Dark Blue

by ThatOneGuy

Chapter 2

         The pegasus touched down, the downpour getting too tough to fly through. He took refuge under a hollow log and took time to collect his thoughts as the sound of rain on wood beat into his ears.

         Why was he so afraid of that pony? She had seemed more than friendly. She was clearly a pony of authority, the way the others bowed to her. She didn’t like to be respected like that; she wanted to be treated like any other pony. What was her name again? He didn’t remember hearing it.

         All that aside, he had a rather strange feeling underneath his skin. It crept into his brain, and it concerned him.

         Why was she so familiar?

         He was so sure he’d seen her before. Apart from the familiarity, all he had to go on was the fear. He remembered her, and he feared her. Never a good combination. However, what was almost as intense as the fear was the curiosity. The need to know why he feared her was just as great as the fear itself. He knew, deep down, that he would not be staying away from Ponyville for long.

         But as he looked out from his log, he also knew he didn’t want to go back just yet. The storm outside was incredible; he could scarcely see twenty feet away from the mouth of the log. He heard a CRACK as lightning struck a tree across the clearing. He sure was glad it wasn’t night…yet. For now, he wasn’t going anywhere.

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         Back at Fluttershy’s cottage, the ponies were in a spectrum of disagreement. Each pony had her own idea of what to do about the pegasus, and each was voicing it over the storm and each other. Ultimately, it meant a lot of noise, and none of it made sense.

         Finally, Twilight couldn’t take any more. “QUIET!” she shouted over all of them. Apart from Luna, she was the only pony that had been silent. Now, she was the only one talking. “I’m thinking!”

         The ponies, being used to Twilight having sound advice to give, stopped to listen. Even Pinkie Pie had shut her mouth. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment in thought, trying to decide on a course of action. After a moment, she looked at Fluttershy.

         “Fluttershy, you seem to know this pony better than we do,” Twilight said. “Do you think this pony seems like he could handle himself? From what you’ve told us, and from the stories he shared, I think he’s more than capable of taking care of himself. Do you agree?”

         Fluttershy paused for a moment. “…Yes. I believe he’ll be fine out there. If anypony is capable enough, I would think he is.” She swallowed, clearly already beginning to second guess herself as she glanced out the window. “But, uh, shouldn’t we try to help, you know, if that’s okay with you.”

         Luna looked outside, then turned to Fluttershy, a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, my dear. Going out there in these conditions would only put other ponies in danger. I just can’t allow other ponies to put themselves in peril on my watch. Please, I ask that you wait for the storm to pass. If I could have stopped that pegasus from fleeing, I would have. But I failed to do so. I’m truly sorry. This is my fault.”

         “Oh no, princess, I didn’t mean it like that! It’s not your fault! Oh no!” Fluttershy was nearly in tears now, which alarmed the princess. She hadn’t even tried to argue. For some reason, this disappointed Luna. Nopony ever second guessed her; everypony believed she was right, even if she didn’t know that herself. Everypony was afraid of her.

         “My dear, come here,” Luna said, giving Fluttershy a hug to calm her down, once again trying her best to keep everything under control, “it will all be alright. There now, shh…” Fluttershy gulped a little, but eventually calmed down. “I know it’s scary, but you need to believe that he’s a big pony. He can care for himself,” Luna assured. This must be how Celestia feels when she really talks to her subjects, Luna thought. Had I known that this was what being a princess was truly about...

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         The pegasus remained in his log as conditions only seemed to get worse. How long would it be before the water invaded his log? How long had this storm been going on? It looked like night wasn’t too far off. He decided that it was more important to get back to the others before nightfall than to stay dry. There was one problem that pervaded this situation, however: where in the hay was he?

He remembered what he could about the flight from the cottage. The sun had been ahead; the clouds made that piece of information useless. There had been a slight wind to his right, but the storm had tossed the winds around as well. There had to be something he could work with, right? He began to doubt it, but his restlessness defeated him; he stepped out into the downpour.

