Fluttershy
The first thing she did upon waking up was lick her lips.
The air was very hot. Why was her cottage so very hot? She was parched. And if she was parched, then no doubt her animal friends were as well! It would be rude to keep them waiting for water.
Fluttershy opened her eyes and stifled a squeak when she realized she was not in her cottage at all.
Red flesh clung tightly to the roof, pulsing with an irregular heartbeat. She started, hiding beneath the covers and shivering while she got her bearings back. After a few minutes of tense tremors, she poked her head back out.
Right. Elizabeth Greene's guest room. She licked her lips again. At least it was a dry heat. It really... wasn't all that bad, really. It was just how she made her home. Sort of like birds making nests from twigs. Except, these weren't twigs. To be honest, Fluttershy really didn't know what it was and she really really really didn't want to know.
She noticed that the tendrils weren't on the bed, which was a relief. But... this was Elizabeth's bed. What was she doing here? And more importantly, what wasn't Elizabeth doing here?
Worry spurring her, Fluttershy got out of bed, grimacing when her hooves squelched on the floor. Where was Elizabeth? Oh, she hoped the poor dear didn't get lost in the castle. That would be awful! She looked out the window, where Celestia's sun was rising.
She fretted nervously for a few moments, wondering what she could possibly do if the Evolved was lost in the castle, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There was Elizabeth, huddled against a wall. She had sunk to the floor, her knees raised and head bowed into them, with her hands linked beneath them. She was so deathly still, Fluttershy might've mistook her for a statue if it wasn't the fact that an Evolved stood out no matter how active they were.
"Oh! H-Hello, Elizabeth," Fluttershy said, hiding an eye behind her mane. "I-I'm sorry if I scared you, waking up."
Elizabeth didn't react. She remained there. Fluttershy wondered if maybe she was asleep. That would make sense. She'd never actually seen the Evolved sleeping before.
"Um, Elizabeth?" she asked gently. "Are you asleep? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. But, um, if you are asleep... oh no, if she were asleep she wouldn't be able to answer," Fluttershy muttered to herself. What if Elizabeth woke up after breakfast? Oh, the poor dear wouldn't have anything to eat! Fluttershy resolved not to let that be the case.
"Well, if you're there, just, um, I'm going to go get you something to eat. Anything you want?"
Nothing.
"A-Alright, I'll just trust the, um, the chefs." She felt so awful leaving Elizabeth here like that. Something was clearly wrong with her, but she didn't know what because she wouldn't tell her! She felt so useless. Her talent was with animals, and technically speaking everypony, from mice to griffons to ponies to bears to evolved were all animals. And if she couldn't even help Elizabeth, what good was she? Oh, but she had to be patient with her. She was fine yesterday, if somewhat worried about her blessing. Though she didn't know how aliens worked. So, really, all she could do was try.
She opened the door, flinching at the feel of the flesh that had overgrown it, and stepped outside, closing it behind her.
Once outside, she quickly spotted a servant, the same one from yesterday actually, whistling a merry tune as she coordinated a broom and dust pan. "Hello, Miss Fluttershy," she greeted heartily.
Fluttershy's nerves clenched, making her draw back into herself. "Oh. Um. Hi. You're looking, um, better." Her eyes widened. Oh no, what if she misunderstood her? "I mean, not that you looked bad yesterday, but you're not looking sick anymore, so - "
She tossed her fiery red mane. "Oh, think nothing of it! Yep, I'm better now. So's everypony else, actually. The bug's cleared up, so all's well." The servant paused. "Wait a second. Did you sleep in the alien's room?"
"Um, yes?" she squeaked. Did she do something wrong?
"Huh. Strange. Never would've thought that Elizabeth would let you in so easily."
"You've met her."
The unicorn mare shrugged. "Not even once, but word gets around fast. Ah, but look at me, holding you up. You must be hungry. Their Majesties and Miss Sparkle are already in the private dining room. I can ask a guard to escort you, if you wish?"
"O-Oh, you don't need to trouble yourself. I can find the way. Um, thanks for the, um, offer." Before she could ruin the conversation anymore - that was what she was doing, surely - Fluttershy departed and headed for the Princess's dining hall. The guards gave her a little trouble, but that was okay because they were just doing their jobs. Inside, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were already speaking with Twilight about, well, something.
