Yonder Wandered Fluttershy

by Darkonshadows

25

Fluttershy felt bad enough about stealing the necessities of life, such as four gallons of water and enough food to last her a few days that wouldn’t spoil easily as she had found a cold storage device. Stealing an entire ship and getting away with it so easily made her feel worse than stealing what was necessary to survive. She just really had to get out of the Galactic Federation and Space Pirate systems; she didn’t think a Vhozon would be very forgiving of her theft at this rate. Her first and best opportunity to do so and make a clean escape was the gunship of a highly dangerous being that may or not hunt her down to the ends of the universe for stealing this ship.

For the first time in since forever, Fluttershy actually had a choice about where she was going once she managed to break away from the Valhalla. The Vic Viper was thankfully still in need of repairs after battle and couldn’t be launched to stop her from making her escape. She had tons of choices as the ship had a lot of auto-pilot coordinates to go to within the galactic federation.

Samus was apparently a very busy person since she already left on another ship; Fluttershy was less worried about stealing something that could be easily replaced. There were very few places that were outside of the jurisdiction of the Galactic Federation that Fluttershy could head to in the ship she stole; it was called The Head Hunter. It took Fluttershy a few moments to figure out there was a space between head and hunter, it was appropriate somehow considering she was hunting for a way home.

The place she was heading off to was a strange set of coordinates that where at an unknown destination outside the Galactic Federation space, Samus only visited the place on the trail of a derelict Space Pirate vessel where all the pirates onboard had been killed off by creatures known as Metroids. A species of creature which only left behind desiccated husks after they were done draining all the life out of something. They were thought to be extinct and Fluttershy certainly hoped not, especially since she understood messing with nature tended to lead to unintended consequences that were far reaching. In any case she still hadn’t worked out every single little thing The Head Hunter could do and the access to readable information in semi griffon script helped her learn more lore to share with her friends.

Fluttershy chose these coordinates because there were quite a few interesting things about it; based on the recordings she found the planet had a sun and moon that revolved around it in a system with several other planets. It sounded like Fluttershy was one little trot from home and thus The Head Hunter had been in transit for a while. Fluttershy stared out into space as thousands of specs of light zipped by as small streams instead of as the dots that belonged to other possibly inhabited worlds. There was life out in space and plenty of it was learning how to travel the distance, bridging the gap to meet knew beings and see other worlds some of which were obviously more violent than others.

A beeping sound was heard and the tired pony sat up and looked at it for a moment. After Fluttershy took in the function, if she was translating it right, she hit a few keys on the Chozo controls of The Head Hunter. It seemed to have stopped speeding through space and had slowed down because they were nearing the planet where the derelict Space Pirate vessel had crashed; she was now in the outer edge of the system. Fluttershy could only hope because of its relation to the Chozo that this world was the planet of Equus, not that there had been any history of an eight foot tall bipedal armored alien sent to destroyed voracious parasitic creatures in a frozen region where the parasites were greatly weakened.

The ship started scanning the system for any signs of danger that were so far away that Fluttershy couldn’t see them with her naked eyes. It quickly found something… it looked to be a large blue airship with oars, a mast and a lot of five point star shapes on it. It was detected shooting off into space and not heading in her direction so Fluttershy didn’t think much of it, but she still wondered why it was detected as a possible threat as it didn’t look like a very threatening ship. In fact it looked like a pretty comical mode of space transportation to Fluttershy instead of all the hard scientific looking stuff she was becoming used to, there was always more than one way to travel and by bubble was the least safest as she would tell anyone she met.

“Katrina, are you there?” Said the still half mutated pony airily, she was safe and could get to any habitable world to pick up supplies as long as she didn’t run into a hostile situation or crash the ship. Space travel was very perilous and Fluttershy almost didn’t feel safe falling asleep in this ship, this was after witnessing said ship took a pounding from various sources and held together admirably. She was on route passing by several other peculiar planets, one that looked to be a planet sized city of metal that reminded her of the sad tale of what became of the Croaker planet.

