“Fluttershy, Fluttershy did you hurt yerself?” a voice said. I opened my eyes to see Seabreeze near me while I lay in a bed. He brought me an ornate carved flower cup with some water in it. Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were in beds that circled the round infirmary room. “You took quite the tumble? Are you and yer friends ok?”
“That was quite the doozy?” Pinkie Pie said. I saw my friend rub her forehead before she started to regain her composure, and then let out a quick giggle. “My antae are so pretty and springy, ha ha ha.”
Those moments were hard to recall, but I remembered all of us being within a few wing beats of the exit. There was nothing any of us could do while we floated in the air and witnessed the door to our world vanish before our eyes. Twilight decided to reverse her spell and returned us to our original forms, but my body began to hurt. I couldn’t reach Rarity when I saw her faint alongside Twilight. It felt like I had dipped my wings into the freezing water of Ponyville Lake in winter time the way they quivered and shook. The last image my eyes saw was Pinkie Pie’s mane; it lost its beautiful “cotton candy” like poof before she hit the ground.
“I am sorry about this, Miss Fluttershy.” A beautiful voice echoed in the room. She was just as pretty and regal as the book spoke about. I couldn’t believe the fact we were honored to meet Princess Petiole, the ruler of the breezies. Her highness entered the room with that beautiful crystal flower atop her opulent floral crown, and I witnessed Rarity, her all too common expression about her, “ooo” and “awe” at the crown’s lightshow. I chuckled. It was great to see my friend being her usual self. Princess Petiole floated in the air before she touched down with soft grace on the floor. “From the bottom of my heart, I, the princess of this land, thank both you and your friends for the effort in guiding my little breezies home, Fluttershy. Also, I’m deeply saddened that the portal to your world has closed.”
“Hey! How come we collapsed when we returned to normal?!” Rainbow Dash said. Those attempts to reach my friend and cover her mouth with my transformed hooves were in vain. My brazen friend shook her leg at the princess and continued to demand an answer from her highness.
“It’s alright Fluttershy. I’ll just have your friend work in the pollen mines for the rest of her life,” The royal breezie said as she turned away. She was just as jovial as Princess Celestia, to our relief, when the breezie princess turned back towards us and gave a polite smile, “Gotcha, teehee! There is no need to worry. We are quite the jovial lot, but I will ask that you be more polite in the future. I believe the name was ‘Rainbow Dash?’ I will remember it since your last name rhymes with brash.”
“Eh heh heh, I’ll be careful.” My athletic friend said before she grumbled under her breath, “Whatever….”
“Your highness, I must ask, do you know of a way for us to return home? Also, I’m quite stumped and more over concerned as to why we collapsed. It felt like the energy in my entire body was drained away when we returned to our normal selves,” Twilight said, being proper to bow and greet the princess in a formal manner.
“Though I know the language of your kind, I am not familiar enough with it to go into extreme details about what I have to say. Fluttershy, can you please translate for me?” Princess Petiole said to me with a sad expression, staring at the floor as her antae lowered. “The news is quite grim.”
I wanted to bury myself in my tail, though it was rather tiny. I cleared my throat and steadied my hooves as we walked along the hallway. The view was astounding. The paintings were beautiful.
We found ourselves inside the royal castle when that door opened to the grand meeting all. At the table, I could feel my hooves shake. Princess Petiole put her hoof on my shoulder and gave a kind smile. After that deep, I repeated to my friends what her highness told me. “Our worlds grant magical energy to all of us. The world of the breezies provides the capacity to fly in a near breezeless environment. Also, it nourishes our innate talents as wee folk. We are granted the ability to perform magical feats akin to unicorns. Equestria is similar yet different where it is splits the magic amongst your three races. Twilight, since you are made up of three races like Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence, you’re lucky that you survived as long as you did.”
The reality of the situation was cruel. That “link” between our worlds opened for brief periods of time. When it closed, a powerful barrier separated our worlds. I hoped to find happiness when I translated for my friends that there was another way home. Our joy was short lived.
