Fluttershy whimpered, shaking her head. "Oh my, a new school?" she asked, gasping, and clinging onto her mother's arm. Her mother shook her daughter's hoof off, consoling, "It's going to be okay, sweetie." She turned to her husband, who had his hooves on a steering wheel. "Not so fast, honey!"
Her husband turned back to her, laughing in scorn. He was a sturdy pegasus fellow, and he had a golden coat, as well as a fine silver mane. His name was Putterlie. His wife, Butterfly, was two years younger than him, but she was a great deal maturer - as was his own daughter. "Relax, Butterfly," he chuckled. "I have a four wheel drive."
Fluttershy stared out of the window, smiling, but her smile tinted with sadness, and her eyes shadowed by sorrow and depression. She caught a glimpse of her new school, hidden by trees and lamp-posts by the street. She liked her old school. There was somepony there...she couldn't remember her name....but she was there...The yellow filly shook her head free of all the thoughts. Memories always bugged her, they were always mysterious..and never clear without some thinking.
Finally, the carriage came to a stop. Putterlie and Butterfly were confused, and they jumped out of the carriage to inspect was wrong with it. Fluttershy was told to stay in the carriage, minding the luggage. Suddenly, Butterfly gasped, and pointed to a tall large empty tunnel. It was empty, and dismal - and it wasn't natural, but it wasn't made by pony either. It gave Fluttershy a strange unexplained...feeling - which was downright unusual and overall....uneasy. Putterlie, whose courage was commedable - but foolish, stepped into the tunnel. He beckoned for his wife and daughter to follow him. "Come on, let's check it out," he said. Butterfly shook her head. "But we have to be there before the movers arrive," she said, glancing back at the carriage. But her husband's words convinced her, and she finally gave in, and followed Putterlie, who was muttering, "Who knows? Maybe it's a shortcut."
Fluttershy crept out of the carriage. She looked at the tunnel, and backed away. She turned around, and looked at the surroundings about her. She was in...the Everfree Forest. The very thought sent a shiver up and down her spine. "Oh my...um...no! I'm not going! You can't make me!" she squeaked.
Butterfly rolled her eyes. "That's enough of you," she scolded. Her voice lowered softer and kinder. "You've got Mommy and Daddy here. It'll be alright." Putterlie nodded, and turned to leave.
Fluttershy shook her head, as she climbed on the carriage. The strange statue next to her, seemed to be staring down at her - its stone eyes big and stern. Fluttershy looked around, before biting her lower lip, shrieking, "No! Don't leave me here!" She trotted up to her parents, clinging on to her mother.
Putterlie looked around, fascinated. "Whoa, I wonder where this leads," he said. He was a pegasus, and he had a stronger pegasus instinct than both his wife and daughter. In fact, Butterfly spent no time in the air - and Fluttershy herself could not yet fly.
The tunnel, like all tunnels, came to an end, and the family of pegasi found themselves in a large field. The grass was green, and twinkling with dew, the chill in the wind was pleasant, and the sky was clear without a single cloud in the sky. Putterlie and Butterfly were amazed. "It's amazing!" Butterfly gasped, looking around. She stepped onto the green grass, and said, "The grass here is so sweet-smelling - and fresh!"
Putterlie looked around, and under his far-sighted eye, he spotted a village in the distance. "Hmm..." he said, stroking his chin with a hoof. He turned to Fluttershy, and asked, "What say we check that village out, hey, kid?"
Fluttershy shook her head, and muttered, "Let's go. We've..um..we've seen enough." Butterfly, shook her head indignantly. She and Putterlie made for the village, and Fluttershy, caught between her fear and uneasiness, had no choice but to follow them. Anything was better than being alone in the...EverFree Forest.
The family soon came to an..amusement park. "I'm starving!" Putterlie announced, his pegasus side showing once more. Butterfly nodded, "Pegasi always are. Here, come here. Maybe there's some food here." She sniffed the air, and her eyes lightened up. "It's true!" She then fell back, deep in thought, "I wonder..."
Putterlie bolted past her, towards the various shops there, on his wings. Finally, he came to a table-like altar, with food on them in plates. He beamed, and shouted, "Look, honey! I've found it!" His wife trotted to him, and asked, "Hello? Is anypony there?" There was no answer. Putterlie, whose voice was louder, repeated the question, "IS ANYPONY HERE?"
Fluttershy's uneasiness had now reached its peak. She looked around, shying behind her mother. They were already gorging themselves like mules into the food there. The hay, the apples, cakes and other food there smelt magically delicious, and it seemed to be bound by a strong dark magic that tempted the eater. But Fluttershy resisted to this, and said, "Stop! I don't..um..think..we...should eat it. It's not ours."
Putterlie groaned, "Come on, sweetheart. Daddy's got bits and credit bits." Butterfly moaned, and cried out, "Darling, sweetie, you have to try this!" Between rather unlady-like mouthfuls, she said, "It's delicious!" Fluttershy shook her head once more.
She sighed, muttering, "Um....I -" Her voice trailed off, as she trotted off, finally aware at her surroundings. There were tall buildings there, all towering above her, almost as if they were staring down and she and her parents. And their stern glance was enough to make the poor filly fidgety. She moved on, towards a rather old bridge. She knew better not to wander off, but this time - her mind was almost programmed to trot to the bridge.
It was sunset. The sun was creeping down, sinking into the horizon, where Fluttershy was taught the "water and sun meet". The sky was contrasting vivid radiations of orange, yellow and pink, and it was enough to make the filly's jaw drop open. Staring at the sky, and ripping water, she felt...drowsy. As she was about to fall into a deep slumber...TAP!
