The Hero of Harmony

Thistle dreamily opened his eyes, before rising to his feet and surveying his surroundings. The world that lay before him was comparable to a paradise. He was standing in an open field, rich with beautiful flowers and dandelion clocks. Delicate long grass swayed around his ankles, and butterflies, dragonflies, and honey bees danced above it peacefully. Over in the distance, trees of various shapes and sizes were silhouetted by a rising golden sun.

“Is that a forest?” The donkey tilted his head and squinted but he couldn’t quite tell from so far away. He glanced around for a more specific landmark, but in every other direction there was nothing but grass for miles.

Thistle gave an annoyed sigh and began charging across the field, hoping with all his heart that he was heading in the right direction. He still had no idea what he was looking for, but it gave him a little relief to discover that the trees were in fact a forest, and a magnificent one at that.

At the forest entrance, a colourful stone pathway was surrounded by two beautiful rose bushes. Branches above them swayed gently in the breeze with the sun sparkling through their leaves. As Thistle approached, he noticed a variety of animals inhabited these bushes, and many were coming out to greet him. Tiny bunnies and baby hedgehogs, scaly lizards and chirping birds, all gazed up at him with beady eyes and some even reached out their paws to shake his hoof as he passed them by.

“It’s… nice to meet you.” Thistle had never met such friendly creatures before, but it made him feel rather warm and content inside.

“There doesn’t seem to be a thing wrong with this place.” He muttered to himself whilst exchanging greetings with a long haired bunny, “Perhaps I shouldn’t be here after all.”

Then suddenly, Thistle’s long ears pricked up as they managed to catch an unusual sound. It was almost completely drowned out by the happy chirping of the birds, but Thistle had a very keen sense of hearing.

“Hold on a second there.” Thistle silenced the animals, and focused his attention in the direction of the sound.

He soon decided that the noise could best be described as a faint wailing, followed by sniveling, and it was coming from further on down the path. Someone was crying; which meant that they most likely needed help.

“I must go, friends.” Thistle gave the small animals a gracious bow, “someone needs me.”

The creatures waved goodbye and watched as the young donkey trotted off, following his ears.

The forest only became more magnificent the deeper Thistle ventured inside. The trees sprouted all kinds of fruit, most of which he had never even seen before. Squirrels raced along the branches, as though wishing to accompany him on his journey, and more and more butterflies appeared and fluttered around him. The scent of pollen filled the air, combined with that of roses, lilies’, lavender, and other alluring aroma. There was so much tempting him to stop and admire the scenery, smell the beautiful flowers, and greet the cute wildlife, but Thistle raced on. The noise gradually became louder and louder.

The scenic path eventually came to a close, and the young donkey found himself in a small open area with long grass. It was had to make out his surroundings at first, as hundreds of butterflies obscured his vision, but once they had subsided Thistle was presented with the most gorgeous sight that he had ever laid his eyes upon.

A large crystal blue lake almost formed a perfect circle in the grass before him. It was complete with giant lily pads and petals, and the sun reflected off its surface, making it sparkle elegantly. Strong reeds surrounded the exterior of the lake in a tidy manner, and colourful fish could be seen swimming around within it. However, it was not the lake itself that had caught the attention of the donkey. No, it was the beautiful mare who rested upon the largest lily pad in its very center.

Her coat was pale shade of buttercup yellow, complimented by a soft pink mane that flowed beside her, matching her long, delicate tail. She had cute feathered wings either side of her body, and there was a mark upon her rump which resembled three butterflies; just like the symbol upon the throne. Her large, saddened eyes were the exact same colour as the water beneath her, and they were filled with tears which streamed heavily down her flushed cheeks.

The mare timidly lifted her head, and for a moment, everything was silent. The two stared into each other’s eyes, and Thistle felt a sudden warmth fill his body, his mind, and his heart. After a few seconds, he took a deep breathe, putting an end to his hesitation, and approached her. The mare suddenly looked afraid, and wiped her eyes before hiding the majority of her face behind her mane.

“Please excuse me, mysterious beauty of the lake.” Thistle addressed her, “I have been following the sound of your tears. It so greatly pains me to see such an attractive young lady in despair.”

The pegasus said nothing, but peeked out at him from behind her hair.

“If there is anything I can do to assist you...” Thistle continued as he steadily trotted forwards, “I would be more than happy to oblige.”

