Oct-Nov: The Violet Owl
This is my submission for the October-November challenge. The prompt for October and November is "Inspired by Nature." Here are the details from AngyLopez's deviantart journal: "Have you ever read or heard of the 'elements of nature'? Yes, earth, wind, fire, etc. The number of elements varies between 4 and 5, depending on the culture. But what does this mean? It means that you can choose any of these elements, look up its meaning or directly draw inspiration from the element to do something related to Twilight and Flash."
Okay, confession time. I didn't read the prompt very carefully when I came up with this idea. 
All I read was "Inspired by Nature," and I thought, "Why don't I do something fairy tale/folktale-inspired? There are lots of stories of people changing into animals, and animals are nature." Yeah, when I realized that I had misread the prompt, I thought, "Okay, let's see how I can work the classical elements into this story." I decided to go with the Chinese system of classical elements which are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. I was originally going to just use wood since the story takes place in a forest, but then I thought, "Since this story is folktale-inspired, there's plenty of room for me to work in the other four elements." If there's anything that I've learned from the Hungarian Folk Tales channel on YouTube, it is that the storyteller can pack as many or as few crazy adventures into one tale as he or she desires. Also, I would like to apologize if the dialogue comes off as a little weird. You can blame the Hungarian Folk Tales channel and its narrator for that. The narrator in those videos has a stereotypical British narrator voice, and I wanted this story to feel as if it had been passed down by mouth before it was finally written down, so I was filtering everything that I wrote through that voice. Folktales usually don't give a lot of focus to character development though, so there's not going to be much of that. The story does have a few key differences from a typical folktale though, such as more dialogue and more named characters. Anyway, I hope that this story turned out enjoyable.
This story is definitely not in the same continuity as Heaven's Not Too Far Away.
Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a young man named Flash Sentry who lived with his mother and younger brother. His father had abandoned them long ago, and despite his mother’s best efforts to provide for them, the family was exceedingly poor. However, when Flash became of age, he took it upon himself to seek work and provide for his family. He found a job at an apple farm, and not only did the farm’s owners pay him quite nicely, but he was also allowed to take home one apple for each member of his family every day. And so, with his diligence and his employers’ charity, Flash Sentry was able to stave off his family’s poverty, and this continued until one fateful day.
“Just 10 coins?” Flash said to his employer, a girl about his age with hair like corn silk and freckles dotting her face. “But last week, you paid me 20.”
“I’m sorry, Flash, but the farm has fallen on hard times with the apple blight infecting our trees. We’re barely making ends meet as it is,” Applejack answered him. “By the way, we’re going to need two of those apples back.”
Flash sighed but nevertheless complied, taking two apples out of his pockets and returning them to Applejack. As Applejack took the apples back, she pressed her lips together in thought. She couldn’t help but pity Flash. She knew what it was like having to shoulder such responsibilities at such a young age. Granted, her parents had died instead of willingly abandoning her, and her family was quite well-off in comparison to Flash’s. Differences aside, Applejack saw a lot of herself in the young man. On top of that, she knew that if the blight got worse, she and her family may no longer be able to employ him, so she made up her mind to help Flash as much as she could.
“You know, 10 coins and an apple aren’t enough for three people to live on,” Applejack said.
“I know, but don’t worry about it,” Flash said to her with a smile. “We’ll manage somehow. Besides, you and your family have already done more than enough for us.”
“Still, why don’t I help you out a little more?” Applejack went inside the farmhouse and came out holding a bow, a dagger, a coil of rope, and a quiver of arrows. “Come early tomorrow, and I’ll show you how to use these,” she said, placing the implements in the young man’s hands.
Applejack spent the next three days teaching Flash how to shoot with the bow and arrows and how to make snares with the rope. When she was sure that he was ready, she led him to the edge of the forest.
“Hopefully, whatever you catch out here will be enough to tide you and your family over until the farm gets back up on its feet,” Applejack said to Flash. “Just be careful. You know what people say about these woods probably being enchanted. I’d go with you, but I have to go back and watch over the farm, especially since my brother has hurt himself and isn’t able to work.”
“I really can’t thank you enough for all this,” Flash said to the farm girl, but she waved it off modestly.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Well, I guess I’d better be going now. Good luck with the hunting.”
After Applejack left, Flash went deep into the woods. He hiked for hours but still couldn’t find any game to kill, so he found a place to set up a snare and hid himself. Not long after, he heard an animal struggling in the snare. When he came out of his hiding place, to his surprise, he found that he had caught an owl.
