Season: Z

Episode: K

Stare Down

(By: Flame Runner)

“Cluck! Cluck!” a chicken’s voice split the evening air around Fluttershy’s cottage.

“You need to go to bed now,” Fluttershy insisted politely.

The chicken shook her head defiantly and began running around the coop energetically. The yellow pegasus chased the feathered nuisance around and around the chicken coop.

“Come on! Time for bed,” pleaded Fluttershy.

Instead the hen only ran faster and furiously began to flap her wings. Fluttershy was able to trap the naughty chicken against the back wall of the coop, but the hen wasn’t ready for bed yet. The feathered animal sprung into action and deftly dashed under the pegasus’ legs.

“Get back here!” scolded Fluttershy like a stern mother.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Over here!” a voice full of energy called from the darkness outside Fluttershy’s eyesight.

The pegasus didn’t have time for distractions right now; she had finally managed to get the hen pinned right outside the chicken coop entrance. The fowl still protested and squirmed around from under her captor’s delicate hooves. Fluttershy finally lost control and suddenly her eyes bulged and stared deeply into the hen’s own eyes. The rowdy chicken instantly became calm and instinctually began to obey Fluttershy’s unspoken request to peacefully go to sleep. As the chicken walked slowly backward into the coop, Fluttershy kept a steady gaze.

“Hi Fluttershy! What are you up to?” the energetic Pinkie Pie suddenly hopped in front of the pegasus’ face.

The yellow stare master couldn’t stop her penetrating gaze at it shot into the pink party pony. Pinkie stood stock still and her tail began to twitch uncontrollably while launching a colorfully colored cupcake into the air only to have it fall on Fluttershy’s back. The pink equine couldn’t tear her eyes from the yellow one’s gaze. The more Pinkie stared at Fluttershy, the more her Pinkie Sense began to act spastically. Soon her whole body began to shake and tremble.

“It…It…It’s a…doozy,” mumbled Pinkie Pie without leaving the haunting gaze.

(Insert Theme Music Here)

* * * * * * * * *

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” Rarity’s voice came over the hill leading to Fluttershy’s cottage. “I missed you at the spa yesterday! Is everything all right?”

The white unicorn with a trio of blue gems for a cutie mark and a purple swirling mane came to Fluttershy’s front door. The unicorn knocked definitively upon the solid wood. No reply came from the inside except for a chorus of woodland creatures. Rarity slowly inched the door open, not wanting to disturb the animals too much. She daintily stepped inside and appraised the situation. Birds of all colors and sizes nestled peacefully in nests and a few mice skittered across the floor. The creatures looked innocently at the white mare.

“Has anypony seen Fluttershy?” she spoke to the animals.

A small critter tugged at Rarity’s tail. She turned around to find a little bunny rabbit sitting before her. Despite his floppy left ear and cute appearance, he shot her a worried gaze.

“Angel? What’s wrong? Where’s Fluttershy?”

The bunny, known as Angel, hopped into the air and landed upon Rarity’s back. Using his ears, the rabbit turned the mare’s head toward Fluttershy’s chicken coop and then swung down into Rarity’s face where he began pointing emphatically toward the outside.

“Thank you Angel, I get it. Now, if you would please…get off my mane!”

Rarity shook the little devil off of her perfectly combed purple curls and trotted outside. She went to where Fluttershy kept her chicken coop and saw her yellow friend standing with her back turned.

“Fluttershy! There you are! I didn’t see you at the spa yesterday and…”

The closer Rarity came to her friend, the more she realized that something was off.

“Pinkie Pie?” asked Rarity curiously.

The white fashionista had just discovered the pink pony who had been hidden behind Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus and pink mare were looking at each other. Fluttershy stood still as a mountain, but Pinkie was shaking and bouncing sporadically. Still, never once did the two break eye sight nor did they seem to notice the approach of the white unicorn.

“Hello?” asked Rarity tentatively.

