Fluttershy finds a strange, patchwork pony and takes care of him out of pity.
After witnessing a riot in the middle of Ponyville's Marketplace, Fluttershy discovers a stranger at the center of it all, an odd-looking, pitiful stallion who can't even speak who was being targeted for no discernible reason. She takes him under her wing, hoping to take care of him and prepare him for a big world that he clearly was never ready for. Little does she know that otherworldly forces are at work...
(A/N: Edited and Assisted by Midge Mannequin, arcum42 and helped by zinitradd. Uses concepts inspired by White Wolf's Promethean: The Created and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Knowledge of either of these works is NOT required for the enjoyment of this story. All title images made by yours truly.)
The Ponyville Marketplace bustled with activity, the air buzzed with the indistinct chatter of the ponies who did business with each other. Many of them congregated toward the center of the road today, the nebulous sound of several conversations at once created an almost hectic atmosphere as they milled about. Fluttershy stood among them, weaving her way gingerly through the crowd while she inspected a list she carried with her.
“Let’s see, lettuce, carrots, mangos, guavas... If I don’t get this exactly right, Angel Bunny’s going to throw a fit,” she thought, going over each of the items on her grocery list. She vividly remembered the last time she was unable to complete a recipe verbatim as per Angel Bunny’s request. It led to the pegasus seeking the help in a seminar from a minotaur named Iron Will, whose techniques instilled in her just that. “I can’t believe I ever acted that way. I must have seemed like a total–”
“–BRUTE! YOU HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE BRUTE!”
It wasn’t often that anypony’s thoughts were both interrupted and completed at the same time, and it certainly grabbed Fluttershy’s attention. Her head shot up from the list, watching the scene unfold in front of her. Several ponies gathered around in a circle. In the center were the tomato merchant and an unfamiliar pony. He was an earth pony stallion with a muted, grayish-green coat, a white mane and a brown cloak. The tomato merchant continued to scream at the stallion.
“Someone! Help! He’s here to steal my tomatoes, I know he is!”
The stallion in front of the tomato stand only grunted in response, his head darting back and forth as he looked between the crowd and the merchant. Fluttershy immediately associated this reaction with an animal surrounded on all sides by predators, desperately searching for an escape route.
“Um, excuse me... Pardon me...” Fluttershy muttered as she weaved through the crowd. She examined the ponies around her, who appeared outraged and confused at the idea of a thief, but Fluttershy could see something deeper affecting their collective demeanor, though it was difficult to place.
The best guess she could make was “Fear,” but she couldn’t tell what this fear was directed at, aside from the stranger in the center of the scene, and even then, it didn’t seem to be the fear generated by the presence of anyone violent or otherwise unpleasant. Puzzled, she simply watched the scene unfold before her, despite being unaffected by whatever had gripped the minds of the other ponies present.
A few ponies stepped in to grapple and throw the cloaked stallion away from the tomato stand, though his panicked confusion prompted him to pull himself away from the grips of each of those who made their attempt. His resistance, oddly enough, didn't stop other ponies attempts to tackle him, push him, pull him or throw him away from the stand in an inexplicable burst of collective aggression. One of the ponies that he shoved away earlier tried to charge at him and yelled out as fierce a battle-cry as he could muster.
“Graaaa–!” As the pony from the crowd leaped in the air to tackle the cloaked stallion, his panic overtook the stranger, swatting his attackers back while trying to escape. With a whump, the charging pony went flying over the mob and into a nearby stand. Upon impact, he bent and cracked the support beam he slammed into. His face, along with everypony else's, was frozen in a dumbstruck expression as he fell to the ground. A loud whistle screeched out from the other end of the road.
“What in the hay is going on here?!” Roused from their shocked stupor, the mob of ponies parted as two town guards approached the scene. They examined everypony present closely, particularly the cloaked stallion in the center. The corners of their mouths turned down in clear disgust as soon as they saw him. One of the guards cautiously approached him.
“You just sent a pony flying twelve feet into a marketplace stand, and you've been accused of theft. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, mister.” The stallion only grunted and growled. The guards stepped back into a fighting stance. The whole marketplace grew quiet. The massive crowd could only watch the standoff.
The stranger’s eyes darted back and forth between the guards and the crowd, his fear lined with a hope for an opening of some kind or a way out. The tension between the three figures present was virtually tangible, a tension that was broken by a soft, gentle voice that shattered the silence.
“Excuse me...”
The dirt road crunched as all the ponies turned nearly simultaneously to face Fluttershy. She shrank away from all the eyes that stared at her at once. A tense silence overtook the area again as Fluttershy stammered out what she had intended to say, nervous now that she was the center of attention.
“I... Uh... I think that he doesn’t mean any harm...”
One of the guards trotted toward her. He glowered while he spoke to her in a voice that barely avoided being a snarl.
“Doesn’t mean any harm? He threw a pony into a merchant stand! How is that not meaning harm?!”
Being yelled at didn’t make the situation any easier for Fluttershy. Even on a good day, she had a hard time speaking up, and while she could assert herself when she needed to, the stares a whole crowd of unusually hostile ponies made it difficult.
“They’re looking at you, Fluttershy... Say something! Anything!” her mind screamed out at her from inside.
“I don’t think he’s well.”
“You think he is ill?” The ponies glanced at the stranger and subconsciously backed away.
“Alright! It’s working! Keep going!” She wracked her brain, her sentences plagued with “Uh”s, “Um”s and “Er”s, with awkward pauses long enough for a carriage to pass through. Coming from anypony else, this would be immediately seen as the flimsy attempt at lying that it was. However, this was Fluttershy– speaking to a crowd, of all things. It was entirely believable that she might be telling the truth, but was just nervous about the group in front of her.
“I mean, um... I’m no expert, but he looks like he’s...” There was dead silence as the ponies continued to stare in her direction. She looked at the stranger, trying to determine what manner of affliction he looked like he was suffering. With the cloak on, it was difficult to tell anything, though something about him did seem to look sickly and pallid. While she couldn’t see much of it, the skin underneath his cloak lacked any kind of color, and the green of his coat was washed out. Something about him just looked wrong, though she couldn’t quite put her hoof on what it was. She settled on his pallid gray color, then finally finished her sentence.
“... Like he’s infected with... Um... Death Mask Plague.”
The entire crowd gasped at once. After a minute, they glanced at each other and realized they had no idea what she was talking about. They turned back to Fluttershy for clarification.
“There’s no such thing as Death Mask Plague! Oh no... I need to explain it, and quick! One of them will comment on it at any moment...”
“I’ve never heard of this Death Mask Plague, Miss Fluttershy. Would you care to explain the symptoms?” The second guard glared at her, though at the very least, there was a hint of concern.
“Well... Um... It starts when... When...” She looked at the stranger, who was staring at her and fidgeting in place. “...When the skin turns gray! Yes. And then... Then the victim isn’t able to speak... And during this time, their coat starts turning gray, and then they... Um...” She desperately looked, trying to remember other peculiarities concerning the stranger that she hoped could be explained away with a made-up disease.
“It... Also makes the pony victim very aggressive and they start getting adrenaline rushes more often. That’s why he’s all fidgety! It’s a... Um... It’s a good thing I caught it before his eyes turned gray, or we’d really be in trouble, because... By then it’s both contagious and incurable! I should get him to a hospital right away.” She wore a confident smile and nodded encouragingly, fighting every urge to run away or cower in a corner.
“Oh. Well, I don’t want this Death Mask Plague spreading...” The guards looked between each other, then back at Fluttershy.
“Well... Take him to the hospital and... For goodness’ sake, keep him away from everypony else!” The entire crowd dispersed, keeping their distance from the stranger. He looked at Fluttershy, then his eyes darted around, looking for an escape route. His gaze settled on Fluttershy after she spoke to him again.
“Come along... I won’t hurt you.” She kept her voice low and gentle, bending down and holding out one of her forelegs. The stranger eyed her apprehensively, stepping toward her carefully, not making a sound on the dirt road. His head kept turning back and forth, but he accompanied Fluttershy, staying close to her.
“So what’s your name?” she asked quietly. The stranger focused on Fluttershy again, though didn’t answer. He cocked his head to one side, as if confused by the question.
“Your name?” she repeated. She received the same confused response. “Maybe he doesn’t actually understand me... It’d explain his confusion back at the marketplace.” Her gaze fixed on him as the two walked toward the Ponyville Hospital, getting a closer look at the stranger. He did look sickly, though he looked far more unusual up close.
In addition to his distinct lack of color, bits of his fur seemed to knot up or stop, particularly around the joints, though never in the same places. His eyes were different colors, a dull yellow and a bright electric blue, and some of his limbs seemed slightly different sizes, making him appear rather clumsy and unbalanced. His white, wispy tail didn’t flick, but bounced lifelessly as he moved forward, and didn’t actually seem to move of its own power at all.
“I may have lied about that disease, but he looks like there might be something wrong with him after all... Good thing I’m bringing him to the hospital, maybe Doctor Stable could get a good look at him. I’m sure he can help us out here.”
****
“What is that thing doing in my hospital?!”
Fluttershy visibly flinched at the sound of Doctor Stable yelling at her as she and the stranger entered. The stranger bared his teeth and growled at the doctor, who only gave him a glance of disgust. She stood stunned, staring in disbelief at the doctor’s sudden outburst of anger at the pony she brought with him, who, to her knowledge, he had never met.
“He can be gruff sometimes, sure but he’s never this mean... Maybe if I try to explain the situation, he'll understand.”
“I-I-I just th-thought you m-might be able to...”
She wasn’t given a chance to complete the thought.
“Out! Out!"
She squeaked, words failing her, and turned to leave. The stranger, however, had other ideas. He roared at the doctor in an unearthly deep, booming voice that caused most of the more fragile items nearby to shudder. He stepped in front of Fluttershy protectively and growled at the doctor.
“Well... At least he’s defending you now.” She held up her hoof, touching the stallion’s shoulder for a second. His head shot to her, his teeth bared and nostrils flared, though his anger disappeared once he saw her gentle smile and felt her hoof on his skin. He grunted under his breath and backed down as Fluttershy spoke to the doctor.
“If it’s okay for me to ask, what did he do to you? I don’t think he’s ever been here before.”
The doctor was struck silent when he realized that he really had no reason to be so cruel to the stallion in front of him. Fluttershy smiled. She briefly entertained the thought that it meant that he realized that he was in error, though the smile faded with his next response.
“Just look at that face! It spells trouble! Hay, his whole body spells trouble! I can practically smell it on him! I’ll have no part of this!”
Fluttershy stood petrified, the flimsy excuses of the doctor shocking her to the core.
“Why is he turning down a patient? He never acted like this! He’s never been this mean to anyone, even if they were being difficult! Why is he acting so strangely now? I suppose it doesn’t matter... He won’t take him in, so I’m left with little choice...”
She mustered up every bit of willpower that she had, took a deep breath, held her head up high and stamped her hoof on the ground with determination.
“If you won’t take care of him, I suppose I’ll have to do it myself.” She turned around, placing her hoof back on the stallion’s shoulder, then urged him out the door, the doctor staring at her with a blind, shaken rage as she left.
“Get out, and don’t ever let me catch him coming here again!”
Once they left the hospital, Fluttershy looked over to the stranger, who was still shaken with anger from the doctor’s hostility. She looked to the ground and placed her hoof on the bottom of her chin.
“First the tomato merchant, that mob of ponies, the guards, and now the doctor... Everypony’s being so unpleasant to this stranger, but why? He looks a little strange, but that’s never made anypony in Ponyville really mean to anyone... Except maybe Zecora, but nopony ever tried to attack her or yell at her.” She furrowed her brow in concern, then put on a smile and looked back up at the stallion.
“Guess we should head to my house then. I think you’ll like it. It’s nice and comfy, and it’s got all sorts of little critters running around to play with...”
She kept her voice soft and gentle. She knew that he probably had no idea what she just said, but when it came to beings who couldn’t understand speech, and even with many who could, tone often said far more than the words themselves did.
His hard features softened. The stranger’s head continued darting around, looking away, then back towards the path. He watched Fluttershy in the corner of his eye, waiting for her to walk ahead.
“Follow me... I promise I’ll take good care of you.”
“Thanks for helpin’ me with the apple cart, Big Mac. I didn’ expect to run out of apples so soon at the stand!”
“Eeyup.”
Applejack and her brother trotted down to the Ponyville marketplace. Each of them hauled a cart of apples stacked just above the rim. While they trotted across town, the two couldn’t help but smile a little at how well their business was doing today as they approached. An enormous crowd seemed to be gathered around the middle of the road. The ponies in the crowd milled about aimlessly and never really stopping at any of the shops. Applejack tilted her head at what she saw.
“Guess I oughta set up shop. Thanks again for the help, Big Mac! I’ll see ya back at the farm!”
“Eeyup.”
After Big Macintosh left his cart in front of the stand, Applejack set up hers on the other side. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, smiling as she turned back to walk into the stand.
“I get the feelin’ that today is gonna be a great– What in the hay happened here?!” Her jaw dropped instantly as she saw the side of her stall, the support beam bent and very nearly broken.
“Now ain’ that the weirdest thing. Why didn’t I catch that earlier? Or Big Mac? Horseapples, who cares?! Okay, AJ. Just calm down. I’m sure someone here can explain.” She trot down to where the ponies were pacing in a confused fashion.
“Maybe they’re just as lost as I am, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt to ask them.” At the center of the group, she saw a pair of town guards, and figured they might be the best ponies to ask.
“Howdy there, sirs.” Applejack tipped her hat to the guards as she drew nearer. “Listen, my stall got damaged by somethin’. I was hopin’ ya could tell me what it was.”
The first guard cleared his throat, tilting his head to signal the other guard to handle the crowd.
“To be honest, Applejack,” the guard muttered, “I don’t really know what happened. We thought we were just going to calm everypony down after an argument of prices, but then...” He took a deep breath and tried to reassure himself that what he saw did, in fact happen. “...Then I saw a pony get launched twelve feet into the air from the middle of the crowd into your stall.”
“Launched? Like, he was kicked or somethin’?”
“It was more like he was swatted into it."
"Oh." Applejack's eyes widened at the realization that such damage was done with minimal effort.
"We went in to investigate, and in the middle of the crowd we saw this stallion. The last thing I remember clearly about him was that he was big, certainly looked strong enough to kick somepony like that as far as he did, and... I didn’t like his looks. Something about him just felt... Wrong, you know? It's just a gut feeling, but you learn to trust that in this line of work.”
“Uh-huh. You said you didn’ remember anything clearly after that?”
“No. The next few minutes from there were kind of a blur. After that, I saw Fluttershy walking off with him, an–”
“Fluttershy?! Around a pony like that?! And you just let her go?!”
“We had to handle the situation here. Everypony doesn't really know what happened here either, like they've got amnesia or something. We just got through transporting the pony that got slammed into your stall to the hospital. We’re trying to calm them down, but they all feel like something is off.”
Realizing that her friend may very well be in danger from a pony that was not only rather strong, but also apparently aggressive, Applejack turned toward Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Thanks for your help, officer, but I think I should head to Fluttershy’s now.” She started galloping down the road, shouting back at the guard. “Oh! And if you see Big Mac, tell him where I went and to keep an eye on the shop! He can’ be too far from here!”
****
Tearing through the roads, Applejack’s sense of urgency overtook her. There was some sort of monster of a pony on the loose who was not only strong, but also had some kind of weird power to mess around with ponies’ thoughts and memories.
“Who knows what that thing could’ve done to Fluttershy by now?!” Every worst case scenario circled through her head.
“The thing mighta turned Fluttershy into some kind of destructive rage-monster, or it coulda forced her to eat her animals, or it mighta killed her!” Each new thought of what this creature could have done to her friend quickened her pace, though before she knew it, she was in front of the cottage.
Applejack took a close look at the cottage. The house itself looked fine, and nothing seemed broken. She didn’t hear any screams yet, though what caught her eye were the animals. All of them were outside, and none were particularly close to the house, some even standing on the fence to avoid it.
She gulped, knowing that if the animals weren’t going near her cottage, something was definitely wrong. She gingerly approached Fluttershy’s home, and as soon as she got past the fence, she felt a chill run all over her body, though she quickly shook it off. Trotting as quietly as she could, she finally reached the door. She knocked on it gently, to avoid attracting the attention of the stallion-creature that was almost definitely inside.
“Fluttershy?” she called through the door. She attempted to sound calm, collected and casual, but her voice was tinged with fear for her friend. She knocked on the door again, hoping she just hadn’t heard it the first time.
“Ya in there, sugarcube?” No response.
Applejack pressed her ear against the door. She heard the muffled voice of her friend, followed quickly by the most unearthly growl she had ever heard. She was unable to really discern what it was, but since it was growling and all the animals were outside, she was able to hazard a guess at what it belonged to.
“No time to lose.” Applejack turned quickly, rearing her legs and kicking them through the door. The buck swung the door open, broke the lock and sent chips of wood flying off the door, which slammed into the nearest wall with a loud crash. Pivoting forward, she rushed in to rescue her friend.
“Fluttershy, are ya alri–” Applejack stopped mid-sentence and creased her brow in wonder at the odd and entirely unexpected scene before her.
Fluttershy stood in place, one of her hooves pointed at a set of charts with crudely-drawn pictures of animals, labels identifying each one, including a rabbit, a dog, a tortoise, an owl, a cat and an alligator. She looked in shock at her friend and her now broken door. In front of her was a strange stallion with grayed fur, a white mane and a cutie mark whose meaning Applejack couldn’t begin to understand:
He turned and stared at Applejack with his mismatched eyes. Applejack shuddered slightly when it made eye contact, but shook it off. She directed her attention at her pegasus friend.
“Fluttershy, what’re ya doin’?” she asked in total bewilderment. Fluttershy, equally confused, tried to explain the situation, though she tripped over her words when she tried to speak.
“I, uh... Well, I was just... See, he’s, well...”
“Slow down there, partner. Some ponies at the marketplace told me that there was some kind of crazy super-pony who slammed somepony else into my stand. Why don’ we start from there?”
“Well, okay. It started with my trip to the market...”
****
“So ya took him in and now you’re–?”
“Trying to teach him how to speak. I think it would help him avoid misunderstandings later on.”
“Right, since I imagine growlin’ at folks often sends the wrong message.”
“Well, actually, I kind of took him in for another reason...” Fluttershy then coated her voice in an extra layer of honey for her next sentence, everything she said almost sounding like baby talk. “I wanted to get a good look at his body. He seems to have all kinds of weird bumps and scars, and since the doctor wouldn’t look at him, I figured I should, though I’m going to wait until he’s asleep to do it.” She wore a big smile the whole time she talked. Applejack stared back with a blank, irritated expression on her face.
“Alright, but do ya really have to talk like that?”
“Well, while he doesn’t understand what I’m saying, he can follow the tone of my voice. If I sound cheerful, he won’t suspect me of planning to invade his privacy. It’s for his own good, anyway. I think he might be hurt really badly, and, well, animals of any kind can be stubborn when someone tries to look at their wounds.”
“Yeah, I know, but–” Applejack stopped herself, then sighed with frustration. “Nevermind.”
“Look, just promise me one thing, okay?”
“Alright, shoot.”
“Promise me you won’t tell anypony. Especially not Pinkie Pie. You know how she is when there’s somepony new, and ponies seem to act really weird around him. I don’t know why, but they get really mean and violent when he’s close.”
“Yeah, and ya don’ want Pinkie throwing a party where a whole crowd of ponies might get him hurt, though I heard somethin’ else weird that happens when he’s nearby. Somethin’ happens to ponies’ memories of what happened when he leaves.”
“What?”
“Ponies that were near him can’t really remember what they did when he was close, why they did it, or even what he was doin'. They just remember that he was there and something was just wrong. They can't explain it, like it was somethin’ instinctive. I think even your animals feel it right now.”
“I see.” Fluttershy looked outside, then back at Applejack. “So... Do you promise to keep this a secret?”
Applejack sighed again, thinking about it. After her pause, she replied.
“I can promise not to talk about it. But it ain’ gonna stay secret for long, ‘Shy. Ponies are already talkin’ 'bout him, and it won’ be long ‘til others start gettin’ curious.”
Fluttershy listened to what Applejack had to say, pacing back and forth. When she stopped, she gazed at the stranger. This whole time, he just sat there and watched his host fret. Fluttershy took a deep breath and looked back at Applejack.
“You’re right... What do you think I should do?”
“Get him healthy and MAYBE try to teach him to talk, but don’ keep him around here longer than ya have to. Folks’ll get too curious, and if they act the way they did around him before, he could get hurt, or worse.”
“Okay. Thanks, Applejack.”
“Not a problem, sugarcube. If somethin’ goes wrong, ya’ll give me a holler and I’ll come a-runnin’, ya hear?”
“Okay...”
“Alright, I’d better head back to the stand. Not sure how much longer Big Mac can hold the fort there.” Applejack snickered and tipped her hat, then looked at the door.
“Oh, and I guess I owe ya a new lock. I’ll be back later, ‘Shy. Take care!” She closed the door behind her as best as she could as she left. Fluttershy took a deep breath, and stepped in front of the chart. She pointed at the crayon-drawn cat.
“This is a cat.” She tapped the picture with her hoof. “Ca-a-at.”
“Grraaghk.”
“Caaat.”
“Grraaght.”
“You’re getting closer.”
****
Night fell on what had been a long day. Fluttershy's attempts to teach the stranger speech had been slow-going. He had didn't growl as much, though so far had only been able to correctly pronounce– or rather, imitate– vowel sounds. Dinner came afterward, though Fluttershy had to feed all the animals outside first, since they still refused to come in. Afterwards, she prepared a meal for herself and her guest. Nothing too complicated, simply sliced apples with flatbread. The stranger seemed content to only eat one slice and took only the smallest piece of bread.
