Third Lesson- Farewell to Flutter Valley!
"...And that, my good queen, is why we did what we did," Twilight Shine finished. "So, you can clearly see why we had to act so aggressively, given the circumstances and situation."
Standing before Queen Rosedust's throne, the six fillies, along with Lady Flutter, Dr. Puff and Tropical Breezes, finished telling the monarch all that had transpired. They covered every detail, from Wingsong's vile treachery and attempted genocide, to the kidnapping and maltreatment of Posey.
"So, my good Posey. You have made clear that you are unhappy with being brought here, and with this transformation against your will," Rosedust inquired, looking down at the earth pony with flutter wings. "Lady Posey, on behalf of all of my subjects, I apologize for all of these heinous actions taken against your person."
"Thank you, your grace. And I must say, these flutter wings are extremely beautiful, and I wish I had the time to learn how to fly with them." Posey bowed politely, smiling at the flutter queen. "And I'm actually really very flattered that you and your subjects think so highly of me. But I just can't bear to part with my family, friends, and my flowers to become one of your subjects."
"Awww, you're a sweetheart, Posey!" Firefly exclaimed as she and the other fillies trotted over and embraced their returned friend. “I promise we’ll never let anything happen to ya again!”
"It's a miracle you still think so highly of us, considering everything we've done to you in the past," Tropical Breezes whinnied in shame, lowering her head. "I'm just amazed that you had the courage to speak up like that, after Wingsong... no offense meant, of course."
"None taken, I really am a very shy pony," Posey giggled softly. "But seeing how brave Surprise was, playing with the princess when she could've been arrested... well, I just had to open up and speak my mind!"
"Awwww, I really wasn't bein' brave!" the pegasus giggled, doing a loop in the air. "Lady Flutter and I were just havin' fun!"
"But your playing with my daughter like that... it truly reminded me of how alike flutters and non-flutters really are," the queen told them, her gaze sweeping across the entire group. "Regular ponies are not inferior beings, nor are they enemies of our people. The crimes of your ancestors should not be held against your generation, my little ponies!"
"So does this mean you'll open contact between Flutter Valley and the outside world now?" Applejack asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid your little display of hostility when you first arrived has stirred my subjects’ distrust of outsiders up once more." Queen Rosedust shook her head. "I'll be lucky to smooth over letting all of you leave with Miss Posey!"
"Those wings should last a month or two, Miss Posey," Dr. Puff told her, looking the large gossamer butterfly wings over. "But without the treatments, they should crumble to dust, and you'll be a normal earth pony once again."
"Thank you so much, Dr. Puff," Posey told the depressed doctor quietly. "And don't worry, I don't blame you for any of what happened to me!"
"Thank you, Miss Posey," Cloud replied guiltily. "I just wish I could feel the same way about myself."
"What will become of Queen Bumble and her subjects?" Twilight asked curiously.
"They shall be exiled from Flutter Valley for their part in these events; we shan't harbor murderous thugs in our midst," Rosedust snorted. "I've already dispatched a large portion of the flutter army to see them to the border, and I doubt they will be causing us trouble again."
"What about Morning Glory, and Honeysuckle?" Glory asked, concerned for their two new friends. "Surely you won't punish them for their role in helping us."
"My subjects will not exactly be happy to see those two for awhile, so I have assigned them to begin scouting the lands beyond Flutter Valley, and to learn the mood of other pony herds," Rosedust replied. "Who knows? If tensions calm down enough, I may make Morning Glory ambassador to Dream Valley in the future."
"Now, if all of you shall follow me, I shall be happy to guide you out of Flutter Forest personally!" Tropical Breezes whinnied. "But I'm afraid once you leave our woods here, the enchanted paths will shift and non-flutters like yourselves won't be able to find your way back to this valley again."
"This is goodbye, Surprise," Lady Flutter whimpered, tearfully hugging the white pegasus. "The ladybugs and I are really gonna miss you."
"Drink an extra cup of tea for me, little Lady!" Surprise laughed, trying to cover her sadness. "And tell that goofy ladybug Liza to stop slurping so loud, she's upsetting the queen!"
"Thank you for all you've done for us, your highness!" Twilight bowed to her, as they all turned to leave. "Despite all that has happened, I hope Dream Valley can one day be friends with you and your herd!"
...
As the girls trotted their way back through the forest paths, Twilight was thanking Tropical Breezes for all of her help in getting things straightened out after their little 'adventure'.
"I'm glad normal ponies will have you pulling for them at the royal court, Lady Breezes," the pink filly told her. "Hopefully, you can help convince your tribe that the rest of ponykind means well."
"I certainly hope so, Miss Shine," the flutter mare replied. "But if we are to become a part of Ponyland society once more, it is not only the flutter ponies’ attitudes which will have to change."
"Hey, whaddya mean by that?" Firefly asked, zipping down from her conversation with Surprise. "We're not the isolated nutjobs who think we're better than anybody else here!"
"And the way you acted when you first arrived wasn't hostile?" Tropical asked. "The reason we've shut ourselves away in Flutter Valley is because of the hatred and intolerance most ponies have shown to us over the ages."
"I don't think any pony has ever thought about it that way before," Glory noted, as they neared the edge of the Flutter Forest. "I guess there will have to be adjustments on all sides."
