A gateway opens inside Fluttershy's house and flings her to a cliched high-fantasy world. She's forced to walk from one side of this strange new world to the other, encountering many challenges, friends and foes along the way.
Not even Fluttershy understood what happened, when that bright light appeared in her own home and flung her into a place never seen before. Ogres try to eat her, evil warlords chase her down, drakes and giant spiders attack her and gnomes violate her personal space. But with a bit of help from the locals, she just might reach the other side of the world and get home.
It started as a day like any other. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were chirping and Fluttershy was humming along with them, holding a basket with her mouth, as she filled their feeders. For a moment she stopped to appreciate their display. It was a nice peaceful day, just the way Fluttershy likes it. It was a day of relaxation, between many. Nothing exciting has happened for a while now. Just the way Fluttershy likes it.
Of course, I wouldn’t be writing this, if that was the case. Fluttershy has just finished refilling the bird feeders, when she heard a noise coming from inside her cottage. Her peaceful song has stopped. After taking a confused look at her home, she went in to check what it was. But there was nothing there, when she entered. Everything seemed completely normal.
Fluttershy walked in normally, ready to forget she heard anything. She put down her empty basket and even resumed her song. Then the noise happened again and a bright blue light emanated from under the rug. She stopped to observe this noisy light, as it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Fluttershy lifted the rug, but there was nothing there. She patted the floor with her hoof, then stepped on it and stood right where the rug used to be, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. She started wondering whether she should worry or not.
But of course, the light appeared again. Fluttershy took a few steps back to get out of its way. The light got so bright, she had to cover her eyes with her hoof. It just got way too overwhelming to be looked straight into. Then the light stopped again and Fluttershy could finally open her eyes. Much to her surprise, the bit of the floor the rug used to cover was no longer there. In fact, the entire cottage was gone. She found herself in the middle of a large, empty grassland, with not a soul around.
She looked around erratically, trying to make sense of the situation. Trying to figure out what happened and where she was. Well, she couldn’t figure out either and she just stood there in the middle of nowhere. And as she stared into the distance with confusion, a shadow loomed over her. She turned around and the only thing she had the time to see is an enormous club, heading right for her head.
„Hey boys, look what I found!” Said a deep gravelly voice, its source dragging Fluttershy along the ground by her tail. “A little horse!”
“Our dinner!” Said a second deep gravelly voice. “I haven’t eaten horse in ages. Everyone’s so protective of them.”
“I have so many recipes for horse meat.” A third deep gravelly voice appeared. “They all sound delicious.”
The dragging stopped and Fluttershy finally regained consciousness fully. She groaned, because she could still feel the club on her head.
“It’s awake.” Said one of the, at the time, disembodied voices. “Should I kill it?”
“No,” replied another voice. “The method of killing depends on the recipe. Just stuff it in the cage, until we decide how to eat it.”
Just like that, the still awaking Fluttershy was thrown into a small cage that was suspended in the air. She struggled with her aching head, but at least she could now take a look at the situation she was thrown into. She saw three bald muscular and fat giants. They all had wide jawlines, with tusks protruding out of them. Their baldness was interrupted by tiny horns sticking out their skulls. One had a beard, the other wore a bear pelt and the third one wore leather armour.
“Here they are!” The bearded one grabbed a large book. “How’s this one? Boiled horse meat with salt and pepper, with added parsley, shallots and a dash of vinegar. We could even do something with those wings.”
“I’d prefer some sort of stew right now.” Said the one with the pelt.
“We could always make the stew out of the flank or the collar.” Replied the bearded one. “We could even add some caramelised onion and a whole bunch of vegetables.”
“I don’t actually like horse meat.” Said the armoured one, his addition followed by silence from the rest of them.
“Well then, we could experiment with all the spices I have.” Said the one with the pelt. “I have... hold on, what do I have? Let’s see, some mace, cinnamon, horseradish, garlic...”
“Horse with garlic sounds delicious!” The bearded one interrupted.
“Then we could see which one of us is a vampire!” The armoured one exclaimed, followed by a hearty laugh from all three of them.
“Um, excuse me.” Fluttershy interrupted them, to which all three of them went completely silent. “Could I have a choice in the matter?”
The three ogres stared in surprise for a second. “By golly, it talks!” Said the bearded one.
“With a beautiful angelic voice!” added the armoured one.
“It must be the talking magical horse Brendarr the sixth talked about!” Said the one with the pelt.
All three of them huddled around the suspended cage. “He said, it grants you three wishes if you let it go.” He continued.
“Wait,” The bearded one prepared a question. “do we get three wishes each, or do we get one wish per person?”
“I don’t know.” The one with the pelt considered the question for a moment, then turned to Fluttershy. “How do we get the three wishes?”
“I’m sorry folks,” She replied. “I’m afraid I don’t grant wishes.” All three ogres let out a disappointed groan. “But I’d still be happy if you could let me out.” Fluttershy continued.
The three ogres stared for a second. “Well, I’d feel bad about eating something that talks.” Said the armoured one.
“You had no problem eating those two dwarves last week.” Argued the bearded one.
“Yeah, but they were saying rude things and this one is so polite.”
“Besides,” The one with the pelt carried on the thought. “maybe we should conserve these talking horses. They’re clearly rare.”
“Ugh, fine, we’ll let it go!” The bearded one said with an air of disappointment. “But we’ll try one of these recipes the next time we find a horse, talking or not!”
The armoured one walked up to the suspended cage and unlocked the door. “Go talking horsey, you’re free!” He exclaimed, as he opened the cage.
Fluttershy stepped out of the cage, thanked the ogre, then run off into the distance.
Fluttershy stopped for a moment and looked back. She seemed to have gone far enough from the ogres. She knew she wasn’t in danger anymore, the ogres decided not to eat her after all. Still, it seemed like a good idea to run away. Now she knows, wherever she is, it’s not in Equestria anymore.
“What am I gonna do now?” She asked no one in particular, in a quiet outburst of fear. She had no other choice, but to walk along the hilly grasslands and search for help.
She has walked for a while, aimlessly. She observed the different creatures around her, many animals she was familiar with, many animals she never seen before. She tried talking to a group of rabbits, but they were too timid to talk to. They haven’t seen too many horses around and when they did it didn’t mean to much good. So the rabbits ran away. She went into a small patch of trees, to try and communicate with some birds. They seemed much more welcoming. Unfortunately, their songs were incomprehensible. One swallow on a branch was glad to talk to Fluttershy. But she could only hear gibberish coming from the bird. She tried talking to a small brown bird on the ground. It greeted Fluttershy with a happy little hop. But her hopes of communication have quickly faded, as the bird let out a wet belch.
Finally she heard a familiar sound, although this sound was rather disconcerting. It was a bison calf, yelping for help. She waded through the patch of trees into the field and saw a bison and her calf surrounded by four figures in minimal armour, each carrying large axes and spears. The two bison were desperately trying to escape the slashing of the axes and the flying spears. The mother kicked and used herself to shield her calf, which yelped anytime one of the figures got close. They were fighting fiercely, but they couldn’t hold it for much longer. Fluttershy looked for a moment, considering what she should do. She decided to help the bison the only way she knew. She flew from out of the bushes and approached the fight.
“Leave them alone!” She cried. The fighting stopped as the figures turned their unsightly faces and armour covered heads towards her. For a moment it did seem to work, as they stopped bothering the mother bison and her calf. But that peaceful moment wasn’t long.
“Watch out, the flying horse will kick us!” A green skinned one exclaimed sarcastically, to which the rest of them replied with laughter.
“I said,” Fluttershy tried again. “leave them alone!”
“The flying horse commands you!” Said a grey skinned one, making fun of the one trying to stop them. The bison mother and calf slowly backed out from between the goblins as they were distracted.
One of them, with red skin, wearing a helmet that covered most of their head, stepped forward. “Okay, we will leave the bison alone.” The words seemed reassuring, but the mood didn’t get any more pleasant. The red goblin continued: “But, we will eat you instead!” The goblins cheered their red brother on, as Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. “Silence is agreement!” He shouted after a few seconds of waiting for an answer and they all raised their spears.
Thankfully a noise distracted everyone again, a noise that came with a shaking ground. The bison mother and calf, who were now slightly behind the whole group, cried out towards the noise. And the noise cried back, with the thunderous roaring of a herd of bison. Everyone looked at a nearby hill, as a large figure, riding on top of an even larger bison appeared at the top. The bison reared and at least, ten other bison run from beyond the hill. All ready to save their trapped brethren. The goblins tried to look tough, but even they were too scared to face the entire herd, so they ran away.
The herd of bison surrounded their now safe relatives. The one carrying the green-skinned person stepped forward to Fluttershy. He wore very minimal armour and had many healed scratches all over his body.
“You must have great courage and foolishness to try and take on a band of goblins, all by yourself.” He said straight towards Fluttershy, with a voice filled with both appreciation and discontent.
“I know,” Fluttershy replied. “I just couldn’t let the poor bison be hurt.”
The green-skinned person smirked in amusement. “What sort of creature are you and what is a kind soul like yourself doing in these harsh lands?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I was at home, then suddenly I was here. I have no idea where I am”
“You fell into a magical passage?”
“Possibly.”
“Well I know nothing about magic, but I know someone who does. He lives in the Elven Forest to the south.” The orc pointed his spiky mace towards the distance. “I can take you there if you need.”
“Oh, that would be nice!” Fluttershy exclaimed in relief.
And sure enough, they started walking into the distance, the herd of bison following along, the saved calf prancing along with its mother.
“Oh, by the way,” The orc remembered something. “You still haven’t answered my question. What exactly are you?”
