Seabreeze’s wings beat faster than a hummingbird’s as he whisked his way towards Fluttershy’s cottage. Panicked thoughts ran through his head, each one more disturbed than the last. But they all revolved around one thing.
Fluttershy was dying.
It had been yet another typical year of the Breezie migration, carting their pollen across Equestria to their homeland. Fluttershy, as usual, came along to cheer them on, her quiet cries of excitement and gentle flaps of her wings helping to encourage them. While he was always busy on these migrations, Seabreeze nevertheless took time out every year to speak to Fluttershy, and to thank her. They’d become fast friends.
He’d just said goodbye to her and had passed a few miles down the path when he heard the cries and screaming of breezies and others behind him. A stronger gust of wind nearly blew all of his fellow Breezies off course before he corrected it, forcing him to spend time guiding and leading them. Only then did he drop back to hear the news that Fluttershy had collapsed.
Leaving the migration in Brezette’s hooves, as that mushroom hat could never be missed, he sped as quickly as he could back towards Fluttershy.
As a Breezie, without prevailing winds to assist, the journey exhausted him. His whole body was covered in sweat when he finally reached the window, which thankfully was open. Inside he witnessed a number of mares clustered around Fluttershy’s bed and blocking his view of her, a mixture of sad and terrified faces among them.
There was also one figure Seabreeze didn’t recognize, one that sent his little heart screaming with terror at its mismatched parts and towering height. Even for ponies this one was tall, and stood on two legs no less.
And yet, after a moment, Seabreeze realized who it must be. While he’d never had the chance to meet him before, Fluttershy had told Seabreeze more than once about Discord, the so-called spirit of chaos, who’d been shown true friendship by her. She’d even privately confessed to Seabreeze she had some feelings for him, which she still wasn’t sure how she felt about.
Seabreeze shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Twilight Sparkle!” he bleated, his squeaky, high-pitched voice hoarse from his rough flying. “I came as fast as I could!”
Twilight Sparkle started, glancing about the room for the source of the noise until she spotted him. Leaning down to look him in the eye, she filled up his entire vision with her own massive ones. “What are you doing here?” she whispered. “You’re supposed to be leading the migration.”
“Forget the migration!” Seabreeze growled, his antenna twitching in random directions. “I am wanting to see about Fluttershy! Is it true?”
Bowing her head, Twilight replied, “Yes. It’s… it’s true.”
“No…” Seabreeze slumped, a rush of pain filling his head as he fought off tears. “But why? I don’t understand. She is healthy and young still, right?”
“...maybe I should let her tell you that herself.” Twilight held out a hoof which, after a moment, Seabreeze deigned to crawl up on.
Whispers and murmurs of confusion arose as Twilight brought Seabreeze over, but he focused on none of that. Instead, he gasped as he saw Fluttershy laying on her back, her face pale as milk, sweat running down her head. Her body shuddered with uneven breaths that rattled in her throat in a way that scared Seabreeze like a cluster of claws scouring his spine. The only sign of life apart from her breathing was her hoof, currently held in one of Discord’s paws, which she ever so occasionally moved.
“Fluttershy!” Seabreeze squeaked, leaping down from Twilight’s hoof onto Fluttershy’s chest.
“Hmm?” Fluttershy’s eyes blinked open, a quiet, high-pitched yelp of pain coming from her throat as she tried to sit up enough to see Seabreeze. “Seabreeze… it’s… it’s good to see you.”
Seabreeze shook his head. “Not under these circumstances! Fluttershy, what is wrong? Why are you so hurt?”
Fluttershy let out a quiet sigh, her muzzle spreading into a watery smile. “I… I never did tell you, did I? I guess not. I don’t… tell many people.”
Somewhere in the room one of the mares let out a yelp of fright, but Seabreeze paid it no heed. “I don’t understand. Please just tell me.”
Fluttershy brought up her other hoof and tapped at her chest down a little ways from where Seabreeze sat. “It’s my heart. I have… a condition called… cardiomegaly. I’ve had it my whole life.” Her eyelids closed suddenly as her chest heaved, forcing Seabreeze to dodge out of the way of a series of dry coughs that threatened to send him hurtling out the window.
Once he landed, Seabreeze reached up with one hoof to scratch his head. “Um, Fluttershy, I don’t know what that means.”
“It means–” began one of the mares, her thunderously loud voice forcing Seabreeze to clap his hooves to his ears. He looked up to see the other pegasus, Rainbow Dash, looking down on him with an expression of contrition. “Sorry,” she whispered. “It means she has a big heart.”
