Umbreka

by Armanico Vita

The Thinking Mare

The day passed on as Fluttershy continued to walk eastward; she had been traveling non-stop since she had witnessed the anomaly that morning. A long piece of cloth dangled from her body while she trotted onwards, collecting filth as it dragged across the ground. The opening in the wrap revealed to the world the skin around her scabbing. It had turned a darker color, closely resembling the black of night. The area around it was discoloring with patches of a reddening web shooting out from the center and continuing on under the rest of the bandaging, out of sight. Fluttershy could feel it constantly tingling with each passing moment. She could feel the blood coarsing through her veins, each pump throbbed under her skin. Her eyes turned irritated and bloodshot. Fluttershy considered settling down so she could rest up and check it out. The more time she had to think about it though, the more inclined she was to keep walking. Her pace had been slowed to a brisk gait and if she was going to make any ground, she needed to compensate for the lack of flight by cutting back on her stops.

Every step she took felt like a needle jabbing directly into her back; she was begining to grow oddly accustomed to it. She actually liked the feeling it produced. It's a funny how the one thing that keeps many of us from accomplishing our goals in life is also the thing that reminds us that we are alive. Those who are always successful are the ones finding ways to break the boundaries set for them by natural limitations.

Fluttershy took the pain and made it into something theraputic. The more she thought about it, the more it reminded her of her spa dates with Rarity. The fiery prodding reminded her of the smooth stones they used to heat up by the fire before lining them down the length of their backs. The feeling warmed and relaxed her muscles, the imagining of it was surreal, euphoric even.

The path she was walking wound off, like a serpent through the thick of the trees. The night had fully arrived and all vision was lost to an abysmal shroud of navy blue, the same color as her Princess from back home. If not for the glimmer of the stars above, Fluttershy would be covered in pure darkness. It was amazing how Luna created the sky. It seemed like the sky was a ceiling, far above the reaches of the world and luna hand-painted every glistening star in the form of a mosaic above. She was bewildered by how no matter where she went, the constellations managed to always stay the same. She wondered if she had even traveled any distance at all.

Other questions were brought up into the pondering mare's mind. How far does this world stretch on? She couldn't have been nearing the end of it all, there were still signs of ponies once living in this desolate landscape. She imagined the end of the world to be barren of all life, far from the benevolence of Celestia. Something within her was terrified of walking up to see such a sight. What if she just dropped off of it, like spilled milk dripping off the edge of a table. Even though the thought made her slightly uneasy, Fluttershy couldn't help but grin. She was a pioneer for Equestria, only one other pony had traveled out farther east than her.

The path she was traveling on twirled about through the forest, undecisive of which direction it favored. The numerous amounts of time it warped around corners and disappeared into the trees made it difficult for her to even tell if it was traveling east at all. She reckoned she could probably cover twice, maybe even three times as far of a distance in the same time if she were to disband from the convoluted trail and head east through the dense woods. She peered inside to get a look at things. The low light made it difficult to tell where she was going. She could walk into a tree and break her snout or worse, walk into the mouth of creature much larger than her. For all she knew, this place could be like the Everfree forest. Cockatrices, timberwolves, and manticores could be waiting on the other side of the veil for her to cross the threshold.

Fluttershy thought about the choice that lay ahead of her. She could be blindly walking to her doom, if she were to encounter any trouble this time around, she wouldn't be able to run and fend for herself. She would be consumed by the nocturnal monsters, waiting for their opportunity to lunge in and secure the kill. If she was going to succeed though, she was going to need to willingly let go of the old values she used to hold onto and adapt to the new world she was blindly flying into. Life was full of lessons, and through experience, Fluttershy learned that she was going to need to be braver, not just for herself, but for all of Equestria. Fluttershy gazed off into the depths of shrouded trees and darkness, then she placed her foot down away from the dirt-lined path and continued onwards.

Comments

[Armanico Vita]

Sorry for the short chapter, I felt it would be better if I split the next chapter I had in mind into three seperate pieces. Hope you guys enjoy

[Regidar]

1825086 I enjoyed it a lot. No need for apologies.

[Armanico Vita]

1841050
Been working on and off lately trying to get the next chapter out soon. My arm got smashed in a car door recently (on top of studying for exams) and I feel like I haven't been able to get these chapters out fast enough to the public. I'm also very fickle with my writing, everything must fit together perfectly or I wont post it. I need to keep writing though! I have so much potential within the next upcoming chapters and I really want to make an impact. The anxiety is killing me

[Regidar]

1841807 I shall be waiting. Remember, nothing wrong with short. Austaeoh and Eljunbryo have together a combined- what, 150- short chapters.

[Starlight Nova]

Another question: Will this fanfic be part of a series, like Austraeoh?