"So she's been infecting members of the castle?"
"She never said it outright, Luna," Twilight said. "But she heavily implied it. It's strange, though. Nopony's sick at all. Though some servants were yesterday, so it must've cleared up since then."
"It was good of you to bring this to our attention, Twilight," the solar goddess said. "I shall have choice words with Elizabeth regarding her... activities."
"Um, everypony?
"Hold on, sister on ours. It is very likely Elizabeth believes her virus to be a good thing. After all, if she is to be believed - and we hath sensed no lies on her - it is this virus that gave her strength beyond that of the humans. Though if it has not done so, if it has already cleared up, then it leads us to wonder what her motivations truly are."
"E-Excuse me?"
"Be that as it may, Lulu, we can not simply sit back and wait for her next move. We must be proactive. For all we know, at this very moment she may be - Oh, hello Fluttershy."
"Um, h-hello, Princesses. Hello, Twilight."
"Hi! Fluttershy, do you know where Elizabeth is?" Twilight asked. "I think we need to talk with her."
"Oh, I heard. She's, um, she's not exactly feeling well. I don't think." She suddenly felt she needed to be defensive. Elizabeth almost certainly wasn't feeling well, she didn't need to be scolded on top of that! "Um, if I may ask, can I have my meal and hers brought to her room? I'll try and, um, talk with her. She's been making ponies sick, right?" They nodded. "Well, if you want, I could ask her not to do that?"
Her friend pondered this. "Well, if anypony could convince an alien creature not to do something, it'd be you, Shy."
"Yes, we hath heard of thy dealings with even a dragon, gentle Fluttershy. If anypony is suited for the task of cowing Elizabeth Greene, it shalt be thou."
"Um, alright. Can I, um, bring her food there for her?"
"Indeed!" Luna's horn lit up, levitating two platters of food towards Fluttershy. "These are thou and Greene's meals," she said, the smell of a daisy sandwich and fish wafting to Fluttershy's nose. "We shalt accompany thou to deliver them."
"Thank you, Princess Luna," Fluttershy said with a nervous bow of her head, waiting for Luna to pass her before turning around to follow the alicorn. She was so close she could actually feel the air crackle around her ethereal mane and tail. They quickly found their way back to Greene's room, the inside of which, including the occupant, were completely unchanged. Luna levitated the platters to the bed, looking around the nest with a frown.
"Well. This is certainly interesting," she said, lifting a horseshoe off the ground. "Disgusting as well. Very well then. As much as we would have harsh words with the alien for making our subjects ill, we shalt leave her to thee. Take care, Fluttershy."
"Oh, um, thank you, Princess Luna. You too." Luna left, her telekinesis closing the door behind her with a wet squelch.
Tentatively, Fluttershy took the platter with fish onto her back and walked next to the still-immobile Elizabeth Greene. She sat next to her, ignoring the stomach-churning scent of meat, placing it before her. "Hello, Elizabeth," she said as cheerfully as she could. "I brought you breakfast."
Nothing.
She sighed. Scolding her for making ponies sick could wait. Something was clearly very wrong with her. "Elizabeth, you know you can talk to me if something's wrong. I-If you want to, that is. I promise I won't laugh or anything."
She continued. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I mean, there so many things I have trouble talking with my friends. B-But I've gotten better at it, really! I-I know there's something troubling you. So if you want to talk about it, I'm here."
Fluttershy smiled, but Greene couldn't see her thanks to her posture. After a moment, she frowned, and trotted over to the bed. She grabbed her own plate in her mouth and carried it back, sitting next to Elizabeth, ignoring the way the tendrils squirmed against her coat. She lifted her daisy sandwich and nibbled from it, looking at Elizabeth. She sighed. She was being even more stubborn than Angel. At least he acknowledged her existence when he was being difficult. Where to start, where to start. How does a pony get through to a clearly depressed alien being?
She took a hoof and gently laid it on Greene's legs. If being around Elizabeth was warm, then touching directly was hot. She was so hot she nearly burned to the touch. The pegasus could feel a her tense a tiny bit, but otherwise the Evolved did nothing. "You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to, but I want you to know I'm here if you need me. Understand?" She pulled her hoof back.