Seabreeze’s throat closed up as he let out a nervous chuckle. “Well of course she does. Every Breezie knows that from when we stayed–”
“No, I’m sorry, Seabreeze, that’s not it,” interrupted Twilight. “Cardiomegaly means an enlarged heart, as in the organ. It can cause shortness of breath, weakness, edema… in Fluttershy’s case, it’s what’s kept her from flying as fast or as long as other pegasi.”
“My heart couldn’t take it,” Fluttershy added with a quiet little titter. “I had to be very careful. Some days I couldn’t even fly. Other days I felt like I could do anything.”
“She’s pushed herself too hard, these past few years,” Twilight said with a sniffle. “Everything she did for us, for Equestria… it was too much strain. She worked her heart too hard.”
“It’s not fair,” murmured Pinkie Pie, whose usual candy floss colored mane had collapsed like a deflated balloon.
“No,” added Rarity, reaching a hoof around to hug Pinkie Pie against her. “No, it’s not. There’s so much more she has to do.”
“It’s okay, everyone,” Fluttershy said, just loud enough to cut off the conversation. “I don’t… I don’t mind. I’ve… lived a good… life.”
Discord, who’d remained completely silent, almost like a stone statue, bared teeth as his mouth curled in disgust. “Oh come on, Fluttershy, you’re better than that,” he growled. “Don’t start mouthing off such dreadful cliches. You have too much to live for. Your animal sanctuary, me, Angel bunny, me, your friends, a-and me!”
Fluttershy laughed, her chest shaking from it until she broke into another fit of spastic coughing. “Sorry, Discord. I wish it could be different.”
“And why can’t it be, hmm? Hmmmm?” Discord glared at Twilight. “ She should have the best doctors in Equestria here to treat her!”
Twilight slapped a hoof to her head. “Discord, for Celestia’s sake we’ve talked about this. We did have the best doctors look her over. Her heart is just too weak. Her ventricles have dilated so much her heart can barely pump blood anymore. It’s a wonder she’s still able to remain conscious.”
Discord raised a pair of talons, ready to snap. “Then I’ll undo it! I’ll fix it.”
“You can’t,” Fluttershy whispered. “It didn’t work, remember? You… you tried already.”
“Chaos magic can’t heal people,” Twilight added. “It doesn’t stick. Its very nature prevents it.”
His paw flopping to his side, Discord folded like an accordion until he was more like a short piece of paper laying next to Fluttershy. “I know that,” he mumbled through jaws that moved more like a puppet controlled by hoof than jaws should, to Seabreeze’s eyes. “But Fluttershy, you… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Seabreeze whirled on Twilight. “And there is nothing that your medicine can be doing to fix this? If it is just dilation, can’t you find some way to undilate it?”
Twilight smiled back, one that shouted hopelessness to Seabreeze. “No. It… it doesn’t work that way. We’d have to have some way of doing it by hoof, but we don’t have any tools small enough or any way to manipulate them.”
“It’s too bad we can’t just shrink ourselves down and go in ourselves,” Pinkie Pie said as she flopped against Rarity.
Twilight sighed. “I wish. I know enough spells to keep somepony alive to do it, but I can’t shrink anypony down enough. Discord’s magic won’t work for this either. Ponies are too big. It’s hopeless.”
Fluttershy reached out with a shaking hoof in Twilight’s direction before it flopped to the size of the bed. “Don’t… don’t feel bad, Twilight. I… I don’t mind. I promise. I always knew this might… might happen.”
Seabreeze knelt down, his hooves spreading out to give Fluttershy as big a hug as his tiny body could manage. “Oh Fluttershy…” he murmured, lapsing into his native Breezie tongue. “You’ll always be remembered by the Breezies for your kindness. We’ll never forget you.”
“Thank you,” Fluttershy murmured in the same language. “I did what I could.”
“I… wait.” A sudden idea flew through Seabreeze’s head as he launched himself off Fluttershy. “Wait a minute! Twilight Sparkle, you were saying that ponies were too big to go inside, yes?”
“Well, yes,” Twilight answered, “But I don’t see what… oh. Oh no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“And why not?” Seabreeze placed both forehooves on his hips as he glared at Twilight for all he was worth. “I’m small enough to save her. I just need to be told what to do and I can do it!”
Everyone around Fluttershy’s bed stood up straight, looks of hope replacing the sorrow. “Oh my gosh!” Pinkie gasped. “Could he really do it?”
“We’ve gotta let him try, right?” Rainbow Dash added.
Applejack nodded, clapping a hoof to the floor. “Ah gotta agree. There ain’t no way Ah can let Fluttershy go knowin’ we had a way that could’ve saved her and didn’t take it.”
Discord unfolded with a bizarre sound of tearing paper until he was whole again. “I would never forgive you if you didn’t take this opportunity, Twilight,” he hissed, his voice filling with menace. He raised one paw, a dangerous glint in his eye. “I might just forget the meaning of friendship.”
