Yonder Wandered Fluttershy

by Darkonshadows

93

“Where am I?” Steven Quartz Universe sat up and looked about himself; he was sitting underneath a tree on grassy hillside.

“Steven!” The voice was followed by a form pouncing on the boy and a pair of limbs entrapping him in big hug.

It took Steven a few moments to realize what was hugging him, after a moment he quickly returned the hug as he recognized that it was a teary eyed Pearl. She was adorable as a pony and he couldn’t help but chuckle as she nuzzled him as if she were a pony and not just shaping her form to look like one. Pearl had gone slightly native.

“Yes, distant kin of Pearl.” Luna caused Amethyst to yelp and jump straight on top of Pearl harmlessly knocking her to the ground as weight meant nothing in the realm of dreams. Connie was giggling slightly even as she stared on in awe at Luna’s beauty and size; she had been on the other side of the tree. “I am Princess Luna; Pearl has been eagerly looking forward to this. Enjoy the night and dream well for your time together is limited.”

Having looked away from Pearl, both Steven and Amethyst saw everyone that had snuggled up to Fluttershy and a different pony that they haven’t seen before aside from the princess that just introduced herself. Maud had a small smile on her face at seeing Pearl being happy to be with her family. That and in reality Maud was being tightly cuddled by Pearl since they were both snuggled together in bed after a nice stealth date Pinkie helped to set up, now if only she could ask Pearl out for a real date. She was a bit shy like Pearl was.

After an hour Bonnie joined in the dream and minutes after that two strange beings appeared in the dream, one was a calm blue skinned Cyclops lady in a dress and the other was a fiery red skinned hot tempered girl. The two of them looked rather confused about what was going on. Then Lion appeared looking vaguely puzzled, but had wanted to join in on pile of beings sleeping next to the beautiful soul that reminded him of Rose Quartz.

Ruby and Sapphire were explained as being Garnet when the two were fused together, the two crystal gems looked a bit iffy around Pearl but eventually they decided to come around and the crystal gems came together as one big family. The family would dream happily for the rest of the night and would profusely thank Luna for the opportunity to meet like this.

-

It was the third day on Earth and Fluttershy slowly came to, she was lying on her belly with her hooves splayed out flat across the makeshift bedding. Sleeping against the left side of her neck was Foxglove, snuggled into her left side was Soft Echo with a feathered wing draped around her and on her right was Steven. Bonnie once again was snuggled against her butt, Amethyst and Garnet had their heads resting against Fluttershy’s front hooves and her two rear hooves were taken up by Lion and Roller. Hugging her tail and having told her parents she was sleeping over at the Universe’s was a softly snoring Connie.

The pony race had learned new facets of the crystal gems in their ability to fuse together to become both bigger and stronger along with the ability to create new summon weapons as a result of the fusion. Garnet really took fusion seriously and it was rather sweet that Ruby and Sapphires love is what held their form together so well.

While she wasn’t uncomfortable with her current position as a pillow, Fluttershy wanted to get up and stretch out her incredibly stiff body. She didn’t have the heart to disturb anyone even in her still somewhat limited emotional state; after a moment she realized she was beginning to feel things again slowly. She was actually able to feel other things than content or happy.

It was only a short amount of time after that everyone else started waking up; Steven had taken to hugging Fluttershy in his sleep with a frown before he woke up. He must have been saying goodbye to Pearl; he was both happy and sad upon waking up and looking at everyone else.

It was time for the day to start with some fresh eggs for breakfast; the oranges were all sadly stolen by a hungry Soft. It led a distracted Fluttershy to notice that Bonnie was holding a hat.

“Bonnie, can you tell me where that came from?” Motioning to the red hat, Fluttershy was actually feeling curious at the moment which is a neutral emotion in the fact that it was neither good nor bad.

