//------------------------------// // Chapter 5- Butterflies in the Cave // Story: North Wind: Earning your Cutie Mark // by BlackBonitaCherry //------------------------------// Fluttershy eeped as the loud boom echoed through the valley she was in, the animals scattering as a rainbow light passed overhead. “Oh dear,” she went to get them out of their hiding spots when she heard a distinct sound, a voice. Fluttershy had always prided herself on her hearing, it was one of the things she was used to using growing up, and she could hear a voice. “Help!” to her astonishment it was coming from down below and she pressed her ear against the ground, hearing another ‘help’ and her eyes widened. “There must be a cave, but,” she looked around, searching for something that might help when she remembered the animals. She approached the squirrels in the trees, the birds in the clouds and the animals that hid in the water. “Please, can you help me find where the voice is coming from?” the butterflies and squirrels scattered and she kept her ears strained, hoping that she could hear the voice once again. A squirrel tugged on her tail and chittered, pointing in a different direction, and she followed the animals to an opening just large enough for her to pull herself through. She entered the dark cave, feeling her stomach tighten with fear, how was she going to find the one who needed her help if she couldn’t see? A glow appeared before her and fireflies swarmed around her, forming a line to lead her through. “Thank-you,” she was awed at their willingness to help and the fact she was able to understand them. Terror overcame that awe when she heard squeaking and a growl. The glow from the fireflies showed something hanging from the ceiling and a large object approaching them. They looked like a bunch of cocoons and the large figure had two points on its head. “H-hello?” Fluttershy trembled, if it was a monster or a d-dragon, she didn’t know what she was going to do! Something landed in her hair and she was met with two brown eyes as the face they belonged to chittered at her, and her ears straightened. “Oh, you heard what was going on and want to help me?” the animal nodded its head and pointed at the large object in front of them which now that they were close enough, the lights showed it to be a bear. Fluttershy might not have been on the surface all that much, but she knew what a bear looked like and now that she thought of it, weren’t the animals attached to the ceiling called ‘bats’? It led her to what looked to be a rock fall and gasped when she saw the hoof sticking out at the bottom. “Oh no, oh dear, please help me free her,” the bear grunted, grabbing the larger rocks and moving them to the side while Fluttershy and the bats moved the smaller rocks, the fireflies (since they could not carry anything) providing the light. When Fluttershy saw the filly she gasped, recognizing her from Cloudsdale and wondering how in Equestria she got down here. “We have to get her to a hospital,” blue eyes fluttered open as their owner woke up, a help on her lips when she noticed Fluttershy. While her body had been covered with rocks, the only injury she appeared to have was her back foot which was bleeding and several cuts on her neck and back. “Who?” the fireflies flew closer as Fluttershy did so as well “Hello, I heard you crying for help and I asked these animals to help me and they led me to you,” the filly struggled to her feet but the bear saw how panicked Fluttershy was and knelt down, nudging the small filly onto his back. “That’s nice of you, you are like a rescue pony,” Fluttershy blinked at those words, cheeks warming. “Rescue pony?” “Yeah, I mean, a rescue pony, or are they called rangers? Being able to talk to animals and have them help find other ponies is a perfect fit for the job,” Fluttershy smiled to herself, her a rescue pony? She thought speaking to animals was a pretty great talent, but using it to help rescue ponies? ‘A rescue pony’ she didn’t notice the glow on her flank, lost in her thoughts before a rumbling sound caught her attention. “Um, what is that?” the bats, squeaking in alarm, flew ahead, and taking that as a cue, Fluttershy, and the bear broke out into a sprint, just as the cave started shaking and more stalactites fell towards them. They tried to go the way Fluttershy had earlier but were forced to turn away when they came across a bunch of rocks and strange vines that reached towards them. “In here!” Fluttershy entered a cavern that was glowing, flying as hard as she could when a splashing sound was heard and she turned to see the bear staring at a rippling pool with puzzlement, the blue filly gone from his back. He had tried to dodge a vine thrown at him and the weight on his back had disappeared before he could blink. “Oh no!” she flew towards the pool, about ready to dive in when the blue filly herself popped out, spluttering and spitting out water. “Be careful please,” she said giving the bear a deadpan look, climbing out of the freezing water, not seeing their expressions change from worried to shock, “This is a really strange cavern, all the pools are glowing, some sort of algae maybe?” she wondered and Fluttershy gulped. “Um,” she winced as those eyes met her, “The pools are not the only ones glowing,” she pointed at the filly who gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean-fireflies don’t glow like that, and I’m out of the pool,” she looked down at herself, giving a yelp at the brightness coming off of it, “Oh no no, tell me this isn’t permanent, I don’t want to be a glow stick,” in a panic her wings flared and she cried out as wind swirled around her, sending her into the air into another pool. Fluttershy winced at the sound of another splash as the filly landed