A shot of lightning cracked in the air, snapping the colour of the gloomy sky a momentary picture of white before fading back to black again. It was, without a doubt, a horrid storm.
Accompanied by the lightning, a rumbling of angry thunder bellowed out across the land, backed up by the pitter-patter of heavy rain drops, slapping into the windows of the cottage that resided on the outskirts of the small town of Ponyville, the cottage that belonged to Fluttershy, the pegasus pony with a cutie mark of three pink butterflies, a mane to match it, and a brilliant hue of butter yellow for a coat.
From a window on the bottom floor of her house, the turquoise eyes of the pegasus peered out nervously into the raging storm, watching the leaves upturn and sweep along the floor, plucking and tearing themselves from their housing on the branches of trees and becoming strewn in a random, aimless circulation.
The wind could be heard on the interior of the cottage as it pushed against the relatively thin glass panes of the window, as if they were caught up in a wrestling match, resisting in their place against the force of nature.
A second blast of lightning erupted in white heat in the sky, causing the timid mare to shrink back in her place with a shriek of terror.
''O-Oh, my.'' She whimpered to herself. ''It's certainly a horrible storm outside.'' She said to herself, wincing as a third eruption of lightning blared out and dissipated into the night, assisted by a bowling alley of thunder.
Fluttershy turned her attention to her living room, attempting to drown out her thoughts and the sound of the rampage of nature outside. Her cottage was dimly lit by candle light, a small but bright lantern-like affixed source of light built into the centre of her living room ceiling illuminating the space surrounding her.
She closed the curtain to the window behind her and made her way towards the sofa, with cushions coloured a bright, luminous green and a frame constructed expertly yet simply out of dark oak to intertwine with the theme of both her personality and environment of her home.
From most every corner and crook where one may look in her living quarters, there would most certainly be some form of animal-friendly apparatus or construct. All along the walls of her living room were perches and stands, designed specifically for woodland critters and rodents and birds.
A small bundle of colourful birdhouses were also present, all of which were generously spaced about the place, a small group of hummingbirds reclining on top of them, some even visible through the entry holes as they sought out shelter from the storm. They, like Fluttershy, were no big fan of frightening weather.
From the sofa, Fluttershy tried to piece together a place of nirvana in her brain, yet found that the many thunderous kabooms and bangs of the gloomy night were driving her from doing so.
She was currently positioned into a laying pose, her belly comfortably settled into the rather fluffy cushioning of the sofa and her hooves neatly tucked beneath her, warmed by her body heat.
Her mane dangled in front of her face, the tip brushing against her cheek as her eyes closed, trying to ease herself, yet her tense nerves from anxiety of the storm prevented her from thinking straight.
''Alright, Fluttershy, just got to stay calm. It's just a storm, just a big and scary, gloomy-''
CRASH!!
''EEP!'' The pegasus mare screeched, launching herself out of fear, her limbs extended out at their full lengths, frozen stiff in place by pure adrenaline and anxiety, much like a startled cat would do once jump-scared by something utterly horrific.
In one swift motion and hyperventilating flap of her wings that were now literally buzzing at a speed no mathematician could possibly calculate, Fluttershy became a living ball of butter-coloured propellant and zipped at an unearthly speed up her stairs to the comforting and tranquil confines of her bed chambers, slipping herself hastily underneath her blood-red bed sheets, causing them to catapult upwards before lightly plopping back onto the mattress in a heap, covering the completely frightened mare.
A portion of her hindquarters were left uncovered to the cold air, along with her lengthy cape of pink tail, sending a cold chill up her spine and over her skull from the exposure.
Hooves over her face, she vibrated in a mixture of her own fear and the cold combined with her nerves and adrenaline, giving her the properties of a ringing bell. Although the sheets of her bedspread provided somewhat of a pleasant warmth to her figure, disabling some of her tingling and bodily rattling, Fluttershy still gave a soft whimper.
No matter where she went, the storm was still audible to her well-trained ears.
