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// Third lesson-  Fluttering Away 
// Story: The Magnificent Six 
// by Paradise Oasis 
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Third lesson-  Fluttering Away

It was four days after the reception, and the six fillies were on the move again. This time, the seven equines were traversing the countryside on the rail line running between Bright Valley and Fort Rainbow Dash. The six of them were talking over everything that had happened in their last crazy adventure, and discussing the possibilities of the all adventures to come.

"Man, you sure handled that mean old lioness real good, Firefly!" Surprise giggled, floating in the air above the others. "The guards said she was still mumbling incoherently when they dragged her away!"

"You didn't do too bad yourself, kid!" the pink Pegasus giggled. "If you hadn't come in when ya did, we all woulda been packed up and on our way ta the volcano of Gloom!"

"I still can't believe what we found out from those three 'pony pals', that those three witches were behind most of our troubles!" Twilight shook her mane. "Who knows why they stole the princess's chariot, and what Hydia is planning to do next!"

"Oh dear... about that... " Princess Cadence looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, girls! This trouble with the three witches from the volcano, this is all my fault!"

"Your fault, princess!?!" Glory whinnied, aghast. "But how can that be?"

"The witch Hydia and I have a history... we go back a ways, she and I." The Princess looked down. "I took pity on her, after the human kingdom drove her and her daughters out. And I urged the Dream Valley herd to let them take refuge in the volcano, as they had nowhere else to go." The alicorn narrowed her eyes. "I have very much come to regret that decision!"

Twilight was about to inquire further, but she was quickly interrupted by Applejack.

"So, we're heading to Fort Rainbow Dash next, right?" the orange mare asked the Princess. "That's the place where the boys will be meetin' us!"

"Yes, my little pony, that's correct." Cadence told her. "I had told them to catch a train there to meet us, after they help the old shogun's cousin transition in as the new ruler."

"Wow, Fort Rainbow Dash!" Glory whinnied in awe. "I've heard that they are the most militaristic of all of the Ponyland herds!"

"I heard the stallions all train as soldiers from foal hood and will attack another pony at the slightest provocation!" Surprise shivered.

"I heard they leave the weak foals outside the fortress to die, and throw the foals with defects off of cliffs!" Twilight agreed, shuddering at the thought.

"WHAT!?! We are not like that at all!" Firefly snorted defensively. "Okay, I mean our herd is a little rough around the edges, but we'd never hurt another pony! We use all of our soldiering against goblins and monsters!"

"Sorry, Firefly, we didn't mean to offend," Glory apologized. "So, how long did you train as a soldier, Firefly?"

"Wha? Oh no, I'm a dainty and delicate girl. I never trained with a weapon or anything!" Firefly said demurely, running her hoof through her mane in a frilly manner. "Oh sure, I was taught how to defend myself, but I personally think combat is icky!"

Surprise leaned over to whisper to Glory. "If she's Fort Rainbow Dash's version of a girly girl, I'd hate to see one of their tomboys!"

"Totally!" the white unicorn giggled back.

"Say, has anybody seen Posey?" Applejack suddenly asked, looking around the passenger car. "She's gone off and disappeared again!"

"Ohhh, you know that filly!" Firefly replied with a chuckle, nibbling on the boil of oats on her forward tray. "Probably off smelling the roses somewhere!"

...

"Oh, my! These flowers are so lovely!" Poesy thought to herself, sniffing the wonderful fragrance. "I can't believe they can grow these wonderful roses out here!"

The yellow filly was on the back of the caboose, looking at the flowers the conductor was growing in an outdoor flower box. She found it so amazing that something so fragile could grow in this much wind and speed. It was, to her, just another amazing thing that she loved about her beloved plants!

Poesy was so wrapped up in her wonderment that she failed to notice three pony-sized forms fly down and land on the caboose. The three shapes stealthily crawled forward, and stared down at the unsuspecting filly.

"Is that the harmony bearer we seek?" a blue mare with a yellow mane asked. "She looks just the way Morning Glory described her!"

"Yes Whirly, I believe that is indeed Poesy!" a lavender Pony with a blue mane whispered back. "We should move to rescue her at once!"

"Enough chatter, Moon Jumper!" a pink mare with a blue mane hissed. "Queen Rosedust is counting on us to carry out this mission! Now, release the sleep powder!"

"Yes, Captain Sky Dancer!" they replied in unison, saluting with their hooves. Unfolding their fluttery, insect-like wings, the three ponies showered a large amount of pollen down on the unsuspecting Poesy.

"Oh my...." The yellow earth filly's eyes suddenly began to flicker. "I feel sooo sleepy..."

Poesy fell over with a soft -thud-, as Moon Jumper and Whirly fluttered down. They gently picked her up, and flew away towards the south.

...

"Say, are you sure Poesy is all right?"  Glory asked in a concerned tone. "She’s been gone an awful long time!"

"Eh, you're probably right!" Firefly sighed, rolling her eyes. "She probably got frightened by her own shadow, and hid in the baggage compartment!"

"Glory and Applejack check the back cars of the train," Twilight told them. "Firefly and I'll check all the cars up to the engine. Surprise, you-"

Twilight looked up at the white Pegasus, and saw she had two pairs of 3-D glasses she had gotten from Butter Pop's theater.

"Ohhhhh, lookie Twilight!" she giggled, waving her hooves around in front of her face. "I can see in the sixth dimension!"

