Fluttershy's First Trial: Years of Memories

by Hikarikurai24587

Hidden Wings

Chapter Eighteen: Hidden Wings

Fluttershy sighed as she sat in the pilot’s seat of the ship. It had been over three years at this point since she arrived and she still wasn’t comfortable with sitting down when piloting the ship. It was not pegasi friendly as it would press against her wings which were getting pretty large at this point. Apparently being ten years old still meant going through an awkward growth phase where her wings would grow first then her height. She brought her wings out in front of her wondering if her humanoid form was a disguise and her Pegasi form was her true form. ‘Would I be able to hide my Equestrian nature even further?’ she thought absentmindedly stroking her wings. She wouldn’t say that it was an impossible idea, after all she was able to change into her pony form. Leaving T7 to pilot the ship she moved to the back in order to experiment. Though she had a few problems with the droid at first Sans had quickly located the problem when he examined the droids. Apparently there was a device on them that restricted their movements and the device she was given allowed them to move at her command. Now she had a companion that could react quickly to any sort of conflict.

Once she was sure she was alone she began to practice changing between her pony form and her humanoid form focusing on keeping certain parts the same and changing others. Soon she managed to hide her wings. The only thing that remained was her tail but that was well hidden by her hair. The victory was cut short when the ship shook violently. Fluttershy tried to stand up but was thrown to the side due to her lack of balance. ‘I have to make sure T7 is alright.’ she thought about getting to her feet again as the lights shut off. ‘I’ll mention this to Sans. The ship is old after all, it might not last with these long journeys anymore.’

Fluttershy leaned against the wall as she began to make her way towards the door slowly. Her head began to ache as loud voices echoed all around her. She had to see what was going on, it wasn’t the same as having a Force Vision or being led to aid those in need. This was different, it was like she was surrounded by giants talking loudly into her mind but unaware of her presence. She managed to get up to the front only to find T7 offline due to being blasted back from the power surge. She looked out the window and located the source of the noise. There were colossal sized whale-like creatures flying through hyperspace and they had somehow knocked them off course. Fluttershy stared at them in amazement and wondered where they were going. Though she did make note that she couldn’t really maneuver around them, it was best to drift with them to prevent any more damage to the ship. Fluttershy glanced at the pilot’s seat and knew she should be very careful about flying within the pod of spacewhales.

“Sorry T7, looks like repairing you is going to have to wait.” she said quietly as she managed to calm down her breathing. She glanced off to the side as she noticed that one of the whales was looking at her. Fluttershy stared back before smiling and gave it a wave. It moved closer to the ship before flying ahead the whale song echoing in Fluttershy’s mind. Fluttershy sighed as she continued to pilot. ‘I wonder what they are called.’ she thought.

It was a few hours later when the space whales finally left hyperspace and Fluttershy allowed the ship to drop out as well. She managed to get out of the pod and to a safe area of space. She looked at the Galactic Map seeing that she was now far beyond the Outer Rim in an area called the Unknown Regions. ‘How far into the Unknown Regions did I travel?’ she questioned moving out of her seat and powering down her vessel to only the essentials. She couldn’t just waste fuel and keep the engines running wasn’t going to help until she could navigate her way back. Teleporting was difficult for Fluttershy, most of the time she couldn’t pinpoint the location she was going. Tython was a little easier but the further she was the more energy it would take to get back. Fluttershy began to work on T7 wondering if she would be able to see the space whales again. Though there was something tickling the back of her head. She knew she was brought here for a purpose but she just wasn’t sure what it was.

It was about an hour into fixing T7, she wasn’t sure what was wrong, when a proximity alert went off and she went to go see what it was. However this did mean bringing the ship back online, something she did with great reluctance. Without T7 it was going to be a lot harder to escape if whoever this was wasn’t friendly. So she just waited, watching as the ship drew closer and closer. ‘No communications, I wonder if they are just investigating.’ she thought, hoping that they would just pass her by. It didn’t happen as the ship docked with hers and she used her ability to hide herself from the perception of her soon to be invaders. Though her top priority was to hide T7 until he brought himself back online. She grabbed a blanket from nearby and tossed it onto the droid hiding near the door to the bridge. She calmed her breathing as she heard footsteps drawing closer and she continued to increase the perception filter around her to keep herself from being noticed. If anything she could sneak away from the borders and hide herself down in the medbay. The door slip open as a blue skinned alien with fierce red eyes walked into the room.

