, why had I let them talk me into this. It seemed as if we’d been walking for days, but it was most likely just and hour or so. At the end of the tunnel was a big open cavern like the ones a miner would use. It seemed completely empty, but yet it wasn’t. “What are those weird things in the middle?” Rainbow nodded her head to the middle of the cavern, where three small stones lay in a perfect triangle., each on its own pedastal. Why would miners have set up a shrine? “I don’t know, they don’t look familiar from any books I read.” She hopped down to the cavern floor and made her way over to the stones. “They look ancient, I wonder who put them down here.” Twilight examined the stones carefully, making sure not to touch them. “Umm, Twilight... can we go back? I’m getting a really really bad feeling!” It was as though a bunch of energy was building up inside me and was about to explode. “Just a little longer, I want to take some samples.” I knew this would end bad. Rainbow ran down next to Twilight complaining about everything that popped into her mind. “ Uhg, I hate walking. I hate all these wet floors. I hate how I can hardly see. So you think these stupid stones are important?” She kicked one over playfully. “Rainbow! Don’t kick them!” She picked it up and placed it back in the right position. “Seriously, sometimes I think you TRY to aggrivate me.” “I’m not sure you should be touching those...” I don’t know why I said that, but I definetly felt that way. “They’re just...” Rainbow didn’t finish her sentence for her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed face first into the cave floor. “Rainbow!” The same thing happened to Twilight directly after. “Oh no oh no oh no!” I flew over to them and rolled over twilight to check her pulse, but when I bent over to check Twi's eyes I accidently bumped a stone with my butt. “Oh no...” That was when I passed out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Do it, I’m gonna knock it outa the park!” The bowling ball fell from eighty feet above heading right at rainbows head. She wasn't the least bit frightened. It suddenly stopped in mid air five feet abover her head, began to spin to the point where it caught on fire, and rocketed off into the sky when Rainbow mentally let it go.. “Cue applause!” “Nice, your getting better Rainbow, looks farther than last time.” Twilight jotted some notes down on her clipboard. We have had these powers ever since we left that cave. When we woke up we got out of there fast, and found Rainbow was somehow healed. Also somehow we were able to simply "walk" out of the cave, although surely it was at least 80 feet deep when we went down. These powers.... they were as if we could bend reality to our liking just using our minds. Twilight was doing pretty good with it, but Rainbow seemed to be having issues at first. She was more random and had hard time making sure she was going to do what she intended. But shes learning. After time we have all grown with our abilities. We would come out to our meadow and practice levitating and stuff everyday, it was like a second home to me now. We grew much closer as friends, spending nearly everyday practicing with our powers and learning more about each other.. I was finally happy again, spending time with them. But how did we get these powers, and what are we supposed to do with them? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have had our powers for about a month now. We all have grown tremendously with them, even Rainbow is now caught up. I finally feel like they’re my friends too. We spend everyday, and often night, hanging out with each other. Twilight has studied relentlessly to find out what those stones were, but me and Rainbow have simply enjoyed them. Rainbow has became a especially close friend. I returned out of my shy shell around them, just being myself with these powers. Rainbow has supported me all the way, shes like the sister I always wanted. Always cheering me on and telling me to do my best. Today we decided to push our powers further. We have used them to do mere parlor ticks (like levitating, combusting, or shifting things) , but today would be different. “Okay so Rainbow, you can go up first. For you I thought maybe along the lines of teleportation. Then we could try...” Twilight busy in thought was cut off by the Rainbow pony. “I want to control fire! That would be so wicked sweet!” She literally bounced up and down with excitement. “Sure... um fire.. we can try that.” Next Twilight turned to me. “For you we could try shape shifting, maybe mind control too.” “I’m not sure its very nice to control peoples minds twilight...” The thought of it scared her, what if I accidently made someone do something bad? Rainbow made her way to the top of a small hill just to the right of the meadow. From there she bolted downwards, using the full power of her wings, swerving out of the way of trees. She gained speed, going unimaginably fast and a wind cone started to appear in front of her body. She was nearing the bottom, where she pushed up with her wings then closed them, sending her body flying up and.....she flew right into a tree. “Gosh dang it Twilight! I thought you said I could teleport!!!” She wailed as her body fell to the ground. Her face was bruised, and she lay on her back stunned, but her ego seemed to be hurt the most. “Oh Rainbow, I can go get some band aids from my house...” I turned to leave but Twilight held me back. “No pain no gain right? Anyways its practice which means we keep trying." Twilight jotted down more notes. “I... have to do that again?” Rainbow looked back up at the hill, wincing as she imagained her crash again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow tried at least five more times before she finally got it. She soared up at least twenty feet from the pushoff and suddenly diappeared in a flash of light. “I-is she okay Twilight?’” I looked around but didn’t see her anywhere. “Geronimo!” It was too late for when I heard that I felt Rainbow land on top of me, squishing me into the ground. “G-get of Rainbow!’ I tried to push her off but she was too strong, she had me pinned. “Fine, your no fun Flutter.” She hopped off with a huff and helped me up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After about an hour of Rainbow practicing her trick, twilight went up next. For herself she wanted to try moving things without her horn. She found a quiet spot in the woods, and laid herself down. In front of her sat her doll Mr. Smartypants. She squinted, wrinkling her forehead, as she put all her concentration into the toy. She tensed harder and harder until she was sweating. I couldn’t take anymore. “Twilight, be careful, you don’t want to push yourself too hard. Maybe take a break and get some water...” Twilight once more cut me off. “No, I can do this!” She pushed harder and harder, until the doll burst into flames. Rainbow jumped up and danced around happily with twilight. They looked insane parading around the toy laughing their heads off. What if we are insane, if this is just our minds trying to appease us. Next was me, this dreadful moment. What if I got stuck in another form? Even with all my begging to twilight to not let me do this, i’m still doing it. We rounded up Angel and sat him in front of me. I didn’t get it for a minute, but then realized I was supposed to change into him. I waited for instructions, but my friends just watched. I concentrated on Angel, not really sure what to do. I tried imagining turning into him, in hopes that would trigger something in my mind. I imagined more and more vividly each time, until my vision went cross eye, and I felt my body shake. I wanted to scream, but when I tried no sound left my mouth. I felt smaller. If at anytime I wanted help, this would be it. I needed help. Through my blurred vision I could just barely see my friends rush over to me, but it was too late, I blacked out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I woke, everything was huge. I knew it had worked. When I looked at my hands, I saw rabbit paws. I craved carrots too, insanely so. I tried to take a step but stumbled onto my face. I got myself back up, and this time tried a hop. It worked very effectively, taking me a great distance. I hopped all the way to my kitchen, where my friends sat, helping themselves to a snack. I hoped up on the table, but they had not seen me beeforehand walk into the kitchen. They jumped back, knocking chips all over the floor which some birds preceded to pick up. “Angel!? What was the point of that!?” Rainbow looked at me angrily, for she had not yet known it was me. “Wait....... angels over there.” Twilight nodded outside where angel was with the other animals. “Fluttershy?” I nodded, making both them gasp in amazement. “Yes! It worked! We did it!” This time they picked me up to celebrate, which since I was small, mostly consisted of me flailing through the air. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After I turned back (which was a rather painful process) we moved onto twilight’s last test for today. “Twi, I still don’t feel very comfortable with this.” How could I openly take over someone mind? “Aw, come on Flutter. At least try.” That was just one more thing I sucked up. No, I didn’t want to. I wouldn't do something I felt this uncomfortable with. “No, I don’t feel comfortable with this, I’m not going to and that’s final!” I’m not sure why, but I felt power in these words. I put my head up in support of my statement. “Okay, we don’t have to...” She shook her head “Flutter... you just changed my mind!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyday we spent together made my life so much better. They listened and cared about me. This was all I would ever need. This was how I wanted to spend the rest of my days. One day Twilight was home sick, so it was just me and Rainbow. We headed up to the lake instead of our usual meadow. We positioned ourselves on boulders lakeside, and threw whatever we found into the lake using "telepathy". “Hey Rainbow, do you like me?” She stopped throwing stuff and looked me in the eyes confused at my question. “Whatcha mean Flutter?” “I mean, you never seemed to care for me too much before these powers. Are you my friend? Even if I didn’t have these?” I had wondered alot recently of what life would be like without these "powers". “Listen Flutter, we have been and always will be friends. Its just.. your so quiet, its hard to actually talk to you. But you’ve opened up more, thats why, these powers have no effect on who YOU are.” She was honest, yet I’d never heard her talk like that before, not that deep. “Wow Rainbow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say something that deep before.” She chuckled and looked down to blush. “Yeah, just been thinking alot. Y’know, about life. I’ve decided to learn some stuff. I decided I’m not entirely happy how I am, I want to change it, to be better. I found someone I want to be better with.” “Whos that?” “A pony named Caramel, hes one of AJ’s cousins. Hes really nice, and we just kinda..... click, y’know?” She smiled at me, she definetly would change, and it seemed she had a little. I was proud for her. “Good for you Dash.” We hugged, but then she headed back home to sleep some. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day Twilight contacted both of us. All she said was we were needed at the library and it was urgent. I galloped as fast as I could, but remembered Rainbow could teleport. So I tried to do it, and successfully found myself on Twilight’s now broken coffee table. Rainbow apparently had the same idea, since she was laying under a pile of books that somehow fell from the bookshelf. “Um, next time you two can just use the door y’know.” Twilight seemed annoyed at our destruction. “Hehe, sorry Twi. So whats so urgent?” Me and Rainbow gathered around her tabel, where spike had laid out documents and books. “Yesterday while I was sick I had spike research anything he could find about those stones. This is what he found.” Twilight handed them one book named “The Gods Restraints.” I flipped open to a page with a picture of the stones on it. It said: “Nearly 12 milenia’s ago, the world was barren of life. But then a great light brought forth three gods. Celestia, god of harmony. Luna, god of darkness. Discord, god of disharmony. Each god possessed unlimited magical powers. They ruled the world, and the ponies they created along with other animals, for three more millenia. But then discord grew envious of his lack of effect on the world. He turned against his fellow