“Oh, right.” Fluttershy replied. “I’m just a regular Pegasus pony and my name is Fluttershy.”
“A regular Pegasus?” The orc asked in surprise. “There’s nothing regular about pegasi, especially ones that can talk.”
“Have you never met a Pegasus before?”
“Not exactly, no. They’re very elusive in the wild.”
“Wow, I must be really far away from Equestria.” Fluttershy said in quiet amazement. “And what exactly are you?” She passed the question back to the orc.
He chortled to himself for a bit. “And I assume you had never seen an orc before.” He said jokingly. “My name is Hadrik, son of Vlamuk and Grumlak. And this is my family.” He pointed at the herd of bison with his face. “You want me to introduce them to you, Fluttershy?”
After an hour of walking, Hadrik and Fluttershy finally arrived at the edge of the forest. The trees were flaunting their brilliant shades of greens and blues and yellows.
“We have arrived.” Said Hadrik, then turned around. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Fluttershy.”
“Aren’t you gonna help me find your friend?” Fluttershy asked with worry.
“I’m needed here at the sacred plains.”
“But how am I going to find him?”
Hadrik thought for a bit and then smiled. “You’ll recognize him. And most of all, he’ll recognize you.”
Fluttershy sighed at the orc’s unhelpful answer and slipped between the trees.
“And don’t let your kindness get you into trouble again.” Hadrik’s voice echoed through the first few trees.
Fluttershy has walked for a while. The leaves shined in the sunlight slipping through the foliage. The choir of birds have echoed through the forest. Fluttershy didn’t have much problem wading through the dishevelled bushes and branches. She’s been in forests before, she knows how to navigate them. The worry in her heart has calmed down, as she observed the animals living their lives. She even started to understand them.
The unkempt bushes started easing up, as colourful flowers took their place. The sound of bees started echoing quietly, as more and more flowers began to cover the ground. Shortly, Fluttershy found herself in a spectacular garden, full of splendorous flowers. Hundreds of colours ran all the way across the ground and covered the trees. Fluttershy stopped to appreciate a tiny beetle show off its shiny wing covers, on top of a white flower.
“Oy!” A sudden shout, followed by a forceful tap on the flank, interrupted the admiration of nature. “Get your dirty teeth off my flowers!”
Fluttershy turned around and saw an angry little man with a long white beard and a pointy hat, holding a long stick of bread.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy apologized. “I didn’t mean to ruin your garden.”
The anger faded from the tiny man’s face and his eyes opened wide. “Sweet smelly sunflower, that horse talks!” He exclaimed and turned angry again. “Begone demon! Begone demon!” He started yelling and hit Fluttershy repeatedly with his dry as a rock breadstick.
“Ow! I’m not a demon!” Fluttershy objected.
“Oh, yeah? Well then why do you talk?”
“What’s so special about talking? You talk too!”
The tiny man pondered for a moment. It looked like he was ready to give Fluttershy a lecture, but then he realized the error of his logic. “Good point.” He replied in sudden calmness.
“Beautiful garden, by the way.” Fluttershy tried to defuse the situation. “Have you done it all by yourself?”
“Eh, no! It was cultivated for centuries by me and my sixteen brothers!” He explained proudly.
“Sixteen brothers?” Fluttershy said in surprise.
“Well, yeah. What, you have more?”
“No, just one.”
“Just one?!” The tiny man seemed horrified. “Where did the rest go?”
“No, I always had just one.”
“Oh. What, did your father couldn’t get the wheels turning?”
“I’d rather not talk about that.”
The tiny man let out a hearty laugh, then asked. “What is a talking horse like yourself doing in these woods anyway?”
“Well, I’m looking for someone, but I’m not sure whom.”
“Oh, someone? Great, let me show you my home, we’ve got plenty of someones in there, I bet we’ll find the someone you’re looking for.”
“I don’t think that’s...” Fluttershy tried to say something, but the man started pulling on her mane.
“There’s Gortle, Chortle, Nortle, Bortle, Ortle, Vortle, Hortle, Tortle, Sortle, Yortle, that’s me, Lortle, Mortle, you can recognize him by his pointy hat, Kortle, Dortle, Fortle, Portle, Jortle and of course our dad, Fapalataka! Does any of these sound familiar to you?”
“Uhh...” Fluttershy said everything she could muster after such a long-winded list. Yortle, the tiny man didn’t even wait for a proper response.
“We’re here!” They stopped between five trees and Yortle finally released Fluttershy’s mane. She tried saying something, but Yortle didn’t let her do that. “We’re here!” he yelled out loudly.
Not even a moment has passed and tiny doors busted open from the trees and more tiny men with white beards and pointy hats swarmed out from them.
“Folks!” Said Yortle. “Let me introduce you to my new friend! A talking horse!” The tiny men cheered and quickly swarmed Fluttershy. They climbed on top of her, examined her mane, pulled her tail and just kind of forgot about her personal space in general.
“You can recognize me by my pointy hat.” Mortle interrupted Yortle’s list.
“... Kortle, Dortle, Fortle, Portle, Jortle and of course, our dad, Fapalataka!” He pointed at an angry looking man wearing a purple robe and carrying a wooden staff, who was standing in front of the tree in the middle.
“What is the meaning of this, Yortle?!” He yelled out.
“Dad, I brought a visitor!” Replied Yortle.
“What did I tell you about bringing visitors?!”
“But, dad...”
“Silence!” The tiny man in the robe shouted, his loud voice completely silencing his noisy children. “Let her go.” He lowered his voice, now that everyone could hear him clearly.
Everyone climbed off from Fluttershy, as Fapalataka stepped closer to her. “Who are you? State your business!” He yelled accusingly at Fluttershy.
“I’m Fluttershy and uh... I’m looking for... someone.” She said timidly.
“Someone eh? Well, you ain’t finding that someone here. Now leave!”
“But, dad!” Yortle interrupted. “There are plenty of someones in here. There’s Gortle, Chortle...”
“Don’t give me the list, I know your smelly names!” He stopped him from going over the list again. “Last time you brought here an elf! You know how much magic is in there in an elf?!”
“I, uh...”
“Plenty! And now you bring here a talking horse?! Last thing we want is smelly demons finding us!”
“But dad, we can’t just hide away from magic forever. There’s magic everywhere in this world!”
“Yes! And everything’s gone horribly wrong! Because of magic! Don’t you remember what happened to those smelly elves?”
“I do!”
“Good! You should! You were there after all. Now take your new friend out of here!”
Yortle sighed and walked over to Fluttershy. “Come on talking horse. Let’s go.” As such, Fluttershy followed him.
The lights of the tiny village were fading between the bushes, the gnomes all started going back to their trees. Yortle and Fluttershy were walking in the forest. The sun was setting and coloured the colourful leaves orange.
“What happened to the elves by the way?” Fluttershy asked Yortle.
“They were destroyed by some sort of magician.” He explained. “Just like that. Tall towers, more beautiful than any flower. Boom! All gone. And it took only one magician. Crazy ain’t it? Imagine what else magic is capable of.”
“Wow, that sounds awful.”
“Yeah, it is. I’m not surprised my dad is so afraid of magic. I’m afraid too.” Yortle looked around. “Where are you headed anyway?” He asked. “I know this forest like the back of my hand. I could get you wherever you’re headed.”
“I’m not sure actually. I don’t know whom I’m looking for. Hadrik never gave me a clear answer, he just told me he’ll find me and I’ll know it when that happens.”
Yortle stopped in his tracks and stared for a second. “Well, good luck then!” He then turned around and walked away.
“Aren’t you going to help me?”
“I don’t know where You’ll-know-him-when-you-see-him lives.” He said while not even looking at Fluttershy.
She looked at the departing gnome for a moment, then sighed and carried on by herself.
With that, Fluttershy was alone again. That seems to be the norm here. Meet somebody, get to know them, then get abandoned. It’s not like Equestria, where everyone is your friend. Here, everyone is friends with conditions and leave you anyway. It started to feel lonely. Walking in the forest, with only the bushes touching you and all the birds chirping gibberish.
One sound was distinct from the rest. A light whistle, that stood out among the cacophony of the birds. It played a soft melody. Fluttershy tried to follow it, but it was difficult to find the source in the echoing forest. But it did start getting louder and louder. Until it stopped for a moment. A helpful thread lost again.
Flutterhsy waited for it to come back, but there was only the erratic choir of the woods. She gave up for a moment, but the soft whistle returned and played a very distinct melody. Fluttershy tried to follow it again, until it stopped. She could still remember the melody and decided to hum it back from memory. Then the whistle responded with repeating the memory. After it finished, Fluttershy repeated it back for a second time, getting closer and closer to the source. Now the flute played a different melody, which she also repeated back. This melody conversation continued for a while, until she stepped into a clearing. There were rock structures scattered around the clearing, long abandoned ruins, with vines growing all over them.
The whistle got very close, Fluttershy could hear it very clearly and she spotted a green, antlered figure, sitting on a rock. It had long green hair and was playing the flute. Fluttershy got closer to it and started singing along to the flute’s melodies. They looked at each-other and kept playing their music, until they found a note to stop on.
“You have a very beautiful voice.” Remarked the figure, with a soft voice.
“Thanks, you play the flute very beautifully too.” Fluttershy complimented the figure back.
The figure smiled and then introduced herself. “My name is Linndael. What’s yours?”
“I’m Fluttershy.”
“Flutter and shy?” The figure wondered. “That’s an odd name, I’ve never heard anything like it.”
“Well, I’ve never heard anything like Linndael before either.”
“Oh? You must be from very far away.”
“I’m from Equestria and I have no idea how I ended up here.”