The alien scanned the area, when he looked in the direction that Fluttershy was. He turned to look straight ahead away from her and just...stood there. Fluttershy began to move slowly towards the door keeping her eyes focused on the alien feeling the wall for the turn. She had to keep calm, Tor Vizsla had an intensity about him but this alien felt more dangerous.

The alien started moving towards where T7 currently was, the footsteps echoing throughout the silent ship. Fluttershy stopped in her movements, she couldn’t just let T7 go. So she dropped the perception filter as she rounded the corner dashing moving straight for the stairs. She tripped a little and hit the metal grate at the bottom, her arm throbbing in pain. The footsteps grew silent when the sound of the metal grate reached the alien's ears. Fluttershy pushed herself up and moved into the medbay hiding behind one of the beds holding her shoulder. She checked her hand to make sure that she hadn’t hurt herself too badly only to find some blood. She had probably slid or managed to find that one piece of metal that didn’t get filed down and it scratched her. Making herself as small as possible she listened for the alien intruder to see if he had decided to investigate or not.

The silence just continued, no footsteps heard at all. That was when words came from the alien's mouth. "Now what have we here?"

Fluttershy looked up, very startled as her ability activated without her actively focusing. She still couldn’t control it that well but she was trying to calm herself down. So she just pressed herself into the corner, her heart hammering against her chest.

"There's no need to be afraid, I don't have anything against you. How about introductions? You can just refer to me as Thrawn." The alien bowed somewhat respectfully. Fluttershy peered up at him before saying. “My friends call me Caretaker, but my actual name is Fluttershy.”

The last little bit she mumbled but there was something about this man. Her feeling when it came to him was that honesty would always be the best policy.

"Caretaker? Fluttershy? Interesting names, but I won't judge. Given your behavior, I assume that you are not familiar to this region and come from the Republic? Or just some smuggler who found themselves caught in the act and panicked their way here?" Thrawn asked standing still with a hand on his chin. Fluttershy looked at him, her brows furrowed. She had heard of pirates but she wasn’t familiar with anyone known as a Smuggler. “I was following the whales, I was caught in their pod and couldn’t get out so I followed them here. My droid was damaged and I can’t navigate home without him.”

"Droid?" Thrawn's interest peaked when he asked this. Fluttershy nodded mumbling. “I was afraid you’d take him away if you found him. I can’t have that, not just because he can get me home but he’s my friend. I can’t let anything happen to my friends.”

"Your friend you say? May I meet this friend?" There was almost a hostile tone to Thrawn's voice and yet still so calm. Fluttershy began to become nervous again before her shoulders sagged as she got to her feet. She looked at Thrawn saying. “You can’t hurt him. Promise?”

"You have my word." The answer came off less hostile but there was some dark air about it. Fluttershy stood up steadying herself a bit before walking forward. She still wasn’t used to walking with her wings hidden and wanted to move straight to the walls but she couldn’t let anything on about her just yet. She didn’t trust him enough to show her wings and her veil was in her living area upstairs. ‘He would have noticed the wings first. He’s not easily fooled.’ she thought as she moved out of the medbay and up the stairs. She wasn’t moving too fast, not wanting to trip again. Her fingers dug into her robes as she balled the fabric into her fist.

"You really have no reason to be so nervous, I am not your enemy. Think of me as someone who is...curious. My species, the Chiss, once were part of a grander role in the old Republic where now we mostly lay secluded in the area you know as the 'Unknown Regions'." Thrawn explained as he walked behind Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked back at him before looking forward in thought. She smiled before saying. “I’m going to trust you Mr. Thrawn.”

"Glad that's settled. I know that I might seem imposing but I apologize. Are you part of the Republic?" Thrawn's tone seemed almost friendly despite how he seemed earlier. Fluttershy looked confused before answering. “No.”

"You appear confused." Thrawn stopped moving for a moment when he said this. Fluttershy looked at him saying. “Why does one have to be a part of the Republic? Do they control all in their space?”

Thrawn just stood there with a hand on his chin. He looked closely at Fluttershy without saying a word. Fluttershy glanced away nervously before walking up to T7 saying. “This is my friend.”

"How interesting. I have never seen a model like this before." Thrawn said as he closely examined the Astromech. "This is very old."

“The Jawas that gave him to me said that as well. Though they called him junk.” Fluttershy said looking at T7. “The ship has schematics on this kind of droid. It’s why I even know how to give him repairs.”

The air became almost stiff as an angry expression appeared on Thrawn's face. "Junk?"

“That’s what they said, however I can never see him as anything else but a friend.” Fluttershy paused sensing the anger and looked up at him. “Some just can’t see value in the same things that you do. Isn’t value what you perceive it to be in?”

