//------------------------------// // The broken soul // Story: The Phoenix Princess // by Sonic Rainboom Dash //------------------------------// ‘How… How is she here?! Is she a g-g-ghost?!’ Fluttershy thought. She could remember seeing the same filly being admitted to the hospital while the pegasus was there with a sprained wing. Fluttershy’s room was closest to the ICU than she would care to admit, though that didn’t mean that she couldn’t hear what was happening in that room. She overheard the doctors talking about the foal and worried that she might not survive the night, even if they managed to stabilize her, due to how severe her injuries were. Though Fluttershy wanted to know if the filly would be okay, sleep caught up with her and she let her consciousness of the waking world slip away. When she had woken up the next morning, she once again overheard the doctors talking about how the other filly was ‘gone.’ Fluttershy just assumed that they meant the foal had died, but now that same filly was standing in front of her, looking the same as when she saw her the first time all those years ago, only older. So lost in her thoughts, Fluttershy jumped in surprise when the older mare tapped her side, reaching the top of her rehearsal tree without flapping her wings in one jump. Looking around, Fluttershy noticed that the ‘ghost’ was gone, leaving her looking at a confused mare and ‘A Baby Dragon!’ Fluttershy mentally exclaimed, rushing towards the little dragon and accidentally knocking the older mare in the process. Velvet was confused and concerned about the yellow pegasus’s actions. First, she just seemed to freeze up when she saw Twilight, allowing Night Light to come by and gather Twilight to check on the food with him, and subtly telling Velvet that the party was going to be at the bakery instead of the library Pinkie intended at first. And then the pegasus mare’s attitude did a 180 when she saw Spike. Velvet backed up a few steps because the mare had suddenly got too close to her for comfort. She spoke up in worry, “Excuse me miss but are you okay?” In her excitement at seeing a baby dragon, Fluttershy forgot about the other mare and froze when she heard the older mare speak. She let out a small ‘eep’ and hid behind her pink hair, slightly afraid that the mare before her would be like one of the ponies back in cloudsdale. She hadn’t always lived up to her name back then; she was a lot like her friend Rainbow Dash. Velvet took a tentative step forwards as she frowned in concern. She spoke softly in her motherly tone, “Are you alright dear? You seem to be scared of something. Would you like to talk about it?” Her concerned maternal expression radiated off her face as she gazed at the trembling mare. Fluttershy started calming down a bit when she heard the concern the mare was giving, but at the same time made her wonder if the ghost filly she saw was her daughter and that if she talked about it, it would just bring up painful memories. So instead, Fluttershy tried to change the subject. “S-sorry,” she whispered, almost low enough that unless she hadn’t been listening, Velvet would have only thought it was just the wind. “Y-you j-just s-startled me. I’m Fluttershy” she trailed off with just a mumble, to low for Velvet to make out the words. Velvet tilted her head and continued to look concerned as she asked softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t exactly here that last part. Could you please repeat that in a louder voice dear? And are you sure that you’re alright dear?” She stayed where she did, not want to scare the pegasus mare anymore then she might already be. Fluttershy just pulled into herself further as she once again told this mare her name. “I’m Fluttershy.” she squeaked out, still too low for Velvet to make out what her name was. Velvet frowned as she continued to watch the mare for a moment. She replied after a few seconds, “I’m sorry dear I still didn’t catch that. Am I scaring you or making you nervous in any way? I apologize if I am deary. My daughter was once the same way, though she was a lot younger than you,” Velvet said, before sighing as she remembered the terror that she saw in her daughter’s eyes when they had found her in the Everfree. “She was terrified of even leaving my side.” What Velvet was unaware of were the tears falling from her eyes, or the fact that Fluttershy came to both the right and wrong conclusion. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said as she bowed her head sadly. Though she didn’t want to bring up any painful memories for the older mare, she still managed to. The way the mare was speaking in the past tense and the fact that tears were rolling down her face told Fluttershy everything she needed to know, that her daughter had died. Velvet wiped at her eyes and shook her head, “It’s alright dear. I’ll be fine. But are you alright? You seemed to be scared of something or nervous at the very least. Is there anything I can do to help you?” By now, Fluttershy got over her shyness when she heard that this mare’s daughter was just like her, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the older mare. To Fluttershy, it was evident that this mares daughter had died at a young age and it didn’t take long for her to conclude that the filly and this mare were close together in coloration that she had merely mistaken the mare for her daughter. Breathing a small sigh of relief that she hadn’t seen a ghost, Fluttershy responded. “M-my names F-Fluttershy. I just get n-nervous around those I d-don’t know yet. That, and when I saw you, I thought I saw a ghost.” she said, as her birds returned to the tree, and tweeted in unison. Unbeknownst to the two ponies, what the birds chirped was a prophecy.