A slightly tall pegasus with a buttercream coat and a long pink mane was standing shyly next to a unicorn with a pink coat and short two-tone mane of violet and lavender, who was holding a clipboard in her magic. Fluttershy and Amethyst Star wouldn't be two ponies who would normally interact with each other if it weren't for one pony that heavily depended on each of them.
"I'm, um, not intending to mean here..." stammered Fluttershy. "But how, er, strong again the wind do breezies fare?"
A breezie with an aquamarine mane and lemon coat was standing on Amethyst's back, who couldn't help up sigh at the question. "You can ask it to me straight, Flutters; I know jat breezies are all pathetically weak." Twirly twitched her wings slightly. "And the answer to your question depends on how large the flock is. The larger the flock, the stronger the breeze can be because they support each other. The smaller, the more gentle the breeze has to be."
"So, uh, how many pegasi should we have providing the wind?"
"Three light fliers will probably work." She paused to think. "Might want somepony else on hoof to help if needed."
Fluttershy gave a small smile. "Thanks you, Twirly. I'll go see who will be best suited for the job."
The pegasus strolled off along the edge of the crowd that had formed, looking anxious as she had to go talk to ponies. Amethyst made a checkmark on her list, and nodded in satisfaction.
"All that's left is to make sure the path for the breeze goes a safe distance around any obstacles." said Amethyst to Twirly. "And Flitter is already working on that."
"Leaves are some of the most dangerous obstacles!" warned the breezie. "Just one could separate the entire flock!"
She raised an eyebrow as she started off to find Flitter. "Really?"
"Yep. And the usual rule is jat if somepony gets separated, they have to cry out for help so the whole flock can stop to help them." A small smirk formed. "Unless you don't say anything."
Amethyst paused at hearing this from her friend, and added it to her mental list of what she knew about Twirly separating from her flock. "Are you ever going to tell me?" she asked.
For that, she received a scowl. "As soon as you tell me about your sister."
She continued walking. "Fair enough."
Many had things they refused to talk about with anypony, and for Amethyst and Twirly they both refused to speak about their families. They were at a stalemate with each other for answers, since they only would tell if the other did. This didn't make them dislike each other for doing so, and they normally just ignored the subjects.
"Hey, guys!" called Flitter from the air, waving her hoof. "I need Twirly to check the route I chose."
Amethyst nodded, and gave Twirly gentle nudge to get her going in the air. The breezie's wings twitched up and down as she glided up, using a tiny bit of her own propulsion. She made it up to Flitter rather quickly, and hovered in place.
"Alright, I'll test it out." she said. "You just give a nice gust of wind."
Flitter smiled. "Sure thing! It starts back here..."
Both flew off, leaving Amethyst waiting on the ground. She double-checked her checklist to make sure that she didn't miss anything, and was pleased to see that she hadn't. Occasionally she would get distracted by Twirly messing around with things. As she put her clipboard away in her saddlebags, Amethyst felt somepony tap on her shoulder, and she turned to see who it was.
"Oh, hello, Rarity." she said casually. "Is there something you want to ask?"
"Yes, darling." said Rarity, who was wearing some decorated sunglasses. "I just had a question about the breezies."
"And what's that?"
"Well, I'm just a bit confused, that's all. If Twirly only needs a breeze to go faster, why do the other beezies need one at all? Can't they just fly on their own power?"
Amethyst knew the answer in an instant. "Oh, it's quite simple to explain. See, the breezies are carrying a very special pollen that they need to transfer home for the plants to keep growing. Since the flower that the pollen comes from can't be grown anywhere near where they live, they need to go and harvest it. But the pollen only has two days before it goes bad, and they need to bring it home before the gateway to where they live closes, as it only opens once a year. The breeze generated from the pegasi flying preserves the pollen in the baskets, making sure that it won't fall out or go bad too soon."
She nodded from the large amount of information. "I see... So why does the breeze have to be so gentle? Twirly is okay with one pegasus giving her a third of the amount of breeze as an entire flock, so I don't quite follow."
"Oh, well that's just Twirly being Twirly. She trains her hardest to get stronger, which is way she can withstand stronger breezes than other breezies. After all, she doesn't fly with a flock."
"Speaking of, why isn't she with a flock? Did the poor dear get separated?"
She shrugged. "She's never told me. I just found her alone, and she wasn't even nervous about it. She just looked at me, and her eyes lit up with excitement."
Rarity nodded again. "Ah."
"Attention everypony!" called out Flitter just as Twirly flew back down to Amethyst. "The breezies will be arriving soon, so everypony must stay on the ground unless you're a designated flier. When the breezies arrive, make sure that you don't have anything that could suddenly knock them off course, and that you're very quiet due to them having sensitive ears!"
Amethyst looked over at who the fliers, who were Fluttershy, Flitter, and, surprisingly, Rainbow Dash. Thunderland was on the ground below them in case they needed more wing power.
"Why Rainbow Dash?" she asked softly to Twirly.
"She may be all about speed, but she can flap her wings really lightly and still stay in the air." replied the breezie. "And Fluttershy and Flitter are there to monitor her just in case."
Rainbow Dash raised her hoof in the air, which signaled Mayor Mare to start speaking.
"Everypony!" she said softly, the crowd quieting. "Please welcome the breezies!"
