An Expedition to the Crystal Forest

by Doubt

Looks Like a Waterfowl

Fluttershy walked parallel to the mushroom field, Rainbow Dash and Rarity at her sides. She took in only a fraction of her surroundings as she stared exclusively at the ground in front of her.

Neither Rainbow Dash nor Rarity had said much of anything to her, and Rarity thought that it was probably for the best that they didn't.

Rainbow Dash's eyes were fixated on Fluttershy's downcast form as if the act of looking away was a form of betrayal. Unlike Rarity, she was determined to think of something to cheer up Fluttershy, despite the fact that talking to upset ponies was probably the single thing that Rainbow Dash was least talented at.

Rarity's focus alternated from Fluttershy to the curious field of mushrooms beside her. She wanted desperately to figure out how exactly they worked.

Being the only one focusing on the mushrooms, she noticed some things that the others didn't. Firstly, the two edges of the field that they had walked along were perfectly straight, and presumably the other two edges were also. From a distance, they certainly looked to be. Which meant that, as far as Rarity could tell, the mushrooms formed a perfect square.

She also noticed, to her even greater bewilderment, a single dead leaf floating, unmoving, several feet above the ground. Her initial instinct, just as most scientific endeavours begin, was to prod it with a stick. So using her magic she grabbed a dead twig and levitated it over to the leaf to poke it. One quick jab and the leaf was knocked out of its frozen state. It began to sway back and forth, slowly descending, until it landed on top of a mushroom, killing it. The leaf did not wither and decay after being touched since it was already that way to begin with. Taking what she'd just witnessed into account, Rarity concluded that the passage of time over the field must have been halted some how, making some kind of bubble of frozen time. When the things within the time-bubble were disturbed, time resumed. Quite simple, really.

Except, time hadn't resumed for the things that had been touched, resume was the wrong word for it. The mushrooms and salamander seemed to have just aged to death. It would have been more accurate to say that time caught up with them than to say that time resumed for them. Except, shouldn't the leaf have fallen to the ground very quickly if time was catching up to it? Or does it not work that way? And what about wind? Wind touches things. Surely that should have made all of the mushrooms rot by now...

Rarity derided herself internally for having gotten so analytical of something so far out of her depths. What chance did she really have of figuring out something of such complexity? This kind of thing was more on the level of Starswirl the Bearded than an aspiring dressmaker with minimal knowledge of magic.

Rarity continued, despite the futility of figuring it out that she had established in her mind, to scan over the field. There was one last thing she noticed before she decided that maybe she should give it a rest.

She saw a bunny, frozen mid-leap, halfway across the field.

As casually as possible, Rarity moved to strategically obstruct the sight from Fluttershy, using her body as the obstruction. Fluttershy showed no signs of looking up anytime soon, but Rarity didn't want to take any chances. She assumed that Fluttershy had probably already deduced on her own that there were other animals in the field, but even if Fluttershy did know, actually seeing a cute little bunny that was as good as dead, knowing that the only thing the future held for it was an inevitable and unpreventable mortification would certainly send her over the edge.

Before long, they made it around the mushrooms and back into the forest, teal leaves overhead, dirt below, and moss growing on every surface that it could find. As they continued to walk, Fluttershy raised her head and took in her surroundings once more, but she still didn't speak. Rainbow Dash took this as her cue to say something. Even though she had no idea what to say, and her judgement told her that not saying anything was her best bet, she was a mare of action and the Element of Loyalty, she had to say something.

“Fluttershy?” Her voice conveyed fully her lack of resolve. She really had no idea what to say. “Uh... You okay?”

Fluttershy inhaled as if she were going to respond but didn't. She let out the breath then shook her head from side to side, letting it hang lower than it had before.

"Look, I know that was rough for you... and uh..." At a complete loss for words, Rainbow Dash leapt up into the air and flew over to Fluttershy's other side: the side that Rarity was on. Still hovering, she eyed Fluttershy who hadn't changed at all in the short time that had passed then whispered down into Rarity's ear. “Rarity, you're smart about this stuff, what do I do? What do I say?”

Rarity pulled Rainbow Dash down to the ground and walked her a modest distance away from Fluttershy before speaking to her. “I don't think that you should be saying anything to her just yet. Just give her a minute first. If she wants to talk, she'll do something to let you know.”