The toilet aboard The Head Hunter worked quite well, as did the sink which was fed water from a small tank that circulated all the basic hydration needs. The leavings Fluttershy had were taken care of, but she really needed to figure how exactly they were being taken care of as she knew very little about the ship she was on except what she has already found out or learned through a tiny amount of trial and error. Aside from that Fluttershy needed to be mindful of her food supply, to find out what fueled this ship and if it would need more, plus she would eventually need the knowledge of how to make repairs as she was not exactly a mechanic.

“Yes I am here my even more lost friend; Fluttershy how is your situation? I take it you’re feeling much better?” It was nice to hear the voice of the old cat matriarch, one who was inquiring about how Fluttershy felt about stealing a ship that was combat capable. Even Fluttershy’s friends had pointed out she wouldn’t have gotten very far in a stiletto considering how damaged the one she took had gotten compared to the minimal damage that The Head Hunter had received throughout the whole thing with the asteroid field.

“I think I’m alright for the most part, I still feel very guilty about stealing this ship after they went through all that trouble to repair it. I’m out of the Galactic Federation systems… I think. At least I haven’t run into space pirates and I’ve found a planet that has a sun and moon that revolve around it, but I’m not sure it’s Equus.” Even if it wasn’t, Fluttershy was going to land and have a look around. Maybe she could find someone who knows of other worlds like this one and how to find them since they had space travel already.

“It is good to hear you can still feel guilty about stealing. I feel something weird from wherever you are heading and the feeling is getting stronger. Whatever planet you are going towards, it would be wise to be wary of surprises. There are many dangers out there vast and unknown that come in all forms even the most innocent looking.” Hearing Katrina made Fluttershy feel a bit better about the grand theft spaceship, but the wandering equine would not forget it. “Don’t be afraid to contact me at any time, even if it may wake me up.”

“I really don’t want to be a bother to you Katrina.” Fluttershy batted at her mane with a hoof, it was still ragged looking in comparison to her tail which looked silky smooth. She really did need someone to talk to, but not at their expense. Now that she thought of it, she didn’t want to take up a majority of her friends lives worrying about her wellbeing among the stars themselves and if she didn’t talk to them they’d worry all that much more.

“Why you’re no bother at all, now Felicia on the other claw. She is eventually going to cause quite a mess of the Aniverse Systems one of these days I just know it!” The cat matriarch chuckled about her rambunctious grandchild. “I hope you’ll still be around to hear about it, because I know I will and she’s eventually going to get over that kitten crush she has for her mentor Jenny. All our neighbors in the surrounding systems will weep once she finally starts getting that wanderlust that took me when I was a kitten her age.”

A giggle escaped Fluttershy’s lips, despite being old Katrina sounded enthusiastic and quite spry for an old lady. She wished she could be that active when she got older and speaking of which… Pinkie Pie was going to miss throwing a party for her next birthday, not that she liked a room full of ponies or surprises. Lately she felt that she couldn’t afford to be shy with how lonely she was out here in space.

“Thank you, I needed that. I’m coming up on the planet now. I hope I don’t have as much trouble as the last few planets I’ve been on, except that would be asking for too much of the universe now wouldn’t it?” Aqua planet she landed on while nearly starving to death, Aldebaran where she became mutated because of a magical space demon that somehow ended up with her looking like she did, plus there was that one planet that exploded that she didn’t know the name of. Here Fluttershy was contemplating landing on planet on purpose, knowing full well that there were going to be all kinds of possible dangers at hoof the second she touched the ground. At least she could take comfort in knowing that nowhere in the universe was perfectly safe or equally perfectly dangerous as all get out.

“Indeed it would be, remember to call me anytime you need my council and don’t forget your friends can still hear your voice out there no matter how far away you are from them.” A yawn was heard from the stone and Katrina sounded like she was shuffling off to do something as the memory stone dulled.