However, this owl was unlike any he had ever seen before. It was purple with sparkling wings, and on its back was a pink six-pointed star.
Flash shook off his surprise and raised his dagger to kill it. Owls don’t have much meat on them, but for someone who had been as poor as Flash has been, a little bit was better than nothing at all. However, before Flash could plunge the dagger into its throat, the owl spoke.
“Please, don’t kill me,” the owl cried out in a young woman’s voice, causing Flash to yelp and stumble back in shock. “Please, good sir, spare me my life.”
Flash shook himself and blinked twice. Did that owl really just talk?
“Please let me go,” the owl begged. Yes, yes, it did just talk.
Flash looked from the dagger to the owl. On one hand, the owl was clearly no ordinary animal, and who knows what consequences will come from killing it? On the other, he couldn’t just return home empty-handed. His family was barely putting food on the table as it is. Furthermore, Applejack had gone through the trouble of teaching him how to hunt, and if he didn’t bring anything home for his family, then all her efforts would be wasted. However, when he looked into the owl’s eyes, he could see the fear and desperation in them as clearly as he could in the eyes of any human. Flash knew what he had to do.
With a look of resolve, he tightened his grip around the dagger, raised it, and cut the owl loose. Without so much as a thank you, the owl flapped its wings in joy and relief and flew away.
Flash grunted as he flung the dagger at a nearby tree, lodging it in the tree’s trunk. He knew that he had done the right thing by sparing the owl, but he couldn’t help feeling like he had failed in his responsibility to his family. Flash tried hard not to cry, but his growing sense of failure quickly overwhelmed him, and he collapsed on the forest floor, crying bitterly. The owl heard him crying and returned to him.
“Why are you crying, boy?” she asked him.
Flash looked up and saw the owl looking at him, her head tilted in curiosity. He wiped the tears from his face and told her, “I came out here to try and catch something that I can feed my family with, but you’re the first thing I’ve caught all day, and I’ve just let you go. Now, I have nothing.”
Flash further explained that he had to work at an apple farm to provide for his family since he and his brother had no father but that he has now had to learn how to hunt for his meal since his employers had fallen on hard times. The owl listened to him as he spoke, and when he had finished his tale, she perched on his shoulder and answered him.
“I can see that you are not only a kindhearted man but also diligent and selfless,” the owl said. “Since you were kind enough to spare my life, I will return your kindness. Take me home with you, and I promise that you and your family will never go hungry again.”
Flash blinked at the owl in confusion but nevertheless did what he was told and took the owl home. He brought her to a shabby little hut that looked like it could barely house one person let alone three. When Flash arrived with the owl, he was greeted by a boy who was no longer a child but had yet to become a man.
“What do you have there, big brother?” the boy, named First Base, asked Flash as he caught sight of the owl. Flash explained to his brother how he had come upon the owl and why he was bringing it home. When Flash had finished, Base said, “Oh, well, did you bring anything to eat? I’m hungry, and we don’t have any more bread in our home.”
Flash frowned and shook his head. No, he had not brought anything to eat. First Base frowned and looked to ground in response.
Seeing the sad looks on the brothers’ faces, the owl took pity on them and remembered her promise. She tucked her head under her wing and pulled out a gold bracelet.
Placing the bracelet into Flash’s hand, she said, “Take this bracelet and use it to buy food for your family, but whatever you do, don’t tell anyone where you got it. Just say that you found it lying around in the forest.”
Without another word, the owl flew into the rafters of the hut while the two brothers looked at each other in bewilderment. Then, the brothers went into town and pawned the gold bracelet off to a jeweler but did not tell anyone where it had come from. They used the money to buy a loaf of bread, a wheel of cheese, a jug of milk, a pound of sausage, and a basket of eggs. They had never had so much food in one setting before, and even after buying so much, they still had money left over.
“Brother, if that owl of yours keeps being this generous with us, we will soon be rich beyond our wildest dreams,” said First Base.
However, on the way home, they saw two street urchins, a boy and a girl, begging for food and money. The girl had orange skin, purple eyes, and scruffy purple hair. The boy also had purple eyes and scruffy hair, but his skin was gray, and his hair was black.
“Rumble, when is your brother going to get back?” the girl cried. “I’m starving, and we haven’t earned a single penny or a scrap of food all day.”