"Surprise, you stay here with Cadence, and continue being a lunatic. It's what you're best at!" The pink unicorn rolled her eyes, then galloped out of the car.

"Good luck, my little ponies!" Cadence called after them, as they went to search the train.

...

"O-oooohhh.... where am I...?"

Posey's eyes soon flicked open as she returned to the waking world. She found her vision blurry at first, but as her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, she found herself in a prison cell.

Looking around, she found it to be a well furnished, extremely clean prison cell- with a comfortable feather bed, silk sheets, and a dresser with all the proper pony grooming materials.

But, Posey realized, it was still a cell, nevertheless.

"Well, glad to see your finally awake, Miss Posey," a male voice from the opposite cell called out to her. "You were out for an awfully long time!"

Spinning around, the yellow filly saw a stallion with a purple coat and mane, and a three-leafed clover cutie mark. Growing up in Bright Valley, Posey knew exactly who this pony was.

"P-prince Clever Clover?!?" she gasped out in shock, rubbing her eyes with her hooves in disbelief. "Oh my goodness! Your highness, what in the world are you doing here?"

"It's a rather pathetic story, I'm afraid to say," the prince of Bright Valley admitted sheepishly. "A few days ago, my wife sent me on a diplomatic mission to Dream Castle. But along the way, I kind of got myself lost in the mastificent forest, and... well, kind of ended up here in Flutter Valley."

"Flutter Valley? The hidden kingdom?" Posey's eyes suddenly went wide. "Then... the flutter ponies have us?!?"

"I believe so, unfortunately," the Prince sighed. "And while I believe they will try to ransom me back to Bright Valley, I have no idea what they intend to do to you!"

"Oh dear...." The worried Posey whimpered sadly.

...

"This is a perfect turn of events, my queen!" Wingsong, a Pink flutter pony with a blue mane, decreed. "Not only do we have Silver Swirl's foolish husband prisoner for trespassing into our lands, but we have also liberated Fluttershy's descendant from those inferior beings!"

Located in the tropical jungles of southern Ponyland, Flutter Valley was a beautiful paradise. Flutter pony families made their homes in veranda-styled tree houses, far above the ground below. In the center of the valley stood a Stonehenge-like megalith, with the white hot glow of the sunstone bathing the entire valley in it's light. It front of the megalith stood Queen Rosedust's throne, around which the mares of her court fluttered about, performing tasks for their queen.

"Yes Wingsong, I am very pleased the Windy Wing corps was able to liberate our Harmony Bearer," Rosedust agreed, flexing her butterfly-like wings. "But I am uncertain if we should hold the young prince hostage."

A pony of the same coat and mane coloration as Posey, Queen Rosedust XXXI was a commanding figure of a pony. Within her resided the collective genetic memory of every previous Queen Rosedust before her- a side effect of the spell that transformed her ancestor into a flutter pony- and a pink plume stuck out of the top of her mane. She was now listening to the words of her advisors with interest, deciding about how to proceed with these current matters.

"I absolutely agree with you, my queen! Clever Clover did not mean to get lost in our lands, we must release him!" Tropical Breeze, a blue pony with a red mane, agreed. "And while my esteemed colleague may be the head of our defense forces, and your diplomatic advisor, I urge you to not provoke a conflict with the other pony kingdoms!"

"Has our dear minister of State forgotten what those ponies did to our ancestors?" the pink mare scoffed, lowering her gossamer wings in annoyance. "Does not your ancestral memory recall alicorn Celestia's murder of our first princess, and how our first ancestors were caged like freaks after unicorn mages turned them into flutter ponies! Do you not remember how ponykind hunted our ancestors for generations, hoping to exterminate us from existence?"

"We cannot blame this generation of ponies for the mistakes of the past!" the blue flutter snapped back. "What has our isolation and xenophobia gotten us, save alienating us from our fellow ponies?"

"Both of you, enough!" Rosedust snorted, silencing the other two. "The course we must take on this matter is clear! Clever Clover shall be returned to his wife, provided Bright Valley can pay a wergild of foodstuffs and gold ornamentation to the Flutter Pony herds!"

"And as to Posey?" Topical Breezes asked. "Her friends and Princess Cadence will be looking for her, you know!"

"We shall ask the filly of Kindness what she wants, and ascertain if she has been well treated!" Rosedust replied. "As to her friends, I have ordered my personal handmaidens, Morning Glory and Honeysuckle, to keep an eye on them!" She flew up in the air. "Now, this court is dismissed!"

As the queen and the others flew away, Wingsong trotted over to Cloud Puff, Flutter Valley's chief physician.

“Doctor, may have I word with you?” the mare asked the other pony. “I have a matter with you I wish to discuss!”

“Of course, my dear!” Cloud Puff raised her crystalline wings. “What can I do for you?”

"Dr. Puff, have a flutter potion prepared without our queen's knowledge." the insect-winged mare hissed. "To remove her inferiority, we shall make the lady Posey one of us!"

"But we cannot do that against her will!" The doctor protested. "That would be-"

"It would be a shame if something happened to that daughter of yours... wouldn't it, Cloud?" Windsong glared at her. "Poor little Buzzer, crushed like a bug...."

"All right… I'll do it!" the pink mare with the blue mane lowered her head. "The potion will be ready in six hours."

"Excellent!" Wingsong hissed. "Now, to send my own little surprise for Cadence and her inferior fillies!"