gods, and tried to conquer all. To stop him the gods imprisoned him within a stone, and hid it away. They worried the same thoughts would corrupt them, so they gave two ponies their powers, and locked themselves away along with Discord.” “You don’t think....” Rainbow didn’t move but she looked Twilight in the eyes. I was too stunned to even think. Did we posses the powers of gods? “We have their powers, thats all I can think.” We all knew it was true, but we still were too stunned for further discussion. > *revised* The Deal > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I felt the rain start up again. Recently with our powers we’ve been effecting the weather, y’know, without physically touching the clouds just because we could. Today we decided it would rain, I just wish they put it off a few minutes. I was so close to home with my grocery’s, then it started pouring. Just my luck, have almost a good day then something comes along and screws it up. Just how my life works. Me and the grocery's were soaked, completely and utterly soaked. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS INVESTIGATORS!” As soon as I heard that I knew to get inside as fast as possible.They were relentless, If they started I would have to wait out in the rain longer. I was right on the front porch when they pooped up right in front of me seemingly out of thin air. “Uh, h-hey girls. Do you need something?” I knew they wouldn’t leave until they got what they wanted, I just hoped it was quick. “According to the weather team it isn’t supposed to rain today, but obviously.... it is. So we decided to investigate. Now why are you out in such a gruesome day?” Scootaloo got closer with every word, which I don't especially appreciate, but I will tolerate. “Uhm, well.. I-I was getting grocery’s.” I showed her bag to the girls, but they didn’t seem to buy it. “Sure... thats what you want us to think.” I couldn’t take it. I knew they didn’t know about my powers, but if they kept going on like this, it may slip out. I'm not a silver tounge like Twilight after all. “Yes.. actually that is what I want you to believe.” “She most likely doesn’t know anything scootaloo. Lets not bother her, c’mon.” Sweetie belle could obviously tell my discomfort. I was so grateful they had a level headed friend there, otherwise that could've gone on for awhile, with a not so satisfactory ending. “No, I can tell.... shes hiding something from us!” Scootaloo pushed even closer, I couldn’t hold it. What if I just gave her a little push away? Just enough to push her against the wall? No! I could hurt her. I wouldn't be able to stand that. “C’mon now scoots, she ain’t talkin. Ah bet theres other ponies ‘round here.” Thank goodness Applebloom butted in, I could've done something I would’ve regretted. I watched as they hurried off down the dirt path, quickly leaving my sight, only a dust trail visible. Now I could finally rest. I hadn’t realized how messy my home was. With me being out so much it definetly has gone downhill. Animal food and dresses Rarity used to have me model littered the floor everywhere. The animals were roaming on their own, which I would normally never allow. I could fix it. I concentrated hard, moving all the clothes into the proper closet, food into the trash, and animals into their cages within seconds. There was still dust and dirt, but that could be delt with. I thought quickly, and cleaning materials shot out of the closet and swarmed the grime, washing it away in a matter of minutes. What would I do without these powers? But more importantly, a new question entered my head. What else could I do with them? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I officially had a family. I know I said it before, but now I know they feel the same. We don’t always practice now, sometimes we just talk about our lives. We all admitted we were like sisters to each other. Who needs big mac? Not me. “Just, y’know, hes cool. Hes sweet and nice to me and everypony, but hes not afraid to get dirty if necessary. Hes not a bad racer either. He obviously cant fly, but hes not slow on his hooves. We’ve been friends for about as long as I’ve know AJ, and Caramel is like my best friend in ways. I think hes perfect. I think I might see if he wants to get lunch or something later today.” Rainbow had been rambling like that for awhile. Funny thing, she had’t said anything mean or made jokes. She was sincere and kinda polite. Not at all how she used to be. Guess she meant it that she wanted to change. “Well, I’m glad for you rainbow!” I nodded to Twilight’s words. “And what about you Twi? You got your coltfriend, hows he doing?” What Rainbow said was true. Twilight had started dating a colt a few months back, but they hardly saw each other now since Twilight was always with us. Either that or studying. We were all surprised she was the first of us to get a coltfriend, but we were all overjoyed too. She was happy with him. “Honestly.. I don’t know. I’m always with you two. I think our relationship should’ve ended a bit back, he really only liked my magic.” This infuriated me, how could somepony use another like that? “Well hes scum, least we got your back.” Me and Rainbow nodded in unison. “Hey, want to play a game?” Twilight looked at us with that smile of hers that told us she had a mischevious idea. “What kinda game?” Rainbow looked at Twilight quizzically. Twilight suddenly disappeared, no, she was there, but she was a tiny bird. She just sat there tweeting at us for a bit then she hovered upwards. Suddenly she bolted off over the tree line, disapearing into the sky. “This is my kinda game!” Rainbow did the same thing, so I had no choice but to copy them too and become a little robin red breast. The feeling of flying in such a small agile body was incredible. The tiniest movement had a huge impact on everything! The wind felt amazing under my wings, and everything below was so beautiful! We soared for awhile, of course Rainbow was in the lead the whole time, swooping and swerving and doing any trick she thought of. Then in the middle of our perfect moment, we heard it. A gun shot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We hadn’t realized it, but we flew right over the sports colt shooting area. They must’ve mistaken us for birdies (the