//------------------------------// // Dear True Love // Story: Yearbook February // by Regidar //------------------------------// Fluttershy trudged over the next frozen hill, grunting in annoyance as she crested what she felt to be the same place for the umpteenth time. “I-It all looks the same out here in the storm!” she muttered exasperatedly to herself, teeth chattering. “H-How am I going to g-get back to the cottage?” Her heart was racing as she looked about desperately, the onslaught of white blocking her vision from more than a few yards. Clinging to her parka desperately, she squinted in an attempt to better see where she was. “C-Come on...” Fluttershy slowly moved forward, inching through the snow. “Th-There’s got to be s-some way I can—” She never was able to finish her thought, for a large gust of wind tore at her from behind, forcing her wings open. With a shriek that was surely lost to the howling gales, Fluttershy was thrown forward, digging long trenches in the snow with her hooves. The biting cold air lifted her up off the ground, and Fluttershy’s racing heart stopped as though it had hit a brick wall. Gravity proved to be too great for the winds, however, and the pegasus was slammed into the snowy ground as soon as she had become airborne. She lay there for a moment, the deep indent she made in the thick snow giving her sufficient shielding from the winds. In fact, she would have been content to stay there until the storm passed, but it began to pile on her faster than she could dare blink. Shaking the snow from her parka and coat as she stumbled to her hooves, Fluttershy’s breaking became hard and shallow as a mounting wave of panic began to crest over her. She stumbled in the strong winds, breaking out into a frenzied gallop as she clamped her wings to her side with all of her might. As she cut through the snowdrift without much thought, as quickly as she could, Fluttershy felt her hoof connect with a heavy object hidden under the snow. If she made any noise, it was certainly swept away by the frozen winds as she flipped head-over-hooves, right off the side of the hill, and tumbled down the snowy slide, flipping and floundering her whole way down. Fluttershy cringed and cried as she slammed into the snow with each bounce, trying her best to go limp and just let herself ragdoll to prevent herself from getting hurt too badly. Unfortunately, the slightly-heavy hood on her parka seemed intent on making sure she would collide with the ground head first more often than usual. The wind pushed her up once more, just as she reached the bottom, the added momentum sending her splaying sideways. As it had done before, the wind pushed down on her back with extreme force, slamming her into the snowy ground before she could even do so much as gasp, catapulting her into unconsciousness. It was a lovely warmth that enveloped her, and when she finally opened her eyes, it was a great mix of white light and green that filtered down into her eyes. She sat up, silk blankets flowing off of her body like gentle, silent waves of water. She blinked, the warmth befuddling her for the briefest of moments. “A-Am I home?” she wondered aloud, squinting against the light of the windows. “Of course you are, dear,” came a soft voice. She gasped, her wings fluttering gently excitement. “And you’re here too?” she asked. A smile met this. “I’m right in front of you, aren’t I?” Fluttershy matched her smile. “O-Oh my.” There was laughter in the room. “I always found you at your cutest when you spoke like that, my Fluttershy...” Fluttershy giggled, feeling a heat in her face that had nothing to do with the sunlight pouring down into her. She walked closer, the bright light obscuring her features. “And since you’ve been gone for so long...” Her head dipped down, her mouth parting slightly, the light dimming just enough for Fluttershy to almost see her face again— Fluttershy’s eyes shot open. The first thing she noticed was that it was dark. Not blizzard dark—there was no hint of white. This was a different sort of dark, one that could not be from the storm. The second thing that she noticed, and the second thing to confirm that she was no longer in the storm, was the blanket wrapped around her. It was heavy, and coarse, but it was not fully uncomfortable. Fluttershy shifted in her wrapping, her breathing ragged, her eyes darting around. She was no longer exposed to the blistering cold of the blizzard—that was certain—but this was hardly a tradeoff. Her eyes darted around the room, adrenaline coursing through her as she did her best to find her bearings in this new place. She heard faint thumping... was that the sound of the storm against the walls of wherever she was, or just the blood pounding in her ears? She shrunk down in her bedding, letting out a small squeak before she could contain herself. Instinctually, Fluttershy attempting to raise her hooves to her mouth to ensure that no more sounds escaped. It was in this moment that she discovered that she was bound too tightly in her blanket to fully move. “O-Oh...” she groaned, her head thrashing back and forth, mane splaying about every which way as she did so. Her eyes were wide, darting, her vision still trying to cut through the darkness. The thumping was louder now, and Fluttershy was sure that it was more than a pounding in her ears. Her legs kicked against the bottom of the blankets, and arched her back, but it was in vain. It did nothing to help her escape the improvised imprisonment. There was the creak of wood on hinges, and a blast of chilly air swept through the room. With it, light was visible, if only for a moment. Fluttershy stopped moving, holding her breath as she watched for any signs of movement. She sat in agonizing silence, the seconds crawling by, her lungs beginning to ache as she held her breath for what she felt was longer than she had ever done. She stared into the darkness, blotches in her vision left by the sudden light mutating the longer she stared. It was not until she almost passed out from doing so that she finally afforded herself