“So you're saying I should basically just ignore her? Not gonna happen, Rare.” Rainbow Dash's short statement conveyed fully her unbudging firmness.

Since it was clear that Rainbow Dash was insistent on being loyal to a fault, Rarity begrudgingly went along with what she wanted—although she was more inclined to call her a moron. “Fine,” she huffed. “I don't see why you need my advice, though. She goes to you when she has something on her mind just as much as she does me. So just say whatever it is you usually say to her when she comes to you for consolation.”

“She doesn't usually come to me like this, though. I'm not sure she goes to anypony when she's like this...” Rainbow Dash glanced over again at Fluttershy's downcast form. “She might come and talk to me if she's nervous about something, or if there's something she's excited about and wants to tell somepony about it, or whatever, but she doesn't come to me when she's like this. Not when she's actually, y'know, sad 'n' stuff.” Rainbow Dash sighed and hung her head. “Because... it seems like every time I try to talk to her when she's like she is now... I just make things worse. I've never been good at cheering her up, and now that she has better friends than me... she probably just goes and talks to you guys instead.”

As much as she didn't agree with Rainbow Dash's choice to forcibly attempt to make Fluttershy feel better, Rarity couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Rarity's eyes darted about thoughtfully, stopping at points of no particular significance as she ruminated briefly, searching her mind for useful advice until she came up with something she felt reasonably confident in. “Firstly,” she finally said, “don't put yourself down like that. You're a great friend to Fluttershy.

“Secondly, if you're going to be sad, be sad with her and not sad for yourself, you mare-foal.

“And thirdly, don't expect to be able to fix her. If you want to cheer her up, that's fine, but she's sad, and she's going to be sad for as long as she needs to be, because sometimes ponies need to be sad. Do not demean her for it. To you it might have been just a lizard, but it wasn't to her.”

Rainbow Dash dragged her hooves in the dirt with an annoyed scowl on her face as she contemplated Rarity's advice. She found it unsatisfactory. “But what do I do though! You're just telling me what not to do,” she grumbled. “And I'm supposed to 'be sad with her'? What does that even mean? What does that look like?”

Rarity breathed out her frustration in the form of a sigh. “Just do whatever it might be that she wants of you.”

“Alright, how am I supposed to know—“

“If you don't know, then ask.” Rarity said plainly. "I can't grant miracles, Rainbow. This kind of thing is just something you feel. And if you don't know how to feel then there's nothing I can say that will help you."

“So... like... what do I say then? 'Fluttershy what do you want from me?'”

Rarity's patience was thinning considerably. Although Rainbow Dash seemed to be taking the conversation seriously, Rarity still felt she was holding back from becoming totally invested, which Rarity found wholly inappropriate. As far as she was concerned, even if it was only five percent of Rainbow Dash that was being standoffish, that five percent needed to go in the corner, take a time-out, and altogether just shut up.

“Oh, don't get too poetic now.” Rarity couldn't help but give a roll of her eyes with her sarcastic remark. “She might lose the meaning in all those flowery inclusions.”

True, she did want to help Rainbow Dash, but she found it hard to help a mare who only wanted a quick fix to the problem of emotions, and who wasn't serious enough to truly tackle the problem she claimed to want to solve.

Rainbow Dash scowled. “Rarity, I'm serious.”

Rarity had to stay her tongue at that remark, and simply exhaled sharply instead. “Just let her that you understand that she's sad and you're there for her. 'If there's anything I can do to for you, let me know.' Something like that. And it should come from the heart, not whatever it is that you've been thinking with.” With a bump of her flank, Rarity knocked Rainbow Dash toward the still-moping Fluttershy. “Now go, no more questions, just do it.”

Rainbow Dash stopped just short of stumbling into Fluttershy before she righted herself. Her incoherent grumbling directed at Rarity's unnecessary use of force ceased suddenly when she turned to look at Fluttershy and was met with her normally beautiful eyes, but which were now two teal pools of hardened despondency. “Oh, uh... Hey, I was just... I just wanted to say... or, uh... ask you... Uh...” Rainbow Dash suddenly couldn't remember anything Rarity had said to her. She said the first thing she could think of to try to salvage the situation. “You okay?”