Greene didn't respond, but Fluttershy did notice something. The red and white tendrils beneath her pulsed once.
"So you can hear me?"
Pulse. Was Elizabeth even aware of the pulses she was sending out, or was it something she did by reflex? A tell, similar to an ear flick or eyes looking back and forth? Fluttershy decided it didn't matter. She now had a way to make progress.
"Is there something wrong?"
Pulse.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The web under her rippled violently. She guessed that was a no.
"Is it something embarrassing?"
Ripple.
"Something that makes you sad?"
Pulse.
Fluttershy bit her lip. "You do know that you'll feel better if you talk about it?"
Ripple-pulse. She guessed that amounted to an 'I don't know'.
"I promise. Talking about it always helps. You know you can trust me, right? If you don't want me to tell anypony, I won't."
Pulse.
"Will you please talk to me, Elizabeth? I want to help you," she said, her voice beginning to crack. What if she was trying too hard? What if she made Greene uncomfortable?
Ripple.
"Please, Elizabeth? For me? I'm worried about you. I really, really want to help you. Whatever's wrong, you can talk to me about it," she said, tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. She was failing. It was the Gala all over again. She wasn't able to help, she wasn't able to -
Greene lifted her head and inclined it towards Fluttershy, each locking their one visible eye. "Help," she whispered. "Can't help. Can't help, can't aid. Can't can't can't."
"I can try," Fluttershy said.
She shook her head, her orange mane flying back and forth the short distance it could. "Can't can't can't!" she hissed. "Nothing to control."
"Can you at least tell me what's wrong? You never know I can't help until I know what the problem is."
She pursed her lips, which to Fluttershy looked almost funny. Like a fish. "Tried to bless your kind. Did bless them. Tried to make them so happy happy happy and family and listen but it didn't work! Bodies fought it. Killed it. Tried to stop it but failed failed failed! Blessing doesn't make ponies happy." She clenched her fists beneath her knees. "Only suffer. Only suffer." She bowed her head again. "Worthless. Am worthless."
Fluttershy's heart just about broke once she deciphered what happened. So she thought that her infection would make ponies happy, but was heartbroken when they got better, and while they had it it didn't make them happy at all? That was so horrible! She tried to help but only caused pain. "You're not worthless, Elizabeth. I'm sure there's plenty else you can do."
"None of it matters," she hissed. "Blessing or nothing. No reason."
"No reason for what?"
She raised her head again, her predatory, wilted green eyes burrowing into Fluttershy, who couldn't help but shiver. "Anything." Another ripple tore throughout the webbing. "Blessing is worthless. Am worthless. Worthless worthless worthless!"
"You're not worthless," Fluttershy said quietly. "I'm sure you've got all sorts of wonderful qualities to you. I haven't known you for two days, Elizabeth. Give it some time. Nopony's just their abilities. Just because your, um, blessing doesn't make ponies happy, that doesn't make you worthless."
She held Fluttershy's gaze without a single blink. "All I have," she rasped. "All I have."
"That's not true," Fluttershy insisted. "You have us. You have friends here, Elizabeth. Please, don't beat yourself up over something like this." She looked down, breaking eye contact. "I don't like seeing anypony beat themselves up." She paused to take another nibble from her sandwich. "Don't you want to eat? I mean, the castle chefs prepared it just for you, though if you don't want to I'm sure they'll under - "
Faster than Fluttershy could track, Greene lashed out with a hand, grabbed the fish, and brought it to her mouth. In a ravenous flurry of chomping, chewing and swallowing, the meat was gone. Fluttershy blinked awkwardly. "Um, okay. T-That's perfectly fine too!"
"Still nothing to do. No blessing. No family. No purpose in world. None none none," she muttered to herself.
"Are you saying there's nothing on our planet for you?"
"None," she repeated.
"How do you know that?"
"Nothing home. Nothing outside of family. Cut and hurt and burn burn burn - "
"But," Fluttershy said. "Oh please forgive me for interrupting, I am so so so sorry. But, um, you're saying that there's nothing for you on your home world. This isn't your home world." Her eyes widened. "I mean, I don't want to make you feel bad about that! But how do you know there's nothing for you to do here besides, um, bless ponies?"
