//------------------------------// // Flight of the Butterflies // Story: Out of her Element // by Sintakhra //------------------------------// Flight of the Butterflies ========================================================================= The sun hung as if from invisible wires high in the firmament, its celestial rays making its mark over all of the countryside. The skies were cloudless and clear and all that could be heard amongst the calm winds were the voices of two mares as they made their way down the path. Rainbow’s wings were itching beneath the layers she was confined to, and that vexed her greatly as she kept up the cheerful banter with her friend at her side. They had been trotting down the same road for an hour but their mood hadn’t diminished – much to Rainbow’s surprise. She half expected to be bored senseless but all the new sights – as simple as they were – kept her interest. Yet her wings still itched. “…but then Pinkie told me that we’re all addicted to our own thoughts.” Rainbow’s head snapped back to attention, focusing on the pony beside her. She blew a strand of red hair which had been falling in front of her eyes aside, before replying with genuine curiosity despite her slight lack in attention. “So what did you say back?” “Well… nothing. I spent the rest of the day thinking about what she meant by that. And then it hit me. I had spent the whole afternoon thinking about my thoughts!” Fluttershy giggled gently. The whole topic had really gone over Rainbows head but she couldn’t help but crack a smile. Any topic involving Pinkie had a tendency to run loops in her head the more she questioned it. Fluttershy herself had noticed her friend’s fading participation in the conversation, and so she herself also fell back into a quiet phase, lightly humming a song whilst they walked on. The day was so hot that they kept their cloaks on to shield themselves from its warm rays. Whilst their fur gave them protection from the sun, they were still able to get burnt and the last thing either of them wanted was a big stripe of pale on their backs to show where their saddlebags had been lying. Yet she could see her friend fidgeting beneath her cloak – and it was obvious why. “Do you mind if we stop for a bit, Rainbow” Fluttershy said after a few moments. She walked to the edge of the path and sat down on the grass. She herself didn’t really need to stop, but she knew Rainbow wouldn’t say anything about her itching herself. “Just for a few minutes, we can get the bags off of us and relax.” The blue mare’s eyes instantly brightened but she followed Fluttershy without showing any overt signs of glee. Parking her rump beside Fluttershy, she wiggled out of her saddlebags before unfastening her cloak. “Do you mind if I stretch my wings, pal?” she said, glancing sidelong at the Pegasus beside her. Fluttershy shook her head, smiling “Not at all.” Removing her own saddlebags and letting her wings stretch beneath the cloak, she watched as her friend flared her wings and with one powerful down-flap, took to the skies. It reminded her of when Rainbow would invite her to watch the sports-oriented Pegasus practice for the Wonderbolts. Whilst her practices were nowadays far fewer (at least as far as Fluttershy knew), she was always thrown an open invitation. The to-be-Wonderbolt was circling high above, banking this way and that. Her primaries caught the wind always at the right moment and sent her into a spiral of perfectly calculated pirouettes. Just watching Rainbow Dash made Fluttershy want to take to the skies and join her. She was not a bad flier at all – given the right motivation. Her wings may be slightly less tuned to flying and her body a tad less aerodynamic than her companion, but that didn’t make her enjoy flying any less than the average Pegasus, regardless of how often she avoided it. She thought back to when she and Dash had been roped into giving Twilight lessons on flying. It hadn’t gone quite according to plan and she cringed. It was one of the few points she can remember coming to verbal odds with Rainbow about something involving both of them personally… ========================================================================= Three winged ponies stood in the fields outside of Ponyville. Rainbow had taken them all to her usual practice grounds for Twilight’s first proper flying lesson. In good spirits, the day had started out nice and sunny without a scrap of cloud in the sky. Without any wind, the field they stood in didn’t move at all; giving it a creepy level of stillness. But no wind was the best way to start learning how to fly. That much rainbow had conceded. It taken them a long time to get to this simple stage, and the impatience was beginning to wear on the face of Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy saw this and cringed. Rainbow Dash was so excited at the prospect of a new flying buddy that she forgot how long it takes to get to such a stage. Twilight was standing before them, her face strained as she tried to navigate the new muscles attached to her body – a quill and parchment hovering before her making notes in true Twilight fashion. Fluttershy could understand Twilight’s slowness – It wasn’t every day somepony gains a pair of wings – let alone those the size of a Princess. But as Twilight practiced basic flapping whilst remaining ground-bound, Rainbow Dash was becoming more and more anxious to get airborne. “Okay Twi, we know you’ve already master how to flap your