//------------------------------// // Prologue: Fluttershy's life in the village // Story: EQUESTRIATALE // by Twilight Star //------------------------------// Fluttershy was a yellow pegasus mare in a light blue sweatshirt with two light pink stripes and she lived in a small village. All the ponies had a heart-shaped soul that Fluttershy’s was red. Each soul had a characteristic and her trait was kindness, because she always comforted the ponies when they were sad, but despite that, Fluttershy knew when it was time to be determined in difficult times. Fluttershy had no parents anymore, her mother and father died years ago, now she was turning on her own. But she could live with that because the animals always kept her company when she was free or busy, most of them watching Fluttershy through the windows. But the pegasus wasn’t bothered. Fluttershy was eating her lunch she made herself at the table. Sometimes she liked to leave home and the village to explore new places. But of course, she always came back when the sun went down because she was afraid of the dark. But luckily, the village would keep the lights on when night came, and that made Fluttershy a little quiet. Fluttershy was now eating her lettuce salad while looking at the village. Many ponies were going out with their foals, they had smiles on their faces. The foals played happily while the adult ponies talked. When she finished eating, she took the dish to wash, began to think about what she should do today. Fluttershy had an idea. She would leave the village to go to the forest to be with her animal friends. Fluttershy smiled to herself at her decision.    After a couple of minutes, Fluttershy left her house and walked out of the woods. A yellow mare with orange mane and carrot Cutie Mark watched the pegasus leave the village with a smile.  There she goes back to the forest. The yellow pegasus must love the forest.  When Fluttershy entered the forest, she went looking for her animal friends. “Little friends. I arrived.”  The animals left their houses and when saw Fluttershy they ran to her. Fluttershy sat on the grass to talk to her friends.  “How are you, little friends?” asked Fluttershy with a smile.  The animals began to talk. When they finished, Fluttershy looked happy.  “I’m fine too.”    When night came, Fluttershy got up from the grass and said goodbye to the animals. The animals said goodbye also before returning to their homes to sleep.  When Fluttershy arrived in the village, she still saw some pony still out, perhaps because it wasn’t too late yet. Arriving at her house, Fluttershy went to the kitchen to prepare her dinner. Fluttershy intended to eat a vegetable soup because she was a vegetarian and never had the courage to eat any meat. While making the soup, she noticed that an owl had landed on the window. Fluttershy smiled at the owl.  “Hi owl. What’s your night like?” asked Fluttershy.  “U,” replied the owl.  “Oh. Did you just wake up?” asked Fluttershy. “I’m sorry.”  “U.”  “You’re right, owl,” said Fluttershy.  Fluttershy looked at the pan and saw that it was boiling and put the vegetables in the soup before mixing well and serving to eat. The owl just watched the yellow pegasus. When Fluttershy was about to eat, she looked at the owl.  “You can come inside my house, owl,” said Fluttershy.  The owl looked confused. “U?”  “No. I won’t be mad,” said Fluttershy with a sweet smile.  The owl smiled before going in and landing on the table that Fluttershy was about to watch her eat. Fluttershy couldn’t deny that she cooked well for herself since it had spent most of her life living alone. Her parents may have died when she was a foal, but she got over it.    When finished eating, Fluttershy went to the sink to wash the plate to go to sleep and the owl just watched the yellow pegasus. When Fluttershy was done, she went to her bed to sleep, and the owl watched Fluttershy sleep in bed.  When the next day came, Fluttershy woke up, stretched, looked out the window, and didn’t see the owl. Fluttershy wondered if tonight she would see the owl again. She decided to go to the kitchen to eat something. But she found no food to eat. It looked like she would have get something from the village market. Fluttershy closed the closet before grabbing her bag, going to the door to go shopping. Closing the door, she saw that she had many ponies already awake. Some foals had a backpack because they would go to school. It reminded Fluttershy of when she was studying at the village school. She wasn’t usually talking to other foals much because she was shy, but she worked hard at school to get good grades.  Arriving at the market, Fluttershy was looking for bread until he found it. She looked at the mare that sold bread. “I want seven breads, please.”  The mare took seven loaves of bread, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Fluttershy. Fluttershy smiled before paying and leaving.    When Fluttershy arrived at her house, she saw a newspaper on the carpet. Fluttershy took the newspaper with her mouth before opening the door of her house, entering, closing it and going to the table. Fluttershy set the newspaper and bag of bread on the table before going to the fridge to get margarine for bread and bring it to the table. She took advantage of the fact that she was in the kitchen and took a plate. Arriving at the table, she sat down, took a loaf of bread and set it on a plate, a kitchen knife, dabbed some margarine on the sharp object and passed it on the bread. When Fluttershy thought she was good with margarine, she started eating while thinking of what she should do next.    