Fluttershy sat upon a short stone wall, trying to let her brain catch up with everything that had happened. Her friends had been captured— or worse, Fluttershy didn’t know but she was trying not to think about that— and now Fluttershy was weakened by her battle with Lightning Dust, stuck licking her wounds in a nowhere village under the care of a Paladin-turned-dullahan by the name of Marble Pie.

It was a lot!

Fluttershy’s wounds had been nearly fully healed in record time, although her dress that acted as her symbol as the shining gem of her Family wasn’t quite so lucky. Unfortunate, but oh well. She was dressed in much humbler attire that Marble had afforded her, and it honestly felt kind of nice to feel free of the burdens of being that shining gem, if even for just a mere moment.

Speaking of Marble Pie, she approached Fluttershy while the siren was thinking her thoughts, sitting down on the wall beside her and giving Fluttershy a tender smile, which Fluttershy reciprocated. Marble was no fan of the Lightning Knights and she was blessed with a sweet temperament, making her easy for Fluttershy to get along with.

Cute too, to be quite honest. Her smile was disarming and her patience was saintly. Fluttershy had reservations about trusting one donned in the Paladins’ armor, but she felt comfortable around Marble.

Marble tapped Fluttershy’s forearm and cocked her head with a smile.

“Oh, um, are you asking me something?” Fluttershy asked. Marble was nonverbal, and Fluttershy didn’t understand the hand signals she used to communicate, leaving the two a bit at odds in terms of communication.

A nod was easy to understand though.

“Oh, um, how I’m doing?” Fluttershy guessed from Marble’s body language, and a nod from the Dullahan— soft enough to not upset the delicate stitchwork that kept her head attached to her body— signaled that Fluttershy had guessed right, so she breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m just thinking thoughts. I’m worried about my Family, of course.”

Fluttershy felt confident that the Knights wouldn’t kill their captives, as leaving them alive to use as bait or as hostages or whatever else simply made much more sense. Especially considering it was much easier to draw magic out of a living captive than out of a dead body.

But with Lightning Dust’s temper, it was hard to be entirely sure about what she would do.

Marble put her hand atop Fluttershy’s, and Fluttershy sighed contentedly. Oh how she wished she could retire to the simple life of an ordinary villager, with only the immediate present and the things right in front of her to concern herself with.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and let it out in a slow, resigned sigh.

She had a Family to look out for, and they needed her now.

“I need to go,” Fluttershy said with a groan as she stood to her hooves, her wings fidgeting behind her back. “I need to rescue my Family. I would like very much, if you were to help me.”

Fluttershy looked at Marble, but she didn’t expect much. unsurprisingly, Marble just sighed and gave the siren a sympathetic look. Whether it was because she didn’t want to risk her own forces, or simply didn’t want to help out another monster due to her ‘honor’ as a Paladin, Fluttershy couldn’t count on Marble for help.

So, Fluttershy tried to walk away and go find a way to save her Family on her own, but was stopped by Marble grabbing her arm. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow and Marble lightly tugged on her. The dullahan didn’t want Fluttershy to leave.

“Are you going to try to keep me here?” Fluttershy asked coldly, and Marble nodded, a pensive expression marring her pretty face. “As a prisoner?”

“Mm-mm,” Marble shook her head slowly.

“if you won’t let me leave,” Fluttershy said, “and you won’t help me save my family, I may as well be a prisoner.”

Marble didn’t have anything to respond with, just looking solemnly at the ground, but she wouldn’t let go of Fluttershy’s arm.

The siren let a tiny smirk cross her lips as an idea formed inside her head.

“Marble,” Fluttershy approached Marble and put her hand under the dullahan’s chin, tilting Marble’s eyes up to meet Fluttershy’s, “I think you should reconsider helping me.”

Fluttershy let a soft melody escape her lips, and Marble’s eyes widened in recognition. Marble may not have wanted to help Fluttershy, but the siren could be quite persuasive when she needed to be.

Marble let go of Fluttershy’s arm, but Fluttershy snatched up Marble’s just as quickly, taking the dullahan into her arms like a dance partner as she sang to Marble, who quickly relaxed in the siren’s grasp.

“There, now was that so bad?” Fluttershy whispered into Marble’s ear.

“Mm-mm,” Marble sighed contentedly, her eyes half-lidded in relaxed arousal.

“Good girl,” Fluttershy cooed and brushed a hand through Marble’s hair. “Now, help me round up your little troops. I think they deserve an invitation to the Family as well.”

Marble gathered the small band of armed villagers that she had been leading, some of whom were confused but others simply accepted Marble’s leadership unquestioningly. With her under Fluttershy’s control, the siren would have an easy time persuading this entire village.

Sure enough, as Fluttershy began her song, not a soul moved to stop her or question her. She sang several times, slowly making the villagers drop their guards and enchanting them with her voice, and with each song she sang, Marble Pie especially came more and more under Fluttershy’s control. She had a hunch that miss Marble had secretly wanted someone to take charge of her all along, and for the moment Fluttershy was happy to do it.

It wasn’t much, but soon Fluttershy had a small band on her side with which she could contest Lightning Dust and her band. Fluttershy just hoped it would be enough. She didn’t expect too much of a fight from the fury though, she was just as badly injured as Fluttershy had been by their fight, and with Fluttershy now given the initiative, she was confident she could win.

She hoped.

She would have to…

The village where Fluttershy had first encountered Lightning Dust was eerie the first time the siren had visited it, but with this new context it felt so much more imposing.

First thing Fluttershy came across as her band approached were the ash and blood stains of Lightning’s soldiers that she had killed in her rage when Fluttershy had turned them against her. It was uncomfortable to look at, but even more uncomfortable was the silence as Fluttershy’s group ventured deeper into the village of narrow trees, finding almost no trace that anyone had even been here before at all.

They combed the whole village, and found no sign of the Lightning Knights or of Windy Whistles and the others. Fluttershy sat on the outskirts of the village and breathed deeply, trying to keep her rising panic out of control.

And once her head had cleared, she realized this wasn’t the worst thing. There was no blood or signs of any struggle, which meant that Windy and the others had been taken peacefully as captives away from here, just as Fluttershy had predicted.

Fluttershy also would have found some sign of the Lightning Knights if they had passed through the woods to Marble’s little village, and yet aside from the scuffle Fluttershy had been in with Lightning Dust, there were no such signs. The Knights must have left the way they came, perhaps retreating after their leader had been injured.

It was obviously too early to get excited, but if Fluttershy truly had the Lightning Knights running scared, then this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. If Lightning Dust thought she could just take Fluttershy’s friends and keep them prisoner, well Fluttershy would be interested in seeing how Lightning Dust appreciated the life of a captive instead.

Perhaps she would make a fine pet.

Though again, it was too early for Fluttershy to start getting ahead of herself. First thing’s first, she would need more resources. She would need more helping hands. It would be a simple matter to track Lightning Dust down, between Fluttershy’s magic and Lightning’s own lack of subtlety. Fluttershy would be happy to track Lightning all the way back to her base if that’s what she needed to do.

And there were a whole lot more villages to visit on the way.

fluttershy's doing a little bit better at keeping her circle under control than rarity, but then again lightning dust doesn't have like a 45ft tall robot