Seabreeze couldn't help but sigh as he and the other breezies in the flock drew closer to the pony town they were flying through this year. He would much rather be safe at home, waiting to greet those who had gone to get pollen. But it was his turn once again, and he had to go.
"Are we almost there?" asked Sunny in their native tongue, her long yellow mane trailing behind in the air.
"Only about halfway." he replied. "We just need the pegasus ponies in this place to preserve our pollen before the final stretch."
"Ponies are scary..." said Breezette, nervously tugging at the corner of her mushroom cap.
"Do not fear them." said Seabreeze. "The ponies want to help us. Just remember the number one rule."
"If you get separated, yell for help!" they all chorused.
He nodded. "Good. Now, we should be quiet as we pass by the ponies, so if one of us does yell it will be easier to hear."
The flock slowly flew into the pony town, where a crowd was gathered on the ground to watch them in interest. There were three pegasi providing the breeze that they needed. One had a long pink mane, who looked like the most trustworthy; another had a bow in her hair, and also seemed pretty trustworthy; but the one with a short and spiky rainbow mane didn't look like it was safe for her to be providing them any breeze at all.
Ponies... thought Seabreeze with an eye roll. I'll never understand the things that they do...
The crowd below gave a very soft cheer as the flock passed over them, which was very kind. It was usually too loud, and would throw several breezies off course. But they would all yell if they were in danger, and the entire flock would stop to help them. That was the rule.
As Seabreeze looked down at the crowd, one small glimpse of color caught his eye. It was too small to be a foal, and he became curious. He focused his attention over to the color, and gasped in surprise. On a pink unicorn's back was standing a breezie. She had an aquamarine mane and lemon coat, and was barely paying attention to the flock.
He knew her.
"Everyone stop!" called out Seabreeze to the others, much to their confusion.
"Is something wrong?" asked Cloudia as they all came to a dead stop, much to the confusion of the crowd which could neither understand or hear what they were saying.
"There is a lost flock member!" he declared, which received a gasp of surprise. Lost members were normally not found again. "We must go to her! Follow me!"
While the breezies struggled to move out of the breeze they were in, Fluttershy had Flitter and Rainbow Dash stop blowing the breeze while she flew over to ask them what the problem was. There were confused murmurs in the crowd, and Amethyst turned to ask Twirly if she knew what was going on.
"Hey, Twirly," she whispered softly, "Do you know why they stopped?"
"Huh?" Twirly snapped out of her daydream. "Why what stopped?"
Amethyst sighed. "The breezie flock. Do you know why they stopped?"
She looked up at the flock, and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks in an instant. Amethyst frowned in confusion, while Twirly slowly started to back away from the flock.
"Uh, it's probably nothing- hey, look at the time! I'd better go make some lunch, seeyoulater!"
Before she could zip away towards the Golden Oaks Library, Twirly heard a breezie shout at her.
"Twirly!" yelled Seabreeze as Fluttershy nervously flew up to them. "You come over to the flock this instant!"
Her eyes narrowed, and she turned around. "Make me, Seabreeze!" And she quickly glided off, much to Amethyst's confusion.
"Um, excuse me..." said Fluttershy to the breezie flock. "But, um, I was just wondering why you stopped..."
"We need to get our lost flock member!" replied Lilac gleefully.
Fluttershy gasped. "You mean somepony is lost?"
Seabreeze looked over at the pegasus in surprise. She could understand them? "Yes!" Well, it would be easier for the pegasus if he spoke Equestrian. "Her name is Twirly and she's been lost for years!"
She didn't react to him speaking Equestrian (in a far thicker accent than Twirly), which was unexpected in his eyes. "Oh... She looked away nervously.
Well, that reaction was confusing. "I need to go after her! Or you can go and get her for me! I just need her back in the flock!"
Fluttershy started to tug at her mane nervously, as the crowd slowly dispersed in complete confusion. "Well, um, actually... The thing is-"
"Fluttershy!" Amethyst walked up underneath the pegasus, with Flitter and Rainbow landing next to her. "What's wrong?"
She's the unicorn Twirly was on! thought Seabreeze, flying down as quickly as he could to her. "We need to return Twirly home now that she has been found! Where has she gone? Please bring her here!"
She frowned. "Uh, who exactly are you?"
Had the yellow pegasus not translated what Twirly wanted to tell her? Surely the poor breezie would have been trying to locate them at all costs over the years! "I was the leader when Twirly became lost from the flock! She has been missing for years! She vanished without even a shout or a cry, and was just gone!" He flew closer to her. "And I do not want to her to be lost once more, so she needs to come back to us!"
Amethyst was about to respond, but Fluttershy spoke first. "Lost?" She frowned in concern. "But... She's never said anything about being lost from her flock. Or anything about her flock."
He blinked in confusion. "She hasn't?"
"Not one word since we met." said Amethyst, sounding oddly neutral in her statement. "In fact, she was smiling when she came up to me in the Canterlot Gardens."
"Aren't you from Manehattan?" asked Rainbow.
"Not important right now." said Flitter with a glare towards her.
Seabreeze was getting frustrated, with both the ponies and Twirly. Had she really just run away? What that why she didn't call out? He shook his head. That was preposterous. Clearly the pink unicorn was misremembering the situation. No breeze would be stupid enough to just blindly fly off into clear danger, even Twirly. "We don't have the time for this sort of thing! At least just let me talk to Twirly to see if she'll come back with us."
Amethyst was silent for a moment. "I suppose so."