"Worlds similar," she said. She scowled. "Similar."
"But they aren't the same," Fluttershy pointed out. "You'll never know if you never look. I mean, you can't just keep yourself locked up in here forever. Believe me, I know how good that sounds. Celestia knows how many times I've wanted to just stay home and never come out. But, then there's so much you'll miss out on! I never would have made such good friends with the girls. And then, um, I guess we couldn't have helped Princess Luna when she came back... or stopped Discord... oh but please don't feel I'm bragging!"
"No point," she said. "Nothing." But she didn't sound as confident in that as before.
"Elizabeth," Fluttershy whispered. "Would you like to take a walk around the castle with me? So I can, you know, show you around? I'm sure the Princesses would let Twilight and I give you a tour. I mean, you're the ambassador, right? A-And you said there were two others, so if they ever came here, you could, um, help them get settled?"
Suddenly, there was light behind Elizabeth's eyes. "Holy child," she whispered. Then just as quick as it came, it was gone. "Never to come."
"N-Now, you don't know that. I mean, nopony knows what brought you here so, so whatever it is may bring your, um, holy child here too. And even if that doesn't happen, there's a lot to see." She smiled. "Maybe I could introduce you to Angel Bunny."
"Maybe," she whispered. She rose to her feet. "Go. Walk. Tour." She hesitated, then flexed her fingers. "No Twilight," she insisted.
She smiled at Greene. It was a start. "Sure." Fluttershy, finishing off her sandwich, also stood. "Follow me. I-If you want to, that is."
"Yes," she mused, following Fluttershy. She had an idea about what she could show Elizabeth. She didn't know if she'd like it, but she really hoped she would. She timidly asked directions from the guard, towing a still frowning and morose alien with her. From time to time Fluttershy could feel a sliver of sorrow slip into her, of sadness and heart-wrenching depression as Elizabeth haphazardly gave them off.
Her blessing really does mean the world to her, she thought sadly. She could only hope that she'd find something else in her life.
"Do you like it?" Fluttershy said, stopping once she reached her destination.
"Hallway," Greene said. "Nothing to like. Empty."
"W-Well, what about the window?"
"Hmm?" she asked, looking at it. She paused, taking in the scene of the Royal Sisters petrifying Discord. "Celestia. Luna. Who?"
"Oh. T-That's the sisters using the Elements against Discor - "
Greene leaped backwards, bending over and hissing, her fingers flexing like claws. "Bad! Bad! Bad bad bad bad bad!" Fluttershy shivered, anger and hatred and fear filling her and bubbling over like a boiling soup.
"R-Relax, Elizabeth. It's just a picture. I-It's not actually Discord."
She relaxed, rising. The emotion aura stopped. "Picture?"
"It's to commemorate it. I mean, it was really important. Um, very. So the castle's designers, um, sort of made this to, um, honor them imprisoning him. Oh, and look! Over here, it's, um. Well, this one's not really too happy. It's Princess Celestia banishing Nightmare Moon. I mean, she wanted to take it down, but Princess Luna insisted that some things shouldn't be forgotten, and so, well, here it is."
Fluttershy and Elizabeth walked down the hall, going over each of the stained glass window pictures. Elizabeth's mood seemed to elevate with each picture. She'd just gotten to the one about her and her friends, well mostly Twilight because the rest of them had all been corrupted, sealing Discord away again. As she finished explaining it, Elizabeth's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Changed variables, changed you," she said excitedly. "Twilight changed back. Adapted to problem. Got better better better." She interlaced her fingers. "Need to... yes."
"Are you alright, Elizabeth?"
"Fine fine fine," she rambled, then suddenly held a hand to her stomach. "Hunger," she said. "Lunch. Time."
"R-Right. Let's go find the others," Fluttershy said, realizing how much time she'd spent consoling Elizabeth. Inwardly she grinned. She was so happy that Greene was out and about again. It made her feel good to help others, however alien they were. No matter what they might've done, everypony deserved to have a kind hoof to help them.
