"Ah!" The terrified shriek rang out from the white mare closest to her, motivating a flock of birds to soar from their resting spot in the trees. Her flailing body flung through the air, landing hooves up in the grass.
Fluttershy followed suit, yelping as well, except she took caution to not break anything of use to her. She was in a different place from when she was last conscious. Everything was more spaciously spread apart. She was beside a tree the last time she was awake and now she lays in the center of a sun-drenched meadow. The forest roof parted ways so that angled glints of non-midday struck down around her. Just as it was before, the days were still very beautiful under the glistening sun.
Her snout bore the marks of a thick, purple stain. Her eyes crossed together just as dueling swords in attempts of seeing the splotch resting between her panning eyes. It held no pattern of note, it was simple splatter across her face. The flower gift she received a few week back still had yet to wilt. Through everything it still managed to sit peacefully in the strands of her flowery mane; how it has not withered is still a mystery.
The quintet still stood above, staring down at her with mostly puzzled faces, time locked in place. Her only line of defense was the cover of her mane that used to separate herself from the group of five ponies she just woke up to. Nopony dared to make a move towards Fluttershy in fear of the reaction it would elicit and she surely wasn't going to be the first say something. Up until now, she didn't have any knowledge of pony civilization past the Equestrian borders. From what she knew, to the north and south of Equestria resided large bodies of water, inhospitable ocean currents fueled by the polar caps of the world. The eastern and western borders of each map she had seen, including the one in her saddlebag, always ebbed off and died right at the edge of Equestria. She had no idea that she would find another pony, aside the one she sought, this far past Equestria's growing country borders.
She thought back on that vivid dream she was yanked from. All throughout that 'day' she was hearing voices in the back of her head, mainly the mentioning of three ponies: Sonnet, Pastel, and Banter towards the end of it. At first she thought they were her mind creating the illusion of veterinarians—a parallel drawn with her talent—with the only difference being their lack of advanced knowledge. Clearly understandable now, those ponies truly existed and now stood right above her.
Through the splits in her ruffled mane she could see them all, filtered but visible, without exposing herself to their gazes. Her mane, her eyes, her necklace, her wings, they all were subject to an unrelenting barrage of judging eyes. The way they all reacted, the way they examined her, they all looked extremely similar.
There was only one mare in the group, so from what she already knew, Fluttershy assumed that she was Sonnet. She was a white pony from head down to her torso. It wasn't until her coat reached slightly above her hooves where a new colors starts to fade in. Her light blue hooves raised above her head as she used them to brush dirt from her silver mane and following up with cleansing her entire body of filth.
Sonnet was the only one of group she knew, even if it was by just name. It didn't really matter much anyways, they all looked similar, not by face but by shades. The colors of their coats didn't vary much between them, they looked as if their coats were blended with a touch of white. Instead of the bright hues that Equestria was known for, they shared a more pale common ground. Like faded clothes taken from a washing machine, their colors were lackluster in comparison.
Most of them really didn't look threatening at all. Four of the ponies were dressed in nothing more than cloth pouches and sacks. All kinds of different shapes, squares, triangles, circles, had been patched onto their bags. The straps were being held together by sewing string unevenly threaded through the fabric. The exception to this plain ensemble was the metal-plated pony kneeling beside her. Even his oddly-shaped outfit looked exhausted. From hoof to torso he was caked in mud, grass, and whatever other filth he collected from the ground. It was with this attire that they seemed quite the opposite of threatening.
The white mare was the first to break the silence treaty: "Pastel," she tilted her head backwards and whispered. "Look up," her hoof waved through the air, gesturing towards the sky, "the sky is clear now. There isn't even a single cloud to be seen."
The beige colt planted his flank down onto the ground and looked up into the air, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. "This is so strange, where did that flame go? It just vanished on us."
Sonnet, was now looking into the sky, holding her mane in one hoof and stroking it with the other. "I felt it disappear right as soon as we woke up that winged-pony. Once I pulled her wing straight I felt that relaxing warmth flush from my body only to be replaced by something more unsettling, the fear of traversing these woods and not making it to town."
"Yeah... and now that you mention it, I do feel a little, no, a lot colder than when we were running through the woods. It feels like everything is normal now."
"I know we aren't just imagining any of this either. Her face still bears stains from its trickling magic. All that we just experienced had to come from her. Just look at that pendent hanging around her neck. No ordinary pony walks around wearing something as flashy as that."
“Do you think that she may be royalty? We’ve never seen a... a Pegasus, I think that’s what they’re called, before. We’ve only read about them in those childish fairy tales from our foalhood.”
