A Shy Pegasi's Wing

by Dark Tempest

The Sigils

The boat creaked and groaned as it washed further down the river. Fluttershy could not hear over the ponies' fearful yelling and the rapids steadily growing louder. She looked up from her hooves (which she had been covering her eyes with) to see the boat smash into a tree, the wooden frame splintering upon impact, and the force nearly throwing poor Applejack overboard.

So many things happened so quickly in the next thirty seconds that Fluttershy nearly passed out in confusion. At first, it seemed that Rarity's screams were gibberish, but as Fluttershy listened closer, it sounded as if she were saying "waterfall"...

At about the same time, a branch toppled from a tree, falling straight onto Matrixwing's head (who was busy attempting to stabilize the boat with his wingspan), and he was knocked unconcious.

As Fluttershy watched Matrixwing slump to the floor of the boat, she did the only thing she could think to do. She dived over Matrixwing's unconcious body, her aim to protect him from any other falling hazards that may hit the stallion. The strength that came to her aid at that moment was what should have been known as instinct.

As Fluttershy gathered Matrixwing's splayed wings and wrapped her hooves around him, she felt the boat's magical resistance failing through every fiber of the old wooden planks. Sure, she could attempt to fly with Matrixwing to safety, but then she thought of her friends. She then began to doubt her strength to haul Matrixwing through the thick branches, which were still dangerous even as the ever encroaching rapids of the waterfall loomed into sight.

No, she decided, I won't be able to fly him... but I won't leave him and my friends here alone.

So out of the eternal love for her friends, the kind pegasus remained. A tiny squeal of fear escaped her lips as she heard the monsterous roar of the waterfall. Fear built quickly in her chest as she saw the edge of the drop. It was such a distance that she couldn't see the end, even in the brightly-lit night. Just before the boat turned into wood chips she distinctly heard one of the Elements call out: "Grab onto somepony!"

As the little boat exploded from impact, and the ponies were ejected from their seating, Fluttershy held tight as she could to the incognizant Matrixwing in her hooves. Almost as soon as she could could get a grip, she began to feel herself fall, screaming coming from all around her from her companions. She looked down the horrifyingly long drop below her, and she shut her eyes tightly.

Flying-feathers were wetted with the magical droplets of the falling water, sealing any attempts for flight. Horns were temporarily dispelled, forcing any attempts for magic to be nullified. Coats were soaked through-and-through, restricting movements from the amount of water it dampened.

Fluttershy began to scream in fear as she felt her mane and tail whip upward with the force of the wind resistance rushing past her, she dared look down once more to watch the plunge pool speed up to meet her.

Darkness and an icy sensation greeted the mare, and she saw nothing. But even as she saw nothing, she began to feel a great pressure -heavy, but somehow pleasant, peaceful even- upon her chest. It filled her lungs, her mouth, her nose, every orfice of her being.

The feeling began to intensify, and she began to feel weak. The feeling was no longer pleasant. Instead, pain began attacking her lungs and nose. Her diaphram felt as if it would explode, her lungs would pop. Then she began to stop feeling, and all she wanted in that moment, was rest. Peaceful, quiet rest.

Fluttershy then began to hear a soft whisper: "Fluttershy... Fluttershy, wake up."

Why?, the mare thought, can't I just sleep?

The voice began to become more urgent, and she stirred in her sleep. "Fluttershy? Come on, you have to wake up... please..."

But... I don't want to...

Fluttershy felt a harder pressure come down onto her chest, and she began to cough. She kept coughing until a liquid began to spurt from her mouth and nostrils, running lazily down her muzzle.

Immediately, her eyes flew open, and she sat up on her side, coughing and spitting up the water that had filled her. She then saw that most of the Elements of Harmony were standing around her.

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide and fearful as the realization dawned upon her. She had nearly drowned in that plunge pool. She looked around her at her silent and concerned friends, but as she laid eyes upon the unconscious Matrixwing, she immediately burst into tears. She scooted closer to him and rested her muzzle underneath his, shaking gently as she weeped.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright??" Applejack tried to take a step forward, but Rarity held out a hoof to stop her.

"Are you, dear?" Rarity asked in a much gentler tone.

Fluttershy took a few moments to calm down, her weeping soon reducing to hiccuping sobs. Each pony waited patiently, and the pegasus answered Rarity's question with a nod.

Only seconds after she nodded, Matrixwing began to cough, a groan escaping his mouth. Fluttershy gave him almost no time to recover before hugging him, her body pressed against his.

Matrixwing gasped quietly in surprise as he felt a familiar, warm body embrace his, and he cuddled Fluttershy as he uttered a sigh of relief. He gently nuzzled his muzzle underneath hers, remaining like that for a time before he asked: "Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy replied with a quiet "Y-yes."