Before she headed down to the planet Fluttershy decided to get a few scans of it, after she figured out what those controls were doing given she was still having a few issues with figuring out this ships different internal configuration. She was unsure how the planet exactly worked and there was something extremely odd about it. Like the one fact that the scans said the planet was round, but her eyes were telling her it was a five pointed star shaped yellow planet with large colorful rings surrounding it. Yet the surface scans didn’t show very much yellow at all. It was an oddity that either the planet created an optical illusion or the planet really did look like that and was round at the same time which was quite mind boggling.

This strange planet definitely felt magical and that might explain its weird appearance, even from orbit Fluttershy could feel a strange tingle and it was usually unicorns that could feel out or visualize magic. From what she could see from the monitor, there were several realms with very defining features. The one that caught her eye first was the green grassy plain that looked very inviting, given Fluttershy noted what looked like apples in the trees in the surrounding thriving forests and there was a few nearby lakes that looked to be filled with incredibly pure water. It kind of looked like a proper idea of paradise and it didn’t seem there was any sign of sentient life aside from the large castle and a building or two.

Looking to the other realms Fluttershy saw a vast ocean? Clouds filled with what looked like ancient ruins and gardens in the sky? That definitely warranted some looking into from a safe distance given the purple tinted clouds made her wary. Mountains and sandy dunes she was going to avoid as it looked like there were volcanoes there. She took note of a frozen wonderland where the coordinates she used to get here led to, she would avoid that as well as she didn’t want any trouble with whatever happened there the last time this ship was here. She might even visit the many nice looking resort styled islands on this planet, but otherwise to the nice and quiet looking grassy plains it was then!

At this point Fluttershy didn’t care if it looked too good to be true, she just wanted to feel some grass beneath her hooves again and maybe she’d even snack on it a bit. She just wanted to start off in the most calm and serene looking environment around, while trying not to think of the trouble she caused and left behind in her escape. Silently Fluttershy once again was mentally apologizing for all the trouble she brought to those people on the Valhalla who were just trying to make a living out in space.

The Head Hunter came close to the ground and entered a hovering state. Fluttershy wondered what set the ship down on the ground or did this hovering technically count as a landing? The ship was at the top of a grassy hill next to a forest overlooking some vibrant and colorful plains where strange, decidedly not equestrian, creatures roamed about. The revelation that this wasn’t her home world didn’t upset Fluttershy as much as she thought it should.

Getting out of the chair, Fluttershy walked to the back of the ship to the circular platform and stood on it. She stamped her hoof down daintily on the platform twice and it floated upwards until she found herself on top of the ship overlooking the lands from the outside. She took in a deep breath while closing her eyes, the air here felt so alive and so weird yet familiar. This world definitely had magic and it felt very inviting, much more then Aldebaran had and it was making Fluttershy feel giddy.

Opening her eyes a thought just occurred to Fluttershy, how was she going to get back on the ship once she got off and how was she going to get off in the first place. It was hovering quite a few feet above the ground and she couldn’t very well fly, she’d have to figure out how to turn off the jets and set it down. She quickly went back into the ship and got back into the pilots seat to look over the controls, eventually she managed to angle the four jets straight down and slowly turned them off to land the ship without trouble. Now there was only the minor matter of security.

One of the things Fluttershy knew was that if she left the ship unattended, then anything could happen to it despite the seemingly large lack of any danger of it being stolen a second time. She didn’t know how to lock it down or even prevent someone else from taking it, but she needed food so she’d have to eventually leave it by itself. It wouldn’t be a coincidence if it was stolen again, by someone else and Fluttershy would rather keep a hold onto it until she could feasibly figure out a way to return it to the person she stole it from. Yes, Fluttershy never stopped considering how to return the ship with an apology note written in griffon or a magically preserved cupcake made by Pinkie Pie.

Sighing sadly to herself, she once again exited to the top of the ship and looked around as she slowly trotted down one of the sloping sides of the ship. Once she first touched her right hoof onto the soft grass, Fluttershy looked around in a slight panic for a few seconds. She quickly calmed down when the world didn’t seem to immediately implode upon itself, but didn’t stop worrying about her surroundings.