Rainbow Dash didn't need to turn around to know that Rarity's hoof had made contact with her face, the sound had made it quite apparent.

She took a deep breath then let it out. “Don't answer that,” she said, then gave herself enough time to collect her thoughts. “Listen, I know you're sad about what happened earlier, whatever the heck it was. I still don't really know what was going on with those mushrooms, but that's beside the point... Where was I? Oh yeah, you being sad. So anyway, I can tell you're pretty beat up about it. But when you're sad, it makes me sad, so if there's anything I can do to help make you not sad, just tell me.” She paused for just long enough to see that Fluttershy wasn't going to say anything in reply before starting again. “Not that I'm only doing this to make myself not sad, or that you have to be not sad right now, you're allowed to be sad when sad things happen, I'm not judging you or anything, It's just—“

Rainbow Dash's ramblings were cut off when Fluttershy leaned into her and placed her head underneath her chin, resting her head against Rainbow Dash's neck. Rainbow Dash was caught off-guard by the affectionate gesture, but instinctively she threw a wing over Fluttershy's back. After the initial surprise wore off, she pulled Fluttershy in for a hug.

Rainbow Dash looked over to Rarity, her chin ruffling Fluttershy's mane as she turned her head, and was met with a small smile from her. She smiled back.

• • ❖ • •

Time passed slowly as the ponies continued ever-onward. Even though time seemed to have slowed, it never felt boring. Especially for Rainbow Dash. She'd grown fond of this newfound slowness, as foreign as it was to her. It was almost like napping, but without the whole sleeping part, which was odd considering how sleeping seemed to play very much a central role in napping.

And that truly was the odd thing out to Rainbow Dash now. Whilst she normally blocked out the outside world to de-stress and relax, right now she was taking everything in, and to a much greater degree than she'd ever done before. No detail seemed to small to notice and appreciate. The light breeze, the crisp smell of leaves, the soft backdrop of bird and insect chirps and calls, and the wing she had around Fluttershy's back. All these things together were more revivifying than even the best nap.

Was this how Fluttershy experienced nature? Rainbow Dash couldn't help but ask herself that question over and over. In all the yeas she had known her friend, this was the first time she had ever truly understood Fluttershy's passion for nature. And to see her mood improving by the minute made it all the better.

Fluttershy had moved her head out from under Rainbow Dash's chin, and it was due to two reasons mostly. One, her neck had become sore after a just few minutes of doing so. And two, she, like Rainbow Dash, wanted to enjoy the scenery.

Things that Rainbow Dash wouldn't have given a second glance at earlier were suddenly quite interesting to her, the different mosses and fungi catching her interest the most. No forest near Ponyville that Rainbow Dash had been in featured quite as many different varieties as she could see now.

A fluffy dark-green moss grew on the forest floor. At the junction where the forest floor turned into the grey-brown bark of the trees, a minty coloured moss emerged. And a teal-ish moss that was similar in hue to the leaves of the forest trees formed speckly patterns on nearly every stone that rose up out of the ground.

The fungi were equally as various, some clinging to the sides of trees in shelf-like structures, others lining the insides of hollowed-out logs. Fortunately, none of them seemed to be anything like a particular fungus they had run into earlier.

Rarity, who had taken a backseat up to this point, had even begun to enjoy the tranquility of the forest herself when she wasn't thinking about the dirt in her mane. And the sight ahead of two close friends, as imperfect and incompatible as their personalities were, side-by-side after so many years... It was so sentimental that Rarity could barely hold herself back from commenting on the matter. Even so, she did manage to keep her remarks to herself. With how self-conscious Rainbow Dash was about these things, she knew that speaking up would only ruin the moment.

Through all this however, there was also another part of her that couldn't quite let go of the mushroom incident from earlier. Not that she was unjustified in her concern. But she did wish that she could forget about it, if only just for the moment.

• • ❖ • •

Before long a new sight sprung up out of the forest. A stream, ten feet wide but not even half a foot deep, cut a path through the foliage perpendicular to the path the ponies themselves had been taking. They came to halt at the wet, gravelly riverbank. Rainbow Dash walked forward and dipped a hoof into the water.