Princess Petiole spoke to us in our tongue. In her own words she said, “I am hesitant to say this, but there is another way out. I’m sad to say it comes with a powerful danger. We call her the Bean-Neigh; you may call her the Marevanshee.”
A near succinct unison of Twilight’s gasp with her porcelain cup shattering on the marble floor could be heard in that silent room. My friend placed her hooves against her mouth while her wings twitched furiously. She never acted like this before. It took several moments for my friend to calm down and tell us in a shaken voice, “I… I thought she didn’t exist. I was told about such a creature by my mentor. She told me the tale of the Marevanshee one stormy Nightmare Night when I begged her to tell me a scary story. You’re joking, right? This can’t be the same creature. Please tell me it’s just a story, Princess Petiole.”
Princess Petiole closed her eyes then shook her head at us in a slow, side to side motion. Twilight looked at each of us before she turned towards her highness that sat near me. My friend continued, taking a moment to calm herself, and said, “My mentor spoke of the creature being a sinister entity. She represents a physical embodiment of wrath, feeding on all forms of negative emotions. Her form is that of a tall mare with an ash colored coat, and an ebony colored mane and tail with eyes that burn yellow like sulfur.”
“Sounds like Chrysalis.” Pinkie Pie said as she interrupted Twilight. “No, wait, I guess her eyes weren’t all ‘spoooooky’ and yellow. Her tail and mane weren’t ‘ebony’ colored either.”
Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie before she returned to telling her story. “Rumor says that one pony witnessed a lone ashen colored mare conjuring the ethereal Windigos into existence. Those ghostly entities corrupted our hearts. When our kind overcame our hatred and banished the Windigos, the Marevanshee demanded vengeance for the crimes ponies had committed against her precious children. Princess Celestia later told me more about the tale when I grew older, saying she and a princess from another realm ended the terror of the Marevanshee.”
“Aye, I’m glad that my ‘giant friend’ remembers her ‘wee friend’ from beyond the borders.” Princess Petiole said with a chuckle. The calm expression faded from the regal breezie as she continued the tale, “The creature, whatever you want to call her, has a sullied past that even we don’t know about. It was Princess Celestia who assisted me in banishing the dreaded Marevanshee to our world where both of us could confine her powers. That battle was not recorded in your Equestrian tomes of history because it moved into our world after the ashen mare’s ‘children’ were vanquished. Princess Celestia and I, along with my breezies, sealed the creature away in the darkest depths of the ‘pwll o dristwch.’”
“Why tell us this, your highness?” Rarity said in her polite tone. “Princess Petiole, please don’t tell me—“
“I am sad to say you are correct, Ms. Rarity. The pwll o dristwch, I believe you would call it the ‘pit of sorrows,’ is the only way out of our world. If you stay here, I’m afraid that even my magic can’t help you survive. The transformation spell that turned you into breezies is the one I taught Princess Celestia. I assume that my friend either taught it to you or recorded it somewhere, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The regal breezie said with a dignified look about her. As she finished, her crown began to glow and its center jewel levitated out of it. “Again, I cannot thank you all enough for guiding my breezies home. They could not have survived in your world with the portal closed. I’m sad to say the same can be said if you stay here. My gift to you is the opal jewel from my crown. It will unlock the path of the ancient door that linked our two worlds in the beginning. This is just a small token of my gratitude for your efforts in escorting my precious little breezies back to me. Now, you must be on your way. The magic I placed on all of you will only last for six hours at most. After that, you will revert to your original forms. I cannot tell how long you will last in our world with the connection to Equestria broken.”
The guards entered the room and brought small sacks to each of our sides. I watched Twilight chat with the princess, showing her a piece of parchment that was contained within her bag. A shiver went down my back and I leapt onto the chandelier in the room. “Yer a skittish one, aren’t ya? Fluttershy, thanks for the help with my breeze friends. Please, take this with you. Consider it a memento.”