In slight relief that nothing bad would happen, Fluttershy walked out onto the grass and felt the vibrant sun on her fur. She quickly checked her saddlebags to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. She had her knife made of alien glass, some water in a portable container, her Aldebaran Memory Stone, a few of what she assumed were carrots from the GFS Valhalla and her still damaged universal translator in case she ran into any intelligent species. She left behind her souvenir photos and a small piece of the stiletto that she had gotten crushed under an asteroid.

Looking across the grassy plains and seeing nothing nearby, Fluttershy then turned back at the ship that got her here and made a note of where it was and would try to not wander too far off. That plan didn’t last long as in the distance she saw something that her tongue really wanted to get a taste of and they looked like big juicy succulent apples. Only after she felt both her fangs in her mouth did she realize that her lust for apples was messing with her head once again, so it was for the better part of valor that she tried to resist the urge to head in the direction of the forest where she could easily get lost or attacked.

Much to the pony’s sadness, her hooves were already in the process of moving her towards the largest looking tree at an easy gait as she stared at the red orbs of delight hanging in them calling out to her to feast like no tomorrow. It was like a sirens call going off in her head, she couldn’t ignore big juicy red looking fruit if she tried to right now and she desperately wanted to. The first thing about survival was safety, if she was too focused on the fruit she’d miss the wildlife that could or would possibly rip out her throat.

Fluttershy was a natural when it came to surviving in hostile environments and so far this one didn’t seem so particularly bad. When she got close to the tree she could see a hole below the lowest shortest looking branch sticking straight out of the tree. The tree was much bigger then she thought it was and so were the apples which were all the more enticing as they were huge. Above the branch were two more holes that seemed like carved lines at that level there were two larger branches that looked to be sticking into the air like arms, it made the tree look like it had a face was raising its two branches to the sky as if they were arms praising the sun.

The only thing Fluttershy could see that was wrong with this picture was the lack of animal any noises nearby, aside from that she couldn’t fly in her half mutated state to reach the tantalizing fruit. Shaking her head Fluttershy realized that this didn’t seem like a safe place to be and she knew something was very wrong with the nature around here. Fluttershy tried to ignore the delicious morsels hanging on the much higher branches and turn away, her resistance lasted for about five steps before she turned around and went for the tree.

She stuck her hoof into the circular hole to climb up onto the nose of the imagined face. Suddenly the hole snapped shut around Fluttershy’s left hind hoof just as she got a good grip on the nose with both her front hooves. She heard a snuffling sound as the branch her front hooves were wrapped around wiggled and then the two line shaped holes she was going to use to climb up to one of the two branches pointing upwards suddenly widened to become circular and the they seemed to blink before they looked down at Fluttershy.

The tree, it was living being and it wasn’t just Fluttershy’s imagination. Somehow the pony didn’t think giggling at this tree would make its face disappear like what Pinkie did back when Nightmare Moon was a problem. Feeling her ears fall backwards, Fluttershy gave the tree her best goofy apologetic looking fanged smile she could as the two eyes narrowed down on her with an angry glare.

Author's Note:

Internet Explorer finally crapped out on me and kept giving me this message -> Error signing string: ReferenceError: 'btoa' is undefined

Thankfully I have a few backup browsers that actually work now that I realize that having them and not using them is stupid. I have been trying to post this chapter for the last few days, please enjoy this while I hammer my computer with a sledge.

For those who don't know where Fluttershy is now... as if it weren't obvious... a fun fact of this planet is that Samus has actually been here before and that's a big enough clue aside from all the other humongous ones. Samus has obviously never reported this planets existence to the Galactic Federation.

Comments

[UsurperBronyZant]

Planet Popstar!

[Acacia Sgt]

Heh, the moment I saw it was Popstar I knew that was gonna happen. Although I had no idea Samus made an appearance in a Kirby game, interesting. Hmm, in that case, then I can think of at least one other place she could have the coordinates of then.