Of Moments and Melodies

by Church

Chapter VII

Fluttershy and I awoke the next morning to the sun burning brightly through the treeline. We both bolted upright, viciously blinking at the harsh light that seeped into our eyelids, thinking that flailing our hooves wildly at it would drive it away. The dew from the grasses had matted our coats, and our manes were tarnished with grass blades and flower petals. Luna’s wondrous night had been replaced by Celestia’s vivid day, as if before were all a dream. Fluttershy and I wobbled to our hooves, our tummies rumbling for something to eat. Then again maybe that was just my tummy.

“What have I got in the knapsack...” I murmured to myself as I whirled around and tore open the sack I had been using as a pillow. I rummaged through its contents, searching for something suitable for breakfast. “No, no... nooo,” I said as I tossed aside crayons and squirt guns and other indigestible trinkets. “Well, I didn’t pack the oats. I always have to forget something.”

Fluttershy rubbed at her eyes and yawned. She stretched out her forelegs to full length, displaying her unnatural flexibility. “Hm. Um, there’s a town called St. Cloud not too far from here... we could go there for breakfast... I think.”

Suddenly I wished that I had brought a map. “St. Cloud, you say?” I looked through the gap in the trees, back from whence we came. Viewing everything in the daylight now just felt like an entirely different world. “Which way is that?”

Fluttershy pointed in a direction that I had hoped was much farther away from the house. I grabbed the Daring Do compass I had obtained from a cereal box way back and turned in that direction, only to discover she was pointing due east. Who knew if this thing even worked?

“They have breakfast?” I asked Fluttershy, putting on my not so adventure face. She wearily nodded her head and yawned again, coaxing me to do the same in the following moment.

“Oh, yes, there are lots of diners in St. Cloud. No doubt we can find somepony who can help us...” Fluttershy assured me.

Once again, I turned off in the direction of this neighboring town called St. Cloud. If it was anything like the small village I lived in, it would have some sort of diner or some sort of confectionery shop or something like that. The thought of it made my tummy growl in anticipation.

“How far away is it?” I asked, using my hooves as makeshift binoculars though I couldn’t see anything but more trees through the gap.

“Umm... maybe a few miles or so. It shouldn’t be too far...”

“Hm.” I muttered, pondering. I stuffed my ‘binoculars’ into my ‘pocket’. “Good. I say we start to hoof it before we run out of supplies. We don’t wanna get caught out here where we’re subject to exhaustion.”

I could hear Fluttershy’s hooves rustling around in the grasses from behind me. “Um, excuse me, but it isn’t too far away. We shouldn’t need to use up any-”

“ONWARD!” I interjected, pretending like I was some kind of captain of the Royal Guard. I strode off toward the gap in the trees, realizing that I had no idea where I was supposed to be going.

“Oh... um... okay.”

Fluttershy and I left Star Lake behind and trotted back out to the pathway. Now that it was daytime, the lack of light that had made everything feel like a lucid dream last night were now clearer and more distinct, and I could visualize the textures in the trees and grasses and path. From what I could tell, the path wound through the trees and a few fields, apparently eventually leading to a village by the name of St. Cloud, which I had no idea existed til now. Fluttershy and I started along the pathway, on our way to an uncertain future... which hopefully consisted of breakfast.

“When was the last time you were in St. Cloud?” I asked Fluttershy, who was trailing me as we trotted at a rather speedy pace down the path.

“Oh... a long time ago, I’m not sure if I even remember what it looks like...”

“Hm, noted.” I reached into my knapsack, slowly drawing out one of the squirt guns that I had brought along (the blue one), so that I could keep it on my pony. “In that case, we can never be too careful. There could be monsters crawling around the place by now.”

I could sense Fluttershy's ears perk up. “M-m-monsters?”

I put on a look of determination as I cocked by squirt gun, if that was possible, ‘cuz I knew that if we had to face anything, then we would have to defend ourselves. “Yeah. Nothin’ we shouldn’t be able to handle.” I turned my head around to face Fluttershy, and I could see that she was staring at the dirt that made up the composition of the path. “Don’t you fret, I got this.”

“Well, there weren’t any monsters last time I went... but maybe we should go somewhere else now... you know, um... just in case.”