I couldn’t help but giggle at Twilight as she turned away from Princess Petiole for a second to give a wide-eyed grin. As I came down from the furniture, Seabreeze gave me a thick book to take with me.
“C’mon sugar cube. Let’s get going. The longer we stay, the harder it’ll be to leave. Remember, you have to think about your animal friends who are waiting for you.” Applejack said to me while we walked towards the balcony with the others.
I must have seemed foalish for crying. I hated to say goodbye. Applejack was right though. If I didn’t leave, no pony would be there to take care of my animals. Discord would also be upset that his friend wasn’t there for him.
All of us gave our final goodbyes to the others, Princess Petiole journeying towards the edge of her kingdom to see us off. In a jovial voice, she asked, “Will you do something for me? When you see Princess Celestia, will you tell that mare hello from her ‘wee’ friend?”
With our word given, we set off towards the horizon where the sun began to set.
*** *** ***
The journey took us down a river that fed several small water wheels of the breezie’s pollen farms. Each creature in this world was so cute, so happy. Though Applejack appeared to disagree, she found a friend who wanted to play hide and seek with her hat.
“What’s wrong Twilight?” I said to my friend as we fluttered near one another. Twilight held her hoof to her chin while I watched Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie race one another along the river’s path.
“Fluttershy, we need to talk.” She said to me, and then motioned for all of us to come close. “Let’s stop for a second to catch our breath. We should get some food in our stomachs before we make the final push.”
Rainbow Dash bolted for the forest. Even in breezie form she was quick. A pile of sticks was made in front of us while Rarity pulled out a silk cloth from her basket bag for a blanket. Applejack filled up our cups from the nearby river.
“Why are we stopping Twilight?” Rainbow Dash said with a raised eyebrow. “I mean the scenery is nice and all, but I would like to get back home so I can practice my Sonic Rainboom.”
“Rainbow Dash, just humor me for a second. We are on a tight time table, but we have enough time to regain our strength. Also, I want to understand the world we’re in.” Twilight said to my athletic friend. She turned to the group and said “I’ll be right back with Fluttershy” before she motioned for me to come with her. Our friends stayed near the fire as we trotted a small ways into the forest. Twilight wasn’t right. The further we went, the more I could see her transformed hooves trembling. My friend stopped and looked at me. After she checked to see how far we were away from the others, that pony of near unshakable determination almost broke down as she spoke to me. “Fluttershy, we need to keep this between ourselves. I don’t know how to put this really. I umm, I’m scared. I’ll just be blunt and say I’m very scared about this right now. Princess Celestia told me that the entity she and Princess Petiole banished was one of if not ‘the’ most feared entity in existence. To put it into perspective, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are above me and Princess Cadence in terms of raw magical power and talent. They can go up against Discord and counter his abilities, but he is still more powerful than both of them combined. The Marevanshee is more powerful than Discord, the god of Chaos—“
“Twilight, I think it’s best to leave the jokes to Pinkie Pie. This isn’t very funny,” I said as my body grew numb. Why was my friend telling me all of this?
“—I don’t mean to do this Fluttershy. We need to face the possibility that we might not be able to make it. If that creature is indeed real, the Marevanshee now having the possibility of guarding the exit, there is no telling the horror she could unleash if she were to unlock the door to Equestria. The repercussions could be ten times worse than anything Discord could unleash. It’s also a rumor, but I kinda, maybe, sorta heard that she ‘could’ have hurt Cerberus in her escape from Tartarus.”
“What?!” I said. Twilight covered my mouth. That thing hurt Cerberus! He’s just… how could, AHHH! Why would any creature try to harm a lovable pup like Cerberus? “Mrmph mrpmh!”
“Fluttershy, please try to calm down. It’s a rumor. I don’t believe that it occurred, but I can’t be sure. I’m going to release you, ok.” Twilight said, releasing her hoof from my mouth.
“THAT LITTLE…” I said before Twilight covered my mouth again.