“Is it cold?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash pulled her hoof out and shook off the wetness. “Nah, it's not too bad.” She looked up the stream, then down, both directions yielding more or less the same sight: A narrow river running over a riverbed of weathered stones and weaving around the plentiful stones which protruded out of the water. The larger stones were largely clean of any moss or algae, and flaunted proudly their jagged, un-weathered surfaces that the shallow river couldn't reach. The submerged stones were a different story. A stringy dark-green algae clung to their surfaces and swayed in the current of the river like party streamers in the wind. Both upstream and downstream the river bent sharply after a short distance, leaving little information to be gained as to where it headed and where it came from.

Rainbow Dash stepped back from the water and turned around to face her friends. “So what do you wanna do?”

“It's likely,” Rarity said, then halted that line of thought. “Actually, before I get to that, first things first: I'm cleaning this dreadful dirt out of my mane.” She walked over to the water's edge and took hold of a portion of water from the stream in her magic, lifting it into the air. The water formed into an amorphous ball that she then levitated over to the spot just above her head. “And shame on you Rainbow Dash for taking advantage of my fragile emotional state,” she added scornfully, before positioning her head as far forward as it would go to keep the rest of her body from getting wet. She made an opening in her magic, letting the water trickle down in a shower of droplets, washing away the reminder of her over-dramatic behavior.

Rarity's accusation had been weak at best. That she knew. She also knew that it had come out much too mildly. It was hard for her to be vehement about something that had been almost entirely her own doing, but she still felt it necessary to admonish Rainbow Dash if for no other reason than to feel better about her own impulsivity.

“Hey, you asked for it,” Rainbow Dash replied, unfazed by the accusation.

Rarity didn't respond. Rather, she returned to her previous line of thought as she worked the dirt out of her mane. “As I was saying,” she began, running a hoof through her soaking mane, dispelling a blade of grass that had weaved its way into it. “It is likely that this stream is running away from those mountains we saw earlier. If we follow it upstream, it would probably lead us right to them. Downstream probably leads right to the ocean.”

Rarity's mane no longer held the same form it once did. Instead, it hung limply over the side of her head, sopping, but clean.

“I think following the stream to the mountains is probably a good idea.” Fluttershy raised a hoof to her chin as she mulled over the benefits such a course of action would have. “If we do, then it would make it a lot harder for us to get lost. If somepony got separated, all they would have to do is find the stream and follow it to the mountains. Not to mention that it's an unlimited source of fresh water, which is always useful.”

“So, upstream it is then?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Upstream it is,” Fluttershy repeated.

Half an hour later and Rainbow Dash was hopping from river-rock to river-rock as part of a game she had devised wherein she had to avoid touching the water, but without the use of flight. After a few minutes, she decided that, since gliding was technically not flying under her definition of the word, it should be allowed under the rule-set, but any form of flapping was still strictly prohibited. After a few more minutes, she decided that she liked this change of rules.

By now, the stream had grown to around twice its original width, causing the water that flowed through it to be even more shallow. The water ran over only the smallest of rocks, anything larger it was forced to go around, which, as a matter of fact, was almost everything. In truth, it wasn't so much a river of water as it was a river of boulders which someone had spilled some water into. This turn of events didn't faze Rainbow Dash, though. There was still enough water to keep the game going.

Fluttershy, who was currently walking with Rarity along the river bank, had tried to convince Rainbow Dash multiple times since she'd started to not unnecessarily risk an injury, but Rainbow Dash remained confident in her ability to not get hurt... Or at least to not get hurt too badly.

Rarity's mane still hung low, in absence of its usual structure, showing off its full length that was normally hidden within a meticulously formed curl. It flowed from her head into a gentle, sweeping curve, much the same as the yellow mare next to her, except it lacked the sheer volume that Fluttershy's mane naturally possessed. Standing next to Fluttershy with her mane as it was, the two would have shared an almost uncanny resemblance if not for their differing colour palettes.

Above, the sky was largely blocked out by leaves and tree limbs, even though no trees grew within the craggy riverbed. The limbs were of trees growing at the bank that reached out over the unoccupied space to salvage whatever sunlight they could that would otherwise go to waste, forming a sort of awning on both sides that intermeshed at the center.