Fluttershy looked down at the element hanging from her neck, taking note of its never-fading gleam. She knew, being an outsider to the group and the only pony there sporting wings that they were talking about her. Their talk of flying fire and its relation to her served to only confuse. She was a mere Pegasus, unless she were to randomly grow a horn, she was only capable of moving clouds and not much else.
The older stallion, who she believed had to be either Ironhoof or Glasseye, was now walking towards the two younger ponies in conversation. As he strolled along, his hooves dragged through the slender blades of field grass. There was a confident air about him, he wasn't trying to make his presence unknown to her with his head held high and his strides in step. He leaned over, his face now close to Sonnet's ear, and whispered into it. They talked too low for Fluttershy to actually hear more than muffled words.
The pony next to her lifted himself up off the ground, his heavy frame left imprints of his knees where he resided and his hooves struck the ground on his way to join Sonnet. Pastel soon followed the iron pony, connecting with the triage of ponies and turning the triangle into a circle. Now there was four huddled together, the last pony sitting by himself, still yet to say a single word.
Almost all attention was off Fluttershy now. Their concerns were still related to her identity and sudden appearance, but now there was four less eyes glued to her figure. Much to her relief, there was only one pair of eyes examining her body. It was the fifth and final pony, the reclusive one, still yet to be addressed. Of all the ponies she could have left with he was probably the worst one in the group to watch over her. She couldn't tell if it was that one static, amber eye that stayed locked onto her even when the other drifted elsewhere that were more unsettling, or if it were the paper-thin scratches running the lengths of his grey face, down onto his throat. As before, they both sat in silence as his eyes drifted their glances over the lengths of her body.
They had all left her She thought about turning tail and charging in the opposite direction, but her condition if she tried to run, another accident may occur, only this time she may not wake up. She may not even have to run though, these ponies seemed nice enough. Their intention were definitely in the right place. They could have easily carried on with their previous tasks, if any, yet they still stuck around with her and helped her out.
Then the circle unraveled, yet again there were five pairs of eyes, all attention on her. The old pony, with clear intentions, took the initiative and stepped forward. “Hello pony, you mustn't be afraid of us. My name's Ironhoof, and with this band of travelers: Sonnet, Pastel, Glasseye, and Banter I live my days." As he each name he pointed in said pony's direction, each one gesturing her a welcome response. "Do you have a name, or shall I call you ma'am?"
“Nice to meet you Ironhoof. . . That's very nice of you, but my name’s Flutt...Fluttershy. You don't have to call me ma'am unless you want to.” She spoke out in a tone lower than average, but much improved from the whisper it used to be.
“Fluttershy huh? That’s an odd name, not that it's bad or anything, it’s just like it reflects your personality. I mean, atleast you seem shy.” Banter stepped forward to talk with her.
"I guess I am kind of shy. I've been working on fixing that, though I still get a little anxious at times. If anything I'm more nervous than scared to talk to you all."
"There's naught to be afraid of, Fluttershy, it should actually be us afraid of you." Ironhoof commented. Fluttershy didn't pose a threat to them and she knew that. Still, his intentions were clear and she grew ever more relaxed. "I feel we really must get moving, else we lose daylight. Would you like to accompany us to camp? We already started fixing your wing up, if you plan on going your separate way at least allow us to finish doing so."
"That sounds nice." Her broken body ached. One wing sore from her plightful flight and the other was yanked from a quarry eels' maw. Her raw hooves bore fleshy wounds from the grueling path she set about walking. Within the span of a week, she managed to burn through nearly all of the supplies she brought along. Her bag was noticeably lighter from when she departed much to her back's pleasure. With such a generous offer, she couldn't refuse to tag along, even for just a brief moment.
"Well it's an hour's walk if we make haste, but a two hour stroll with what state we're in. Do you think you would be able to make it, or must one of us carry you?"
"I can walk, just let me wrap myself up beforehand. I would really hate to pass out on my way there." Fluttershy lifted her bag up to her lap, her hooves wavered to the point where even unfastening the straps became quite a challenge. She was struggling to open up the celestial pouch that held what she needed, the contents of the astral pouch still an enigma.
"Pastel, hand me those if you're just going to watch." Before Fluttershy could snap the bag open, Sonnet interjected. "Here, if bandages are what you're looking for then we have some for you to use. Come here and let me wrap your wing up so you don't have to." Without complaint, Fluttershy allowed her to circle around to her back into position. "Wow your mane is gorgeous!" She felt the rest of her mane being swept off of her back and over her shoulder.
