Fluttershy's New World

Almost two hours have passed, and neither Fluttershy nor the hermit showed any signs of breaking their stares. However, a deep grumbling noise was heard in the room, as their stomachs complained for lack of food. A few seconds later, the hermit reached for his book and an inked feather on his desk, without breaking up his stare, and wrote down something.

Fluttershy thought, “Hmm, he has a really good concentration, to be able to write without even moving a muscle in his face. I just hope he’s about to ask to quit the stare, because I’m starving.”

The hermit finished his writing and showed her the following sentence written in bold letters, “Let’s call it a tie. It’s lunch time. Raise your hoof if you agree.”

“Phew, finally!” said Fluttershy while she raised her hoof quickly.

The hermit saw her signal, then closed the book and said, “Good, because we still have to pick up our lunch, before it’s overcooked.”

“We? Does that mean that you’re going to release me?” asked Fluttershy.

He answered promptly, “Of course. After all, I haven’t won the game and you must be starving already, and we still have to do a little walk before we can have lunch.”

“Oh, ok but… is there a reason why you don’t you make your own food at home?” asked Fluttershy slightly confused.

“Oh no, there’s no need. I let Nature do that work for me. If you walk with me, I’ll show it how!” said the hermit with a grin in his face.

“Hmm, now you left me curious. Do the animals cook for you or something like that?” asked Fluttershy, who thought that maybe in this world, the animals prepared their own food and their caretaker’s, unlike the animals in her world.

He answered, “Nope, you’ll have to see how it’s done. Now, I’ll open your cage and help you get down from there.”

“Oh, it’s ok, I can get down by myself, thank you,” replied Fluttershy, while she recalled the uncomfortable feeling of the hermit’s huge hands that held her down against the floor of the cage when she woke up.

The hermit opened the cage’s door, waited for her to come out and then warned, “Just be careful when you descend because your wi-” Fluttershy suddenly jumped from the cage and stretched her wings to weaken the force of her fall, but she screamed in pain and retracted her wings, unable to move them.

But, in the last second before she hit the ground, the hermit caught her by her chest with his hands.

“Ouch, it feels like my wings are burning when I stretch them.” Fluttershy tried again to move her wings, only to feel a painful sting, like someone used her body as a needle cushion.

The hermit placed her gently on the ground and replied, “If you waited for five more seconds, I was going to tell you that the wounds on your wings haven’t healed yet. It seems that the mud damaged your primary flight feathers so much that I had to clip them. So you won’t be able to achieve full flight until they grow again.”

“Oh…” she examined her wings carefully and noticed that her feathers were shorter and the skin around them was bruised and reddish. “And how long does it take them to regrow? I’ve never had my feathers clipped before.” Fluttershy looked at him with a sad pair of watery eyes.

He could feel the sadness in her heart, and found it difficult to answer her question. A few moments later, he sighed deeply and finally replied, “Well, I have no idea, usually that varies from one species of bird to another, but in your case,” - he paused for a few seconds - “I just don’t know. So for a few weeks at least, you shouldn’t attempt to fly.”

“Ok, I understand.” Fluttershy looked at her wings sadly, facing the fact that she was grounded for an indefinite time.

After a few seconds of silence, the hermit spoke, “Try not to think about that now, there’s nothing you can do about it, and besides, you have other needs you need to attend to, before your belly growls again.”

Fluttershy felt a small tremor inside her, along with a small twinge. She looked up back at him with a small grin and then she replied, “Yes, you’re right. Let’s get our lunch then. I think I should deal with one problem at a time.”

“Now that’s the spirit, my little pony!” said the hermit, with a smile on his face. “Let’s get on our way then.”

He turned around and picked up a big leather bag that was beside his desk. Fluttershy was curious about the contents of this bag, which made a familiar metallic noise, like it was full of cutlery. The hermit now held the bag over his shoulder with his hand then went to the door and opened it.

“After you, my fair mare!” he said while he bowed gracefully beside the door and waited for Fluttershy to exit through it first.