"Guess you're not that hungry," she said as the stranger put it down after one bite. He didn't seem disgusted by it. In fact, he actually seemed completely satisfied. She didn't eat much herself, as she only went through one piece of bread and a few apple slices.
"I guess it's hard to eat when there's a lot on your mind." The stranger tilted her head, a soft "Mmm?" rumbling in his throat.
As the night grew deeper, they gradually became too tired to stay sitting upright. Fluttershy stretched her legs and yawned. Her guest sat at the table, wobbling back and forth like tall grass in wind. Occasionally, he would straighten up and blink two or three times, trying to force his eyes open to stay awake.
"I think now's a good time to head for bed." His head jerked towards Fluttershy. She gave him the gentlest smile she could as she slowly stood back up and inched toward the staircase.
"Come on... It'll be okay." Taking each step in the staircase slowly, she bent her head down and waved her hoof toward him.
The stranger apprehensively complied, moving just about as slowly as Fluttershy did up the staircase. He nearly tripped on the third stair, his right foreleg jerking to the side and throwing him off balance.
The yellow pegasus rushed down and held her hoof out to him. He glanced at it for a moment, then reached his foreleg out to take her hoof. With a smile on her face, Fluttershy pulled him up to his feet, led him up the stairs to the bedroom and opened the door for him.
The stranger approached the bed and prodded it with one hoof. The mattress sunk under his hoof. He ran his foreleg down the bed, interested in the soft blankets draped over it. He looked back at Fluttershy, tilted his head in a gesture toward the bed while his left foreleg twitched slightly. Fluttershy simply nodded. The stranger crawled on top of it and curled up into himself.
Fluttershy pulled a chair out from the corner of the room and gently set it next to the bed, near the stallion's muzzle. She waited, watching him sleep for about half an hour, then decided to get a better look at his disfigurements and see if there was anything that could be done to help.
She gently reached for one of the seams dividing one color of fur from the others, pulling it back with all the delicate precision one would handle a stack of glass wine flutes with. She faltered for just a moment upon hearing the sleeping stallion groan, his right foreleg twitching slightly. She jumped in place for a second, regaining her composure after taking several deep and quiet breaths.
“Calm down, Fluttershy. He’s just dreaming.” She pulled the fur back once more, revealing both the gray skin she saw before and dark silk threads lined up beside each other along a seam. She winced when she got a better look at the threads, realizing that these stitches were crusty with dried blood. Driven to determine whether this was true of the rest of the seams, she searched through each of them, finding the same bloodstained stitches in each dividing point between different coats of fur.
“Poor thing,” she whispered, fixed on the last set of stitches she found, woven around the top of his head. She absent-mindedly ran her hoof over them. She had ultimately aimed to stroke his mane, however, she unintentionally woke the stranger from his sleep with a start.
As he rose, he bellowed a howl that nearly caused Fluttershy’s bones to jump right out of her body, though she quickly composed herself after she saw the look in his eyes. She saw beads of water in his eyes, though never actually running down his face as tears. She slowly reached her hoof over to him, hushing him and stroking his mane.
“Shhh... It was only a dream,” she reassured him. The stranger wheezed deeply as he leaned back against her, a mournful groan in the back of every breath. Fluttershy cradled his head in her hooves She rocked him back and forth, trying to soothe his frightened shivers.
“Hush... it’s okay, I’m here. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” She leaned her head down and nuzzled up against the stallion. His massive, quaking form slowly steadied at her touch. He drifted back to sleep and remained absolutely silent as he curled up in Fluttershy’s hooves. She smiled down at him, though exhaustion made her head and body heavier and caused her to slump. While her eyes were weighed down, they remained open long enough to catch a glimpse of the full moon before they closed and sent her off to sleep.
The morning sunlight crept into the window of Fluttershy’s bedroom and roused her from her sleep with its gentle, if intrusive, warmth. She groaned lightly as she lifted herself up from a rather awkward and uncomfortable sleeping position. She shuffled down the stairs to feed her animals, though black circles were under her eyes and her mane frazzled in every other direction.
On her way down, she noticed that they still haven’t come inside, though they still needed to eat. She dragged rather massive bags of food out the door and gave each animal their share of food. The sight of all of them outside was a most peculiar one; all of the animals went about business as usual, only in a ten-foot radius around the cottage, never stepping inside the bounds of that radius if they could help it.
Looking up, she saw Applejack coming down the road with a toolbox in her mouth. Despite her current exhausted state, Fluttershy smiled as her friend came up.
“Oh, hello Applejack...” Her voice was far more hoarse and soft than usual, the very act of speech exhausting Fluttershy’s throat far more than she anticipated. Applejack briefly put down her toolbox and tipped her hat in greeting.
“Howdy there. Came by to fix your lock, jus’ like I promised.” After she picked the toolbox back up, Applejack walked over to the door. She knelt down while fiddling with the assembled parts of the new lock that she’d put into place. While she did so, Fluttershy continued to feed each of the animals along the ten-foot gap between them and the cottage.
“So, how’s your guest?”
“Oh, I think he’s still asleep.”
“He rest okay?”
“A bit... He had a nightmare, but I calmed him down pretty quickly.”
“Wellp,” Applejack grunted as she worked the tools into the door. “Ya were always good with gettin’ animals calm, figures ya’d be good with folks too, if they’re a bit simple.”
“I guess so.”
Applejack leaned back against the door frame, then looked at Fluttershy. A grimace lined her features for a brief moment, though it faded once she made eye contact with the yellow pegasus.
“‘Shy, I’m not sure if you’re plannin’ on goin’ out today, but ya really should. Some folk are startin’ to get curious about why nopony’s seen ya yesterday after the whole incident.”
“It’s not too unusual for me not to go out sometimes.”
“Maybe not before, but now you’ve got friends, Fluttershy. We care about you and wanna help out, and this whole secrecy thing ain’ helpin’ things none. If this keeps up, our friends’ll start to get really worried.”
“I can’t just leave him here... I don’t want him getting lonely or wandering off. Who knows what might happen if he does...”
Applejack’s head shot up to the cottage, looking at the upstairs window. She saw the eerie, differently-colored eyes inside. As soon as the creature those eyes belonged to realized he had been seen, he hid back behind the curtains.
“I guess I can understan’ that, but today is when ya normally have your little outin’ with Rarity, right?”
Fluttershy stopped moving entirely. It was only several seconds later that her head stiffly turned around to face Applejack, utter horror frozen in her eyes.
“I... I forgot...”
“Don’ worry ‘bout it. Just go see Rarity today and leave the stranger here.” Applejack had put her tools away in the box she brought with her. She stood up and shut the door, satisfied with the click it made, then nodded. “Ya could just lock the door and let him be. I’m sure he cou–”
“No! I couldn’t do that! That’d be awful!” Fluttershy caught herself only too late to realize that she very nearly lashed out at her friend.
“I'm sorry, Applejack. I meant to say that I wouldn’t want to leave him alone for too long. You’re probably busy today, and it’s not like I can call a foalsitter to take care of him while I’m gone...” Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a flash of pink appeared from behind Fluttershy with a massive grin on its face, a high-pitched, gleeful shout bursting from its throat.
“Somepony needs a foalsitter?!” Pinkie Pie, to the collective shock of everyone present, had managed to knock both Fluttershy and Applejack on the ground with the sheer volume of her voice. “Oooh, I thought only Princess Luna could do that!”
“Oh, Pinkie! You startled me...”
“How long’ve you been here, sugarcube?” Applejack lifted herself back onto her hooves and planted her hat firmly back onto her head.
“Since Applejack started fixing the door!” The two gulped almost simultaneously. “Sooooo, there’s somepony new in town! I think this calls for a–”
“No!” Applejack and Fluttershy both yelled at the same time, knowing– no, dreading– what she was about to say.
“Awww, no welcome party? Can I at least get the welcome wagon?”
“Pinkie Pie, I ain’ entirely sure he’d understand a thing you’d say.”
“Oh.” Pinkie tilted her head, then smiled. “But Fluttershy said she needed a foalsitter to look after her friend while she goes to her spa treatment with Rarity, and I’d totally be the perfect foalsitter while she was gone!” Fluttershy, shifted nervously, looking away from her, then back up at the window.
“Well, I don’t know... Maybe you should meet him first.” In that moment that Fluttershy looked away from her bouncy, pink friend, Pinkie already hopped toward the cottage door. Panicked, she rushed after Pinkie to stop her from opening it.
“I was just gonna say hi! What’s the harm in that?” Of course, it was at that point that a set of hoofsteps boomed down the stairs, the sounds heavy and in an uneven sequence.
Thoom.
Thoo-thoom.
Thoom.
Th-th-thoom.
The sounds finally stopped when they became their loudest, just behind the door. Fluttershy and Pinkie looked between each other, then back at the door. The collective silence between the three broke when Pinkie cracked a smile.
“I’ll get it!” She then swung the door open and stared right into the eyes of the figure standing in the doorway. Pinkie scrutinized each of his features, his starkly different eyes, his lopsided, unbalanced body weight, the thinly-veiled gray skin, the stitches, and his imposing height. Fluttershy braced herself for the worst, waiting for the smile on her friend to turn to anger or disgust. Pinkie’s brow creased and her lips pursed. Fluttershy crouched down and whimpered softly until the pink earth pony bounced in place.
“Wow! You’re really big! Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” Dead silence followed, Fluttershy and Applejack simply waiting for the stranger to react. He leaned down, to get a closer look at the odd pony in front of him. He slowly swayed to the right, then jerked to the left, trying to cover each angle of Pinkie's body. He grunted and nodded at her– at least, the sudden, jerking motion looked like a nod.
“See? Nothing to worry about!”
Applejack loosened up with a sigh, though Fluttershy remained petrified, partially because of the disaster that was narrowly avoided. She calmed down when it finally registered that Pinkie didn’t react violently to the stranger’s presence. In fact, neither Applejack nor Pinkie Pie seemed to be affected the same way the townsfolk back in the market place were, if they were affected at all.
“Well, now that’s taken care of, I really oughta head back to the farm.” Applejack tipped her hat with a grin. “I’ll see ya’ll later.”
While Applejack turned to leave, Fluttershy looked over Pinkie Pie for a moment. Pinkie bounced around the patchwork stallion, who did little more than stare in wonderment. Fluttershy emptied out the last of her food for the animals, then walked into the house and urged Pinkie and the stranger to go in. After she closed the door behind her, Fluttershy smiled at the two of them, getting her saddlebags and loading them up with a few bits to pay for the spa. Rarity usually paid for her, but she figured it was better to be prepared.
“Now, Pinkie, please remember to be careful with him, okay? Remember to feed him and remember to feed the animals around noon. Try to keep him in the house and please, please don’t let him out of your sight.”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie then looked up at her massive companion, who tilted his head examining her, leaning down to get a better look. Fluttershy smiled, then slung her saddlebags over her back. As she left the house, she closed the door behind her. She looked back and forth between the road and her door. Finally, she walked into town and headed to the spa for her outing with Rarity.
“I don’t have anything to worry about... He’s in good hands.”
****
The sky seemed to be far cloudier than it should be. To her knowledge, today was scheduled to be a sunny day. The pegasi who tried to break them were slow to make any progress, the sky still blotted with several dark-grey clouds. Many of the pegasi working on it, as far as she could see, hesitated after trying to move the clouds once with no success. The sudden thunderclaps from the clouds being cleared made Fluttershy jump in place every so often.
Ponies of all walks of life gave Fluttershy quizzical looks. They turned away quickly as soon as the yellow pegasus looked their way to whisper among themselves.
"Why's everypony talking behind my back? Was what happened yesterday so odd to them?" While she didn't dwell on the question, Fluttershy's head sank along the way, her mood already soured by the unusually poor weather. She shut her eyes tightly, took a deep breath and held her head as high as she could.
"No, Fluttershy! Don't think about them. You're about to go on your weekly spa date with Rarity. It's always a nice day because you get to spend it with one of your friends. Today's going to be a good day!"
She poked her head up and saw the entrance to the spa in front of her. She opened the door and stepped through. She found Rarity flipping through a magazine, sitting on a chair by the reception desk. She perked up as soon as she saw Fluttershy step through the door.
“Fluttershy, darling! It’s so good to see you, how have you been?”
“I’ve been alright, but a bit busy...”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear all about it!” She turned to Aloe and held her hoof up in the air in glee. “The usual!”
The spa pony nodded, taking them through the doorway and into the sauna for the first phase of their spa treatment. The two of them slipped on their robes, then sat down on adjacent wooden beams. Aloe set some coals in the pit off to the side, then poured some water onto them to generate steam. Rarity and Fluttershy lounged back, the humid, heavy air weighing them down.
“Mmm... You know, Fluttershy, I’ve heard the strangest rumor a little bit ago.”
“Oh no...”
“I heard a strange pony came into town. Apparently, he sent somepony flying into Applejack’s stand and broke part of it.”
“Oh, wow,” Fluttershy said with the most poorly feigned interest imaginable. “That sure sounds... Um... Awful...”
“That’s not the worst of it, darling. It’s almost silly just how awful this story gets.” Rarity sat back and adjusted her robe, her eyes staring at Fluttershy with the sort of scrutiny that would capture even the slightest twitch. Per her natural reaction, Fluttershy turned her head to the side with her hair covering one eye.
“The details are a bit vague, but there are those who said that this strange brute went with you.”
“He is not a brute!” The words burst out of Fluttershy’s mouth before she realized she said them, her hooves covering her mouth far too late.
“A-ha! I knew you knew something about this!” Rarity pointed her hoof over at Fluttershy in an over-dramatic expression of triumph. “Oooh, I can’t wait to hear what you know! Darling, you simply must tell me everything!”
Fluttershy shifted about in her place nervously. She curled up and gestured toward Aloe, who was still in the room and poured more water into the coals.
“Oh. Right. Aloe, could you be a dear and give me and my friend some privacy?” The spa pony simply nodded and complied immediately, closing the door behind her as the steam dispersed through the room. “Now, what do you know about him?”
“He’s... Big. He’s strong, almost unnaturally so, but I think he means well.”
“You think?”
“Well, he doesn’t talk.”
“He doesn’t speak at all?”
“He grunts and sometimes he roars when he’s angry or scared. I guess he never learned how to speak Equestrian, since ponies around him always act so strangely...”
“Strange how?”
“Angry. Scared. Violent. They even tried to attack him at the marketplace.”
“So the outburst they described was just him defending himself?”
“Yes. I took him in to try and take care of him, maybe even teach him to speak to avoid another misunderstanding...”
Rarity stared at Fluttershy, the normally refined unicorn's jaw slacked in shock. After several seconds of staring blankly, she shook her head.
“Fluttershy, darling... You can’t be serious,” she said while she snickered through each of her words.
“Well, I’m not sure how well he can handle himself while ponies are attacking him...”
“No, no, no, no, I mean about teaching him how to speak. Don’t get me wrong, darling, you’re graceful and beautiful, but eloquent and well-spoken aren’t words I’d use to describe you.” Rarity quickly realized that her words may have appeared less than kind after she saw her friend shift uncomfortably and her eye contact waver.
“What I mean is that you should probably let somepony else teach him, somepony who understands the finer points of language, and while they’re at it, teach him to be well-mannered and poised! I’m sure after such a pony came into town, no one would mistake him for anything but a gentlecolt!” Rarity smiled and stared expectantly at Fluttershy. She tactfully blinked a few times while she maintained eye contact.
It was fairly clear to Fluttershy by now that Rarity meant that she wanted to teach her guest. She realized that this might actually be a good idea. Like she said, Rarity would teach him to be well-mannered and well-spoken.
Fluttershy did worry that, as soon as she saw him, Rarity might be frightened or otherwise offended by his complete lack of fashion sense or elegance of any kind. However, this would also probably prompt her to give him a makeover and, more likely than not, an outfit that might improve his appearance.
As for the odd things that would happen in his presence, Fluttershy had already seen that two of her friends seemed immune to it, and there was a chance that Rarity wouldn’t be affected either.
“Well... Okay. Just don’t tell anyone other than our friends, okay?”
“I promise.”
“Pinkie Promise?”
“Pinkie Promise.” Rarity smiled after she made the motions. She looked to the door and perked up suddenly. “Shall we continue? I’d hate for your hooves to get pruny in here.”
“Of course.” With that, they left the sauna and continued on with their day. Once they shut the door behind them, Fluttershy smiled to herself as Rarity approached the next stage of the spa treatment.
After their spa treatment was over, Fluttershy and Rarity started their trip to the Ponyville Library to get the books they needed to teach their guest. Despite the fact that this was a library, it was rarely quiet when they came to visit. Once they arrived, Twilight was already busy with yet another project. It was equally likely that she was caught in obsession over a fault or mistake she overlooked. Today was no exception. As Rarity and Fluttershy approached the library, they heard crashing noises and galloping inside the giant tree. They looked at each other, Rarity offering Fluttershy a winsome smile.
“Not to worry, darling. We just need to get her mind off of her latest obsession and things will be back to... Um...” Rarity carefully considered her words. “... Normal... For her.” She knocked on the door.
“Twilight, dear, Fluttershy and I are looking for some books! May we come in?”
"Just a second!" Twilight's muffled voice called back. The door opened up and revealed Spike standing in the doorway. His eyelids were half-closed with exhaustion, though he immediately perked up on seeing Rarity.
“Hi Rarity! Hi Fluttershy! Come on in.” Spike stood aside as Rarity and Fluttershy entered the library, and gently closed the door behind them. He walked beside the two ponies, keeping particularly close to Rarity. The entire library appeared to be in a state of organized chaos. Many books were lined up in neat stacks scattered across the room, while many of the shelves remained empty.
Spike explained the situation as one of the books glowed and flew up to the top of a nearby ladder. “Twilight’s got some new books yesterday and, well... She seems to think that means she needs to re-organize the entire library.”
“They’re not just any new books, Spike!” Twilight called down from a ladder, having set a copy of The Night’s Mysteries on the top shelf. She slid down and landed on her hooves as she approached another stack. “One is the newest Daring Do novel, and another one of them is one of the oldest surviving copies of Prognostications by Theophrastus Ponycelsus!” Twilight’s voice rippled with excitement of such a find. It was all she could do to prevent herself from ending her sentence with a squeak.
“Twilight, you read one of his books a long time ago and thought it was stupid because it didn’t have any basis in fact. Why are you so excited about this one?” Spike inquired as he showed Rarity and Fluttershy to their seats. They sat down and relaxed, momentarily enthralled by the exchange between the librarian and her assistant.
“That was his treatise on alchemy, which was completely wrong by the way, since thaumaturgists later perfected transmutation spells using totally different methods. This is a book of predictions and, while I doubt any of them are correct, it’s amazing to find an old book like this in such good condition!”
Spike raised a claw in protest, but Rarity held her hoof before him. She gave him a gentle smile, then turned to Twilight.
“That’s lovely, darling, but Fluttershy and I are looking for some reading material.”
“Oh!” Twilight perked up, then turned to the two with a smile. “What can I get you?”
“Well, we need a foal’s alphabet book and a storybook, preferably with pictures.” Rarity listed off her needs with a perfectly straight face, though Twilight could hardly say she listened with one. She stared for a moment, then tilted her head at the list of demands. Her gaze shifted between Rarity and Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus smiled nervously at her glance.
“Uh, are these for you two, or is there something one of you isn’t telling me?” Twilight asked. Rarity immediately picked up on the misunderstanding, waved her forelegs defensively.
“Oh no, it’s nothing like that! It’s just that there’s somepony who doesn’t know how to read or speak, so we’re trying to teach him, and we thought it would be best to start with the basics.”
“Oh, okay! That makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking.” Twilight's horn glowed as she sifted through the stacks to try and find appropriate books. The ones she had searched through dropped neatly in a new set of piles. While Twilight did this, Spike gulped. His cheeks bulged, and he let out a loud belch. Green flames erupted from his throat, and a scroll appeared in front of him. He picked it up, broke the seal and opened it.
“It’s a letter from the Princess. It's also got a notice from the University of Canterlot.”
“Mm... Hold off on it for now, Spike.”
“Oh, don’t feel like you have to wait on our account, darling,” Rarity said as she smiled sheepishly. Twilight smiled in turn, then turned her attention to another pile. She began searching through the books for something appropriate to her friends' request.
“It’s no trouble. Let’s see... How about Doctor Saddle’s ABCs and Codex Cover’s Illustrated Classics? They’re both pretty easy reads and have plenty of colorful pictures. Foals seem to like them, anyway...”
Fluttershy slid the books toward her and flipped through the storybook. This collection of stories seemed to remind her of those books from medieval pony times, when books were hand-written and hand-drawn. The edges of the pages were even lined with gold, the images painted with vibrant colored inks. She quietly smiled in approval at each of the pages, admiring the beautiful artistry and recognizing many of the stories that she heard in her foalhood.
“These will do wonderfully... Thanks Twilight.” She turned one more page, her eyes freezing in place at the contents of the page. The story she turned to was called “The Tale of the Hidden King,” though what caught her attention was the picture. She wasn’t familiar with this story, but on the painting was a huge red unicorn with his head lowered, a silver crown on his head, and a Cutie Mark identical to the one the stranger had. Fluttershy peered at it, then turned up to Twilight.
“Um... Twilight... Can I ask you something else?”
“Of course, Fluttershy.”
“This... Symbol here. Do you know what it means?” She pointed to the cutie mark, which looked like a “t” with a curly-cue on the bottom right-hand side of it.
Twilight examined the book, focusing on the symbol that Fluttershy pointed to. The scholar pursed her lips for just a moment, rubbed her chin, then suddenly perked up in realization.
“Oh! That’s the astrological symbol for the planet Saturn. It’s a pretty common image in every re-telling of ‘The Tale of the Hidden King,’ in that it’s always his Cutie Mark.”