wings” she exclaimed after watching the Alicorn flap her wings for the umpteenth time; “How about we finally get you in the sky! Nothing helps flying than throwing yourself into the deep end” Twilight seemed a little apprehensive at that, her face mirroring the second Pegasus there. “But Rainbow, she needs to start slow. Come on Twi; let’s see if we can get you to hover a bit” The short tempered Pegasus threw up her hooves in desperation “But Fluttershy! She can fly. We all saw her after her coronation” Twilight – who had been remaining silent throughout the two’s discussion – turned her face to the ground with a blush. “Yes, but she didn’t know how to land did she? It took hours before we could knock Rarity out of that faint and get Twilight cleaned up after she crashed into that pond” Fluttershy said weakly. She thought it had been abnormal for Twilight to have known how to fly so well so quickly – It made sense that she had omitted in thinking through a few aspects of flying – like landing… and slowing down. Rarity had been practically bedridden at the thought of Twilight’s brand new coronation gown being covered not only in water but mud from the pond. “Not everyone is like you Fluttershy! Sometimes you need to take a leap of faith!” Dash cried out, frustration obvious in the nerves twitching around her body, unable to stay still at all. “We can’t always go as slowly as a snail.” “But she’s not like you either Rainbow!” Fluttershy blurted back, her voice which had come across strong had shrank into a quiet mew by the time she reached the end of the sentence. “Please girls” Twilight said, trying to interject herself between the hot-blooded Pegasus and the one beginning to curl up. “I don’t always go slowly,” Fluttershy murmured to herself “I take leaps of faith too” she looked up at Rainbow. She could feel each dig Rainbow took making her feel more and more uncomfortable. With her ears pinned back and her eyes wide, she tried to ready herself for the inevitable retort from her best friend. “You always go slow! But Twilight is smarter than that. She knows that to learn something new you need to go straight in with gusto!” Rainbow immediately regretted her choice of words. Rather than admit the look of pain in her friends face, she let out an “Ugh; we’ll continue this lesson later” before spreading her wings and putting as much distance between her two winged friends. ========================================================================= Fluttershy had been hurt by what Rainbow had said; despite the ring of truth to it. Fortunately like good friends they had both gotten together and apologised. There was no point in fighting in something so small after all and they cemented the agreement over a milkshake at Sugarcube Corner. She looked to the sky now as Rainbow dipped and dived through the clear blue. She had watched Rainbow long enough and paid attention to how her body moved to pick up a few things about flying. Maybe once they get back to Ponyville she could ask for some lessons herself. As long as she didn’t mind, that is. Her thoughts were interrupted by a “Wumph” as Rainbow Dash landed to the ground with a thud on all four hooves. She grinned at her friend and sat on her haunches beside her. “Enjoy the show?” She grinned, removing a small water bottle from her bags. Pulling the cap off with her teeth, she took a refreshing gulp from it before turning her head and looking to Fluttershy. The dainty yellow Pegasus nodded. “It was very nice” Rainbow facehoofed before giggling; “We need to get you a thesaurus. There are other words than ‘Nice’ y’know” Fluttershy didn’t know how to respond to that. Honestly, the first question she wanted to ask was how Rainbow knew what a thesaurus was; but she conceded the point to say “Your flying was really impressive”, earning a chuckle from the pony beside her. Rainbow fell backwards and relaxed in the long grass, staring up at the sky. “So how far are we from this Ballpark meadow place?” “Bellehoof Meadow” Fluttershy corrected, before continuing on “It should only be a few minutes out from here. Want to get going?” She cast a glance over the athletic figure lying on the grass beside her – leaving a distinct Rainbow-shaped indentation behind as she sat up and nodded. They continued walking through the simple countryside. The path they walked on was covered in a simple well-kept layer of grass and either side held fields of lush pony-high fields of verdure. In the distance ahead of them they could see great big purple tinted mountains capped with snow at the top – at least thirty leagues away. Fluttershy was in her element. She swivelled her ears to listen to all the sounds of the wildlife which lived either side of the simple path they trod. Nightjars and Kingfishers soared through the sky, performing aerial stunts not too different than those her friend had been performing. She even sported a Hoopoe nestling in a tree beneath the shade of the canopy. Clearly Celestia’s gift wasn’t for everyone. Her attention wasn’t always sky bound. For the briefest time she had the cutest timid little fox snapping playfully at her fetlocks. Rainbow had been less appreciative at this display of affection and had chosen to hover a hoof off the ground in response. Her magenta eyes locked on the furry rodent in the event he came close to her hooves. She wouldn’t tolerate a pony touching them and she would certainly not deign to let this long nosed orange excuse-for-a-dog do so either. The