kind you shoot) because before we knew it we were under fire. Explosions pounded against our ears, and at first I was too rattled to move. But then the projectiles burst right past me, knocking me back a little from the strength of the propulsion. More came, each a little closer, so we dodged. Rainbow had no problem dodging each bullet that came her way obviously. She did tricks around them even! Showing off how close she could get to each passing bullet. But Twilight on the other hand wasn’t as fast. She was fine at first, nicely dodging them, but then lost energy and fell behind. I noticed each shot got a little closer to her tiny body. She couldn't keep this up. Then one came, headed right for her. I knew what I had to do, she couldn’t get out of the way in time. I couldn’t let my friend get hurt. I put all my speed into it, and right before the bullet penetrated her, I flew in front and became a larger bird. I took the shot, completely covering her body. Of course, thats the last of that event I remembered. But I could feel wind whipping through my feathers, me gaining more and more speed, I was falling. Then came a crack, and I even lost the ability to feel. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When I woke, it was now night. At first I saw no one. I figured they left me for dead, not even getting someone to come get me. But then I saw them lying off about a mile, they had set up a fire. Rainbow saw me wake first and flew over to me to assess my wounds. Surprisingly I was perfectly fine. “Twilight, looks like you healed her fine!” Rainbow looked at me happily “Good morning sleep head.” “Morning?” “You were out all yesterday and night, its about five in the morning now.” Rainbow chuckled. “You stayed with me that long?” I had expected them to go home, then get somepony to pick up my carcass. But they were my friends, of course they didn’t. “Of course, we’re sisters after all. In a manner of speaking.” Rainbow helped me up, and lead me over to the fire. I hadn’t realized how cold it was, but I used my powers to rise my body heat correctly. “You fine Flutter? Anything that hurts?” “No, Twilight, I’m fine. Thank you though.” I sat down on the log Twilight had moved over to the fire. We sat in silence for a bit, just watching the flames flicker. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am you saved me Flutter. I didn’t expect anypony to help. You saved my life you know that?” Twilight smiled at me, and I simply nodded. We continued watching the fire. I had no need to be considered a hero. Then Rainbow spoke up. “I want us all to swear something right now.” We looked at her, wondering what she meant. “We won’t end up like the gods. We will be better, stronger. We will stay by each other no matter what, and only use our powers to benefit everypony. No matter what, we will only help.” She put her hoof out, and me and Twilight placed ours on top of hers to signify our agreement. In unison we said “Deal.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That night was when I had the first dream. I’m not sure if it was a dream, or a vision. I just felt free in it. It seemed normal enough, me walking around town. But something was different. It all looked so fuzzy. I also had this feeling... like something bad was about to happen. My adrenaline was at a all time high too. I felt powerful, more so than when I had my powers. Like I was unchained from a prison for the first time in years. I was at a restaurant, no, more like a bar. I don’t know why I was here, but I was. I dont even know the place. I was looking over all the ponies like I was looking for something, I’m not sure what though. Then I spot one, off in the corner. He was a light brown pony with slicked brown hair. I think I’ve heard of him, Doctor something. Anyways after a bit of watching he got up to leave, and for some reason I followed him out. It was a nice warm evening, with the color of sunset in the sky. He turned into a alley to throw something away, and I turned just after him. Before I could stop my self, I grabbed his shoulders and threw him against the wall with great propulsion. No pony was around to hear his cries for help, the music in the bar had for some reason became louder. He continued to scream as I pushed him harder. I tried to resist, but it felt so right. I couldn’t make myself stop, no matter how hard I concentrated. Slowly his skin started to move around his skeleton. “Lets try a new trick, eh doctor?” After that, the last thing I saw was... his skin turn inside out. Then I blacked out and when I opened my eyes I was in my bed. I was sweating intensely and hyperventilating. But it was just a dream right? I couldn’t have gone anywhere, since I’m still here.\ Then I looked down and saw it on my hooves... blood. Plain as day, my hooves were stained with blood. Of course I didn’t tell my friends about it. They wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t control it. I figured it out though. I am the one who goes crazy from this power. I’m the one they have to stop. But the longer they don’t know, the longer our friendship lasts. I almost messed up when they saw the paper. The front headline retold my dream. I started spazzing and they of course took notice, but I only told them I forgot about my supposed to be meeting a friend. If I was in there any longer, It would have slipped out. How long can I hold this in? Today was beautiful. Twilight had been asked to help investigate the murder, so once again mean and Rainbow were alone. We decided to picnic on top of the town clock. Luckily it was sunny out, so mostly perfect. But I still had the dream in my mind. Rainbow was watching the sun deep in thought. “Rainbow, are you okay?” “No, I’m not. Nopony could turn someone inside out. What Twilight said about the pony going crazy.. what if its happening. We have that power. What if we just don’t remember?” For a minute I thought she knew about my dream but that was crazy. “I think we would remember if we killed someone. Besides we would never do that.” I knew that wasn’t true, but no good was coming from Rainbow thinking like this. “If we were possesed it is. I need you to make one more promise.” Before I could respond she continued. “If I’m the one who goes crazy, if I hurt anyone. You need to do your best to protect this town. At any cost.” I couldn’t believe what she was saying. She thought it was her fault, what I had done. “Rainbow...” I needed to tell her. “Promise Flutter. NO matter what.” She looked me in the eyes and I simply nodded. I couldn’t tell her what I’d done. I couldn’t risk my first honest friendship. “Of course Rainbow... no matter what.” Rainbow could tell the hesitance in my voice, so she nuzzled me. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t come to that okay?” I just nodded again. > *revised* Turning Tides > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- That night I had another dream, much like the first. I already had a bad feeling when a storm started up before I fell asleep, like a omen or something. The dream was much worse than before, because it was in my own home. What happened, put into simplest terms was, I killed Angel. The dream started with me outside for some reason. I had no recollection of why I was here or whenI got out here, but I was walking up the dirt road up to my house. I felt a weird feeling, a feeling of excitement, like butterflies in my stomach. The feeling grew greater every step I took torwards my home. I quickly reached my porch, and stepped onto my deck. Another feeling came, regret. Like I shouldn’t be here. But I continued. I knocked on the door, but realized no one would be there to answer since I was the one knocking. I shook the knob but the door was locked. I didn’t like this so I kicked it down. My emotions seemed to amplify my powers, so this feeling of upset made kicking the door down as easy as ripping a peice of paper. I walked straight into the living room and scanned my sorroundings, as though I was looking for something in particular. The I noticed something touching my foot, and I looked down to see the little white form of angel bunny tapping my foot expectantly, probably wanting food. The next thing that happen disturbed me more than anything in my life. I watched as he began puking all over the floor and everything else. He was coughing for air and clenching his gut, trying to hold it in. He wobbled around a bit and eventually crumpled to the floor. Thats when I realized it wasn’t vomit. It was his insides. His guts, intestines, whatever you want to call it. His insides were everywhere. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up startled, sweating a storm. I jumped out of bed instantly and quickly started down the stairs but came to a hault. I know last time it wasn’t a dream, so what if this wasn’t either. What If I saw angel laying there when I arrived? What if I had killed him? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I turned into my living room which was surely stained red, with a little bunny body in the middle. Sure enough, he lay in the middle of the room. I ran over to his body and put all my thoughts into his returning to life. If I could do so many other things, surely this would be no exception. I pushed with my mind harder and harder, until something amazing happened. Horrible, but amazing. A light shot out of Angel and it burst straight up, sending a wave of energy bursting outwwards, and flinging me into a bag of pet food. The impact made the pet food tip over and spill all over the ground. I voice appeared in my head now "To open a whole in death, someone must fill it quickly." I started shaking out of fright, this voice sounded so familiar. Luckily Twilight burst past my door at that exact moment, breaking my concentration and sending the light back inside of angel. "Fluttershy!? Are you okay!?" She saw me sprawled on the floor and ran over, helping me up. "What happened? "I tried to bring angel back, but a mean voice wouldn't let me." I said between sobs. At remembering angels death I started crying harder but Twilight gave me a soothing hug. "Flutter, I've been studying. Even these powers DO have limits. We can't bring someone back from death without giving death someone in return. To keep everything balanced out." I understood, and knew angel was too far gone anyways. "Why did death sound familiar?" Twilight looked at me confused for a second, then her eyes filled with rememberance. "Discord, he is in charge of all transactions!" This frightened me, making me jump back a bit. I was that close to discord? He was in my mind?! One more question appeared "How did you know to find me?" "I'm not sure.....I was trying to sleep, and I saw a vision of you geting thrown back by a beam of light. I hurried as fast as I could. It's almost like... I could see what you were seeing." After this she trailed off into thought. "Saw what I saw....." Could it be I'm not the one killing these innocents? Could I have seen one of the others do it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the next few months few things happened. After angels funeral I just moped around a bit, trying to keep to myself. But then a ray of sun came into me and my friends lives. Rainbow eventually ended up dating Caramel and the were really happy together. Even though he couldn’t fly I don’t think I’ve seen Rainbow as happy as she was with him since...ever. Not even when she performed the Rainboom. She was lot nicer too. Well since Rainbow spent ever moment with her coltfriend, me and Twilight had lots of quality time. We became good friends and basically knew everything about each other. She even knew about the baby hydra I’ve been taking care of in my basement, which in return she told me about her “restricted” section of novels. We both laughed pretty hard about that. “Hey Flutter, we’ve gotten pretty good with our powers right?” We were sitting in the park enjoying a picnic when she asked me this. “Well I’m not really one to boast, but I think we are doing good.” Flutters mom always taught her boasting was bad, and if her mom didn’t teach her that, the issue with Trixie did. “Well I was thinking we could use them to benefit us. We could disguise them as magic tricks and have you perform in town. We’d get tons of money, I mean who wouldn’t want to see a pegasus perform spectacular feats of magic!.” She had a look in her eye I usually saw in Rainbow, and I couldn’t argue, it sounded like a good idea to me. “But.... what if we get exposed?” My mind worked in a way that it thought of every possible bad outcome, which sometimes annoyed me. “We won’t, if they learn we can wipe their memorys right?” She looked off torwards the lake dreamily. “These powers can do almost anything Flutter, we have no limit...... I have a theory on why one of us turns evil too..... The Apex-predator, a creature more evolved than any other, it feels no regret when killing another species. Like ponies kill flies.” I gasped at this, feeling horrible for those poor little flies. We didn’t talk anymore after that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next few days we spent in the library perfecting our routine. I would levitate all the animals around us, shoot fireworks from my wings, flip myself upside down without using wings and stay there for a few minutes, I would then teleport behind someone, then end with becoming a bunny. I don’t know how this isn’t suspicious. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well I’ve been doing these performances downtown for about a week now, and we have basically became celebritys. Everyone comes and pays us for our tricks, we’ve done interviews for the paper, even! Basically everyone but myself loves it. I hate the attention, but I guess it is fun bringing smiles about. I could never hate that. I haven’t seen Dash in forever, not since Caramel entered her life. I don’t think much about her anymore. Could it be the mare who was once like my sister is hardly my friend now? Sadly I think thats whats happened. One pony in particular has been coming to nearly every show. This pony, from what I’ve heard, is Soarin of the Wonderbolts. He watches with complete fascination. At the end of each show he attempts to approach me, but the mob of fans beat him to it, pushing him aside. Everytime he leaves he gets one glance in my eyes which sends me into a deep blushing state. I don't know why, he just makes me feel tingly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I’ve been using the powers to catch up on Soarin’s history with the Wonderbolts, using the powers kind of like Bwoogle (a giant encyclopedia updated daily with information on everything). All I can say is, no wonder Dash used to have a crush on him. Hes kind and funny, but also brave, hardworking, and a great flier. Not to mention handsome. This sent me into yet another blushing state. I didn’t really just think that? I haven’t even talked to him, and maybe his interest was purely in the tricks. But the way he looked at me... no, it had to be the tricks. No one could feel that way about a shy pony like me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up in the middle of the night from a knocking on the window. I was terrified, thinking this would end like my other dreams. Me killing something. I slowly crept to the widow and peeked my head to see who was there, making sure to keep most of my body concealed from view. I nearly passed out when I saw Soarin hovering there looking embarrassed in the moonlight. I opened the window just enough to speak through, rather worried he may be upset about something. “H-hello, h-how are y-you?” I blushed, why did I have to blush? “Oh, yeah... hello. I’m Soarin.... and your Fluttershy right? You do the performances downtown? I just stopped in town for a month and saw one..... It was pretty cool.” He never made eye contact with me, which made me curious. He seemed to be about as shy as me. “Oh, t-thank you v-very much.” I smiled up at him., the best I could manage. “I’m sorry if I frightened you, you seem a little scared.” He looked angry at himself which made me obviously angry at myself for making him angry at himself. “No! Not at all! I’m just...kinda shy around...new ponies.” The sudden burst of courage I had quickly died away. “Well you don’t have to be shy around me okay.... think of me as a old buddy, then maybe you’ll stop hiding behind your mane?” he put his hoof out and gives me a huge honest smile. How could I deny that smile? I open the window and shake his hoof very quickly, was it too quickly? “I saw you at some of the shows, thank you for going.” “No problem, I’m a fan. The things you do there are truly amazing. But the tricks weren’t what impressed me....” He blushes as if just realizing what came out and I blushed in return. “W-what impressed you?” Was there some possibility he liked me? No, that would be a miracle, nopony would like me like that. “What impressed me was when the show ended.” He facehooved “That came out wrong.... I mean when you finished your tricks, I saw something in your eye. I don’t know if you know this but your kinda famous in this town for your tricks..... But in your eyes I saw you hated the attention.... the publicity. Most ponies who become famous let it go to their heads, but you seemed...different. I wanted to meet you and I saw you fly this way after the show and this is the only house around..... so yeah.” He said as fast as he could manage. My heart burst with joy. He thought of me like that? He wanted to talk to me? My heart raced and I wasn’t sure it was going to stop. “You really liked the show?” That was the only thing I could come up with? How stupid was I? “Well I tried to talk to you before, but believe it or not... your a little intimidating. I mean, with the skills you showed in the show and the adventures you’ve gone on, you even stopped a dragon once, I didn’t know if you’d even care about talking to me.” He finally looked me in the eyes and smiled which I immediately smiled back, both of us blushing more. “Of course I’d love to talk to you, you seem super nice.” We both blushed even harder now “If you wanted.... maybe we could go on a picnic or something sometime?” “That’d be awesome! I’d love to get to know you more!” He did a little spin in the air which made me giggle. “I’ll be around for another month, so anytime your feeling lonely just look up at the sky for me.” “I’ll do that.” We shared one more smile then he flew off into the night sky. I flopped down into my bed and squeed into my pillow as loudly as I could manage. Did that really just happen? Was he interested in me? All I know is I’m interested in him and this is the best night ever! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We had our picnic and it was just as wonderful as I hoped. We had a picnic at sweet apple acres, with AJ’s permission, and talked lots. It was weird, I never realized I had so much to say. We both shared stories with each other, him mostly wonderbolt ones and mine mostly adventures with my friends. He listened intently too! Afterwards we flew above the Everfree forest, although I was a little scared I knew he’d protect me since he was right by my side the whole time. It was amazing flying with him, I was sad when it became night and he had to leave. But hopefully there will be a next time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our shows publicity began to die down, mostly since we only knew so many tricks. We decided it was time to end the shows, but we needed a big “grand finale”. “So I was thinking, you could make a light show out of the fireworks, like, make them animations. Then we could teleport someone from the audience too!” Twilight had been rambling on like this forever, this is what most of my trips to the library are like now. No longer just fun with a friend, now it was all buisness. “But... what if we lose the pony in mid-teleportation?” That would be horrible, losing somepony and it being all my fault. Twilight ignored my question "Oh, and Rainbow said shes coming too, she might bring Caramel along.” This upset me. She was our best friend, basically my sister, then some colt showed up and she completely ditched us! We haven’t talked in at least a month and I NEVER see her! Now when she finally decides to show up, she brings him along too! “well....thats nice.” I did my best fake smile, but Twilight never looked up from her list of tricks we could perform. I sighed as we continued through her list, and once more my thoughts drifted over to Soarin. > Beginning of the End Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Authors Note: I apologize for how long it took to get this chapter out, a few months I think? Well I'll be working harder on getting chapter out now. Theres only one chapter left after this, and I hope you guys enjoy this one.* Chapter 4: Beginning of the End It was perfect. Every bit went exactly as planned. As far as we could tell, there wasn’t a single flaw in our performance, and our audience was as captivated as ever. I was shaking from fright when I first entered the half moon shaped stage. Hundreds of ponies ahead of me were staring in my direction intently. If I failed them I would be humiliated, but I guess having these powers gave me some sort of courage. Courage I have never felt in my life. I stared down the audience, banishing any doubt I had in my mind. "I am ready. I can do this." I started doing each trick just as we performed. The audience wasn’t too impressed at first, since we decided to start with some old ones. But not to worry. After a few tricks, we tried out some ones we hadn’t done yet. I heard the audience gasp and applaud and cheer, infatuated with our performance. After each and every trick, except for the last one, was complete, me and twilight stopped to catch our breath. Using our powers so much can easily take out lots of our energy, it was like a muscle. We don't want to strain it too much or it can damage us. Thats when I looked over and saw Rainbow again. She looked me right in the eyes, smiling, and I knew she honestly enjoyed the show. I felt a spark of friendship come back to life. Too soon though, we were called back on stage. We started our final trick. We did everything by the mark, every little movement, every expression and sound, perfect. Finally the curtains began to close in front of us, and we could rest. Twilight made her way over to the wall, and slumped over, trying to steady her heartbeat. For some reason I wasn’t as tired. I guess maybe I’m a bit more skilled with the powers, or maybe the adrenaline was still pumping. I grabbed a glass of water from some nearby table and guzzled it down, before making my way back over to Twilight, with a glass for her too. “I feel that went well.” I say, giving her a smile. “Yeah, seemed about perfect to me, although it took a buck of alot out of me.” She looks up at me, managing a tired smile. “I think rainbow liked it...” I sit next to her, handing her her glass. “Thanks.” Twilight guzzles the water down and wipes her mouth “Yeah, I saw Rainbow too. She did seem to be enjoying it.” Suddenly I heard the door open and a pony came galloping over to us. I look up wondering who it could be, and there stood Soarin. “Great job! That was amazing!” He says to us, his face showing that he honestly loved it, the same look Rainbow had. “Thanks Soarin.” Me and twilight say in unison, smiling up at him. He sits down on my left, nuzzling me under the chin. “I’m glad you liked it.” I say to him, giggling a bit. Turning to face both me and Twilight he tells us “By the way, I’m throwing a part in celebration of your spectacular performance and it wouldn’t be right if the stars of the show weren’t there!” Me and Twilight smile to each other and we both know we want to go. “We would love to go!” I tell Soarin, with a huge grin on my face, giving him a hug. “Awesome, we can head over right now if you want, I told a few of the Wonderbolts to go ahead and get the party going!” He was obviously really happy about us attending, so we both quickly get up and join him in the flight to his house. After exiting the stage I finally have a moment to enjoy the night. The tempeture is about perfect, not too hot and not too cold, and the stars are bright and twinkling above us. The moon is in a perfect crescent right in the middle of a ocean of purple night sky. All around us ponies are chattering about our show, big smiles on their faces. It makes me happy to see such a picture perfect night, I wish it could last this way forever. Yet I have a feeling in my stomach that it won’t. Soarin flies upwards in a burst of speed, heading in the direction of his home. I am the first to follow, right by his side, using my powers to keep up, propelling myself forward. Twilight follows behind me, still a little shaky on her flying skills, but she manages. Soarins house quickly comes into view over the horizon, a mansion sized cloud house with a yard also made of clouds surrounding it. I can see a pool directly behind the main building, and about twenty ponies socializing. We land out by the pool, just in time to see a pony do an amazing cannon ball, the