Then,
Knock, knock
A dull, semi-toned knock sounded in the air, a sound that caused Fluttershy's ears to perk and twitch, her ear tip giving a swift flick to the air, adjusting itself as an instinct to locate the source of the noise. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to make her react.
Slowly, and tentatively, Fluttershy gently pushed herself out of the sheets, allowing her head to escape the entanglement of bed sheets first, using her eyes to scan around the room to where the knock may have come from.
Surely it wasn't somepony outside at her porch, not at this time, and especially not so in this kind of weather!
Just as soon as she was about to go and check the outside area of her house by moving for the stairs, it sounded again, only louder and closer.
Knock, knock.
It sounded as if it was directly next to her, and the fear of the storm outside was replaced by what was going on around her. Has the fright finally taken its toll on her mind, or was she becoming paranoid?
Knock. Knock.
Again, it sounded, with more oomph.
A lump bubbled its way into her throat, and she became disabled from uttering even the smallest or slightest sound. All she could do was hold her breath in her lungs and wait for something unexpected to happen.
She stood at the foot of her bed, eyeing the gap that separated it from touching the floor. It sounded like it was coming from there.
Directly under her bed.
At first, she thought it was maybe one of her animal friends, possibly Angel Bunny, but he knew not to be up here without her knowledge, and the likelihood of any of them being up here was next to nil, so who or what could it be?
The lump in Fluttershy's throat transformed into a thick cube of ice as the world around her seemed to fall into a pit of silence. She gulped inaudibly, allowing her saliva to unstick her throat.
''H-Hello?'' She managed, a ghostly pluck at her vocal chords. ''Is someone down there?'' She asked, her voice slow with fear that she may actually get a response, only then realizing that it was a stupid idea to think of in the first place. It was all in her head. Yeah, all in her head...
''Fluttershy.''
''GAH!'' A scream punctured and broke the ice in Fluttershy's throat, and she snapped around on the spot, her wings unfurled out to their whole extents out of a natural reaction of surprise.
All that met the eyes of Fluttershy was an open doorway, the same one that she had forced open in her episode of panic moments earlier, a pool of light from the outside spilling in and overtaking the darkness of the unlit bedroom. She took a step back, bumping into the foot of her own bed.
With minuscule, fearful and expectant eyes and quickened breathing, she expected something to come out at her from the dark corners of her room, shrouded in pockets of pure black.
''Fluttershy! Over here!'' The voice called again, from behind her.
A pang of suspense lingered in the air and in Fluttershy's heart as she began to slowly turn around, about to face whatever is there. She could feel its presence, resting there on her bed. She could literally feel a sort of static energy that engaged on her mind, not unpleasant, but quite the opposite. It had a sort of warmth and inviting feel to it.
Somehow, for some random reason, all of the fear shrouded into her body that had built up from her previous fear had been demolished and discarded at this new presence.
Of course! Now she knew what it was, or more specifically, who it was.
''Monarch?'' Fluttershy's voice asked, returned to its former and original tone as she finally came around to face the figure on her bed, wearing a gentle smile.
Monarch, this entity to Fluttershy, was sitting on the bed, centred comfortably in the middle of the mattress, her gentle and vibrant orange eyes settled upon Fluttershy's own. Like the pony in front of her, Monarch was also a pegasus, although with a coat that held a similar colour scheme to a golden-orange sunset with a mane of arctic white, styled in a way that could only be described as ''the gentle tomboy'', similar to Rainbow Dash's, but slightly longer and wilder.
Yet, oddly, she did not possess a cutie mark. All that was in its place was her fur. Nothing more, nothing less.
''Well? Aren't you going to say something?'' Monarch asked, her smile a brilliant white set of a grin. The timid mare in front of her only gave a sheepish, embarrassed smile, almost as if she felt a little rude for not asking her how she was. Catching on, she patted the sheets next to her. ''Come on, sit next to me.''
Obliging with her request, Fluttershy made her way to the side of the bed and climbed aboard her mattress, positioning herself in front of Monarch. They stared into each other's eyes for a brief moment or two, and it was Fluttershy that broke the silence.
''So, um...where did you come from?'' She asked, hoping to start up a conversation. Monarch only rolled her eyes and gave a playful pout.