Fluttershy looked away from Twilight. “Well... What does the mark mean?”
“There’s a lot of things it could mean. It’s an astrological symbol, and a lot of ponies said that King Sulfros, the Hidden King of the Story, had such great perception about the needs of his people that it was almost like he could tell the future. Although...” Twilight hesitated for just a moment and creased her brow. “There are other interpretations of the mark.”
Fluttershy didn’t like how she said that at all.
“Like... What?”
“Well... The short version of it is that the symbol could also refer to the Titan from mythology, Cronus, who is one of the monsters imprisoned in Tartarus after, according to legend, eating his children. Of course, this is the short explanation and I could go into more detail, but–” Upon the mention of a monster that would eat its own children, Fluttershy was petrified, her jaw hanging open as her eyes stared blankly into space.
“...Rarity, I think you should take Fluttershy home.”
“I couldn’t agree more, darling.” Rarity’s horn glowed a soft blue, levitating the two books into Fluttershy’s saddlebags. “Thank you for the books, Twilight, we’ll be sure to bring them back to you as soon as we’re done with them!”
Rarity tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder to get her moving, which she did, though slowly and absent-mindedly. As Rarity led her outside, she could barely hear her companion mutter the same thing over and over as she walked.
“He can’t be a monster... He just can’t be... He can’t be...”
****
Pinkie Pie heaved a drawn-out sigh while she stared straight at the stranger sitting across from her. He stood perfectly still and returned the stare with an unwavering gaze. Pinkie had found that this stallion was really good at staring contests. She’s played against him for a whole hour, and he won every time. Come to think of it, she didn’t think she’d seen him blink once this whole time. It was pretty cool, though in a creepy kind of way.
Her eyes bulged out of their sockets as water coated them from having been open too long. She blinked, then closed her eyes and yelled out at the stallion.
“Okay, Stitches, you win!” Pinkie had called him "Stitches" after she noticed the patchwork all over his body. It frightened her at first, but she decided that he probably couldn’t help that he got hurt a lot. Now, she had far more pressing concerns. After over thirty staring contests, Pinkie was bored and concerned about Stitches and his mental well-being.
“He must be the most bored stallion in the whole world! It was fun the first few times, but he’s been doing this forever! He’s not even getting up to move... Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake would be crawling the walls by now! It’s my duty to show him what Pinkie Pie calls ‘Fun’!”
“Hey, Stitches! How about we play a new game?” She bounced up to her hooves and jiggled her legs. “Stitches,” as he was now being called, tilted his head at the display and only grunted. He really only recognized that he was being spoken to because he was the only other pony in the room. The name itself didn’t have much resonance for him, though for Pinkie, it was certainly easier than just calling him “Stranger” or “You” all the time. Besides, it was catchy.
“It’s called Tag! Why, pretty much every foal ever has played Tag before, but I’m guessing you weren’t like every foal ever. Anyway, first one of us has to be ‘It’. I’ll start!” Pinkie, now self-appointed “It,” hopped over to Stitches and then held both her hooves back. She thrust them upon the stallion, slightly knocking him over. Pinkie yelled into his ear with a gleeful smile on her face.
“Tag, you're it!” Stitches flinched at the sound. Pinkie seized this opportunity and bounded away, giggling while Stitches sat there, confused by her actions. She stopped for just a moment and looked him in the eyes. “You have to catch me, silly!”
While he watched her running around the house, his blue eye lit up in a moment of realization. Seeing the insanely exuberant mare leap over obstacles, hide behind things, and continually run away while looking back at him... His eyes lit up in realization. He quickly shot up on his four legs, chasing after Pinkie Pie with a crooked, lopsided smile on his face.
Pinkie Pie’s bouncing suddenly broke into a run. She saw that not only had Stitches figured out what the game was about, but was incredibly fast, to boot. Not quite Rainbow Dash fast, though that was probably because his legs didn’t move properly. From what she saw, they often got in each other’s way and nearly tripped him.
Pinkie deftly avoided him at every turn. She jumped over furniture, turned sharp corners behind other obstacles, and finally ran up the stairs. Stitches struggled to climb them again. He fell on his face several times while his hooves flailed in every direction, often where he didn’t intend for them to go.
Pinkie stood up at the top of the stairs and waited for him to get his bearings. It was his first time, and his legs didn’t look like they did what he told them to. By the time he got halfway up the stairs, she had bolted off to another of the rooms.
“Still gotta catch me!” She ran into Fluttershy’s room. She realized it was a dead end, but if he won the game the first time, he’d play it more and have more fun! After all, no pony has much fun with a game they lose at all the time. Pinkie was no slouch at Tag, or any game, for that matter, but at the same time, making ponies happy was her number one priority.
He took a while to finally get up the stairs, then found Pinkie Pie hopping around Fluttershy’s room, still making zig-zags and jumping over, and on, furniture. However thorough her efforts may have been, it was clear that, at the right moment, victory would be Stitches’! He waited, then when she hopped over the bed again, he charged at her, both of his hooves held up.
He hit her in the chest, a loud crack echoing across the room. Pinkie Pie breathlessly sailed through the air, back-flipping once before she crashed through the window. Stitches’ smile of triumph quickly faded once he saw his pink playmate disappear from view. Rushing toward the broken window, he saw his new friend slam into the ground, then roll downhill. When she stopped, she writhed and groaned in pain.
Stitches jumped out of the window after her, leaving a dent in the ground where he landed. He rushed to Pinkie’s side. His body quivering in panic as he got close to her. The mare’s pink body was riddled with glass shards and blood trickled all over her fur. He gently reached over, and then stopped when a voice from the sky shouted at him.
“What do you think you’re doing to her?!” The wind whipped past his face, a faint rainbow trail followed close behind it. He didn’t see the figure clearly until it turned back and landed in between him and Pinkie Pie. The figure was a pegasus mare with a cyan coat and a rainbow mane. She looked between Pinkie Pie and Stitches, her teeth ground together in rage.
“You’ve got some explaining to do, because no pony, I mean NO PONY, hurts my friends!”
Clearing out the sky had been incredibly taxing for Rainbow Dash today. Ponyville’s skies were littered with thunderheads and gloomy storm clouds. She figured some jerk put them here the night before as some weird prank. It wouldn’t be nearly as annoying if not for the fact that these storm clouds were overcharged to unbelievable extremes. Every pegasus she met that day agreed that attempts to either move or buck the clouds were painful experiences, since each of these clouds let off sparks and shocked any pegasi that so much as touched them.
At this time, she did her work above Fluttershy’s house. Because of the electric shocks she wore rubber wrappings around her hooves as she tried to break up the thunderheads. A particularly big one was hovering over the cottage, letting off sparks every time Dash touched it. Before she could start breaking the cloud down, she was interrupted by another voice in the sky.
“Oh, wow! That one’s a real doozy! I thought the one over the marketplace was bad... Need any help with that?” Hovering behind her was Cloudchaser, a light-purple pegasus whose mane was a mix of white and sky blue. She smirked lightly at Rainbow Dash. “Looks like this one’s a real pain.”
Rainbow Dash pounded into the cloud over and over again, though she met a surprising amount of resistance when trying to break it up. Grunting each time she slammed into it, her reply to Cloudchaser was punctuated by each of her slams into the cloud.
“I. Can. Handle. This. By. My. Self!” Dash shot through the cloud, the dark gray mass splitting down the middle. She briefly heaved a sigh of triumph, then saw that she only split the cloud in two. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me! What kind of jerk made these things so tough?”
Cloudchaser snickered, watching her coworker desperately trying to rip the cloud apart.
“Hey, I know what you mean! You know these things don’t even rain? I tried to get the one over the apple orchard to drizzle a bit, and all that happened was I got electrocuted for my trouble. Hay, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was all these things could do.”
“That, and annoying the heck out of me.” She smashed through the next cloud immediately in front of her, breaking it into smaller pieces. “I can appreciate a good prank every so often, but what about this is supposed to be funny? Where’s the snappy timing? Who even put in the time to make super-dense, supercharged thunderheads that don’t even rain? Who can even make thunderheads that don’t rain?!” In her rage, she charged through one of the new, smaller clouds, finally dispersing it entirely.
“I have no idea, Dash. Last night, the weather patrol said they’d move a few smaller clouds into place to make the day a little cooler. Today, we get huge, rainless things that blot out most of the sky. It’s... Weird.”
“Are you going to start telling me that the clouds are moving on their own?” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves indignantly at her fellow patrolmare while speaking in as fake a scary voice as she could manage. “Oooooooh! Better get rid of all the clouds, Cloudchaser, or they’ll start getting bigger and moving by themseeelves!”
“Hey, I said it was weird, not unnatural.” Cloudchaser began to fly off to another section of Ponyville before giving a mock salute to her compatriot. “I’ve got to help out Flitter around Town Square. I’ll leave you to your job. You look like you’ve got this.”
“You’d better believe it!” While the other pegasus left, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings with greater speed and prepared to smash through the next cloud she broke up. However, she was immediately stopped when she heard the sound of broken glass below her.
“That came from Fluttershy’s!” She looked down and saw a pink figure roll down the hill. “Wait, pink? Was that Pinkie Pie? What was she doing here?” It didn’t matter much. Whatever happened, Pinkie Pie was just hurled out a window, and was probably badly hurt. She bolted down for the surface, though while she did, she saw a figure jump out the window after her.
The figure was a stallion, one she hadn’t met before whose fur was a sickly, greenish-gray, with a mane and tail consisting of white, lifeless hair. She didn’t know who this was or why he was in Fluttershy’s house, but what she needed to do was clear.
“What do you think you’re doing with her?!” Rainbow Dash first flew in front of him, circling around him for just a second to cut off his pursuit of Pinkie. She rapidly turned around after her first pass. She darted, landed in front of the stranger, stood her ground and gritted her teeth.
“You’ve got some explaining to do, because no pony, I mean no pony, hurts my friends!”
Stitches tried to maneuver around Rainbow Dash, but she blocked his path each time he tried to change direction.
“Hey! I asked you a question!” Rainbow closed in on Stitches She nearly pressed her face against his to look directly in his eyes, then stopped halfway. She clearly saw his differently colored eyes and his patchwork body. She looked behind her. Pinkie Pie lay on the ground and tried to move her foreleg toward Rainbow Dash.
“D-Dash...” Her breaths were shallow and her voice was raspy.
“Don’t worry, Pinkie! I’ll get you out of here as soon as this creep is gone!”
“H-He’s-” Pinkie coughed heavily. Rainbow finished Pinkie’s sentence for her.
“Really strong, yeah, I noticed. Doesn’t mean he’s gonna stick around to push around my friend!” Leaning down, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, then charged into Stitches. For such a short distance, she managed to propel herself with a great deal of force. She slammed into the stallion and sent him sliding backward. Rainbow Dash leapt back after she hit Stitches. The stallion somehow kept on his hooves despite the impact.
Stitches growled at the pegasus that just knocked him back, then raised his hooves into the air. He slammed them into the ground, a large cloud of dirt engulfing the area and the earth shaking beneath him. Rainbow Dash stumbled, trying to steady her stance. The cloud of dirt cleared and the tremors ended. Stitches charged at Dash, growling at his target. Before Stitches hit her, Rainbow Dash jumped up into the air and rushed to gain altitude.
“The longer this fight drags on, the worse Pinkie gets... I need a way to take him down fast, though what can I...” She then spotted one of the thunderheads she was breaking up earlier, grinning to herself. “Dash, you’re a genius!” She soared toward the cloud, her rubber covered hooves in front of her while she flew behind it. She pushed the cloud just above Stitches, then raised her forelegs in the air. She pounded both hooves on the cloud at once and cast a lightning bolt down to strike Stitches.
The stallion stood still for a moment, his body sparking in random places. He didn’t seem burnt or even remotely damaged. He turned his head up at Rainbow Dash and bellowed a deafening roar, the air in front of his muzzle rippling like a mirage. His howling also gave Rainbow a glance at his throat. There was an unnerving, light blue glow at the bottom of his gullet, a light that reminded her of one that would be in a forge. Stupefied, Rainbow Dash just stared at the creature, maintaining a relatively safe distance far above him.
Stitches, however, appeared to have only gotten stronger from being electrocuted. He ran toward Fluttershy’s house, then bounded from the ground to the windowsill. Upon landing, he turned toward Rainbow Dash and pushed himself off the sill in a jump that crushed the wood under his hooves. He rocketed towards his target. The pegasus mare was finally shaken from her stupor, but it was far too late to move out of his way.
Stitches tackled her in mid-air and gripped her shoulders tightly. Dash wrestled him in the air and flapped her wings in an uneven fashion, the two rotating while they fell to the ground. When she managed to point him toward the ground, she punched him with her right hoof repeatedly. It didn’t seem to hurt him at all, but it kept him distracted until...
Thoom.
The two crashed into the ground and kicked up another cloud of dirt. Rainbow Dash found herself slightly dazed from the impact, her face planted onto the creature’s chest. She tried to pull herself off of Stitches to attend to Pinkie Pie, but not before the stallion rose his hooves to punch her off. Before he could, though, he stopped, seeing someone in the distance. His jaw dropped.
Rainbow Dash looked in the same direction, looking at the path that ran between the cottage and the town. Fluttershy and Rarity were on that path, and stared dumbfounded at the wrecked cottage, the torn earth, the injured Pinkie Pie and the two ponies locked in combat. Rainbow Dash, however, wasted no time in using this opportunity to call upon her friends for help.
“Guys! You’ve gotta help me! This monster-pony thing threw Pinkie Pie out the window! You’ve got to get her to the hospital while I hold... Him off...” She looked down at the creature, then realized that he wasn’t putting up any resistance to her anymore, just staring wordlessly at Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash leapt off of Stitches, flapping her wings and maintaining a certain distance above the air.
“Okay, I get the feeling I’m missing something here...”
Fluttershy finally spoke up, a hint of both authority and fear in her words. “Rainbow, Rarity, get Pinkie to the hospital... First chance you get, ask her what happened.”
“What about you?” Rainbow Dash protested. “I don’t think you’ll be safe around him!”
“Trust me, Rainbow... I...” Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, swallowing before continuing. “... I can handle this.”
Rarity and Rainbow Dash simply nodded in reply. The cyan pegasus walked over to Pinkie Pie, hoisted her over her back and trotted down the path back into town while Rarity stood by their side.
It had been an hour since Rarity and Rainbow Dash got Pinkie Pie to the hospital. The two of them sat in the waiting room, and Rarity levitated the glass shards off of Dash’s back and into the nearest trash can.
Rainbow Dash let out a heavy sigh. She wasn’t accustomed to staying still for this long, and the sight of Pinkie Pie rolled away into a hospital on one of those beds made her stomach feel like it was withering away. Her train of thought shifted to the stallion she had fought against earlier, and her insides twisted in disgust at his memory. She turned around at last, making eye contact with Rarity.
“You and Fluttershy seem to know something about what’s going on here, so fill me in. What was with that...” She hesitated for a moment. “... Stallion at the cottage?”
“You still remember what happened when you saw him?”
“Well, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
“It’s just that no pony who’s seen him outside our friends seems to remember him or what happens around him clearly.”
“I wouldn’t forget something like that, Rarity. We’ve seen some weird stuff, but this...”
Rarity nodded and took a deep breath. “To be honest, Rainbow Dash, I really don’t know what he is. All I have heard about him comes from rumors in the town concerning a creature with unnatural strength that attacked the marketplace. Fluttershy told me that she took him in and that he wasn’t anything to worry about.”
“Yeah, right. Nothing to worry about. Except the part where it’s a monster that threw Pinkie Pie out a window.”
“Let me finish. Fluttershy told me that ponies seem to behave strangely around him and suddenly become violent. She’s convinced that he means well, or at least, that he wouldn’t harm anypony intentionally.”
“Why would she think tha–”
“I’m not sure, but... She seems convinced that he’s not a monster. I honestly don’t know what to think of this whole mess.”
Rainbow Dash turned around and leaned against the chair. “I saw that thing, Rarity. Whatever it is, it’s hardly a pony. It made these craters in the ground just by smashing it. I hit it with a lightning bolt, and it wasn’t even fazed. To top it all off, I saw down its throat... This...” Rainbow Dash fell silent, holding out her hooves and slowly moving them towards, and then away from each other.
“What was it?” Rarity leaned in with her brow raised.
“There was a... A blue glow in his throat. It kind of made me think of hot coals or melted metal. The weirdest thing was how I felt when I looked at it. It was...” Rainbow gulped for a moment, then continued. “It was like... Seeing somepony fall up, or seeing a cloud run away from you. It just felt so wrong. It’s like what happened when Discord was messing around with reality.”
At the sound of hoofsteps, the two turned their attention to the hall, seeing Doctor Stable approaching. Rarity and Rainbow Dash got up and met him in the middle of the hallway. The doctor pulled out a clipboard with some notes on it while fiddling with his glasses.
“Well, doc, how is she?” Rainbow Dash asked, rushing up to him. The doctor looked up from his clipboard.
“I won’t lie to you, she is lucky to be alive. We managed to remove the glass fragments out of her body and dressed her wounds, but we’ve got another problem. The X-Rays haven’t come back from the lab yet, but I’m certain some of her ribs are broken. We’re going to have to operate on her to repair the damage.”
“She’s going to be alright, isn’t she?” Rainbow Dash was frantic, eyes wide and a quiver in her voice. The doctor looked down at the clipboard and nodded.
“If the operation goes well, she should make a full recovery, but she’ll need to stay here for a few weeks for observation. Given time and rest, she’ll heal up in a jiffy.”
Rainbow Dash only nodded at the news. Rarity stepped up to speak to the doctor. “Doctor, do you know when she will be able to talk to us about what happened?”
Rainbow Dash quickly turned to her with a grimace on her face. Rarity held up her hoof and waited for the doctor to finish.
“Well... If all goes well, she’ll be able to take visitors a day after the operation is complete. Come back tomorrow and check in on her and we’ll be able to give you a better idea.”
“Very well. Thank you, doctor.” Rarity turned and left. Rainbow Dash stood in place for a few seconds before following her.
“Guess we’re going to have to tell everypony else about this.”
“Yes... News will travel fast enough, though they ought to know.”
Rainbow Dash looked back at the hospital and lowered her head.
“You go back to Fluttershy with the news. I can cover more ground faster, so I’ll tell them.”
“Tell the Cakes first, darling. They’ll probably be wondering where she went...”
“Right.” Rainbow Dash ran toward the center of town, flapped her wings, then leaped into the air, flying toward Sugar Cube Corner. Rarity then trudged slowly down the path toward Fluttershy’s cottage, with her head heavy and a sinking feeling in her stomach.
****
Silence overpowered the cottage. Massive clouds muted the colors in the area, and thus made the landscape look darker and grayer. In the upstairs bedroom, Fluttershy cleaned up the shards of glass near the broken windowsill. She grimaced at the sigh of the broken window and at the points of impact on the ground below.
After she finished, she headed downstairs to check on the creature. He had been sitting in front of the fireplace since Rarity and Rainbow Dash left with Pinkie Pie. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, he still sat there. His right hoof shook and jerked toward the fire, though he stopped it before it could burn.
Hearing Fluttershy’s hooves hit the wooden floor, he looked up at her for a second. As soon as she looked back, he turned away and stared at the floor.
She hesitated, swallowed her fear before she approached him. Seeing his cutie mark didn’t help matters, as it reminded her of the titan whose symbol he bore. Her mind jumped to when he fought Rainbow Dash and to the mangled form of Pinkie Pie that lay outside her house. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Just... Try and talk to him... It can’t be what it looked like...” Fluttershy shuffled next to the creature and sat in front of the fireplace. He only occasionally glanced at her. The only sounds that were made for several minutes was the fire crackling and letting off sparks. The silence finally broke when Fluttershy turned to the creature.
“You... Didn’t mean to hurt her, did you?”
The stallion jerked in place as he stood upright. He turned to Fluttershy, though his eyes evaded hers while his head twitched to the side. He didn’t respond, continuing to gaze at the fire. She placed her hoof on his shoulder, nudging him to face her, though his eyes continued to avoid contact.
“Did you...” Fluttershy stopped, then began to gesture. She pointed at him first. “Did Pinkie,” she said as she held her hair up, trying to make it look a bit like her friend’s poofy mane, “Scare you?” She held up her arms and grit her teeth, her eyes very nearly going into the stare territory. He flinched a bit at the sight, remaining still afterwards when he finally looked Fluttershy in the eye. He slowly shook his head in response.
“He understood that?!” Fluttershy stood completely still in turn, her eyes wide in shock. She kept going, gesturing with her hooves while speaking slowly.
“How... Did Pinkie... Get hurt?” She held her mane up again while saying Pinkie’s name, then swung her hooves out, then down to show falling into the ground. The creature’s head slumped down and his right hoof shot up. It quivered as it slowly inched toward Fluttershy’s chest, then he tapped her as gently as he could. A low, gravelly sound rumbled from his throat, then came out of his mouth in a groan.
“Taaaaaag...” He drew the word out as though when he spoke the word, he had a difficult time stopping himself. His eyes were momentarily glued to the floor, but he held his head back up to look at Fluttershy. He blinked very slowly as his lower lip shook as a mournful moan rumbled in the back of his throat. Fluttershy, however, stared wide-eyed at him.
“He spoke! He actually spoke!” She took a moment to further examine the creature. Between his now-crestfallen demeanor and his first actual spoken word, Fluttershy began to understand.
“It was just an accident. Oh, thank Celestia... He didn’t hurt Pinkie on purpose.” She took a good look at him again, then looked outside the house at the destruction he had caused earlier. While he didn’t actively hurt Pinkie Pie, it was hard to ignore the massive craters in the surrounding area. Before she could contemplate them much further, there was a knock on the door.