She poked Fluttershy, but nothing happened. She waved her hoof in front of the two friends, but still no change.

“Is this some kind of a staring contest?” asked Rarity, quite unamused.

No reply from either pony.

“Strange…” the unicorn thought out loud.

She turned back around to see Angel thumping his right foot quickly into the ground.

“Angel, do you know what’s going on?”

The bunny stopped his thumping foot and leaped close to Rarity’s face. He then proceeded to look deeply into her eyes. The white fluff ball then bulged his eyes back and forth in a cartoony fashion.

“What…you don’t mean…the Stare?” asked Rarity with concern etched upon her face.

The little bunny nodded vigorously and then hopped back over to his original position to continue pounding his foot against the ground and gaze worriedly at Fluttershy.

“But if Pinkie is caught in the Stare, then why is she shaking like that?” Rarity said to herself.

The unicorn went over to investigate. She carefully wound her way around Fluttershy, careful to not look into the yellow one’s eyes. She inspected the pink maned pegasus, but found nothing to be out of place beside her friend’s obvious lack of movement. Then, she crawled over to Pinkie Pie. Not daring to touch her pink friend in this state, she instead tried to listen to the pink one’s murmurings.

Between many “Twitch…Twich…Twitch-a-twitch”, Rarity was able to pull one word out- “Doozy”.

The white pony sucked in air violently as a gasp wrenched the air. She thought very quickly out loud.

“But if Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense is going off while she’s caught in Fluttershy’s Stare…” she began to hyperventilate, “T-T-Twilight!”

Rarity surged away from the two seemingly frozen in time and toward the town library where her friend, Twilight Sparkle, made her residence.

* * * * * * * * *

“Twilight!”

Rarity’s screech penetrated the large tree that made up the library. She pounded the door in and rushed quickly inside to collide with a rather unsuspecting Spike. The pair toppled to the ground.

“Hey! What gives? I…” the little purple dragon with green scales running down his back complained. Then he noticed who had bumped into him.

“Oh! Rarity! It’s you. I-I wasn’t expecting to run into you like this,” blubbered the love sick dragon while his cheeks flushed.

“No time Spike! Where’s Twilight?” Rarity demanded worriedly.

“She went to Sugar Cube Corner with Rainbow and AJ,” replied Spike. “Is something wrong?”

“Thank you!” was Rarity’s only reply as she dashed off to find her friends, leaving Spike to wonder to himself what exactly had just happened.

* * * * * * * * *

“Girls!” Rarity burst through the doors to Sugar Cube Corner. Three mares and one stallion turned their heads toward the loud unicorn.

“Rarity!” welcomed Mr. Cake from across the room, “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Hello Mr. Cake,” Rarity politely gave her regards to the owner of the store before snapping her head back toward her friends.

“There’s no time to explain,” the white mare spoke rapidly. “Just follow me!”

She bolted back out of the establishment.

“Rarity wait!” replied Twilight.

The three mares who were still eating looked at each other and shrugged before chasing out after their fabulous friend.

“Do you want some boxes to take your food home with you?” Mr. Cake bellowed at the galloping posse.

They didn’t respond.

“I guess that’s a ‘No’ then,” he mumbled to himself.

* * * * * * * * *

“What happened to ‘em?” asked Apple Jack, the orange colored earth pony with a southern drawl.

The four ponies had arrived at the cottage and now stood staring in fearful awe at the two who were locked in time.

“The best I can figure is that Pinkie Pie got caught in Fluttershy’s Stare while her Pinkie Sense was going off,” Rarity offered an explanation. “I rushed over to get you girls as fast I could.”

“What’s up with Pinkie Pie?” asked Rainbow Dash about her twitchy friend.

The cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane slowly reached out a hoof to touch the pink one.

“STOP!” Rarity screeched in horror.

Rainbow froze in place and then clumsily fell to her side in shock. She picked herself up and rounded her gaze on the white mare.