At this gesture, a blush rose up unto Fluttershy's face. "Thanks, it's not really that big of a deal though." While Sonnet was working on wrapping her back, she thought of this to be a great opportunity to try and break out of her shell. Lucky enough they happened to be talking about appearance, a topic not uncommon to her. "I used to have friends with manes similar to mine, but even more fashionable, or more awesome than mine." Her voice was a little shaky, and the words were a bit uneasy, but she was making progress.
"You really shouldn't sell yourself short. Back at my home town, most mares, including myself, would love to have hair as long and vibrant as yours. Mine's kind of just boring and flat from how little sun I get to see. So these friends you speak of, are they Pegasi such as yourself?"
"Well. . . not exactly. We were a diverse group, not that that's an uncommon thing. Out of six ponies, really only two of us were Pegasi." She felt her mane dance back and forth between her caretaker's gentle hooves. The slow, gentle motions ensured it would not be ripped from her skull.
"How in the world did you manage to keep up a cross-racial relationship?! Having to travel across the land just to be able to see your friends, you mustn't have been able to visit them that often. They had to have been real special to warrant that kind of trouble."
"Yeah, they were real special ponies." A sigh released itself from her lips, head hanging at the thought of her friends. It felt as if time was flying by, taking everypony with it and leaving her to slowly crawl along the path of life. It hadn't been that long since she last departed from Ponyville to Canterlot and even less time from Canterlot to the borders of Equestria and beyond. Going of her scheduled meetings with the princesses, it had been two months, or at least she hoped, since she last saw the other Elements of Harmony, with her third meeting rearing it head.
There was something odd mentioned that did happen to catch her attention. Sonnet said something about traveling to meet her friends. What did she actually mean when she said that? In a way, it was a bit worrisome, there was something that she wasn't quite fully grasping. "I'm sorry if I don't understand what you mean, there's probably a good explanation for it, but why would I have to travel across the land to see my friends? We lived in the same town as each other, only a stroll away if we wanted to meet up."
"You mean to say that there's a town where Pegasi and Earth Ponies live together?"
Still unsure of what she was trying to say, Fluttershy nervously pawed at the ground, carving circles with the tip of her hoof. "Unicorns lived with us as well. Although the town was started by Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns are other common pony residents."
At hearing this, Sonnet leaned over Fluttershy's shoulder and peaked her head around. Her eyes, along with Pastel's and Banter's grew as large as saucepans. Banter and Pastel swiveled their heads towards Fluttershy, then back to each other, and then towards Fluttershy once more. Expressions of intrigue were plastered on their faces.
"Where in Boletaria did you used to live?! Unicorns have always lived separate towns from us for as long as I've known. They either are found living in that prestigious magic school Vinheim, or they're stuck in mining the miasma caverns surrounding Izalith."
The question asked was a bit forward for Fluttershy, she had never heard of Boletaria before. There was the possibility that a new civilization of ponies lie ahead, more land for her to wander atop its expanse. "Boletaria, excuse me for not knowing, but what is that?"
Ironhoof took the initiative and stepped forward. He explained to her that Boletaria was the name of the province she was currently in. "Izalith and Vinheim, both places mentioned are part of our province. Neither do we live in though. We are Earth Ponies so we hail from a different city. We live in Catarina, a farming city nearing the borders of Boletaria. I think it lucky of you to choose a place so close to our travels to rest. Others may not have been as generous as us."
She was right about the world. It continued to stretch onwards, and yet the end was nowhere in sight. She learned a little more than what she did about it before, but she still felt it an insignificant amount. The world was much more grand in size than she once previously thought. Not once did she suspect there to be more ponies past Equestria's borders.
And maybe she was lucky that this group stumbled upon her when they did. This isolation was making her crazy. She was seeing things that weren't there, her friends to be specific. Her dreams were beginning to phase into reality, more so the nightmares she's dreamt up. She needed a group to carry on with. It would be useful to learn how this new province worked, and I would help to have company along the way. Just a few hours would be enough to satiate her taste and help her carry on a bit more. And even if she was shy, some company was better than no company at all, to which she found ironic to be thinking.
"There you go, uh hehe," the laugh came about nervously."It's. . . something at least." With one last flick of Flutershy's mane, Sonnet finished up with her task and walked back into view. "So are we ready to get walking? It's probably best if we head start heading out right away."
"Why, what's wrong?" Fluttershy dared to ask.
"It's nothing to worry about! We're just running out of daylight and we can easily make it back to the city before the next day rises." Sonnet helped lift Fluttershy onto her feet. Now with everypony ready to go, the expedition of both parties commenced. Fluttershy continued traveling east and the band of ponies continued onwards to what's left of their ill-omened homes.