The Forgotten Flower

by V8UC-UNICORN

Chapter four: The disappearence

Fluttershy’s cottage, in the garden…

“Why have you come for a visit Zecora?” Fluttershy looked puzzled. She knew there had to be some kind of matter at hoof. Zecora just doesn’t show up unless she has reason, big or small. Zecora, not one for keeping a friend in questioning, explained herself. “I come here to ask you about the whereabouts of somepony, Fluttershy. Somepony who has caught the attention of Princess Celestia’s eye.” Fluttershy looked at her friend in bewilderment. “That’s odd. I have a guest who came out of the blue in here right now. She does seem a little shy though. Perhaps you could tell me more of what you’ve heard from Celestia first?”

“Well my friend, the guard who told me to come here said he could not say much about his orders yet. Only to come here and ask if you had seen somepony you did not know of whom you may have met.” Zecora explained, frown on her face. “That’s all I was told. I too have seen confusion take hold.” Fluttershy had to make to make an awkward choice. She had promised Germanica that she would make sure her visit to the cottage would only be a few hours. However, she was intrigued by the nature of Zecora’s visit, a visit that had the potential to greatly extend Germanica’s stay. I hate to try and keep her here longer than she expected, but I think Zecora’s visit might be Celestia attempting to show Germanica some gentle kindness, of sorts. I don’t know why she would even know who Germanica is, but then she is the wisest pony in Equestria. What if this is really important and Germanica has something to do with it? Fluttershy was decided. “OK Zecora, you can come inside. But I must warn you, my guest was a little hostile when we first encountered each other today. I think the fact that she scared me a little was the only reason she calmed down enough for us to start talking. So when you meet her, let her act first. She hasn’t even had that much contact with other ponies anyway.” Zecora agreed, only asking what the mare’s name was. “Germanica. Her name is Germanica, Zecora.”

The two went inside, but were met by something neither had foreseen. Germanica was no longer in the room. Fluttershy darted everywhere, looking behind the chairs and under the tables to find her. Everywhere she looked she found nothing. It was as if Germanica was never there at all. “I’m sorry Zecora, but I just don’t know where she could have gone.” The two carried on searching the house for some time. After a while, Zecora told Fluttershy “We need to go outside, as perhaps she heard me and was scared. We must show her that we are friends in which she can confide.” With this suggestion Fluttershy felt stupid. “How could I forget already? She said she had lived most of her life alone, mainly in the Everfree Forest.” Zecora was shocked by this. “I’ve lived there for years, Fluttershy. If she had been there, then past my hut she surely would have passed by.”

“I know it seems ridiculous Zecora, but she seems to have a way with plants. When I met her, she did something rather odd with her magic. She seemed to be able to create some kind of… Oh, I don’t know! Whatever she did, it looked powerful, too powerful for anypony to do alone. If there were a number of unicorns working together, then it might make sense. But she was alone. I don’t know much about magic, but the only thing that I think she could draw energy from was the surrounding foliage.” Zecora took a moment to ponder how a pony could live in the Everfree Forest without her noticing. “For what reason did she do this thing? You talk of it as if it was disturbing.” Pointing out Angel to Zecora, Fluttershy said “I was looking for him on the edge of the Everfree Forest. It was then Germanica turned up. After a while she just sat down, eyes closed. She did whatever she did to the plants, and some of them actually moved to reveal where angel was hiding. However, she didn’t look for him. It’s as if something was telling her what she needed to know, as if something else provided her with knowledge.”

Zecora couldn’t really make sense of what Fluttershy was trying to say about Germanica. This only fuelled her desire to find the missing unicorn. “Fluttershy, we cannot stay. Our loitering will only let Germanica get further away.” Fluttershy agreed, so the two left the cottage to search the wider area. Fluttershy had a good idea of where Germanica might have gone to, what with all she had managed to learn of her in their earlier conversation. “I think she must surely be somewhere in the Everfree Forest. It only seems logical. The question is, where?”