He looked around for anything he remembered, but all that he’d seen of the forest on the way in were the tops of trees. He knew better than to try to fly in this, so...it looked like he was walking. He chose a direction and began walking, against his better judgment. What good could possibly come of wandering? Despite this, he pressed on, not knowing where he was going, but for some reason not feeling lost. It was as if he had been here before.

That was when it hit him. He HAD been here. Just a few weeks ago. He recognized the clearing he came to eventually, memories of this place flooding back to him. Everything he could see through the brutal rain was familiar.

How had he gotten here in the first place? The middle of a forest seemed an awfully strange place, even for somepony waking up with amnesia. However, he would contemplate that later. There were things to be done now.

He looked around. He wasn’t seeing much, what with all the rain. Therefore, he wandered to the edge of the clearing, and chose a path that looked clearer than the other options, which wasn’t saying much.

But now he had a goal. That was enough for him. He set off at a trot, eyes set straight ahead.

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“Fluttershy, are you feeling okay?” Applejack asked with concern in her eyes.

“Yes...no. No I’m not,” Fluttershy said, practically shaking. When the princess had noticed the steadily darkening sky, she had remembered a meeting she was late for before she raised the moon for the evening. She had warped out, leaving the ponies to themselves.

Rarity had realized with a gasp that she had left her sister alone in the boutique, as she had not expected to be gone so long. Apologizing as she went, she donned a brutally fabulous raincoat to brave the storm in style, and rushed out.

Twilight had offered to organize a plan to sweep through the Everfree Forest the next day, so she was soon off to the library to draw up plans.

Pinkie Pie had simply gasped and bolted out fearlessly into the storm, which nopony found odd, it being Pinkie Pie and all. Rainbow had elected to send for the pegasi to see about defeating the storm with the weather squad.

Derpy Hooves had been the last to leave. When she had finished her third muffin, she simply told the others, “Thanks for the muffins. Gotta get back to Dinky and Doctor. Good-bye!” With that, she too left into the night, albeit clumsily.

This had left Fluttershy and Applejack. Upon seeing her friend so distressed, she decided to take it on herself to stay there for Fluttershy. After all, she thought, Big Mac is certainly capable of handling the farm by himself for one night.

From the moment Derpy’s form was no longer visible, Fluttershy had broken down into the sofa that the unnamed pegasus had slept on the other night, and hadn’t moved much at all since.

“Well shoot, sugarcube. What’s wrong?” Applejack asked with a smile. She gently sat on the sofa next to Fluttershy.

“I...I...thinkthatImightbefallinginlovewiththenewpegasusandhe’sgoneandI’mworriedabouthimbecausethestormisreallyreallyreallybadand,” From there, she fell silent, not able to go on. Not that Applejack had actually heard it.

“What was that, hon’?” Applejack asked, eyebrow raised. However, Fluttershy just shook her head, and buried her head into a pillow. It took a few minutes, but finally she resurfaced, with tears forming in her eyes. “Oh, well we can’t have that!” AJ exclaimed, pulling Fluttershy into a hug. “Just tell me what’s got yer mane in a twist, sugarcube. You know you can trust me.”

Finally, Fluttershy sighed, reminding herself that Applejack was the holder of the Element of Honesty. “I, uh, you know, don’t really know how to say it.” Applejack just pulled her tighter, waiting for her to continue. AJ could tell this was a serious problem, and was treating it as such. Fluttershy spoke again, scarcely above a whisper, “I think...I might be falling for the new pegasus.” Applejack nodded, silently urging her to continue. “I mean, we just met, so there’s no way he could like me, right? I mean, I could barely talk to him this morning, after last night, when I...” She broke off there, not willing to share that she had kissed the pegasus, even if he had been asleep.