After a few more silent seconds, the mare seemed to realise that Thistle meant her no harm, and she slowly began to reveal herself. She sniffed a little more, and tried to dry her sore eyes before attempting to communicate.

“Th…there’s nothing… anypony… can do.” She stuttered, before bursting into tears once more.

Thistle thought for a moment,

“Perhaps not.” He replied, “but I, Sweetheart, am not a pony.”

As he approached the edge of the lake, Thistle readied his hind legs and aimed, preparing to jump onto the nearest lily pad and get closer to the mare. He took a step backwards, wiggled his rump a little, and then leaped. It was a perfect landing, until the lily pad couldn’t hold his stocky figure, and sank into the lake taking him with it.

Clumsily, the donkey tried to recover by treading water and swimming over to the pegasus, pretending that this was his plan all along.

“W... what seems to be the problem?” He asked when he finally reached her lily pad.

The pony took a minute to gather herself before answering.

“Everything.”

“Everything?” Thistle tried to reach a hoof out to comfort her, but he was reluctant to try and lift himself onto another lily pad. “Why don’t we start with the castle, do you know anything about that?”

“C….castle?!” The poor pony gasped and started hyperventilating, “how do you… know about… the… castle?” She shuffled away from him fearfully.

Thistle lowered his tone,

“Poor thing, you’ve obviously been through a lot.” He spoke softly, “you don’t need to be afraid any more darling. I’m a hero you see. I get summoned to solve problems like this - it’s my job.”

The mare glared at him in disbelief, and so he continued.

“My name is Thistle. And today, I was summoned to the remains of a castle that had clearly suffered through some terrible act of destruction.”

At those words, the pegasus began breathing heavily once more. Thistle decided to diverse the subject a little, in an attempt to calm her down.

“One of the thrones had this exact symbol upon it.” He pointed at the butterflies upon her rump, “that symbol pulled me in, and I ended up here. Please, beautiful pegasus of the forest, please tell me all you can. The very fate of your world may depend upon it.”

“I…. it… there’s nothing….” She panted, “It’s too late.”

Thistle reached out a little more, and finally managed to brush her mane in a comforting manner.

“Please.” He asked, gazing deeply into her eyes. “At least give me your name.”

Whether it was a result his gentle hoof, his soft tone of voice, or his honest expression was a mystery, but this time Thistle actually seemed to get through to her.

“F…Fluttershy.” Mumbled the mare, then inhaled deeply and began to speak at a rapid speed, as though she had to get it all out before changing her mind or bursting into tears once more.

“And it was all my fault. That monster was angry with me. He asked me to help him, but I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t complete the tasks well enough, or quick enough. I couldn’t find the books he wanted, I couldn’t stay airborne for as long as he wanted, I couldn’t even remember all of the names of the great leaders of Equestria!”

“Monster? Books? Eq…uestria?” Thistle had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

“I made him so mad.” Fluttershy continued, “That he attacked me, and then he attacked my friends, and destroyed the castle! He said he was going to take over Equestia because of me, because I was too weak and incompetent.”

“That’s…. hold on…” Thistle was somehow even more clueless now than before. “A monster destroyed your world, because you couldn’t find him some books?”

Fluttershy started crying again, and nodded.

“Are you…. Are you sure that’s what happened?” Thistle asked skeptically, which only bought on louder tears.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry, beautiful Fluttershy.” He tapped her gently, “could you perhaps, if it is not too much trouble, try to recall what this ‘monster’ looked like?”

Fluttershy took another deep breathe,

“It… it was huge” she answered, “and terrifying, enormous, teeth smashing, sharp scale having, horn wearing, smoke snorting…”

“So it was a dragon?” Thistle tried to get his head around the situation as best he could.

Fluttershy nodded,

“The biggest, fiercest dragon I have ever seen…. although he did have a skeleton skull for a head…”

“A… skull?” The donkey had never heard of a creature like that.

“Mmmhmm.” Fluttershy shuddered as she recalled the monster, “and he was shrouded in shadow, with a hundred staring eyes... and he was surrounded by crowds of ponies who were shouting, and taunting, and heckling me for failing miserably at each and every task he presented me with….”

“I…. see.” Thistle scratched his ear, he really didn’t ‘see’ at all, but he wanted to help nonetheless. “Well it sounds to me like this monster was being rather unreasonable. After all, who throws a chaotic hissy fit over not being able to find a book?”