“Stay here.” Fluttershy stood. He seemed to have no desire to follow her as he stared into the fireplace. When she opened the door, Rarity stood there, her face weighed down by worry.
“Hello, darling. May I come in?”
“Please.” Fluttershy stepped aside and let Rarity enter. The refined unicorn caught a glimpse of the stallion in the corner by the fireplace. She briefly saw his hoof quiver while it tried to reach into the flames. She looked back at Fluttershy and cleared her throat.
“Pinkie’s been hurt quite severely... The doctor said she’s going to need an operation and several weeks to recover, but he says she’ll recover with time.” Rarity glanced over at the creature again, then bit her bottom lip for just a second. She looked back at Fluttershy and lowered her voice.
“Rainbow Dash also told me about her... Confrontation with your guest.”
“Wh... What about him?” Fluttershy asked apprehensively.
“I’ll be brief, darling. Have you ever seen his throat... Glow before?”
“What...? Why do you ask?”
“It may have something to do with where he came from. Have you seen the bottom of his throat glow before? A light blue color?”
Fluttershy looked back and forth in thought.
“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the inside of his mouth... Did Rainbow Dash see something like, well... That?”
“She did, but it’s how she felt when she saw it that concerns me. She said it just felt... Wrong, like something Discord did to the world when he was attacking Ponyville.”
“You can’t possibly be suggesting–” Fluttershy suddenly blurted out and she briefly caught the creature’s attention. She looked into his eyes, and as soon as she did, he looked back into the fire.
Fluttershy resumed the conversation in a more hushed tone. “You aren’t suggesting that he’s some monstrosity Discord made that was left behind after we used the Elements of Harmony to defeat him, are you?”
“I don’t know for sure, darling, but I think it’s a possibility we should consider... I think this is something we should bring up with Twilight. She’ll probably have a better idea and can help us find a clearer answer.”
Fluttershy’s face fell at the idea of the involvement of their old foe. While she couldn’t dismiss the idea, something inside told her that it couldn’t be the case. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew there had to be another explanation.
“I guess we can talk about it more when we get to visit Pinkie Pie after her operation is done... In the meantime, I want to ask you a favor.”
“Of course.”
“You said you’d teach him how to speak and write...” Fluttershy looked at the creature, then back at Rarity. “Are you still willing to do that?”
Rarity’s eyes widened, her lips curling downward as she considered.
“I suppose, well... Under the circumstances, I believe it might be best if I...” Fluttershy gazed at her pleadingly, Rarity looking back for a few seconds before. She let out a sigh and gave in.
“... Oh, alright. I’ll teach him. But only if you’re there with me... Ashamed as I am to admit it, I’m the slightest bit... Frightened of him.”
Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Of course. I think you’ll find that he’s nothing to worry about.”
Rarity looked over at the figure hunched next to the fireplace and muttered softly to herself.
“I hope you’re right about that...”
****
“Phew! Finished.” Twilight sat down in a nearby chair. She finally took a breath after she observed her handiwork; thousands of books arranged in exactly the order she intended, all of them first in order of subject, then in order of the authors’ name. Spike climbed down a ladder with a duster in hand, then yawned when he reached the bottom rung.
“About time, too... I think it’s getting close to naptime.”
“Spike, you’ve said that for the past three hours.”
“And now it’s closer than it was three hours ago.”
Twilight snickered as she lounged back in her chair. “Alright, Spike. Go ahead and take your nap. I think you’ve earned it for the da–” She stood up straight as she heard a knock at the door. Twilight pulled herself up on all fours and walked to the center of the hall.
“It’s open!”
The door opened slowly, and a unicorn stallion walked in. His coat was a soft blue and his mane a faded yellow. When Twilight looked over at his side, she saw his cutie mark, which was a lit candle in front of an open book.
“You are Twilight Sparkle, librarian of Ponyville and Student of Princess Celestia, correct?” His voice carried with it a subdued Canterlot accent. He got closer to Twilight after he stepped in the doorway, looking straight into her eyes, his own a deep green.
Twilight shifted away uncomfortably, then backed into the table in the center of the room. “That’s right... Can I help you?”
“I am Professor Flamebearer of the University of Canterlot.” He adjusted a pair of thinly-framed glasses His eyes narrowed while crow’s feet on their sides became visible. “There is something wrong in Ponyville and you are uniquely qualified to help me fix it.”
Flying into town square, Rainbow Dash landed in front of Sugarcube Corner. At a quick glance, there were only a few ponies out in the open. Those that were outside stayed close to the buildings on the side of the road. All of them walked at a far faster pace than normal and glanced around warily every so often.
Rainbow Dash stepped inside the sweets shop. She found Mr. and Mrs. Cake in a mad rush as they charged back and forth between the kitchen and the shop itself. Mrs. Cake stopped at the register and gave Rainbow Dash a smile.
“Oh, hello there, Rainbow Dash! Have you seen Pinkie Pie anywhere?”
At the mention of Pinkie’s name, Rainbow Dash’s stomach twisted for a moment.
“Actually, it’s what I’m here to talk to you about. See... Something happened.” Rainbow Dash paused, lost in thought. She remembered what Rarity said about how Fluttershy trusted the creature... She didn’t understand it, but figured that Fluttershy knew something she didn’t. “I’m... Not sure how, but... Pinkie took a really bad fall and is in the hospital right now. It’s... It’s going to be a while before she’ll recover, but the doctor said she’ll be fine once she does.”
“Oh...” The hectic rush of Mrs. Cake’s voice faded as she slumped in place. “I see.” At that moment, her husband struggled to leave the kitchen, a foal attached to both of his forelegs.
“Honey, we’ve got another batch of muffins ready and...” He immediately noticed his wife’s sudden lack of spirit. “Is everything alright?”
“Pinkie’s been hurt, dear... She won’t be back for a while.”
“You don’t think that it’s... The Monster, do you?” The couple grew quiet as the foals climbed over their father, completely oblivious to his unease. Mrs. Cake turned to Rainbow Dash, a worried look on her face.
“Rainbow Dash... You haven’t seen it, have you? The Monster of Market Street?”
“I–” Rainbow Dash felt compelled to tell the Cakes that she had seen a monster, and she knew it had something to do with what happened. However, she remembered Rarity telling her that Fluttershy thought he was trustworthy. She had to give him a chance. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”
“Oh... I suppose it was silly of me to ask. Rumor has it that ponies who have seen it don’t remember what it looks like... But they always know what they felt around it, like–”
“Like there was just something wrong with the world,” Rainbow Dash blurted out. The Cakes stared at her for a few seconds. She looked away momentarily. “I’ve heard other ponies talk about it.”
“Alright, Rainbow Dash. Come back and let us know when we can visit, okay?” Mrs. Cake gave Dash a solemn smile.
“Sure thing, Mrs. Cake.” Rainbow Dash replied while her eyes shifted to the ground. She walked out of Sugar Cube Corner and turned her attention to Sweet Apple Acres. She crouched down low, extended her wings and took off.
****
“And this is a ‘Y.’ Say it with me. ‘Y’.”
“Wuh... Wuuuh...”
“Come now, you can do it.”
“Wuh... Aaaaiiiiiiii...”
Rarity stood over the stallion and pointed at the letters on the page of the alphabet book. A desk had been set up in Fluttershy’s room. Fluttershy herself watched from the doorway as Rarity continued to instruct the stranger. “Y is for ‘Yam.’ Yaaam.”
“Yaaaaa... Aaaaaam.”
Rarity cringed at the sound of his voice, though made sure to do so out of his sight. He hunched over the book and a piece of paper. A quill was tied around his hoof and a bottle of ink was at his right side. He labored over the letter and dipped the quill into the inkwell, his hoof shakily drifting toward the paper. Ink dripped off the tip of the pen as he dug it into the paper. With a herculean effort, he crudely attempted to copy the letter on the page.
“Very good... You’re picking up your letters quickly,” Rarity observed as she took in the piece of paper. He had scratched each of the letters shown to him on the page. However sloppy they were, they still looked enough like the letters to be legible.
“And this is a ‘Z’. Zeee.”
“Zuh-Zzz... Zeeeee...” The stallion found this letter far less difficult to say, his teeth clenched while he sounded it out.
“‘Z’ is for ‘Zebra.’” Rarity pointed at the page in the book.
“Zeeeeeeeeebrrr-Rrrrr-rrrrraaaaaah.” His voice rumbled, his mouth very slowly pronouncing each syllable. At the bottom of the page, he scrawled the letter “Z” into the paper, but nearly tore it apart with the quill.
“Very good. Now, write all the letters over again here...” Rarity slid another piece of paper to the creature. “And tell me when you have finished. I’ll be back.”
The stallion grunted and nodded. Rarity walked to Fluttershy in the doorway.
“How’s he doing?” Fluttershy whispered to Rarity.
“He’s doing fairly well. His speech is still... Iffy, at best. He has trouble with even the simplest single-syllable words. He’s learning how to write fairly quickly, though.” Rarity quietly sighed and turned away from the stallion still writing the letters.
“And... Are you alright?”
“To be honest, something deep down inside of me is still afraid of him. I think I’m in over my head...” Rarity smiled in a nervous attempt to reassure herself that it was okay to talk about this. “I mean, he hasn’t done anything to me, but when I think about what happened or when I hear him speak, I just feel... Uneasy.”
“I understand.” Fluttershy looked through the doorway, seeing the stallion look over at the two of them talking, then slowly hang his head and go back to writing on the page in front of him.
“I’d better go feed the animals. They’re staying a bit farther away from the house, so it’ll take me a while...” She sighed and smiled at Rarity nervously. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but can you keep him company for a bit?” Rarity stopped dead. Her mouth opened and closed, trying to form a protest but unable to do so. She closed her eyes, smiled, then swallowed while she replied.
“Of course, darling.” Rarity took a deep breath, and walked back in the room. She tilted her head, seeing the stallion hanging over his paper. He hung his head dejectedly while he added extra zig-zags on his last “Z.”
“So... Do you have a name?”
The creature shook his head.
“Is there something you’d like me to call you?”
“Peeeeeen... Puh-puh-peeeeeeeeeeenk...” The creature quickly gave up trying to speak aloud. He flipped the paper upside down and dipped the pen in the inkwell. He scratched a message onto the other side of the paper and slid it over to Rarity.
Rarity examined the message closely and pursed her lips. “I don’t remember ever teaching him the ‘Ch’ sound...” She smiled and made eye contact with him.
“So she called you Stitches. Would you like for us to call you that?”
Stitches shrugged at her.
“Well, it isn’t much of a name, admittedly, but it will do for now, won’t it?”
Stitches slowly nodded. He dipped his quill in ink and scrawled another message onto another piece of paper.
Rarity read the message and swallowed uncomfortably. She took her own quill and began correcting the paper, writing it again as “You don’t want to be here.”
“I admit I’m a bit uncomfortable.”
He hung his head down again, writing another message on the paper.
Rarity laughed half-heartedly. “Well, you don’t– I mean, you’re big and you’re strong and–” She only got a blank stare from Stitches. She turned away and muttered, “There’s no sense in lying to you, is there?” He shook his head. Rarity sighed and looked him in the eyes.
“Alright, I confess I am a little frightened, and that you are somewhat... Intimidating.” Rarity kept up her smile, doing her best not to offend the stallion. Stitches looked away from Rarity. He hunched over another paper, scribbled out a reply, then slid it across the table to her.
“Because...” Rarity took a deep breath and placed a hoof on his cold, unyielding skin on his shoulder. “Because Fluttershy is my friend and she wants your life to be better and easier. I’ll help her achieve that, even if doing it might not be what I want to do.”
“Of course I would. She’s done plenty for you. I’m sure she counts you as a friend.” The right side of Stitches' face slowly curled up into a smile. Now at ease, Rarity relaxed and sat down next to him. He took his quill and wrote down,
Rarity paused and shifted her gaze for a moment.
“I suppose you can be, yes.” She smiled at him. Stitches nodded quickly and grunted in approval. Rarity cleared her throat and put on a more serious face, looking down at the papers and the alphabet book in front of her. “I think we can move on to your spelling, Stitches. You’re learning a lot and you’re learning quickly, but you still have a long way to go...”
Fluttershy came back through the doorway, standing behind it silently. She watched as Rarity and Stitches labored over the ABC book and the pieces of paper being written on by the stallion. She smiled at the two worked through the lesson, and enjoyed the moment of serenity she saw between her old friend and her new one.
****
Twilight stared at the stallion in front of her. When he had come in a few minutes ago, he had claimed to be a University of Canterlot professor, and had told her that he needed her help.
“Professor Flamebearer, huh? I can’t say I’ve ever heard of you.”
“I’m honestly not surprised.” He glanced away furtively, then looked back at Twilight, who returned his glance with doubt. “My last truly notable work was a book on the growth of magic use throughout history, and that was 15 years ago. I am a professor of Equinology, specializing in the study of ancient cultures and their magical practices.” He walked to the glass case while he spoke, holding a hoof over the container which held the antique book that Twilight had received.
“So what kind of problem does a professor of Equinology who studies ancient magic believe I have to solve personally?”
“It’s... Quite an enormous problem.” He stared at the book in front of him and sighed. “I’d dare say your village is about to be hurdled into a disaster.”
“Disaster? If a disaster was about to happen, wouldn’t the Princess have told me about it first?”
“I’m afraid you’re the first I have told.” He finally looked up from the ancient book. “Prognostications by Ponycelsus... There aren’t many copies left in the world in such good condition. Are you familiar with his other works?”
“I’ve read some of them.”
“Including his works concerning alchemy?”
Twilight remained silent. She narrowed her eyes at the professor. Flamebearer only stared at her in turn, his face stony and immobile. Twilight laughed a bit uneasily, then turned away from the professor.
“Oh, come now, professor. If what you came here for is so urgent, I’m sure you have no time to waste discussing a pseudo-science.”
“That is just what I’m here to discuss, Miss Sparkle. This problem was wrought by the work of alchemy.”
“What?” Twilight blurted out as she turned back to face the professor. “But... But alchemy is quackery! The way it’s described in any of the texts, it doesn’t actually work! No one’s ever tried using it for centuries because–”
“It makes no sense, at least not when interpreted literally. Alchemy is far less a science and far more a form of mysticism, a mode of transcendent thinking to use an otherworldly power that can only be understood through symbol and metaphor...” He finally saw the look on Twilight’s face, one of her eyebrows raised in apprehension. He cleared his throat and straightened his tie. “But that’s not the issue here.”
“Then can you please get to the point?”
The professor turned away from the book. His eyes shifted again before he looked Twilight right in the eyes. “Somepony has discovered a way to make one of the most... Ludicrous feats of alchemy a reality.”
Twilight stared at him blankly. “The most ludicrous feats? You mean aside from turning lead into gold by heating it in some weird concoction, and creating tiny ponies using frog eggs?”
“Closer to the latter.” He pushed his glasses upward and hesitated before he spoke. “This pony managed to create a new life... A full-sized stallion, no less.”
“Create? As in, he made one? That’s– That’s–” Twilight fumbled about as she tried to find the right word to convey what such an occurrence was. “Incredible? Amazing? Insane? Impossible? I don’t even know where to start...”
“Nothing any pony was prepared for, that’s for certain.” Flamebearer grimaced, then walked closer to Twilight. “And with good reason; there is something fundamentally... Wrong with this creature. It blights the land around it, driving all thinking beings nearby mad with its presence, all caused by an unnatural force that gives it life.”
“So... You’re saying that somehow, using alchemy, a form of magic that doesn’t work, some pony managed to create a new life form that’s being powered by some sort of energy so unnatural that it decimates everything and everypony around it?” Twilight frowned as she said this, each word carefully chosen to emphasize just how ridiculous the professor’s story was. He nodded in response.
“Yes, and I’m convinced the creature that this pony created is in Ponyville right now.” Flamebearer kept an unwavering stare fixed on Twilight. She turned away and walked toward one of the bookshelves.
“What exactly do you want me to do about it? I don’t exactly have the Elements of Harmony hidden under my bed, you know.”
“That will not be necessary. I only need your help in tracking it down.”
“And how do we go about looking for this–” They turned to the door as Applejack walked inside.
“Howdy, Twi... I ain’t interruptin’ anythin’, am I?” Applejack asked, her voice far more quiet than normal. The desperate way she was trying to smile made it clear that something was wrong.
Twilight kept one eye on the professor. “It’s no trouble... He was just leaving.”
Flamebearer pursed his lips, then reluctantly nodded. “Yes... I’ll write down everything you need to know. We’ll discuss this more later.”
He slipped past Applejack, started to walk out the door, then turned and bowed his head. “Until next time, Miss Sparkle.” As he shut the door, Twilight sighed.
“Well, I think that should cover my dose of crazy for the next few months.” Twilight snickered lightly. Her laughter stopped short as she saw that Applejack’s eyes were closed and her lips sunk into a frown. “Is... Something the matter?”
“I jus’ got the news from Rainbow, Twi’. Pinkie’s hurt somethin’ fierce. The doctor’s gotta perform an operation.”
Twilight looked down. “I... I see. How did it happen? Is she going to be okay?”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine... She took a bad fall at Fluttershy’s place, but Rainbow told me that the doctor could handle it.” Applejack looked away from Twilight for a second. “There’s... Something else I oughta tell ya, Twilight.”
“What is it?” Twilight leaned to the side, trying to look her friend in the eyes. Applejack finally met her gaze and adjusted her hat.
“There’s somepony livin’ in Fluttershy’s house that I knew about for the past day now.”
“The one that doesn’t know how to read or speak? Rarity and Fluttershy already told me about him. They stopped by to get him some books.”
“About that, Rainbow Dash said that he’s the one that got Pinkie hurt.”
Twilight looked back at the door, then back at the dusty tome that she received. She remained silent for several minutes.
“Are you alright, sugarcube?”
Twilight grimaced and locked eye contact with Applejack.
“Tell me everything you know about him.”
Applejack shifted uncomfortably while Twilight looked at her. Her voice trembled, unsettled by her unicorn friend’s unspoken anger. Normally, if Twilight was angry, she would burst into a momentary rage and calm down, but this time, she simply spoke in a low steady voice, maintaining her gaze. Applejack couldn’t disappoint her friend, not even when she was angry.
“Well... He’s big, he’s insanely strong, and for some reason, he drives most ponies around him–”
“Crazy just by being around them?” Twilight interrupted, becoming far quieter as her eyes widened in shock. Stunned at the quick reply, Applejack was barely able to cobble together a response.
“Y-Yeah, how’d you know that?”
“I heard about something like that earlier.” Twilight walked toward one of her bookshelves, her breath grew shallow as she did. “Applejack, do you mind if I have some time to myself? I...” She took a deep breath while she traced her hoof over the spines of some of the books. “... I have a lot to think about.”
Applejack nodded and opened the door. “If you need anythin’, you know where to find me.”
“Alright... See you later.” Applejack tipped her hat, then closed the door behind her. Twilight looked at one of the books on the shelf, her horn and the book she focused on glowed. The book floated off the shelf over to Twilight. She looked at the cover for a few seconds. The Analyst’s Reference Guide to Alchemy and Related Symbolism. She opened the book and began to pore over it. She flipped through its pages in total silence.
“If you need anythin’, you know where to find me.” Applejack walked out the door of the library, and gently closed it behind her. When she looked up, she noticed the clouds covering the sky above her where none had been a few minutes ago.
“Well, ain’t that peculiar... I don’ remember there bein’ a storm scheduled for today...”
“There wasn’t,” the professor replied. Applejack turned around after she heard him.
“Oh! Uh, howdy there. Didn’t see ya.” She smiled and tipped her hat, her voice shaking slightly. “Name’s Applejack. What’s yer name?”
“Flamebearer, Professor Flamebearer.” He fidgeted for a moment, pushed his glasses up, then looked over his shoulder. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss Applejack, but I really must be going.” He immediately turned and galloped away from her. She stood still and rose an eyebrow at his sudden departure.
“Alright then.” She turned back and headed back toward the town.
While traveling through the roads and past a few houses, she looked up at the sky again. She had a feeling that it was getting close to sunset, late afternoon at least, but because of the cloud cover, she couldn't tell for sure.
“Land’s sakes, I’ve never seen a day in Ponyville so gloomy, and without a drop of rain to top it all off. It ain’t natural...” As she passed through the town square, she heard frustrated grunts up in the sky followed by thuds in the clouds above.
“Ungh! Come on... Stupid... Clouds... Break!” Rainbow Dash zoomed through the clouds. She tried to get rid of them, though with no success. Applejack called up to her.
“Rainbow Dash!” Hearing her name, the pegasus stopped for a moment and looked down.
“What? Oh, hi Applejack,” she responded with a hint of frustration as she burst through the cloud again.
“You have any idea where these clouds came from?”
“I have no idea! I’ve been left to take care of these by myself!”
“You normally don’t have much of a problem with these things.”
“Not normally, but these clouds aren’t exactly normal.” She rammed through the cloud another time, but the fragments she broke up earlier began to merge together and reformed into another cloud. Rainbow Dash growled and shook her hooves. “I had a team working with me earlier, but they all got angry and quit in the middle of it.”
“That wasn’ very nice of them.”
“No, but I can see why they quit!” Rainbow Dash punched and kicked the clouds around her, each strike accentuated each syllable through gritted teeth. “These– Clouds– Are– A– Pain– In– The– Flank!” Worn out from her attack on the clouds, she slowly landed back on the ground.
“... I think you could use a break, Dash. How ‘bout you come with me to the farm? You’ve got a lot on yer mind.”
“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash huffed. “I guess you’re right.” She looked up at the cloud she pounded. “I suppose it isn’t going anywhere anyway.”
****
“Get out of my café, you little ruffians!"