pup continued to play with Fluttershy for several minutes before being dragged back to its den by its mother, who gave less than comforting looks at the two mares. Despite Fluttershy’s insistence on the mother fox that they were not a danger; Rainbow felt the need to nudge the Pegasus along so they could continue their journey. “Wasn’t he just adorable? I don’t often see baby foxes around. Mister Bear has a tendency of scaring them away, although unintentionally” Fluttershy gossiped excitedly to herself. Discussing animals always brought a smile to her face and she would have loved to play with the little pup some more. “Foxes look weird. That long snout and huge ears…” Rainbow remarked as she returned herself to the ground with a soft muffled thud, falling in line next to Fluttershy Fluttershy giggled; “They’re not all that different from dogs, you know. And you seem to have no problem with Winona” “But they’re orange-“ “So is Applejack” the yellow Pegasus quickly replied, making the speedster roll her eyes. “You know what I mean! Orange dogs!” Rainbow waves her hooves around, as if trying to explain something so obviously ludicrous and important. “Orange!” It took a while for Rainbow to realise her friend was not only giggling, but outright laughing at her silly obsession with how weird she thought foxes looked. Seeing the smile on her friend’s features drew out one on her own, and she joined in with a chortle. The two continued walking together, occasional bouts of conversation intermittent with Fluttershy fawning over the critters of these foreign lands. It took all her willpower to get her to move along from talking to a very chatty polecat perched on a roadside log. As much as she wanted Fluttershy to enjoy herself, she also wanted to get this over and done with so she could head back to town and explore without the pressing need of watching flying ants. Before long however, the terrain changed rather stunningly. They crossed over a simple functional wooden bridge over a dried up riverbed and the green-terrain they had been walking on suddenly went up several degrees of lushness and richness. The grass either side had taken on a rich pinkie-pie-esque hue of colour caused by the interwoven blooming of pink pampas grass, giving the landscape a rich and vibrant appearance. Amongst Bellehoof meadow grew several unusual trees, ‘whistling thorn’ if Fluttershy remembered correctly which bloomed with a pale blue blossom which complimented the meadow beautifully. Even Rainbow found herself gazing around the meadow in, perhaps not the same wonder as her friend was, but certainly with intrigue. The wind blowing from the coastline to the west made the grassland ripple like currents across the unblemished land. But something was still noticeably missing. “So where are the Flutterby’s, Buttershy?” she said absentmindedly, mind still wandering before she clocked her head softly and corrected herself. Getting no reply, she turned to the silent Pegasus and nudged her shoulder. “Fluttershy?” “Shhh” She was hushed by the gentlest creature. “Look!” Fluttershy crouched down amongst the grass, hiding herself very effectively amongst the pink grass. Rainbow joined her in the underbrush and looked at what she was seeing. Swimming through the pink ocean was a moving living prism of colour coming from far to the north, cresting over the furthest reaches of the meadow. Colours of orange, red, yellow danced like iridescent fireflies amongst the snowflakes of blue, purple and white. The colour range was never garish and always vibrant The tidal wave of colour unravelled as though it was a roll of Rarity's fabric across the meadow. Tumble upon tumble of colour covered the glade. This was certainly far more impressive than last year’s feeble performance, Rainbow mentally noted. “Aren’t they beautiful?” Fluttershy whispered beside her from their hiding place. It was impossible for the pony to tell how many butterflies were a part of the performance as they flittered their wings in their search for the south. “Oh I can see so many types I recognise but even more I don’t know!” It was eerie for the blue Pegasus as she watched one of nature’s many wonders. That something so loud in its visuals made next to no sounds other than a deep inert rustling of tiny gossamer wings, it unnerved her enough that she did was she never would have thought she’d have done before. “What fly-… um... butterflies do you recognise?” Seeking to hear her friend’s voice as the first of the insects began to fly over their heads, their expressions unreadable as they formed the vanguard of the colour-ridden gale. Her friend replied without severing her gaze from the sight. “There are just too many to name! Whitetails, Orangetips. Look over there, there’s a Purple Emperor!” she pointed a hoof up at a very distinct and noble-looking insect with resplendent purple-blue wings. “Purple Emperor? Is he like their leader?” Rainbow asked in confusion, her mind coming up with the image of a robe-clad butterfly leading an army of royal-guardpony armoured insects, biting her lower lip to avoid laughing, she turned her gaze back skyward. “N-no. It’s just a name somepony gave them” Fluttershy whispered. As the torrents of colour reached further over the meadow, the pair who had made their way deeper into the meadow under the cover of pampas grass were now beneath the belly of the beast; with butterflies aplenty fluttering over their heads. They stood there watching the cascade