She felt a little embarrassed and didn’t knew what to say, but then she replied “I, I… thank you sir, I’m not used to be treated with such… chivalry.”

The hermit smiled and then said, “You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do, after I left you imprisoned in that cage for an entire morning.”

Fluttershy smiled back and walked through the door. Outside, she could see for the very first time how this new world looked like. She noticed that she was in a huge valley with mountains filled with dark green trees. The azure sky was lightly clouded, with a yellow bright sun which gently warmed the skin of her body. At the distance, she could see a big column of smoke that rose to the sky, which faded shortly after reaching around twenty meters of altitude.

Fluttershy became curious about the origin of this smoke, because unlike the smoke from a fire which is usually grey and takes longer to dissipate, this one was white like the clouds and it faded away in a matter of seconds. She faced the hermit to ask him about this. “Excuse me sir, I… Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve just realized that I don’t even know your name.”

“That’s ok, after all, I haven’t introduced myself. I don’t use my birth name anymore, but I’m known around here as Soul Tuner. And you don’t need to call me sir. Now, what were you going to ask me?”

“Oh, ok sir… I mean, Soul Tuner. I’m curious about that big “fire” in the distance. I’ve never seen one with such a white smoke, which fades out so quickly.”

“What you see in the distance, that’s not smoke, even less from a fire. That’s the place where our lunch is being cooked,” replied Soul Tuner.

“What? But… how?” asked Fluttershy, intrigued about how it could be possible to cook something without fire, or what could be making that “non-smoke”.

Soul Tuner replied, with a grin on his face, “If you wait for, let’s say, more or less half an hour, being that the time we take to get there, you’ll see how.”

***

Twenty five minutes later, they arrive to the place where the big column of “non-smoke” originates from. Before them there was a desolate landscape, the ground was light grey, like someone mixed the dirt with ashes from a fire. There was barely any plant life, only some scattered brown bushes here and there, and the smell of sulfur was constantly in the air. Nearby, a big pond with muddy grey water bubbled intensely, which evaporated into a continuous column of white water vapor.

Fluttershy was amazed with this strange landscape, as she has never seen nothing like it. She asked Soul Tuner, “So that’s where the “smoke” comes from. Now I know what you mean, when you said that it wasn’t smoke. But why is the water so hot? And the smell! It looks like someone left spoiled food around here.” She suddenly remembered that their lunch was being cooked in this place, “Oh my, don’t tell me that our food is-”

Knowing that she was really hungry, Soul Tuner replied promptly, “No need to worry Fluttershy, the smell is caused by the abundance of sulfur in these lands, and the water is hot because of the volcanic activity in this area that causes the water in the pond to boil and spread the smell of sulfur even further.” She stared at him with a confused look, like she didn’t understand a word of what he just said. Soul Tuner noticed this and said quickly, “Just come this way, our food it’s over here.”

“Oh, ok, that’s good, I’m starving!” said Fluttershy excited, as she was finally going to eat something. But then she stopped suddenly, looked at him and smiled embarrassed, blushing a little because she had just realized that she forgot her manners, “Oh, I mean… Yay!”

He smiled back and replied, “Well, you don’t have to wait anymore, our food is right here.” and he pointed to a mound of slightly dark grey dirt.

“Huh, I don’t want to sound a little picky, but… are we going to eat dirt?” asked Fluttershy confused and with a worried look in her face.

Soul Tuner chuckled and then answered, “No, you silly pony. Our food it’s buried here, a meter deep.”

“Hum ok, but… why? Were you afraid someone was going to steal the food?” she asked, still with a confused look on her face.

Soul Tuner didn’t answer and opened his leather bag. He took a small shovel from it and removed some of the dirt from the mound. Underneath the grey dirt, there was what looked like a wooden shield. He pulled it up, revealing a hole with half a meter wide and a meter deep. A white cloud of water vapor rose instantly from the hole, along with a heat wave that warmed the nearby air temperature briefly, for a few degrees.