splash just barely missing us. Twilight spots Rainbow drinking some soda off by a snack filled table, and walks off torwards her. I blush a bit, the thought of me and Soarin now being alone in my head. “So umm, what would you like to do?” He looks at me, smiling a bit. “Oh, uhh, whats that game over there?” I point to a beer pong table set up in the far left corner of his yard. Red cups are strategically set up over the surface. “That? Thats cider pong. You drink a shot of cider and see if you can toss the ball into a cup.” The game sounds interesting and fun, so I tell him I’d like to try and we head over. At first I completely miss each of my shots, even with Soarins help. Then a idea hits me: why not use my powers? I make every shot after that, even if I threw it far off, I would make the ball fly back around and land in a cup. I would bounce it in, throw it with my eyes closed, do it backwards, and even bounce it off my head and it would land in perfectly each time. After a few times a audience began to crowd around and watch me, apparently thinking I was using natural skill and not powers. It felt good. I made it in a few more times before I decided to give another pony a turn. I walked off, sitting down on a bench, looking over the edge of Soarins yard and onto the world below. I see out of the corner of my eye, him sit down next to me. I slowly turn my head to him, blushing deeply as I do, looking into his eyes. He smiles at me, looking me in the eyes back. I had never realized how amazing his eyes were....so...pure. I blush harder and look down a bit. Then I feel it, his warm, gently hoof move my chin up so i’m looking him in the eyes once more. Then he does it, he kisses me right there...and I loved it. It was the most amazing feeling ever... so amazing...I can’t even describe it! My face heats up intensely from blush, and evidently his does too. This overwhelming feeling then overcomes me, like my stomach is about to melt into eternal happiness. I slowly lean in to kiss him once more. Then I vomit. Those feelings of happiness were too much for my stomach that I vomited right there. On the bench, on the lawn, and on him. I wish I had just dropped down dead on the spot. He stood up, jumping back a few feet from surprise. Then I begin to tear up. Why did I have to tear up!? First I vomit and now I’m acting like a baby! He notices me tearing up and starts to walk over to me “Flutter, its okay...”. I look away, down at the lawn where I vomited and I begin to cry a bit. I have never been so embarrassed. Thats when I decide to go, I don’t know where, but I go. I take off into the sky as fast as I can pull myself with my powers, flying through the clouds miles away. After about a hour of flying I stop. I can’t see anything around me except clouds, lots and lots of clouds. How could I have been so stupid to have gotten myself so hopelessly lost? Tears begin to come out again, and a whimper escapes my lips, so I break down and cry, there on the spot. After about ten minutes I hear the sounds of a pony calling my name, and as I look up hopeful to see Soarin or even Rainbow, I see Twilight floating there. “What are you doing way out here?!” She cries over to me, trying to be louder than the thunder claps emitting from the clouds around us. “I-Its nothing....” I look down, trying to hide my tears. Twilight floats over to me and puts a hoof on my shoulder “Flutter, I saw what happened, and he wasn’t mad at you. Come back with me.” “DON”T TOUCH ME!” Suddenly a huge burst of anger goes through my body, and I can feel nothing but hate. I want to kill. I want to cause pain. I want blood and I want to hear screams. I want others to suffer as I have. My whole life I've suffered. My father beat me, and I lost my mother when I was young. My siblings left me to live happy lives off in Canterlot, so I was alone. Big Mac left me too, and I lost Rarity, my best friend. Then finally something good comes my way, and this happens. “Flutter, just calm down, please!” Twilights voice is filled with worry now, which just sends more hate into me. I don't want her sympathy. “WHY?! YOUR LIFE IS SO PERFECT! YOU DON”T KNOW THE PAIN I SUFFER! YOU DON’T CARE!” A bright, light white suddenly explodes everywhere. All I hear is the crackle of lightning as I feel myself plummet downwards. The hate within dies away, and now all I feel is remorse. My body feels burnt, and the air smells of smoke. Then I smack into the ground. My bones crack and a huge wave of pain shoots through my head, but I survive. I can see the blackened skin all over my body, smoke still emitting from them. Then I look over, just long enough to see Twilights dead body, before passing out of conciousness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Its been three months now. Three months since the accident with Twilight. Her funeral was nice, everypony in town attended, even I did, no matter how bad it hurt me. I stood over her grave after everypony else left, crying, begging for forgiveness. But I got no answer. I must've been there for hours, all emotion escaping me, all sense of anything, slowly dying away. Then I got struck from behind. The power of the hooves sending me flying into the ground. I turned to see Rainbow. "How did she Die Fluttershy? How do you get struck by lighting on a night with no predicted thunderstorms? How did her body end up in town, miles from where the lightning strikes were seen?" There was an obvious fury in her eyes, a fiery hate, she knew I did it. "R-rainbow I...I didn't mean to do this..." "Is that supposed to fix this? Do you think this is some kind of joke? Twilight told me what happened with Angel, I know you killed her." I took a step back, but Rainbow tightly grabbed my arm. "This isn't some game! This was our friends life! You can't fix this!" "Remember what Twilight said about the gods, Rainbow? How one would always turn evil? I guess that ones me..." For some reason the thought was comforting, the fact this was out of my power to decide if I killed or not, that it was destined to be. Rainbow didn't accept that "No. You did this, not some god, y--" Thats when I took off, as fast as I could. I was miles away before she could react. I flew straight home, flopping on my bed and crying myself to sleep. Then I had another dream.