The figure looked away for a bit. She looked at one of the ruined towers and said “I wish I could forget how I ended up here too.”
Fluttershy looked at the ruins around them. “Was this your home?”
“Still is...” The figure looked down. “Other elves don’t really want to see my kind. And those who do, are ones I don’t want to see.”
“You’re an elf? I’ve heard about what happened.”
The green elf sighed.
After a silent pause, Fluttershy asked her: “Are you the one I’m looking for?”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been told to look for someone and that I’ll know them when I see them.”
The elf responded with a blank stare.
“And that they’ll know when they’ll see me.” Fluttershy continued.
The elf kept the blank stare. “I don’t know what that means.”
Fluttershy sighed. “Me neither.”
“But I’m glad we found each other.” The elf said in a happier tone.
They smiled at each other for a moment. Suddenly the elf bolted up. “Someone else may have found us.” She said and jumped off from the rock. “Behind here!” She pointed behind the rock she was sitting on.
“Who found us?” Fluttershy asked as she hid behind the rock too.
The elf just shushed her. Heavy footsteps sounded from the other side of the clearing. Five glowing skeletons in armour and a tall red figure with horns stepped forward from between the trees. It carried a large curved sword and wore a cloth around its face. It looked around and then pointed at the ruins, which the skeletons immediately begin to search.
“We have to get out of here!” Said the elf.
“Why? Who’s that?” Fluttershy asked in a hurry.
She had no time to get an answer, as the rock they were hiding behind blew up. The horned figure had its arm extended, than pointed at Fluttershy. “Get the horse!” It yelled, to which all five skeletons started running towards them. Linndael run between the trees and Fluttershy tried to fly above the trees, but the skeletons quickly grabbed her tail and pulled her on the ground. Fluttershy asked for help with an extended hoof. Linndael looked back at her and considered helping, but she saw one of the skeletons looking at her, so she bolted off into the trees. Fluttershy was abandoned again.
The skeletons pulled her along the ground and put her down in front of the horned person. It took a very hard look at Fluttershy. It seemed confused and somewhat disappointed. Then with a flick of its wrist summoned a spherical cage around Fluttershy, which floated in the air by a chain, like a balloon. It lifted up its sword and started talking to it.
“I’ve got it, but it’s not what we expected... Yes... Yes... Okay we’ll stay right here.” It put down its sword and ordered the skeletons to leave.
“What’s going on?” Fluttershy asked, hoping to get a clear answer.
“You’ll see. You don’t have to worry.” The figure tried to calm her down. It didn’t work of course. She was still locked inside a cage after all.
A few minutes have passed and another figure entered through the trees. It had grey skin, was carrying a large bardiche and wore a long flowing cape. It was another orc, but was much more threatening than Hadrik. He took a good look at Fluttershy, then nodded to the red person, who left them quickly.
“So, you’re that source of magic?” He asked in a deep and calm voice. “It’s good that you finally came to us.”
Fluttershy gasped in surprise. “You’re the one I’m looking for?”
The grey orc paused for a moment, then said; “Yes. I believe I am. My name is Drylon, son of Muldur and Griswlak.”
“Hadrik told me you could help me back to Equestria.”
“Yes, I can. But you have to help me first.”
“I can’t help you from this cage.” Fluttershy remarked.
“Oh, right.” Drylon dissolved the cage around Fluttershy and levitated her softly on the ground.
“What do you need my help with?” She asked much more helpfully now.
“I don’t need much. I don’t even need the three wishes. Only one.”
“Wishes?”
“Yes, that’s what you do right?”
Fluttershy was confused for a second and then realized what the request was about. “Oh, there must be some misunderstanding here. This is the second time someone mistakes me for a wish granting fairy... um... I’m not. I’m just a regular Pegasus pony. I don’t do magic” She tried to hastily explain herself.
“Don’t try to fool me.” Drylon replied in the same deep and calm voice as before, but somehow it sounded much more threatening now. “I can sense the magical powers inside you. I can practically see them flowing outside your body.”
Fluttershy took a step back as Drylon took a few steps towards her. “Well, I don’t know what you’re seeing, but I’m sorry, I can’t grant any wishes.”
“You’re trying to hold the power away from me, don’t you?” He said accusingly. “You think I’m the criminal of this war. The sacrifice had to be made. The elves had to die!” He raised his voice. He then flicked his arm towards a ruined tower and it collapsed into pieces.
“I ask again.” He said in a calm voice. “Grant me the wish that I deserve!” He started shouting again. “Help me rid this world from evil!”
Fluttershy started panicking. “I can’t! Why won’t you believe me?!”
“Very well.” Drylon resumed his calm voice. “If you won’t give me your powers...” he grabbed his bardiche with both hands. “...Then I’ll take it from you!” And he swung his mighty bardiche, sending a wave of energy towards Fluttershy. She covered on the ground to avoid the wave that sliced through the buildings around her. She tried to hide behind one of them, but Drylon just smashed the ground and all buildings in the clearing have burst into flames. She ran between the trees. Drylon sent more waves of energy in her direction, they sliced through the trees like air. She dodged well and ran far enough into the forest and could no longer see her attacker. But she could see a bright light flying towards her. She jumped out of the way just in time, as a giant beam obliterated every single tree in its way.
Fluttershy spotted a small river and jumped right into it, letting the stream take her wherever it went. She could see Drylon walk up to the riverside and he most definitely saw Fluttershy swimming under the waves. He tried to fire bolts of energy towards her, but she could lean out their way, only getting her tail singed.
The river reached its end and Fluttershy tumbled down a waterfall. In the middle of tumbling she realized she can fly and flew onto the shore of the continuing river. She had no time to dry herself and dived into the forest. She run far into the deep of the woods and stopped when she finally seemed to have lost Drylon.
A few bolts of energy flew across the air, some explosions echoed through the trees, but Drylon was nowhere to be seen anymore. At some point, the explosions have stopped. Everything seemed to have calmed down finally.
Night has already set. The moon cast light upon the leaves of the trees, painting them bright blue. A short silence loomed over the forest as the last explosion shook the trees. But the noises of the night have resumed. The crickets chirred, the owls hooted and distant growls echoed in the air.
Fluttershy was still gasping for air and shaking in fear. As if the loneliness wasn’t enough, she had to escape with inches of her life. The darkness didn’t help to shake the fear of death. She huddled up in the trunk of the closest tree and burst into tears. The fear and loneliness was just too much to take.
“Aw, don’t cry.” Said a strange voice from between the trees.
“Who are you?” Fluttershy raised her shaking voice. “I don’t grant wishes!” She looked behind her and saw a hunched over man holding a lantern with long tusks sticking out from under his upper lips.
“Oh, I know you don’t” Said the tusked man in a reassuring voice.
“What do you want from me?” Asked Fluttershy from under her tears.
“I do believe you’re the one who wants something from me, I just want to help you.”
“I don’t think you can help me.” Fluttershy said quietly, as she turned her face back to the tree.
The hunched man chuckled. “Now, I’m sure Hadrik sent you to me for a reason, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy was taken aback by that response. She turned around and saw the man with the lantern smiling at her.
“You’ve found me!” The man reassured her and extended an arm to help her up. She tried to wipe her tears, but they were still flowing and stood up with the man’s help.
“Are you the one I’m looking for?” She said with a still shaking voice.
“Yes. But I expected you later.” Said the man. “You’re early.”
Fluttershy looked to the side, thinking of the circumstances that might have caused her to hurry.
“My name is Gabahn.” The man introduced himself. “And I’m what some may call, a grotesque elf.” He said with a warm smile. “Come, I’ll take you to safety.”
Gabahn took the still sniffing Fluttershy to his hut. All the lamps were already lit as he was expecting visitors. He offered her a sweet herbal tea and sat down with her.
“So what brings you here Fluttershy.” Gabahn asked in a friendly tone.
Fluttershy took a sip from the tea, which tasted very nice. She sighed and answered the question. “I don’t know. I was at home and suddenly I found myself in this strange place.”
Gabahn pondered for a moment. “Sounds like one of those randomly opening gateways that lead you to distant worlds.”
“Do you know how to get back?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well, I don’t. I’m not well versed with bending space itself.” Gabahn disappointed Fluttershy with his answer. “But I know someone who does.” He said slightly lifting Fluttershy’s spirit. ”He lives in the desert, far down south.” Fluttershy was even more disappointed, by the fact that she has to travel even further.
A silent moment has passed. “You look frazzled.” Gabahn broke the silence. “Let me help you with that.” He stood up and took a hairbrush. He started brushing Fluttershy’s mane, somehow not pulling it at all, despite the hairbrush looking very old.
“Your friends miss you very dearly, Fluttershy.” Gabahn said in a relaxed tone.
“How do you know that?” Fluttershy asked in surprise.
“Oh, if I had such a wonderful friend as you are, then I’d miss you too.” He said with a smile. “They’re really worried and they’re searching for you.”
“How do you know all this?” Fluttershy asked.
“I can see it in your eyes... You have a very strong bond. A bond nothing like I’ve ever seen before. The connection between you and your friends runs deeper, than just physical affection.”
Fluttershy’s tears started flowing again. She was thinking of her friends at home.
“And you also miss them dearly.” Gabahn remarked.
Fluttershy just nodded.
“You can stay here for the night. Wait as long as you need to.” Gabahn offered. “There is a long road ahead of you and you’re not in a hurry.”
Fluttershy dried her tears and took a sip from her tea. “Are you going to leave me too? Like everyone else did so far?”
“Oh, no. I’ll be there for you on your journey.” Gabahn said and took a talisman from the shelf. “This is a talisman of flukes. It will keep you from harm on your journey. No matter how bleak the situation may seem, with this, you will get out of it just fine.”