into yet another glowing pool. It took ten seconds for the glowing filly to emerge, this time sporting even more strange additions which she refused to look at. “No matter what, do not let me look before we are out of here,” she told Fluttershy firmly who nodded quickly. They searched for an exit, being careful to avoid falling into the pools and the odd rocks and vines that came at them. Upon coming into another open cavern, the two fillies and animals stared wide-eyed at the jungle of thorns and vines surrounding what looked to be a tree. “That does not look good,” Fluttershy looked worried for the poor tree and North looked at it in confusion before shaking her head. “The first thing we need to do is get out of here, there is nothing we can do for the tree at this moment,” which was the truth. But the moment they left the cavern, the image of the tree was gone from their minds, leaving them confused as they stared up at stairs that led to what appeared to be a forest. Fluttershy flapped alongside the bear as they went up the stairs, wobbling a little but feeling uneasy about being near the cave any longer than she should be. North gave a sideways glance at Fluttershy as they went through what she realized to be the Everfree Forest, ‘I didn’t realize it was Fluttershy at first, which was stupid because who else could speak to animals? But what is she doing down here? Is today the day she realized her what her Cutie Mark is?' Against her will, her eyes strayed to the filly’s flank and if she had not been on top of the bear she would have stopped walking, as it was, she froze which the bear noticed. His grunt caught Fluttershy’s attention and she turned to North to ask what was wrong when she noticed the blue filly’s attention was on her, or rather a part of her. Blinking in confusion, she glanced down only to gasp, “My Cutie Mark! I got my Cutie Mark,” she was so giddy she didn’t notice the horrified look that crossed North’s attention. “T-that’s great,” North erased any negative feelings from her face in order to not tip off the excited yellow colored Pegasus. ‘How did this happen? Am I in a parallel universe after all? Is that why Rainbow Dash is the way she is, or the fact there are so many dark elements among Equestrian society?’ how else can she explain that Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark, the one that emphasized her special talent, that all Bronies knew on sight, was completely different?! She didn't know the plot as thoroughly as they did, but she knew what they're Cutie Marks looked like at least. Sure, there was that one fic where Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark was the definition of ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ but this is ridiculous. “It even includes Mr. Bear,” Fluttershy gave the bear a sweet smile and its cheeks turned red. For on her flank were the four animals instrumental in helping her save North Wind. There was a blue butterfly with pink crosses in its wings on the left, a pink bat with a blue cross in the middle on the right, the firefly had a blue outline with a yellow glow with a pink cross in the glow, and there was a small pink bear print on the bottom with a blue cross. Their positions formed the cross of the Rescue Ponies and Fluttershy felt her heart soar at the thought. Sure, there were other animals that had helped but these four ones had been the ones to help her find the younger one. “B-but,” North Wind finally stuttered out and Fluttershy gave her a concerned look, “Are yo-!” she squeaked in alarm when the filly’s eyes went back into her head and she fainted, “Oh no! We better get her to a hospital quickly!” she didn’t want the filly to have a fever or die from untreated injuries! As the two ponies, bear, butterflies, fireflies, and bats traversed through the forest, several other ponies went about their day in different ways. Applejack greeted her family happily, she should never have thought going to Manehattan would solve all her problems. Sweet Apple Acres was where she belonged, and it is where she will be in her future. Her cutie mark appeared in a glow, showing three red apples which led to another reason to celebrate apart from her return. Rarity watched the play in front of her in delight, oh the costumes looked so magnificent with the gems added to them. Her teacher seemed to think so because she gave her a delighted grin, “Good job Rarity,” she said sincerely, the light from the gem-encrusted costumes shining off of her glasses and a feeling a tingling on her flank, she glanced down. “My Cutie Mark!” as she celebrated her Cutie Mark, her teacher gave a soft smile, happy that one of her students could figure out their path for the future after so much frustration and fear that it would never appear. Pinkie wished that her friend (they were friends right?) North Wind had stayed a day longer because then there would be someone else, she could cheer up. She had never realized what her Pinkie Sense had been telling her before her delight for joy and laughter was found, but now she recognized it telling her that North Wind was someone that needed cheering up. “I’ll message her and find out,” she hopped about, happy about her own family enjoying the party, their smiles warming her heart. Twilight chattered to her parents excitedly about the fact she had been chosen as the princesses’ new student. She had been so scared that she wouldn’t be able to pass the test, but that explosion had activated her magic and she was so happy it worked. She pretended not to see the caution that had appeared in their eyes, after all she had accidentally turned them into plants, and no matter how much it hurt that her parents thought she should request study time in the castle after hours, she would keep