Umbreka

by Armanico Vita

The Veterinarian Dream Team

Gleaming rays of orange and yellow struck down upon the land as the sun peaked its crown out from the coverage of clouds. Fluttershy grinned as she was slowly engulfed in the sun's catering warmth, the icy terror she had felt beginning to melt away. She basked in this warmth of the mid-afternoon glow. In contrast to the humid forest days and freezing nights this felt surreal. As she rubbed her hoof through the uneven blades of grass she let her senses overwhelm her. The cool dew remnants from the recently melted snow made her neck hairs stand up on end. She reveled in the feeling, how the coolness felt up against the flat of her hoof. This was all fresh and exciting to be feeling the soft mushy texture of grass in contrast to the rocky cave structures and grimy forest floor. She sprawled herself out across the ground, stretching her limbs and reveling in this exuberant feeling.

Today was marked as the first day of Spring. Winter Wrap Up was finally over and again, for the second time in a row, and once again they were able to wrap Ponyville up on time. Canaries and Robins chirped tunes of joy from within the comforting compounds of their decorative nests. Daffodils were newly sprouting in to compliment the snowdrop flowers already in bloom. Every detail of nature contained traces of their hard labor for they had once again pulled it off the Earth Pony way, without the use of magic.

She looked down to grassy fields where her friends were playing from her haven below the towering oak tree. From the hill she resided, she had a clear view of the both Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Everything felt so lucid, looked so real, yet she knew this was only a dream. She still was stuck with the memories of past events engraved into her mind and in contrast to now, Ponville couldn't have looked any more happy. This was, for the first time in weeks, she got to feel what it was like to finally experience peace. She didn't have to worry about this being another nightmare, serving to haunt her dreams and impede her progress eastwards. It was missing that burning emptiness inside of her head that accompanied those events from her past. After breaking through the depths of her memory banks, their only purpose was to remind her of what she did back in Equestria. She already blamed herself for what happened. Isn't that enough punishment? Much to her pleasure, for once, those finally left alone. She saw her opportunity and took it, embracing this façade with open arms and mind. She just lay there, Angel resting upon her back, as everypony else played on, completely oblivious to her presence.

From the top of the hill, she could see her friends all enjoying their time together. It was just another pet play date for them, like things used to be. Applejack ran laps around the fresh-grown grass, closely followed by a pursuing Winona. A broken tree branch hung limply from her mouth as she dragged it across the ground. She led her pet around the field in circles, keeping her from latching onto the makeshift play toy. Whoever says exercise isn't fun has never met these two before.

Fluttershy tilted her head up into the sky to the sight of a prismatic bur whirring on by her. Rainbow Dash was rehearsing her companionship act with the oscillating turtle, Tank. The duo ascended higher and higher, disappearing into the cover of clouds. Without warning, Rainbow Dash fell from the clouds attached to Tank, her wings retracted back into a relaxed position. Using his rotors, Tank spun his owner in circles in an increasing speed. She span so fast her tail emitted entrails of rainbow light, forming into a spiral display of beauty.

Fluttershy took her eyes off of the spectacular display and lowered her view towards the ground. Rarity and Opal were sprawled out atop a decorative blanket. Rarity used her magic to levitate Opal's brush, stroking the feline fur until it lay smooth. Much to Opal's displeasure, Rarity seemed to have been enjoying herself.

A cool breeze rolled up Fluttershy's spine, carrying the faint sound of whispering into her ears. To her, the voices were unrecognizable. One of the voice she distinguished was feminine, yet it didn't resemble any of the ponies she knew. The other speaker at the moment was a stallion, but in comparison to Big Macintosh it was much more immature.

"We're good, I can still feel her pulse. Can I trust you with this? As soon as you start doing it, you can't stop until it's fixed."

"I'm not going to chicken out, if that's what you're asking. Did you send everyone out to grab our supplies?"

"Everyone except for..." the voice faded away, becoming hardly understandable before she could hear any names. Why would there be a conversation between ponies she had never heard of before stitched away within her dreams? This left her in a confused state of mind. There was always the possibility she was just being forgetful. Or maybe those voices were originally from past times when she attended school up in Cloudsdale. If she would have wanted it, she would have found it possible to hear bits and pieces of what the conversation was like, if not the entirety of the dialogue. She would have to strain herself, but she would probably pick up on everything being said. She was too caught up in the past to pay any attention towards anything unfamiliar to her; those voices were unimportant as of now, she was with her friends for the time being. She let her mind clear itself of all distractions, taking in this blissful world once again.

She looked down towards the group, Twilight could be seen in the mix now. With a book in her hooves and Owlowiscious between her legs, she sat in a small patch of grass, reading the story of Odysseus to her pet. She could tell this because it had the same archaic design as the copy she checked out from the library to read in her spare time. They both looked heavily engrossed in the reading. Twilight was acting out each scene for Owlowiscious, using her hooves to perform gestures in the air. This was the same way Fluttershy would read to her animals, whether it be before she laid them to rest, or during illness recovery.

Another chilly gust brushed past Fluttershy. "Just tell me what to do, Pastel."

"Hold the tip right here... No don't let it touch the ground!" The voices were beginning to rise in tone again, breaking her concentration and making it harder for her to drown them out. "Here, take this rag and clean her wing up for me. It's already infected badly, we're going to have to clean it."

"Sonnet, Pastel, we're back from the camp! We brought what we could grab." Another voice, different from the first two played in her ears. It mentioned two names this time. Along with the first pony, Pastel, Fluttershy picked up on the second name being spoken. It was probably the female voice she was hearing for the past hour.

"Alright bring everything here, did you at least grab any antibiotics?"

"Here, are these what you're asking for? I grabbed the one with the green label."

"Yeah, this is perfect. Banter, can you sort all of this together and get ready to hand it off to Sonnet and I?" She could now match a name up with the third voice. "We're going need this all within our reach. Also, I need the bandages to be dirt-free for when we use them. Sonnet, how does the... oh my."

"Yeah, I don't think it's suppose to look like that. I managed to clean the grimy tar and muck out from inside the skin, but..."

The voices were cut short for a brief moment. What was it that they spoke of, Fluttershy wondered. It's possible that the ponies talking could have been vets, just like she once was. The way they spoke of cleaning up 'her' up reminded her of how she used to work on the little birdies in the Everfree forest. What baffled her were the names of the ponies. It was her dream, everything had to hold some kind of connection to her, yet the names Sonnet, Pastel, and Banter didn't ring any bells.

"Alright, I have her held down, just make sure you do it quickly. Remember, we don't have painkillers right now in case she wakes up. On three, snap the joint back into place."

"Alright," the mare exhaled, "I'm ready to do this."

Comments

[Battoushy]

Ouch. Poor Fluttershy. She crashed so hard it put her it knocked her out. At least she is having nice dreams.

[Armanico Vita]

2272224
I figured she'd been through enough, poor Fluttershy needs a break every once and a while.

[bassofthe]

Rainbow Dash was rehearsing her companionship act with the oscillating turtle, Tank.

Rainbow Dash was pretending to be friends with the vibrating turtle, Tank.

Wat.

~bass