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Lore2,912 words

Lore

CHAPTER 2

Fluttershy had never been to Canterlot before.

Sure, she’d seen it from afar, but she’d never summoned up the courage to visit it. No, she had remained in Cloudsdale with her feet firmly planted on the clouds, thank you very much.

How had she even ended up in this mess anyway?

Her fists clenched a little tightly as she stepped carefully through the witch’s back door.

Rainbow Dash

A hard headed rebel at the best of times, Rainbow Dash was Fluttershy’s closest friend. Though they couldn’t have been any more different, Rainbow Dash had stuck by Fluttershy her entire life. They had been close friends since they were toddlers and, well, friendships like that just can’t break apart.

Still, it had been no accident that had caused Fluttershy to end up here. No, Rainbow Dash had been a large factor in that...

“Come to Canterlot with me, Fluttershy, c’mon, please!” Rainbow Dash flawlessly pulled the puppy-dog eyes on her closest friend as she bent down slightly to meet her gaze, “It’ll be fun!”

The girl’s adventurous nature sometimes came off as a little crazy; it didn’t help that she had hair that was literally every colour of the rainbow. Still, Fluttershy hated to disappoint her friend.

“O-Oh.” She stammered, chewing on her lip nervously, “Y-You mean to just look at it r-right?”

“Sure!” Rainbow Dash said in that way Fluttershy immediately knew she had an ulterior motive.

“But we can’t!” Fluttershy said stubbornly, instantly regretting how her tone had come across.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and grabbed Fluttershy’s hands which were wrapped tightly around her oversized yellow sleeves, “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” She grinned, twirling around on the clouds, “It’ll be fine!”

“Oh… Rainbow!” Fluttershy moaned, hating how she was being forced into this. She knew that their kind weren’t supposed to mingle with the witches. It was an unspoken rule, but a rule nonetheless. She didn’t want to think of the punishments they’d be sanctioned with if they were to be caught.

“C’mon.” Rainbow Dash was already pulling her in the direction of Canterlot, “Just close your eyes and follow my voice, we’ll be there in no time!”

Fluttershy’s bottom lip trembled as she gingerly took a step off of the clouded floor of her home world, Cloudsdale. Her wings automatically began to flap behind her as she hovered in the air. She squeaked as the world below her swirled before her feet, “What if I fall?” She whispered.

“You’ve gone to Las Pegasus a bunch of times, Flutters, you can do this just as easily.” Rainbow Dash smiled. She folded her arms and sighed dramatically, “I’ll even let you hold my hand.”

Fluttershy blushed, but took her best friend’s hand nonetheless. She knew Rainbow Dash hated to do anything that was considered weak, but she’d never once backed down when assisting her friends. So, hand in hand, they’d made their way to Canterlot.

That was when everything had taken a turn for the worst.

“I c-can’t!” Fluttershy protested, “My wings are exhausted! How long have we been flying anyway?”

Rainbow Dash hid the concern for her friend with a boastful grin, “It’s fine! We’ll find some cloud cover soon enough, nothing to worry about!”

“There is no cloud cover, Rainbow Dash it’s so dark and it’s freezing!”

“We’ll drop down lower then,” Rainbow Dash insisted, pulling Fluttershy closer, “It’s fine, no one will see us in the dark anyway.”

Fluttershy let out a terrified squeal. She hated the dark, it was one of her many phobias. Not only could she barely see Rainbow Dash’s colourful hair in front of her, but her wings were aching as well. She knew she couldn’t go on much further, she wasn’t as well practiced when it came to flying.

“Come on, just a little further, I think I see a cloud…”

And then Rainbow Dash was gone.

Fluttershy didn’t know what had happened. Had she gone off ahead?

“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked weakly, “Where are you?”

"Fluttershy?"

Her voice was caught in a sudden gale that was picking up around them. Fluttershy let out another squeak as her wings seized up with the effort of carrying her.

Then, she fell.

Fluttershy absently rubbed her injured shoulder as she moved through the hallway the witch was guiding her across. She couldn’t help but worry about Rainbow Dash’s safety, but knowing her skill, a little wind wouldn’t have fazed her in the slightest. Still, Fluttershy hoped that Dash knew she had disappeared. The only problem in her hopes was that Canterlot was a big place. She’d seen it from the sky well enough and with all that ground to cover… with all those people sure to be waking up in a few hours… what if Rainbow couldn’t find her? Fluttershy found herself on the brink of another panic attack.

“Hey, are you okay?” The witch looked worried and Fluttershy found herself nodding to calm her nerves.

The witch was probably around her age with long purple locks that hung just below her shoulders. Her skin was tanned slightly and her eyes were a vibrant lilac which matched just about every item of clothing that she was wearing.

The witch raised a brow, “Are you sure, you look really pale. Is your…” the witch branched off again. Fluttershy noticed this was a growing pattern in her behaviour. It was like the witch was having trouble believing her eyes, believing that Fluttershy had wings. Instead, the witch briskly pointed at her extra appendage and asked casually, “is that really hurting you?”