They found Twilight wandering the halls as well, though not at all aimlessly. Her saddlebags were filled with books, including some on immunology, science fiction books by both well known and obscure authors, biology, astrobiology, and astronomy. To speak of the ones poking out.
"O-Oh, hello Twilight. We were just headed to lunch. Are you coming to join us?"
She blinked owlishly. "It's lunch already? Oh ponyfeathers! I thought I could squeeze in some more reading to advise us about Elizabeth Greene and any of her potential conditions, but - " She cut herself off. "Um, Fluttershy, speaking of Elizabeth." She eyed said alien. "How'd your talk go?"
She smiled, tilted her head, and nodded once. "Well, it was a bit hard to get her to open up at first, but after that..."
"Reason," she rasped next to her. "Things to do. Places to go." She smiled. "Won't repeat mistakes."
Twilight smiled. "That's great to hear, Elizabeth! Let's head get some lunch. I don't think the Princesses will be joining us, though. Luna's asleep, and Celestia's going to be holding noon court, so I'll ask the chefs to bring stuff to my room if you want to join me. What would you like Fluttershy?"
Her ears flattened. "Oh, um, just a daffodil sandwich will be okay. A-And some water, if they're okay with it."
"Alright. Elizabeth?"
"Flesh," she said simply.
"Um, okay. Anything to drink?"
"No," she hastily said, stepping back, shaking her head. "No no no no no no no."
"Alright then. You two go on ahead, I'll catch up. Fluttershy, you know the way to my old room?"
"Um, I think so," she squeaked. "Should Elizabeth and I go there? I mean, I don't know if she'll look at anything, or if I will. Do you want me to not look at anything?" she asked tentatively. After all, who knew what precious memories Twilight had in her old castle room? She didn't want to intrude or anything like that.
"Oh no, it's fine," Twilight said, trotting past them. She paused, looked over her shoulder at Greene one more time, and went on her way.
Fluttershy breathed out, looking up at Elizabeth. "Well, let's get going. I mean, there's gotta be a lot you want to do in Equestria before... um. What was it you told the ambassadors before they went home? Before you go to the other countries?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said, looking out a window that overlooked Canterlot. "A lot to do."
***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***
Greene
When the morning rolled around, she had lost hope. After all, those she had Blessed were no longer Blessed. They had been scoured, purged, and that horrified her because she'd never witnessed anything like that before in her life. Her greatest gift, her only gift, all that she had to give, the Reason for everything, was useless and therefore she was useless-useless-useless. She would never be a mother. She would never never never save the equines from themselves, and she may as well have remained Cursed by her Wayward Child.
She understood why her Blessing didn't work, of course. Not even she knew the origins of her Blessing, and she really didn't care because it worked and that was all she needed to know about it! But now, several things had been made painfully clear to her.
Her Blessing was created for the sole purpose of aiding Similars. It worked with them to make them Listen and chase away their curse, their burden, of free will. But it was not created to aid equines or griffons or anything on this new world, and that was so so so unfair because they deserved her Blessing more than the ungrateful Similars ever did! Still, it changed no facts. Her Blessing on this world, she on this world, could only ever cause suffering through her touch.
She'd lost all hope. There was nothing she could do here. There was nothing for her to do here. And so she'd done the thing she had greatest practice with, and waited. She waited for a way back home. She waited for the equines to change so they could accept her Blessing. She waited, because she was so sad sad sad she didn't know what else she could do!
"Here we are," Fluttershy said, leading her into Twilight Sparkle's room. She didn't pay much attention to it because it didn't really matter, but oh she may as well because... because... she didn't fully understand herself. It was a nice room, with a bed that had not been made, curtains, carpets, and many many many books. Charts and sheets lined the walls, with scribbling on them that she could read but not understand. She was smart, but she didn't understand any of the magic-related topics the unicorn's writing described. Though there was a - poorly? - drawn picture of her with body parts labeled. Flattering, she decided at length.
She'd been unprepared for Fluttershy's help. She hadn't expected her to know her thought-answers when she didn't speak them, could the pegasus somehow read her thoughts? It didn't matter, because Fluttershy had been right right right. She couldn't just sit there. She couldn't just wait for the world to help her. She had to help herself.