Fluttershy seemed unusually surprised by those words,

“Do you by any chance know of any way we can get back to the castle?” Thistle asked her,

Fluttershy shook her head,

“I don’t even know where this place is.” She sobbed hopelessly, “I’m completely useless without my friends.”

Thistle thought for a moment, then chimed up.

“Oh Miss Fluttershy, I very much doubt that is true. However, even if you do believe such nonsense, I think you will find that you are in fact with a friend at this very moment.”

After a small pause, the timid pegasus lifted her head once more. Despite her cheeks being wet with tears, Thistle could tell that she was blushing.

“M… maybe there is a way out.” She agreed at last, meekly forcing an uncertain smile.

“That’s the spirit.” Thistle smiled, “let’s find it… together.” He reached out a hoof, in hopes that she would take it.

Fluttershy gulped nervously, but eventually returned his gesture. She began to climb off the lily pad, and lowered herself into the water to join her new friend. She took a better look at Thistle whilst he smiled gently back at her. She concluded that he was unmistakably a donkey, but he was unlike any donkey she had ever seen before. His coat was patterned with strange markings. The ones upon his main body were ring-shaped, but he had green stripes around his tail.

In an attempt to relax his companion, Thistle started splashing a little and making light ripples in the water, revealing his large brown hooves. Fluttershy noticed a vine-like pattern surrounding each one, and began to wander how Thistle came to have them; but she was too shy to ask him. The two of them then spent a moment watching the sun flickering upon the surface of the lake, and admiring the pretty butterflies dancing overhead. Even in her current state of despair, Fluttershy could not deny the beauty of the world she had been transported to. She hoped with all her heart that her friends had been as lucky.

Once the pair decided to leave the lake, they followed the path back into the forest. Thistle was hoping that the portal home would be somewhere near the area where he had first arrived.

“Miss Fluttershy, do you not recognise this place at all?” He asked his companion as they admired the wildlife and scenery.

“N…no.” Fluttershy replied, “well, the plants look similar to those in Equestria, as do the animals, and especially the butterflies.”

“Oh yes I was meaning to ask you about that.” Thistle continued, “why is it that you have that symbol?”

“Oh, you mean my cutie mark?” Fluttershy glanced at the three butterflies on her flank. It didn't make sense to her that Thistle had never seen a cutie mark before, but she decided to be polite and answer him as though it wasn't a big deal.

"Where I'm from, all ponies have them." She explained "they are a representation of our personality, and a sign of who we are. Back home, I dedicated my life to taking care of all kinds of creatures. I discovered that I have a special way of communicating with animals, and it turned out that’s what I was supposed to do.”

“My word.” The donkey replied, “I’ve never heard anything quite like that before. Tell me sweet Fluttershy, is it usually possible for ponies to travel inside their cutie marks?”

That question provoked a bashful chuckle from Fluttershy,

“Oh no,” She replied, “Although… I did see all of my friends being sucked into the cutie marks on their thrones…” She suddenly remembered the horrific events that occurred at the castle. “Although, that could be something to do with… the elements.”

Thistle put a hoof on her shoulder when he noticed her voice beginning to shake,

“The… elements?” he asked,

“Y…yes.” Fluttershy smiled gratefully at him for the gesture, “you see…”

“Shhhh!” Suddenly, Thistle silenced her. His ears pricked up and he glanced around frantically.

He could hear another noise. This one was like thunder, and it was getting louder and louder with each passing second. Soon, the ground beneath their feet started shaking, and animals began hiding and running for their lives.

A huge shadowy figure was approaching them from over the horizon. Thistle and Fluttershy froze in their tracks as it drew closer, now roaring and snarling ferociously. Clouds of fog surrounded it’s gigantic frame, and huge spikes could be seen spouting from its head, blocking the sunlight. After a brief hesitation, the two turned to run, but the creature was approaching at an increasing speed, and once he reached them, his overall appearance terrified Thistle to no end.

He was dark, humongous and scaly, with a skull for a head, and a giant open mouth filled with sharp jagged teeth. His main body was covered with a hundred eyes, and a crowd of angry ponies could be made out among the smoke. They were shouting, they were taunting, and they were heckling.

“You’re pathetic, cowering in fear like that! But you’re not fast enough to run away! You can’t do anything right!” They bellowed, booing and growling in rage.

Thistle couldn’t believe his eyes as he stared up at the monster who was almost twenty times his height. Fluttershy whimpered behind him, shaking uncontrollably.