“Fluttershy, please quiet down!” my friend said with a forced whisper into my ear. "I need your help. We all need your help. I hope it doesn’t come to this, but I do have a plan.”
The plan didn’t seem bad, yet the risks terrified me when I heard them. I covered my face with my mane and surrounded myself with my tail. I wanted to be at my home. I wanted to be back at my house with my animal friends around me, this day over with. Twilight nudged me and I caught a glimpse of that confident smile. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Fluttershy, I wouldn’t ask unless I was absolutely sure it was necessary. We don’t have the elements of Harmony to rely on anymore. As your friends, we need you more than ever now. I just hope it doesn’t come to ‘our plan’ and we can coast into Equestria without a problem.” Twilight said to me as we fluttered back to the camp. I watched my book loving friend give me a sly wink. “Are you sure I can’t look at that book? Who knows what is inside of that thing. Can you show it to us when we get back?”
“I promise.” I said.
“Ooo hoo hoo, I know what were you doing back there? Honestly, if Twilight needed to study a fine specimen, she could have looked at—“Rainbow Dash said.
“Me,” Rarity said with a quick quip, interrupting Rainbow Dash. “Don’t I look sublime with my new wings and antae? I already have several designs planed out for my new line. I’ll put those fillystines and neighsayers in their place. Those ponies in Canterlot and Manehatten won’t know what hit them.”
Rarity and Rainbow Dash rolled their eyes at us while we giggled at them. Though it was short, I found our time together refreshing. Pinkie Pie made short work of the leftovers before we picked up our campsite. We soon reached the end of our, Twilight tugging on my tail whenever I tried to turn away. We couldn’t turn back, as much as I wanted to turn back. That pit of sorrows was a horrible place. Thick grey ooze bubbled from the ground, producing a near thunderous sound ever so often when the big ones popped. Even the sky darkened from the near black clouds above. I was just thankful Twilight showed us the spell Princess Petiole taught her to light our antae.
“….”
“Fluttershy, Darling, would you relax?” Rarity said to me as I darted for Rainbow Dash. “It’s just the wind. Though I must say, I could do without it. This smell is repulsive and vile. I hope it doesn’t ruin my luscious mane and tail. It would take me a solid week to rid myself of this musky odor.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Darlin’.” Applejack said with a chuckle, causing Rarity to blush and turn away. “Anyways, taint nothin’ to worry about. How much time we got left Twi?”
“We made some good time, but it’s close to the six hour mark. To be honest, I can already feel the magic weakening around my body. I would say, give or take, we have about ten minutes,” Twilight said with a frown as she looked at all of us. She pointed at an object off in the distance with her right hoof and squinted, “There! I think that’s the door. The jewel is already glowing.”
All of us stood guard while Twilight placed the gem in the slot for the door. A rush of air blasted past us. The smell of fresh grass came from behind. I couldn’t believe my luck. On the other side was my cottage.
“Ain’t that a relief? It’s Sweet Apple Acres.” Applejack said.
“What? You’re losing’ it AJ. That’s my house near Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash pushed AJ aside to look at the portal.
Each of my friends spoke up, saying it was their home. The hairs on my back stood up. I darted forward. The jewel was stuck, but a final pull caused it to loosen. My friends followed me, thankfully. A gale of sharp wind blew past me as six strange lights culminated into what I had feared.
She stood almost as tall as Celestia, if not taller. Her ashen coat rivaled the grey clouds above us and the thick sludge below. Her ebony colored mane and tailed flowed in the wind she created. Those eyes burned like yellow fire.
“Give me the jewel…” the mare said with a calm, condescending tone. She grinned to show her sharp, ghostly white teeth. “Please, give me the jewel. I won’t ask nicely again wee one.”
“Twilight?” I said.
“No…” Twilight backed away, having snapped out of it. “We were so close. Gah! How did I not see through that illusion?”
“Please Twilight, please try and remain calm. I know you can find that portal.” I said to my friend while I placed my hoof on her back. “Everypony, help Twilight find the door! I can… I can stall the Marevanshee. Right, Twilight?”
My friend raised her hoof to me for a brief second then nodded at me. Twilight held the jewel to her eye, bolted towards a rock, and opened the ancient door. With the door open, Twilight returned us back to our forms before she focused her magic on me. I closed my eyes just as my body felt that surge of energy from my magical friend.
*** *** ***
“Shy, wake up shy,” somepony said to me while my shoulder was nudged. Though my vision was still blurred, I could just make out purple, cyan, white, pink and orange colored blobs. We appeared to be back in my house, my friends smiling at me while I lay on my couch. “That was one heck of a fireworks show there. I still can’t believe what you and Twi pulled off. Also, you best not ever do that again Twilight! You don’t have a right to do what you did back there.”
“Applejack, I didn’t coerce Fluttershy into anything. We were up against the wall with that entity.”
“Hey, can you turn me back into a pegasus now? Being turned into a dragon should have been cool here, but a ‘baby’ dragon not so much.” Rainbow Dash said. My eyes shot open, and my vision returned to normal to see five baby dragons plus Spike in my house.
“I said I was sorry. Princess Celestia said she was worried and ordered me to stand guard near that ‘ancient exit’ door. I’ve already sent a note off to Princess Celestia about the whole thing. I kinda got excited when you came back and didn’t see Twilight trying to revert all of you. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!” Spike said, getting on his knees in front of all of us.
Rarity stroked the new adornments on her head, but glared at Spike, “Spikey, darling, I don’t mind it to be honest, but I better not catch this happening again! I’ve already eaten seven of my precious gems to sedate this stupid hunger. It better not give me indigestion when Twilight turns us back to normal.”
This was a nightmare. My short legs caused me to stumble before I could even make it half way from the couch to the stairs. Princess Celestia, please help me!
“It’s ok Fluttershy.” Twilight said to me, catching a faint image of her through my tears. “I just need a small rest to regain my strength. It was amazing what you did back in that swamp. I’m so sorry that I put you through it.”
“What exactly did I do? I heard your plan, wanting to channel the energy of yourself and the others into me for a short amount of time. The last thing I remember was closing my eyes and wishing I was home with all of you.” I said.
“Fluttershy. It. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow Dash charged towards me. She gave me a tight hug and said, “You were just incredible against that thing. I can’t even describe it.”
“Yea! You were like pow! Zap! Bam! Bzzzt!” Pinkie Pie said as she ran everywhere, imitating some kind of magic sounds. “This new dragon mouth takes some getting used to. Hey Rarity, can I have some—“
“NO! You may not have any more gems, and the same goes for all of you and me. All of those beautiful, precious, opulent emeralds and magnificent… sky blue diamonds….” Rarity said before she took one from a basket to munch on. “Ack, what am I doing? It took me a solid week to gather those fifty gems. We’ve already eaten half of them. Fine, fine, you can have this one Pinkie Pie, but no more.”
“Girls, Fluttershy deserves an answer,” Twilight said. She came to me with the book that Seabreeze gave to me and opened it to the middle page. “My magic enlarged it when I tried to return us to normal. I have to say, you received quite the rare gift Fluttershy. This book is a memory tome. It contains ancient, strong magic that unlocks the memories of the individual that opens it. This book displays events of whatever the viewer wishes. It even has the ability to ‘animate’ those pictures so they move. This is a very prized item by any collector.”
I watched each moment unfold. It was unbelievable to see how that pony battled the Marevanshee. Blow for blow the pony went at it, protecting five little creatures. The cutie mark flashed for a second. “Is that me? Did I really do that?”
“Yea! You were unbelievable with the magic you wielded. Zapping her back to give us time to escape,” Pinkie Pie said to me as she pointed towards the book.
“I don’t like fighting. How come I don’t remember any of this?” I said to Twilight.
