The air was thick and muggy, sticking in the throat like it was liquid. Summer was at its height, and each branch hung heavy with rich green leaves, bowed under the weight of summer. The air was thick and muggy. Everything was still. The squirrels, the rabbits — even the very ferns themselves were curled up tight, just trying to wait out the heat of the day.
But there was one flicker of movement.
The gentlest of breezes played through the boughs of the trees. It darted through the foliage, leaves rippling in its wake, breaking up that humid summer afternoon, even if only for a second.
It skipped over the branch of an oak tree, rustling the leaves, and the starling who rested there raised his head in pleasure at the relief the cool air offered. But the little gust of wind did not linger, and was gone almost instantly. The starling sighed and tucked his head back into his chest. Black feathers were not much good on a day like this.
If the bird had looked closer at that little breeze, he might have noticed that it was not quite what it seemed.
In centre of breeze, twisting and steering the seemingly random movements of this singular current of cool air, floated a tiny form. For those with the skill to see them, yellow limbs and a fluffy green mane could be glimpsed. Flashes of gauzy butterfly wings, supporting a body that was not that of any butterfly.
But it moved too quickly to make out — and anyway, the bird had already lapsed back into its disgruntled napping.
“Wheee!” cried the tiny creature as it skipped over a leaf, touching down for only a moment, the infinitesimal impacts of those galloping hooves thudding over the leaf’s surface. She bunched her muscles and leapt, hanging in the air for one second, two, three — before her wide, sparkling wings caught her momentum and she fluttered on.
Twisty thrummed her wings like a dragonfly, pushing her speed to its limit, and her antennae glowed as she resummoned her breeze to its fullest strength to propel her even faster. Though her passage only caused a minor rustle in the leaves of the gargantuan trees she passed, to her the wind was howling and her heart was in her mouth. She threw back her head and laughed with sheer exhilaration. This was the reason she loved to sneak away from the village. Buck Seabreeze, and buck all his ridiculous rules! There wasn’t room to fly like this in the confines of the village.
She tore around another branch, dodging between trees, the laughter bubbling out of her like a stream of water as she swooped down low to the ground — she was utterly free and it felt incredible —
“WHO’S THERE?”
Theboom of the voice was enough to bowl her over in terror, and she backwinged frantically, trying to right herself and spot the danger. There couldn’t be a Bigfolk here, could there? She had never seen one venture so deep into the forest before.
“I SAID WHO’S THERE?” The voice climbed in pitch, and Twisty scrambled for cover behind a nearby leaf. Her eyes widened as she finally spotted the source of all the noise. A gigantic pony, huge and orange as the sun itself, with a massive spike of purple mane atop its head and those queer feathered wings some of the Bigfolk had folded against its back. It was wiping ferociously at its eyes, trying to scrub away some traces of moisture there.
“I HEARD YOU LAUGHING!” bellowed the monstrous creature, blowing its nose hard. “THAT’D BETTER NOT BE YOU, APPLE BLOOM. I SAID I WANTED TO BE ALONE!”
Twisty flattened herself against the branch, heart pounding. How had it heard her?
“BUT WHY WOULD APPLE BLOOM LAUGH?” the Bigfolk said to itself, eyes narrowing as it blew its nose again, even louder than the first time. “OH NO…DIAMOND TIARA, IS THAT YOU? I — I CAN TAKE YOU, YOU KNOW! SHOW YOURSELF!” It flared both stubby wings, and slammed both hooves down on the ground hard enough that the crash of it hurt Twisty’s ears.
“WHERE ARE YOU HIDING?” the monster bellowed, and to Twisty’s horror it began to nose around in the bushes, looking for whoever it thought had followed it out here. And it was getting closer and closer to the bush she had hidden in!
She turned, hoping she could manage to sneak silently away — she definitely wouldn’t be laughing in the forest again any time soon, not if it bought angry giants down on her head!
But then something huge slammed down onto her tail, and Twisty was being towed backwards out of the bush, her hooves scrabbling frantically for purchase but finding none.
“OH MY CELESTIA!” an awed voice cried, loud enough to shake Twisty to her core. “WHAT ARE YOU?”
“Deafened!” squealed Twisty, slamming her hooves over her ears before she fully thought about what a bad idea it was to antagonise something fifty times her size.
There was a moment of silence in which the huge and the small stared each other down.
“You’re a breezie!” The tone was almost accusatory, but at least it was said in a whisper. Twisty blushed, as though she had committed some crime and been found out.
“Y-yes, I am,” she stuttered, still struggling with the shock of being seen at all. Her magic wasn’t strong, not like Seabreeze and the others in the breezie village — but even a baby should have been able to manage the invisibility spell that protected them from the clumsy curiosity of the Bigfolk.
The enormous foal looked up, something like hope appearing in those vast pink eyes. “Are you…are you my breezie godmother, like in the stories? Did — did you hear my wishes?” Her breath caught. “Are you here to help me learn how to fly?”
Twisty automatically opened her mouth to deny it, but something about the still-wet cheeks of the giant foal stopped her. A freakish giant she might be, but she was still just a child. She was still just a little girl in pain. Just like Twisty had been, once.
“Yes!” she said brightly, before she fully knew what she was doing. “You bet your flank I am!”
The enormous orange foal cheered and stomped its vast hooves against the ground with such glee that Twisty was knocked to the floor again, and as she stared up at the gigantic, delighted face, she bit her lip. What on Equus have I gotten myself into?