Shouts of rage boomed out of Ponyville’s local café while the door swung open. Out of it flew three fillies, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who fell onto each other in that order. The restaurant owner fumed at the three, his mane frazzled and moustache out of sorts.
“We just wanted to help out!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she struggled to get out from between Scootaloo and Applebloom.
“Yeah, and we weren’t gonna charge nothin’!” Applebloom gasped out, the weight of the other two fillies on her back starting to get to her.
“I don’t care! The three of you! Out! Now!" He flailed about while swinging his foreleg and pointing to the streets. His voice cracked ever so slightly when he bellowed his orders. The three of them sighed and began to walk off, their heads hung low to the ground.
While they passed by the other customers in the café, all they could hear were the angry mutters of all the ponies sitting at the tables, an almost tangible tension hanging in the air. The Crusaders kept walking along the road and discussed their current predicament.
“Why’s ever’pony bein’ so mean today?” Applebloom asked while straightening out her bow.
“Whatever, Cutie Mark Crusader Waitresses was a lame idea anyway!” Scootaloo huffed indignantly and kicked a rock to the side. “Applebloom, what’s next on our list?”
“Well... Says here we were gonna try... Par-kour? What’s a Parkour?”
The three of them bumped into a bespectacled unicorn, who simply stood and looked down at the three foals. He pushed his glasses back up his snout, pressing it firmly in place. Sweetie Belle put on a nervous smile at the scholarly-looking stallion.
“Hehe... Sorry about that,” Sweetie Belle said, rubbing the back of her head.
“It’s quite alright,” the stallion replied.
“Well, least you’re nice about it unlike ever’pony else. I’m Applebloom!”
“I’m Sweetie Belle!”
“And I’m Scootaloo, and together, we’re...”
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Their collective cry of their names nearly blew the stallion off his hooves and knocked his glasses askew. After he straightened them again, he cleared his throat and bowed his head.
“A pleasure, I’m sure.” He put on a smile, the kind a teacher would give students he met for the first time. “My name is Flamebearer. I’m a professor from the University of Canterlot.”
“A professor? A professor of what?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Of Equinology. I study ponies and the way certain ponies do certain things wherever they are.”
“Blegh.” Scootaloo stuck out her tongue and looked up at him with apprehension. “So what are you doing here? Probably boring egghead stuff.”
“Scootaloo!” the other two shouted.
“What? He’s a professor of somethingology, he does egghead stuff.”
“Well...” The Professor looked around for a moment. He then leaned down to the three of them and lowered his voice to a whisper. “To tell you the truth, I’m actually on a Monster Hunt.”
Scootaloo suddenly beamed. “Oh cool, you’re hunting a monst-” Flamebearer held his hoof up to his lips and hushed her. Scootaloo then lowered her voice in turn. “What kind of monster are you hunting?”
“Is it a Manticore?” chimed in Sweetie.
“A Cockatrice?” asked Scootaloo.
“A Timberwolf?” Applebloom asked.
“No, it’s none of those things. It looks like a pony, but it isn’t really one.”
“So it’s a changeling?” Sweetie Belle shivered at the thought of one of those creatures wandering around the town.
“No... There isn’t really a name for this creature, since, as far as I’ve discovered, it’s the first- and only one- of its kind.”
“Well, there’s gotta be somethin’ that you call it. If you found it first, you’d get to name it.” Applebloom nodded quickly at her own remark.
“Well... I suppose a good name for it would be a Leaden One.”
“Is it a Pony Golem made of Metal?! Oh, that’d be so cool!” Scootaloo’s wings began to flutter as she thought about it. “Though how would we fight a pony that’s made of metal...?”
“Well, it’s a good thing that it isn’t made of metal...” The Crusaders let out a sigh of relief after the Professor revealed this. He continued, “See, I called it a Leaden One because it’s a pony that was made using ancient magic called alchemy. It has this symbol for a Cutie Mark...” He drew the symbol on the ground with his hoof. “And, in alchemy, this is the symbol for Lead.”
“Well, that’s nice and all...” Applebloom rubbed her chin. “But you said you were lookin’ fer this thing? If it’s a monster, wouldn’ it be in the Everfree Forest?”
“I looked there first, but when I found him, he escaped. I know he is hiding in the town somewhere.”
“He’s hiding...” Sweetie Belle stuttered slightly. “In P-P-Ponyville?”
“Yes. In fact, I think he’s been here for a few days now...”
“Maybe it’s the Monster of Market Street that everypony’s been so scared of for the past few days.” Scootaloo looked over at the professor. “Is that it?”
“Yes, actually. I’ve heard someone say that this thing was last seen around... What was her name... Flutterby...”
“Fluttershy?!” the Crusaders asked at once.
“Yes, that’s it... I heard it was lurking around near her house. I figured I should go there and take a look to see what’s going on.” The Crusaders fell silent as he mentioned Fluttershy. They looked at each other for a minute, then back at the professor and smiled.
“I don’t think you need to worry about your monster, Professor,” Sweetie Belle beamed.
“Yeah, ‘cause no monster stands a chance against Fluttershy!” Scootaloo grinned. She stood up and punched her forehooves back and forth.
“After all, she’s got the stare! She’ll sen’ that thing cryin’ back to its momma!”
“It doesn’t have a mother, it was created.”
“Oh, right.” Applebloom took a moment to correct herself. “Well... She’ll sen’ it cryin’ back to its... Uh... Maker! Yeah! She’ll make him meet his maker!” Applebloom closed her eyes and nodded, satisfied with her comment.
“Well... If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather make sure she’s alright. This monster has terrible powers.”
“Like what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, it can change the weather, like you see above you, and it drives ponies insane just by being here.” The three looked at each other, then back at the professor. The three of them shivered for a second.
“Come to think of it, the ponies we’ve met today were actin’ a mite strange...” Applebloom rubbed her chin in thought.
“Wait a minute!” Sweetie Belle held her hoof up as though raising it in a classroom. “If it drives everypony crazy just by being nearby, then how come we’re not going crazy, and why aren’t you all nasty and snappy at us?”
The professor stopped for a moment, running his hoof across his chin. “Well... That’d take a while to explain, but the short version is that children don’t seem to be affected, and neither do some... Special ponies, because it drives ponies mad because it does something to their perception of reality.”
“Uh-huh...” Sweetie Belle pursed her lips for a moment. She turned to the others. “Crusader Huddle!” The three Cutie Mark Crusaders bunched together and circled around each other, whispering as low as they could.
“Guess we need to bring him to Fluttershy’s anyway...” Scootaloo suggested. “If that thing does all that crazy stuff just by being around, imagine what’d happen if it actually tried to hurt her.”
“I dunno... He seems mighty suspicious. I can tell he knows way too much ‘bout this stuff, an’ I only understood half of it.” Applebloom then looked to Sweetie Belle for her input.
“Yeah, and he didn’t really tell us why he isn’t going crazy. I think he might’ve made that thing in the first place, or maybe he’s just crazy to begin with!” Sweetie Belle looked down.
“We can’t just do nothing!” Scootaloo whispered, a bit louder than the other two.
“Well...” Sweetie Belle weighed her options for a moment. “Rarity’s been spending a lot of time with Fluttershy lately. If anypony knows something about this, it’d be her. I’ll ask when I get home!”
“Applejack’s been visitin’ Fluttershy a lot, too. Maybe she knows somethin’ ‘bout this monster business.”
“And I’ll... Um... What can I do?” Scootaloo asked.
“Maybe you can do some checkin’ up on this Flamebearer guy, see what his deal is. He’s gotta have talked to somepony else about this monster thing, otherwise he wouldn’t’ve known it was at Fluttershy’s without knowin’ where she lives.”
“Yeah... Maybe he’s been to the library. I’ll ask Twilight if she’s seen him around.”
The three broke the huddle and turned over to Flamebearer. “Well, we shouldn’ take you there now since it’s gettin’ a mite late. We’ll do it t’morrow.” Applebloom nodded quickly.
“Yeah, our families will be worried about us if we don’t get back home soon.” Sweetie Belle and the others put on their most convincing pouty faces they could muster in Flamebearer’s direction. The professor gave a soft smile and nodded in turn.
“Alright. Tomorrow it is then. I’ll be at the town inn when you get out of school.”
The Crusaders nodded and went their separate ways. They waved back at the professor while they ran off.
“Goodbye!”
“See ya!”
“Later!”
Professor Flamebearer pushed his glasses back and looked up at the clouded sky.
“Soon, Leaden One... Soon, you’ll be back where you belong.” Lightning lit the sky behind him as he gazed off in the distance, lost in thought.
****
They kept walking through the town square, Rainbow Dash crouched slightly while Applejack took a look around. Most of the ponies they passed by gave them wary looks and did everything they could to put more distance between themselves and the others. Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack and whispered to her, keeping her eyes on them.
“I thought you told me back at the farm that ponies only acted this weird when the stranger was around.”
“Yup...”
“So why are they doing it now?”
“Can’t say I know... I oughta get Applebloom home. She said she was in the clubhouse with her friends, but... Well... Ya know how they manage to fin’ trouble everywhere they go.” She sighed and pulled her hat down tighter on her head.
“If the ponies are actin’ so strange, then she might not be sa-” Applejack turned, hearing a heated argument coming from further down the road, near the café.
“What in tarnation...?” She and Rainbow Dash galloped toward the sound of the argument, finally hearing it more clearly.
“I’m telling you, Bonbon, it’s charcoal, not dark gray!”
“Ugh, you’re blind as a bat, Lyra! Can’t you tell it’s obviously dark gray?! Actually look at the cloud first!”
“What, are you saying that I’m too stupid to tell the difference?!”
Applejack stopped suddenly as her eyelids drooped halfway over her eyes. “...They’re arguin’ about the color of the clouds.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash muttered in disbelief. “They’re taking it really seriously, too.”
“That’s... I don’ even know what to say ‘bout that.” Before Applejack could contemplate it much further, other petty arguments clamored over each other as though they were in a competition over whose point can be heard the loudest.
“It’s sunset, not afternoon! Once the sun is setting, it’s not afternoon anymore!”
“You can’t even see it setting, you dolt!”
“The bread has been lightly toasted, not browned!”
“It's a recipe book, not a cook book!”
Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and threw her hooves up in the air.
“Would all of you just shut up?! You're arguing over nothing!”
The town square fell silent and all the ponies turned around to face Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Applejack stood in front of her pegasus friend and laughed nervously.
“Eheh... I s’pose we best be goin’...” Applejack started to pull Rainbow Dash away. They inched along the road toward Sweet Apple Acres. “Pay no attention to us! Please resume yer pointless arguin’.” The crowd closed in on the two of them. The ponies in it muttered angrily as they approached the two ponies in the center.
“Um, Applejack... I think we should get going.” She bumped into her earth pony friend. “Like... Right now.”
“Couldn’ agree more, Rainbow.” The two turned toward Sweet Apple Acres, then bolted for the road. “Run!”
Applejack galloped as fast as she could away from the stampede of angry ponies, lowering her head to ensure the wind didn’t blow her hat off of her head. She made several sharp turns to evade and divide the mob, and took several twists that would eventually lead her back to the path to the farm.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash took to the skies and headed right for the storm clouds. The other pegasi who initially attempted to meet her in the air hesitated and landed as soon as she got too close to the thunderheads above.
She painstakingly maintained a distance between the clouds that was close enough to cause the other pegasi to hesitate to approach her, but far enough that she wouldn’t be electrocuted by a stray discharge. Seeing the hat of her friend below her and none of the mob behind her, she dove in for a quick landing.
“Applejack.”
“Yeah?”
“What in the hay just happened?”
“Dun’ know for sure.”
“What’s your best guess?”
“I suppose the craziness that the ponies get from the stranger being nearby is startin’ to spread. The way they were all itchin’ for a fight sounds a lot like how Fluttershy said they acted ‘round him.”
“How would it be spreading, though?”
“I don’ know, Rainbow! I don’ even rightly know how he drives ponies crazy. All I know for sure is that he doesn’ do it on purpose and it usually happens when he’s nearby.” She sighed and walked toward the barn. “Now I guess he doesn’ have to be close anymore.” Rainbow Dash sat down while Applejack headed into the barn and rummaged through some of her stores.
“Applejack, you know this is going to be a big problem. If it’s spreading and it only happens when he’s around...”
“I know, I know. It’s just, Fluttershy-” Applejack was cut short by Winona, who barked and growled at a mailmare. Ditzy Doo curled her lip in a sneer at the dog. Applejack tilted her head, confused that Ditzy showed any form of anger or contempt for anyone or anything.
When she shook off her initial shock, she hurried over and held her hoof between the mailmare and her dog. Winona growled at her owner, turned around and ran off. “I’m awful sorry, ma’am. She’s usually nice to folks. What can I do ya for?”
“I’m looking for Rainbow Dash.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow Dash walked closer to the mailmare. Ditzy held out her hoof and signaled the other pegasus to keep her distance.
“I was told to give you this.” She handed over an envelope with the return address of the hospital. She fiddled with another letter, this one addressed to Rarity.
“Thanks, Derpy.”
“Get bent,” Ditzy snapped at Rainbow Dash. She lifted her wings and flew off toward Carousel Boutique. Rainbow’s mouth hung open after Ditzy insulted her– less at the insult itself and more that she insulted her at all.
“Okay, this is getting really weird.” Rainbow Dash opened up the envelope while the mailmare walked away. She quickly glanced over the letter and a smile beamed on her face.
“Pinkie Pie’s operation went off without a hitch! We can see her tomorrow!”
Applejack smiled a bit as she leaned back. “
Least tha’s one bit of good news.” The two of them grew quiet, looking away from each other as the smiles vanished from their faces. “Guess when we see her, we’ll know what really happened.”
“And we’ll need to talk about what to do with Fluttershy’s visitor before everything falls apart...”
“We’ll have to decide what to do soon. Might as well be when all of us are together again.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked up at the clouds. The farm pony held out her hoof to feel for rain, though none was falling.
Seeing some of the clouds spark with electricity, Rainbow Dash cringed and looked toward her friend. She shuffled her rubber-covered hooves nervously.
“I guess it’ll be a bit of a chore to get through to find a cloud to sleep on... Do you mind if I stay here for the night?”
“Sure.” Applejack turned toward the farmhouse. She walked toward it while she led Rainbow Dash to the door. “I think Granny Smith’ll fix somethin’ good up for dinner tonight.”
****
“I think that will be enough for now, darling.” Rarity smiled as she patted Stitches on the back. She looked down at a sheet of paper in front of them. On it were all the things that Stitches had written to her previously, only now with mostly correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. The name he was given was also written at the top of the sheet, a bold, prominent “STITCHES” scrawled on it.
“You’ve made wonderful progress today, Stitches. I’d dare say you’re learning writing fairly quickly. Now, if only we could work on your speech...” She frowned and touched her hoof to her chin. Stitches tilted his head at her, but the unicorn quickly smiled at him once he made eye contact. “I suppose that’ll be for another day. I’ll have to be going now.”
Stitches nodded slowly and turned over the piece of paper and dipped the quill in ink, then very slowly wrote down,
Rarity looked at the message and smiled. “Farewell, Stitches.” She then stepped out of the room and saw Fluttershy next to the door. She smiled softly at Rarity. She walked her down the stairs with a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. The unicorn yawned, her eyelids half-closed when she finished.
“Thank you so much for teaching him, Rarity. I don’t know if I could’ve done it without you.”
“It was nothing, darling. I said I’d help you and I did just that.” Rarity ran a hoof through her mane, hastily smoothing it out. “I’d better be getting back home. I can only imagine what sort of trouble Sweetie Belle and her friends must’ve gotten into on their outing... At least they’ll just destroy that little clubhouse that Applejack left for them.”
“I suppose... Thanks again for your help.”
Rarity smiled at her and slowly stepped toward the door to the cottage. “I’ll come back to see how things are tomorrow.”
“Bye, Rarity.” Fluttershy waved while Rarity left and shut the door behind her. She looked out the window, seeing that the night sky was entirely black with no sign of the moon or the stars.
“That’s odd... I knew there was a cloud over my house, but I didn’t think there were this many...” She occasionally caught glimpses of flashes in the clouds, thunder rumbling from above. She squeaked before turning away from the window leaning back against it. Fluttershy pulled the curtains off the window and covered her head with them. She took heavy, labored breaths.
“Okay... Breathe, Fluttershy," she muttered to herself. "It’s just thunder... Nothing to worry about...” The sound of hooves began to thunk unevenly down the stairs. Stitches arrived with his head hung low while looking at Fluttershy near the window. Before she could say anything, he rushed down the stairs and stood in front of her. He threw his forelegs around her in a hug. Fluttershy slowly returned the gesture.
“Iiiit’s... Ook-k-kaaaaaay...” He squeezed Fluttershy tightly. The two leaned into each other silently into the night.
Fluttershy awoke the next day. She pulled herself upright and yawned. She looked over to the side and smiled at the sight of Stitches, who still slept while he held her. She looked out the window and saw that it was daylight, but only barely so. The overcast sky filtered the sunlight from above into a dim gray that almost felt cold to look at.
Fluttershy went to grab the bag of feed for her animals. She stepped outside the cottage and called out to them.
“Breakfast, every–” She found that all of the animals that were just near the fence last night were gone. Fluttershy panicked, her eyes widened while her breath grew shallow.
“Oh no. Oh no no no no no...” She ran around the cottage and searched desperately for the animals who had gone missing. She checked around every tree she could find, and even looked near the border of the Everfree Forest, but couldn’t find them. She almost took to the sky when she heard a voice call from her house.
“Fluttershy! Are you in there?” Rarity stood in front of her door. She looked to one side of the cottage to find her yellow pegasus friend out in the grass.
“Just a minute!” Fluttershy barely squeaked in an attempt to reply from the distance. She ran toward Rarity, still panicked. She struggled to catch her breath as she tried to speak to Rarity.
“Have... Have you seen... My... My–”
“Your animals? It’s the strangest thing, really. When Applejack and I met up at the schoolhouse to drop off our sisters, she told me that she had seen your animals running toward her farm. She’s keeping them in the barn for now and has had them fed.”
“Oh, thank goodness! I thought they got lost, or maybe worse...”
“Don’t trouble yourself, darling. I’m sure Applejack has everything under control.” Rarity reached into her bag and produced a letter. “Actually, I was coming here to talk to you about something else. I got a letter from the hospital. Pinkie Pie’s surgery went without a problem.”
“That’s wonderful... Is everypony going to visit her?”
“Yes, we’re all going to go there this afternoon, after Applejack and I pick Sweetie Belle and Applebloom back up from school. Sweetie told me that after they got some things from home, they would be off doing their ‘Crusading,’ so they should be busy while we’re visiting Pinkie Pie. The Cakes already visited her this morning.”
“Did they tell you how she was?”
“They said she was...” Rarity sighed and looked away for a moment. “That she was quiet. They said she was her usual cheerful self, just... Quiet.” Rarity’s ears drooped momentarily when she finished speaking. Fluttershy’s stomach sunk at the word “Quiet.”
“I guess asking one of you to look after Stitches while I’m gone wouldn’t be fair...”
“Couldn’t you ask Spike to keep an eye on him?”
Fluttershy considered the option. “Somepony would be here while I’m gone, but... Spike didn’t handle my animals very well last time I left him to look after them, plus I don’t know how Stitches will affect him...”
“I think it’ll be better if I just leave him alone. I think he can handle himself.”
“If you say so. I’ll meet you at the hospital this afternoon.” Rarity smiled and trotted down the road back to her boutique. Fluttershy smiled gently and waved at her.
While she walked back toward her house, she couldn’t help but look up at the sky. To see an overcast sky with no rain was disheartening, especially when she considered that the pegasi generally never put clouds in place unless a drizzle or a storm was scheduled. Stranger yet was that there weren’t any pegasi to clear the sky anymore, but given their success yesterday, it made sense that they had given up.
Fluttershy came back inside and took a look at Stitches. He picked himself up and yawned, an almost inaudible rumble came out of his throat. He looked at Fluttershy for a moment as she smiled at him.
“I think you’d like to know that Pinkie Pie is getting better.”
Stitches perked up at Pinkie’s name, and a lopsided smile stretched across his face.
“I’m going to visit her today, but I’ll need you to stay here. I wish you could come with me, but... Well...” Fluttershy trailed off. She avoided eye contact with him while her head hung down. Stitches only nodded slowly and scooted toward the back of the room.
“I mean, it’s not anything against you, it’s just... I don’t want you or anypony else getting hurt...” Stitches looked back and nodded. He turned over to the fireplace and stared blankly into it. Fluttershy trot over and hugged the cobbled-together stallion from behind.
“I won’t be leaving until this afternoon, so...” Fluttershy thought for a moment. Stitches’ spirits only rose slightly at the knowledge that she wouldn’t leave until later in the day. She then realized something. “... Maybe you’d want to send Pinkie Pie a message?”
Stitches’ eyes brightened for a second, but then he tilted his head in confusion.
“You could write her a letter and I can take it to her when I leave.”
Stitches’ smile returned and he showed a few of his teeth. He nodded quickly as he rushed up the stairs. In his haste, he tripped over himself a few times, but he didn’t seem to mind. When he came back down, he held his inkwell, quill, and several pieces of parchment that he didn’t use. Fluttershy smiled at him as he set up his workspace on the floor. He sat next to him and leaned over the paper.
“Now... What do you want to say to Pinkie Pie?”
Stitches scribbled away with the quill and stopped every once in a while to turn to Fluttershy.
****
Pinkie Pie lay down in her bed, bored completely out of her skull. She would bounce a ball or something, but the doctor said she wasn’t allowed to do a whole lot until she fully recovered, or else she’d hurt herself. The whole time she was there, she simply hummed a happy tune to herself to relieve her boredom, but she couldn’t go into a full-out song. Pinkie Pie found that, after the operation, she was too short of breath to actually sing.