“That was the danger. The kind of power that was channeled into you was immense. To fathom it, I would say you held nearly half of Princess Celestia’s power at the very tip of your hoof. Your power of kindness fueled the will of that form to protect all of us. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Twilight shied away from me, covering her face with her claws. “I put you in incredible danger to keep us safe. I promise that I will never put you – no, I promise to never put any of you in that type of position.”
“It worked out alright in the end.” I said, placing my claw on her shoulder. “You didn’t coerce me, just as you said. It terrified me, but I must protect my friends. Any of the others would have done the same as I did. I hope I didn’t hurt any of you.”
“We’re fine,” Pinkie Pie said as she tried to hop around the room but failed. “Gah! How do you move around with these legs, Spike?”
Before Pinkie Pie and Spike could argue, a swift knock came to the door. Twilight smiled, but stumbled to the ground as she tried to run to the door. “Please let it be Celestia. Please let it be Celestia. Please let it be Celestia.”
“It is my dear. May I come in?” Princess Celestia said in her regal tone. The regal mare opened the door, looked at us, and sighed. “Twilight, is that you?”
“Yes Princess?” Twilight said with a sheepish grin. “I can explain.”
“I already heard from my ‘wee’ friend that you told me said hello. I contacted her already and heard how you journeyed to the pit of sorrows. It also appears as though somepony has a memory tome, and I see something else happened. Is this also your doing, my pupil?” Princess Celestia said as she raised an eyebrow towards Twilight.
“Well, you see. I, we, all of us, Fluttershy, o dear…” Twilight said as she twirled her claws together. I walked over towards my friend, as best I could, and placed my claw on her shoulder. Twilight smiled at me and said, “We faced a rather dangerous enemy in the land of the breezies. I didn’t believe it was possible for me to defeat her and relied on the strength of my friend.”
“Princess Celestia, regardless of the risks, I agreed to assist Twilight and my friends in this matter. Please, please don’t punish her.” I said, bowing in front of her highness.
“I hope this is a valuable lesson that my pupil learned. The power she now wields cannot be given lightly to others. Also, she cannot be transferring the power of others into a single pony. You suffered no ill effects Fluttershy, but I can assure you that kind of power can lead a pony towards destruction of what they hold dear.” Princess Celestia said while she looked at all of us. Her stern look faded to that of a smile. After a tense moment, Princess Celestia said, “Now my little ponies, let’s turn you back to normal. While it is good to walk a mile in another’s claws, it is best to view that perspective from your own hooves. O Dear, that isn’t right.”
“This is so awesome! Let me see if I can do a Sonic Rainboom in this form.” Rainbow Dash said as she bolted out the door with Pinkie Pie behind her.
“O my, this is rather unique.” Rarity said as she began to examine her new form. “What do you think of my new form Spike? Don’t I look radiant?”
“H-he-here…” Spike said as he stepped out from the kitchen. The transformed dragon shied away from the mirror.
“Princess Celestia, you turned all of us into Alicorns like yourself. I thought I was in trouble, breaking some ancient law.” Twilight said before she burst into laughter while she looked at Spike.
All of us began to laugh at one another while I felt my tensions relax. I’ll never forget the kindness of Princess Petiole. Seabreeze’s book is one that I will always treasure. I can relive those precious memories if I ever start to forget them.
“Ok my little ponies,” Princess Celestia said as her horn began to glow. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie materialized from thin air and fell to the ground. I could hear my two friends sigh at one another. They stood up and walked over towards us. Her highness cast the spell, returning our bodies to their normal forms. “That should everything back in its proper place. Now, be mindful of what I said Twilight. Do not take that spell lightly that you have learned. It is powerful, but can lead to more harm than good.”
My friends left one by one. Twilight apologized several times before she left. Life returned to that calm, serene simplicity I came to love. That was until Discord popped by for his usual visit. Though it all turned topsy turvy, I rather have this to deal with than that ghostly malevolent Marevanshee.