The Huebirds of Happiness

by SterlingC

Chapter 1: Cleared for Takeoff

Prince Squeaker’s avian tribe was hard at work. Much was needed to be prepared for the voyage set to begin the following week. The women of the tribe were focused on providing enough food and water to make the long journey to Saddle Arabia. Between them and the desert country was nothing but seas of sand that floated across the barren landscape.

Fifty female huebirds marched with their trademark flock steps in a five by ten rectangle. Each of them wore a white headdress above their heads to shield themselves from the sun’s piercing rays. All throughout their march, the huebirds wives sang a patriotic farewell song for their loved ones. The song described the time of parting drawing nearer and nearer, the wives watching the sands of time slip through the top end of the hourglass to the bottom. Time slowed for the wives, knowing that their spouses would be away for at least half a year to explore the magical realm filled with animals, both domesticated and wild.

Each of the female grazers placed patches of lush, green grass into their white pouches and wooden pails filled with the pristine waters of the Pecking River that provided the huebirds and many of its fellow symbionts and predators with drink. As they gathered the food and water for their husbands the females squawked a sad, yet patriotic song for their huebirds. They sang of the oncoming moment of farewell, the heavy breaths of their husbands as they prepared for their first expedition into the unknown realms, and the fear of loss as the huebirds flew away into the night sky.

The female huebirds marched together back to their respective villages after being in formation for much of the day. Before any of the huebirds knew it, the sunshine made way for the moonlight. The huebirds were back at home, preparing dinner for their families to eat and awaiting anxiously for their husbands to come home…

---

While the females were out on the fields to pick the best of the grass and water nature provided, Prince Squeaker and his tribesbirds squawked among themselves the course of travel and the waypoints they needed to take to arrive in Equestria. If one were to enter the wooden hut with the large round table in its centre, one would think the huebirds were arguing! But nay, such rough squawking was a part of everyday chatter between the huebirds.

Among the huebirds was a red huebird with a small, bushy mustache. This red huebird was Huemingway, the chief advisor to Prince Squeaker and among the regime flying to the exotic land of Equestrian. He was among the huebirds who pushed forward the pressure and necessity of exploration to the young, imaginative prince. Now sitting at the Prince’s right wing, Huemingway inquired on the state of affairs among the exploratory regiment.

“Tweet-tweet squawk?” Huemingway asked with a soft flap of his wings. “Tweet-tweet-tweet-Squawk!” The red huebird continued, his eyes lighting up at the ever-nearing day of departure. Among his hobbies was a desire to document anything and everything that happened around the land of the Huebirds, whether it be gossip or natural phenomena like the mystical day when the sun and moon stood together, high o’er the land.

“Squawk-squawk!” Prince Squeaker replied confidently, flapping his short wings all the faster.

“Tweet-tweet-Squawk!” A blue huebird advisor bellowed. The advisor continued with a long series of concerned tweets. Much work still had to be done within the week if the huebirds were to travel safely across the barren, sandy desert to Saddle Arabia.

“Squawk-squawk!” A green huebird interjected with his concerns about the weather across the desert. Scouting regiments from other huebird tribes spoke of walls of sand piling up on top of each other, ready to swallow whole any victim who dared to fly into its gaze. “Tweet-tweet!” The green huebird continued, covering his eyes with his wings and shaking in fright.

“Squawk-squawk-squawk!” Prince Squeaker laughed. “Tweet-tweet-tweet-squawk!” The young prince remained unfazed at what was a mere pile of sand in his eyes. The green huebird slowly marched out of the wooden hut, his lanky legs still shaking from the thought of choking underneath the pile of sand.

“Squawk-squawk-squawk, tweet-tweet-tweet!” Prince Squeaker offered the huebirds an immediate leave from their positions should they be filled to the brim with fear at the thought of flying to Saddle Arabia. All the other huebirds stomped their claws to the ground and saluted the prince with their right wing.

“Squawk! Tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-squawk-squawk!” Prince Squaker raised his wing, motioning his fellow huebirds to continue reporting to him all of the preparations that were made and still needed to be completed.

“Tweet-tweet-tweet-Squawk!” Huemingway responded, taking out his notepad and waving it around the room. Huemingway then reached for his pencil on the desk and wrote down the date of the meeting and the heading that listed the topic that dominated the room: the journey to exotic Equestria. With all the huebirds raring to report and discuss, it was officially time for the meeting to begin…

---

The meeting went on deep into the night. The land had turned into a near pitch-black, but the hut remained dimly illuminated by the soft yellow flames on the wooden sticks held on the hut’s wooden walls. The huebirds in the hut were now finishing up their meeting for the night. Orders to obtain more food and water for the one-hundred strong were given, along with the flight plans that were scribbled and lined across a map that covered the entire round table.

“Squawk-squawk-squawk!” Prince Squeaker declared the end of the meeting. All the male huebirds saluted their leader once more and trotted out the entrance and into the darkened village. By the time the other huebirds left, only the prince and his chief advisor were left. The two huebirds turned their heads towards each other. The prince gently got up from his wooden seat and flapped his wing to the advisor.

“Squawk-squawk-squawk,” Prince Squeaker remarked with his beak lifted up towards the air. He gently placed his wing atop his head and patted it. Huemingway gently purred and squawked.

“Tweet-tweet-tweet,” Huemingway gently replied. The red huebird then extended his wing about and stretched it from his left to his right. Prince Squeaker’s decision to undertake his first journey away from the confines of his tribe was well-received by the huebird. The lands far to the West were waiting for them, and his princely companion was finally taking the first steps towards moving to a new world.

“Squawk-squawk-tweet-tweet-tweet-Squawk,” the prince replied. He extended his ring outward to Huemingway. It was a signet that marked his imaginative traits, but not his explorative ones. With the signet, the prince showed his disdain towards the other tribes for denigrating him regarding his unwillingness to back up his imagination with a voyage. Huemingway flapped his wings and nodded.

“Tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-squawk,” Huemingway tweeted back. He knew how tough of a decision it was for the huebird prince to decide on his first voyage. He knew that the journey could be potentially fatal, since it was the prince’s first experience at travel. But with the advisors that were by his side, Huemingway felt some faith dwell within him. Somehow, he felt… things would be fine.

The two huebirds slowly patted each other on their backs with their wings. Huemingway waved his wing goodbye to the prince and slowly trotted out the door…

---

A whole week had passed since the meeting took place. All through the week, the males performed marching and flying exercises to increase their endurance, while the females continued to gather more food for their loved ones and seek ways to hear from their husbands.

It was a difficult week of preparation, but a battalion of a hundred huebirds were lined up in a twenty-five by four formation underneath the shining sun. The male huebirds lifted their wings in complete unison. Prince Squeaker marched to the front of the formation to the loud sound of trumpets played by a small line of huebirds who squawked their loudest to greet the ambitious leader.

Prince Squeaker marched with his beak held up high and his legs strutting forward with pride! Following closely behind the prince was the red adventurer Huemingway.The young prince was absorbing all of the praise his fellow birds gave him, the squawks growing the loudest when he arrived at the square podium. Once Squeaker arrived at the podium, he lifted his wings and pushed them back downward to calm the squawking crowd.

Once the crowd quieted, he gave out the most inspirational speech he could give. He recalled the stories he told to his fellow tribesbirds, the times when the other tribes berated their own kind for their lack of adventure, and finally how their time had finally come. Prince Squeaker shouted with all his might throughout the speech, something he wasn’t entirely used to since much of his stories had scenes of quietened suspense before the loud roar that accompanied the climax!

The males of the tribe gave out cheers of hurrahs, while the females merely clapped in reply. But Prince Squeaker soaked in the raucous roars of his crowd, eager to finally begin their flight into the skies above! Once the Prince completed his speech, he lifted up his wings as to motion his fellow huebirds, with Huemingway beside him.

The long group of huebirds now marched along the tall, green grassy blades. Step by step the huebirds marched forward towards the horizon. The males slowly began flapping their birds, gently lifting themselves up into the air. The huebirds continued to flap their birds up high and now were up in the skies above! The females below waved goodbye to the voyagers, now beginning to sing their song of love once again… the huebirds were cleared for takeoff, towards the land of Equestria…

Author's Note:

I know this song doesn't sound very happy. In fact, it's supposed to be more patriotic than gleeful! A huebird voyage was held in as high a standing as a soldier marching off to war. Except war doesn't play a part in this fic.

Don't worry. The music will get happier as the story goes on. Also, I couldn't find a good version of the song on Youtube without the Soviet images, so please excuse them. Katyusha is Russian for "Katherine". It's

---

---

---

meant to be a love song and just that.