Applejack sighed, knowing that it had taken a lot of courage by Fluttershy’s standards to share even that much. The best she could do was give some advice that seemed to work for her in all situations: “Fluttershy, my Grannie Smith always told me that if there’s one thing a mare’s gotta do, it’s being true to herself. If this stallion is at all worth your time, he’ll come to love you for who you are. Even if who you are just happens to be shy. He’ll want what’s best for ya, no matter what. And now here’s a tip from your good ol’ pal AJ: these things take time. Ya can’t really be sure that ya even feel that way about this pegasus. For all we know, you could be having some kind of post-traumatic thingy, and realize in a few days that this stallion is nothin’ special. Jus’ take yer time, okay?” Fluttershy nodded, put off that Applejack had so readily doubted Fluttershy’s feelings.

However, she thought about her friend’s advice seriously. She really wasn’t sure how she felt. The morning could hardly have gone worse when it came to her impressing him, she thought, but what if it hadn’t? What if things had gone as she’d hoped they would? She may have had a completely different situation on her hooves. However, she recalled Applejack’s other advice: be herself. Well, she had certainly been herself: shy as anypony had ever seen. She didn’t want to be loved for being somepony she wasn’t, did she? She stopped thinking about it as her brain began throbbing.

“Thanks Applejack,” Fluttershy whispered. “It means a lot to have somepony to talk to about this.”

“Shoot, sugarcube, you know I’ll always be there for ya,” Applejack said, her smile not just on her face but in her voice, warm and caring. It proved contagious as Fluttershy too couldn’t help but give a small grin.

The grin didn’t last long, however, as she remembered the situation that the pegasus was in. The night was just about here, and he was still out there. She couldn’t help but wonder all the terrible things that could be happening to him at that very moment...

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The pegasus trotted as best he could through the downpour. The forest was dark; its trees offered little comfort from the rain.  Night was quickly approaching, he realized, and he needed to find a place to stay for the night. Staying dry was no longer an option. He just didn’t want to be in the open when the nocturnal beasts came out.

There was one thing he could take comfort in, though, as he progressed: the rain was starting to lighten up considerably. The skies to the east were actually visible now, through which he noticed the faint glow of a moon fighting to penetrate the clouds. The walk wasn’t particularly pleasant,  but it was certainly bearable. Before too long, he came to a river that lacked a bridge. The moon was just starting to break the clouds, so he decided crossing the river was not going to be a good option. He looked at the trees that grew not far from the bank. They seemed strong, and high enough that he might escape an encounter with the beasts of the night. He took refuge in a willow tree, its dreadlock appendages surrounding him in unique beauty.

He liked trees; they were living, breathing, like ponies, but they never fought with each other. They simply stood, side by side, braving the cruel world together as a team. They stood strong as a team, and when they wavered against the forces that sought to bring them down, they wavered together as well. He longed for someone like that for himself, somepony who could be there with him though thick and thin.

His thoughts shifted to somepony else. That mare that had taken him in last night. What was her name? Fluttershy, that was it. She had been so kind to him, taking him into her home even at the risk of being ridiculed by her friends. She had selflessly feared for those that sought to do her harm, yet she was so delicate. What had she done to his face last night? He had felt her lips on his cheek, as delicate as her personality appeared to be.

Images of her and of the day’s events sent him into a peaceful sleep, more restful than most before had been. However, when his dreams caught up to him, he was not to have such peace...

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Luna paced in her room, lost in thought. The meeting had been boring, as she’d expected, but she had already forgotten about that. As she stood in her Moon’s beautiful light, she pondered the day’s events.

Who was that stallion? Why had he fled? Did he remember her as she did him? What was the connection? So many questions, none of which could be answered on her own. She was going to need an excuse to go back to Ponyville soon.

She then wondered why she had not allowed the others to look for him when the storm, even when he was in some serious danger. She had told herself all day that she had done so because she didn’t want to see anypony else get hurt. But as she opened honestly to herself, she realized there had been a different motive, a childish motive: she didn’t want to have to be there when they found him. She was afraid of him as well. Why? He’d given her no reason to fear him, hadn’t he? In retrospect, she knew she’d been childish. She would have to make this right.

She’d never be able to forgive herself otherwise.