“It washed ashore from the sea late last night, don’t rightly know where it was before that but it was certainly strange that this thing was dry when I found it.” It was disconcerting to Bonnie; she started to check it over when she found a small piece of paper on the inside of the hat. There was no advanced mechanical technology in the hat that kept it dry as far as she could tell. “Hey, what’s this? Warning, beware of cliffs with this hat. Well that’s a little odd and highly ominous to hear.”

Amethyst came over and looked at the note Bonnie had read and shrugged before going back to her cheesy snack chips. Garnet was sitting on the couch looking stoic as ever and was mumbling to herself, most likely talking between her two personalities that made up her body.

“Can I check it and everyone? I think I’ve got my magic detecting ability down.” Foxglove had been practicing on the wild ride so that her echolocation screech could not only bounce back physical images but also magical signatures. She had been carefully practicing on Soft since she was made from magic.

Bonnie held out the hat and Foxglove inhaled filling her small lungs with as much air as she could and she let out a visible pulse when she released a loud screech. After a moment she started looking about the room and at all the magic that was in it.

“There’s a lot of magic here, Steven has magic, Amethyst does too at about the same strength, Garnet has a little more than double that, I can detect my own which feels really weird, Fluttershy has a decent amount, Roller is swamped with magic and Connie has a small amount of magic to herself as well.” Foxglove’s news was a little surprising to Connie; the bat looked around the room a bit more before her echolocation shriek wore off. “There are also a few magical objects in this room and the hat isn’t one of them. Oddly it doesn’t seem to have reacted to my echolocation at all and I can see you in my echolocation Bonnie, but I can’t see it despite the fact that my sound should be bouncing off of it.”

“That means there is something definitely up with this hat and that we should heed it’s warning, but it’s not immediately dangerous right?” Bonnie didn’t have a bad feeling about the hat, but it was rather unnerving for her to hold onto for some reason. She dropped it and Soft quickly took it in her mouth wiggling her red tail happily like a puppy.

Soft Echo liked the colors yellow and red; she trotted over to Fluttershy looking up at her with the hat hanging from her mouth. Against her better judgment Fluttershy took the hat from her mouth and set it upon the filly’s head causing the pony smile and squeak in joy at her new adornment that pressed her ears against her head making things quieter.

-

Still early in the morning Fluttershy led Soft up to the grassy hill leading to the lighthouse on the cliff above the temple. Fluttershy was going to teach Soft Echo how to fly, if things got too dangerous her little filly could fly away from it and hide. Fluttershy could actually see things’ getting more dangerous as time passed as this was turning out to be like Popstar all over again. It was getting to the point where every single day something violent would happen and she was actually beginning to feel vaguely worried about Soft’s safety.

“Soft look at me, do what mommy is doing.” Fluttershy spread her wings and flapped them once; she closed them up and then opened them again repeating the process. Soft looked at her questioningly and was confused until Fluttershy poked her wings causing them to unfold from her sides.

The poor little filly screeched in uncertainty when her wings flared out and one slapped her in the face, Fluttershy quickly calmed down the whimpering filly and gave a gentle kiss to where it hurt. The filly calmed down and started touching her velvety soft fur covered wings with a hoof. She explored them and her own body having not once opened her wings of her own volition before, it was like she hadn’t known they were there all along with their tiny little hooks and the fuzzy warmth they gave her when they were wrapping around her sides.

Now that she was aware of her wings and exploring them, Fluttershy started flapping her wings to earn the Soft Echo’s attention. She could see Fluttershy hovering in the air above her and unbalancing herself she fell onto her back and started giggling when Fluttershy dropped from above to start tickling and nuzzling her.

“You know this like watching mother birds teaching their babies how to fly, only less pushing them out of the nest and more on actually teaching them.” Connie and the other crystal gems were watching the spectacle as Fluttershy was trying to coax little Soft into getting airborne. While that was happening she consider what she could do with her magic now that she knew for certain she had her own magical powers as limited as they were from Foxglove’s description. She could only imagine the things she’d be able to do in the future, maybe things like throwing elemental blasts of energy with the swing of a sword? Her imagination was stoked despite her parent’s slightly stifling ways.