When she had finished eating, Fluttershy put the bag of bread in the cupboard, washed the knife and plate in the sink before leaving the house to see the animals in the forest. And when Fluttershy left home, there was always somepony from the village who watched her leave the village. As she was near the village exit she heard a mare’s voice and stopped.  “Do you know the last one?”  “No. Which is?”  Fluttershy looked back and saw two mares talking. She knew that wasn’t right, but her curiosity spoke louder. She approached softly behind the mares to hear the conversation.  “What seven ponies in our village died after climbing Mount Ebott,” replied the pale blue mare and white horsehair.  Fluttershy was afraid to hear the word “died.” Did ponies die after climbing a mountain? Did they die of tiredness or did they really die? If they really died, Fluttershy felt the fear taking over her.  The other mare, which was pink with light green mane said, “But how did they die?”  “Some say they died after falling.”  The pink mare let out a sigh of surprise. “My Fausto! Poor things!”  “Yeah. Poor things,” agreed the other mare, now sad. “I bet their parents must be very worried.”  “I think so too,” said the pink mare.  Fluttershy stepped back silently so the two mares wouldn’t hear her. When Fluttershy saw that she was well away from the Two Mares, it began to think. Did the six foals really die from the fall or was it another reason. It made her very curious and she intended to find out, but first she had to warn her animal friends. Fluttershy noticed that she was very close to the entrance of the village and went looking for the forest that was near the village.    The animals waited for Fluttershy. They didn’t know why Fluttershy was taking so long. Did something bad happen to the pegasus? Or did Fluttershy just forget about them? They wanted to go to the village looking for Fluttershy, but none forest animals were allowed in the village. Suddenly, they heard footsteps and saw Fluttershy running towards them. The animals smiled when they saw the pegasus.  “I’m here, little friends,” said Fluttershy.  When Fluttershy got close to the animals, she sat down. “Little friends, I have something to tell.”  The animals approached Fluttershy. “As I was leaving the village, I heard a talk of two mares,” began Fluttershy.    “They were saying that seven village ponies died after climbing Mount Ebott,” continued Fluttershy. “A mare said they died after falling.”  A white rabbit went to Fluttershy and spoke.  “Oh. If I’m going to do anything about it?” asked Fluttershy. “Well, I intend to investigate yes.”  The animals were saddened by the answer. Fluttershy noted the sadness of her friends and said, “hey. I swear I will return. Don’t worry.”  The animals smiled a little. If Fluttershy was saying he would return it would make her happy. “Well, I’ll have to organize my stuff before I go looking for a map.”  Fluttershy hugged all the animals before returning to the village to organize their things.    Upon arriving home, Fluttershy grabbed her brown backpack with a pink butterfly design. She put fruit in her backpack and would use a stick as a weapon. Now all she had to do was find a map, but how would she find a map? Well, Fluttershy intended to search the library now, she just hoped that it ever found a book that spoke of Mount Ebott. It wasn’t long before she found the library. Upon entering, she saw that there was almost no one in the library other than those who worked. Fluttershy began to think. If she wanted to find something about this mound, she would have to search the letter M shelves. But one thing she knew: It wouldn’t be easy.  Fluttershy began searching through the books on the shelves. And so far, she hasn’t found a book that talks about Mount Ebott. But she wouldn’t give up. At that moment she was filled with kindness.    After an hour of searching, Fluttershy found a book with the title, “Mount Ebott.” Fluttershy found the title strange, she hoped the title wasn’t so obvious. But she accepted, took it to read, and set it on the table.  Mount Ebott: It is the highest mountain in the world. Mount Ebott is located in the middle of the forest, near in the Village of Golden Flowers.  Fluttershy recognized the name of the village the book spoke of her village. So the forest Fluttershy would have to go to was the same as her animal friends was there. Fluttershy just hoped her friends didn’t think she has back. She was about to put the book back on the shelf until something fell from the book. Fluttershy took the paper and set it on the table to open it. To her surprise, it wasn’t ordinary paper, but a map.  A map for Mount Ebott! It was what I needed!  Fluttershy took the map and put it in her backpack before storing the book back on the shelf. She just hoped no one would suspect a map in the book. When she had finished saving, Fluttershy left the library. No one seemed to care about Fluttershy leaving the library. Well, better for her. Leaving the library, Fluttershy headed toward the forest to begin her adventure to Mount Ebott. Many ponies that saw Fluttershy leave the village wanted to know why the pegasus was leaving. Would she move? But they decided to not go ask to Fluttershy.