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There he was again, in the field of cold stone. He’d tried to find something beyond the fields, but eventually he’d resigned himself to the truth that the fields reached out forever. And as the fields stretched out interminably, so too did his suffering. It didn’t just hurt when the abuser was tormenting him; he hurt all the time now, even when it left him alone. Was it physical hurt? Mental? Emotional? Likely all of the above. He wanted to die, he wanted it all to end. Was that so much to ask for?

When the tormentor was hurting him, he at first had begged it to stop. To show him mercy and forgiveness for whatever he had done wrong. Now, he didn’t ask for mercy. He knew the torturer knew no such word. Now...

Now he just begged it to kill him.

The pegasus jolted awake, startled, and promptly lost his balance. Before he could recover, he was falling off the branch. His head hit the ground, hard, and he felt dazed.

As he recovered, he regained his bearings. He had spent the night in a tree. Most of the night, anyway: the moon was still up in the western portion of the sky. It must have been three in the morning or so. The rain had stopped by this time, so he decided to set about getting back to Ponyville by flight. He hadn’t crossed a river on the way out from Ponyville, had he? Or had he? Buck, he didn’t know. He gave in, and flew over the river, only to crash once he had cleared the river. He must have hit his head harder than he thought. He resolved to give flying a rest for a while, and just started walking. After a few minutes, it finally hit him that he was making little progress at all.

Finally, he just stopped. This was hopeless. He was beyond lost. He took refuge in a tree once more, and just lay there. It was only then that he realized just how tired he really was. He had hardly slept at all in the night thus far. Maybe, when the Sun rose, he would finally be able to get some rest...

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The Great and Powerful Trixie hadn’t been feeling very Great and Powerful lately. She had already resigned herself to another morning without breakfast, a more and more common occurrence since she lost her wagon and her money to the Ursa. In a few short months, she had gone from The G&P T to the P&H T: the Poor and Hungry Trixie. It was on mornings like this that she almost wished she could go back to Ponyville and apologize to all of them.

She really had been terrible to them, hadn’t she? She really did want to make things right with them, if only so that her conscience would leave her alone. She would be poor and hungry and unliked no matter what happened, so why not clear her conscience?

Oh wait, that’s right. She was a fradey-pony. She would never be able to face their mocking, hateful faces as she imagined them every time thoughts of Ponyville entered her head. She was almost as afraid of returning there as she was of returning home to Daddy.

She’d never be able to go home, not after she had run away. Some part of her knew that her Daddy loved her, but that almost made it worse for her. He had wanted her to grow up and do great things and be a high-class member of society, but all she had done was run away, lead a sub-life of showboating, and then had even that stripped of her. She was too old now to go back and try to start over, no matter how willing Daddy was.

Wait. Was she...crying? No, that couldn’t be right. The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t cry! Not even a sniffle! Not when her adoring fans were always searching to snap a photo or get an autog-

Oh yeah. She didn’t have fans anymore. She resumed crying for a while. It made her feel better, after a while. She missed Daddy. She missed Mommy too, but she had been used to her mother not being around, since she had died those many years ago. After elementary school, it had just been her and Daddy.

She found herself missing the ponies of Ponyville as well. She wanted them to know that she was sorry for what she did, and that she hoped they could forgive her. But she would never be able to work up that courage.

What was her alternative? Continue living this life, this escapade as a vagabond? She found herself not wanting to live even another second in this life. She needed a purpose other than survival. Especially since even that wasn’t going so well either, since winter was right around the corner. Food and warmth were becoming more and more scarce. She needed a new direction, and fast.

She was in luck, then, when a road sign entered her sight, proclaiming Ponyville’s direction to her helpfully. She steeled herself, then set out towards what she was already anticipating she would end up regretting.

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Several hours earlier...

Fluttershy woke up, feeling terrible and with a throbbing headache. She looked at the clock; 3:30 am. Hm. She’d actually managed to sleep an hour this time. The last couple times she had tried to sleep, she had only managed a few minutes of restless semi-sleep at a time. She looked out the window: the storm had finally ceased. When the sun came up, she would be out there with the others, looking for him. For now, though, she forced herself to wait.