“Yeah Fluttershy is so sweet she causes cavities without really trying or meaning to.” Bonnie was already enamored with the idea of raising Soft alongside Fluttershy, in a time where she had broken her need to steal entirely. She didn’t mind the idea of living in obscurity if Fluttershy was there with her. She came out of her imaginings as Soft wiggling her cute little rump in the air before jumping up and trying to flap her wings, only to end up falling flat on her face in the grass because she didn’t synchronize them well enough.

Garnet stood nearby and watched, she still couldn’t see the future and wondered what could be blocking her powers. There was a lot of uncertainty about everything going on now and Ruby was having a heck of a time calming down her partner in their combined form. It had something to do with the visitors who gave them time to talk to Pearl about where she was and how she was doing. It was good to know that Pearl hadn’t been shattered even if she was on a world dangerous to Crystal Gems; apparently she slammed into a tree that had been responsible for the deaths of many crystal gems if the theory that the planet ate them was to be believed. Then again the crystal gems had really been asking for it by trying to parasite that planet and were in turn themselves eaten, the news and visuals Pearl gave her of the crystal ponies caused Garnet to be a little more than uneasy of that world.

There was one upside to all this, Garnet saw that Steven was back to his old self and it made her happy to see his spirit has been revitalized. Even if she couldn’t predict things, so far nothing was looking bad at the moment even if it could quickly change. She wasn’t one to ruin Steven’s good mood.

-

Everything from meeting Fluttershy to the highway chase had Foxglove thoroughly rattled, she knew Dale has had worse than this and was surprised she went through it all in over the last two days since she took up this mission. Bonnie had some decency even with her thieving behavior, she seemed attracted to Fluttershy like a moth to a flame. Fluttershy herself was sweet and friendly; over the last two days she saw the kind of havoc that followed the pony around which had Foxglove worried for her life. Then there was the strange Soft Echo who spoke only bat and performed like a vampire for fruit. Given Fluttershy’s world had Vampire Fruit Bats and her magical curse was caused by complete accident, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together to get four. Roller himself was an incredible fantastical animal.

Despite her magical prowess not being all too great to do big things, Foxglove was an observer of many strange things since she fell on Fluttershy’s muzzle that made Stanley look normal. Her current concerns were not over the sudden mother or her child, it was over the hat that didn’t her echolocation screech didn’t pick up. Her voice was a vibration so she should have been able to get a bounce back from the hat as her sound hit it. If she wasn’t seeing it with her own two eyes and she had pretty good eyesight compared to any other normal bat, she would have sworn the object in question didn’t exist. That it didn’t come off magical or even as being physical in her echolocation was disturbing, so she kept near Fluttershy and Soft hoping that she’d be capable of doing something in time if the hat was malevolent in nature.

At this point Foxglove was wondering what else would happen, so far since she had landed on this world Fluttershy’s life had been in danger no more than five to seven times in two days depending on one’s point of view. She was determined to help save Bonnie’s brother, but making sure nothing happens to Fluttershy so that she could go home was another objective that was long term that she wanted to see through to the end. Fluttershy seemed to need all the help she can get, so Foxglove offered her assistance with helping to teach Soft Echo how to fly as a method of keeping a close eye on that hat.

-

Steven sat on the hillside and made mention that this day would be perfect for a picnic, Connie agreed as things seemed to be okay for the most part. There were watching as little Soft Echo was learning how to fly simply because they had little better to do.

“It was nice to see Pearl, even if it was in my dreams.” The two kids watched as the little talking bat moved over to the mother and daughter pair and started helping out. “I also really liked Princess Luna.”

“I think Pearl is handling all of this so well, that and she looks really adorable as a pony.” Hearing her cell phone ring, Connie saw that it was her parents calling to make sure she was alright. She didn’t make any mention of aliens, monsters or magic; she didn’t want to freak out her parents even if they have met what amounts to Steven’s four magical alien aunts.

