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// Prologue: Those Adventurous Huebirds 
// Story: The Huebirds of Happiness 
// by SterlingC 
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The Eastern side of the world is a territory unexplored for equines of the West. Not even the most adventurous dared to travel such a distance out of fear of not having enough supplies to make the journey and encountering an untimely end to enemies big and small. As a result, the ponies of Equestria believed that the Far East was very much like the cold, treacherous North where the yaks roamed. In particular, Ponyville remembered all too well about the war that almost ensued because of a faux pas committed by the Elements of Harmony against Prince Rutherford, leader of Yakyakistan to the North. Despite the two kinds becoming friends in the end, an aura of trepidation remained when it came to species dwelling beyond Equestria’s known borders.

But at the Far East laid a patch of land much like Ponyville before its settlement. It was a land filled with dense forests and grassy meadows. It was a land teeming with clean water and tall mountains. But it was also a land unlike Equestria, for it only underwent wet and dry seasons, much like Earth’s climate along the Equator. Despite the riches the land had to offer, it was also filled with marshes and swamps, making it impossible for anyone to settle without the necessary expertise in swampy irrigation technique, something the horses of nearby Saddle Arabia did not possess. 

Because the land remained uninhabited, species of all kinds, vicious and docile, thrived in the rich tropic environment. Among these species were the huebirds. The huebirds were winged creatures that came with all kinds of colours, the most common being blue, pink, green, and yellow. The birds had stick-like legs and feet, short, feathery wings, a yellow beak, and an oval-shaped body. The huebirds were no taller than the average pony, and its face was a third the size of an equine’s.   

While the huebirds are like most bird species, their flock step and squawks distinguish them. Their close file marching closely resembles a type of step one would see in the Royal Canterlot Army, providing a deep sense of unity among the huebirds when combined with their tweets and squawks. Every day, the huebirds marched in square formations to practice their synchronization and communication skills, their discordant squawks and incessant flapping keeping most of its predators away. The huebirds would travel on all sorts of adventures in this manner, from eating the region’s flora for lunch to performing their mating calls.

The huebirds also divided themselves into hundreds of smaller tribes, each of which was assigned a leader. Each leader was given a ring with a unique emblem that represented their tribe’s characteristic trait. But the signet wasn’t just an emblem. It was also used to pass laws and decrees for their tribe, and represented a huebird’s authority. Without the signet, a leader could very well be just a common huebird, his leadership role stripped away the moment it was lost. 

For one particular tribe, their leader, Prince Squeaker, was given a golden signet outlining a lion’s roar. The symbol on the prince’s signet represented his fanciful imagination that roared to life, despite possessing a squawk that sounded more like a squeak. Whenever his fellow birds were around, he would raise his right claw to display the signet he proudly wore.

Prince Squeaker was different from the other huebirds. Unlike the other huebirds, he was a cyan huebird that possessed a wild, but rich imagination. Every other day, he gathered his tribesbirds after a long and tiring day outside his humble wooden hut to tell legends of creatures unknown and of far-away lands underneath the moonlight. Each of his shows were a hit with his tribe, bringing out a new story every show. The moments of romance left his listeners cooing, while the moments of suspense left his tribe in complete fright. Regardless of the content, his stories always ended with standing ovations and raucous cheers of appreciation. His stories were so filled with detail and emotion that his tribe awaited with excitement towards the stories he would tell next. 

Despite the fame he acclaimed as a storyteller within his tribe, such sentiments were not shared by the other tribes. Most, if not all, the other tribes mocked him in all he said and did. Unlike the other leaders, Prince Squeaker never left the comforts of his patch within the grassy meadows of the East. All the other leaders already traveled as far as Saddle Arabia, and unlike Prince Squeaker, had relics and souvenirs to show for their efforts. 

One day, the cackling and teasing took itself to a new level, leaving Prince Squeaker’s tribe was becoming hungry for adventure. On a day to be filled with more adventures, Squeaker’s tribe had enough. In all they did that day, whether eating or exercising, the huebirds griped of the mockery that was placed towards their tribe. They didn’t just want to hear of Squeaker’s imagination. They wanted to live it. The rumbling and complaining went to such heights that Prince Squeaker replaced his latest story night with an emergency meeting with his closest subjects. On that very night, Prince Squeaker sat atop a high chair inside his wooden hut covered by layers of palm trees as his roof. Ten of his advisers, with hues of all colours on their feathers, stood by their places by the large, wooden round table.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak, Squawk!” Prince Squeaker called out with his nasally voice. It was time to begin the emergency meeting. Immediately, the huebirds loudly squawked, criticizing their dear leader for his lack of courage to set out on a journey. The squawking grew more and more chaotic by the second, the birds arguing on where their adventure should begin. Some of the huebirds called for an adventure to Saddle Arabia, others called for a journey farther west, and still more argued for a Northern exposure to the cold, icy snow.

Prince Squeaker didn’t want any of those adventures to take place. Prince Squeaker may express his love for adventure and exoticism, but each of those lands was either traveled by other tribes and his predecessors, or were too risky to take for his huebirds, particularly the cold North. Soon Prince Squeak let out a loud shrill from his yellow beak, immediately releasing a wave of silence all across the round table. 

“Squawk, Squawk!” Prince Squeaker furiously cried! He immediately flapped his right wing, his subjects bringing out a large map of the realms known to the huebirds. The map contained all sorts of intricate details, from the waves representing the seas to the jagged lines representing the peaks of the world’s tallest mountains. All over the map, names of places were written in black ink on the brown map, from Saddle Arabia to Prassia. 

But of all the lands that were listed on the brown map, only one remained: a land far to the West and represented by three question marks clumped together in ink. Prince Squeaker pointed to the question marks and squawked a question to his advisors: What was the land filled with question marks called and has any huebird ever explored that region?

“Squawk, squawk, squawk…” A yellow huebird meekly responded, knowing a little of the land Prince Squeaker pointed on the map.

“Squawk, squawk twee-twee-twee Squawk”!” Prince Squeaker urgently asked, hoping to gather more information about the unknown land.

“Twee, twee, twee, twee, tweet! Squawk, squawk,” The yellow huebird clarified, calling it a world filled with magic and ponies. She described it as a land filled with ponies of all kinds, just like the huebirds. She also told of magical creatures, from fiery breathing dragons to creatures that could morph into any character they desired. Prince Squeaker scratched his chin with his feathery and stubby wing. The more the yellow huebird described this land, the more he hummed with intrigue.

“Squawk, squawk? Twee, twee-twee-twee Squawk?!” asked the prince, wondering what the land was called and how his advisor could know such things for so long. 

“Twee, twee!” Tweet-tweet, E-Squawk-twee!” The yellow huebird called the land “Equestria”, adding that her family knew this land because of a magical unicorn with a white beard that stretched to the ground. Prince Squeaker cackled in excitement, in disbelief at what he was hearing!

“Squawk, Squawk!” declared Prince Squeaker. He immediately called for all his advisors to prepare a group of a hundred huebirds set to fly towards the land that was called Equestria! He made plans for them to travel first to Saddle Arabia before continuing onward to Prance and then finally to Equestria! Prince Squeaker knew that their preparations would have to be meticulous and complete, not lacking anything that would make their journey fail. 

Prince Squeaker then proudly declared with a series of squawks that their journey would begin in a week’s time. His huebirds were relishing for an adventure. They received their wish and more, for this adventure would be one that no other huebird could ever imagine taking in their lives…