Zecora thought long and hard about this. She is a full grown mare. How could I not have spotted her in there? The two then proceeded towards the Everfree Forest hoping to find Germanica, not sure where in that massive place where they might find her. When they got to the edge of the woodland, Fluttershy was hesitant to enter. “Wh… what if we get attacked in there?” Zecora put on a light comforting smile for her timid friend to try to comfort her. “Now, now. If she did go into this forest, then to lose her is something we cannot allow.” Fluttershy would not listen to reason, however. “But what if we do get attacked? Then nopony might know where Germanica has gone. If Princess Celestia has really got reason to find her, then perhaps we would have seen guards out here to look for her. The last time I checked that’s what they do!” Fluttershy started to sound angry when she said this. Perhaps she was scared of the prospect of going into a fearful place, and was just desperate to avoid it. But Zecora was having none of it. She wanted to find Germanica, to find out why she was called upon by the highest authority to seek out an unknown pony on such short notice. “Fluttershy! You act so fearful I can only ask why. You’ve entered this forest many times before! Just because your friends aren’t here doesn’t mean this a matter you can choose to ignore!” Stressed, Zecora’s argument seemed to have an effect on her pegasus companion. Though the most timid of souls, Fluttershy bucked up the courage to enter the forest without having the likes of Twilight or Applejack or Rainbow Dash to hide behind. She finally realised that perhaps Celestia was on to something, that perhaps the rather odd nature of Germanica had some significance after all. Perhaps, she thought, she had unwittingly become an integral part of something unexpected and big for most of society, including herself.

The two companions looked around the woods, trying to stick to the pathways that had been worn into the ground thanks to the movement of its residents over the centuries. They needed to find a clue, some crucial evidence that would indicate a recent presence. Some broken branches, disturbed leaves, anything. Anything could be a potential lead to Germanica’s whereabouts. “Ugh, I can’t find anything! Where the heck could she have gone Zecora? C’mon, you know these woods like the back of your hoof. Surely you must have some idea?” Unfortunately for Fluttershy, Zecora couldn’t find anything either. Not as quickly as the pegasus would have liked. “Look Zecora, if we can’t find any sign of her here, then perhaps we should just let the guard know that we think she’s in the forest. I know it’s important that she’s found, really I do realise that. But the guard, this is what they’re trained to do. I’m sure they can do a much better job than us.” Zecora stopped what she was doing when she heard this, turning to Fluttershy with disgust spread across her face. “Fluttershy, how dare you try to work your way out of this! Do not give up just because of her elusiveness.” Fluttershy submitted to Zecora’s order, though not out of respect, but of light fear. It was the way Zecora barked at her, she was acting strangely, when compared to her usual kind self. Fluttershy could only wonder. I wonder why she’s being so… aggressive. I haven’t done anything wrong. She knows I don’t like this place, so why would she now seem so intent I help her find Germanica. I mean, she hasn’t even ever met Germanica before.

The two went ever deeper into the woodland, desperate to find a lead to Germanica, albeit desperate for different reasons. The two didn’t talk after Zecora’s loss of temper with Fluttershy, but their silence was broken by a sound. In fact, it was not just a sound, but words. However, they were not the softly spoken words of Germanica; instead they were rather more masculine in accent. The two didn’t speak. Zecora stopped Fluttershy from uttering a noise by placing her hoof on her friend’s mouth, and she quickly pulled her into a large bush. It seemed Zecora wanted to eavesdrop on the conservation they could hear. Certainly, she was curious to know why two ponies were in the forest like this. Looking through the foliage, she saw a unicorn and an earthpony talking with each other.

“So mate, had any luck finding that bloody weed the boss wants?” The earthpony said. “No, when he said it’s rare, he clearly meant it! Still, might as well that we keep looking. One thousand bits just for finding a bloody flower! We’ll be rich for nothing mate. Oh, by the way, you’ve also remembered to keep looking around for any signs of pony activity as well right?” The unicorn replied. “Well of course! The reward the boss promised, well, how could I not? But I have forgotten one thing, what did he say the little mare should look like?” The unicorn sighed in response. “You really can be dumb sometimes, you know that? But right, she’s supposed to be white, with some kind of silver mane. He never mentioned eye colour, but then, what does that matter? We’re looking for an adult blank flank after all!” He said this with a chuckle.