Matrixwing cuddled the kind mare a few seconds longer, feeling her soft mane against his cheek, her natural scent flaring his nostrils. He sighed once more as he kissed her forehead before standing with her. "Good."

The rest of the Elements waited silently, for the tender moment to pass, and as the two pegasi and separated, a multi-coloured flash smashed into Matrixwing, carrying the stallion a few feet into a tall pillar of a small gazebo in the middle of the waterfall's plunge pool.

As the rest of the Elements rushed over to the scene, Matrixwing stared into the cerise eyes of a familiar cyan mare. "Rainbow! Wha... urk.... what..."

Rainbow Dash began to rant at him loudly, the words extremely angry: "SHADOW! You liar! You can't fool me again, because I know for a fact that you are not Matrixwing! You won't fool me twice..."

Matrixwing was completely confused at this point, a choking sound mixed with his words as he attempted to speak with the ranting Dash. "But... erk... I am real, Dash! Urk... the Matrixwing you saw was fake..."

"How do I know you aren't fake too?!" The rainbow-maned pegasus practically barked at the choking stallion. The stallion ripped from her grasp and shoved her away strongly with his front hooves.

"Because we were with him the entire time," Twilight pointed out as she walked in front of Rainbow. "Now, calm down..."

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, and as she regained her senses, she glanced at Matrixwing, and spoke in a little-less-than sorry tone. "Sorry about that, Matrix. Just had to be sure, you know..."

The stallion nodded, still taking a few more gulps of air to stabilize himself.

The cyan pony then called out for Pinkie Pie, who peeked out from a nearby bush. "It's all safe, Pinkie! You can come out now."

"Oh? That's great, hehehe!" The pink party pony hopped over to the rest of the Elements of Harmony.

"Pinkie! It sure is great to see you!" Applejack grinned as she walked over to the giggling mare. Rarity also trotted over to give a friendly hug Pinkie Pie. "Finally! We're all here together, after hours of walking through the mud and filth..."

A small but bright flash of light interrupted Rarity and turned everypony's attention towards it. A few of the Elements murmured to one another as a cluster of runes began to glow a vibrant light with various colours.

Twilight gasped. "They're sigils! Magical symbols for each of the seven Elements of Harmony!"

"Erm... why are they here? Fluttershy studied the ancient symbol of Kindness carefully. As if to answer her question, seven ghostly pony-shaped figures appeared to fill the spaces of the sigils: the seven original Elements of Harmony.

A male unicorn the colour of midnight blue, who seemed to be the Element of Magic, spoke quietly and ethereally. "Is everypony prepared?"

Another stallion, a dark gray Earth pony (and apparently the Element of Loyalty), answered for the rest of the seven: "Ready and waiting, Ice." The rest of the Elements nodded in agreement.

"But how will we know when the Shadow will come?" A lime green female pegasus shifted uncomfortably: the Element of Genorosity, seeing as she was positioned on the sigil of the corresponding Element. The Element of Magic nodded towards another unicorn: one that had a dark orange coat and flame-coloured mane and tail. "Corefire, of course. His is the most sensitive Element to such a dark shade."

Corefire nodded, but short after, he winced. "He is close, we must ready ourselves and quickly."

The original seven each took their places, looking very determined as they closed their eyes in concentration.

The Element of Magic opened his eyes, then spoke: "I am the Element of Magic, and I draw upon the magics of Friendship and Harmony as my power."

Each Element followed his lead, speaking their places and their strengths, starting from the right of the Element of Magic (who faced the bridge heading away from the gazebo), Honesty, then proceeding clockwise until reaching the final Element: Hope.

"... I am the Element of Hope. I show my friends and any others that anything is possible through the power of believing in themselves, and capabilities of others. I draw upon the hopes of others to retain my strength."

The ghostly visages exploded in a flash of light, and the memories of the original seven faded, leaving the current Elements of Harmony mesmerized.

Rarity was the first to recover. "But wait! What happened after," she asked, "What did they do to stop the Shadow??"

Matrixwing began to feel an eerie pain in his chest at that moment: a mixture of pain, depression, fear, and anger. "The Shadow..." Twilight turned to face him, a look of fear in her own eyes. "Already?" Matrixwing nodded, his expression grim.

"Then we'll have to move quickly... Everypony, get onto your sigils. Let's end this now." Twilight stood upon the sigil of magic as she spoke, the carvings beginning to glow a bright purple, and a quiet hum replacing the silence.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Nice chapter. I can't wait to read what happens next. Good luck.

[Dark Tempest]

4729237
Thanks!