“Do you have any idea what could happen if you touch her?” squealed Rarity.

“No,” Rainbow replied nonchalantly.

“Well…neither do I. So it’s best we leave her alone,” Rarity replied.

“What do y’all reckon we should do?” Applejack asked. “Any suggestions Twilight?”

Twilight Sparkle was busily inspecting the frozen pair. The purple unicorn who had a deep blue mane with steaks of purple running through it eyed them up and down. She crawled around close to the earth and inspected their hooves, then she inched ever so slightly higher to inspect their legs. She slowly rose while circling around the two murmuring “hmm…” the entire time. Finally, Twilight reached their faces.

“Don’t look into their eyes!” cautioned Rarity.

Twilight stopped only inches away from Fluttershy’s gaze.

“Ok everypony, stand back! I’m going to try something,” warned the purple unicorn.

The others backed away slowly while Twilight’s horn shimmered to life. A soft purple glow engulfed her horn and a similar glow also wrapped around Fluttershy. The magic surrounding her yellow statue of a friend began to grow brighter in color and intensity as the purple bookworm closed her eyes and focused. Suddenly the magic encasing Fluttershy flashed brightly and rushed back at Twilight Sparkle, knocking her across the face with a loud smack.

“Did I just…slap myself with magic?” asked the purple mare in disbelief.

She focused her magic again with the same face slamming results.

“Yep! I just slapped myself…with magic.”

Rainbow Dash fell to the ground, holding her stomach in laughter.

“The look on your face!” the cyan pegasus panted between laughs.

Even Rarity looked began to giggle softly to herself, trying not to make too much noise.

“Twi, I don’t think that worked so well,” chuckled Applejack.

“I was only trying to move Fluttershy away from Pinkie,” Twilight said nervously. “If magic can’t even so much as move them, then what can we do?”

“Step aside.” Rainbow had regained control of herself and now stood with a heroic pose.

She strode over to Fluttershy and gave her a soft tap. Nothing happened, so Rainbow Dash went to work. She pushed and heaved with all of her might. The cyan pegasus planted her back hooves into the dirt and gritted her teeth while straining to budge the yellow mare with the flowing pink mane. Fluttershy wouldn’t so much as flinch. The yellow pony remained as firm as a stone statue, never leaving Pinkie’s eyes.

“A little help here?” pleaded Rainbow Dash.

“I’m on it,” answered Applejack.

The orange mare tipped her cowboy hat down determinedly and then surged toward the yellow equine with a mighty “Yee-haw!” Applejack spun around at the last moment and gave a powerful kick with her hind legs. The orange equine shook from top to bottom and she then fell flat on her face as her hat slumped over her eyes. Still, Fluttershy hadn’t moved in the slightest.

“Ok, now that’s jus’ plain weird,” Applejack muttered with a tremble in her still shaking frame.

“Magic didn’t work,” Rarity spoke up, “and brute force didn’t do any good either.”

“Alright, so what do YOU think we should do?” asked Rainbow Dash with a slight edge in her voice.

“It’s quite simple really,” replied Rarity calmly. “If Fluttershy used the Stare on poor Pinkie Pie, then we simply need to get them to stop looking at each other.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” questioned Rainbow.

Rarity smiled smugly.

* * * * * * * * *

“Almost done girls!” the white unicorn encouraged Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

A small rock wall was carefully being built between the yellow and pink equines. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were grabbing stones and placing them together while Twilight used her magic to slather them with mortar.

“Why aren’t you helping?” grunted the equine with a rainbow mane.

“I’m doing the most important job!” squealed Rarity indignantly, “I’m supervising!”

Rainbow gave the unicorn a hard stare, but then got back to work.

“There! All done!” heaved Applejack with a sigh of relief.

The friends stepped back to admire their handiwork. A tiny stone wall now stood between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie so that they could no longer see one another.

“How long do you think it’ll take before they snap out of it?” Rainbow asked Rarity.