Fluttershy took a look at the talisman. It had a simple circular shape, with a jewel in its middle, that seemed to contain a smiling face.
“And I’ll remember you too.” Gabahn continued and took the hairbrush out of Fluttershy’s mane. “With this, your essence will remain here and continue to heal troubled souls.” He took the few strands of hair stuck to the hairbrush and rolled them up on a stick.
Fluttershy finally had the chance of looking around Gabahn’s house. There was only one tiny room, filled to the brim with many strange items. Some benign, some disconcerting, but they were all strange.
“Why did you help me?” She asked curiously. “Nobody I’ve met so far put any effort into helping me. How come you’re different?”
Gabahn chuckled. “I’m a witch-doctor. It’s my job to help those, whom fate has forsaken. It’s just what I do.”
The sun has risen and cast its orange light over the forest. Now it was clear, that the leaves were blue. Fluttershy had packed useful goods into two saddlebags, including the talisman. She now felt ready to embark on a journey, even if a bit worried.
“Before you go,” Gabahn took a rolled up piece of paper and gave it to Fluttershy. “You’ll need this map. Here is your destination.” He pointed at the bottom of the map. “And don’t forget to stop in one of those Kin-San villages at the Broken Coast. They’ll be happy to help you.”
“Thanks, I’ll remember that.” Said Fluttershy as she put the map inside her bag and stepped outside. She looked back at Gabahn and said.
“Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Gabahn chuckled. “Oh, don’t thank me. I’m just doing my job.”
Fluttershy walked between the trees, stopping to wave at Gabahn for a last time.
“And don’t worry,” Gabahn shouted at the departing Fluttershy. “the birds will start to make sense after a while!”
She has walked between the blue trees. She watched the birds for a while, to try and make sense of what they’re saying. She noticed, that their body-language is much more prominent and some are even capable of changing colours. Perhaps that has a purpose in communication. Maybe the gibberish makes sense, if you pay attention to the colours.
There wasn’t much time to think about that. The bushes started rattling, something was moving very quickly between them. And whatever it was, its laughter echoed throughout the woods. The bushes rattled erratically around Fluttershy. The rattling has surrounded her, until it suddenly stopped and laughed.
“Should we kill it quickly?” One voice echoed.
“No, it clearly understands common language.” Echoed a second one. “We should just talk to it.” It said and laughed.
“It clearly doesn’t understand common sense, listening to the grotesque one.” A third voice echoed.
“Who are you?” Fluttershy cried out, but the answer she got was a maniacal laughter from all three voices.
“We’re your death!” Said all three voices in unison and just as they finished, three baboon looking creatures jumped out from the bushes, going straight for Fluttershy. She yelped in fear. But as suddenly the creatures jumped out, they stopped and burst into laughter.
“Look at it! It thought we were going to eat it!” Said one of them.
“And we will!” Said a second one.
“Well, yeah. But not right now.” Said the first one again.
“Aw, look at it!” Said the third one. “It looks like it’s about to crack under pressure!”
They started crawling towards Fluttershy. “Yes, just like her bones are about to.” Said one of them.
Fluttershy tried to back away, but the grinning creatures got closer and closer. She then accidentally stepped on a dry twig, which broke apart with a loud crack. The creatures stopped for a moment and burst into laughter. Fluttershy looked at the cracked twig and realized she accidentally made a pun. She thought for a moment and turned to the creatures.
“Wow, that... really cracked you up.” She said, attempting a second pun.
The creatures laughed even harder.
“Maybe we should stick to the original plan.” She said after a bit of thinking.
The creatures thrown themselves on the ground. They couldn’t stop laughing after the third pun. Fluttershy tried to take advantage of the incapacitated trolls and started running away. But the laughter slowly stopped and they got up.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?!” One of them yelled at her.
She turned around and tried to think of a fourth pun. “Uh... well... you know?” She paused and looked at the ground. She spotted a leaf and picked it up. “It’s time... for me to... leaf...”
The baboon-like creatures paused for a moment, processing what she just said and thrown themselves on the ground in laughter. Fluttershy took her chance of escape and bolted off deep into the forest.
“We could stick together,” She shouted back at them, to make sure they will be too busy laughing to follow her. “but I’ve got to branch out a bit more!”
The unstoppable laughter echoed throughout the forest. Fluttershy just galloped until she couldn’t hear them. Finally she was outside the forest and saw a tiny village in a tiny valley. There was a tall clock tower in its middle. She was in great relief to finally see some civilization
The forest was behind Fluttershy. She could finally see the sky without the branches blocking the view. The sun was high up in the sky, but it was far from noon. The horizon became visible and a small river was flowing into it. In a small valley, the river diverged and formed a small island. On this small island laid a tiny village, with a tall clock tower in its middle. Fluttershy was glad to find safety from the wilderness.
That safety turned out to be much further than anticipated. Whatever ground Fluttershy has stepped on, wasn’t very stable. She knew it was artificial, she could practically see the bricks that had grass growing between them. But she couldn’t see how thin that artificial grassy floor really was.
She heard a rumble from below, like something has just collapsed under her. Soon more rumbling has followed and part of the ground has sunk in front of her into the ground. She stopped for a moment, wondering if she should carry on with the same path. A moment too long that was, because the rumbling continued and soon, the ground sunk right under her hind hooves. She stepped forward a bit and got away without falling into the hole. She looked down and saw a big hall, with some sort of altar surrounded by arches, right under her.
But this collapsing did no good to the ceiling, Fluttershy turned out to be walking on. It quickly started sinking between the two holes, dragging the whole ceiling under the ground, swallowing Fluttershy. She landed right on one of the arches, with her right wing. The wing made a loud cracking sound, followed by a painful yelp from Fluttershy. The arch crackled under her and it soon fell to the ground, with the bricks landing all over the floor and crushing Fluttershy’s left forehoof. She reacted to the situation, with a painful groan.
“Nice going talisman of flukes!” She grumbled to no one in particular. She tried to stand up. Her other legs were fine, if a bit achy, but she could not put her weight on her left forehoof. The same with her right wing, which she couldn’t move without massive pain. The hole which she fell through, were the only source of light in the large hall. The altar has been ruined long ago.
There was a gate leading to darkness in front of her. Sounds of slow footsteps and knocking, with the occasional wheezing were coming from the shadow. Soon a hunched over cloaked figure, with a stick emerged. It was leaning heavily on said stick to support itself. It seemed to be unable to walk properly. Fluttershy approached the cloaked figure with only using three of her legs.
“Excuse me,” She reached out to the figure, “my wing and leg have been badly hurt. Could you get me some help?”
The figure looked up at her with another wheeze. Only then did Fluttershy see its decrepit image. Its skin was dry as sand, its dusty lips hanging over its few remaining teeth and most of all, its black and empty eye-sockets. Fluttershy was so startled, that she forgot about the pain in her limbs and tried to fly away. However, that only resulted in a jump, a crackling pain, a clumsy landing, followed by another crackling pain and a yelp.
She looked up at the dried up walking corpse, but it was only standing there, watching her failed attempt of an escape. It then started walking towards her, in the slowest manner she saw anyone walk in. The zombie quickly become more pathetic instead of threatening. It extended its hand for Fluttershy. She looked at the shrivelled up palm and with a bit of hesitation she put her hoof into it. The zombie pulled her up, but Fluttershy was just anxious to not break the dead fellow’s hand off. It jerked its head over its shoulder, telling Fluttershy to follow along. After a bit of consideration, she did. Maybe it knows the way out.
They walked along the underground tunnels, sunlight seeping through the cracks in the ceiling. The walls were filled with empty holes. Soon they reached a staircase. The zombie took its time to step up each and every step. Even Fluttershy with her incapacitated leg could get up with less effort. She reached the top and found herself inside a cemetery. All graves have been dug up and emptied. There was also the clock tower she saw from afar, in front of her.
The pitiful zombie finally reached the top of the stairs and escorted Fluttershy towards the clock tower. The town surrounding seemed empty, if it wasn’t for the decrepit corpses walking around, seemingly aimlessly. There was one sitting on an empty carriage with no wheels, flailing a lead rope attached to nothing. There was another with a bucket over its head. Their ghastly moans echoed through the air, chilling Fluttershy to the bone. But instead of being scared, she felt rather sorry for the walking corpses.
Finally they reached the tower. The zombie pushed half of the gate open with a lot of effort and waited for Fluttershy, then with the same amount of effort, it closed the gate back in. They stepped into a barely lit room with the staircase leading upwards, situated on the sides of the walls. In the middle there was another cloaked figure standing in front of a table and seeming very busy. The zombie called out to the figure with a short moan.
“Yes, yes, just put it into the pile over there.” The figure pointed at a pile of assorted body parts. He spoke with a thick sophisticated accent.
The zombie moaned again.
“What do you mean it’s alive?” He asked and turned around. His face was covered by a mask, only his eyes could be seen. “Aw, Jim! That’s living tissue! I can’t work with living tissue!”
The zombie moaned again.
“Patient? Are you calling me a patient? Do I look like I’m crazy to you?”
The zombie moaned again.
“I’ll tell you who’s the crazy one here! Those nerds at the academy! They’re the crazy ones for kicking me out!”
The zombie moaned again.
“Being dead is not an excuse! I tried to resurrect them didn’t I?!”
The zombie moaned again.
“I don’t need medication! But those stuck-up nerds will need a lot of medication after I show them my work! I’ll show them! They’ll see!”
The zombie moaned again.
“Crazy? Crazy?!” The crazy cloaked man was yelling at this point. “I’m not crazy!” He cried out in rage and went on a loud tirade of gibberish.