Next, he took from his bag a meter long wooden stick, with a metal hook in one of its ends. He put the hooked end of the stick inside the hole and then pulled hard, like he was lifting something heavy. Fluttershy watched silently, disorientated with all that Soul Tuner was doing, not understanding the purpose of it, but when she saw what he pulled out of the hole, she became perplexed. At the hooked end of the stick there was a clay pot, tightly tied up with a rope.

“Um… is our food inside that pot? That was buried in dirt, along with this… unpleasant smell?” asked Fluttershy, who felt herself a little disgusted.

Soul Tuner answered, “Oh, don’t worry about the smell and the dirt, they don’t get to the food. So, you’re ready for lunch?”

She wasn’t too sure about it but then her belly growled again. “Well, I… am, I guess,” answered Fluttershy, a little hesitant.

Soul Tuner untied the rope carefully and then removed the pot’s cover, letting out a small and hot steamy cloud into the air. Fluttershy got closer to see what was inside of the pot and her eyes almost cried with joy. It was filled with all kinds of boiled vegetables, like carrots, cabbage, yams and potatoes.

She was perplexed with the variety of vegetables, they were a feast to her eyes. “I just can’t believe how such a good looking meal could be made in such a smelly and unpleasant place like this” - Fluttershy paused for a few seconds, thinking of how hungry she was and then continued - “but I think that doesn’t matter right now.”

“Well, just help yourself. There’s plenty of food for both of us,” replied Soul Tuner.

After that, they served themselves from the food in the pot and used a nearby flat tree stump as a table.

***

Twenty minutes later, their bellies were full and now they rested on the ground, with their backs against an old dried tree log.

Soul Tuner leaned to Fluttershy’s side and spoke, “So, I take it that you enjoyed the food. Lucky for you, today’s meal was strictly vegetarian, as I assume that your kind only eats vegetables.”

“Yes, we ponies are vegetarian, although we also could eat fat or sugar-based food, like cakes and pastries, although less frequently.” Then Fluttershy remembered her friend Pinkie Pie's addiction for all things sweet. “Well, with some exceptions, I guess.”

“Well, in our world, most of us are omnivorous, but we can also survive with a strictly vegetarian diet, so it’s a matter of choice. However, in the last few years, there’s been a shortage in meat supply, because hunters and trappers have caught less and less animals in the forests, herders lost their animals mysteriously, and even farmers had their cattle safely locked in barns, only to find them empty in the next morning.”

Fluttershy remembered the morning before she went through the portal and then said, “Hmm, that’s strange. The same thing also happened in my world, as I woke up in the morning, only to find that the animals that lived in my house disappeared, including my bunny Angel. But I’ve found his tracks and followed them into the Everfree Forest, which that was creepier than usual because of its silence. I think that the animals were missing from there too.”

“Hmm, that’s a really strange coincidence. But please continue.”

Fluttershy repeated to him the same story that Zecora told her about the evil unicorns that used magic to open the portals to other worlds and how it could be related to the animal’s disappearance.

Soul Tuner became silent for a few seconds and then said, “Hmm, Zecora’s story isn’t strange to me at all. It reminds me of an ancient legend that goes more or less like this.”

“Beware the sudden storm with the purple lightning, followed by the streak of light that strikes the water.

If you hear the hum, be careful; if you see the dark blue spiral, hide with haste; if you feel the grip, hold on to something.

But if the small horned horse ever sees you… you’re doomed.

Beware not only the horned ones, some of them can fly, and others possess great strength.

They hide amongst our animals, only to vanish along with them in the night.

But not all of them are enemies and there’s a way to tell them apart.

Watch their flank for the Mark, the dark spiral. Those who bear it, beware.

But shall they have any other Mark, aid him any way you can, as he might be your ally.”

“And that’s most of it, I think. There are records of entire animal populations that disappeared overnight, in the forests. But in some cases, even people disappeared without a trace, although less frequently.” Soul Tuner paused for a few seconds and then continued, “Now you know why I had to question you this morning. I needed to be sure of who you were, where you came from and why you were here.”

