Gleam

by SlashopentheSky

Volcano I

The Dragon Lands were strangely beautiful.

Despite the unusual appearance of the train, the ride went as normal, and by the next morning, Fluttershy had arrived. In pictures, the place had always looked too hot and too dry, but she found herself caught in awe as she looked around herself. The moss and amber grass that dotted the ground in patches. The intricate configurations of dried mud and stone. The vast valleys around her, and the mighty and distant volcanoes puffing away. The air was much damper than she had expected, making the heat stick to her fur and feathers. The ground was harder than she was used to. Yet, Fluttershy could relax. She began to trot into the nearest building, marked "Information Center", to learn where to go from here. And then, she looked up.

There were a few of these information centers. Besides her was one half the size of the one she was heading to. Several feet to the side, one twice its size, and after that, one that was unmeasurably larger. Rationally, she supposed this made sense. Creatures of all sizes must come this way, and the fact that they were accommodating enough to make something equine-sized was really quite thoughtful. But Fluttershy could only begin to shake upon remembering that half of the denizens of the Dragon Lands could easily stomp her flat. She stopped in her tracks and began shivering. The foot was right above her, five times the size of her tiny, breakable body. She sank to her knees under its slowly increasing pressure. This was it. This was the end. She would never find her way home. At last, she braced herself for it, and-

*poke*

Fluttershy screamed shrilly and darted up as fast as her wings would take her. The foot was gone. There was no foot. She was fine? Fluttershy drifted back to the ground and looked beside her. It was a drake who had poked her. He was about her size, save a few inches, and looked quite a lot like Spike, only his spines were longer and reddish, and his scales were paler and shimmered brilliantly. "Are you okay, miss pegasus?" he asked. "You were shaking quite a bit."

"Oh! um, I'm fine, sorry! I just get a little nervous sometimes. I've never been so far from home before," Fluttershy said skittishly.

"Huh, ok. Were you heading to the information center?"

"Yes! I was hoping they could help me."

The drake grimaced. "So you're one of those crazy tourists."

"What? No, I'm just passing by, trying to get home."

"Oh," said the drake, softening his expression. "you're just lost."

"Yes, I am."

"Well you can nab a map from the information center for a couple bits, but besides that it's all stuff for tourists. Almost no one comes by for any other reason, you could get some real help from in town."

Fluttershy smiled politely. "Thank you, mister drake." She turned and headed to the information center. It seemed important here that she kept her wits about her and not get caught up with the thought of how massive these dragons could get. They all must have accounted for this, after all, and there probably weren't too many places with such a mix of sizes in such close proximity. It was only that this was one train station for all who passed by.

She trotted into the information center. It looked fairy average in layout. What was striking was that it was built mostly with finely carved stone. Dragons clearly had an eye for design. There were several patterns depicting mostly dragons and eggs in the pillars and walls. The windows of the place also had some stained glass incorporated into the corners. If this was commonplace here, although it was not her particular aesthetic, Fluttershy had a new appreciation for draconic society.

She went up to an information desk. There was a basket of maps hanging off the desk. She took the map and lay it onto the desk. "How much is this?" she asked the dragon in attendance.

"Twelve bits," he replied.

"T-twelve?" Fluttershy gasped.

"That map will survive a blast of flame."

"Oh, I suppose that is useful."

"You can buy it over there," he said, pointing to the left. There were a few cashiers milling about. Fluttershy went to purchase the map.

In a few minutes, she was out again, feeling much better about her situation. As she turned to head to town, she noticed the drake from earlier leaning on a sign. "Oh, hello again mister drake!" she said. "I didn't expect to see you again."

The drake looked up, then to the side, as if he were thinking very hard. He smirked, turned his eyes to Fluttershy, and held out his hand. "I'm Nova. I... I think I'll be sticking around here for a while, I know my way around, so if you need anything just call me up, darling."

Fluttershy blushed and returned the hand/hoofshake. "I'm Fluttershy. Thank you, Nova."