The zombie called Jim looked at Fluttershy and twirled its hand at the side of its head. Then he looked up at a shadowy figure on top of the room and made a pulling motion with his hand. The figure grabbed the rope next to it and pulled it once, then resumed standing in one place. The sound of the bell shook the walls of the tower and Fluttershy’s eardrums. The cloaked ranting man froze in one place. The bell stopped after a while. Fluttershy’s ears rang loudly.
“Jim.” The cloaked man talked in a calm tone. “What did I tell you about ringing the bell when it’s not time?”
The zombie moaned again.
“What do you mean it’s time to calm down? Spare me that attitude you wretch. If you mess up the timing, we’ll be confused about the time.”
The zombie moaned again.
“You don’t know the time? How am I supposed to know it then?”
The zombie moaned again.
“Now, what did I just tell you about your attitude? You don’t talk to me like that, especially when we have patients around.” He realized Fluttershy was standing there all along. “Oh! A patient! Haven’t had those in a while. I’m count Nefas, your doctor for today. Come sit on the table.” He said and pushed a stitched together corpse off the table.
“I’m... Fluttershy...” She said quietly and timidly stepped up to the table, with her limp. She took a look at the table. “Are you sure this is hygienic?” She asked Nefas, while slowly stepping up on the table and looking at a very bad looking stain on it.
“Of course it is!” Nefas shouted confidently. “Now let’s see...” He said calmly and started inspecting Fluttershy’s wing. His hands crawled with small beetles. “Yes, yes a displaced carpal joint... A linear crack on the humerus, and a bruised shoulder joint.” He moved onto Fluttershy’s leg. “Transverse fracture on the tibia and the cannon bone and... What’s this?” He asked in surprise.
There was a tiny red spot on Fluttershy’s hoof. Nefas poked it, then made a clawing gesture towards it. Fluttershy yelped in pain, as a tiny white worm slipped out from the red spot. Nefas then grabbed it with a levitation spell and put it inside a jar.
“Oh, would you look at that.” He said in a disturbingly enthusiastic tone. “A pregnant rot-fly! It burrows inside the skin and grows so large it bursts the skin, injecting the host with its offspring, who will eat it alive from the inside.” The more he talked, the more disturbing his enthusiasm got. “Good thing you broke you leg, darling. You would have ended up inside my workshop, if it wasn’t for this check up!”
Fluttershy was surprised by these news. “There aren’t any more of them, are there?” She asked in concern.
“No, these beauties release an antigen, which prevents other rot-flies from rooting. You will no longer have a problem with them after this. They create their own antidote against themselves.” He held the jar very close to his face and joyfully observed the little worm swim around in it. “Not a very efficient survival tactic, if I do say so myself”
Fluttershy was relieved. “Nice going talisman of flukes.” She said quietly. “Um, could you help me with my broken wing and leg?” She asked Nefas, who was enamoured with the tiny parasite.
“Oh! Right. Of course!” He grabbed her broken limbs and lightly rubbed his hand over them.
Fluttershy could move her wing and leg again, without any problem. “Thank you, doctor Nefas!” She thanked him and shook off a beetle, that crawled onto her leg from Nefas’ hand.
“Doctor Nefas?” Nefas said in surprise. “Nobody ever called me that.” He seemed flattered.
“Aren’t you a doctor?” Fluttershy asked in surprise.
“Well, technically I am... Just...” He paused. “The medical world is just not ready for necromancy.”
Jim moaned.
“No, it’s not because I’m crazy! We’ve been through this!”
The zombie moaned again.
Nefas looked at Fluttershy. “Can you believe that wretch? So disrespectful! Oh, why did I have to insert a spoilt brat’s soul into that corpse?”
Fluttershy was getting concerned again. “Um, maybe I should leave.” She said.
“Yes, yes, of course! Jim, escort... um... what is your name dear?”
“...I’m Fluttershy...”
“Oh, right! And what are your health-related grievances?”
“...You just treated me.”
“Oh did I? You think I’d remember a talking horse.” Nefas chuckled. “Jim, please escort Fluttershy out of here.”
Jim, the zombie and Fluttershy walked towards the door. Jim stopped for a moment and did another pulling motion towards the shadowy figure on top of the tower, which rang the bell again.
“Jim, you rascal!” Nefas shouted. The zombie wheezed like it was attempting to laugh, opened the door and dragged himself away.
Fluttershy, after rubbing her ringing ear, stepped outside the gate. Nothing has changed in the little zombie-filled settlement. The corpses were still walking around aimlessly, one was still sitting on the carriage with no wheels and shaking that rope and Jim was heading back to the cemetery.
“What a strange town this is.” She said to no one in particular and headed for the shortest way out.
The forest was now far behind, but didn’t disappear. It ran all the way across the western horizon and gradually slid back from the right. The sun was crawling towards the horizon. The road slowly disappeared, as Fluttershy followed it. She kept walking as if it was still there, following a straight line. The wind swept through the grass and Fluttershy’s mane. She seemed to have been lost again, not unlike the time she was running away from the ogres.
She tried to use this empty time to try and talk to animals again. Interestingly, not many birds were around. Not even rabbits. There were however, large dragonflies flying in the sky and a herd of ladybugs taller than Fluttershy herself. She tried talking to them, but they didn’t say anything.
She didn’t stray from her imagined path, which after a few hours did pay off, as the road appeared again. It ran up a small hill and Fluttershy followed. And over the hill she saw a small town sitting on a crossroads. Hoping it’s not a ghost town, she approached. Once in, she noticed, that all people there were almost twice as tall as anyone she’s ever met before and the buildings were equally massive. They were giants. She stepped into what looked to be a tavern, hoping she could get some rest. The bartender saw her and said.
“Hey, why the long face?” He shouted thinking he was funny.
Fluttershy paused for a moment. She didn’t get the joke. “Um, I’m looking for a room to rest.”
The bartender cleared his throat. “Why don’t you use the stable like the rest of the horses?”
She looked behind her and saw a tiny stable, with only two horses. “Oh, right.” She said and approached the two horses.
She inspected them. The horses were pretty curious too.
“Hi I’m Fluttershy.” She introduced herself to the horses. “I’ll be spending the night here, if you don’t mind.”
The horses had no response.
“Oh, right. Me talking is considered unique around here.”
She turned around and saw one giant riding an enormous rhino beetle. She thought for a bit.
“No wonder there are so few horses in here. Well, it has to do for now.” She said to no one in particular and laid down on a patch of hay.
Suddenly, loud buzzing filled the air.
“Raiders!” Someone screamed. “Raiders are coming!”
Giant rove beetles emerged from the skies, with regular sized people riding them, followed by their leader, a huge stag beetle, with a masked giant riding it.
“Your rent is overdue!” The giant shouted at the townsfolk, then turned to the raiders. “Take everything you can move!”
The raiders riding their rove beetles, begun crashing through doors and looting the houses. They did take everything they could move, especially expensive looking furniture. Their leader, the giant riding the stag beetle spotted Fluttershy.
“You’ll do nicely.” He said with a grin and flew towards her.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant grasshopper emerged from above the stable and landed on the flying beetle, stopping it. A giant with a mask emerged too and after letting out a battle roar, he lunged towards the beetle rider.
“Get him!” The stag beetle rider shouted. The raiders stopped looting and jumped the masked vigilante, who began fighting them off. As that went on, their leader looked at Fluttershy and begun the chase again. She started flying, but the stag beetle was catching up, while gnashing its pincers.
“I got you now talking horse!” The rider taunted Fluttershy.
She was now between the stag beetle’s pincers. They snapped, but Fluttershy flew above it. That slowed her down massively and she was now in reaching distance of the masked raider. In the heat of the moment Fluttershy threw a kick at him. And because horse kicks are still powerful, the rider flew right off his ride. The stag beetle flew a bit forward without its handler and stopped.
Fluttershy saw the other giant starting to struggle with the other raiders and decided to help him. She saw one running towards him, so Fluttershy kicked them off their beetle and sat in their place, hoping to be able to control it. But neither Fluttershy, nor the beetle knew what to do and they ended up crashing into the raiders holding down the masked giant. The raiders hopped back on their beetles and fled in defeat, leaving their leader in the dust.
The masked giant walked over to the leader writhing in pain.
“You’re a disgrace to all masked warriors!” He scolded him. “You’ve tainted our tradition!”
The leader blew a very loud whistle, to which his stag beetle turned around and started running towards them. He got up and ran towards it, then jumped up between its pincers and was back in the saddle. They ran towards the masked giant and only stopped, once he grabbed the stag beetle by its pincers. The rider got up and grabbed a knife, but before he could do any harm, Fluttershy flew in and kicked him in the face a second time. He was thrown off and the stag beetle let go of the masked giant.
The masked giant walked up to the pained giant again. Fluttershy was more interested in the giant stag beetle and was wondering how to tame it.
“You don’t deserve to wear the mask.” The masked giant shouted and removed the raid leader’s mask.
“This is not the last time you see me.” He shouted while covering his face. He tried blowing his whistle again, but he only got a fist inside his mouth.
“Yes, I’ll visit you in jail!” Said the masked vigilante, as the local law enforcement handcuffed the raid leader. “Additionally,” he continued, “we’ll take away your mount!” He pointed at the stag beetle Fluttershy was petting. “A criminal like you don’t deserve the noble beast!“ He watched the law enforcers take the raid leader away, then walked up to Fluttershy, who was warming up to the massive beetle. “That scoundrel will not be getting those three wishes!” He said proudly.
“Well, I can’t grant wishes anyway.” She corrected him.
“That’s right.” He answered. “You only grant the wishes of those on the side of good.” He said and winked.