She crept downstairs, praying she didn’t wake Applejack up. Her prayers weren’t heard, it seemed, because when she reached the bottom of the stairwell, there stood Applejack, looking tired, but with a small smile on her face. When Fluttershy met her at the ground floor, she was met with a warm hug from her friend.

“You hardly slept, sugarcube,” Applejack said, looking into Fluttershy’s tired eyes with concern. “Try to rest. We’ll be out there in no time, looking for him. For now, you need to try to get some sleep.”

Fluttershy gave in to A.J.’s request, and crossed to the sofa. Here she collapsed, and found herself surprisingly able to fall asleep quickly. As she drifted off, she found herself picturing the pegasus on this very sofa only the night before. Why had he run away? Why...?

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At 7 am, six ponies were gathered at the edge of the Everfree. They looked at each other nervously out of spite; they still feared the Everfree, despite that they’d been there before. As a team, they marched into the woods.

Fluttershy took the lead. She refused to be anywhere else for this. Plus, she didn’t want anypony to see her face while she walked. In truth, she was terrified, but that was not about to stop her now. If she could put on a mask of confidence, maybe what lay underneath would follow suit. Besides, nopony wanted to find this pegasus more than her.

What the search team didn’t notice was that they weren’t comprised of six; they were really nine. The other three didn’t exactly...make their presence known. At least, that’s what they told themselves.

In truth, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sneaking along because Sweetie Belle had overheard Fluttershy speaking to Rarity about finding the pegasus, and had told the other Crusaders. Naturally, they decided they would be Cutie Mark Crusader Pony Rescue Squad. They had rightly assumed that the others wouldn’t approve, however, so they decided to simply follow along...from a respectable distance.

They were not the only ones hiding something. There was another mare among them who was not willing to be open. As they continued their search, her mind was certainly elsewhere.

Rainbow Dash did not like the idea of being up at 7 am. In fact, there were only a few ponies she would do that for, and they were all here. Nonetheless, she was having a tough time staying awake. She hadn’t gotten much sleep either. She had lain in her bed all the night, unable to fall asleep. This had been an increasing trend recently, but there was nopony she could turn to.

That was because it was something she could hardly admit to herself, let alone anypony else. At first, she had viewed it as just a bad thought or two, but as it had grown she had begun to despise herself for it. She wasn’t that kind of mare, was she?

But as time had worn on, she had begun to think differently. It couldn’t be bad if it was just who she was, right? In any event, there was no point in further denying it. Not to herself, at least.

She was in love with Applejack. She couldn’t explain why she didn’t like stallions like most mares, but there was something about that orange Earth pony that just...ugh. She couldn’t describe it. She was kind of terrible with words.

Lately, she hadn’t been trying to stop her feelings for her, but to just figure out how to tell her. She hated being alone in her confusion. She needed someone she could trust and rely on; unfortunately, the first name that came to mind there was...Applejack.

Her mind was running in circles. Finally she had given up trying to figure out what to do, and had been “content” to just act like nothing was different. It seemed to fool the others, but she knew she would never be happy until she could get it off her chest.

More recently, she had been avoiding Applejack more than she meant to. She was so afraid that she would let something slip that she just eliminated the risk by not spending any time with her. Sometimes she would try to make herself hang out with Applejack for their friendship’s sake, but it was never like how it was before. In all truth, it broke her heart. And she was not typically the type for such sappy stuff.

And the worst part was that she had to pretend like it didn’t hurt her. She had an image to keep up, and being in love was hardly an option, let alone being a fillyfooler. She had nowhere to turn.

Until today, that is. For this would be the day that she would let it all out. She had given it a lot of thought, and realized that she was running out of options. She knew that eventually Applejack would have to learn the truth. She wanted it to come from herself.

So while the others were looking for the pegasus, she was multitasking: along with the search for the missing pony, she was on the lookout for an opportunity to talk to AJ alone. Unfortunately, nothing was forthcoming. Well, not until the utter surprise of the appearance of the beast knocked all six of the ponies on their haunches.