The cyan mare hopped from a one darkish-grey rock to another darkish-grey rock, then to a lightish-grey rock, and then to a rock which was a mid-tone grey but with sparkles, all before hopping to one final rock that rolled over when she landed on it. Rainbow Dash had planned for exactly such an event however, and with one powerful flap of her wings, she was airborne, having narrowly avoided a collision with the pointy rocks below. She still had one problem though, which was that she was currently moving horizontally at quite some speed. Her poor takeoff angle had sent her bounding off to one side, which meant that her brilliant escape strategy had really just bought her another half second before she crashed into the shallow stream, letting out a yelp as she impacted. Water splashed up around her then rained back down. Groaning, she made to stand as Fluttershy rushed through the air, landing next to her.

“Are you alright? Did you hurt anything?” Fluttershy said worriedly as she helped Rainbow Dash to her hooves. She nudged Rainbow Dash with her muzzle to help guide her to her hooves.

“I'm fine—Ow!” Rainbow Dash winced as Fluttershy nudged her side. “Okay, I'm mostly fine. I think I landed on a rock,” she said as she rubbed the freshly forming bruise on her side.

“I told you you would get hurt,” Fluttershy said sternly.

“It's just a bruise. Nothing to cry about.”

“But it could have been a broken wing or sprained ankle.” Frustration had crept its way into Fluttershy's tone. A multitude admonishments for Rainbow Dash's carelessness piled up in her mind, trying to force their way out, but in the end, all that escaped Fluttershy's lips was a frustrated sigh. It just wasn't in her nature to berate another pony, even if they didn't seem to learn any other way.

• • ❖ • •

After rounding yet another bend in the river, a faint splashing sound made itself known. Rarity commented on how she thought the sound's source to be a waterfall, and the others uttered their agreements.

As they got closer the sound grew louder, but by no means was it actually loud. In addition to that, as they approached they could make out the distinct pitter-patter of water droplets hitting water, further suggesting that it wasn't a roaring beast of a waterfall. Eventually, the tunnel created by the overhanging trees gave way to an opening in the foliage, and they saw where source of the sound was coming from.

A pond, roughly circular in shape, speckled generously with lily pads and the pink flowers that accompanied them, covered the bulk of the land in the forest clearing. The only area not covered was a small patch of land just over a pony's length across at its narrowest, rising out of the water right in the center of the pond. On the far side of the lily-pond, across from where the ponies stood, was a dripping cliff-face.

Water from a wide but shallow stream trickled over the edge of the rock, and for the most part clung to the stone as it rode its way to the bottom. Only a few drops here and there would fall from the stone and smack into the pool below. It could hardly be called a waterfall at all, given the dearth of both water and falling, although perhaps it was just having a bad day.

Fluttershy walked forward out into the clearing and noticed as a family of ducks paddled their way to the center island and climbed onto it. The mother duck had to make a trip back into the water to steer a troublesome duckling that had gone its own way back in the right direction.

“I can't speak for you two, but my legs are killing me.” Fluttershy flinched at the sound of Rainbow Dash's voice as she walked up behind her. Rainbow Dash lifted a foreleg and twirled it at the ankle, at first in one direction, then the other, relishing the feeling of stretching her aching muscles. “Can we stop her for a little bit?” she asked, looking to Fluttershy.

“Um... Sure. I don't see why not.”

“Sweet. Thanks 'Shy.” Rainbow Dash slid off her saddlebags and threw them up against a tree, out of the way. “Don't know about you, but I'm going for a swim.”

She unfurled her wings, letting out an “Oooh yeah,” as the stiff muscles practically creaked into their extended position. Rainbow Dash's saddlebags didn't cover her wings or prevent her from opening them, but it did prevent her from folding them into their natural closed position, which was a surefire way to get stiff wings. She made a mental note to add “get new saddlebags” to her to-do list, however at the moment she wasn't cornered about that. Right now all she wanted was to kick off this swim-session properly, which meant only one thing: An epic cannonball.

Rainbow Dash pushed off of the ground and gave a powerful thrust of her wings that launched her into the air and over the water. Pulling her legs toward her body and closing her wings, she allowed herself to plummet down to the water that awaited below.