“I shouldn’t think that it would be very long,” responded the unicorn.

Something started to happen. The wall began to smoke and sizzle as two holes formed in the solid rock. The holes were formed at just the right height so Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy could look through them at each other. The four friends groaned and let themselves fall to the ground.

“Well now what?” asked Rainbow.

“We’d need an expert to diagnose this problem,” moaned Twilight.

“An expert!” shouted Applejack victoriously. “Twilight, you’re a bona fide genius!”

They all looked at the orange pony expectantly.

“Zecora,” she explained.

* * * * * * * * *

A zebra now stood alongside Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack. They had returned to Fluttershy’s chicken coop and were busy explaining the situation to Zecora.

“…and then I…”

“…so that’s when we…”

“…a disaster, simply…”

“…and I pushed with all my strength…”

“Settle down all of you,” the zebra silenced the chaotic hubbub.

“Tell me now, what happened to these two?”

She waved a hoof toward the frozen ponies. Twilight was the first to respond.

“We don’t really know what happened. We found them…frozen like this and haven’t been able to help at all. I tried magic, but it didn’t do anything.”

“Except slap you silly,” Rainbow Dash chuckled quietly.

“Then we tried to push ‘em away from each other, but they wouldn’t budge,” Applejack spoke next.

“Finally, we built this wall in between them;” explained Rarity, “but something burned eye holes straight through it.”

Zecora took the information in with a nod and then began to examine the frozen pair. She walked around and around the two, eyeing them curiously. She listened closely to Pinkie Pie and heard a soft, “Twitch…Twitch…Twitch-a-twitch.” At last, the zebra seemed satisfied and stood in front of the four ponies who weren’t frozen.

“I promise that your friends will be fine,

Time alone can this problem unwind.

Though you cannot help until time plays its part,

Having a friend near can encourage the heart.

I ask you now stay with your friends while they ache,

And make their lives glad with your presence when they wake.”

Zecora’s strange words gladdened the others with the knowledge that their friends would be fine, but made them anxious to find when the strange effects would wear off.

“Thank you Zecora,” stated Twilight as she nodded her head gratefully toward the zebra. “We’ll be right here by our friends when they snap out of it, just like you asked.”

Zecora gave a smile and a nod of her own before she walked away from the scene and back to her house in the Everfree Forest. The friends watched the zebra until she became a distant dot on the horizon.

“So what exactly are we supposed to do?” asked Rarity in confusion.

“Zecora said that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie would return to normal all by themselves and asked that we be here for them when they wake up,” Twilight recapped.

“So what you’re sayin’ is…there’s not a thin’ we can do to help our friends,” responded Applejack glumly.

“No Applejack,” corrected Twilight, “it might not seem like much, but just being here for them IS helping.”

“Alright!” Rainbow voiced loudly. “If we’re going to be here a while, then I know just what to do. When I was in the hospital Twilight brought me a book to read. I think it’s only fitting if we grab a book in the same Daring Do book series and read it aloud for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. It sure does make time go by a lot faster.”

“That’s a great idea!” Twilight responded joyfully. “I’ll be right back with one of the books.”

The purple mare began a quick trot back to the library.

“Get the fourth one! It’s my favorite!” Rainbow called out to Twilight.

“Certainly there must be something I can do,” Rarity thought to herself. “Idea!” she said in a singsong voice.

The white unicorn also rushed away leaving only Rainbow Dash and Applejack with the frozen ones. Suddenly Rainbow’s stomach began to growl.

“Now that gives me an idea too!” stated Applejack. “I’ll grab us some grub from the farm while Twilight gets that book of hers and Rarity does…well whatever Rarity does.”

“And just what am I supposed to do?” asked Rainbow.

“Why shucks! You stay here with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie like Zecora asked us to do. I’ll be back in a jiff so ya’ won’t have to wait by yourself for long.”