"Nice to meet you, Fluttershy."

The rest of the day was spent with Nova showing Fluttershy around. Sometimes, he'd enthusiastically launch into a description of the place, and other times, he'd mumble the name and move on. By the end, Fluttershy knew a great deal about that part of town. There were food markets, restaurants and parks by the east, and utilities, general stores, and museums by the west. The housing district was in the next part of town, but there was a hostel to the west that she could stay at for free, so it was not of much importance to her. She made a note to visit the museum before she left. It looked rather spectacular.

"Do you live over there?" asked Fluttershy, pointing to the housing district.

"No," replied Nova, "I live further out." He glanced away.

"Um, should you start heading back then? It's getting late, I wouldn't want to keep you!"

"Don't worry, my parents know where I am, and we're nocturnal there anyways. I... don't feel like going back right now."

Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, alright, well thank you for today!"

Nova smiled. "You too, darling. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow."

The pegasus, now alone, began trotting back to the hostel. She had yet to look inside, but the façade was as coldly elegant as what she had seen at the information center. In the stone, roads and biomes were also carved, showing that some thought was put into this. As she stepped inside, she noticed how warmly lit it was. A colorful mural filled the wall in front of her, full of landscapes and creatures of all different kinds, and candles hung from the ceiling. She walked up to the front desk. The awe must have been apparent in her face, as the dragon at the desk smiled and said, "That's how the regulars wanted to dress it up. It's not that great inside, unfortunately."

"Oh..."

"I mean, you'll love it here! Beds are decent, breakfast is free if you make it yourself, and everyone's nice. How long do you plan on staying?"

Fluttershy looked at the dragon. He appeared to be grown, yet was still only a bit larger than Fluttershy. She didn't know how many sizes dragons came in until she got here. "A- a day or two, I think."

"Yeah, I think this is the perfect place for you! Are you planning on paying, or doing a share of the chores?"

"How much a night?"

"Twenty six bits."

Fluttershy decided that it was perhaps best to save her money. She exited the foyer, which led to the common room. It wasn't unreasonably loud, but there was a noticeable hustle and bustle as equines, dragons, and griffons milled about, drawing maps and playing cards. The receptionist was right, it was much plainer, but it still felt comfortable.

A griffon approached Fluttershy, who had just been musing by the entrance for the past few moments. "Hi! she said chipperly, leaning into Fluttershy. "I'm Gaelle! Nice to meet you!"

Having just been drifting off, Fluttershy was somewhat shocked and remained silent. This griffon was not much for personal space.

...

Gaelle took a step back.

"Oh, hello! I'm Fluttershy!" she said at last, upon regaining some wiggle room. Suddenly, Gaelle's eyes grew wide.

"The... the element... o-o-of... KINDNESS‽"

Fluttershy did not expect to be recognized. For national heroes, the Elements of Harmony got little recognition in their own country, so she certainly didn't expect a griffon to know who she was, down to her specific element. "Um... yes! How did you know, Gaelle?"

Gaelle was somewhere else for the next minute. She was flapping her wings and clucking her beak and zooming around as Fluttershy simply stood. Between the squeeing and the air punches, it became clear that Gaelle not only knew who Fluttershy was, but was probably a big fan. When she finally simmered down, she had an answer.

"Weeeeeell... when Gabby, she's a friend you probably heard of, came back, she told us all the stuff she learned about ponies! And the best part was the Elements of Harmony! Especially cause when she finally brought our friends all together, there were six of us! So we're all really big fans who may or may not call our own friend group the Elements of Harmony! And you... are... my... FAVORITE! I love how you're so good with animals and I really admire your quiet strength!"

Admire Fluttershy's quiet strength she might, but Gaelle didn't seem to try an emulate it. Still, now her motivations made a lot of sense- here was a friendly, outgoing griffon doing her best to show kindness to every newcomer. It was rather nice. "I'm glad you do your best to bring kindness wherever you go!" Fluttershy said with a smile.

Gaelle set the record for the world's widest grin. "Oh, that means so much coming from you! Anyways, would you like to sit down with me and my friends? I'm sure they'd all love to meet you too!"

Fluttershy nodded and trotted over to the griffon's table. As soon as she was close enough, Gabby took notice of the mare and her eyes widened. None of the others recognized her yet, but Gabby called out- "FLUTTERSHY?"

"Oh, hello Gabby!" They had only met briefly the last time Gabby went to Ponyville, but Fluttershy was somewhat fond of her. Suddenly, all of the other griffons looked up with smiles, whispers, and eventually cheers.

"See?" said Gaelle. "I told you they'd love to meet you!"

Fluttershy nodded. "It's more recognition than I'm used to back at home..."

Gaelle looked momentarily puzzled. "Really? I thought more ponies would know who you are! Anyways, these are my friends- Gabby, you know her, Gerda, Giselle, Gregor, and Greta! We also have Zareen here with us." A zebra sitting next to the griffons waved.

Fluttershy greeted everyone present and sat down. "So... all of you try and emulate an element of Harmony?" The griffons nodded.

"I'm Honesty," said Giselle,

"Loyalty," said Gregor,

"Laughter," said Gerda, rather demurely,

"Generosity," said Greta,

"and Magic!" said Gabby.

"And I'm a zebra," Zareen added.

"That's very nice!" said Fluttershy happily. "I'm so glad that there's creatures even beyond Equestria trying to spread friendship!"

"Thanks! That means so much from you!" Gabby replied. "But... what are you doing all the way over here? Doesn't it make more sense to travel with your friends? Not that just seeing you isn't already amazing!"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, then paused as her face fell. "I... don't know, actually." Everyone gasped. "They- I- I just woke up in some magical field, and there were deer, and- I'm trying to get back home as fast as I can, I don't remember a thing."

"Maybe this has to do with the trouble coming from Equestria," Giselle murmured.

"T-trouble?"

"Nobody knows what's going on," Gabby explained, "since the government says nothing and the media won't report on it. But we know we've stopped trading with Equestria because there's no more goods coming from there, and there's been more military patrols lately. Do you know anything? You were close to the princesses, how was the economy doing?"

The color had drained from Fluttershy's face. "The economy was fine..." she said trailing off. A whiff of flashback floated through her mind, too intangible for her to remember, but enough for her to begin shaking. "I- I'm sorry, I need t-to go to b-bed. Um, thank you, a-all of you, for showing me around. It was n-n-n-nice to meet you." She got up and headed through the other door, assuming the corridor ahead led to the beds.

Fluttershy was proven correct, choosing a random empty-looking room to sleep in. The beds were decent, as the dragon up front had promised, but in her poor mood it felt as though she was resting atop stones. As much as she tossed and turned, she couldn't get comfortable. After a while, she fell limp and began staring into the darkness of the ceiling. In the background, the other creatures began to shuffle in. Time kept turning them in for the night, one by one, until Fluttershy was alone in her restlessness. And at last, as her eyes gave out-

It was bright, so bright, and so hot, and yet the sun was nowhere, and the light was everywhere. There was fire, and fire, and fire, without a whiff of smoke, instead the fire produced a single force that rose above with the strength of every tongue of flame. The force screamed, and screamed, and screamed, it begged like a king begs a rebel to cease, like a father begs a daughter to behave. It hardened, and around it began to form a new and mechanical beast, making Fluttershy think of Princess Celestia in the face of adversity, in all her terrifying splendor, yet devoid of love, devoid of care. There was no hate, no fear, it was full of nearly malevolent order, and then, just fire, and fire, and fire, and fire, and fire, melting over the walls, and a calling, please, come, there's only you, there only ever could be, brave the fire, and at last-

The sun.

Fluttershy awoke in a sweat. It was roughly midday. No one else was in the room anymore. She panted heavily until some sanity returned, then began to take deep, deliberate breaths. She got up and headed to the kitchen. Gaelle and Zareen were still in there. Seeing them grounded her, as they provided the calming validation there where she was now was real, for every creature around. Feeling much less lonely, she trotted over to them and sat down next to Gaelle.

"Good morning, Fluttershy," said Gaelle.

"Good morning," Zareen repeated.

"Good morning," she replied sweetly.

"You seem to be doing better! I'm sorry if we scared you last night, we're not sure what's going on, but it can't be too bad!" Gaelle explained. "You've overcome everything before!"

Fluttershy smiled. "You're... you're right! I can do this. I can get back home, and, figure everything out, and, it'll be okay!"

Gaelle grinned. "That's the spirit! Hey, we're all actually going to start heading back to Griffonstone in a few days. It would be really helpful if you came with us, I think."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a lovely idea, Gaelle. There's just one thing I have to take care of first."

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe an hour, maybe a day, maybe even a few days." Fluttershy hadn't considered the time it would take yet. She wasn't even sure what she was supposed to do. All she knew was that she couldn't put it off.

"Oh! Well... good luck!"

Fluttershy trotted out of the hostel and back through the town. She racked her brain for what Nova had prattled on about the day prior, hoping she'd figure out where he was. Generally, anxiety about not being able to find him would set in at this point, but the task ahead loomed too gloomily for even Fluttershy to worry so much over this. She suddenly recalled how he made the museums seem so enticing, and cantered to them. The unusually driven pegasus went into the history museum and started looking around. At last, near the back, was Nova.

He was next to some sort of model of the large volcano in the distance. It was displayed in a cross-section, and inside seemed to be many winding paths and caverns. In the very bottom was a large, white crystalline egg. Fluttershy didn't say anything for a moment. Nova didn't turn around. "No one knows what's really there," he said flatly.

"What is it supposed to be?" inquired Fluttershy.

"The legends say the egg rests at the bottom of the monster-ridden volcano, full of crystal energy. One bite and a dragon would never go hungry again, but only the worthy may partake."

"Has anyone gone for it?"

Nova finally turned around. He seemed tired. "No point. It's just a legend."

Fluttershy came closer. "Nova, are you okay?"

Nova looked ahead for a second, then nodded. "Just tired. They aren't nocturnal in these touristy spots, at home I'd be asleep right now."

"Why don't you go home?"

He looked stunned for a moment, then shook his head. "I'd rather not talk about it." The familiar friendly smirk returned to his face. "What do you need, sweetheart?"

"Oh!" Fluttershy hadn't forgotten the task at hand, of course, but her concern had momentarily pushed it from the forefront. "I- I think I have to go into that volcano. I mean, I had this dream, and-"

Nova's smile dropped as his eyes widened. "WHAT?" he said too loudly for the museum. A few dragons shushed him. "Sorry, what? You had a dream too?"

"W-what was your dr-dream?"

"I was at the base of the volcano, and, it was like I saw through it, and, inside there was more heat than I had ever felt, even from that distance, and..."

"...And?"

Nova took notice of Fluttershy's flank. It seemed familiar before, but he couldn't really place it. "Butterflies, actually. Who are you?"

"I'm... I'm Fluttershy."

"Right, what else?"

"I'm an element of harmony."

"And you're lost, right? How is this gonna get you home?"

"I don't... know. I just have to." A tear came to Fluttershy's eye. "There's something wrong at home, and I don't know what, I just know that I have to do something, a-a-and maybe this is it, and I could die b-b-but I have to fix-" she lay down and kept crying softly. Nova looked at her with great concern as tears kept rolling off her face into a puddle around her.

"Okay, okay. I've felt a calling myself, to be frank. We should go there. But, but we need some kind of defense. I breathe magic fire, what do you do?"

"I... fly, a little." Fluttershy picked herself up as the tears slowed. "I have some bits, maybe I could buy something?"

"How many?"

"24."

Nova smirked. "Well you're not exactly rolling in cash, but I know where you can get weapons a pony should be able to use for cheap."

It was night, and the world was awake.

Nova had taken them to his side of town, praying silently that his parents wouldn't be right where he was. It was a big enough town that it wasn't likely for them to run into each other, but Nova worried anyways. He sensed that he and Fluttershy were kindred spirits in that way, something that drew him to her. Soon enough, the two turned into a familiar alleyway.

"What is this place?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's my brother's... magic shop."

"Oh, that sounds lovely!"

Nova smirked. Nothing his brother sold was nefarious, certainly. It was all stuff that should be legal anyways. But the government felt that certain types of magic should be regulated to reduce crime, so it had to be sold a little more covertly. Nothing wrong with that.

Nova turned left and knocked a few times on a door. The grill opened, and two piercing yellow eyes shone out. They went from side to side, like glowflies turning circles. "Who the hell is this, Nova?" said a gruff voice.

"She's some kind of damn refugee," he replied, in a voice lower and raspier than Fluttershy had probably heard. "Not the stupid cops, okay? Can you let us in?"

The door unlatched. Nova's change in demeanor had made Fluttershy grow more anxious. The two stepped in. The larger, crimson-scaled dragon looked her up, down and around. "Fucking hell, your cutie mark!"

"M-my cutie mark?"

"That's the same one as the moondamn element of kindness."

Nova stepped forward. "She is the element of kindness, Roho."

"H-how do you know that?" asked Fluttershy, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

Roho laughed. "The magic of friendship is powerful indeed, and more importantly, very hard to ban. It's the easiest to harvest and use to charge crystals. Since they make such a big deal of it in Equestria, we divide our raw friendship-based materials based on, well," he pointed up to a tall shelf where a variety of chests lay with different familiar symbols etched and painted onto them. "your cutie marks."

"What- but- doesn't that hurt ponies?"

Roho grinned. "Doesn't really fucking matter. They get compensated." Fluttershy felt a little ill.

"Look, there's a reason we're here, Roho. We need those magic staffs. Now Fluttershy only has 24 bits but I can pay you back eventually, okay? It's important. For your brother, please."

Roho began looking irritated. "I don't give a shit, runt. Even shitty staffs are 30 bits and I'm running a business. You didn't pay me the fuck back last time."

"I was frickin' five! Do you even remember what I owe you for?"

Roho exhaled.

"You wouldn't have to charge it much. I'm sure the embodiment of kindness could do it herself."

The older dragon's face softened. "Oh, that's true. Let me do some calculations-" he ran to his desk for a moment and seemed to write something down. The he came back. "Twelve bits for a shit one, eighteen for a decent one. That's the most you could afford."

Fluttershy smiled reservedly. "I'll take the... decent one!"

"Alright girl, that's a deal then. We got water, earth, air- I think healing would suit you. That one's fitted with a rose quartz."

"Oh, that's perfect!"

"Hell, pay twenty and I'll throw in another fully uncharged gem. Maybe you can get a little offensive energy out of it."

"I'll take it!"

Nova turned to Fluttershy. "Since we're going to the volcano, you should take aventurine, the water gem."

Roho shot Nova a look. "Hold up, the volcano? You trying to fucking kill her?"

Fluttershy looked up at Roho. "Actually, I had a dream that I should go there. I don't know if it's safe, but I definitely have to," she tried to explain.

Roho smirked. "And this dream has nothing to do with this runt's crazy ramblings about the volcano."

Nova looked down sheepishly. "I may dream about the volcano pretty often... but I never mentioned it to her! I was just showing her around town!"

"I believe that as an element of harmony, I have to go there. Equestria may be in danger," Fluttershy added.

"Oh that's cute," Roho said, to Nova. "You always bitch about how the Equestrians are bringing over their fucking cultural imperialism or whatever and you want them out, but now you wanna go on this official business and help save them."

Nova hung his head as Fluttershy shot him a sad look. "I don't really want them dead, or whatever. Can we leave? Fluttershy, give him the damn bits and leave."

Fluttershy, shaking, pulled the bits out of her pouch, and took the staff and aventurine with her. The two walked out and back into the street, moving in silence for a moment.