going. Her talent was magic and maybe Princess Celestia would teach her how to control it as soon as possible, she did not want to hurt anypony else, thank Celestia that Shining hadn’t been there. Seeing the caution in his eyes would have killed her, and she did not want her big brother to look at her like that at all, more than her parents. Rainbow Dash was cheering as her parents were called to the flight camp and reporters and a bunch of other ponies appeared. She had performed a Sonic Rainboom, her! There was no way anypony else could pull it off like she could, and her Cutie Mark signified what her destiny was, to be the fastest flyer in all Equestria. ‘I got my own special abilities that North doesn’t have’ she thought to herself, trying not to feel guilty at how pleased she was that this ability of hers wasn’t feared like her sister’s was. She tried not to think about the distance between them, because there was plenty of time in the future for the two of them to bond. Where they didn’t have to worry about North’s curse and her parents didn’t have to be afraid about North being taken away anymore. She wondered if North, despite everything, would feel prou- Wind Scar's voice reached her ears and she beamed at her uncle, happy he'd taken the time out of his schedule to see her. The pride in his eyes made her swell as he boomed about her being a future Wonderbolt, her parents agreeing right along with him. Princess Celestia stared at the sky as she thought over the events, several fillies apart from Twilight Sparkle had received their Cutie Marks. Someone would be blind not to see the Sonic Rainboom that went across the sky, she had not seen Pegasus magic like that for centuries! And she had heard from other sources of fillies in Ponyville receiving a Cutie Mark. ‘Does this mean what I think it means?’ she knew the power of the Elements had been cut off from her all those years ago when she had banished Luna. But she had held hope to once again be able to see her sister, Elements or no Elements, and had been searching for ways to take the Nightmare essence from her baby sister. But now she has a new student, one whose Cutie Mark she had seen once before on a certain tree (she frowned, she had not visited that place in a while. But as soon as she remembered the thought slipped from her again) which might mean soon apart from her sister and Cadance, a new Princess would be coming. There had not been an ascended princess since Cadance who had been a real surprise, in, she frowned, was there ever one who ascended apart from Cadance? Shaking her head, she glanced down to see slitted green eyes as the owner sucked on his tail. That had been a surprise, Dragon Eggs being hatched by magic were rare and if it weren’t for his egg being found in ruins, she would try to find his parents. But what to do with him, ‘Twilight Sparkle hatched him’ a small voice said, and she hummed in thought. Maybe she could teach Twilight differently than she taught Sunset, starting with responsibility, and how to have a friend. The glowing pools in the cavern where North and Fluttershy had been slowly lost their light as the day ended. The thorny vines from before had fallen into the matter and whatever magic contained within the waters themselves were absorbed. One by one, the seven pools were drained of their energy, two going faster than the others for certain reasons. Even the vines themselves started withering, the seeds that had sprouted them withering till only a few remained, not to sprout again for another 12-13 years. Where once a rainbow of lights flashed across the ceiling, there was now darkness, nothing to be left for anypony to find, its purpose was done. Fluttershy ran through the forest, the friendly bear next to her as she found herself panicking. She needed to find a hospital, but where was there a hospital? She was deep in thought and nearly crashed into a mare just outside the forest. "Oh!" the surprised gasp had her looking up, and she eeped, almost withdrawing in herself before realizing what running into someone means. "I-i'm sorry, but where's the nearest hospital? My f-friend," she nodded to the nonconscious filly, getting another gasp from the mare. "Oh dear, let's get you there," she seemed weary of the bear but he followed behind them sedately through the village, getting stares and such from the residents who did not know how to deal with a bear walking calmly through their town. Upon reaching the hospital, the mare ran to get a doctor while Fluttershy had to wave goodbye to the bear who grunted at her thanks and placed a saddlebag that she hadn't seen before. "Oh, is that North Wind's?" the bear huffed and walked back the way they came. Several orderlies took North from where the bear placed her and disappeared down the hall, leaving Fluttershy by herself. The filly gulped, feeling herself tremble at all the stares. "Are you okay, dear?" the tan mare from before looked concerned, her orange mane in a low ponytail, "Do you have someone we can contact," Fluttershy hid behind her hair. "My parents are on a trip," she whispered, the mare coming closer to hear her better, "I was at Flight Camp and fell down," she looked through the saddle bags, wondering if she should message Rainbow Dash, when she pulled out a letter from one of the pockets. "If found, return to North Wind, if unavailable contact Lyra Heartstrings in Music Camp at this address," on the back of the letter there was a picture of a unicorn filly and bit her lip. How was she going to contact her? "Well until we can get in contact, how about staying at my family's farm till your friend gets better? I promise we don't bite," Fluttershy turned red, not sure what to say, and when the mare leaned forward, she gulped. "Ok," she whispered.