Earlier that day, the Cakes stopped by to visit her. They were nice enough to her, but then they argued with each other over what color her sheets were. The argument was funny at first, but she quickly didn’t like how hostile they were toward each other. They left not long after.
Now it was late afternoon, 3:35 PM. At this point, she was so bored that she was able to easily see what the exact time was on the clock all the way across the room. Her friends said they’d come by to visit her today, and to see them all would be a welcome distraction from being stuck in bed all day long. She heard the door open and perked up. The first to come through was Rainbow Dash, who waved at Pinkie.
“Hi Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash walked up her and gave her a hug. Each of the others surrounded the bed and leaned in for a group hug. Pinkie feebly raised her forelegs and wrapped them around her friends.
“Hi everypony!” she rasped out with as much cheer as possible. The other ponies stepped backward and smiled at their friend. Rainbow Dash spoke up next.
“Pinkie, what exactly happened to you?”
“Well,” she paused, trying to catch her breath. “I was...” She caught her breath again. “Playing tag with... Stitches, you know? And... I was winning... But... I might have... Wanted to... Kinda let him win... So I sort of... Let him... Catch me... And he had to... Jump to get me... So he might have... Hit me... A teensy bit... Too hard... And I fell out... The window.” She smiled sheepishly as she finished. All of them seemed relieved, except for Fluttershy and Rarity, who seemed like they already knew this, or at least something about it, the whole time.
“You named him Stitches,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned. “You named the big super-strong juggernaut stallion Stitches.”
“Well... Duh... Didn’t you... See them?” Pinkie grinned at Rainbow Dash.
“... Okay, I’ll have to give you that one. I would’ve named him something cool though, like Groundbreaker, or Flankenstein or something.” Rainbow Dash looked away from Pinkie and brushed her bangs to the side with her forehoof.
“Well, Pinkie Pie, I wanted to gather all of us here because there’s something important we all need to talk about concerning, well... Stitches.”
“Wait...” Pinkie held up her hoof. “I hadn’t... Had... Anypony... To talk to... For days...”
“Weren’t the Cakes just here?” Twilight tilted her head to the side.
“Yeah... But they... Spent most of the time... Arguing... I just... Want to... Talk to you guys... For a bit... Before... Important stuff...” She pouted and stared at the whole group with big bright eyes and a pleading expression. “Pleease?”
“Well...” Twilight sighed heavily. “Okay.”
“Yay!” Pinkie rasped again, then coughed soon after she did so. After she took a moment to recover, she looked to her friends and smiled. “So... What’s... Everypony... Been up to?”
****
Professor Flamebearer sat down on a lounge chair at the lobby of the inn, a book held in his hooves. Every so often, he took out a pencil and wrote notes in it, looked up from his book at the door, then back down again. He sat and watched each pony who came through the door, but still no sign of his three little informants.
“I wonder if something is delaying them...” He got up from his chair and walked to the window. He pulled back a curtain and surveyed the dark, gloomy landscape. On the road, he saw three fillies who wore capes and very carefully walked toward the inn. All three of them seemed particularly wary, as they constantly looked over their shoulders. Flamebearer closed his book and walked to the door. Before he walked outside, he turned to the innkeeper.
“I’ll be back later.”
“Good riddance, you pompous jerk. Think you’re better than everyone else with your book and your reading? I oughta shove my hoof up your–”
Flamebearer stepped out of the inn and shut the door behind him. He sighed and muttered to himself. “Everywhere the Leaden One goes, it’s always the same...” He then saw the three fillies walk up to him, their faces hardened.
“So, are you all ready to go?”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all nodded in unison.
“We’ll take you to Fluttershy’s and see if she’s home,” said Scootaloo.
“But if she ain’ there, we’ll go back and wait ‘til later.” Applebloom gave Flamebearer the sternest look she could muster. “After all, it ain’ polite to jus’ barge into somepony else’s house when they’re not home.”
“Of course,” Flamebearer replied. “We should make our way there quickly and carefully. All of these other ponies are under the influence of the creature’s magic... If we’re careful, we might not run into any problems, but if any of the ponies try and stop us, run straight to Fluttershy’s cottage.”
The Crusaders nodded again. The four of them then walked to the side of the road while they made their way to Fluttershy’s.
“For now, we ought to keep a low profile,” Flamebearer said to the Crusaders, who still wore their capes.
“Yeah... It’s too bad we forgot the glasses and false moustaches at home.” Sweetie Belle drug her hoof across the ground, defeated.
“Oooh! I still got my marker! Maybe we can draw them on!” Applebloom pulled out a black felt marker.
Flamebearer looked between the three fillies in bewilderment. He simply muttered to them. “... Let’s just keep to staying off the road.”
****
Raucous laughter echoed through Pinkie Pie’s hospital room as her five friends stood around her bed. As it slowly died down, the other ponies looked away from Pinkie for a moment. Twilight finally was the one to speak up.
“So, Pinkie Pie... With your permission, I’d like to start discussing what we should do about Stitches.”
The others turned to Twilight as Pinkie Pie slumped down in the bed. “What’s... There... To talk about... With him...?”
“Well, for one thing, he got you hurt!” Rainbow Dash blurted out.
“It was... An accident...” Pinkie rasped out. She slunk down further in her bed. Fluttershy shrunk away and remained completely silent as she pulled out the letter Stitches wrote to Pinkie Pie. She stared at it quietly while everypony else carried on the conversation.
“This is a decision that we should all make together," said Twilight. "Each of us will make a suggestion on what to do about him, then we’ll work something out. First though, I think we need to get our facts straight.” Applejack stepped forward and lowered her hat.
“Well, for one thing, we know he drives ponyfolk around him crazy jus’ by bein’ around for too long. When he’s gone, most folks don’ remember what happened all that clearly, except that they think somethin’s wrong with Stitches. He needs to go.” Applejack put her hat back on her head, then stepped back. Rainbow Dash approached the "floor" of the discussion.
“He’s got unbelievable strength that he has almost no control over. He gets stronger when struck by lightning, and I don’t know how, but storm clouds form near where he is that are almost impossible to break up for very long. We have to get rid of him.” After Rainbow Dash walked back to the outside, Rarity cleared her throat and stepped in the center of the room.
“He’s an intelligent and gentle-natured creature. He can learn skills like writing and communication very quickly. He has difficulty speaking, but he possesses a certain degree of empathy. He is aware that he frightens others, and he doesn’t want to.” The others turned over to Pinkie Pie.
“He’s... Like a... Big Colt.” Pinkie smiled, nodding with satisfaction at what she had to add. “He... Wouldn’t... Hurt... Anypony... On purpose...”
Rarity nodded at Pinkie and held out her hoof. “He shouldn’t be run out of town like some monster! It’s not like he’s doing this to hurt anypony. Maybe we should just keep him somewhere secret.”
“Actually, there’s something I should bring up about that... I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Twilight stepped forward and pulled out some yellowed pieces of parchment from her saddlebags.
“What do you mean, Twilight?” Rarity turned to her friend, her brow furrowed in irritation.
“I think if we hide him, there’s... Somepony who’d be after him. His name is Professor Flamebearer, and he came to me asking for my help in trying to find Stitches.”
****
After they cut across roads and wove behind trees and houses, Scootaloo, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Professor Flamebearer cautiously walked toward Fluttershy’s cottage. The Crusaders looked around warily, though they clumsily bumped into each other.
“It’s never this quiet around Fluttershy’s house,” Scootaloo whispered to the others.
“That’s ‘cause her animals are stayin’ at the barn. Applejack said they got spooked by somethin’...” Applebloom looked up at Flamebearer.
“Do you think it was the monster, Mr. Flamebearer?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“The creature does generally scare off animals that are anywhere near it... I’m fairly certain it’s here.” Flamebearer pushed his glasses up his snout, then walked down the path. Sweetie Belle ran ahead, then knocked on the door.
“Fluttershy, are you home?” Heavy, uneven hoofsteps thumped from inside the house. As Sweetie Belle backed away, Flamebearer stepped in between the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the front door of the cottage.
“Those are its hoofsteps...” He leaned to the side, then peered in through the window. “You three, check the perimeter and make sure nopony else comes here. If they do, they might get hurt!”
“But what about you?” Sweetie Belle asked shakily.
“Yeah, we can take him!” Scootaloo shouted.
“You can’t. This creature is stronger than you can imagine.” He turned to them, his face stern as he shouted his order. “Go, now!”
The Crusaders immediately bolted off to the bottom of the hill. Flamebearer turned over to the door and stood still as he heard the thud of more hoofsteps growing closer. The professor swallowed hard. The door creaked open, a pale, yellow eye glaring at him.
“So you are here...” Flamebearer stared as the creature was revealed. His mismatched eyes gazed at his visitor. His blood practically froze as he saw the imposing figure in front of him. He steeled himself and examined the monster before him.
“Yooouuuuu...” The creature growled at Flamebearer, his face twisted into a snarl.
“You remember who I am.”
“Y-Yyyyeeeeeees...”
“Good... We have much to discuss.”
****
“Somepony’s already been hunting Stitches?!” Rarity asked Twilight, bewildered at the news.
“It seems like he’s been after him for a while... The amount of information and detail he’s given me about Stitches is staggering. It’s... Actually kind of suspicious.”
“So he wants Stitches gone, too. What’s the problem?” Rainbow Dash held her forehooves out and gave Twilight a confused and slightly irritated look.
“I don’t think he’s being entirely forthcoming about who he was. It has a lot to do with how much detail there is in these notes and discrepancies with his story... I mean, listen to this.” She flipped through the notes, then read from one of the pages. “‘Each body part and organ is cut out from a different corpse. They’re infused with a concentration of the appropriate humour, most of them being infused with bile and blood...’” Twilight stopped herself when Rarity shuddered in disgust.
“Eughgh... That’s a ghastly amount of detail!” Rarity nearly gagged at the description.
“Exactly my point. Not only is it... Graphic... But it’s far too specific to be done by somepony who was just trying to track this thing down and making unsuccessful attempts to capture him.”
“What’re ya tryin’ to say, Twi?” Applejack asked Twilight uneasily.
“I’m saying there’s only three ways he could’ve found this out: Either he killed Stitches and dissected him, he created Stitches in the first place, or he found whoever did and asked them to relinquish their notes.” Twilight began to pace back and forth. She tapped her chin with her hoof as she listed each of her conclusions. “Given that it’s extremely unlikely that he did the first one, and that if the third one happened, Equestria would have certainly heard of somepony creating life by now, I can’t help but think the most logical assumption would be that he created Stitches to begin with. I think if Flamebearer got Stitches back, he might take him apart, study him, then try to repeat his experiment.”
“So... You’re saying we need to get him out for his own good,” Rarity mumbled in dejection. The others turned to face Twilight, except for Fluttershy, who still looked at the letter in the corner.
“Yes, and we have to make sure he gets away without anypony noticing.” Twilight backed away, then turned to Fluttershy. The group watched her as they cleared the floor, Fluttershy stared listlessly at the paper in front of her.
“Fluttershy... What do you think we should do?” Twilight walked over to her and nudged her. The yellow pegasus slowly raised her head, her expression completely crestfallen.
“I suppose if it’s for his own good... We should get him out of here. But... Can I have one more night with him? Just to get him ready?” Fluttershy looked desperately at the others.
“Of course, Sugarcube. I don’ think we’d have it any other way.” Applejack smiled at her. The others closed in around Pinkie’s bed, Fluttershy walking to the bed’s end table. She placed the letter from Stitches there. The six ponies leaned in and embraced in an enormous group hug, keeping silent for just the moment.
****
There was a long, uncomfortable silence between Stitches and Flamebearer. The two merely stared each other down until the professor peered over the creature's shoulder to look into the house.
“Well, I don’t think it’d be good for us to stand out here, especially not with foals outside...” He held his hoof toward the inside. “After you...” Stitches growled, then stepped aside to let the Professor inside. He slammed the door shut and glared at Flamebearer with the kind of intensity that could gouge out the professor’s eyes.
“Whaaat... You... Waaaaant...” The creature snarled at the stallion who stepped around the house. Flamebearer stopped for a moment and turned to the creature. He sighed heavily and adjusted his glasses.
“I... Realize you don’t like me very much. Frankly, I don’t blame you.” Flamebearer began to pace the room, walking toward the fireplace, then back again. “It was a mistake, making you like this... I never thought you’d be the one suffering for it, too.” He walked toward Stitches and looked out the window.
“Yoourr p-p-pooooiiint...” Stitches stuttered at the professor with increasing frustration.
“There’s one of two ways we can do this. One, we can keep going as we have. You go to one town, try to blend in, then get driven away or injured by an angry mob while I’ll have to track you down all over again...” Flamebearer adjusted his glasses. “Or... I could end it quickly. I could kill you and put an end to this... Nightmare of a life you have.”
“N-Niiiiightma-ma-maarrre...?”
“Your life is bad. It’s rife with agony and despair.”
“Life... N-Not baad... Annnnymoooore... Have... F-F-Frieeennnds...” The creature gave the professor a determined stare. He held his head high despite his trembling right foreleg.
“So a few ponies are able to tolerate your presence and suddenly everything’s all better? I think you know better than that, Leaden One.” Professor Flamebearer quickly walked to the window and pointed outside. “Take a look around you. Look at the sky. Look at the ponies of this town! Everything is still the same as it was before, just with a few scant exceptions this time, and even then, they aren’t safe.”
“I-I... I w-w-woo-woon’t h-hurt theeeemm...” Stitches’ voice trembled far worse than usual, each of his words choked with what was very nearly a sob. When his back legs began to twitch, he lost his balance and crouched down. Flamebearer towered over him, his hoof still pointed outside.
“That won’t matter! You’ve already hospitalized one of your ‘friends,’ and sooner or later, all of those ponies that your presence is driving insane will become violent! Don’t you see?! It will be exactly the same everywhere you go, no matter how many exceptions to the rule you find!” At the last sentence, Flamebearer stamped his hoof into the ground. Stitches cringed at the sound of it.
“B-B-Bu-Buuuut th-they-they’rrrre mmm-mmm-my frie-fri-frieeennnds...” His stutter became overpowering, not helped at all by the sobs he was trying to swallow and the tears welling up in his eyes. Suddenly, the two stallions heard a set of three voices outside, the fillies that Flamebearer brought with him. The professor held up his hoof and beckoned the creature to the window.
“Come here." The professor stared at Stitches, who remained motionless. Flamebearer grew impatient and tried to pull the creature up. "Look out here.”
Stitches stumbled onto his hooves. He walked toward the window and saw three foals. They looked at the ground, into the forest, then at the cottage. They fret to and fro, and very nearly looked into the window. Upon nearly being seen, Stitches crouched down. He shook while he lowered himself to the ground.
“These foals aren’t much older than you are. And there are thousands of them, millions of them all over the world... Eventually, the ponies they thought they knew will go mad and possibly kill them and your friends.” Flamebearer stepped to the door. “I’ll give you one day to think about it... Just remember that your fleeting happiness comes at a price.” Flamebearer stepped out the door and left the quivering, sobbing Leaden One on the floor by the window.
The professor shut the door behind him, looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The three fillies looked at him and tilted their heads.
“Is the monster in there?” Scootaloo asked.
Flamebearer looked back inside. “... No. I... Must have heard things.” He then held out his hooves to the three of them. “I think it’s best you head home...” He looked over to the window and glared into the cottage house. He muttered to himself while he adjusted his glasses.
Daylight, what little of it there was, began to fade as Fluttershy made her way back home. The girls had stayed with Pinkie to the end of visiting hours, or so they were told– 6:00 PM seemed a bit too early for hospital visiting hours to end. That point became moot when the five ponies were effectively thrown out by the hospital staff.
“Well, at least we got to see Pinkie for a while...” Fluttershy smiled while she remembered the conversations they had at the hospital room. Her smile quickly faded when she remembered something else about the visit.
“Twilight said we needed to get him out to the Everfree Forest around 2:00 AM... That way, nopony will see him and by the time they’d wake up and anypony realizes he’s gone, he’d already be far, far away...” The words “Far, far away” echoed in Fluttershy’s mind. She paused for a minute, then shut her eyes tightly. In her contemplation, she swallowed hard and shook her head at her own thoughts.
“It’s for his own good, Fluttershy... If he stays too long, another one of us might get hurt... And he might get hurt...” She sighed and continued up the road to her house. It was still unnerving not to see any of her critters in the area to greet her. When she got to the door, she heard low, mournful rumbles from within the cottage. She gently opened it and saw Stitches, curled up tightly in a ball while his body convulsed at random intervals.
“Stitches?” Fluttershy asked quietly as she gingerly approached the patchwork pony. Still shaken, he slowly uncurled and turned to face Fluttershy.
“What’s the matter?” The pegasus leaned down while Stitches feebly tried to speak. After his groans and stutters proved to be unintelligible, he pointed to the table. Fluttershy saw the quill, inkwell and paper sitting there and brought them over. He took the quill and dipped it in the well, the ink dripping all over the paper as he clumsily scratched across it.
I HAF TU DI
Fluttershy read the words written on the paper. Her mouth opened, but it only produced words after she overcame her disbelief at what the stallion suggested.
“Wh-Why would you say that?” Fluttershy asked with a weakened voice.
Stitches wrote down his response, then shoved the paper on the table for Fluttershy to see.
HE SED I WUD HURT YU IF I STAY TU LON
“Who did? Who told you this?”
For a few moments, when he wrote the name, his penmanship improved dramatically, almost as if the name itself was etched into his brain.
Fluttershy fell silent, but only because she scrambled to find the right thing to say to him. This was the same pony Twilight mentioned earlier, and now she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted Stitches dead.
“Well... You don’t want to die, do you?” Fluttershy composed herself long enough to ask the question, while she simultaneously tried to suppress the sinking feeling in her stomach.
Stitches quickly shook his head.
“Then you don’t have to...” She stroked the creature’s back. With every once of her willpower, she maintained smile and kept an upbeat tone. “My friends and I already have a plan. We’re going to get you out of here before that... Flamebearer does anything to you.”
Stitches looked up, hardly reassured. He slowly wrote on the paper again, sliding it to Fluttershy again.
IT WONT MATTER ILL HURT EVEREE PONY I MEET
Fluttershy shifted about uncomfortably... She wasn’t sure how to handle this. Her eyes darted all over the room, desperately searching for any source of inspiration. She then saw one of the books she borrowed from Twilight. She lit up and looked between the book and Stitches.
“... Stitches, go get something to eat, then meet me up in your room. You’re going to need to rest up if you’re going to make the trip!” Fluttershy ran to get the book, Codex Cover’s Illustrated Classics. She desperately searched for one particular page, then stopped at the one she found earlier at the library.
The Tale of the Hidden King
****
At the central table of the library, Twilight held up a map of Ponyville and surrounding areas that bordered the Everfree Forest. She drew a line from the approximate location of Fluttershy’s Cottage through the forest. She stopped in the middle when she heard a rapping on the door. She walked to the door and opened it, then jumped with a start when she saw who it was.
“Miss Sparkle... I trust you’ve had time to consider my proposal.” Professor Flamebearer held his hoof in the door. Twilight steeled herself and made eye contact with him.
“Actually, now that you mention it, I did want to discuss your proposal... And the information you gave me.” She opened the door all the way and allowed the stallion to enter. She closed the door behind him, then called up to Spike.
“Spike! Get some tea for our guest.”
Spike leaned over the upper floors and called back downstairs. “Sure, give me a second!”
Twilight walked Professor Flamebearer over to the table. He sat on one side of the table and pulled out his notes. The professor sat down and folded his forelegs over each other.
“So, has my information been useful to you, or is there something missing from it?”
Twilight looked through the notes, then back up at Flamebearer. “They’ve been a great deal of help... They’re very detailed, and incredibly specific... I’ve actually been meaning to ask–” Spike walked down with a set of cups and a teapot. He filled both the ponies' cups.
"“Thank you, Spike." He left the set on the table with a mild hint of disdain for the stallion. Twilight smiled and nodded at her dragon aide. She tilted her head toward a blank scroll and quill, and Spike grabbed them and headed upstairs. "As I was saying... I’ve been meaning to ask about how you managed to get this much information.”
Flamebearer lifted a foreleg, took a sip of his tea, then set the cup back down on the saucer. “I’ve been after the Leaden One for some time now.”
“And there aren’t any others in the world, right?” Twilight maintained eye contact and sipped her tea again.
“I never found any others.” Professor Flamebearer leaned back, his forelegs crossed over his chest.
“Then how did you get these very specific details on how he was constructed?”
“... I beg your pardon?”
“Then allow me to refresh your memory...” Twilight cleared her throat and held up some of the notes. “‘Each body part and organ is cut out from a different corpse. They’re infused with a concentration of the appropriate humour, most of them being infused with bile and blood. Most of the organs were too desiccated to be useful and had to be replaced, but curiously enough, the liver remained intact.’” Twilight swallowed her own disgust at what was being described here, then continued.
“‘The body was then fitted with electrodes for the next storm. The texts suggest that electricity may be an excellent conduit of the Divine Fire...’ This is certainly a lot of intelligence you’ve gathered about the creature you’ve pursued and evidently never caught.”
“Enough!” The professor slammed his hooves on the table. The tea fixtures jumped in the air briefly, clinked back onto the table's surface while his cup spilled a few drops over. Twilight sat back with the faintest smirk of satisfaction. Flamebearer took deep breaths before he looked back at Twilight. “Yes. I have withheld information about how I was involved from you, but I thought you should know my intentions before you knew what I did.”
“So you created the Leaden One.”
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle... That... Thing is my creation. In the few months he existed, he’s already managed to cause greater devastation than I anticipated. He is a mistake I intend to learn from and correct.”