“No that’s not...” Fluttershy didn’t have the time to correct him.
“Citizens of Mellow Crossing!” He yelled out to the townspeople. “I believe this horse deserves your praise and a room for the night!” He then winked to Fluttershy, whistled to his grasshopper and they both jumped away behind the buildings, followed by the entire town cheering for both of them.
The law enforcers took away the stag beetle, so it could get a rightful owner. Fluttershy waved at it, wishing she could find out more about it. But the sun was going down, so she walked back into the tavern for her room. The bartender jumped out from behind the counter, with a somewhat dishevelled look.
“Yes! I’ll fetch your keys.” He said and gave Fluttershy a quite big key. “That’s room twelve and don’t worry, it’s free for town heroes.”
She found the bartender’s panting strange, but didn’t question it. His voice did sound oddly familiar.
Chapter 9 - Fluttershy and the Horse-Eating Spider
It was time to leave. The little town was now far behind. Fluttershy finally had a proper night of sleep. A few people waved at her as she was leaving. They pointed her at the road leading to the Broken Coast.
The road turned into a path, as it ran into another forest. The air was humid and filled with the sounds of animals, the foliage thick with vines. Fluttershy looked at her map, wondering if it was going to be any help. She was getting really close to the Broken Coast and the witch-doctor told her to stop at one of the villages here. She set Memashi as her next destination, the closest village.
The trees soon let in some light in front. Of course they did, because the forest stopped abruptly. The road was cut off by a tall cliff, leading to the sea. Fluttershy walked up to the edge and looked around. She saw many tiny islands covered in jungles, sitting on top of similar cliffs. The sea waved beneath. This was the Broken Coast.
It was a rather beautiful sight, but unfortunately it’s also really hard to navigate in. She needed some help from someone who knows this place. Fortunately she passed by a vulture sitting by a tiny lake. The vulture was holding a fishing rod with its fingers protruding out of its wings. It took a bored look at Fluttershy when she passed by.
“Um, excuse me.” Fluttershy approached the vulture, hoping it could talk. “Do you know how to get to…” she looked at the map, making sure she gets the name right, “…Memashi?”
“Of course!” The vulture spoke with a crackly voice. “Just follow the path and go in a straight line after the cliff. It should be by your right somewhere. You can even probably see it if you fly high enough.”
“Thank you.” Fluttershy thanked the vulture and headed back to the cliff.
The vulture looked back at the lake in boredom, then looked back at Fluttershy. “Oh, just one more thing!” It shouted at her. “Look out for those horse-eating spiders. Because… you know...? You’re a horse!”
She looked at the vulture in slight concern, hoping it’s just a bit crazy. She really didn’t want to meet something, that’s named after its habit of eating horses. She thanked it and went on her way.
She stopped at the cliff again, to look around a bit, then she took off into the air. Hoping she’s high enough to see the village, she looked around. But she couldn’t, so she flew in a straight line instead, right above the tree lines. She was looking heavily to the right side. Maybe she’ll spot the village this way. But all she could see were more cliffs and forests. At least it was rather peaceful, up there riding the humid winds above the forest.
The peace didn’t last too long however. Soon she got some unwanted company. She felt like she was being followed, so she looked behind her. And sure enough, there were three large winged lizards following her. They were flying in a surprisingly relaxed manner, but Fluttershy knew they were bad news, so she sped up a bit. But the drakes sped up along with her. She sped up again, but they sped up even more. They were always flying slightly faster than her. Fluttershy was getting really scared.
Suddenly, three more of them popped up from the trees in front of her and headed right towards her. She knew immediately, she was their prey of choice. She paused for a moment, as the drakes were speeding towards her from two sides. She tried to fall back into the forest, hoping she can lose them between the thick foliage. But the drakes could plow through the branches with ease. Suddenly one of them appeared right in front of her, so she was forced to fly above the trees again. Of course, two of them were waiting for her right there. One lunged at her, but she dodged towards the other and kicked before it could attack. She flew high up above the lowest hanging clouds, but the drakes followed her. She started following the clouds, but the drakes followed her with the precision of a pack of wolves. They surrounded her mid-flight and she seemed to have no escape.
In desperation, she tried a risky manoeuvre. She stopped abruptly, confusing the drakes, who kept going for a moment. Fluttershy finally had a chance of escape and plummeted towards the forest. Once in the foliage, she flew straight with incredible speed and almost managed to lose her pursuers. But the forest stopped and exposed her to them. The drakes resumed the chase. So Fluttershy had no other choice, but to fly to the bottom of the crack between the islands, hoping she could lose them, if she submerges herself in the sea.
She couldn’t reach the sea however. A sticky net stopped her dead in her tracks. She tried to escape it, but the net got stickier and stickier, until she stopped to realize what was happening. She heard a quiet knocking noise. She looked towards a hole in the cliff and saw an enormous spider looking at her, gnashing its jaws together. The spider sure seemed large enough to eat horses.
Fluttershy laid there motionless, thinking it was the end. The spider too, was sitting there motionless, gnashing its jaws. It then grabbed a strand of the net, with two of its legs and started shaking it erratically. The drakes arrived at the crack and saw Fluttershy shaking with the net. But they didn’t see the net itself, so when they flew down for their supposed dinner, they got caught in the web too. The spider used Fluttershy as a bait.
It sat there, while the drakes squirmed violently, trying to escape the web, but they just got tangled even more. They growled and hissed and chewed at the silk, but the spider just watched. Once they were too tangled to squirm further, the spider crawled out of its hole. It creeped up to Fluttershy and removed the strands of silk she was stuck inside. The spider freed her, from its own web. It then crawled up to the drakes and started covering them in more silk. As it turns out, horse-eating spiders, don’t eat horses, when there’s a better meal available.
Of course, Fluttershy wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, so she flew up at the treelines again and began searching for Memashi. Thankfully, she was chased in the right direction, because she could see it in the distance, sitting on the side of one of the cliffy islands.
So with her destination finally in sight, Fluttershy took to the wind and flew over to Memashi. This very tiny village sat on top of a tiny cliffy island, with only a couple houses, but it had a very lively street, filled with people. Especially the tavern, which was blaring with the noise of many people. The dock was filled with resting airships and sailors were all over them cleaning and repairing, along with the people who actually owned those airships. Fluttershy landed in the harbour and knew she was at the right place, when she saw the sign with “Memashi” written on it.
She walked down the only street the village had. There were many people in sailor outfits walking around and groups of seafarers talking and laughing. The place seemed very friendly, even if the seafarers themselves looked rough, the sailors served them with smiles, which the seafarers returned.
Fluttershy entered the tavern and walked up to the bar. The bartender was a young girl, wearing the same previously seen sailor outfit. She was taken a bit aback by Flutteshy, but that surprise soon turned into glee.
“Why the long face?” She asked.
“I’m just here for a room.” She said after a short pause and a bit of confusion why every bartender she meets asks her that.
“Oh, right.” The bartender looked a bit flustered that her joke went unappreciated. “For how long?”
“Just this night. I’ve got a long way ahead of me.”
“Oh, where you headed?”
“I’m not sure exactly. The only pointer I’ve been given is this map and that it’s the desert.” She pulled her map out of her backpack.
“Hm, I know one person who’d be interested in that.”
“Oh? And who’s that?”
“Him!” The bartender pointed at someone standing right behind Fluttershy.
“A fellow traveler eh?” Said the someone with a loud raspy voice. He had a twirly moustache and a large pirate hat. “My name is Orrick Oakley, the wolf of the skies!” He introduced himself as bombastically as possible.
Orrick paused for a moment. “I’d love to take you wherever you’re going, little horse!” He waved his arms around like he was in a theater. “Not even the sky is the limit!”
“Well, I’m going… somewhere in the desert.” Said Fluttershy and pointed at her map.
Orrick immediately took the map and inspected the clumsily drawn line on it. “Oh, you’re sailing into uncharted skies, I see.”
“I guess.”
“Well, uncharted skies are the only skies worth sailing. I’ll take you wherever this… vague line is leading you!”
“Oh, thank you!” Fluttershy was grateful.
“No need to thank me. It’s my pleasure.” Orrick winked. “Come on boys, we’re going to the far south!” He yelled at his shipmates, who responded with a cheer and the downing of their drinks. Then they all stood up.
“Wait, we’re going right now?” Fluttershy asked in surprise.
“Right now is the best time to go!” Said Orrick. “The sky may wait eternally, but our lives won’t last that long. Pony up, Fluttershy! Your flight is leaving!” He and his crew left the tavern enthusiastically.
“Yeah, they’ve had a few drinks.” Said the bartender. “I’m just glad they’re jolly drunk and not brawling drunk.”
Fluttershy looked at the swinging doors for a moment.
“You should probably go with him.” The bartender continued. “Not many pirates are this willing to give you a lift.”
“Oh, right.” Said Fluttershy and followed Orrick.
The sailor villagers untied the ropes that kept the airship on the ground, the balloon got filled with air, the ship’s rackety machines started spinning. The airship took off. Orrick yelled around many commands to his crew and grabbed the steering wheel, with unfettered enthusiasm. Fluttershy marveled at the crew’s flawless precision and the surprising speed the airship moved with. They were above the lowest cloud layers in mere minutes. The ropes of the balloon shook the ship’s body, the wind blew off a shipmate’s hat and the cliffy islands of the Broken Coast were now far below.
And so, the airship was speeding away to the south, next to the fiery light of the sun.
The ship creaked in the wind, as the balloon slowly wobbled and swayed the airship’s body around. Most of the crew has mostly sobered up by now. Orrick kept the ship on target, with Fluttershy by his side. He was looking at the vague map, seeming to understand it less the more sober he become.