Fluttershy had learned from Rainbow Dash to be brave in the face of pain, but she couldn’t deny the fact that at that moment her entire left side was in agony. She assumed it was because her left side had taken the brunt of the fall, but she knew her left wing was dislocated also. She could barely move it, except for the occasional twitch which would send a shockwave of pain throughout her body. She shivered slightly, “A bit.” She whispered.

The witch smiled sympathetically, “It’s fine, I know how to pop joints back in, I had to do it in first aid class.” She opened a door at the end of the hallway and ushered Fluttershy inside, “This is my room.” She said, “I’ll fix you up in here.”

Fluttershy made her way inside, careful not to knock her sagging wing on the way.

The room was rather large with a double bed in the far corner with purple, floral print sheets. To Fluttershy’s right was a large oak desk with an assortment of books on every topic of magic imaginable. There were knick knacks spread here and there, a teddy bear on the bed, a picture frame of who Fluttershy believed to be the witch’s family on her bedside table… and then, in the far corner, just to the left of her bed, was a little basket.

Fluttershy felt her only working wing bristle, “What’s that?” She asked, indicating towards the basket.

The witch glanced to where she was pointing and beamed, “That’s Spike, he’s my pet dragon.”

Fluttershy felt a wide grin on her face before she could stop it. “A dragon?” she asked, mesmerised.

The witch opened her mouth to speak further on the topic, but Fluttershy had already moved towards the basket. Sure enough, amongst the blankets was a little baby dragon snoring softly. He was purple all over with a little green belly. He was the most sensational creature Fluttershy had ever laid her eyes upon, “He’s beautiful.” She sighed in awe, reaching her finger out to stroke the creature on the nose.

“Careful, he’s grumpy when he gets-” But the witch was shocked to see that the little baby dragon was making soft, almost cat-like purrs as Fluttershy stroked her fingers along his stomach.

The witch laughed, “Wow, he must really like you.”

“Oh, I think so. I love animals.” Fluttershy said quietly as she continued to stroke the dragon.

The witch smiled, “Do you have any pets then?”

Fluttershy visibly stiffened and lifted her head slightly, “Well… we can’t really keep them where I’m from.”

“And where is that?” The witch’s voice was a little harder this time and Fluttershy felt herself wary of turning towards her.

“Oh… um, I…”

“If you can’t tell me, then can I guess?”

This shocked Fluttershy so much that she found herself unconsciously turning her face towards the witch. The witch smiled broadly, holding out an ancient looking book presumably from the large pile on her desk.

“I had to study all sorts of lore for school, you see.” The witch said, looking down at the book, “And… one of them talked about, well…”

“What?” Fluttershy felt her heart-rate quicken.

The witch smiled meekly, “Well… it talked about Angels.”

Fluttershy let out a laugh, surprising herself as much as the witch. She reached out her arms towards the book to which the witch handed over carefully.

Fluttershy held it out in front of her and smiled, “Yes… I guess that’s what your kind call us nowadays."

“Again with the my kind.” The witch bristled gratingly, “You know, I have a name.” She reached out her hand towards Fluttershy and smiled brightly, “I’m Twilight.”

Fluttershy glanced at her hand nervously. She was trapped in witch territory with a friendly enough girl that had now shared her name. Rainbow Dash had been careless about these sorts of encounters, but Fluttershy remained adamant that they shouldn’t be seen. It was the law, after all. After a moment’s thought, Fluttershy surrendered. After all, what was in a name? Slowly, she took Twilight’s hand, “I’m Fluttershy.”

As they shook hands, Fluttershy let out another cry of pain. Twilight revoked her hand immediately and guided her guest towards her bed, “We better get that sorted out.”

After Twilight had placed Fluttershy on the bed, she began to move her hands warily about the bright yellow appendage, “I should probably get you something to bite down on… if my parents wake up then-”

“B-Bite down on?” Fluttershy asked shakily. She wasn’t good with pain as it was and it was only with Rainbow Dash’s help that she’d gotten as far as she had without fainting.

Twilight sensed her nerves and did her best to sooth her, “It’ll only hurt for a second, I promise. But it might be a bit of a shock and I don’t want you to make any loud noises.”

Fluttershy let out a quiet breath and nodded a little unsteadily, “Okay… if you must.” She whispered.

So, after a little rummaging, Twilight found a belt in her chest of drawers, folded it over once and placed it in Fluttershy’s mouth, “Bite down on it, okay?” Twilight tried to sound supportive, but she couldn’t help feeling sorry for the little yellow Angel.

Fluttershy did what was asked of her and closed her eyes tightly. Twilight gritted her teeth and gently drew her hands along the soft feathers of the dislocated wing. Carefully, she moved her hand under it, feeling along for the joint. She tried to track back in her memory to the times she’d done this with other winged creatures. Her hands soon found the bone that felt out of place. “Okay,” Twilight mumbled, “On the count of three.”

“One.”

Fluttershy squealed.

“Two.”

Twilight held the wing steadily.

“Three!”