Water exploded from the impact-zone like a ruptured soda-can, shooting high into the sky, then raining back down. A few drops reached as far a Rarity and Fluttershy, but for the most part they stayed dry.

Rainbow Dash resurfaced, spouting out a mouthful of pond water, then turned to face the Yellow and White mares on the shore. “You getting in, Rarity?”

Rarity looked around in confusion, glancing first to her left, then her right. “Is there another Rarity here, or was that question aimed at me?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure why she even bothered to ask.

“What about you 'Shy?”

“Um... Maybe a little later. I think I'd like to go through my journal and make sure I have everything written down first,” she said as she opened her saddlebag and took out the small brown journal and undid a small latch that kept it securely shut.

Rarity opened her saddlebags and produced a pencil and a small pink notebook of her own. “And I'd like to try to get down some sketches that aren't terrible. This new scenery is exactly what I've been needing.”

“Alright, well, whatever.” Disappointed, Rainbow Dash reclined back into the water and tossed her front hooves outward to each side, allowing herself to float on the surface. Since there was nothing else to do, she closed her eyes and simply focused her attention on the feeling of floating. She spent a few minutes like this, keenly aware of the buoyancy of different parts of her body, before she got bored and shifted her focus onto how freely her mane and tail flowed in the water. Just as she was about to grow bored a second time, she felt herself drift into something. She was startled initially by the contact but didn't flinch, and kept her eyes closed. She felt the smooth, waxy surface of the object against her ear and determined it to be, in all likeliness, a lily-pad.

The following few minutes she spent listening to the sounds she could hear, the birds, the insects, the waterfall, the wind through the trees, until she was interrupted, not unwelcomely, by the feeling of a small, quacking object jumping up onto her abdomen. She opened her eyes and peered down at the tiny yellow duckling looking back at her.

“Uh... Hey there...”

The little duckling sat down in front of the cyan pegasus's face and stared at her with its beady black eyes.

Quack.

Rainbow Dash waited for more but received none. “Quack to you, too.” She said as she placed her hooves behind her head to help keep it propped up, which worked exceptionally poorly given that she was lying on a liquid.

“I'm sorry, is he bothering you, Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow Dash turned her head to see Fluttershy wading through the water toward her, wings outstretched. Sitting atop her wings were five other little yellow ducklings.

“Not really, I guess.” She looked back to the duckling whose eyes remained fixed on her. “What does it want from me?”

Fluttershy smiled. “He's just trying to get to know you... I think.”

Rainbow Dash looked back down at the duckling who continued to stare at her.

Quack.

“Right...”

The duckling stood up, waddled forward two steps, then sat back down uncomfortably close to Rainbow Dash's face.

Quack.

“Yeah... now this is just getting weird. A little help here 'Shy?”

Fluttershy moved close to Rainbow Dash and extended a wing to the duckling. “Come on now. You can get to know Rainbow Dash later. We need to get you back to your mama before she gets worried.”

The duckling hesitated for only a second before it obeyed and waddled up onto the cream-coloured wing of Fluttershy who then made off with the ducklings to return them to their mother, Rainbow Dash watching as she went.

• • ❖ • •

“Ready to get moving?”

After a moment's delay, Rarity looked up at Fluttershy from her notebook which she had sulkily buried her face in. “Why can't I think of anything?” she said, poutily.

Earlier, Rarity had taken up a spot under an umbrella-shaped tree in hopes of getting something down on paper, yet not a single good design had come to her in the hours that she had sat there. Or, at least she thought it had been hours. It could have been forty-five minutes for all she knew, but it certainly felt like hours.

“I don't know. I wish I could help, but I don't think there's anything I can do.”

Rarity stood, levitated her notebook into her bags, adorned them, then hung her head dejectedly.

“If we get moving again, maybe you'll find something that inspires you.” Fluttershy suggested.

“One can hope.” Rarity said, forcing herself upright into a more dignified posture, even if she didn't feel it on the inside. “I just don't know what to do anymore. Dressmaking, it's part of who I am.” She touched a hoof to her chest and looked intently into Fluttershy's eyes. “It isn't just something I do. It affects the way I look at the world, and the way I think. But now...”