“I don’t know, Scootaloo,” answered the boy. “Even if he does come back soon, he might not have any food with him since his masters are so stingy.”
When Flash heard this, he said to First Base, “Little brother, why don’t you take the food home without me? I’ll meet you there.”
So, First Base took the food home without his brother while Flash went back into the town with the rest of the money.
When First Base arrived at the hut, he found that it had been swept clean and repaired. Even the roof was properly thatched, and the window shutters were no longer dangling from the hinges.
After putting the food away, First Base called up the rafters, “Owl, hey, owl, did you do this?”
“Why, of course, I did,” the owl answered. “I can’t believe that you let your home get to such a state. How can you and your family live in such clutter?”
“Oh, we’re so sorry about the earlier mess, Miss Owl, but my mother spends so much time washing other people’s clothes and my brother spends all day working at the apple farm that we don’t have much time for tidying up.”
“Well, what about you?” asked the owl. “What do you do all day? Don’t tell me that you just lay about while your mother and brother work hard to provide for you.”
“Well, my mother and brother have always told me that I was too young for work, but I must be old enough now. In fact, tomorrow, I will go to the farm and work with my brother no matter what he or Mother tells me.”
Later that evening, Flash came home, and soon after, his mother Lantern Heart arrived as well. They were both amazed at the state of the hut, and Lantern was surprised by the food that her sons were able to buy. First Base told Flash and their mother that the owl had tidied up their home, and Flash told their mother how he had caught the owl and that the owl had promised that the three of them would never go hungry again.
At first, Lantern Heart could only blink in confusion upon hearing such outlandish tales, but after a while, she simply accepted their stories and prepared a meal for herself and her sons. For the first time in a while, she and her sons were able to eat their fill, and after supper, they all went to bed. First Base and his mother both shared a straw pallet and a tattered blanket while Flash fell asleep in front of the dying embers of the fireplace.
Once the owl was sure that her hosts were asleep, she flew down from the rafters and in a flash of light, transformed into a beautiful young maiden. She had skin like lavender, eyes like violets, and hair like the twilight sky. She wore dress decorated with six-pointed stars and a feathered cape. The maiden took a handful of fairy dust from her pocket and scattered it so that the family would not wake up and see her. Then, she went to the open window, took out a copper whistle, and blew on it three times.
At the sound of the third whistle, a fox somersaulted through the window and into the hut. Once the fox had entered the hut, it too changed into the form of a maiden. However, unlike the owl girl, her hair was like the rays of the setting sun, and she wore a cape of fox fur.
“Princess Twilight,” the fox girl greeted as she knelt before the girl who had been an owl.
“Rise, Sunset Shimmer,” said the princess. “Did you bring what I had asked?”
“Of course.” Sunset Shimmer stood up, and with a wave of her cape, three sets of clothes, three quilts, a large cooking pot, a sack of cornmeal, a jug of milk, a pot of honey, and a dish of butter appeared in front of her.
“Good, very good,” said Princess Twilight. “And did you tell my parents where I am?”
“I did,” Sunset answered. “I told your brother as well, and he is not happy. I must agree with him. Why can’t you just come home? Surely, you’ve paid your debt of kindness to this man twice over already.”
“Maybe I have, but a promise is a promise.” Princess Twilight took the quilts and gently covered Flash, his mother, and his brother with them before lighting the fireplace and hanging the pot over it. Thanks to the enchantment she had placed, the family didn’t so much as stir while she worked.
“And how do you know that he is as good as you think he is? For all you know, all this good fortune that you are giving him could make him greedy.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” another voice said as a small pink butterfly flew in through the window. In a flash of light, the butterfly transformed into a pixie with flowing pink hair and delicate gossamer wings.
“Fluttershy,” the princess greeted the tiny pixie. “What news do you have for me?”
“Well, I was flying in the town earlier today, and the boys who live here had ran into two street urchins named Scootaloo and Rumble,” recounted Fluttershy. “When the older boy overheard them talk about how hungry they were, he left to buy them food with the money he had left from pawning your bracelet. Then, he went off to look for Rumble’s brother Thunderlane. The boy you are helping found Thunderlane as he was leaving work, gave Thunderlane the food, and told Thunderlane to tell neither Rumble nor Scootaloo where the food had come from.”
After Fluttershy finished telling her tale, Princess Twilight gave Sunset Shimmer a smug smile and went back to her work. Sunset Shimmer simply rolled her eyes and begrudgingly began to help her mistress.
The next morning, the family woke up to a freshly made breakfast of porridge with honey and butter. First Base was about to call out to the owl and ask her if she had made them breakfast when his brother pointed out that she was fast asleep. The three of them once again ate their fill and dressed themselves in the clothes the owl had brought them because it would be rude not to put such a generous gift to good use.
Lantern Heart left the hut and set out for her job as a washerwoman while Flash set out for the apple farm. As he had resolved the night before, First Base accompanied Flash to the farm to seek work despite his older brother’s protests. However, when the two boys arrived at the farm, Applejack turned them away.
“I’m terribly sorry, Flash, but my family can no longer pay you for your work,” Applejack said to him. “You will have to find work elsewhere.”
The two brothers sadly began heading home.
Along the way, First Base said to his brother, “Brother, if the owl keeps giving us more gold, we won’t need to find work anymore.”
Flash smacked his brother on the ear and scolded the younger boy saying, “We can’t take advantage of the owl’s generosity towards us. That would be cruel, especially since she has been so good to us already.”
First Base frowned at the scolding but nodded his head anyway as the two of them continued to head home.
The owl woke up just as they were arriving and asked, “Back so soon?”
The brothers explained to her what had happened and that they were now both out of work.
The owl tilted her head in thought and said to them, “I can help the two of you find work, but you must do exactly as I tell you.”
The boys agreed to follow her instructions, so she took out a signet ring from under her wing and gave it to Flash.
“Go into the forest,” she instructed. “In the forest, you will find a fox with a sun on its back. Show it this ring and follow it until you reach a forest where the trees are made of silver and gold. There you will meet a stag with a snow-white coat and horns made of sapphire. The stag will tell you to get on its back, and when you do, it will try to throw you off. You mustn’t let go no matter what happens. As soon as the stag tires, tell it that you and your brother are both looking for work. Afterwards, do whatever the stag tells you to do, and you both will be able to provide for your family.”
The two boys packed themselves some bread and cheese and a skin of water and set out for the forest just as they were told. They found the fox with the sun on its back and showed it the ring, and the fox led them to a forest where the trees were made of silver and gold.
A stag with a white coat and sapphire horns emerged from the trees and said to Flash, “Get on my back.”
Flash got on the stag’s back, and as soon as he sat down, the stag began to try to throw him off. Flash threw his arms around the stag’s neck and held fast, and no matter how hard the stag tried to throw him, he refused to let go. Eventually, the stag tired and asked the brothers what their business was.
“My brother and I are looking for work,” Flash answered as he got off the stag’s back.
“Follow me,” the stag commanded. Flash and Base did as they were told and followed the stag to a field of the blackest earth they had ever seen. Even more peculiarly, long reeds were growing up out of the earth, but these reeds appeared to be made entirely of stone.
“What kind of place is this that rocks would grow up out of the ground like grass?” exclaimed First Base.
The three of them were greeted by an old gray man and his three gray daughters. The man and his daughters bowed before the stag like they would a prince.
“These two young men have come here seeking work. I trust that you would be willing to give them some,” the stag said to the old man.
The man looked the brothers over and gave the stag a nod. After the stag left, the man’s youngest daughter took the two boys to an empty field and showed them how to sow the pebbles that were to grow into the stone reeds. When they were finished sowing the pebbles, the middle daughter took them to another field where the reeds had grown as high as their knees. In addition to the stone reeds, tendrils made of iron were also growing out of the ground. The middle daughter explained that the iron tendrils were weeds and that they must pull them out, or the stone won’t grow properly. Once the boys had finished weeding the iron from the field, the eldest daughter gave them each a diamond sickle and led them to another field where the reeds had grown past their heads. The eldest daughter showed the boys how to harvest the stone and tie them off into bundles so that the three gray girls and their father can sell them.
When the boys finished harvesting and bundling the stone, the old gray man called them and paid them each with a diamond the size of an egg. Then, the old man told the boys to return tomorrow and sent them on their way.
When the brothers and their mother returned home that evening, they found that their little hut had been replaced with a small cottage. Inside the cottage was a bedroom with three down mattresses and a kitchen where a pot of hot soup hung waiting for them. As the three of them ate their supper, Flash and his brother told their mother all they had done that day and showed her their payment. Lantern Heart took her sons’ payment, placed it in a jar, and hid the jar in the cupboard for safekeeping.
The next morning, the family once again woke up to breakfast hot and ready for them. They once again ate their fill and once again set off for work with Flash and Base setting off towards the rock farmer. The brothers once again put in a day’s work for the rock farmer, and the rock farmer once again paid them with a diamond the size of an egg and sent them on their way. This went on for seven days, and Flash and his family were able to provide a comfortable life for themselves.
On the eighth day, Flash and First Base were heading home from the rock farm when they ran into Applejack who was crying bitterly.
“Applejack, why are you crying?” Flash asked her.
“The blight wiped out all my family’s apple trees, and now, I must marry one of the Flim Flam brothers in seven days to save our farm,” Applejack cried.
Flash and First Base’s mouths dropped in shock. The Flim Flam brothers were rich young lords who were well known through the land for being cruel, greedy, and stingy. Worst of all, they beat their servants whenever they pleased for absolutely no reason at all. No doubt that they only wanted to marry Applejack just to take her family’s land.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Flash asked as he held out his diamond to her.
But Applejack pushed the diamond away and said to him, “Unless you can bring our trees back to life or find me someone else to marry, I’m afraid no amount of money can help.”
Flash thought carefully as he continued to listen to Applejack cry.
“Alright then,” Flash said. “If I don’t bring your trees to life in seven days, then I will marry you myself.”
Applejack stopped crying and asked him, “Would you really?”
“I would,” he replied. “Anything would be better than having you marry one of those brutes.”
“But do you even love me?”
Flash hesitated. He had always counted Applejack as one of his friends, but the truth was that no, he did not love her. He sighed and shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it,” Flash said to her. “Just don’t cry anymore. Please.”
Applejack nodded, and the three of them went their separate ways home.
That evening while the family was having supper, the owl looked down from the rafters and noticed that Flash had hardly ate anything.
She glided down from the rafters, perched herself on Flash’s shoulder, and asked, “Why are you so worried?”
Flash told her everything that had happened earlier on the road and what he had promised Applejack.
“I don’t love her enough to want her for my wife,” he explained, “but she’s been such a dear friend to me that I couldn’t bear the thought of her marrying one of those bullies.”
When Flash finished speaking, the owl tilted her head in thought. Then, she said to him, “I can help you bring your friend’s trees back to life, but you must do exactly as I say.”
Flash agreed to do as he was told, and the owl instructed him, “When you go to the rock farm tomorrow, ask the farmer to pay you your wages with a ruby shaped like a heart. Then, after accepting your payment from him, go to the place where you first met the white stag with sapphire horns and look for bush that grows crystal berries. On that bush, you fill find a pink butterfly. You must pick the berries, put them in your pocket, and ask the butterfly to take you to the copper mountain. When you get to the mountain, climb to the very top, and there you will meet a dragon. Ask the dragon for a jar of its fire, and he will give it to you in exchange for the ruby shaped like a heart. Whatever you do, do not open the jar no matter what happens.
“After you get the jar, climb down the other side of the mountain, and there you will find a lake as clear as glass. A swan will be swimming on that lake, and you must ask it for a bottle of the lake’s water, but it will only give you the bottle in exchange for the crystal berries. You mustn’t open the bottle no matter what happens. As soon as you get the bottle, go to your friend’s orchard immediately, and open the jar of fire. When the fire has burned the trees to ash, open the bottle of water, and not only will your friend’s trees come back to life, but they will be better than ever.”
The next day, Flash set out to carry the owl’s instructions. When he got to the rock farm, he asked his employer to pay his wages with a ruby in the shape of a heart. The farmer was happy to oblige, and after a day’s work, Flash went to the gold and silver forest where he had first met the stag with sapphire horns and found the crystal berry bush and the pink butterfly just as the owl had said.
Flash filled his pockets with as many berries as they could hold and said to the butterfly, “Butterfly, please take me to the copper mountain.”
He followed the butterfly to a tall mountain made entirely of copper and began to climb to the top. At the top of the mountain, he met a dragon. The dragon had green and purple scales and was much smaller than Flash was expecting. In fact, the dragon only came up to his waist. Nevertheless, Flash asked it for a jar of fire just like he had been told.
“Dragon, I would like a jar of your fire, please.”
“I’ll give you a jar of my fire if you will give me a ruby in the shape of a heart,” the dragon replied.
Flash exchanged the ruby for the jar of fire and went down the other side of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain was a lake as clear as glass. Swimming in the middle of the lake was a swan. The swan had pink feathers and a blue heart on its wing.
“Swan,” Flash called. “May I have a bottle of the lake’s water?”
The swan swam up to the shore and answered, “Only in exchange for some crystal berries.”
Flash emptied his pockets of the berries, and the swan gobbled them all up. Then, the swan brought a glass bottle out from under its wing, filled it with the lake’s water, corked it, and gave it to Flash.
After Flash got the bottle, he ran as fast as he could straight to Applejack’s orchard. He had been gone for five days. Applejack saw Flash running towards her orchard and asked him what he was doing.
“I’ve found a way to bring your trees back to life,” he said to her. “Whatever you do, don’t try to stop me no matter what you see, hear, or feel.”
Applejack agreed to this and watched as Flash opened the jar of fire. A green blaze burst out the jar and lit the trees on fire. Applejack wanted to stop Flash right then and there but remembered what she had agreed to, so she merely stood there and wrung her hands.
Once the fire had burned the trees to ash, Flash pulled the cork from the bottle, and black clouds billowed out of it. Thunder boomed, and lightning flashed as the clouds began to rain on the ashen remains of the orchard. To Applejack’s amazement, saplings sprung out of the ashes and grew into trees.
The thunder clapped, and the trees budded with bright blue blossoms. The lightning struck, and the blossoms matured into rainbow-colored apples. As soon as the rain stopped, Applejack stepped into orchard, picked an apple from one of the trees, and cautiously bit into it. When she tasted the apple, she was so overcome with joy that she threw her arms around Flash and embraced him heartily.
Applejack ran into the farmhouse and brought out her brother, sister, and grandmother to show them the orchard. When they all saw the orchard and tasted its fruit, they jumped and cheered and danced with joy. They were all in such good spirits that Applejack’s brother wrote a letter to the Flim Flam brothers saying that his sister’s wedding was off.
After his good deed was done, Flash returned home to have supper with his family, but once again, the owl noticed that he hardly ate anything.
Once again, she flew down, perched on Flash’s shoulder, and asked, “Why are you worried?”
Flash told the owl about how happy Applejack was about the restoration of her orchard and how she had brought her family out to celebrate with them.
“I’m happy that I was able to help my friend, but seeing her with her grandmother reminded me that my own mother won’t be young forever and that I would like to bless her with grandchildren, but I don’t have a girl that I love enough to take as my wife,” Flash explained.
The owl tilted her head as she listened to Flash speak. Flash waited to hear what she had to say, but the owl wouldn’t speak. Then, she flew back up into the rafters and covered her face with her wings.
The next morning, the owl flew down from the rafters and perched on Flash’s shoulder, saying, “I would like to return to the forest for a little while. Could you grant a small request for me while I’m gone?”
“Of course,” Flash agreed.
“Do not set foot in the forest for three days. After three days have passed, take your family where you first met the white stag with sapphire horns and meet me there.”
So, Flash agreed not to set foot in the forest until three days have passed, and the owl flew out the window into the forest.
After the owl left, Flash Sentry and his family went about their lives almost the same as before Flash had brought home the owl. However, barely a day had passed when the family noticed that they had come to miss the owl’s presence in their home. Flash especially longed for her to return. He thought about rushing in to the forest to search for her but decided that he was better off doing what he had promised.
Finally, to his relief, the three days of waiting were over, and Flash Sentry and his family journeyed into the woods towards the forest of silver and gold where the brothers had first met the white stag. Who should greet them there but the stag himself, and perched on his back was the swan from the glassy lake. Soon after the family’s arrival, a dark blue crow flew in carrying a glass basket full of water, and swimming in the basket of water was a salmon with silver and purple scales.
The crow and the salmon alighted next to the stag and looked the three visitors over.
Flash walked up to the stag and said, “Hello, old friend. Have you or your companions seen my owl?”
Suddenly, the silver and purple salmon leapt out from the basket, and in a flash of the light the four strange animals changed before the family’s very eyes. The salmon changed into a woman wearing a cape of fish scales, the crow became a man in a feathered cape, the swan turned into a young woman with a feathered cape, and the stag became a young man with a deerskin cape.
The man in the feathered cape stepped forward and said, “Hello, dear guests, I am the king of this forest, and these are my wife, my son, and my daughter-in-law. We have come to give our blessings because my only daughter wishes to marry you.”
