Kodama

jeë fami-nä eh-uah je-na

tee fami na-ha eh-jä

eh-na-a

ah-fa-na ua-ma-nä ua-ma-nä ua-ja-nä

gejjë-fa geme-na-há e-me na-ua je-eh-nä

gejjë-fa geme-na-há e-me na-ua je-eh-nä

Fluttershy woke up.

She kept her eyes closed, sensing for shackles or any other impediments, recalled the events of the previous day, sensed for her bag, her pillow, and listened for anything sounding out of place. Only then did she carefully lift her eyelids, finding the forest in the same twilight that it was always in.

She sat up. The spirit was nowhere around, but such was hardly unusual. Opening her bag, she granted herself a modest breakfast of hay and bread, before taking it back in her grasp and heading in a direction of which she hoped it would eventually join up with her original route.

The next task to be tackled was finding a water source. Feeling optimistic, Fluttershy soon let her mind wander, though doing so without ever losing awareness of her surroundings, a skill which she had long since perfected. As was the case so often, she ended up working on her tune, which at this point meant composing and dismissing many variations, unlikely to be satisfied enough with any of them to make a real change. But that was okay. She needed not have progress to show, after all. There was nopony she had to answer to, not for progress, not for anything. There was only her. Soon she found a stream, and with it all that had been missing for her to feel in top condition. The forest was no real enemy, not when she was rested and fed and in good spirits.

Minutes crept into hours, but not once did time drag on; boredom was an opponent she had defeated long ago. Even just listening, submerging in the tapestry of sounds around her, was pleasant enough, good enough for her.

Rainbow Dash would be...

Fluttershy laughed silently.

Here is for loneliness. Here is for loyalty.

She stopped smiling, now, thinking back to Featherfall. It was best, for clear reasons, not to get too too invested, but it was also not advisable to force her thoughts away from what was pulling them. She had no doubts as to what she had done, and yet... no...

No, she was proud of herself, she realized. She had only wanted to have it confirmed. By herself. Naturally. No-one else's opinion was to be trusted, after all.

Rainbow Dash would be-

Oh, stop it.

Fluttershy giggled. taking a moment to pause in her walk and focus on the scent of wet bark and moss. It was never raining here, not ever, but moisture came and went without it.

Well...

There was only one way. Onward.

҈

Three days passed before Fluttershy decided to take to her next visit, leaping into the air without a second of doubt, flying at a nice, low altitude. Nice and safe.

Perhaps unlike what she was headed towards.

She never knew.

The forest appeared to take its time with this one. Fluttershy merely passed a couple of tree spirits, but their clicking and crackling was now merely an afterthought. They could not harm her now, even if they had wanted too.

Then, at once, there was a cave straight ahead. Fluttershy pulled her wings close for a dive, only meeting with the darkness for a few moments before she found herself standing, steady and calm, right inside the library.