Fluttershy bit down hard on the belt as a searing pain shot through her entire left side. Twilight shifted the bone neatly back into place, hearing a small clicking noise as the wing was cleanly joined back to Fluttershy’s shoulder.

Fluttershy let the belt fall out of her mouth as the pain slowly passed. She turned to her left and carefully flexed her wing. Twilight scooted away; staring in silent wonder at the way Fluttershy moved her wing, bristled the feathers and finally tucked it into her shoulder blade just like the other one.

Fluttershy rubbed her arm and smiled gratefully to Twilight, “Thank you… thank you so much!”

Twilight looked away, embarrassed, “It was nothing-”

“It wasn’t!” Fluttershy insisted, “Without your help… I don’t know what would have happened.” She said earnestly, “Oh, thank you, thank you!” She squealed in delight before jumping forwards and enveloping her arms around Twilight’s rigid body.

Twilight gasped in surprise as the young Angel hugged her. She didn’t know what to do, how to act. She assessed the situation a moment before carefully winding her arms around Fluttershy’s back in the same sort of gesture. It felt… warm. Nice, she guessed to feel contact with another person.

That’s when she felt a deep pang in her chest.

Aside from her family, she’d never been hugged before.

Twilight’s mouth ached as she smiled into Fluttershy’s shoulder. For the first time in her entire life, she knew what she had been missing.

After a few moments, Fluttershy drew away and sighed, “I should probably go…”

“No!” Twilight was shocked with the force in her tone and quickly cleared her throat, “I mean… can you stay, maybe, just for a bit. I’d love to learn more about your… your people.”

Fluttershy giggled a little sheepishly, “You can call us Angels if that’s what you’d like. I suppose it’s as good as any other name.”
“Okay.” Twilight smiled, “Okay then… tell me, are Angels magical too?”

Fluttershy shrugged, “Well… not really. We can walk on clouds...”

“Seriously?” Twilight’s eagerness made Fluttershy smile. She nodded. “Anything else?” Twilight asked, “In the lore it said Angels controlled the weather.”

“Oh, of course.” Fluttershy beamed. She pushed her pink hair out of her face and pursed her lips, “I can’t really talk about it though…”

“I won’t tell anyone!” Twilight insisted. Her eyes were sparkling so brightly, her eagerness reminded Fluttershy of Rainbow Dash. She blinked in surprise, Rainbow Dash!

“I need to go.” Fluttershy mumbled, trying to stand up, “My friend… I-I came with my friend.”

“Another Angel?” Twilight inquired, eyes wide, “Can I meet them?”

Fluttershy shook her head, “Goodness, no. It’s bad enough I’m here.”

Twilight frowned. Fluttershy had been on the edge about speaking to her in general since she’d fallen out of the sky. The way she’d spoken about being locked up… Twilight began to wonder about the Angels in general.

“Is this… illegal or something?”

Fluttershy’s face reddened as she brushed her hair over her face, “W-Well, I…”

Twilight’s eyes hardened, “So the reason Angels are just fairy tales is because, what, your boss won’t let you come down here?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she grabbed at the hem of her jumper skittishly, “She’s more than a boss, Twilight. She’s our leader. Our Princess!”

“Princess?” Twilight considered the word for a moment before lifting her hand into the air. Fluttershy bristled as she watched the book of lore she had carelessly placed on the bed light up with a pink glow. In just a few seconds the book became airborne and gently landed into Twilight’s open palms.

Fluttershy’s face burned as she watched Twilight flick through thebook until she finally came to the page she was looking for. She drew her finger across the text for a few moments before looking up. “Princess… Celestia?”

Fluttershy’s shocked gasp was all that Twilight needed to know she was on the right track, “Your leader is more than a Princess, Fluttershy. I mean… in our lore, Celestia is a God. The God. The God of our days.”

Fluttershy had backed herself into a wall, her wings had broadened and were now flapping helplessly, as if she was trying to find an escape, “You can’t know about her!” Fluttershy begged, “You’re not ready!”

“Ready?” Twilight implored.

Fluttershy sagged against the wall and let out one small sob before she looked back to Twilight. Twilight was shocked to find the young Angel had tears glistening in her blue orbs.

“I don’t know all the answers, Twilight.” Fluttershy begged, “But… Celestia told us that when the time was right, she’d reveal herself to everyone. The witches and the humans.”

“Humans?” Twilight’s jaw tightened, “We don’t speak of the humans, here.”

Fluttershy sighed and stood up from the wall. She pushed away from it and took a step closer to Twilight, “And they don’t speak of you.” She glanced at the floor before taking Twilight’s hands in a gesture she was very familiar with Rainbow Dash doing, “But, Celestia said that when all the known worlds are made aware of her existence… then there will be an everlasting peace.”

Twilight looked at the sincerity in Fluttershy’s eyes and after a few grating moments of silence she finally let up, “Okay.” Twilight said simply, “Okay, fine.” She pursed her lips and tightened her hold on Fluttershy’s hands, “I believe you.”

Author's Note:

So this chapter briefly explains the universe I'm writing this story in. I hope you can follow it alright.

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