"I don't like myself in there," Nova said.

"You scared me a bit," Fluttershy admitted. They continued walking under the light of the cold moon.

"I was... adopted. You'd think that would mean my parents really wanted me, but they just needed the federal aid to afford the rest of their kids. We don't make a lot of money over the table, and the family business was slowing down back then.

They all act so tough, but, that's not me. I feel like I have to be not myself around them to get any respect, even if it's not much. I try and show a little more kindness, y'know? It's just hard around them. I'm sorry to have been so rough back there, I know you're not used to that kind of place."

"It's okay," said Fluttershy. "I'm just glad there's still times where you can be yourself. That's very important."

"Thanks," he replied. "I really feel like I can be myself around you. That's something I really love about you, Fluttershy."

They blushed, and kept walking.

"What did Roho mean about cultural imperialism?"

"Oh, that's... I won't downplay it. I trust you'll understand. We get so many tourists that a lot of towns are starting to get filled with Equestrian businesses, move to a diurnal system, all kinds of stuff that's bad for local dragons. Local businesses are failing, our language is starting to die off, and so much more, I could rant about it for hours. That's why I was so... apprehensive when I thought you were a tourist." A look of horror spread across Fluttershy's face. "No, did I say something wrong?" asked Nova. He didn't know why he was so apologetic about this, with this mare in front of him.

"All of that is wrong! I- I- when I get back to Equestria, I'm going to talk to the princess!"

Nova stopped and threw his arms around her. Just as suddenly, he withdrew. "I- I'm sorry, that was-"

"It was fine," said Fluttershy, returning the hug. He surprised her with his warmth.

"I'm just so happy thinking something might really get done! Thank you, Fluttershy!"

And then, with newfound warmth and kinder pace, they kept walking.

It was nearly sunrise when they made it back to the first town. Fluttershy had yawned her way through the past few minutes and into the concern on Nova, who suggested she go get some sleep before they left. Fluttershy conceded, and went back to the hostel.

"Fluttershy, you're back!" said Gaelle as she walked through the door. "You didn't come last night, we were worried! Are you done with what you needed to do?"

"No," she replied, "but I've made a lot of progress! And I'm so sorry for worrying you! Trust me, I'm fine."

"That's awesome!" said Gaelle, relieved. "We're gonna leave in two days, after today I mean, so try and get it done by then, but we'll definitely wait for you! Can I ask what's going-" Gaelle looked at Fluttershy again with fresh eyes as she considered her statement. "No, you look tired. You should get some sleep, Fluttershy!"

"Oh, definitely. That's why I'm here."

"Aaah, sorry to keep you waiting, girl! Sweet dreams!" The two hugged briefly before Gaelle went out the door and Fluttershy went back to her room.

It was midday when Fluttershy awoke. She grabbed her things and started trotting back to the museum, but after only about five minutes, she saw Nova out of the corner of her eye. He must have too, because they turned to each other in the same moment.

"I was taking a nap too," he said hurriedly. "You wouldn't have found me in the museum so I just came your way."

"Well I'm glad we ran into each other at the right time! Should we get started now?" asked Fluttershy.

"Of course," Nova replied. The two began walking towards the direction of the volcano.

"How far is the volcano?"

"A few days by foot..." Fluttershy gasped. "... but there's a portal on the other side of town that takes you to the visitation center right by it," Nova finished.

The pair went onward through the town, passing markets, parks, playgrounds, and the like, as the town went onward itself, full of life and creatures going about their daily routines. It was then for the first time Fluttershy saw things through Nova's eyes- before, she had thought that there were a lot of dragons, but in reality, there were a lot of ponies for what should be a dragon settlement, and many signs were written in pony, something that seemed normal to her before.

Eventually, they made it to the eastern border of the town. "It's right by Gurgu Park," Nova stated, pointing to the left. There was a rather nice-looking gated park where he was pointing, bustling with mostly dragons. They walked up to the ticket booth.