''What, can't a BFF come see her own BFF every once in a while? Everypony's gotta look out for their friends, including me!'' She said, to which the pink-maned mare gave a small blush of guilt. True, they were BFF's, but not in the same way that an actual pony couple were friends.
In Monarch's case, it was all complicated.
''What? Something on my lip, Shy?'' She said in a more gentle voice. Her vocal tones were somewhere in the range of both Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's own, but didn't sound more or less local. As a matter of fact, for as long as she has known Monarch, she didn't actually know what accent she really spoke in, but if she had to guess, she would say Manehattan was a match.
''N-No, it's not that, it's...''
CRASH! BANG!
''EEP!''
Thunder and lightning erupted in a savage explosion, a flash of white briefly flickering in the bedroom, causing Fluttershy to freeze in mid-sentence, her body visibly cringing as her muscles clenched tight against her bones, making her stiffen.
''That...'' She finished quietly, her ears plopped down.
''Hey, just remember what we practiced, Shy. Breathe slowly.'' Her yellow friend complied, inhaling a shaky breath. ''Good. Now, exhale slowly through your muzzle.'' She instructed as she watched her friend release her lungs of oxygen, her features reduced from shaking back to calm and measured. ''See? What'd I tell ya? Works every time.''
''Thanks, Monarch, you truly are a good friend.'' Fluttershy said as she leaned in and hugged the mare, yet only met with air. Nothing was there, nothing to touch. She simply put her hooves through her and she gave a frown, mumbling something to herself, clearly forgetting something that she knew she shouldn't have forgotten.
''Yeah, about that...'' Monarch said half-heartedly.
''I know, I know! You're not...real.'' Fluttershy said in a disheartened tone, feeling disappointed. She looked away from the figure of her imagination. She knew deep down that she wasn't actual talking with nor interacting with an actual pony.
Monarch was as fake as a myth, and as confusing to wrap her brain around as a mathematical physics equation.
It's the main reason that she couldn't know where she came from, because she simply didn't come from anywhere of a natural inhabitants. She was from a hoofed-down pine box given to her as an item from her parents that was requested to be given to her via Fluttershy's great grandmother's will.
Said box was small, but it was what Monarch called home. She remembered it fondly, that box. Every last detail and every last scratch and mark it held on its body a symbol of its old age. Despite it belonging to her great grandmother in a previous age, even she had no clue about the origins of its manufacture, or which area of Equestria it came from, if it even came from Equestria at all!
It was small and square-shaped, measuring in at only a few inches tall and wide, with a lid that was carved expertly on its mid-section to hold the image of a sage and butterfly that rested upon said sage, with wings that held sharp and decorative features of curves and swerves, the most eye-catching feature of the box aside from the scratches it has obtained through the years.
During her time at flight camp, prior to the day she met Rainbow Dash, her current best and closest friend to the present, Fluttershy had taken the box along with her, as a form of motivation and comfort when times got rough, and Celestia, did they.
Torment and teasing ensued her arrival and disability from flying, as her wings were too weak to function as good as the other foals at the camp. Even still, those nasty and spiteful words they chanted to hurt her echoed in her ear drums.
''Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!''
Pure torture. She had locked herself in her dorm later that day, a mess of tears and uncontrollable sadness that welled from deep within her heart and soul, a feeling that she would never wish upon anypony else. How she felt that day was enough to make her wish that she was dead, just to not have to go through that merciless pain of torment.
However, her hooves had been wrapped tightly around the pine box gifted from her great grandmother, her passing only being very recent, which was an attribute to her sad mood that was only amplified by the bullies.
She didn't know what happened, exactly, but a vision of light is all she could recall, right before the box began to emit a soft, white glow. Moments later, that is when Fluttershy met Monarch.
Unlike her, Monarch was not a filly, but fully grown, the same as she is right now. Ever since, she has been the shoulder to lean on for Fluttershy, along with Rainbow, whom gladly assisted her and kept her happy, becoming like her sister, her first true friend.