She gasped and turned around, being the jumpy pony she was. It wasn't her mother or her father. It was a rather rough looking pegasus, who was blue all over - with a vivid rainbow mane, and her face was serious. Her cold eyes burnt into Fluttershy's heart, and the latter felt like crying.
"Quickly, Fluttershy! Go, hurry! Get your parents, and get out of here!" she cried out. Fluttershy was bewildered, as the pegasus said, "I'll distract them! Now, go!" Fluttershy never liked quarrelling, so she did as she said. Down the stairs she trotted, but as fast as she could.
It was night. The midnight blue sky was now blackened with shroud and dark clouds. There was not a single star to be seen, only a very very tiny portion of the new moon visible, behind a cloud. Shadows danced everywhere, some even seemed to be trotting towards her. "Mommy! Daddy!" the filly squealed, her face overthrown with horror and fear. She heard hoof-steps behind her, and she screamed.
She found her way towards where she had last seen her parents. "Mommy! Daddy! We have to get out of here!" she shouted, tugging at her father's hoof. Her father turned to her, and she screamed in terror. Instead of her father's face - was a mule's. "Oh my!" she told herself. "Aaaah!" Her cantering turned into a "run-for-your-life" gallop, and she watched as the field before her turn into hoof-deep cold water.
She sat on the steps, crying out to herself to "Wake up." She burst out crying, at once. The pegasus she had met before flew to her, saying, "My name is Dash. I know it's not my real name..but..hey. Here, eat this! Before you become a spirit and trapped here forever!"
Fluttershy refused, and continued crying. Dash groaned, and said, "It won't hurt you. I enchanted it...with a spell to give you strength. Now, come on! It's gonna be too late!" She handed the filly a pill, and she swallowed it, uneasily.
Dash turned her head quickly. Fluttershy was startled, and she gasped. "It's nothing," Dash said, answering the question Fluttershy was asking in her mind. "We've gotta move out. See that bridge?" She pointed a hoof at the bridge where Fluttershy had once stood. Fluttershy nodded, and whispered, "Um...oh my...yes."
"The spirits (or earth ponies or unicorns) are crossing into the bath-house," Dash explained. "We have to get across here." She turned towards the filly. "It's the only way to save your parents, okay? So don't come to me crying." She clasped a hoof on Fluttershy's snout. "Don't breathe, Fluttershy. If you breathe, you'll break the spell. It's making you invisible. Come on! We gotta move out!"
Dash grabbed the hoof of her new-found friend, dragging her behind her. Fluttershy, who was a champion at the "SHHHH" competition at her school, was quite good at holding her breath, and she performed it perfectly. She sweated nervously, and she was sure the spirits around could hear her heart pounding like a hammer.
"And who are you?" a colt at the bridge asked. Dash chuckled nervously, replying, "Dash, most awesome pony in Ponyville. You?"
The colt shook his snow-white mane. "I am the spirit of a bunny named Angel," he said. Fluttershy was tempted to gasp, but beneath Dash's sturdy hoof, all that came out was a muffled squeak. "Did you just make a sound, Dash? It sounded like a squeak."
Dash moved on, muttering, "Almost there." Fluttershy nodded. They moved along slowly and unsuspiciously. Fluttershy felt like she was about to die. Finally, she inhaled, and she became visible. "RUN!" Dash cried out, pushing Fluttershy away. Fluttershy gasped, and she fell into a bush.
Dash acted unsuspicious, and she said, "A pegasus! Stop her!" Of course, she was a pegasus herself, but she was ENSLAVED. And she had been there for a long time now, since she was a baby. Now she was a little younger than a full-grown mare, she was forced to work in the bath-house, like everypony else.
When the racket settled down a little, Dash went to meet Fluttershy. The filly was crying, and her tears were watering the plants. Rainbow grinned, "Nice going, kid. Don't worry about it, Fluttershy! You were doing your best. I don't think somepony like I could've done better, anyway." Fluttershy looked up, asking, "You....um...really think that?"
Dash nodded, "Sure. Now, let's get you outta here. The first step - is to go to the boiler room. You have to get a job here to survive. The ponies here are crazy. If they see a pony with wings, they go after them. Listen..you have to get this straight! Or your dead. And that's...not very awesome at all."
Silence was heard, and the chirping of cricket spirits inside the bath-house filled the air. Fluttershy blinked a few times, before nodding.
"Got it! Now, you have to go AROUND here," Dash explained, "Down the steps (flyin' is easier, by the way), and into a secret door on the left. I'm with you, kid. YOU HAVE TO MOVE FAST. You must talk to that...old mare...guy, and ask for work. Celestia controls the bath-house. You have to get to her, and ask her a job, got it? Oh, and DON'T let her distract you. She'll make you stray away. Alright, I have to go!"
She bolted away, crying out, "I'm comin'! Wait up, guys!"
Fluttershy bit her lower lip. You have to move fast... Those words echoed around Fluttershy's head. It was cold, and she cuddled up to a small branch for warmth. But a thorn stuck in her hoof. With tears in her eyes, she picked it out quickly, training herself not to scream. Her tears fell on the damp ground, as she looked up to the night sky. I must do this, she told herself, I must..um...do this for Mummy and Daddy. She scrambled up to her hooves, careful not to make a noise, and scampered away to start a war she had never asked for.
Little did the filly know, that her adventure would turn out to be far more complicated than she had expected - mixed with a bunch of emotions...the most rare called - love.