"Look at that, girls!" Surprise yelled, bouncing her way across the sky. "We're back in the outside world again!"
Tropical Breezes took them out past the tree line, and Twilight saw the path close up behind them.
"Well, I guess this is it," the pink unicorn said with a sigh. "What if we ever want to speak with you again?"
"If ever you need to seek us out again, speak to the Moochick," Tropical Breezes told her. "He has a map of the only unchanging path through our forests."
"Goodbye, Tropical!" Applejack called out, as the flutter pony dove back into the trees. "I hope we meet again someday!"
The six fillies trotted along the tracks for about half an hour until they came back to the railroad junction from which their train had first been waylaid.
"This is it, girls!" Firefly exclaimed, looking down the open track towards Fort Rainbow Dash. "We follow this, and we'll be back with the Princess and the girls in no time!"
"You stupid ponies won't be going anywhere!" an angry voice buzzed as several apodians followed a large female down from the sky. "Except perhaps to the morgue, filled with the sharp stings of my warriors!"
"Oh... you must be Queen Bumble..." Glory laughed nervously. "The flutter ponies must have booted you out of the forest near here!"
"Yes, what a lucky coincidence!" Pointer laughed evilly, flying up beside his queen. "Just the place to take revenge on the fillies who ruined our schemes to take Flutter Valley for ourselves!"
More and more bees flew down from the sky, swarming around the six ponies by the hundreds.
"Bumble, can't we work this out?" Twilight pleaded. "We aren't looking for a fight!"
"Yeah, it wasn't exactly our fault you got your swarm booted from Flutter Valley!" Firefly blurted out, causing Bumble to glare at her.
"Smooth one, big mouth!" Applejack snorted, as the swarm closed in tighter.
"You ponies should have minded your own business!" Queen Bumble buzzed. "Now you shall pay dearly for costing the swarm our home!"
The four girls huddled together closely, surrounded by angry foes on all sides. The apodians seemed to enjoy taunting the frightened fillies, flying in and glaring at the ponies evilly, before zipping away.
"Oh, Twilight! What are we gonna do now?" Glory wailed. "There's too many of them to fight off or to zap our way out!"
"I don't know!" the panicked unicorn replied, her hooves over her ears. "I can't think of anything, with all of this buzzing!"
Posey suddenly looked around at all her scared friends, then looked straight up at queen Bumble, narrowing her eyes.
"Twilight, can you and Glory use your unicorn magic to power my wings up?" the earth/flutter filly asked, flexing her wings.
"We can augment your wing power with our telekinesis," Twilight replied. "But why-"
"Just do it!" Posey snorted, looking up at the sky angrily. "It's time to teach these bugs a lesson!"
The two unicorns’ horns glowed, and Posey began to vibrate her wings back and forth, faster and faster. The filly rose up off the ground, floating up to face the queen of the apodians.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Bumble asked angrily, flying up into the filly's face.
"SHIFT TO UTTER FLUTTER!" Posey cried out, hitting the oversized bee with a wave of unicorn-augmented wind.
"Aiiiiiieeeeeeee!" the queen bee cried out as she and Posey were sent flying in opposite directions. While the blast was nowhere near as powerful as a regular utter flutter, it was enough to send the oversized insect flying away into the sky.
"Your majesty!" Pointer called out, as he and the other bees flew after her. One of the drones, a male with a mohawk and eye patch, turned and motioned them away.
"Get outta here, little ponies!" he yelled down to them. "Hurry, while Pointer and the others are in disarray!"
"Sting?" Firefly yelled up in shock. "Thank you for helping us Sting, and I'm sorry he fought like that!"
"Without their queen to direct them, the swarm isn't attacking us!" Twilight exclaimed. "Let's follow his advice, and go!"
As the swarming apodians were distracted, six fillies ran and flew away from the chaos, as fast as their hooves and wings could carry them.
...
"Blast blast BLAST!" Hydia shrieked, as she watched the scene in her viewing pool. "Why couldn't those stupid bees finish off the ponies when they had the chance? This makes my job even harder now!"
"Something wrong mom- I mean Hydia?" Draggle asked, walking into the room.
"Yeah, we heard ya screaming!" Reeka added, stuffing her face with a half-melted chocolate bar. "We thought something musta happened!"
"Those foolish ponies survived Flutter Valley! And now they're on their way back to Fort Rainbow Dash!" the old witch roared. "If we don't do something quickly, they'll solve the problems in that community, as well!"
"Chill out, Hyida! We can still get them!" Reeka assured her mother. "Can't we call in that favor our friend in Fort Rainbow Dash owes us to deal with them?"
"And isn't the destruction spell, the one you're draining the solar chariot of all it's magic for, almost ready?" Draggle added.
"Why, you girls are absolutely right!" Hydia cackled, suddenly in good spirits again. "But we'll need more witches and warlocks to cast the spell! Girls, go get the spell book, and summon all of the other mages in the Order of Gloom to the volcano!" Hydia narrowed her eyes. "It's high time we send all of these little ponies to the glue factory- once and for all!"
As the two girls ran to carry out the tasks assigned to them, the old witch's roiling laughter echoed off the walls of the sinister and silent volcanic peak.