"It's art, historic. This might be the last Astromech of its kind left in the galaxy. Something like this should be kept safe and preserved." Thrawn answered as he sternly looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy gave him a smile, saying. “You remind me of a friend of mine. She would see the value in history, always learning and loving to examine rare relics. To her history is something she treasures.”

The smile faltered as Fluttershy looked away. “I hope she’s alright and not worried about me.”

"Your friend does sound like a great person. If you would like, perhaps we could be friends as well?" The question Thrawn asked seemed sincere and trustworthy yet there was still an air about him like he had his own goals in mind only. Fluttershy looked up at him and smiled once again. “I would like that, making new friends is hard for me, but I like having friends.”

At that moment T7 turned on chirping. “Vessel incoming. Message over the holocom. Play?”

Fluttershy nodded her head before walking out towards the holotable. She was glad that she didn’t have anything on it at the moment. She was never going to tell anyone that she had used it as an actual table. Thrawn followed her, curious what the message was. Fluttershy pressed the button and a teenaged girl appeared in front of them. “Hey, there, welcome to The Unknown Region. Looks like you’re having a bit of trouble there. My name is Cammarine, but you can call me Cam.” Thrawn kept himself out of sight while listening closely.

“It is nice to meet you Cam, I am having trouble getting my ship back online.” Fluttershy said, looking around. “My droid can help with some things, but if there is need for any major repairs I cannot do it by myself.”

“Well then, you’re in luck. I just finished salvaging a ship nearby and I think some parts can be used to patch up whatever damage your ship took.” Cam said nodding her head. “How’d you get out this far anyways?”

“Space whales.” Fluttershy answered and Cam just nodded her head understanding quickly saying. “Gotcha, I’ll dock and see what’s wrong.”

Fluttershy nodded her head and the holocall ended. She inhaled deeply before exhaling trying to calm herself down. Despite him listening in before, Thrawn was suddenly nowhere to be found. Fluttershy looked around before frowning slightly. ‘Did he teleport?’ Fluttershy asked mentally before heading to greet Cammarine. She kept her eye out for Thrawn as T7 moved about on the bridge doing what he could to fix the system. Fluttershy heard the airlock door hiss and open as Cammarine’s voice called out. “Hello? You there kid?”

Fluttershy moved on over and took in the sight of the teen. She was tall, rivalling Dooku in height with short grey hair fashioned into a buzz cut. She wore a loose fitting torn blue-grey jumpsuit. She grinned as she looked around. “Oh yeah, I can fix this. From the outside I did suspect that it was a Defender-Class Light Corvette. Layout looks the same and so does the metal they used to build this.”

“You worked on ships like this before?” Fluttershy asked and Cam nodded her head saying. “Yeah. Old ships were kind of my thing, well my family’s thing, but now it’s just me. Anyways, let me fix up your ship and be on my way.”

The holotable started to beep, indicating another transmission was trying to go through. Fluttershy excused herself before moving to pick up the call. Cam nodded her head as she headed to the bridge to work on the computer. Fluttershy opened the call. “Hello?”

The blue figure of Thrawn peered at her with his dark red eyes. "I do apologize for my hasty departure."

“I was wondering where you went.” Fluttershy told him, giggling a bit. “You had me worried for a bit there. Is something the matter?”

"It's rather difficult to explain but it involves your friend there." Thrawn answered. Fluttershy looks behind her towards the bridge. “Cammarine? Did she do something bad?”

"Let's just say that we're...acquainted." Thrawn said as he shifted a bit. "Whether either of us did something bad is only up to you."

Fluttershy nodded her head saying. “Hopefully, one day you two can reconcile.”

Thrawn just smiled slyly as he responded. "Yes." Which then he proceeded to close the channel. Fluttershy shook her head a smile on her face as the Crystal of the Guide appeared next to her.

<Aura of Friendship: Kindness- Acquired>

<Gift of the Caretaker- Leveled Up. Hidden Wings Ability- Acquired>

Fluttershy glanced at it before saying. “We really have to call you something.”

“Pardon?” Cam called and Fluttershy shook her head replying. “Nothing.”

“Talking to yourself, got it, no worries, I do that a lot.” Cam replied before going back to what she was doing. Fluttershy moved to sit down on what she had turned into a couch. She rubbed her shoulders knowing that this was the better option than trying to hide her wings in plain sight. She knew at least that it was part of her Gift of the Caretaker. She looked forward to the day where all her friends could meet.

Comments

[Alfaridwan Setiabudi]

Thrawn also more please