Twilight’s head leaned off to the right, curious at his choice of words. “Learn from...?” She shook her head, then looked him sternly in the eye. “Just what in Equestria possessed you to even consider making something like this in such a horrible way?”
Flamebearer paused for a moment, his eyes fixed on his tea while he gave his answer.
“Would you believe I got the idea from an old Pony Tale?”
****
Fluttershy sat in her room by the empty bed, the storybook held open on the last page of the story. She took a deep breath and flipped it back to the beginning illustration. She stared at the drawing and swallowed deeply before she put it on the end table. She walked outside the room and poked her head out of the doorway.
“Stitches! Come upstairs!” Fluttershy went back inside the room with the book. After she sat back down by the bed, the sound of Stitches walking up the stairway clunked through the house, each hoofstep several seconds apart. When he finally got to her room, his head was hung low, ears drooping. He drudged toward the bed, avoiding eye contact with Fluttershy as much as he could.
“You’re going to need some rest early before you head out... We plan on getting you out in the middle of the night.” Fluttershy offered a gentle smile, and Stitches simply plopped onto the bed. He didn’t bother telling her so, but Fluttershy could tell he wasn’t actually tired. His eyes drifted away from her, looking down at the sheets. Fluttershy held the book out, tilting it to the side so Stitches could see it, even if he wasn’t actually looking at it.
“I think it’s time I read you a story,” Fluttershy said, smiling as she looked back and forth between Stitches and the book. “This one is called ‘The Tale of the Hidden King.’ She held the book up and showed Stitches the picture. The creature lifted his head in shock, pointing at the picture while he stammered.
“That’s right, he has the same Cutie Mark that you do.” She turned the page and began to read out loud.
A long, long time ago, long before Equestria was founded, ponies lived separately in three tribes: the unicorns, the pegasi, and the earth ponies. The unicorns lived in a Kingdom where their best and brightest rose the sun at dawn and brought out the moon at night. Ruling over all of the unicorns were King Aurum III and Queen Aes V.
The King and Queen ruled over the unicorns with generosity and compassion, and were both very wise when it came to all the problems that would affect the Kingdom. While the Noble Houses were greedy and exploitive, King Aurum and Queen Aes gave much of their time and energy to help the poor.
Unfortunately, a few years into their rule, a plague devastated the Unicorn Kingdom. It wiped out hundreds of ponies, including Queen Aes, who was with foal when she died. King Aurum was overcome with sorrow. He was loyal to his wife to the end and refused to remarry.
If he were to marry a noble, she would do everything she could to further her House’s schemes, and if he were to marry a commoner, the Houses would be infuriated by his breach of tradition. He also knew that if he didn’t produce an heir, one of the Noble Houses would take over and destroy everything he worked for.
Just when the King was ready to give up and choose a noble house that would succeed him, his servants told him that a Mystic had demanded an audience with him. The King allowed it, and spoke with the stallion who entered.
“Citizen,” said the King, “You come to us when our heart is heavy with grief. Our Queen has fallen and our line is at an end, but we will hear you. What do you ask of a broken King?”
“My King,” said the Mystic, “I do not come for my sake, but for yours. Your whole Kingdom mourns your loss, but it need not be the end of your line.”
“What hope can you possibly give us, with none who would be able to carry on our work?” asked the King.
“Patience, my King. You may not have a mare to bear you a foal, but I will teach you how to create a son to make your work last forever!”
The King did not believe the Mystic at first. It was too fantastic, too unbelievable to be true. King Aurum became angry with him.
“First you waste our time, and now you mock us! Make your true intentions known or get out of our sight!”
The Mystic held out a book, offering it to the King. “I do not mock you, my liege. Within this book are all the secrets I’ve learned about creation’s fire,” the Mystic insisted. The King considered and realized that he had virtually no other options.
“Let us suppose we believe you,” said he, “What is your price for such secrets?”
“My liege, my secrets being used by one such as you, rather than by one unworthy is payment enough,” said the Mystic.
The King accepted the tome from him. “Mystic, if you speak truth, then you will have my eternal gratitude.”
“The book holds all the information you need. From the earth will you find Red Clay to make the body, then you must nourish it with the Waters of Life. Finally, you must infuse it with the Divine Fire of Creation itself.”
The King heeded these words, then for sixty days and sixty nights, he labored in the Great Work. Using the secrets of the book the Mystic left him, he built the body with Red Clay from within the Earth and nourished the body with the Waters of Life. The time came where he called upon the Divine Fire and ignited it within the body. When the body stirred, the sign of Saturn appeared on its flank. King Aurum declared with pride,
“Arise, my son! From the Fire you were born, and it is the Fire that runs through your veins, Sulfros, Created Prince of the Unicorns!”
****
“‘The Tale of the Hidden King’?” Twilight asked in confusion. “I suppose it makes sense, but it’s just a story. Why did you even think it could be done, and how did you get ‘Dismember corpses and steal bodily fluids’ from–” Twilight suddenly fell silent as Flamebearer spoke.
“If I recall correctly, the exact words were, ‘Red Clay from within the Earth’ and ‘the Waters of Life.’” Twilight stared wide-eyed into her tea. Flamebearer took a brief sip of his own, then dabbed the mess he made earlier with his tie. “You understand, don’t you?”
“... In ancient pony times, clay was often a metaphor for flesh, and waters of life could refer to bodily fluids like blood, bile and phlegm...”
“Very good, Twilight Sparkle.” Flamebearer set his cup back down and slid it to the side. “You’re beginning to think like a true scholar.”
Twilight shivered at the idea of being compared to the same pony who exhumed and mutilated dead bodies. Everything fell into place for her. Everything except–
“... Why did you do it? You know how the story goes... If you were really paying attention to it, wouldn’t you know how badly it ends?”
“I believe I made it clear that I made a mistake with this creature.” Flamebearer then looked out the window. His gaze became distant, as though he no longer realized where he was. “My career was going downhill... Then I started hearing about reports from excavations from the old Kingdom where they discovered actual records of King Aurum III.”
“But... Records of the Aurum Kings were almost impossible to come by after the migration to Equestria,” Twilight muttered as she rubbed her hoof across her chin. “There was only ever scant information about them for centuries aside from that story.”
“Yes... It appears the tale was incredibly historically accurate, which would explain a great deal about the ambiguity that analysts have found.” Flamebearer coughed after he caught himself before he could ramble further off-topic.
“But... The point is that a truth in fiction had been discovered. I wondered how King Aurum III created Sulfros, and then I saw the oldest translation of the story, about the Mystic that visited the King.”
“What about him...?” Twilight tilted her head.
“The original word wasn’t ‘Mystic,’ but ‘Alchemist.’ A later translation probably changed it because they felt that the word ‘Alchemist’ was too on the nose, and was beginning to be associated with quackery and charlatanism. Translations after that would say ‘Philosopher,’ then it would be changed to ‘Mystic’ in modern times.” Flamebearer stood up from his chair and began to walk around the library.
“In light of this new information, I began to do extensive research into alchemy itself, learning its symbols, its philosophy, and its way of thinking. Eventually, after I did... I read ‘The Tale of the Hidden King’ and deconstructed the symbolism with alchemy in mind and was struck with inspiration.”
“And you used what you saw in the book to create the Leaden One...”
“Yes... I was in rapture over the work. It would be my magnum opus, my greatest contribution to ponykind!” Flamebearer rushed up to Twilight and threw his hooves onto her shoulders. He stared straight into her eyes. “Think of it, Miss Sparkle!”
The professor stood at her side, holding up a hoof in the air as his speech became more frantic. “If somepony was able to create new life, think of the possibilities!” He paused for a moment, lowering his voice after making eye contact with Twilight again. “We’d completely understand the building blocks of life itself.” He separated himself from the unicorn mare, pacing about the room while throwing his forelegs up to punctuate each syllable.
“Think of the ailments we could cure, the diseases that would be wiped out! The very concept of disease would eventually disappear forever, and it may even come to pass that we could transcend death itself and become immortal!” Flamebearer breathed heavily, his mane suddenly disheveled and his glasses askew, hanging low enough to show the bug-eyed gaze he gave the young unicorn mare.
Twilight stared in shock at Flamebearer. She backed slowly away from the table. “But... I’m guessing that things didn’t work out that way when you made him.”
Flamebearer regained his composure and paced around the room while he spoke again. “Unfortunately, no. When I was performing the first experiment, I was working under the assumption that ‘Divine Fire’ was actually an ancient way of referring to lightning. I believed that a thunderbolt would bring the creature to life.”
“Didn’t it?”
“It did... But when it came to life, I...” Flamebearer gulped for a moment, then glanced at the ground. “I was horrified at what I saw. From the very moment I saw the creature, it evoked a kind of primal terror buried deep inside of me. All I could do was run away. By the time I got back, the creature was already gone...”
“As much as I’d hate to suggest this... Did you try making another one?”
“I did... I had spare parts in case the first one didn’t work.”
“I did exactly what I did before, down to the last detail, but when the lightning struck... It didn’t work. It’s why I only said that lightning was a conduit of the Divine Fire, not the Fire itself in the notes I gave you. It is... Something else, something I don’t think ponies have ever quantified before.”
“So... You want to capture the Leaden One so you can study him and find out why he came to life in the first place.”
“Don’t forget, Miss Sparkle, I said the Leaden One was a mistake.” He adjusted his glasses and hardened his expression to a deadly earnestness. “And I intend to correct it.”
“I see...” Twilight looked upstairs. “Spike, did you get all of that?”
“Sure did, Twilight!” He held up a scroll filled with copious notes he had taken of the conversation, words often spelled however he’d seen fit at the time. “I’ll send it off to the Princess at once!” The scroll disappeared in a jet of green flame.
Bewildered at what happened, Flamebearer began to stutter. “I-I... Twilight Sparkle... Please... Please reconsider! Think of the advancements for ponykind!”
“At the cost that comes with it, it isn’t worth it. You’ve already committed grave robbery and desecrated the dead more times than I think anypony in Equestria ever has, and created a pony who is doomed to be miserable beyond words. I can’t run the risk of you finding out its secrets so that you can try it again.” Twilight’s horn began to glow, and locks clicked firmly in place inside the door.
“The Night Watch will be here any minute to take you into custody.” Twilight smirked with satisfaction. “I’m sure there are extenuating circumstances that may waive a prison sentence, and given everything you’ve said, I think you can easily plead insanity.”
Flamebearer stopped in his tracks, then sat down in silence. He looked around the room and appeared defeated as Twilight kept an eye out the window.
****
Fluttershy continued to read the story to Stitches. The patchwork pony sat up attentively as he listened to her tell the story.
King Aurum began to teach his newly created progeny everything he knew about being a ruler and how to be a part of the Kingdom, including how to speak, read and write. He taught the Prince that, as a King, he would have to put the needs of his subjects far ahead of his own. A whole year passed, and the King devoted virtually all of his time and attention to Sulfros, neglecting food and rest until eventually he died.
Before Aurum III passed on, he told the court that he had named his successor, Prince Sulfros, as the heir to the crown. The Royal Court was assembled and the Prince was about to be crowned the King of the Unicorns. After the coronation, however, the ponies of the Court suddenly went mad in his presence. Many of them panicked, some of them even tried to murder him right there.
The new King was forced to run away and hid among the populace of the Unicorn Kingdom. He tried desperately to find companionship and friends, but he was turned away everywhere he went, and every pony he met lost their mind in his presence. Eventually, he was forced to hide among beggars in disguise. He wandered throughout the whole land, and was more aware of the needs of the people of his Kingdom than even his Father before him.
However, Sulfros knew that he could not return to the castle without the ponies of the Royal Court trying to murder him. He remembered that since his Father had passed away, he was still the rightful King, and anything he said was still considered a valid royal edict.
King Sulfros then began to write Royal Commands and sent them to the Palace. He devoted many of the Kingdom’s resources to the aid of lower-class unicorns who wished to enter Magic Academies and the distribution of jobs to unicorns whose powers weren’t tied into the movement of the sun, moon and stars. Each of his decrees were followed to the letter, but because of his continued absence yet consistent lordship, he became known through the entire land as the Hidden King.
However, now more ponies moved upward in society, the Nobles feared for their place in the kingdom, and of ponies who were formerly commoners gaining power and defying tradition. The nobles conspired and delivered an ultimatum to the Hidden King Sulfros– if he does not return to the throne, he forfeits his right to rule, and the Nobles will elect one of the houses to become the new Royal Family.
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before she read on. Stitches was on the edge of the bed, his mouth hung open. She already read through the story earlier, and it was so close to what Stitches went through, save for what happened toward the end of the story.
Sulfros couldn’t return to the throne because he would be murdered, and would be doomed to be hated by all ponies forever and would lose his power as King. The story said that he lived beyond the lifespan of any pony of the time, even to the point that he was still there even after the Kingdom was overtaken by the blizzard that forced them to leave. In that time, he grew to hate all ponies and lived in isolation, and was eventually frozen by the Wendigos that fed on his hate.
Stitches finally spoke up. “Wha-Whaaaaat haaaaap-p-p-peenned?” His rumbling voice was laced with curiosity as he tilted his head.
“He... He...” Fluttershy composed herself, then looked at Stitches. “... He didn’t come back to the throne, because he knew that even if he came back, he’d be killed and he wouldn’t be able to help anypony else. Along the way, he started to feel down, though, because he had to help everypony in secret and he’d never be thanked for everything he did.”
“At his lowest point, somepony came to him who didn’t lose her mind when he was nearby. He knew he couldn’t stay with her for very long, because of what would happen to everypony else around him. He’d leave for years at a time, then would come back to see her again... She looked forward to his visits, and he looked forward to them too... Whenever he’d leave, and the world would get him down... He just remembered that there was always somepony who cared about him.” Fluttershy slowly closed the book, looking down at Stitches.
The patchwork pony smiled He reached out and touched Fluttershy’s hoof with his. Fluttershy smiled at him, though her eyes watered at his touch. She reached to the other end of the bed and lifted the blankets over him.
“Get some rest, Stitches... You’ve got a long journey ahead of you.”
Three hours had passed in the library, and Twilight already sensed that something was amiss. Professor Flamebearer simply sat silently the whole time, staring out the window. Twilight trotted upstairs. Spike sat on the edge of his bed watching the Professor.
“Spike, are you sure you sent the right letter?” Twilight whispered to her assistant.
“Of course I did, Twilight! I had it right in my claws before I sent it!” Spike grumbled at her.
“Sorry... It’s just that it’s already been three hours and the Night Watch hasn’t arrived yet.” Twilight jumped in place when Flamebearer finally spoke.
“You know, Miss Sparkle... There’s one aspect of the Divine Fire that I found most intriguing, if a bit unnerving.” The professor adjusted his glasses and looked up at her, a faint smile on his face.
“... And what would that be?” Twilight teleported back down to the ground level, then stood between the Professor and the window.
“Its effect on ponies, namely how it seems to do away with rational thought for most and triggers a fight-or-flight response in ponies who get too close to the creature. It seems you and your friends were spared this form of madness, as are the children of this town, present draconic company included.” His eyes wandered around the room. They stopped on a book filed under “E.”
“I’ve been able to explain the children part. Children, while more susceptible to believing in fantastic monsters, don’t experience the same instinctive sensation that something is wrong with reality itself by virtue that they simply not having been alive long enough that their view of the world is set in stone... Though why your friends and I are able to confront the creature, that I haven’t figured out.”
Twilight followed his gaze to the book he looked at. The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. “... Do you think that the Elements of Harmony and our connection to them may have something to do with it?”
“I believe they might,” he said. “That and prolonged exposure to things that defy reality may have helped steel your senses to its presence. The exact details I wouldn’t be sure about... But, I’m getting ahead of myself.” He cleared his throat and turned back to face Twilight.
“Now, with you and your friends, and the children of this town and myself immune to the effects of the Fire which drives mere mortals mad, tell me...” He adjusted his glasses and smirked at Twilight. “What makes you think the Night Watch, relatively normal ponies, would be coming here at all?”
Twilight’s eyes widened in realization. Her horn began to glow as she focused on the professor. “Fine... I suppose I’ll have to detain you myself.”
Flamebearer grinned, his horn glowed orange. “You’re certainly welcome to try.”
Four magical shackles snaked out of the floor, and began to wrap themselves around Flamebearer’s legs. The wooden bust across the room briefly glowed orange and flew squarely into Twilight’s forehead. After the shackles faded, Flamebearer launched the bust through the window, and ran towards it.
“I promise you, Miss Sparkle... You won’t regret letting me get away.” He leapt out the window.
“Get back here, you crazy mad scientist guy!” Spike began to follow him.
“Spike... Wait...”
The dragon stopped in his tracks as he heard Twilight mumble and feebly wave her hoof up at him.
“Go to Fluttershy’s first, warn her...”
“But Twilight, he just–”
“If he knows where the creature is, he’d be heading to Fluttershy’s. If he doesn’t know, then you need to give Stitches a head start in leaving Ponyville.” Twilight tried to stand herself back up, her body wobbling back and forth as she attempted to regain her hoofing. She sternly restated her orders.
“Go!”
“But–”
“I’ll be fine,” Twilight groaned as she cradled her head in one foreleg. “I’m just a little dizzy. Now hurry!”
Spike didn’t bother to protest any further. He ran to the door, opened it, then ran toward Fluttershy’s cottage with all the speed his tiny legs could muster, which, sadly, wasn’t much.
Ponyville was almost pitch black, save for a few street lamps that illuminated a small area. Normally, the moon would have been another light source, but it was now completely hidden by the mysterious cloud cover.
“Huff... Okay... Fluttershy’s is... This way, right? Or is it this way?” Spike growled to himself and slowed down. He took several breaths before he ran again, his teeth clamped shut. The clouds above him rumbled, lightning arced between them and briefly caused a flash of light to illuminate the ground below. A pair of wings flapped in the sky. Spike looked up and saw a vaguely familiar silhouette.
“... Rainbow Dash?”
The figure dove down and began to fly low and next to Spike.
“The one and only! What are you doing out here, Spike?” Rainbow Dash examined Spike for a few seconds. “... Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“Flamebearer attacked Twilight, and she sent me to warn Fluttershy that he was going to go after the Leaden One next!”
“The Leaden One? You mean Stitches?”
“I guess so. I’ve seen this Flamebearer guy, Rainbow! He’s crazy, and I think he might hurt her!”
Rainbow Dash grimaced for a moment. She then landed and arched her back. She grinned at the baby dragon.
“Get on board, buddy, and hold on tight. It’s gonna be a rough ride.”
Spike jumped onto Rainbow Dash’s back and clung tightly to her mane. The pegasus lifted her wings, flexed them and prepared for take-off. She kicked her hooves off the ground and zoomed into the air at such an incredible speed that Spike barely managed to hang on.
As Rainbow Dash soared through the air, it took a few seconds for Spike to catch his breath and get used to how fast she flew. Finally looking down at the ground, he saw the glow of a small fire being carried by a pony that ran slower than their current speed. After they passed over it, Spike thought to himself.
“Somepony carrying a lantern? No, it looks more like a... Torch... Wait, a torch?!” Spike looked at the torchbearer, then toward Fluttershy’s cottage and realized the figure was running toward it.
“Rainbow! That’s him down there!”
“Yeah, I see him!” She picked up more speed, the wind whistled past her ears. She began to pitch downward and accelerated. Spike was at the point that he struggled to stay on her– he desperately gripped her mane with his eyes tightly shut.
Rainbow rapidly closed in on the cottage, though in the dark, it seemed farther away than it actually was. When it came into plainer view, she spread out her wings to increase air resistance and slow down, but still moved far too fast. When she touched down, she slammed her hooves firmly into the dirt and let the friction slow her down. Her momentum finally ground to a halt, the force of her landing left a trail behind her.
Spike, disoriented from the rough landing, leapt off of Rainbow Dash’s back. He banged on the door and shouted into the cottage.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! You've got to get out of here!"
Rainbow Dash turned around and kept watching the path, seeing the torch-wielding pony approaching more and more rapidly.
“C’mon, Fluttershy, hurry up,” she muttered to herself, looking up at the second floor of the cottage. At that point, the door opened and Fluttershy stepped out of it.
“Spike...? What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked, looking between the baby dragon and Rainbow Dash.
“That professor guy is coming after the Lead Pony Thing! He attacked Twilight, and she sent me here to warn you before he got here!” Spike pointed behind them and showed her the quickly approaching light in the distance. Fluttershy gulped as she noticed the fire.
“Oh no...” She poked her head back inside the cottage and called up the stairs. “STITCHES! WE NEED TO GO!”
Barely a second after she yelled up the stairs, the windows opened and the patchwork pony jumped out. Spike and Rainbow Dash cringed a little when he landed, the ground yielded beneath his hooves. Spike instinctively hid behind Rainbow Dash, but peeked out from behind her to see the creature that he had heard called the Leaden One.
“We’ll run as deep into the forest as we can, then Stitches can run deeper in to avoid capture! I’ll run back to try and keep the professor busy.” Fluttershy spoke as bravely as she could, though her knees trembled. Rainbow Dash looked behind her at Spike, then back at Fluttershy and grinned.
“Don’t worry about keeping the professor busy... Me and Spike here can handle it.” She patted the baby dragon on the back. Fluttershy raised her hoof in protest.
“But–”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. We can handle one egghead with a torch. Besides...” Rainbow Dash punched Spike in the shoulder lightly with one hoof. “I think the little guy owes the professor one for attacking Twilight, don’t you think?”
Spike straightened up, looking determined, then turned to face Fluttershy. He gave her a salute and the sternest, most serious face he could manage.
“You can count on us,” declared Spike. He hopped onto Rainbow Dash’s back and held on tight for takeoff. Fluttershy smiled at them, her cheeks darkened. She looked away bashfully as she spoke.