I laughed. “Huh? No way! A few monsters won’t stop us from getting our breakfast.”

Fluttershy’s eyes were darting back and forth as she peered into the long grasses around us and the thick branches in the trees. She seemed unsure of herself. I turned my head back around so that I could see where I was going.

“Um... if you insist...” Fluttershy said softly, her voice barely audible over the chirping of the birds and the whistling of the wind. The grasses and the trees swayed gently in the breeze, and looking on down the path made me realize that I still hadn’t an idea of where I was going.

After trotting for a few more paces, I stopped abruptly and put a dumb look on my face. “Perhaps you should lead, though.” I said to the dirt. I waited until Fluttershy had sauntered over to my side, her hoofsteps so light they couldn’t be heard at all. She stole a quick glance at me out of the corner of her eye before shifting her gaze back out to the path ahead of us.

“Oh... um, I’m not so sure...” she muttered, her stare into the distance cold and seemingly devoid of life.

“Nonsense,” I told her, turning to face her, “you said that you would lead the way, right?”

Fluttershy’s cheeks turned red, “Oh... you remember that?”

“Of course I do, it was like, yesterday. Literally.”

Fluttershy had a look on her face that was similar to the regret of something gone woefully wrong. I didn’t understand her, ‘cuz she said that she was willing to lead. Was she scared of monsters? “Yes, um... oh, I suppose I did, didn’t I...” she said, sort of recoiling at her own comment.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun!” I said to her. I reached for her hoof and grabbed it, tugging it forward as if an askance of her to proceed. “You said that it was only a few miles away, and I’m really hungry!”

After a bit of begging... and perhaps some bribing, I finally got Fluttershy to lead the way. We trotted off toward another sight waiting to be beheld and gawked at, to which my excitement may have gotten the better of my judgement. From how Fluttershy described the town (‘cuz I made her describe the town to calm her down) it sounded like a pleasant little place. Chimneys huffing and puffing smoke from their snouts to warm the folks inside. Houses painted in funny pastel colors, ‘cuz that seemed to be the norm anywhere we went. Smiling faces saying ‘howdy-doody’ wherever you walked, ‘cuz that’s how I thought ponies should greet one another. It’s not like I really went into different towns anymore, not since Pop died anyway, so this was nice. I just needed to get Fluttershy to relax was all.

But Fluttershy seemed to be hesitant to talk the entire way there. She mouthed words like some sort of robot, as if she had rehearsed her description of St. Cloud before, and she were practicing it again for the millionth time. I trotted along beside her at her lackadaisical pace, pondering the astonishing feat of her being able to trot along with her eyelids shut. There were several occasions where I thought she would trip over a stray rock or even a blade of grass sticking up through the path (she was rather clumsy). She bypassed all hazards with wondrous grace, but could very well have been perceived by others as dumb luck. All the while, she kept reminding me of how great St. Cloud was, not a hint at monsters or anything vile that I might have needed my gun for. I kept it at the ready... just in case.

Upon approaching a slight hill, I noticed that a few towers of thick, black smoke were beginning to veil the sky. They rose up high into the air, seemingly forming the cloud cover. It blotted out the sun in some parts. It certainly wasn’t all that cold out, but those must have been coming from the chimneys on the houses that Fluttershy had been talking about. Now why would they need those in the middle of springtime? Ah well, maybe St. Cloud was full of wackos, how else could you describe a town of perfectly happy brightly colored ponies?

When Fluttershy and I made it to the top of the hillside, I stopped dead in my tracks. Fluttershy was on her way forward before I snatched hold of her tail and yanked her back. She yelped and immediately covered her head with her hooves. I barely noticed her. I was awed by the sight before me... but in a totally different way than before.

“Fluttershy...” I said, a hint of shock in my trembling voice, “I thought you said that St. Cloud was similar to where we lived...”

Fluttershy had her eyes held shut like she was hiding behind an impenetrable wall. “I did. Why? Are there monsters!?” She began to shake violently.

“No...” I said. “No, it isn’t monsters.” I put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, as if that would help her any at all. “Um, but you really might wanna take a look at this. I don’t think that it’s anything like how you remember it...”

Song: Waste

By: Foster the People