She laid herself down on the unicorn's bed, letting a small patch of warmth seep out from under her to warm her seat. Fluttershy sat next to her, eyeing her... sadly? Happily? She didn't quite know. It was hard to tell with only one eye visible. "Waiting," she told the equine.
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, we are. Don't worry, Twilight will be here soon. She doesn't like to be late with anything."
"Food," she said, anticipating it. She supposed even scientists had their uses.
Fluttershy had been right, talking to her. Just because she couldn't share her Blessing... there had to be something else she could do. She had to try try try because she'd been waiting for long enough and she hadn't come back from being Cursed just to return to the Time for Waiting! Not when the people in this world were so kind to her. Not when they were so good to her. She didn't know what she could do, but the absolute least she could do was see how far they had come without her Blessing to aid them. Of course, that had been relatively little comfort to the fact that she couldn't spread her gift but it was enough to get her moving.
She'd spent time with her... friend. Yes. She decided she liked that name for Fluttershy. Her friend. She'd spent time with her friend looking at the window pictures in the castle, listening to the stories behind them. She didn't fully understand the idea behind putting important things into something breakable like glass. What was ever the point? She tried to wrap her mind around it, but she wasn't able to. She chalked it up to them being individuals. However better they were than the Similars, they were still broken.
Then she'd reached the latest picture of... of Discord. The horrible scary horrible bad bad bad being that scared her with just his stories, of the mentions of his power. But as she looked at his picture, her thoughts went to work. The dracone... draconeq... draginek... creature in the painting had emerged in a world where the six Harmony Elements were individuals, not rocks. He had to change his plan to counter his weakness. He had changed.
Her Blessing was made to purify the essence of Similars. It could not purify the essence of equines; it simply didn't know where to begin! The recipient species of her Blessing had changed, and if she wanted to fix this world her Blessing would have to change as well.
Twilight came back soon, levitating three trays. One had delicious tasty good-burnt flesh, and two of them had unappetizing plant-things on them that she gathered were appealing to the equines. She imagined they saw her own food as unappealing, though it really didn't matter what they thought because she was suddenly so hungry and it tasted so good going down her throat and it was warm and nice and filled her despite being small and it was good good good!
She wiped her mouth with a hand after her frenzy subsided, and smiled. "Good food," she said as Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle both stared. Fluttershy caught herself and, with a squeak, hid even further beneath her mane. The equines soon turned to their meals.
"I'm glad you liked it, Elizabeth," Twilight said, wrinkling her snout.
Yes, her Blessing had to change. She had to make it able to purify the essence of equines, but in order to do that she needed, well, the essence of equines!
She found herself irrationally envying her Wayward Child and her Strange Child, because this would've been easy for them. They could grab an equine and as horrible as the thought was, devour them, body mind and essence, and change their Curse to affect them, all in less than ten seconds.
Greene was not her Wayward or Strange Child, she was their mother. She was not Cursed, she was Blessed. She could not fill someone with so much of her gift that they melted into slop, then pull them in and combine their essence to hers. It was simply something she could not do but as she thought about it, Elizabeth realized that she didn't need to, which was a good good good thing because if she did that then the poor poor poor victim would not be able to be Blessed by her. They'd suffer the same fate she had.
She only needed a tiny bit of essence from an equine. Just a piece of their fur. She could manipulate the reaching grasp of her warmth to take it without them even noticing. But she wouldn't be able to work with just one equine's essence. She needed the essence of many equines, the more the better, but she also didn't want to take so long because she feared her patience was, after so many years, running out! But where would she go? Which equines would she take from?
"So Elizabeth, where are you planning on going here? I mean, Canterlot's fine, but there's a lot more to Equestria than the capitol," Twilight asked. Fluttershy was still eating, ashamed at having been caught staring at her. Why, Greene couldn't imagine.
"What else?"
"Well, Fluttershy and I are headed back home to Ponyville once we're done here, which won't be too much longer. I'm going home tomorrow actually." Good. No need to have that scientist around. However...
"Ponyville?" she asked.
Twilight nodded. "I moved there just a few years ago. It's an earth pony village not too far from Canterlot. I met Fluttershy and the rest of my friends there." She smiled. "I love it there. I'm the local librarian."