a breath. The shadow was there, on top of her, before her, and it loomed over her in the dark. Fluttershy let out a high pitched shriek, and her head fell back, slamming the floor with her head as everything went dark. She was standing on the hill which she had fallen down. The snow was thick, the storm still present, yet... something was off. Something was very, very off, and it chilled Fluttershy to the bone in a way the snow could not. The pegasus took a tentative step forward, and gasped at what she saw when she focused her eyes of what was before her: the snowflakes had frozen in midair. She raised her hoof to prod it, and the snowflake spun away through the air, spiraling. A sound sent her coat standing up. This sound... it was a shrill, droning noise, barely audible. It had no place being here. Even though she had never heard it before, she knew, Fluttershy KNEW that it should not be here. Slowly, shakily, she turned around, and she was face to face with it. It was featureless, it was tall, and it was made up a writhing mass of wires contained under glass skin. The camera she had seen beside it before was held it its... claw? It was a grip that reminded her of Spike’s, and it had been dragged through the snow. That was the shattering of glass, and the smell of ozone filled the air as Fluttershy fell backwards, no noise escaping from her open mouth. Fluttershy lay on the floor, the blanket still wrapped around her when she woke up. Light filtered in through two frost-caked windows, and she could now see her surroundings. The room was very simple; there were a few objects that looked like long, brass cylinders, and there were many strange charts covered in diagrams of star patterns and maps of places Fluttershy did not recognize. There was a small bed made from dried arctic grasses, and a tiny wooden table between her and it. Her parka was folded neatly on the table. “Ah, good! You’re awake.” Fluttershy’s heart skipped a beat, and she froze in her bundle of blankets. The loud thumping she heard from last night approached her, until it stopped, just inches from her as best as she could tell. With great effort, Fluttershy moved her head to the side so she could look at the source of the hoof falls. A tall, yet thin, reindeer stood beside her. His antlers were short, still budding, and his face displayed an expression of concern. His smile was nervous, and he was trembling slightly. “I-I...” Fluttershy stammered. “Hello...” “I was afraid you’d been seriously injured last night,” the reindeer said. “You hit your head quite hard when I returned home.” Fluttershy stared at him, last night slowly starting to come together. When she did not speak for a few awkward moments, the reindeer cleared his throat. “W-Well... I’m Meridian. I found you half frozen in a snowdrift just a few hundred yards from the village.” “Thank you,” Fluttershy said, somewhat awkwardly. She was still bound tightly in the rug, and she squirmed a bit, hoping it would catch Meridian’s attention. “Well, I couldn’t just let you freeze,” Meridian said, shuffling on his hooves. “I mean, not after I had seen you come from the ship and look so happy in Arctica.” He stopped, blushing heavily. Fluttershy felt something jump in the pit of her stomach. “E-Excuse me?” “I-I was in the forest when your ship docked,” Meridian explained, his head hanging forward slightly. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to seem creepy...” “N-No, I’m grateful that you took me from the snowdrift,” Fluttershy said. “I surely wouldn’t have made it through without your kindness.” Meridian smiled again. “Oh, I’m so relieved to hear you say that. Not a lot of beings would respond well to being taken and placed in somewhere they didn’t recognize, especially by someone like me.” Fluttershy afforded him a smile. “Oh, don’t be so harsh on yourself. You’ve done a good thing here! You’ve saved me, surely... I think you’re very sweet and brave to have done such a thing. There are some who would have let me freeze to death!” She could feel Meridian’s blush from where she lay, and despite herself, let out a soft giggle. Turning to look around the cottage, her eyes fell once again on the star charts and maps. “What do you do when you’re not pulling strange pegasi from snowdrifts, Meridian?” Meridian stepped over Fluttershy carefully, moving towards his bed. “I’m the village's cartographer. Everyone here has star maps, but I’m the only one with maps of areas beyond the forest and the bay.” He sighed, almost wistfully. “I’ve always dreamed of being able to map the whole world...” “The whole world?” Fluttershy asked, astonishment creeping into her voice. “Well, that’s... quite the ambition.” “The elders say that ambition is the enemy of greatness,” Meridian said. “I think that’s a load of horsefeathers.” He caught Fluttershy’s eye and turned away quickly. “Err... sorry.” Fluttershy giggled again. “You don’t speak like the reindeer I’ve met before, Meridian. You even used a pony expression!” “I try to be more worldly,” Meridian said, stepping from his bed towards the table where Fluttershy’s parka lay. “I dislike the cryptic way everyone speaks around here. More direct and casual is the way I prefer to go.” Fluttershy struggled with the blanket. “U-Um... may I have some help?” Meridian started, and nodded, dipping his head towards the middle of the blanket bundle. “I-I’m sorry...” With a quick movement of his mouth, he untied what appeared to be a very thick rope from the underside of the blanket, and Fluttershy watched as the blankets split from her like a box being opened with expert skill. Sitting up, she stretched her legs, her cramping wings soon following. Fluttershy slowly walked to the door on the far end of the cabin. “So... just where are we, Meridian?” Meridian strode to her side in two easy movements of his long legs. Displaying what Fluttershy could only describe as a slightly proud smirk, he opened the door to the cottage. “See for yourself.” Fluttershy walked to the edge of the doorframe, her eyes going wide as she peered out. “O-Oh my.”