“Who gave you this map, anyway?” He asked Fluttershy.
“A witch-doctor gave me in the Elven forest.” She answered.
“A witch-doctor huh? What kind of witch-doctor?”
“Well…” Fluttershy struggled to answer the question. She didn’t know there were different kinds of them. “He had big tusks…”
“A grey elf? No wonder it’s so useless. I bet he’s never been to the Broken Coasts. All of these islands are wrong.”
“Well, he was the first one to actually help me on this journey.”
“You should go to a Kin-San witch-doctor instead. I used to have terrible ache in me hip, until one cured it with barely any effort. And she didn’t need a single baby in a jar.”
Fluttershy thought for a moment. Gabahn did keep a few babies in jars on his shelf. That was weird.
“Wait a minute.” Orrick continued. “You said you were in the Elven Forest?”
“Yes?” Flutteshy answered, waiting for the follow-up question.
“Cripes, you’ve been travelling for quite long then! What gives?”
“I don’t know.” Fluttershy thought back to the start of her journey. “I was at home, then suddenly, in a bright flash of light, I was in this world. The witch-doctor told me, I could get back home somewhere in the desert.”
“Oh, I see.” Orrick seemed to understand everything now. “So it’s not the love of exploration, but pure misfortune and homesickness. Well, I can respect both. Although I don’t remember what homesickness feels like anymore.”
“Where do you come from?”
“I come from a woman! That’s all I know for certain.” Orrick looked back at the map. “So you’re looking for help to get home, somewhere in the desert?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Must be the Kenuph. They’re the ones who know the stuff about weird magical doohickeys.” He let go of the map and released it into the wind. “I can navigate there by myself, I don’t need a vague line!”
Fluttershy looked at the map flying away. “Well, I might have needed that map.”
“Pfff.” Orrick responded. “That lousy excuse of a map won’t help you in the desert!” He slightly turned the steering wheel. “…See? We’re headed straight for the Kenuph pharaoh!”
Suddenly they heard the navigator shout. “Entering Sheegal territory!”
“Oh, those blasted Sheegal.” Orrick grumbled.
“Who are the Sheegals?” Asked Fluttershy.
“Those good for nothing birdbrains live for the sheer joy of bloodshed.” Orrick grumbled further. “Many good pirates fell to their beaks. Except for good ol’ Crowbane. Blessings to that madman!”
The crew fell silent and become very attentive. They prepared their gatling guns. Orrick took out his handcannon. Fluttershy was hoping they could avoid the Sheegal, through the luck of the talisman.
Well, they didn’t. A harpoon pierced the side of the ship and lodged itself inside the hole it made. Soon more harpoons followed. Some of them were pulled too hard and fell out, leaving large gaping holes inside the ship. But the ones that remained, were just enough to completely stop the ship. The harpoons were followed by small airplanes.
The pirates tried to shoot the planes down, with their gatling guns. Orrick even managed to destroy one of them with a well-placed shot from his handcannon. But some planes managed to get through and large eagles flew out of the planes and landed on the airship. They grabbed harpoon swords with the fingers sticking out their wings and started slashing at the crew’s cutlasses. Two eagles landed in front of captain Orrick. After taunting both of them, he blasted one of them off the ship with his handcannon and slapped the other one with it.
“You gotta get to the lifeplanes!” He shouted to Fluttershy. “I’ll help you along the way, just run to the hold”
And so Fluttershy ran to the hold. An eagle tried to get in her way, but Orrick wrestled it out of the way. Fluttershy finally got inside the cabin, but Orrick was immediately blocked by two more eagles.
“Just go!” He yelled out to Fluttershy, while fighting the two eagles.
Fluttershy could easily find the lifeplane and got inside it. Unfortunately she didn’t know how to operate it. On top of that, the escape door was closed tight. But help came in the form of another harpoon, crashing through the door, than dragging it open for her and tilting the ship just right, so the lifeplane rolled out the hole, that the escape door used to cover. She started panicking and tried all buttons she could. One of them started the plane’s engines and she began flying, even if rather erratically. She almost hit two eagles flying in the air, who didn’t try to stop her. They both assumed she’ll crash into the ground.
That’s mostly what happened. Fluttershy didn’t know how to control the plane, which started spiraling out of control towards the ground, as it caught a strong wind. She tried stabilizing it, but she didn’t know what she was doing, so she bailed instead, hoping her own ability of flight wouldn’t forsake her. For a while, she couldn’t control herself in the violent winds and she spiraled further. But she managed to slow herself down just enough. The plane crashed somewhere into the rainforest, while she flew for a bit longer, eventually crashing right into some poor fellow’s house.
It was a budgerigar’s home, who immediately looked at the crashed Pegasus, in great surprise. Fluttershy groaned in pain, but other than an aching everything, she was fine. The parrot approached her in concern. Another one poke their head through the door. Fluttershy looked up at them.
“Sorry for that.” She said. “I feel out an airship.”
The parrots looked at each-other and helped her up from the ceiling’s debris. She was taken to the middle of a tiny village, in front of another parrot, with a headdress. Many other budgerigars gathered around them. The housewrecked parrots and the one in the headdress talked to each-other in a regular parrot fashion. Then the headdressed one turned to Fluttershy.
“What brings you here visitor?” He talked how you’d expect a parrot to talk.
“I was travelling with a band of pirates and they got attacked by the Sheegal.”
“Travelling? Here?” The parrot seemed surprised. He whistled something to the other parrots around them.
“In my defense.” Fluttershy continued. “This isn’t exactly how I planned to travel.”
“Where you headed?” The parrot asked.
“I’m headed to the desert, to the…” She tried to remember where exactly, “…the Kenuph.”
“Oh, the Kenuph?” The bird said in delight, then whistled a brief melody to the gathered crowd, which whistled the continuation of the melody.
“So, you know how to get there?” Fluttershy asked after being slightly confused by the impromptu whistle concert.
“Ah, the Kenuph!” The parrot continued. “They know many wonderful magic.” The crowd repeated the word magic with a bit of singing and the chieftain did the same. They did it a couple more times.
Fluttershy tried questioning further, but the singing crowd answered her before she had the chance to ask anything.
“Search for the monks! Search for them by the ancient lake! They’ll find you between the ruins.”
The crowd suddenly sang in very deep tones.
“Their overtones will show you the way!” The chieftain sang.
“Oh, dear wanderer!” The crowd sang the last line, then slowly quieted down.
Fluttershy was taken aback by the sudden singing, but she was delighted at the same time. Then she realized the answer wasn’t exactly helpful.
“Can you give me a map or something?” She asked.
Suddenly the crowd dispersed and started singing again. “Oh, dear wanderer!”
“Go, follow the choir.” The chieftain insisted.
“Oh, dear wanderer!”
And as such, Fluttershy went along with the singing parrots. Their songs seemed to be made out of random words, but she soon realized, they’re not singing words at all, just sounds, that happen to form words. They’re not trying to say anything, just a melody to follow, occasionally broken up with “Oh, dear wanderer”. Maybe that’s why she didn’t understand the wild birds before. They didn’t try to make coherent sentences either, just melodies.
She tried it herself. She picked the first few words she could think of; tree, vine, sky, forest. Things she could see in her immediate environment. Then strung them together along with an improvised melody. It seemed to have worked, because the parrots repeated it back. Could it be? Did she find out how to communicate with the birds of this world? Maybe, she’ll have time to find out. Until then, she’ll just sing along with the budgerigars.
After a while, the budgerigar choir lead Fluttershy into a clearing. There were large stone structures scattered all over, that were mostly covered by the moss and vines. The parrots landed on top of them and sang a wonderful choir.
“Here in the ruins. They will find you!” They sang to Fluttershy and while singing a line of melody over and over again, they took off and left.
Fluttershy was abandoned again, but her spirit has been lifted enormously by the singing parrots. Also, she finally figured out how to communicate with the birds of this world. So while she was abandoned, she felt good. She was still humming the melodies of the leaving choir.
So she began exploring the ruins, searching for whoever’s going to find her now. The clearing wasn’t large, most trees already grew back. But the ruins were still clearly visible. Buildings with many pillars, old statues barely standing under the weight of the vines covering them, a tall pillar, towering above the forest, with a path between the trees leading towards it.
She tried to follow the path, still humming the budgerigars’ song, but she wasn’t welcome. It was those eagles again, with their harpoon swords. Three sheegal warriors found Fluttershy and stood in her way. They might be the ones who attacked Orrick and his crew. What ever happened to them?
The three eagles threatened Fluttershy, flaunting their harpoons. She was a bit worried, but she also knew this might be the perfect time to advance her bird language. She sang a short melody, composed of words that came to her mind. The eagles lowered their weapons. They were intrigued. One of them stepped closer to her and squeaked a couple times. Fluttershy returned the gesture. The squeaker was impressed.
However, it took a bit more to impress the third one, who wore more elaborate accessories. It stepped forwards, ruffled up its feathers and made noises, consisting of clicks, squeaks and hisses. It sounded eerily like it was saying words. It probably was, but in its own language. And Fluttershy felt like she understood what those words meant. She smiled, opened her wings and made similar clicking, squeaking and hissing noises.
Now, from an outside perspective, this looked extremely silly. But to the sheegal, it was incredible. They’ve met someone, who isn’t a bird, but speaks their language, even if with a heavy accent. They were honoured. The eagles bowed their heads and Fluttershy returned the gesture, then the eagles flew away.
Fluttershy was now sure, she could finally communicate with the local birds. She began following the path, while singing random words. And it worked. Many birds have followed her along, singing along with her. She still didn’t fully understand them, but it was a remarkable improvement.