-

Soft Echo fluttered and flapped her wings awkwardly; mommy was trying to show her how to do what she was doing. Only her wings weren’t exactly the same so she was having issues with getting into the air. She was still trying to do her best, after a moment she made a mental wish that her ears weren’t being pressed down by the hat since she felt that had to do with what she was doing was wrong somehow. Unbeknownst to the little pony, a soft glow enveloped the hat and she felt her ears go straight up and with a bit of worry she reached up for her hat and felt that it was still there. Happy that she hadn’t lost it, she continued to try and fly now that her ears could feel the air.

“Fluttershy did you see that… there is definitely something wrong with that hat.” Not being the only one to have seen it Foxglove saw the hat open two holes for Soft Echo’s ears to stick out of it.

“Yeah, something is definitely up with that hat when it can change shape like that. Are you sure it’s not magical?” Bonnie had been relaxing on the hillside until the moment the hat shifted around on Soft’s head while glowing.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t magical, I just said that I don’t detect magic coming from it or anything at all really.” It was still puzzling Foxglove, a magical enchantment would be all too easy for her to detect now that she could detect magic and she still didn’t detect anything from the hat even after it shifted around to make ear holes for Soft.

“It doesn’t seem to be causing any problems and Soft really likes it.” Fluttershy continued to leap into the air and go into a hover before setting herself on the ground, she watched as Soft continued to try and do the same feat and had managed to hover for three seconds before flopping on her belly with squeak. “Oh my goodness, she flew!”

Fluttershy scooped up Soft Echo into her grasp and gave her hug. Soft enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment even if it was a small one and hugged her mother back squealing happily. After Fluttershy let go Soft immediately began practice her hovering, even the slightest breezes caused her to shift in the air and fall down.

“Kind of reminds me when I was born, she could use some more encouragement.” Amethyst decided to transform into an owl and join in on the flying animal parade that was started to build up around Soft Echo.

It had spooked Fluttershy slightly to see a purple owl, but she remembered that the crystal gems could change their forms as they pleased while having a base form to go back to. She was in fact glad that she could be spooked; it meant her emotions were coming back quickly even if they weren’t fully working quite yet. Scrutinizing Soft Echo’s form when she took to the air she realized something.

“She needs her ears uncovered to balance herself when she flies, that’s not really unusual for beginners in flight school.” It took a while for Fluttershy to recall flight school lessons with Rainbow Dash that were now rather instinctive to her, it was hard to compensate for having your ears covered and now Soft was only doing marginally better. She would continue to follow Soft’s progression and gently eased her into doing better.

-

The day was only getting started and they were at the top of the cliff above the temple and nothing seemed to be going wrong yet, thus far Foxglove was the only one to stay strictly focused and had not let down her guard once so far. She was making certain that Soft didn’t go anywhere near the cliffs edge, she didn’t have to worry about that as Fluttershy was doing the exact same thing. They were taking the warning found on the slip of paper seriously and instead went to explore the lighthouse that was once haunted by a crystal gem.

Bonnie, Amethyst, Garnet and Connie elected to stay outside around the base of the lighthouse while Steven led Fluttershy, Foxglove and Soft on the tour. At the top of the lighthouse, the view from up there was incredible. Soft halfway perched upon Fluttershy’s head was smiling at everything she could see and they could see the entirety of Beach City from here. Fluttershy was propped up against the railing taking in a nice view of the ocean.

Soft really wanted to be able to fly high like her mother one day, to see sights like this. Leaning too far forward on Fluttershy’s head she tumbled off and over the edge of the lighthouses railing. Without thinking twice Foxglove and Fluttershy dove over the edge after her.

Fluttershy had actually felt fear and worry and with the full effect of her emotions behind her she shot ahead of Foxglove by great push from her wings and she caught Soft before she could fall too far. She was about to flap her wings to ascend, but she noticed something that caused her to falter, as they were now passed the cliff and falling in front of the temple statues eyes.