“Oh... Um... I don’t know what to... I mean... Thank you so much! This will be so helpful, and I can’t thank you en-”
“It won’t be helpful if you and Stitches don’t get out of here!” Rainbow Dash pointed toward the forest with one foreleg. Fluttershy cringed and nodded quickly.
“Right!” She started to run into the forest. Stitches slowly began to follow, though he stopped at the forest’s edge. He turned to Rainbow Dash and gave her a lopsided smile, nodding in approval. The blue pegasus turned away and gestured to the treeline.
“Hurry up and go already!” Stitches quickly turned to the forest and rushed in right behind Fluttershy.
“So what’ll we be doing to keep him occupied?” Spike asked as he stared as the torchlight got closer.
“I have an idea...” Rainbow smiled as she scuffed her right forehoof across the dirt.
****
Professor Flamebearer galloped down the path to Fluttershy’s cottage. In his mouth he held a torch, or more accurately, a branch he found on the ground that he had lit with an enchanted flame.
“It’ll keep going as long as I concentrate my magic. The fire should keep burning without consuming the torch.” He closed his eyes, his horn glowing as the fire danced with life. “At least until I need to release it... The enchanted fire will spread quickly, and I’m certain that it’ll serve its purpose.” He kept walking toward the cottage, led by the orange glow of the torch he was carrying.
“There he is...” He saw the Leaden One run into the forest. His teeth clenched tightly around the branch, his horn glowed as he maintained the magical flame. One of the other figures in the distance, a pegasus, suddenly shot toward him with immense speed.
Shocked, he ducked when the pegasus headed on a collision course with him. When he got back up, he saw that the baby dragon from the library stood in front of him after the mare seemed to disappear behind him. He pulled the torch out from his mouth and stared down his reptilian opponent.
“You’re going to pay for what you did to Twilight!” Spike shot a jet of green fire at the professor. Flamebearer barely stepped out of the way in time for part of his coat to be singed.
“Really?! A monster is loose and all you can think of is exacting your petty revenge against me?!” He swung his torch towards Spike– a futile gesture, he knew, but enough to at least make him back away. “You just can’t see the big picture, can you?! If this monster goes loose again, thousands of other ponies will go mad, and if I don’t capture it to dissect it and learn its secrets, all of that suffering will have been in vain! Why do you all insist on impeding what is clearly for the good of all ponykind?!”
Spike ducked, rolled and dodged each swing of the flaming branch. After he leapt back, he stopped for a moment and heard a whistling noise pierce the air. He grinned for a moment as he looked at the professor.
“You know what your problem is, professor?” Spike jeered at Flamebearer.
“That I am insane? You and your mistress have made your position on that very clear.”
“Well, that is a problem, but that’s not the one I’m talking about.” The whistling in the air grew louder. “Funny you should bring up Twilight, because the two of you have the same problem...”
Flamebearer placed the torch back in his mouth, then spoke through clenched teeth as he tried to start his gallop again.
“And wha’ woul’ tha’ be?!” Before he could get away, Spike grinned, jumped, and grabbed the professor’s hind leg.
“You get too carried away!” Spike only delayed Flamebearer for a moment, but it kept him in one place long enough for a streak of rainbow to fly past and snatch the professor up into the sky.
“Wha–?!” Flamebearer stared in shock as the ground beneath him suddenly grew distant in a ludicrous amount of time. Rainbow Dash held him in her forelegs and smirked as she sped through the air.
“Thank you for flying Air Dash. Your next stop will be Canterlot and a nice, padded room.” Rainbow Dash picked up some speed, flying over the Everfree Forest before she turned toward the capital. Flamebearer, however, jerked toward the forest in an attempt to throw off Rainbow’s balance. As the pegasus tried to regain the proper alignment, Flamebearer held the torch’s fire against her skin.
"Yeeow!" Rainbow Dash screamed in pain, dropping the professor. As he fell, he flung his head to the side and threw the torch toward the deepest part of the forest he could reach, his concentration on the flame itself being lost. As it twirled through the air, he pushed it with his mind to ensure that it would land near one of the drier trees.
While the torch fell into the forest, he continued to plummet toward the ground. He attempted to use his magic to launch himself toward a clearing near a river. He fell short of the shore, though, and he crashed through the boughs. After he took out several branches and gained several scrapes in the process, he finally hit the ground with a loud thud.
****
Stitches and Fluttershy ran through the woods frantically as they continued on to wherever it was darkest. The forest got thicker the further in they went, though they were still able to easily weave through the trees. They stopped for a second when they heard a distant thud, Stitches looking around nervously.
“Stitches! We can’t stop, we need to hurry!” Fluttershy started to run again, but slowed down as she sniffed the air.
“Is that... Smoke?” She jumped up and hovered into the air, looking around and finding an orange blaze glowing in a deeper part of the forest, partially obscured by a plume of black smoke.
“Fire! Fire! There’s a fire in the forest!” Fluttershy began to hyperventilate. Her head darted around as she tried to find the quickest escape. She took deep breaths and forced herself to calm down.
“Okay, Fluttershy... Just calm down and think... Where should we go?” She caught a glimpse of a familiar clearing in the Everfree Forest that a river ran through.
“That was the river we crossed when we first found the Elements of Harmony!” She smiled brightly at the sight of the water, then landed underneath the trees facing the general direction of the river. On one hoof, that direction got too close to where the fire had started, but on another hoof, if they took too long to get to the river, the fire might’ve spread too far anyway. At this point, they were too far into the forest to backtrack to Ponyville, even if it was a good idea.
She had no choice. She took a deep breath, called to Stitches and began to gallop.
“Stitches! This way!” She ran towards the river while the patchwork pony followed close behind. Stitches galloped, though he twitched nervously as the smell of smoke reached his nose.
“We’ll just need to stay near the river, then when the fire dies down, you can go wherever you can... Someplace far away from any pony who’d hurt you.” She smiled at him as he ran. Stitches briefly returned the gesture before he saw the fire spread more quickly to his right. He stopped each time heard a bough fall off one of the trees as a result of the blaze.
Fear began to overtake Stitches as he saw the fire engulf more of the trees. The light of the fire and the heat that radiated from its glow caused his insides to thrash about inside him, as if they were trying to escape his body. His pace slowed considerably as he stared, enthralled with terror at the sight of the flames beginning to surround them.
“Stitches! Come on, we’re almost there!” She pointed at the tree line just ahead of them. He looked past it, and though it was partially obscured by the smoke that was choking the air, he saw the water ahead. Eager to be out of the way of the fire, he ran toward the clearing, but stopped dead in his tracks at the combined sound of a tree limb crashing and Fluttershy’s scream.
When Stitches turned to face her, Fluttershy was pinned beneath a burning tree branch. She desperately tried to crawl out from under it as she groaned in pain.
Sparks flew off and made contact with Stitches. He howled in agony when some of the embers landed on his flesh. The points the sparks touched him in began to glow blue. At each point, it felt like his insides were ready to burst out of his body. He looked down at the log, his eyes widened in unbridled terror, which worsened when he looked up.
A lone figure limped towards them. It was barely visible through the smoke, but Stitches was certain it was Professor Flamebearer. The passing time slowed down to a crawl. It took him only a second to realize that if he ran to the water now, Flamebearer would be trapped and would have no way to follow him. He could escape right now. He could run away and finally be rid of his hunter, no doubt by his own machinations.
Another second ticked past, and he looked back down at Fluttershy. She coughed heavily as the smoke engulfed her. She struggled under the weight of the burning branch. She writhed as she unsuccessfully tried to escape. Unable to stand the sight of it anymore, he shut his eyes tightly and charged toward the fire.
"No!" He howled in rage and agony as he lifted the burning branch off of Fluttershy. He held it up for a few seconds. Doing so caused spots of blue flame to erupt from the wounds on his forelegs before he hurled the bough toward the river. After it flew through the air, the branch landed in the water and steam hissed from where it fell.
He looked down at himself after he got back on all four hooves. Blue fire still leaked from his wounds, each of them about the size of a coin. He leaned down and picked up Fluttershy by the scruff of her neck with his mouth. His jaw quivered before he clamped down on the skin around her neck, his unsteadiness threatened to get the best of him.
He had to act quickly, otherwise he could drop her or grind his teeth into her for too long. He swung his head and tossed her toward the shore as gently as he could. She slid across the ground, watching helplessly as she stopped just out of reach of the wildfire.
“Stit... Ches...” Fluttershy gasped out. She weakly reached out to him as she saw what he did. She barely had the energy to stay conscious, but was determined to watch as long as she could. Stitches turned back, as Flamebearer walked toward him.
“Stitches... Run...” She tried her best to call out to him, but her choked voice was drowned out by the crackle of the forest fire.
Stitches looked back at her for a moment and smiled, then swung his forehoof into the nearest tree, causing it to fall behind him. When it crashed, the tree was completely consumed by the fire, nothing visible beyond it. The only hint at what occurred beyond the fire was a long, pained howl from within the raging inferno.
Fluttershy could only stare in silence as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Pinkie Pie trotted down the streets of Ponyville that afternoon and hummed to herself. It was a clear, sunny day with only partial cloud cover. A few bandages were wrapped around her torso, though her gait was as bouncy and lively as ever. The doctor said her recovery was nothing short of miraculous, but she'd better keep the bandages on, just in case. She waved at all the ponies she passed, each of them greeted her with their usual warmth.
She stopped for a moment and sat down by the edge of the road. Looking up at the sky, she took a deep breath, the first she’d taken in a long time. After she stared up for a few seconds, she saw a rainbow streak burst through some of the clouds.
“Oooh! Hi Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie waved her foreleg excitedly at her. The weather pony stopped for a moment, then landed in front of her friend.
“Hi Pinkie. Taking in some fresh air for your first day out?”
“Oh yes! Spending all that time in the hospital was awful! I couldn’t talk or sing or run or spend time with my friends– unless you all came over, which was really, really nice of you but–” Pinkie’s sentence was interrupted by Rainbow Dash’s hoof on her mouth.
“Easy there, Pinkie. You don’t want to blow out your lungs on your first day back out, don’t you?”
“Mm-mm!” Pinkie shook her head and playfully kept her mouth firmly closed. Pinkie got back up and continued her walk. Rainbow Dash took off, flying near the bouncy earth pony at roughly the same speed. “How’s your burn, Rainbow Dash?”
“Eh, it wasn’t anything to worry about. Nothing a bit of aloe vera couldn’t cure.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes suddenly shifted back and forth nervously. “Uh... At least, from what Twilight told me! Yeah. She told me to use the aloe thingy on the burn.”
Pinkie was puzzled by her reaction for a moment, then trotted onward.
“Where are you headed?” Rainbow Dash asked as she kept pace.
“Fluttershy’s. I heard since she got out of the hospital for those burns, she’s been really down in the dumps...”
“You heard what happened, right?”
“Of course... And I feel really bad that Stitches is gone, too, so I had a great idea!” She pulled out a folded piece of paper. It looked like spots of ink had bled through the back of it. “I talked to the other girls about paying her a visit and decided I should read her and everypony else the letter that Stitches wrote me! I already read it, and I think he meant it to be for all of us.”
Rainbow Dash almost questioned Pinkie’s reasoning, but decided against it, if only because she wondered what it was the letter could say.
“Besides... From what I’ve heard about how Fluttershy is doing, I don’t know that it’d make her mood any worse...”
****
Applejack walked to the library– she let Big Macintosh take over the stand for a while. Evidently, he didn’t remember having taken over for her previously, and naturally expressed confusion when his sister phrased it as “Hate to leave you hangin’ again, but could ya mind the store? I’ve got somethin’ to take care of.”
Of course, he agreed without complaint. If there’s one thing Applejack was grateful for, it’s that her brother would take on the hard jobs whenever he could without question, though she took note of the fact that he didn’t remember that she asked before.
“Far as I’ve seen, the days Stitches was here were a blur to ‘em. None of ‘em seem to rightly know what happened, ‘cept for the young ‘uns... And us.” She stopped for a moment and saw a white unicorn standing in front of the library door.
“Rarity?”
“Oh, hello, Applejack. I was just about to drop this back off...” Rarity pulled out the alphabet book that she and Fluttershy had borrowed four days ago.
“Huh... Did ya use that to...”
“Yes... Such a pity, he was learning so quickly, too...” Rarity choked slightly. She swallowed before she shook her head and put on a smile. “Are you going to Pinkie’s get-together with Fluttershy?”
“Yup. I figured she could use the company. Jus’ thought I’d drop by Twi’s to see if she’s comin’, too.” Suddenly, the door opened, with Twilight in the entrance.
“Oh, hi girls. Come on in.” She stepped back and allowed the two to enter. On one of the desk, there were piles of books, most of them particularly old ones with yellowed pages. Standing nearby was a tall figure dressed in black and white stripes and golden bands around her neck and hooves.
“Heya, Zecora.” Applejack tipped her hat to her. “Almost forgot ya were livin’ with Twilight ‘til things at your house are all better.” The zebra replied in her normal, rhyming meter.
“My hut was consumed in the flare.
I’m living here while it is under repair.
I’d have done the work myself anyway,
But the ponies’ help, I would not turn away.”
“I’ve been doing a bit of research on alchemy, trying to understand most of its inner workings.” Twilight gestured to the zebra with a smile. “Zecora’s been a big help, since she seems to already know a lot about it.”
“It’s only right that, while under your roof I sleep
I should do my best to earn my keep.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to. I was glad to have you to teach me something new!” She bowed her head. Twilight then turned to Applejack and Rarity. “I’m guessing you’re here to take me to Fluttershy’s?”
“Yes, and I also thought I should drop this back off.” Rarity held out the alphabet picture book. “Fluttershy told me to give it back to you when she was receiving treatment for those awful burns...”
“Well... Thank you very much for giving this back, Rarity.” Twilight took the book and shelved it. She sighed heavily when she remembered exactly why they were going to visit their friend. “I’ll be back later, Zecora. Feel free to do whatever you feel like. If you need anything, let Spike know.”
Zecora only nodded as the three ponies left the library. After Twilight shut the door, they started on their way to Fluttershy’s house.
“So, uh... Whatever happened to that Flamebearer fella’, anyway? I never heard much about him after the fire.”
“I actually just got a letter from Princess Celestia. She said that Princess Luna found him in the forest and handled the arrest herself.”
“Did they lock ‘im up?” Applejack asked almost eagerly.
“They’re still taking him through his trial process.” Twilight took a deep breath before she continued. “They had to treat him for his injuries before they could start, though the Princesses are thinking that he’ll be declared legally insane and put under constant surveillance while he spends time in a mental hospital.”
“Well, that’s certainly fair,” Rarity scoffed. “Stitches gets incinerated and the mad-pony who caused all this misery to begin with gets treatment in a comfortable room in a hospital.”
“Rarity, the decision isn’t final yet,” Twilight pointed out. “They still need to consider the reckless endangerment to life and the fact his actions may have killed hundreds of other creatures, Stitches included.”
“There’s no question about it, is there? He did kill many creatures! He ought to be punished most severely!”
“Nopony’s found any bodies, so they don’t know for sure.”
“Oh, maybe that’s because they were burned to ash.”
“Alrigh’, simmer down!” Applejack shouted as she stood between them and held out her hooves. She turned and looked at Rarity. “Twilight’s just the messenger here, Rarity. Like she said, the decision ain’ even made yet.” Applejack turned to Twilight next and tipped her hat again. “Sorry, Twi. Rarity’s just upset about this whole mess, an’ I’d be lyin’ if I said I wasn’, too. I really hope Flamebearer gets what’s comin’ to him.”
Rarity suddenly straightened out her mane, sighing heavily. “I’m sorry for lashing out like that, Twilight. Applejack’s right, I’m just... Upset.”
“It’s alright, Rarity... We all are. It’s why we’re going to this meeting to begin with.” Twilight sighed. She looked up and saw the cottage in front of them.
“We all need each other, now.”
****
Fluttershy sat by the window and stared out in silence. Her animals had all been returned to her by Applejack when she recovered. She briefly looked at her bandages, then simply turned back to the window. The burns were still tender, but she paid them little mind. She’d already fed her animals for the day, and everything around her seemed to tell her things should be back to normal.
But they weren’t. It didn’t make a difference if it was three days or three years. She’d seen somepony she cared about engulfed in flames, and she could never forgive herself for it. She had only been saved by Rainbow Dash at the last minute, but Stitches wouldn’t have gotten such help.
She slumped down and curled up on the floor. There was a series of knocks on the door. She curled up tighter and didn't bother to respond to them. The knocks on the door continued, and this time, a voice called from the other side.
“Fluttershy!” It was Pinkie. If ever there was a time Fluttershy felt less like being cheered up, it was now. Before she could contemplate that any further, she was being shaken by Angel Bunny, who seemed particularly concerned for her. He pointed at the door and firmly thumped his foot against the ground.
Fluttershy rose to her hooves. She shuffled toward the door, then opened it up. She found her other five friends there, smiles on their faces. She was unable to muster one herself.
“Oh, hi girls...” Her voice barely went above a whisper.
“Hello, Fluttershy.” Twilight peered inside the house and smiled lightly. “May we come in?”
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t be very good company...” Fluttershy shrank away from the doorway.
“I think all of us can use some time together, don’ you?” Applejack asked as she took off her hat.
“... Okay...” Fluttershy backed away and let them inside. The five ponies walked in, stood in a circle in the living room and exchanged glances. An uncomfortable silence hung over the air for a few seconds before Pinkie spoke up.
“So Fluttershy, I was thinking that everypony in our group is feeling sad, and I was feeling sad in the hospital, but then I read that letter Stitches wrote and I felt better! I think he meant it for everypony, so I thought I’d read it to everypony.”
“I already know what he wrote... I helped him write it...” Fluttershy backed down and looked away. Rainbow Dash walked over to her and tilted her head.
“How much did you help him?” Rainbow asked.
“Well... I just helped him decide what he wanted to say and with some words that were hard for him to spell... He told me he wanted to try and finish it on his own.”
“I think you– and everypony else– needs to hear what he says to us!” Pinkie declared as she unfolded the paper.
“Okay...” Fluttershy barely whispered into her hoof, but tried not to make eye contact with anypony there. Pinkie Pie cleared her voice and held out the letter and read it aloud.
“Dear Pinkie Pie,
Thank you for playing with me and giving me a name. I’m really, really sorry that you got hurt and hope you get better soon. I think all of your friends will go see you, so I want them to hear this, too. All of you, Fluttershy and her friends, did more for me than anypony ever has. You did so much for me and I really wish I could do something for all of you. I’m sorry bad things happen when I’m here, but I hope you know that this has been the best time I’ve ever had.
Love,
Stitches”
Rarity and Fluttershy’s eyes watered at the letter, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack bowed their heads in respect. Twilight finally spoke up.
“It sounds like he was really grateful that you came into his life, Fluttershy.”
“Yes...” Fluttershy choked out while a tear ran down her cheek. “Yes, it does.”
“P.S.: Do you know what these mean? I see them when I’m asleep but I don’t know what they are.” Pinkie stopped abruptly and looked around. “Oops... Didn’t mean to read that far. What do these mean, though? I know the left one is his cutie mark, but the others...”
Fluttershy perked up at the post-script. “I don’t remember him telling me anything about that...”
“Wait, let me see that.” Twilight looked over Pinkie’s shoulder. Rainbow Dash started to hover over Twilight, and saw a sequence of four symbols at the bottom of the page.
“Huh... Those look kind of familiar,” Rainbow Dash said as she put her hoof to her chin.
“I was studying alchemy symbolism with Zecora a little bit ago. I think...” She looked at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, may I have something to write with?”
“Um... Sure.” Fluttershy ran through the house, found a quill and an inkwell, and gave them to Twilight. She dipped the quill in the ink and wrote a word beneath each of the symbols in order.
“Lead... Mercury... Sulfur... Gold...” Twilight pondered the symbols a bit further. She looked up pensively.
“So it’s just a list of... Stuff?” Rainbow Dash asked when she landed behind Twilight.
“No... Zecora told me that the arrangement of alchemical symbols is just as important as the symbols themselves. Let’s see...” She placed her hoof on the first one.
“Lead means ‘Imperfection,’ something that’s flawed and needs to be changed...” She trailed her hoof to the next symbol with each explanation. “Mercury is an agent of change, the mediator between the flawed base and a higher substance... Then there’s Sulfur, the symbol of a transcendent force... And then Gold, the perfected end product.” Twilight then moved her hoof back to the beginning and read it like a sentence.
“‘The imperfect base shall be changed by a transcendent force to become a higher substance...’” Twilight’s eyes suddenly widened in shock. “... The Great Work...”
“What’s that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, the rest of the group just as confused as she was.
“The Great Work. It’s an alchemical concept transforming something from lower and mundane to something higher, like turning Lead into Gold, or creating life from something inanimate, or–”
“A being like Stitches becoming a real pony...” Fluttershy suddenly blurted out in realization. Out of sheer impulse, she got up and ran out the door toward the burnt-down Everfree Forest. She ran through it and wove through the trees that were now completely bare.
The Everfree was far easier to navigate now, yet the forest still seemed darker than Ponyville was. The other five ponies followed her through the forest. They stopped when Fluttershy reached the river. Many of the trees here were charred black, a good number of them felled in a large area. Fluttershy looked around, and sighed heavily in disappointment.
“I... I’m sorry... I don’t know what I expected to find here...” She hung her head and began to walk away from the river, back toward Ponyville.
“It’s alright, sugarcube... Ain’ nothin’ wrong with havin’ a little hope once in a while.” Applejack and the other ponies walked with her back to town. While they did, they passed by a tree, one of the ones that still stood near the shore, with a set of four symbols carved into its trunk.