She reached the pillar and saw the lake, the parrots talked about, behind it. There were many splendorous ruins, sitting by the side of the river and a vine-covered pyramid in the distance. Fluttershy stopped singing as she heard a quiet murmur. Fluttershy felt like it was calling her. It got louder as she walked towards the lake. There she saw a small platform, not far from the shore, with a narrow ruined bridge leading to it. On this platform, sat five figures, covered completely with black pointed hoods. They were making the murmur, as they sang deep drones in unison. Above them, floated a large shapeless light.
Fluttershy approached the murmuring figures, their overtone singing got louder and louder as she got close. Fluttershy stepped into the middle of the platform, bewildered at the cloaked figures, but strangely drawn to them. The fifth one stopped singing and opened its arms.
“You are seeking something traveller.” He said. “You are seeking guidance.”
“Yes!” Fluttershy replied. “I’m trying to go home.”
“You are seeking a great magic that can send you back to the faraway lands, where you came from.”
“Yes!” She replied in excitement. “They said the Kenuph can provide this magic.”
The hooded figure paused for a moment. “Come, the light will show you the way.”
Fluttershy looked up and the light above them slowly descended on her. Meanwhile, the hooded figure talking to her, grabbed a large horn and blown into it with great volume. The figures around Fluttershy murmured louder and louder. The strangely calming dissonance enveloped the ruins and the light surrounded Fluttershy.
Soon vivid dreams appeared to her. The sun dropped under the horizon. She felt herself flung above the treeline, saw it as the rainforest turned into a savannah, then into a desert. Then the sun jumped above the horizon again, over a seemingly endless desert. A golden mask appeared, then a figure with the head of spoonbill looking directly at her. The visions were accompanied by the cacophonous murmur, now sounding directly inside Fluttershy’s mind.
She was quickly flung back into the real world. She looked around and the hooded figures were nowhere to be found, but their murmur was quietly echoing throughout the air as it slowly faded away. She didn’t get a clear answer, but somehow she knew which way to go. She took off and flew above the trees, into the distance.
The sun has already set, but Fluttershy was still speeding through the air. The excitement wouldn’t let her get tired, she knew she was close and wouldn’t want to waste any more time in this world.
She was speeding below the dark starry skies. The ground got blurred by her speed. The dry grass of the savannah ran under her. The grass slowly disappeared, large orange rocks took up their place. There were small fires on top of the rocks, glowing like stars on the ground. But Fluttershy didn’t want to stop until she reached her destination, wherever it may be.
The sun has risen again. Fluttershy was still flying, although she was getting tired from flying all night long. But her excitement just grew, when she finally reached the seemingly endless desert. The morning sun coloured the sand orange. The cold night’s wind has soon heated up.
Fluttershy couldn’t fly any further. She had a long night and not even her excitement could fight against the wishes of her internal clock. She landed and collapsed into the sand. She huffed for air for at least a minute. But something bright cast its light upon her. She got up and saw a splendorous city, not even that far away. It looked remarkably similar to the ruins in the rainforest. She knew it was the right place and excitement overridden her exhaustion again.
She approached the massive gates of the city, which opened, like they were waiting just for her. She walked the wide street towards the largest building resting inside a large rock, and saw the whole city dazzling in the heat of the sun. It was blinding in its beauty.
She reached the gates of the large palace. It towered above her, shining brightly. Two guards with golden masks were standing in front of the gate. Fluttershy tried getting in, but the guards blocked her path and stood there motionless.
“Excuse me,” she said to the guards, “I know you’re just doing your job and you’re wonderful at it, but I really need to get in, it would be super important.”
The guards were unfazed by the talking horse.
“I’ve heard of great magic in here that could get me home.”
But the guards just wouldn’t let her in. What can you do? They’re just doing their job. But she had to get inside somehow.
But suddenly, the guards moved out of her way. It was almost like someone commanded them, but nobody was around to do so. Fluttershy stepped in through the gate, the guards closed the way in as she entered. She climbed a set of stairs towards a large hall, people with golden masks were standing around like statues. She entered the hall and saw a tall figure sitting on a throne wearing an elaborate golden mask of a spoonbill. They all stood motionless, like statues, but they were clearly living people.
Fluttershy stopped in front of the spoonbill masked ruler and greeted them the only way she knows. With a respectful bow.
“You seek my aid little one?” The ruler said, her voice echoing throughout the halls.
“Yes.” Fluttershy answered. “I’ve been trapped in this world. I’ve heard I can get back home here.”
“You’ve heard correctly.” The ruler said with a booming voice, somehow staying completely motionless. “Our lord Hauti gave the power to us, to help those forsaken by fate.”
“I’d be very grateful!” Fluttershy answered.
“Come little one! You shall meet your saviour!” The ruler said and opened her palm towards one of the doors on the side. The door opened and a bipedal hamster stepped through.
“You called, great pharaoh?” It spoke.
“Yes, my trusted scholar.” The ruler said, still sitting completely still. “Your knowledge is needed by the little one.” She pointed at Fluttershy with an open palm.
“Oh, certainly!” Said the hamster. “Come horsey, I’ll help you with whatever you need.”
Fluttershy approached the hamster. They walked through the door, which closed behind them. The hamster chuckled a bit.
“All those theatrics,” he said, “but you can bet they were glad to finally be allowed to move. I can just hear them taking of their masks going ‘Oh, finally!’ ” He said and chuckled again. “I’m sure they talked me up greatly, though. They always do that. So what do you need my help with?”
“I need to get home, to Equestria.” Fluttershy answered.
“Equestria?” The hamster was surprised. “Never heard of it. Where exactly is it?”
“Well, I don’t know. It’s probably a different world entirely.”
The hamster stopped suddenly. “A different world?” He was baffled “How am I supposed to get you there?”
“Wait, you mean you can’t help?”
“No! I mean yes! I mean, I technically can. It’s just that... the teleporter is still in its experimental phases and its teleportational powers highly restricted!”
“It can still take me back to Equestria, right?”
“Possibly.” The hamster pondered for a moment. “That all depends on when that portal to Equestria has appeared. You see, it can only transport you, wherever the last randomly opened portal has lead.”
Fluttershy paused.
“Meaning,” the hamster continued, “it could possibly take you somewhere completely different, with no way back.”
That was a scary thing to hear for Fluttershy. How is she supposed to trust something that’s completely random? But she was still determined.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s still my only solution. I’m willing to take the risk.”
“Fine, but don’t say I haven’t warned you!” Said the hamster.
They entered a large room, with machines lying around the place and covering the walls. In the middle of the room there was a small platform, surrounded by a cage-like structure.
“Stand inside the circle.” Said the hamster. “This gonna take a while. Also, it’s best if you leave your stuff here, we haven’t tested multi-body teleportation before.”
Fluttershy took off her saddlebags and stood on the platform, while the hamster did something on a panel. The cage structure tightened around Fluttershy and the machine started to make a lot of noise. The hamster tapped on the panel. He mumbled to himself and looked at the ceiling a lot. Then suddenly, everything started to glow. Electricity started flowing through the entire machine and the cage around Fluttershy.
The hamster stood in front of the platform. He held his arms out towards the machine, closed his eyes and started concentrating. Soon his whole body started to shake. Then he opened his eyes and they were glowing brightly. Electricity flown through his body, his hands shot beams of light into the machine, which flown through the entire machine and surrounded Fluttershy. The hamster screamed as the blue light engulfed Fluttershy and with a loud blast, the machine stopped, the beam stopped, the hamster stopped and Fluttershy was no longer on the platform. The cage broke open, a few parts have fell off the machine and the hamster was now staring at the empty platform.
“I don’t get it!” Twilight Sparkle said with both confused anger and fear. “I can tell something happened here and it’s safe to assume it took Fluttershy, but we just can’t replicate it, no matter what we try.”
“Well something must work!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Ponies don’t just disappear for days!”
“Not even I do that!” Said Pinkie Pie.
“I know.” Said Twilight.
“But we’ve never seen magic of this kind before. There’s literally nothing about this kind of magic anywhere!” Added Starlight Glimmer.
“Not even I can do anything!” Discord exclaimed in forlorn frustration.
“Well you gotta be the first one then!” Applejack exclaimed. “You can’t seriously say, Fluttershy’s gone for good.”
Twilight didn’t say anything.
“You can’t, right?” Rarity added.
Twilight looked defeated. “You’re right, I can’t. But that might very much be the case.”
Soon the sadness filled the room. The fact, that they may have lost a friend and they could do nothing about it, was devastating. Even angel was distressed. He was lying on the “magical spot” Fluttershy disappeared in.
Suddenly, Angel bolted up. A tiny blue light emerged under him, which only got bigger and brighter. Soon the blinding light filled the entire room. It then disappeared as suddenly as it came and Fluttershy was standing right there.
“I’m back?” She said in quiet confusion and looked around.
“Fluttershy, you’re back!” Discord exclaimed in relief.
“I’m back!” Fluttershy shouted in delight and ran towards her friends.
They formed a big hug. They were all so happy to see Fluttershy intact and she was happy to see everyone again.
“What ever happened to you?!” Rarity asked.
“Well I’m not sure.” She answered. “I was standing here and suddenly I was absorbed by this big light. Then I was in this weird world completely different to Equestria!”
“A different planet? Perhaps even a dimension?” Starlight was shocked.
“Nobody ever figured out how to do that.” Said Twilight.
“Oh, tell us more!” Pinkie was excited to hear Fluttershy’s story. “We want to hear your story.”
Everyone agreed.
“I’d love to but,” Said Fluttershy, “let me take a nap first. I’ve been through a lot.”