The hat on Soft’s head started glowing brightly and beams of energy started shooting out below them as they fell, before Fluttershy could flap her wings they both fell into a swirling vortex which quickly closed behind them before Foxglove could reach it.

Foxglove had shrieked at the vortex and there was no magic behind it. Whatever the hat did to create it, without its presence the vortex quickly slammed shut before she could reach it.

“Did that just seriously happen?” Bonnie asked after a moment of disbelief she decided to reiterate to the stunned beings all watching the spot in the air where Fluttershy and Soft Echo had disappeared, her ire and anger was rising. “DID THAT JUST SERIOUSLY HAPPEN TO HER? WHAT NEXT, LIZARD MEN!”

Turning around at hearing something Bonnie quickly knocked over Connie and deflected the blow from a sword held by a feminine looking lizard, a lizard woman was not exactly what she asked for. She immediately stabbed out with the glass knife planting it home in the lizard’s chest where it went up in a puff of smoke turning into a crystal. Steven arrived and quickly grabbed the crystal and encased it in a pink bubble.

“Wow, lizard people do exist. Only they’re crystal gem related… that’s going to really upset Ronaldo.” Steven said in slight wonder before he gained a startled look at the twenty or so lizard women charging up the hill towards the lighthouse all wielding various sharp looking instruments. Amethyst pulled out her whip and Garnet immediately formed her gauntlets. By the end of the fighting Foxglove would quickly learn how to perform a bubbling spell.

Author's Note:

Fluttershy's emotions are coming back, unfortunately she ended up getting involved in something ancient and very powerful.

In the next chapter, we see that the Crystal Gems aren't the only ancient beings on the planet.

Cosmic Cap, AKA the Cosmic Crown- A hat with the power to open 'ONE-WAY' portals through space and dimension, on rare occasions through time itself. The cap itself isn't dangerous, but the portals that it can open are. Should you be unlucky enough to not have a guide who knows where the portals lead you'll likely end up in the middle of a volcano or at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.

In a rather ironic manner a lot of the portals the hat can open are usually found by jumping off of cliffs, making the use of this cosmically powered cap not for the faint of heart. It is completely indestructible and it can change form to fit the wearer more comfortably.

As for what dark and violent cartoon series the hat comes from well...

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Not only did Mighty Max deal with magical crap, but he also fought aliens multiple times and technological human villains as well. All that while journeying around the planet through the one way portals that his hat opened in specific places. He turned one portal into a weapon by dumping a bunch of indestructible magical zombies into the the bottom of the Marianas Trench, he kept the portal open but never went through it personally as that would have killed him. If not by drowning, then from the pressure alone at suddenly being at the bottom of the ocean imploding his body. The hat was indestructible, Max himself was only human who could manipulate the cosmic power after having used the hat so many times as to have eventually gained an innate knowledge of the portal system encompassing the Earth.

Max's two companions were Virgil an immortal bird man of great intellect and Norman the greatest human warrior ('not a magically powered one mind you') of Earth. Norman was also immortal in an ageless sense by always fighting a being known as 'The Conqueror' who extends his life span should he win and survive a day long continuous fight with said being. A normal human being would normally die at least two hours into said fight, that is if they spent most of it running and haven't already died the first ten minutes in.

Comments

[Acacia Sgt]

Yep, figures she'd be starting to feel things again on a bad moment.

You know, despite whatever else that could mean on the fact they have unwittingly made quite an erratic change in location... I still can't help but find amusing on the fact that now little Soft Echo is gonna meet the wackier side of the journeying. Would say dangerous, but the road-trip from NYC already kinda covered that.

Hmm, Might Max... never heard of that series before. Gonna look that up later.

[nightmaster0]

Awesome chapter.

I'm really beginning to think Fluttershy is cursed or something.