Fluttershy thought for a few moments about the questions he made her that morning and then replied, “I… I understand know. But how did you know for sure that I was not one of the… Oh, I see. The Cutie Mark!”

“Yes, and also I saw the true nature of your soul, filled with kindness, compassion and also shyness. But I also see that when in need, you can be brave and face your fears, especially if the safety of your loved ones is at stake. You’re not a threat, not to me at least, but I wouldn’t dare to step between you and your friends, that’s for sure!” said Soul Tuner.

Fluttershy’s cheeks went slightly red, she isn’t used to hear someone give their opinion about her like that. “I, um… I don’t even know what to say. But how do you know all just by asking me a few questions?” she asked.

He smiled to her and answered, “Well, let’s just say that people don’t call me Soul Tuner by chance. My special talent is empathy, meaning that I have the ability to feel and match a person’s emotions. And with a little effort, I can even have a glimpse at someone’s soul, perceive its true nature, its desires and fears or even repressed emotions. That’s how I knew who you really were, even before I had finished my questions.”

“That’s amazing. I imagine that it must be a really useful talent. You could help people to identify their fears and how to face them or” - she paused briefly, like she remembered something - “Wait a minute, so that’s why you did the Stare game with me, to force me to face my fear of what you might have done to me!”

Soul Tuner nodded his head and then said, “That’s correct, Fluttershy. I only provided the path you needed to take, but only you could make the first step of accepting the challenge. Oh, and we still have to finish that game.”

She smiled to him and thought about how his words reminded her of Rainbow Dash so much. How she was always pushing her to face her fears or her words of encouragement. After a few seconds, she said, “I… thank you for doing that Soul Tuner. And yes, I’m curious to know who will win the game. But, I’m also curious about another thing. Since I arrived to this world, I haven’t seen any of its inhabitants, besides you. Do they live far away from here?”

Soul Tuner’s face changed suddenly from cheerful to slightly melancholic. “Well, there was a village not far from here, and its inhabitants used this place daily as their primary cooking spot, and they also used the water for its medicinal properties. But when the animals went missing, they all left, because meat was their primary source of food.”

“Well, I don’t agree with the killing of animals for food, when people do have a choice in their diet. That’s just… cruel! They should have stayed and changed their diet!” replied Fluttershy with a bitter tone of voice.

“Well, they still do have the freedom of choosing what to eat, I respect that. But I also believe that there were other ways of dealing with the meat shortage, like trading with other towns and using the empty pasture lands to increase the crop field area and grow more food. But no, they all choose to leave and find another place to live.”

“But that means that you are here all alone! Without anyone to talk to, or… Oh my, you must feel lonely all the time!” said Fluttershy.

“Well, I’ve lived for a long time alone in my cottage at the edge of the forbidden Furnus forest. But people talked to me occasionally here in this place, after my meals, seeking my advice or guidance.”

“But why do you live alone? Don’t you have any friends?” asked Fluttershy confused.

Soul Tuner suddenly moved his face away from her, and looked down, in silence. For the first time, Fluttershy saw him vulnerable and realized that she touched a difficult issue for him. A minute later, he said “Well, I don’t ha-”

All of a sudden, they both heard a strange and faint humming noise.

“This noise seems familiar to me. It sounds like… the portal!” said Fluttershy.

“What is THAT?” he said, with his finger pointing to a distant glimmering line in the sky.

This shiny line grew thicker by the second, as it got closer to them. Then the light changed into what looked like a rainbow wave, which moved at an extraordinary speed, passing over them.

Suddenly, a loud boom was heard, along with an air shockwave so strong that it bent the nearby trees into a steep angle, as it passed over them.

“Rainbow Dash, you’ve made it!” shouted Fluttershy, looking to the sky.

Soul Tuner turned to her and saw the tears of joy that poured from her eyes. But he also caught a glimpse of a new feeling in her heart.

Hope.