From far Cadence watched the strange ponies fly around and into the valley that lay ahead. She could already hear laughter and music. She had been very excited since last night to finally visit this hidden place. Well, not exactly hidden, just forgotten. She remembered the night a few months back, after she had gained the horn she still wasn’t quite used to. After all the festivities had been over she had met with the princess in her private quarters and Celestia had told her some of Equestria’s more closely guarded secrets. One of those secrets she was about to see for herself today, or at least what of its former glory was left to see.
She was walking up the last few steps to the ridge of the mountains around the valley and by now she could make out the singing. It was a simple, but happy song:
From the sun comes light.
From the sun comes power.
It's the sun up high in the sky,
that makes the flowers flower.
Cadance took a last step and beheld the view before her. Green fields stretched for a mile before giving place to trees which appeared to hold little houses in their branches. Between them ponies flew back and forth. But those were no pegasus ponies, their bodies weren’t as muscular, but slender and tall. But the biggest difference were their wings: where feathered wings sat on a pegasus pony’s body, these ponies had transparent, insect-like wings. Cadence knew the ancient legend of the flutterponies, but seeing them was a totally different matter. Their flight looked weightless and unburdened in a way that only few pegasus ponies achieved after years of rigorous training.
Cadence started to walk down into the valley, still mesmerized by the sight. She followed an old path and as she rounded a rather big boulder she could finally see what Celestia had told her about: the Circle of the Sunstone. A number of stones formed a wide circle around a central piazza, and in the very middle a pillar rose into the sky. At the top of the pillar a golden crystal glowed almost as bright and warm as the sun in the sky. It was almost noon, and the shadows were shrinking as the real sun got closer to her zenith. Cadance had expected the air near the pillar to be burning hot, but the closer she got, the more pleasant the warmth on her coat got. In a way it felt as if the sun was paying attention to this very place to make it as comfortable as possible.
As she neared the center, one of the dancing and singing flutterponies stopped and walked up to her. “Welcome to Flutter Valley,” the mare greeted her. “You must be here to meet Queen Rosedust. She has expected you for some time now. Please follow me.” Without waiting for Cadance’s reply the flutterpony turned around and led her to a little pavillion. A single pony sat there. This yellow flutterpony was the only one not singing or dancing, instead she watched the whole scene with a smile on her face, like a mother would watch children play. From time to time she would push a strand of her long pink mane out of her face, but the strand would soon fall back. Cadance noted that this pony’s cutiemark was quite big, covering her haunch and reaching all the way down to her quarter: three pink roses surrounded by several rosebuds. A similar rosebud even sat on her cheeks. Except for this Queen Rosedust seemed to be a rather normal pony. She had no guards, wasn’t taller than her subject and yet Cadance’s guide bowed deep before addressing her. “The pony you expected has arrived, my Queen.”
Rosedust nodded. “Thank you. Please, return to the festival and have fun. Today is a day of celebration, dance and song.”
“By your leave,” the flutterpony answered and left the two alone.
“Welcome,” Rosedust said. “Oh my, what a curious cutiemark you have. Would you care to explain it.”
“Certainly,” Cadance started. “It is a crystal heart, I got it after defeating —”
“How very interesting,” Rosedust interrupted her. “With that kind of talent you’ll probably want to learn about our sunstone.”
“Huh?” Cadance was just about to ask for an explanation, when Rosedust just stopped and slowly dissolved into glowing motes. From behind she heard a familiar voice and turned around. Celestia stood among the other flutterponies and at first Cadance winced as one of them ran into the princess chest and out on the other side. Then she realized: this was all an illusion.
“Welcome to Flutter Valley, Cadance,” Celestia greeted her. “Behold it’s former glory.”
Cadance looked around once more, and this time she noticed the little inconsistencies: the singing ponies moved their mouths to another song that her ears hers, that group of ponies had been dancing around for minutes now, always in the exact same steps. “Show me,” she simply said.
The flutterponies disappeared first, the grass at Cadance’s hooves wilted and the trees turned leafless. The stones of the circle were fallen over, some were even broken, and the pillar, while still standing, was empty, the glowing crystal gone. The last to fade was the song, now eerie and hollow.
From the sun, comes hope.
From the sun, comes laughter.
Here's to the sun up above.
From the sun, from the sun,
from the sun comes love.
“What happened to this place?” Cadance asked.
“I don’t know,” Celestia sighed. “One day they were here, like you saw them, the next day the were gone. They even left their sunstone. I come here every year on this day, in hope they might return. Rosedust was my master in magic, she taught me how to raise the sun with their sunstone, you know.”
As the day passed Celestia continued to tell Cadance about her time in Flutter Valley, from the day she had arrived until she had left to find her sister.
“But that’s a story for another day,” Celestia concluded. She ignited her magic and lowered the sun while raising the moon. For just a moment Celestia looked at it longingly, but the moment passed as she continued. “Let’s return to Canterlot. It is unbecoming of a princess to stay out for so long. Or at least so I’m told.” She winked at Cadance.
***
As the two alicorns rose into the sky a dark form appeared from behind one of the ruined trees. It’s black carapace gleamed in the moonlight and an angry buzz filled the air as the creature left too.
Flutter Valley was silent again.