Fluttershy frowned helplessly at the pleading, azure eyes staring into her own. This was a lot for her to take in so suddenly. Or perhaps it wasn't so suddenly. Rarity had made mention of this problem in some fashion a few times previously. On the airship, at the train station, and during their last spa date. But they had always felt like passing remarks to Fluttershy. They were the sorts of things that Fluttershy expected the dressmaker might say from time to time when feeling stressed, but that certainly didn't seem to be the case now.

Rarity had never withheld her emotions from Fluttershy before, so why was this news to the pegasus now? If this had been deeply bothering Rarity for so long now, then why didn't she know? Had she been inattentive?

“I... don't really know what to say. I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with your dresses, but I don't think I have any advice to give.” Fluttershy pawed guiltily at the ground. Some friend she was, not having anything useful to say. Though, it wasn't as if she had no excuse for being useless. Her job as an animal caretaker didn't exactly require an eye for the latest fashion trends.

Rarity stepped closer and wrapped a single hoof around Fluttershy's neck. “It's nothing you need to worry about, darling. I shouldn't have even brought it up. Let's just get moving, shall we?” She pulled back and smiled at Fluttershy. A smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

“O-Okay...” Fluttershy turned around and called out to Rainbow Dash who was just a few paces away. “Rainbow Dash, get your things. We're... going to...” she said, trailing off at the end from what she saw.

“Now remember, you can't fly with just wing-strength alone. You have to have good form or you'll never get off the ground in the first place!” Rainbow Dash stopped pacing back and forth along the shore and faced her audience. “So with that in mind, show me a gliding stance.” On cue, five of the yellow pupils spread their wings while one more did nothing.

Rainbow Dash got down on their level (which meant lying prone) and inspected each future-flier's form. “Wings up more,” she said to the first duckling. “Now that's too high. Lower. Lower. Now up just a tiny bit. Aaaand... stop. Perfect.” She moved to the next. “Okay... That would be good, if you were trying to stop yourself. You need to tilt them down like this.” A small nudge later and the duckling's wings were positioned properly for a glide.

She moved to the third who sat there doing nothing. “It looks like we've found the earth-pony of the family. Come on, wings out in a glide, like this.” Rainbow Dash demonstrated a glide to the duckling, but still it did nothing. “See what I'm doing? Just do exactly as I do.” She folded her wings then stuck them out again. The duckling stared, but did nothing further.

Trying to be as clear as possible, Rainbow Dash spoke as slowly as she could bear. “Winnnngs. Ouuuuuut. Got it?”

Quack.

“Oh... it's you...”

“Not to interrupt or anything, but we're ready to get moving whenever you are, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, now standing just behind her.

“Yeah, just a sec. I'm almost done,” Rainbow Dash replied without looking back. She skipped instructing the problem-duck and moved on to the last three, quickly fixing their inexperienced technique. “If you take one thing away from this lesson, just remember this: Nopony... Er... Noduck ever learned to fly by just listening to some crotchety instructor. You have to practice, everyday. And if you do, you'll be flying in no time!”

The reaction from the crowd was mixed, but Rainbow Dash assumed this was about as good as she could expect from an audience which was collectively less than two months old. She stood and faced Fluttershy. “Alright, I'm ready, so are we—Uh... What are you so smiley about?”

“You.”

“What'd I do?”

“It was really cute the way you were teaching those little ducklings.” Fluttershy's smile grew wider as she spoke.

“Hey, somepony had to teach them how to fly.”

Author's Note:

Quack

Ahem... Excuse me. What I meant to say was: thanks to xgfhj for copy-editing this chapter.

Comments

[lillytheomegawolf]

I think i See a potential closer bond incoming.

This story continues to be excellent!

[Crescent-087]

You did not just quack at me!

[Doubt]

5330805 Quack

[IceDragonKing]

The reason why the expendition must go as army because of the danger!

Why they don't ask an army from the Princesses to go with them?!

[Doubt]

5332647

Fluttershy didn't ask for an army from the princesses because she doubts that the rumors of dangerous things on the island are true. Most of the history of the island has been lost over the hundreds of years since ponies last lived there, so Fluttershy doesn't know what to expect.

I can tell that English isn't your first language, so I hope that my response was clear.

[Rexy]

QUACCKKKKKKKK

(ahem) Sorry, what I meant was
THAT WAS SO GOOOOOOOOD