With these words Applejack also took off, headed toward Sweet Apple Acres to gather some food for the group. Soon Rainbow Dash was left all by herself with the stock still Fluttershy and spastic Pinkie Pie.

“So,” the Pegasus turned to the frozen pair, “about how long you two think this’ll take?”

She listened intently and heard a small noise from Pinkie Pie. The rainbow maned mare went over to find the answer.

“Twitch…Twitch…Twitch-a-twitch…”

“Yeah…that’s what I thought,” sighed Rainbow Dash as she placed a hoof to her head.

* * * * * * * * *

Twilight came back with the Daring Do book requested by Rainbow Dash. Applejack also came but she was bearing treats and food all of kinds for the group to enjoy. Rarity eventually showed her face again. The white mare carried up a large cloth tied to four poles. She placed the custom made tent into the ground in order to shade her friends. Soon the four got to talking and eating while Rainbow Dash herself began to read from the book. The cyan pegasus even gave each character their own unique voice and many laughs were shared. The four took the greatest care of their frozen comrades and Rarity surprised them all again when she brought out four special made sleeping bags just so they could stay by their friends should they awaken in the night. As the day drew to a close and the moon came up, the four ponies eventually succumbed to the insistent call of sleep. They couldn’t see it with their eyes closed and while they snored, but Fluttershy began to smile ever so slightly as the night dragged on.

* * * * * * * * *

“Om nom nom…”

A strange noise pestered the ponies’ ears and their ears began to twitch at the sound. Then a rooster’s crow broke the clean morning air.

“Hush now,” said a soft spoken voice, “we don’t want to wake them.”

The four sleeping ponies slowly opened their eyes as the bright morning light greeted them.

“Good morning!” shouted a voice filled to the brim with energy.

A pink equine was standing in front of the drowsy foursome and stuffing her face with foodstuffs.

“Pinkie please, could you not be so loud,” grumped Rarity. Then the white mare’s eyes flew open as she realized what she had just said. “Pinkie Pie!” She rushed over to hug her friend. “You’re awake!”

“Sure I’m awake! Want some breakfast?”

The others ran over to hug their pink friend as well.

“Calm down! There’s enough breakfast for all of you,” stated Pinkie.

“Wait,” Twilight said worriedly, “where’s Fluttershy?”

“Here I am,” whispered a voice from behind the four.

They all turned to face the yellow pegasus with the soft spoken voice. They charged her and hugged her just as they had done with Pinkie.

“Um…good morning?” said Fluttershy questioningly.

“It’s jus’ so good to have you girls back,” stated Applejack warmly.

The four released their hug on the shy pony.

“Have us back from what?” asked the yellow mare.

“It’s a long story,” began Rainbow Dash. “Why don’t we all head over to Sugar Cube Corner and we’ll tell you all about it.”

Pinkie launched three apple fritters into the sky and began to catch them in her mouth.

One.

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie munched happily.

Two.

Suddenly Fluttershy’s tail twitched.

“Pinkie, you might want to move,” cautioned the shy pegasus.

“Why?” asked Pinkie with mouth open to the sky.

Then a fritter plopped onto the pink equine’s back. Unfazed Pinkie turned around and licked up the gooey treat.

“What are we waiting for?” asked Pinkie. “Let’s go!”

As the group left for Sugar Cube Corner, Twilight stayed behind for a brief moment longer.

“Did Fluttershy just use Pinkie Sense?” the purple mare asked herself.

“Come on Twilight!” Rainbow Dash hollered.

“Coming!” answered Twilight as she shook her head free of the silly notion and left Rarity’s tent.

* * * * * * * * *

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned a valuable lesson about friendship. Sometimes something may happen to a friend that you have no control over. At times like these you may not actually need to do anything at all except to be there. Simply being in the presence of a good friend, to laugh with them and sometimes even to cry with them, can mean more than a thousand words and do more than a hundred deeds. It’s important to always be there for a friend when they’re in need.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle”