Tales from the Conversion Bureau: The Last Bastion

by Sachiel

Kindness

Everfree Research Station, Stewart/Rakiura Island, Kingdom of Aotearoa/New Zealand, several years ago

She'd been up since before the dawns golden rays crept over the horizon, she'd remained in her favourite spot on the island, the top of the research station as the blazing orb rose higher in the sky. The newest building on the island had been raised to serve as her research post, a tall conical tower with a wide, flat top. Small cottages dotted the lower slope of the hill where her research staff slept. It offered amazing views of the entire island, including the abandoned town of Oban. When the barrier advanced the few remaining inhabitants of the island fled to the mainland and left the town behind, now it remained, despite the buffeting of the winter storms and the summer heat. It brought back memories of the Castle of the Two Sisters, abandoned by those who'd raised it but holding its own against the forces of nature that sought to reclaim it

The early morning breeze that blew in off the sea tugged gently at her mane and tail, both now a rose so pale it was almost silver and pulled back in a looped ponytail. She flexed her wings out into the wind, feeling the chill lessen the stiffness and rheumatism of her old aged bones and tendons

Fluttershy could feel it in her bones, there was only two of them now, she'd lost touch with the girls as the barrier expanded across the earth and communication was cut off, the last time they'd met together had been...by Faust, had it been so long ago?

Twilight settled in South America, advising their new emperor, Dash had done likewise in North America, being “Senior Equestrian Consultant” to the White House. Fluttershy had had plenty of offers but it wasn't for her, she wasn't anyone to advise or consult. She told New Zealand's government as much, both before and after the Maori King had been chosen to replace the royal family who'd been cut off by the barrier. They respected her isolation, her exile from her exile. She was content to remain here, on her little island sanctuary in the middle of the vast blue ocean

The soft notes of birdsong drifted from the trees all around the station, the birds were awakening to begin their day, it brought back such happy memories. Like she'd done so long ago at her cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, she began singing back, her calm, clear melody joining theirs, the birds changing their song to match hers

The morning chorus was beginning to pick up as she heard steps getting closer, feeling the faint reverberation as the hatch swung open behind her

She smiled as Riley Hudson handed her a cup of hot green tea and took a seat beside her, sitting cross-legged on the roof. With a handle modified for pegasi wings she lifted the cup and took a sip, the tea warming her. He was one of the newer additions to the little community on the island and so far he was settling in nicely

“Thank you Riley”

“Don't mention it, I was up early and figured you'd like a cup, the carrot extract gives it a whole new level of flavour”

“A friend gave me the recipe a long time ago” she replied, unable to keep a tinge of sadness from her voice

“On the other side?”

“Yes” they sat in silence for awhile, watching the sun rise and the leaves of the trees sway in the wind

It usually went the same way with new arrivals, they get off the boat all eager to start their field assignment from their universities on the mainland. Then they meet her, one of the Elements, a living legend, someone who was there at the start of it all, they can't do enough for her, they get chatty, ask a ton of questions about what happened, she gives them a ton of answers. Their curiosity sated the novelty wears off and their interest starts to dim. She's a living breathing reminder of their eventual fate and coupled with her 'living legend' status they begin to keep their distance, they're still friendly, still polite but it's not the same, too nervous, too eager to please, too worried they'll offend. She didn't mind, it's just their nature, something she'd known for a long time, if their roles were reversed she would probably be the same way, she understood

In the decades since she'd settled on her outpost there had been a few who rose past that barrier and weren't intimidated or worried and walked on eggshells, who were still friendly, still warm, still...kind

“Who were they?”

“His name was Angel”

“Was he a pegasi?”

“He was a bunny” he'd seen her make small talk about the weather with kiwis so he wasn't surprised that she'd been friends with a rabbit

“What was he like?”

“He was a hoof-full”

“Is he...”

“He was still alive when we left, now I don't know” she trailed off, the pangs of homesickness rising again

“I'm not originally from New Zealand, I was born in a little town in Ohio called Willshire. My family moved here ten years ago and I had to leave all my friends behind, I still miss them, especially Ahmed. He was my best friend, a great guy, we used to go camping in the woods, fishing, birdwatching, you name it and we did it together, him, me, Jody, Kyle, Mitsuki and Natalie. I still think about them, wonder how they're doing, if they're in what's left of the US or if they entered the bureaus and they're making a go of it on the other side”

“I'm sorry” Fluttershy said softly, Riley looked at her with his bottle green eyes, the wind ruffling his sandy blond hair

“For what?”

“For not being able to stop it, to stop her”

“You did what you could, I can't speak for everyone else but for me that's enough” the old yellow mare managed a small smile and took a deep gulp of tea, feeling the carrot extract revitalize her, below the research station began to come to life as researchers, both human and pony stumbled out of their huts. Fluttershy rose to her hooves

“Come on, we've got work to do” she said before jumping over the side of the tower and gliding down gracefully to the ground. Riley made for the hatch, noticing the design Fluttershy had painted on the roof, six purple, yellow, blue, red, green and pink gems arrayed around a six-pointed magenta star on a dark background

Hours later found them in the empty town of Oban, empty of humans anyway. After the people had left the birds had moved in, not wanting to pass up ideal places to shelter from the elements and raise their young. One species in particular had been very keen to set up shop

Fluttershy listened as the kakapo in front of her chirped away

“Okay, don't worry, we'll take care of it” she looked up “Riley, have Julian and Henrietta take a look at the incubators, Mavis is struggling with three chicks, we'll need to make some space”

“On it” he jotted a note down on the paper, the short, squat parrot made a soft trilling noise and looked down at the ground like she was ashamed, he knelt down and spoke softly

“It's okay, you're not a bad mom and no-one thinks you are, you've just got more than you can handle and you're making sure your chicks are taken care of. That's not being a bad mom, that's being a great one, your chicks are gonna thank you for it when they get older” the kakapo raised her head and her eyes seemed brighter. Behind him Fluttershy smiled as the bird chirped

“She says thank you”

A hoarse squawk cut through the air and both turned to see a fluster of brown feathers rushing towards them

“Agatha, what's wrong?” the little kiwi stopped to catch her breath and then squawked again, this time more slowly and (Riley guessed) clearly

“There's a whale tied up in fishing nets?” another squawk confirmed it, the pegasi looked to her intern

“Riley, get the boat ready and meet me out there, I'm going to take a closer look”
“Yes ma'am” she took off and her intern ran towards the dock, already reaching for his walkie talkie to let the crew know he was en-route

She headed out over the bay, the green shallows morphing into a deep blue so dark it was almost black as the coastal shelf fell away. A spout of white water shooting into the air guided her way

The small rigid inflatable boat bounced up and down as it hit the waves, making its way out of the harbour into the deeper water off the islands coast as Fluttershy flew in closer. As far as anyone knew the animals weren't affected by the barrier, no-one knew if they could cross back and forth since tracking tags were shorted out when they went near it but the animals they were put on usually turned up sooner or later. Fluttershy said she was sure they could cross, no-one asked if that meant Equestrian creatures could cross over to Earth. Sailors had reported seeing strange things near the remaining shipping lanes but sailors had been seeing strange things in the water since humanity first took to the waves

The boat loomed up, inside was Riley and the crew consisting of another student intern and the boats pilot, her old friend Tree Hugger. It pulled in alongside the whale, a massive humpback bobbing in the waves, trying frantically to keep her blowhole above the water

She flared her wings, briefly hovering before dropping the final few feet into the boat

“She's wrapped up pretty tight” Tree Hugger sighed

“Bummer”

“Damn fishing nets, they were banned years ago” the other student muttered

“Nets last for ages in the ocean remember? They could be from before the ban” Riley piped in

“Where they're from doesn't matter, what matters is that the poor whale's tangled in them, she's getting tired, we need to cut her free before she sinks too low to keep breathing” Fluttershy insisted, Riley went for the equipment locker and opened it, he cursed under his breath

“What's wrong?”

“Only one wetsuit” he immediately began putting it on

“There's supposed to be two” Tree Hugger held up the other one, the deep gash down the right leg was clear as day

“Rock reef accident last week, remember?” Fluttershy was so angry she could just swear

“...Darn it” another spout of water, the whale was losing time, no time for them to go back, no time to get anyone or anypony else out here, they were the humpbacks only hope

“What now?” Riley asked

“Give me a dive knife, I'll do it myself”

“What? But, the water...”

“Pegasi manes and feathers are good at keeping the cold out” Riley handed her the knife and began setting up the scuba tank and mask

“I'll be right in after you Professor” she tucked the knife under her wing

“Please Riley, call me Fluttershy” and with that she took off, rose up in the air and then shot straight down, plunging into the cold water of the south Pacific ocean

It was a little known fact both on Equestria and on Earth that Pegasi were as good swimmers as they were fliers, their wings able to wrestle with and master air currents and winds could move through the water too, albeit with more effort. Their manes were insulated against the cold of flying up high and protecting their wearers from having their heat sapped away by the icy winds of the upper atmosphere. The feathers and fur were also waterproof, all the better at keeping the rain off their wings and bodies in flight. She remembered the shock at revealing to the UNESCO conference that the closest match to Pegasus feathers on earth was a seagull, specifically a gannet. Similarly they could hold their breaths for far longer than unicorns or earth ponies and their blood held more oxygen. You never knew how high you might need to go or how thin the air might be up there

She rode her momentum downwards, the cold water feeling nice on her aching limbs and bones, when it ran out she beat her wings, pulling herself along in the water until she reached the whale. Underneath the surface she could see the extent of the problem, the netting was wrapped around the humpbacks tail and both pectoral fins, cocooning her in plastic

Without any hesitation she got to work, grasping the diving knife she began hacking away at the net, a big splash signalling Riley coming to help. He joined her, and after a few minutes they'd gotten most of one pectoral fin free, her lungs were beginning to burn, even pegasi couldn't hold their breath forever. Riley pulled the regulator out of his mouth and passed it to her, she slipped it into hers, exhaled and took a deep breath, feeling the oxygen rush into her, revitalizing her, pushing away the nausea she was feeling

They kept up their routine, hacking away at the net and Fluttershy sharing a breath whenever she was running out, with one pectoral fin finally freed Fluttershy left Riley to work at the other and moved to the tail. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the pectoral fin swing free. Riley moved backwards out of the way but only just, the force of the swing ripped his dive knife out of his hands, he grabbed for it but it plummeted down, quickly beyond reach as it sank to the depths

His fist clenched in anger and frustration but she swam up to him and handed him hers, silently saying 'take it', he didn't argue and dived down to finish cutting the whales tail free

She floated there in the water column watching him as he removed the net, he had potential, he was smart, he was friendly and above all he cared, he was kind. That was something that was far rarer than it needed to be, especially in these dark times, there needed to be more kindness in the world

Suddenly she felt a shooting pain up her left foreleg, her wings seized up and she began dropping in the water column. The stations doctor had warned her not to overexert herself, that at her age, even with her magic her body, her heart wasn't as strong as it had once been. She saw a red light and a flurry of bubbles as Riley swam up to her, shooting off the distress flare, he stuck the respirator in her mouth, grabbed her behind her forelegs and began swimming for the surface

Fluttershy grasped him back, turning to look over his shoulder, he followed her gaze, the whale was still trapped and was almost completely submerged, she passed the respirator back to him and said silently

'I'll be alright, go' she noticed a rainbow flash in his eyes (but not in hers) as he nodded and swam back down, she tried to kick upwards as she heard another big splash, felt strong legs grab her and everything went black

Fluttershy opened her eyes to the sound of the waves and the sea breeze blowing on her damp fur, she was back on the boat with a soaking wet Tree Hugger looking down at her, her heart still felt funny

“Thought we'd lost you there” Tree Hugger said, tears of relief forming at the corners of her big purple eyes. She felt the boat bounce softly, they were moving back to shore, the other intern must be piloting it

“Riley?” the Element of Kindness weakly called out

“I'm right here Fluttershy” he said, the diving knife she gave him sheathed and tucked into his dive belt

“The whale...”

“See for yourself” he gently lifted her up in the boat, tilting her upright, the boat bounced in the waves, picking up speed as they headed for the station and the doctor. She could see the whales great dark and white form rise out of the ocean as she breached and landed back down with an almighty splash and spray of water

“She's showing us...” she said weakly, the pressure on her heart got stronger, tighter

“What, she's showing us what Fluttershy?” Riley asked desperately, Tree Hugger was blinking away salty tears and the other intern removed their hat. Fluttershys eyelids felt heavy

“...that she's free” her vision grew darker and darker, the last sight she ever saw was the whale breaching, revelling in her newfound freedom, the freedom Fluttershy had helped give her. It was the last feeling the Element of Kindness ever knew, she thought it was a good one

Comments

[Edgeblackstar]

Well like the story so far, let’s see what next

[MatTheBook]

“...that she's free” her vision grew darker and darker, the last sight she ever saw was the whale breaching, revelling in her newfound freedom, the freedom Fluttershy had helped give her. It was the last feeling the Element of Kindness ever knew, she thought it was a good one

DID SHE JUST DIE!?
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