of colour trickle above their heads until the last of the fleet had passed. They had been so close that Fluttershy didn’t need to use the binoculars she had gotten last time. “Come on Rainbow! Let’s follow!” Fluttershy said, standing up fully amongst the pink grass. She felt full of energy and eagerness, and without waiting for an answer bounded off gleefully after the army of insects. Rainbow blinked, completely at a loss for words. It looked so unreal seeing Fluttershy gallop and prance through the grass after the wave of colour. This was something she was so passionate about; much like Rainbow was so passionate about flying. With a smile – happy at seeing her otherwise reclusive friend finally out of her shell – she gave chase, blue cloak billowing behind her as she dashed through the meadow. The two mares galloped freely, stretching their legs and laughing at nothing as they bore a trail through the glade in pursuit of their “prey”. The wind had begun to pick up from behind them, giving them an additional boost of speed. Rainbow was a naturally fast runner and was easily keeping pace with the energetic yellow mare that had her wings unfurled for more burst, flapping them as she galloped. They just felt so free alone out here chasing after the living rainbow. They couldn’t remember for how long they ran before a new sight appeared before them. Cresting over the hills a few miles yonder was a large forest. It brought the two ponies to a half faster than a randomly appearing Pinkie could; and not for a good reason. The forest looked strangely familiar. Unnervingly so The butterfly cascade had flown into a forest which was filled with large dark ominous tree trunks, supporting a vast eerie canopy. Above it clouds were looming low, unguided and free. The forest was a spitting image of the Everfree forest. All colour drained out of Fluttershy’s face as she furled her wings up against her side. “A-all of the butterflies went in there?” She whispered, watching the last of the colourful dots vanish into the darkness. She shivered as the wind behind them continued to pick up and making her shiver beneath the cloak she wore. Rainbow was not afraid of the Everfree Forest; but she was at least wary of it. She wriggled off her saddlebags before taking to the sky, her cloak billowing behind her as she went higher than the canopy to gaze out in the distance. The forest stretched on for miles and miles, all the way to the base of the mountains to the east and even further south. In terms of scale it dwarfed the Everfree. Circling back down to the ground, she returned to her friend’s side who was biting her lip in worry. Only Fluttershy would fuss over the well-being of a swarm of insects Rainbow groaned to herself. However the fact still stood that both Pegasi would prefer leaving the forest behind them. Picking up her saddlebags once more, Rainbow bumped her flank up against Fluttershy’s. “Come on Flutters. We best be heading back.” She could barely hear her own voice as the wind whipped through the pink grass at their hooves. That’s strange Rainbow frowned. Wasn’t the grass as tall as us? She scrutinised the floor and realised it had been blown entirely down so it was nearly flat. But when she took off moments before the grass had been at least up to her shoulders. Fluttershy turned her head back to Rainbow – but something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. And the last vestiges of colour drained from her friend. Making its way up behind them was the largest of storms – led by what could only be described as hurricane-speed winds. Rainbow turned to look at what Fluttershy was looking at before taking in the scope quickly. “Fluttershy! Run!” she shouted – but Fluttershy wasn’t moving. The mare was rooted to the spot in abject terror. A dragon, Discord, even an army of parasprites... Nothing was as terrifyingly huge to the frail yellow pony as the storm less than a minute away from hitting them. Growling, Rainbow took off and scooped Fluttershy up in her forehooves before pushing her wings to take them skywards. If they could get above the storm, then maybe, maybe they could avoid it altogether. But something was wrong. Rainbow could barely fly and it struck her. They were laden with supplies – both of them. Her wings bit into the chilling wind and she struggled to gain altitude. “Fluttershy!” She screamed over the winds which ripped at their cloaks, “You need to fly! Please!” Fluttershy had her eyes sealed tight, whimpering as she was carried by her friend. She wanted to help Rainbow but try as she might – her wings would just not spread. They were paralysed at her side in terror. That minute which separated them from the billowing storms had passed. Rainbow let out a choked cry as the storm bit into their bodies, hurling them forwards far faster than she was able to do herself – but they were not gaining enough altitude. “I can’t do it Fluttershy” Rainbow cried out – but failed to hear her own voice over the din. “I can’t get us over the storm. Please Fluttershy!” “Rainbow!” Fluttershy cried out whilst in Rainbows collective grasp, her long hair billowing in the tempest. The clouds bore down over the pair – blocking out Celestia’s sun and covering them in a blanket of darkness. Cloud mixed with ground as the two were sent into a tumble, hurtling through the sky. Unbalanced by their gear and the constricting cloaks; the two could do little more. Holding each other close… They prepared for the worst.