No sooner had the man finished saying those words did Princess Twilight step forward from the trees followed by the pink-haired pixie and the maid with hair like the setting sun. When Flash’s eyes met with the princess’s, he immediately recognized her.
“It’s you!” he cried in joy, taking the princess by the hands.
Princess Twilight blushed when her hands touched the young man’s. She was so overcome that she nearly forgot what she had wanted to say to him.
However, she quickly composed herself and said to the man standing in front of her, “Flash Sentry, I have seen that you are a good man with a kind and selfless heart. I wish to spend the rest of my life by your side and would gladly marry you if you would have me.”
Flash’s face turned red with happiness as he answered the princess, “Why, yes, yes, of course I will marry you.”
The princess threw her arms around the young man and kissed him very tenderly. Both their families gave their blessings, and Flash and Princess Twilight were soon married. After the wedding, Princess Twilight went home with Flash and his family, and as part of her dowry, the small cottage had been replaced with a large house with eight bedrooms, a kitchen, and an attic.
Before the newly married couple could have their wedding night, Twilight took off her feathered cape, folded it carefully, and gave it to her husband.
“Take care of this cape,” she said to him. “My very life is tied to it, and now, I am entrusting it to you.”
Flash took his wife’s cape, locked it in a chest, and hid it away in the attic.
Flash and Twilight lived many years together and blessed Flash’s mother with many grandchildren. Eventually, the two of them became grandparents themselves. In all this time, Twilight’s youth and beauty had hardly diminished since the day she was married. The years, however, had cruelly sapped Flash’s strength and youth as they did for all mortal men, and one day, he had become so old and weak that death was knocking on his door.
When that day came, Twilight said to her oldest son, “My son, go into the forest, kill a wolf, and bring me its skin.”
Twilight’s son obeyed her and went into the forest, killed a wolf, and brought its skin home to his mother.
That night, under the light of a full moon, Twilight brewed an elixir with her fairy dust. She covered her husband with the wolfskin and fed him the elixir, and he became a young man again.
Seeing his strength and youth returned to him, Flash took Twilight by the hand and led her up to the attic. He found the chest that held her cape and unlocked it. Flash took out the feathered cape and threw it across his wife’s shoulders. The last that any mortal being has ever seen or heard of them were a violet owl and a lightning blue wolf leaving their house and heading into the forest.
So, Flash and Twilight returned to the gold and silver forest that had been her home and where the two of them had been married, and they are probably there still, living happily ever after.
The End
Author's note:
About the ending:
- Of course, Twilight isn't going to age. She's a fairy.
- I had to address the differences in aging somehow, and I wasn't going to just kill off Flash.
- In most fairy tales involving men getting married to fairies, the fairy just straight up leaves the guy. I can't really blame them though. In most of those stories, the guy forces the fairy to marry him against her will. I like how my story ended better.
- I was really apprehensive about making Sunset a fox and turning Flash into a wolf since both those animals are associated with negative qualities, deceit for foxes and greed for wolves among other qualities, but then, I remembered that in some cultures, owls are considered evil. My other options for Sunset were a lizard or a robin (because phoenixes aren't real), but I wanted something a little more warm-blooded and mammalian for her. I decided to go with a wolf for Flash because he isn't refined enough to pull of a stag (plus, Shining Armor is already a stag, and I didn't want a repeat), lions don't live in forests, and if I had gone with a falcon or an eagle, the cast would have been a little bird-heavy.
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clap clap clap clap clap clap clap this is such a great story exsuse me while i faint... (2 hours later) hu oh as i was saying bravo i give it 2 thumbs way way up.
This is one epic fairy tale. It had romance, adventure, a health relationship, and a great ending where the two live happily together forever.
I am curious about their children and grandchildren though. Are they immortal too or are they mortal and have no idea what happened to the two of them? Either, way great chapter that was worth the long wait.
9229737
I'd like to think that they're mortal with extraordinary abilities. I'd also like to think that they have at least some idea of what happened to Flash and Twilight even if they're not completely certain.
Also, fairies aren't immortal. They're ageless. They can die if someone tries to kill them.
9229737
Don't overthink it. It wouldn't be a folktale without a few plotholes.
10639230
It's a thing that happened in a lot of old fairy tales.
Why? Because of the animal bride element of the story?
Imagine if Jon Solo made a video on this.