Elizabeth scratched her chin once, twice, then moved her hand back to her lap. "Where else?"
"Well, there's always Manehatten, which is almost as crowded as Canterlot. There's also Stalliongrad, really cold there. Oh, um, there's the pegasus city Cloudsdale..."
"Pegasus city?" she asked.
"Yeah, made of clouds. Floats in the sky. Non-pegasus visitors need a cloud-walking enchantment if they want to go there. I don't mean to brag, really I don't, but I know the spell almost well enough to create a permanent version."
"Hmm. Will think." And indeed she would. She needed a wide sample of equine essence so that she could adapt her Blessing. Also, the idea of a floating city was strange strange strange. With a frown, Elizabeth Greene realized that just adapting her Blessing to them wouldn't be enough; she'd also have to adapt it to dragons, griffons, and who-knew what else lived on this world. But they could wait until she'd Blessed all the equines; they'd waited for this long, they could wait a little longer.
... well, almost all the equines. She couldn't Bless the alicorn sisters. Even if she found a way, she wouldn't. She didn't want to Bless them both and have them - heavens forbid! - unable to move the bodies through the sky and what a strange thought that was but it was how things worked here...
She didn't want them unable to move the sun and moon because the world would either freeze or burn. And if she only Blessed one, then what? The other would be left behind, and though their sibling would be happy and family and not-broken, they themselves would be without a sibling. No, as much as the thought tore at her inside, she could not afford to take the risk of Blessing Celestia and Luna. She'd just have to find another way to express her gratitude to them.
She needed to think. What equines would she take essence from? It went without saying she needed to take from all three 'tribes' to make sure she could Bless them all, but how much would she need to account for the entire species? Especially given things like variation-by-distance. Would she have to visit every equine nest, or could she just compare the change between two places, and figure out how much it changed over distance that way? She didn't know. She just didn't know.
During her pondering, the two equines beside her finished their meals. "Um, Elizabeth? Are you okay? You're being very quiet. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being quiet! Celestia knows I know that," Fluttershy said. "But, um..."
"Thinking," she rasped. She looked at Fluttershy and smiled. "Think... look around Canterlot. Fluttershy guide?"
The yellow pegasus blushed through her fur so as to become orange. "O-Oh! Me? I don't know. I don't know Canterlot n-nearly as well as Twilight does. I guess I've been here a few times before, but Twilight lived here for so long. I don't want to impose on the princesses either, or leave my animals for so long."
"Trust you," Elizabeth said, ignoring the way Twilight's ears flattened against her skull. "Helped me. Friend."
Orange turned to red. "Eep! Well, i-if you really want me to, I g-guess I could. If you don't mind, that is. But, oh you wouldn't ask if you did, so sorry for thinking you minded. Unless that's against your culture! In which case, sorry for being sorry. Um. Oh dear."
Greene smiled, and the unicorn spoke. "Okay, well, I suppose it would be a good idea for Elizabeth to be seen by more ponies than those at the castle. Help calm down some of those conspiracy theorists. I mean, have you heard some of the things they're saying in tabloids? Celestia's always held Greene, and she's escaped, forcing her to reveal her existence? What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Nonsense," Greene said, smiling gently. She didn't know why, but the idea of whatever-these-tabloids-were saying such a thing... amused her.
The two equines and the Evolved slowly descended into friendly conversation, and since the ambassadors had long since left Greene could calm calm calm down from the politics. Elizabeth tuned out several times, courtesy of her racing jumping tripping thoughts before she pulled herself back, trying to pay attention, learn where she may go to collect essence samples. She had a clear-ish goal in mind, but that was no reason to ignore everything else. Fluttershy had been right.
She could raise her family on this world, she could make herself and everyone else one. But that was no reason to ignore everything else. The yellow pegasus had had a point; this was not the Similar world. There was very likely to be beauty here, beautiful in its own way. She'd never know if she didn't look. She could spread her Blessing when the time came, but in the meantime there was no reason not to - what was that saying she'd heard Similars use during the Time for Waiting? - slow down and smell the roses.
Who knew? She may even enjoy herself. Maybe she could even give sleeping a try.