Fluttershy looked at the sign above the booth. "It's four bits for a ticket," she remarked. "That's all I have left."

"Don't worry about it," said Nova, pulling out eight bits from his satchel. "Save them. Use them wisely."

"Two tickets?" asked the dragon at the medium booth, looking down on the pair.

"Yes, sir." replied Nova. He tossed up the bits. After counting them, the booth dragon handed down two tickets.

"Go on and enjoy yourselves," he called to them as they passed the gates. The pair moved through the park. It was a beautiful park, with many gardens full of plants that Fluttershy had never seen before. The rough terrain of the Dragon Lands led to the survival of only the hardiest of plants, but softer and brighter things were more plentiful in the well-tended gardens. Magenta ferns, hard rose-like flowers growing on stalks, flowers with a single petal that circled around the center in a wave. They all looked quite lovely to Fluttershy. To top it off, little critters shifted and sprinted below the flora that she couldn't quite identify.

"Can you tell me about these plants and animals?" asked Fluttershy.

"Aren't we in a hurry?" replied Nova. "I'll tell you when we have the chance, I promise."

"Right! Sorry..."

The two finally made their way to the end of the park. As they approached the portal, they noticed the long line. "It's not the longest line I've ever seen," noted Nova. "We can take the time now to plan. We know the basic layout from the museum sculpture."

"I have to figure out how to use these staffs..."

Nova was startled. "That's right, you don't know how. How the hell did I miss that?"

"Well, how do you do it?" Fluttershy inquired.

"I guess... I just take all the magic I have in my throat, and- and I think about it, hold onto it, and... I feel it travel past my shoulders, and elbows, in- into my fingers, and then into the staff. Where do you keep your magic?"

Fluttershy turned inwards and simply felt for a moment. "In the base of my wings, I think."

"Try bringing it forward," Nova suggested. Fluttershy tensed her wings, trying to push the energy away. "No, you can't get tense," said Nova. "You have to relax and let it flow."

"It just flows into my wings."

"Let it move where it wants to go. It'll come around when it needs to."

"W-what if it comes around too late?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"It won't. You're strong."

"I- I'm a very weak flier..."

"You're about to head into a dangerous volcano you know next to nothing about to maybe help your kingdom. You're strong somehow. We all are."

"Oh... thank you." Fluttershy smiled. She was just doing what had to be done, but she supposed she could turn back, if she really wanted. She could keep going, and maybe Equestria was fine, maybe they just enacted an isolationist policy while she was away and some magical experiment of Twilight's gone wrong had led her to Alkudjuda. But she didn't. Maybe things weren't fine, and maybe this was the answer. She felt relaxed. She felt confident, especially with Nova by her side. Her heart warmed. "Wait, Nova-"

"Is everything alright?"

"I feel it moving, to my heart."

"That's great, Fluttershy! Keep playing around with that, I don't think you can pull a staff out of your bag here in broad daylight, but keep going." Nova beamed proudly.

Time flew by for Fluttershy, and soon enough the two were past the portal. Having experienced Twilight's teleportation before, it wasn't too unusual for her. Nova certainly seemed unaffected.

"How do we get to the actual volcano?" Fluttershy wondered aloud.

"This is another touristy diurnal place," said Nova. "We wait for night, then sneak around. They don't expect anyone to be crazy enough to try and get in, so there shouldn't be too many guards."

The pair walked around the site, had some snacks, and finally took a nap in a secluded area as they waited for nightfall. "Wake up, Fluttershy." Nova shook her awake. The moon was high, meaning they successfully weren't caught. They sneaked around to the restricted section, heading closer, and closer, and closer to the volcano, until at last the soft glow of magma hit both of their eyes. There was an entrance only a short climb or glide up. The two made it up in their respective ways, and then at last, they entered.

Author's Note:

favorite pov is writing characters as if they were talking about themselves in the third person. a little in their head, a little out.

originally Volcano was gonna be a single chapter but it was getting really long and I need to turn in some work for creative writing soon. Volcano II will start in the actual volcano.