By the next day, it was apparent that this wasn't a dream.
Despite her best efforts to diminish her gnawing anxiety, Fluttershy felt as though there was no way out from this meadow. Whereas the first day had felt so dreamlike, this day crawled on far more slowly and painfully. She began to sweat under the constant sun. The slight soreness in her muscles spread to her bones.
Still, she continued on. Strength may have left her body, but it did not leave her mind. The memories of those who needed her powered her onward through the meadow. Each step she took in the right direction, she knew, would bring her closer to the edge of this massive biome, no matter how little it felt like an edge existed.
At last, she saw something that broke the uniformity. It was a small, singular mound. That's interesting, she thought. It wouldn't have caught her attention back home, but the constant sameness of the meadow made even the smallest quirk stand out. Besides, as she looked on ahead, more and more of these mounds seemed to be cropping up. Suddenly, one began to quiver. Fluttershy gasped as a small brown gopher emerged from the mound.
"Halt, intruder!" he said, in a fast and high-pitched voice. "What is your reason for approaching the Gophrelands?"
Fluttershy was rather startled. She spoke many animal tongues herself, but had never met another species who knew pony. She decided to speak gopher to the small creature as a show of respect. "I- I'm sorry, gopher," she said. "I just got lost, a-and I'm looking for a way home."
"My name isn't Gopher, you ninny, it's Slickfur!" the gopher replied indignantly. "Although you can't be too much of a ninny if you speak gopher. I know many animal tongues myself, but I've never met a pony who bothered to learn something other than their own language."
Fluttershy giggled a bit, and Slickfur cracked a brief smile. "Well, Slickfur, I'm sorry to bother you, but I don't know how to get home. I've been walking in the same direction for nearly two days, a-and I haven't found anything u-until now!"
Slickfur tilted his head curiously to one side, then to the other. "Ok," he said quietly. "I see you're a pony in distress. I can give you a few pointers but then I have to get back to my post. Guard duty is very important!" Fluttershy nodded. "Listen up now. This, like I did mention, is the Gophrelands. That right there- where you came from- is the region of Alkudjuda. It's been abandoned for millenia, I'm pretty sure only our village elders know what used to be there. But, if you keep heading across-" he motioned over the meadow. "-you'll reach the equine establishment of Alkuääri. Got it?"
"Mhm!" said Fluttershy, nodding.
"Good, good. Well I wish you well, yellow one, but I must be getting back to work! Now good day!" And with that, Slickfur slipped back into the earth.
Fluttershy, feeling renewed, began to trot back in the opposite direction. It'll probably take me a week to get across, she thought to herself, but it won't be forever! Now that she was filled with hope, crossing the meadow felt more like a challenge than an impossibility. And with nothing here to hurt her, the path would not be dangerous. But by now, the day had grown quite long. So Fluttershy stretched, lay down on the soft grass, and fell asleep with the setting of the sun.
The next few days all went by more or less the same. Fluttershy could tell when she had reached her starting point, as something made the air different there. Perhaps that was why the first day had felt so dream-like. She felt some mild excitement upon passing that zone, knowing that she was closer to home than when she began. And the longer she spent here, the less sleep she noticed herself needing. She had gone from sleeping a full night to only a few hours. That meant she'd be there quite soon.
After roughly 6 days, the settlement Slickfur had mentioned was visible in the distance. A few four-legged figures about her height could be seen grazing, but as Fluttershy drew closer she saw that they were non ponies of any sort, but deer. One looked up at her, and the others followed.
"Um... hello," said Fluttershy once she had made it to the deer. She had to use pony, deer wasn't a language she knew. "I'm sorry, but a gopher told me to look for Alkuääri. Um, do you know where that is?"
"That is... right here!" a fawn said chipperly. "We do not get many visitors, no pegasi at all! I never saw pegasi. Ponies have not lived here since my great-great-great-great-great-"
A doe approached the fawn. She said something to him in deer, and then nuzzled him briefly before looking back up to Fluttershy. "It's a good thing someone from the Gophrelands pointed you in our direction. Things aren't so great for travelers who leave Alkudjuda without passing us."
"Why is that?" asked Fluttershy.
"Well, think about the passage of time here. How much less fatigued you get when you let the magic of this place flow through you. How many times have you eaten since you've arrived?"
Fluttershy thought she may have had some grass earlier in her journey, but she wasn't sure. The doe giggled. "Alkudjuda means the 'beginning miracle'. It is the birthplace of magic. Alkuääri is the 'beginning of the edge', because here the magic levels begin to drop off dramatically. Travel just outside of our settlement's borders after having not eaten or slept, and you could be in very critical condition."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Y-you mean I j-just got lucky? I could have d-d-d-died?"
"You could have," said the doe, "but you'll find that luck is very abundant here. And it favors those with pure hearts." This calmed down the pegasus. "Let me walk you back to the village." She looked over her shoulder and called to the fawn. "Tuike! Tule nyt!" The fawn, who Fluttershy guessed was named Tuike, began running over. The three of them began to walk back into the village. "Most of those who come here have some business with the council, or at least that's what they tell us. I have never run into anybody myself. Before you that is. Do you want me to take you to the council?"
"No thank you," she replied. "I don't think I have any business with them. I just want to get back home."
"Then you can stay with me for now. I speak more pony than many deer around here. Where is your home?"
"Um, it's called Equestria."
"Oh, that is far!" the doe chuckled. "You can get back there, but it will take a long time. We are very isolated from the outside world, so I do not know exactly where that is, but I recognize the name from some of our legends and history books."
Fluttershy nodded as they turned left. The streets were lined with houses utilizing architecture a bit different from the likes that she had seen before. "What are these houses made of?" she asked. "There aren't any trees, and the ground is so flat that it doesn't look like you used dirt."
"Oh, oh, Mama! Let me say! We just learned in school!" said Tuike. The doe nodded. "Magic here is so strong, some deer can train to make house from grass! That is how!"
"That is about it," she said. "They take the grass, build it up tall, and use magic to strengthen the grass so that the houses stay up. They do not do that in Equestria? You have alicorns."
"I suppose we could, but we have enough trees, and material for bricks. My friend Twilight Sparkle even lived in a tree. And we don't have many alicorns, but we do have a lot of unicorns."
"Not a lot of alicorns? You will have to tell me about that another time," the doe replied. "Okay, my house is right here. I will get dinner started for you and Tuike. I do not have to eat as much, and I had a good meal last week, so I will just sit with you." They entered the house, and the doe said something to Tuike before heading off to what seemed to be the kitchen.
"My mama said 'show the mare around, Tuike!'," the fawn said. "Then I think, 'I do not know her name!' What is it?"
"Fluttershy."
"That sounds pretty! And you know my name is Tuike, and my mama is named Aurinkoinenpäivä, but her friends say 'Auri'."
"Those are very nice names too!"
About half an hour later, after Fluttershy had seen the house and dinner was ready. It looked good- baked hay with fresh lettuce and flowers. "Deer do not eat a lot of hay," Auri explained. "but I do like this dish." They ate mainly in silence, and then put their dishes in the sink. "It is probably good for you to spend one more day here, eating and sleeping like normal, and then I can send you off with food."
"Okay, thank you so much!" said Fluttershy. Although she missed her friends, she was very glad to be here right now.