They had never seen anything like it. It was really a beast beyond compare. Its teeth glistened hungrily in all three of its mouths. One mouth had two fangs, each dripping with poison. The other two mouths were simply lined with venomless, jagged teeth. If that weren’t enough, its claws on its four forelegs looked positively sinister. Its back two legs were powerful, poised to pounce, giving it six legs in total.

The creature was twice as tall as Big Mac could ever hope to be. Its black coat meshed with the dark forest around it. It had nine eyes in all. Four of said eyes were, for some reason, positioned on the palms of its paws. The remaining five were spread all about its head in a circle, so it had a 360 degree view of its surroundings.

Before the ponies could react, the monster had already engaged them in attack. It swept aside Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with hardly a thought, and with another foreleg he swept aside Applejack and Rainbow Dash in a similar way. Fluttershy didn’t need to be engaged; she had fainted already. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had managed to remain thus far unnoticed, and that was something they didn’t want to change. Therefore they dove into a nearby bush and watched fearfully from there.

Twilight took the most punishment of her friends: she hit a tree, and Rarity and Pinkie hit her. She was left incapacitated, dazed and confused. The trio lay in a heap, unconscious.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Applejack and Rainbow were mostly unharmed and ready to fight. It seemed, however, that the beast was not willing to take them all at once. With two of its forelegs, it swept Applejack off the ground and bolted.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow hollered as she gave chase. The beast was remarkably fast, and in this terrain Dash had a hard time keeping up. However, Dash was not to be deterred. “You put her down NOW!” she hollered. There was no way she was going to lose her best friend now, especially when she still had things to tell her. With this in mind, combined with her already extraordinary speed, she caught up to the beast.

She slung a front hoof as far around its gigantic neck as she could and attempted to pull it over sideways. Instead, her momentum carried her around its head so that she was face-to-face with three very large mouths. One hungry eye peered at her menacingly. She acted without thinking, and gave an almighty buck. It found its mark by the grace of fate: the beast’s front eye.

The beast came to a screeching halt, lost its balance, and tumbled over. As it scrambled to rise back up, its grip on Applejack loosened enough that she was able to break free. She backed away quickly towards where Rainbow stood defiantly. The beast now stood, facing Rainbow directly. Its eye had taken a lot of damage; it was already swelling magnificently. Two eyes farther to the sides peered at Rainbow with apparent difficulty; she had removed a large advantage this beast had.

That didn’t change that Rainbow and Applejack were against all odds against this killing machine. For the first time, the beast let forth a roar. And a roar as loud or as horrifying neither mare could remember in all her days. They didn’t try running, though, as they knew such an effort would be futile. They could only stand up to this monster, and that seemed no option at all.

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The Cutie Mark Crusaders were terrified. In little more than a few moments, they had watched two mares get swept off by the beast. Applebloom had not been able to do anything as her sister was taken and carried off like a ragdoll. Scootaloo had watched in horror as her idol had fearlessly bolted after the beast. That was why she admired Rainbow Dash, for her bravery, but the idea of her idol facing such a beast was petrifying.

So the Cutie Mark Crusaders acted without thinking. Paying no attention to the fact that it was the Everfree, nopony knew they were out there, and there were three unconscious mares nearby, they followed the trail. The lingering very faint rainbow from Dash’s furious flight led them in the right direction.

Of course, they weren’t expecting that the beast would lead them so far from the others. Soon, they were alone, with only the rainbow trail to lead them in the right direction. And that was fading all the more as they proceeded...

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The pegasus sat bolt upright as a terrible sound broke into his dreamless sleep. Whatever that was, it was not good. That was a cry of pain, of anger, and of determination to kill. His curiosity got the better of him; he flew off to see what was the matter.

He couldn’t place why the thought entered his head, because there was no concrete reason to believe such a thing. But the thought persisted nonetheless: somepony was in danger. Grave danger.