Fluttershy gasped at this. But that’s… that’s Germanica! What do they want with her? Zecora looked at Fluttershy when she gasped with a questioning look about her eyes. However she daren’t allow any speech from her or herself until the two stallions had moved on. The two continued to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“Right, so where do you think we should head next?” the earthpony asked his friend. “Ah, let’s see. Hmm, there’s a rather tall tree in the distance over there, to the east of us. How about we walk over there, but head a little to the left of the tree before turning true to its location?” The unicorn suggested. “Don’t see why not. This job’s worth the walk after all!” the unicorn replied to his companion with “It’s all about the money, my friend. All about the money!” The two stallions then walked off towards the tree.

Zecora forced Fluttershy to stay hidden in the bush until she was certain that the two stallions were out of sight. She seemed to prefer to avoid the risk of being seeing by them. Once the coast was clear, she swiftly pulled Fluttershy out of the bush, and told her to follow closely as she galloped. As they kept moving Zecora asked Fluttershy “Why did you gasp in there? Is there some information you would care to share?” Fluttershy struggled to speak clearly as she galloped, but she managed to piece together an answer. “It was the description they gave of the mare they were asked to try and find. Zecora, they described Germanica! Her coat is white, her mane and tail silver. Most importantly, she’s a blank flank!” Zecora shouted back, urgency in her voice “Why didn’t you tell me this before? We must find her now then, that’s for sure!” Fluttershy wanted to ask Zecora what she was going on about, but she didn’t want to lose her breath and end up falling away from her friend, so she put all her energy into keeping up with the swift zebra, even resorting to flying for a change.

It seemed an eternity to Fluttershy before they finally made it to the Oak. Needless to say, she was exhausted. She wasn’t used to such extended periods of fast travel. However, the sprint was worth it. There, sitting in front of the huge Oak’s trunk, was a white unicorn, surrounded by flowers, tears streaming from her eyes. It was Germanica. They found her.

Fluttershy called out to her. “Germanica! Are you alright? Everything’s fine, Zecora’s fine. She doesn’t want to hurt you. C’mon, come back with us.” The unicorn turned her head towards the pegasus and the zebra. Her eyes were soaked, yet through her tears, the two could see real anger. Despite this though, Zecora couldn’t help but put on a smile upon seeing Germanica’s face.

Germanica stood up, staring intensely at Zecora in particular. She shouted with anger fuelling her words, “Zebra, what do you want?! I’ve had enough of meeting new ponies for one lifetime! What right do you think to just waltz back in on my life?!” Zecora looked shocked by this. “Germanica, do you not remember? I am the zebra your mother was good friends with, the one who would always be there for you, whatever the weather.”

This statement from Zecora caused Germanica a huge amount of grief. Screaming at the zebra, she said, “Always be there for me and her, you say? Then where the heck were you fourteen years ago, hmm? Were the heck were you?! Now do me a favour, leave this place forever, liar!”

Fluttershy was, naturally, quite confused. Do these two know each other?

Comments

[V8UC-UNICORN]

Finally! It has been too long since I last published a chapter! I ask the same as before: If you spot any grammatical or spelling errors please point them out. Thanks.

[A Knight]

Nice Zecora word play there, really exceptional.
-Fellstar

[V8UC-UNICORN]

2396362 Thanks. I was really scared about writing dialogue for Zecora, what with all the blasted rhyming! Still, she is one of the main characters so I'll be working with rhymes a lot for this story.

What have I let myself in for...

[A Knight]

2396377
You've put yourself in an amazing experience, that's what you have done. Great work, it's really starting to get interesting now.
-Fellstar

[V8UC-UNICORN]

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