Earthwalker

It was a beautiful day in Equestria; the sky was a light blue while the clouds slowly passed over it, and the trees were waving with a slight breeze, making it even better still. Ponies were all outside, either playing one of many numerous parks in Ponyville or chatting and eating lunch in the main square. Fluttershy planned on doing none of these things.

While it may sound selfish, she wanted to savor this day for herself and her favorite pet, Angel. A walk through the forest by her house would be the best it would ever get with this weather, and she wanted to stop and take a look; she had been caught up in Sombra, Discord and Twilight becoming a princess. She had barely gotten any time to herself in that period of hurry so she decided that today would be the day she finally got to relax.

"Come on, Angel. It's gonna be a really nice walk through the woods...no, not the Everfree, the one right by our house where the races take place. Come on, let's go!" Angel stubbornly went to Fluttershy's side as she hung up a sign on her house.

GONE FOR TODAY. COME BACK TOMMOROW.

Satisfied with the short but sweet message, she began to walk towards the forest, with Angel in tow.

* * * * * * *

It was, in fact, beautiful.

The trees and bushes had a slight sway to them due to the breeze, which also felt nice on Fluttershy's fur and skin. The sky was still that bright blue color and the clouds seemed to stay in place. The sun shone brightly over the whole scene, much to the approval of the yellow pegasus. The path they were walking on was clay colored, and a small amount of dust flew up with each step they took.

"It really is beautiful, isn't it Angel?" Fluttershy asked, to which Angel nodded.

"You know, before she died, my mother Posey used to take walks out here everyday for an hour. All the ponies in town thought she was crazy." Fluttershy gave a chuckle at the thought of it.

"Well, they obviously can't beat this. Canterlot may be big and grand, but when it comes to the nature, it's hard to beat the likes of Ponyville." she looked down at Angel, who seemed to be sad. Fluttershy frowned, confused by the look.

"Oh, what's wrong, Angel? Did you step on something-"

Before she could finish, Angel began writing in the dirt. He barely knew how to write anything and what he could do was from observation. He seemed to be struggling but he eventually shrugged. He must have thought that whatever he wrote would convey the message as he promptly stepped back. It said...

PARETS DED

Fluttershy gave a melancholy smile, then nodded.

"My mother vanished one day. Nopony could ever figure out what happened to her, though I don't think she's dead. If you can think I'm shy, she didn't usually leave her house for the sake of not wanting to run into anypony. I think she just couldn't handle everything and went out on her own. As for my dad, we know what happened to him. He was caught in an accident down by the cliff. Where Dashie saved everyone? Yea." Angel looked sorry.

"No, don't be sorry. I've talked about it with the mares, it's fine. You know..." Fluttershy began, this time coming to a complete stop and sitting down on the clay. "Don't tell anypony, but I've always wanted to try and find her. I just would like to know what happened. I dream of it sometimes." Angel nodded but looked like he still regreted asking the question. Fluttershy smiled again.

"It's what we're here for, Angel. Come on, let's walk a bit more."

She took a few steps but immediately halted when she heard a huge crack to her left. She jumped up in fright and quickly looked to her left. She couldn't see anything in the distance, but was still frightened.

"C-Come on, Angel. Must be some-"

There it was again. Still, nothing seemed to be happening to the left of her, as she couldn't hear or detect movement. Now she seemed curious, as she couldn't even guess what it was.

"Stay here, Angel. I should be right back..." As much as she didn't want to, it could be something serious and she didn't want anypony to get hurt.

The grass here was a bright green, which barely showed any dirt. The trees were large, but A pegasi could fly over them with ease. Most of it was covered but specs of light shone through at spots, making for quite a sight. It reminded Fluttershy of that old Buffalo tale, that we're simply under a tent and the stars are merely holes poked through it. That wasn't the matter at hand, however.

The cracking noise would repeat exactly every minute, Fluttershy noticed. Usually, this forest was only used for the Running of the Leaves, and as a result the only noise you are going to hear is hooves beating against the surface, which would explain why this sound hadn't been heard yet.

She was getting very close now. The cracks were getting louder, and it was beginning to frighten her a little more than it should have. She swallowed and continued into the forest. The cracks got louder and louder...and stopped.

Fluttershy began to count. Two minutes had gone past without a result. She waited another minute, to no avail. She shrugged and began to walk back when the loudest thing she ever heard pulsed through her ears.

It was what she wanted to hear, but not this close. It was like a storm itself was raging through her ears. She quickly clenched her ears in pain only to notice something else; she couldn't even feel her hooves.

It was as if acid was pouring down her body, slowly, leaving nothing left. As this wave ran down, she lost the feeling in her front hooves and head, which ran down to her back legs. Not being able to feel anything, she slowly tipped over and hit the hard ground with the noise still in her ears.

After about a minute of this horrible sensation, she blacked out.

* * * * * * *

Fluttershy slowly awoke. She realized she could move everything, which was good, and she could hear fine as far as she could tell meaning the the large sound had not, in fact, made her deaf. She slowly opened her eyes...to find a sight beyond anything she had ever seen.

She was in a vast field of green. The sky was a dark grey, signifying an upcoming thunderstorm. In the distance, she saw tall trees, taller than any building or tree in Equestria. Lightining flickered down here and there, meaning the storm had already started in the distance. It was quite a sight to see, if you didn't think about the oncoming storm. Fluttershy was still staring at this strange land when she heard a growl from behind her. Fluttershy whipped around.

It was a large feline animal, Fluttershy knew that much. It looked like a female lion, save for one not-so-small detail; it had two huge, long and sharp teeth protruding from it's mouth. It reminded Fluttershy of the sabers the royal guards carried in Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. Unlike the guards at Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, this cat didn't look too friendly as it continued to growl.

Fluttershy slowly held out one hoof while backing away at a slower pace. All she had to do was talk to it; it was her destiny and given talent, of course. she stared it right in the eye, breathing heavily.

"I'm not here to hurt you. We can be friends. Just stop right there, um...Sabre-Cat, and I'm sure we can work this out."

The Cat didn't exactly look like it heeded Fluttershy's warnings, continuously coming closer.

"Come on, big guy..." Fluttershy said, half talking to the Cat and half talking to herself in hoping it doesn't devour her whole. "I won't hurt you. Just stay there. It'll all be okay."

Under normal circumstances, Fluttershy could always stop a meat-eating creature from devouring her. Some animals, however, like the Timberwolves, would not listen to her (or anypony else) and would always attack anything on sight. She came to the conclusion that this was one of those animals. Nothing she could do.

It came closer, with a louder growl. Fluttershy backed up a little more.

She was in an open field, which meant she had nothing around her that could help her. On the other hoof, cats were always, always fast, which meant she couldn't outrun it either. In other words, she was dead.

She kneeled down, staring the creature in the eyes the entire way, as if to try and pacify it. The creature growled and got into a pouncing stance. A tear dropped from Fluttershy's eye as she stared at the Cat, ready for the pounce that would end her life. She thought of her friends and those who helped her through her short life.

"Thanks, everypony." She said, still staring into the eyes of the beast.

In a blinding flash, Lightning struck upon the very spot the Cat had been seconds ago. Fluttershy was tossed backwards about twenty feet and landed with a hard thud. Some of her skin had come off due her grinding the surface during impact, leaving some red all along her body. She groaned and got up, looking towards the spot she was seconds before.

The cat, or what was left of it, was scattered in pieces around the blast site. Fluttershy slowly walked up to the scene, her eyes wide in amazement. she turned around to see the sun rising above this strange new world as the storm had just rolled over. She hadn't notice before, but it had been raining. She stared at it for a while.

"...Where am I?