Although she wasn't real, the filly inside of Fluttershy still wanted to make the wish come true that Monarch could be real. She was her first set of friendly eyes that she found in the flight camp, real or not, and she was always there for her, much like a guardian angel.
A mental smile ran away from her brain as this thought was diminished. It was never something that crossed her mind, a memory very much sealed away in a private, dear section of her brain, the part that she knew would be the last one of her. Without a memory, the ''existence'' of her friend would mean nothing.
At an impasse, Monarch was nothing. She was a mere representation of what Fluttershy wished she could have had at that point in her life, yet, even as a grown and independent mare, she has never let go of her presence from her life. If anything, her subconsciousness only made it all the more painful for her to part with the past.
''I know.'' Monarch said softly, her eyelids dropped in a sympathetic manner, her hoof touching against the shoulder of the butter mare. ''You were so strong back then, even if you never wanted to see it in yourself.'' She said reminiscently, a thoughtful gleam in her bright eyes. ''Listen,'' She touched her other hoof lightly to the underside of her friend's chin, raising her head so that her eyes were facing her. ''you were the best friend I could ever have, and I know that you feel the same. Rainbow Dash is lucky to have a friend like you, Shy.''
Fluttershy smiled warmly, although weakly. She leaned into the hoof of her imaginary friend. ''I know. You'll stay with me, right? I'd much rather you stay than l-leave.'' She said that last part quietly, clearly not wanting to use the word.
Monarch's hooves moved around the back of her shoulders and pulled her in for a friendly embrace, one that promised comfort and tranquility to the timid pegasus's nerves and mind. ''No, I'm not going to leave you, Shy. Not mentally, anyway.'' Monarch said in a soft voice, resting her chin atop Fluttershy's thick head of delicate pink mane. ''We both knew that this would happen eventually,'' She continued. ''and you don't really need me. You've got actual friends to watch over you. Rainbow Dash, your parents, your brother, Pinkie, Applejack, all and more of those ponies. You don't need me, Fluttershy.'' She said, and she could feel a trembling in her hooves, which was the body of the pony in her hooves shaking as tears began to tingle her eyes, about to break free as she failed miserably in hiding a sniffle.
''Hey, hey, let's have none of that. Come on, now, there's no need to be upset.'' Monarch soothed, breaking away so that she could gaze into the eyes of the now-in-tears pegasus. ''You'll always be able to find me, sister. In here,'' She said, tapping a hoof to the forehead on Fluttershy. ''always.'' She finished, smiling gratefully.
''B-But I don-don't wa-want you t-to go...'' Fluttershy said brokenly, wiping away her own tears so that she could make clear eye contact with Monarch. ''Will I ever see you again?''
''Like I said, yes, in memory. Don't worry, I'm not ever going to be far, Shy, that much I can guarantee you. What kind of sister would I be if I just up and abandoned you like that, eh?'' She said, with a playful nudge and roll of her eyes, her lips curled into a small smile, chuckling.
Fluttershy, too, found the mood to chuckle at her ''sister's'' antics and humour, herself smiling in mirroring to Monarch's own. She always knew how to make her laugh.
''I love you, sis.'' Monarch said, leaning close to Fluttershy's cheek and planting a kiss to it before she began to fade. Her features became gradually transparent, slowly but surely. Fluttershy only sat in silence as she watched her dissipate into nothingness, disappearing like a ghost into the night.
Seconds had turned into a full, solid minute, and she was gone. There was nothing left in the room besides the yellow coated and pink maned mare, a smile on her lips as her head hung low, tears dripping warmly down her cheeks.
''I love you, too, sis. Goodbye, Monarch.'' She whispered to the air, listening to how quiet her own voice had become. It disappeared with a small echo, just as soon as it had been pronounced. One last time, she looked up to face the outside world, noticing that the storm had passed, replaced by the marvelous and majestic yellow-orange rising of the sun, the skies clear with clouds tinted a golden hue.
''Goodbye.''
Author's Note
This one line went through my head as I was writing this: ''Why am I writing this? I don't even know why.''
Well? Was this one worthy of a positive outcome/response?