“Discord!” Fluttershy chided, though the harsh whisper barely reached his ears. “You don’t have to threaten Twilight like that. I don’t like it or want you to act that way.”
Properly chastised, Discord slumped. “But, Fluttershy…”
“Alright!” Twilight said with a deep scowl. “Fine. I’ll let Seabreeze try to do this. Rainbow Dash, go get Nurse Redheart. We’re going to need her help.”
Rainbow soared away and returned barely a few moments later, carting Redheart in tow. “Would you unhoof me?!” Redheart cried.
“Sorry, Redheart, didn’t have time to explain.”
Seabreeze tuned out the following conversation as he quietly focused on Twilight, who’d already begun muttering to him about the various spells she’d cast. “Together, these should let you breathe and move around normally, even in the bloodstream. I’ll try to teleport you inside her jugular vein. That’ll take you directly to her heart.”
“And once I am there?”
“That’s where I come in, it seems,” Redheart said, a curious expression on her face as she stared down at Seabreeze. “I’m supposed to give you instructions on how to fix the damage… I have no idea how you’ll do that, but I’ll do what I can.”
“Let’s test the communication spell real quick,” Twilight said. She tapped a hoof to her temple. “Testing. Testing. Can you hear my directed thoughts, Seabreeze?”
“Yes,” Seabreeze replied, squinting at the odd feeling of static in his brain that accompanied the action.
“Okay. Then all we have to do is shrink you, and get you inside.” Twilight flashed him a nervous grin. “I, uh, I hope you’re ready. I’ve never tried to do this before and I don’t know if it can be reversed or not.”
Seabreeze shook a hoof dismissively. “I don’t care about that. I just want to save Fluttershy, like she did for us.”
“Alright then. Hold still.”
Seabreeze closed his eyes as Twilight’s magic engulfed him, compressing his body with bursts of numbing and tingling, like sleeping limbs. A part of him had expected to be in excruciating pain, and was very glad that instead all he felt was pins and needles.
Then one more blast of magic sent him spiraling out of control, abruptly immersed in liquid like drowning in a river. His eyes shot open and he flailed as if to reach the non-existent surface before his mind caught up with his panic and reminded him he could breathe. Ever so slowly he allowed his lungs to inhale, breathing a sigh of relief when no blood entered them.
He heard a quiet thumping noise, growing louder and louder as he was swept along down the tube like so many of the other platelets and cells, till finally the sound was so loud he could hardly stand it.
But there it was. The right atrium. Already he could see the signs of the damage spoken of, where bits and pieces of the giant tubes around him had been stretched out.
As Redheart narrated in his head, he got to work, pulling the tube back inward, forcing it back into place the way it belonged. He allowed himself to be pumped into the right ventricle, performed a similar task, then was circled around to the other two chambers. As he worked, he found his energy draining rapidly, each movement harder and harder.
But he pressed on. Even as his own life dwindled he continued to work. He would not let Fluttershy die. Not on his watch. Never.
When he reached the final bit of the aorta to adjust, his eyes blinking slowly, vision greying at the edges, he heard a new voice speak in his head. “Seabreeze, it’s working! She’s getting stronger!”
He could feel it too, from the way Fluttershy’s heart pumped harder, as if trying to force him away. But he couldn’t let go, lest he be swept to who knows where in her body. “I’m almost done,” he replied. “I… just a little more…”
“Careful now, Seabreeze,” Redheart said. “The aorta is delicate. If you make a single mistake here you could undo everything.”
“Oh so there is no pressure, that is wonderful,” Seabreeze snarked as he continued to work. His breathing turned harder, more like gasps as he struggled to get enough oxygen. Was the spell failing? Or was it simply his own body, unable to keep up with the demands?
“...there!” he cried out as he adjusted one final piece. “That… should do it… I…”
Seabreeze’s eyes fluttered closed as he heard some voice screaming at a distance to get him out of there. He left consciousness drift away.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself at his normal size, laying in a tiny little bed atop Fluttershy’s dresser. Fluttershy herself smiled down at him, with plenty of healthy color to her cheeks. “Hello there, Seabreeze.”
“Fluttershy,” he squeaked, barely able to speak. He raised a hoof to his throat and tapped it, prompting Fluttershy to hand him a thimbleful of water. He swallowed it greedily then let it fall out of his grip. “Did I… did I do it?”
“You sure did,” she tittered as she picked up the fallen thimble. “Redheart says my heart is healthier than it’s ever been now. She’s telling me I could live for at least another few decades before it falters again.”
Seabreeze let out a triumphant laugh as he fell back against the bed. “Oh, thank goodness. I was so afraid for you.”
“I know.” Fluttershy’s smile shrank. “Unfortunately there is a bit of bad news.”
“What?”
“Err, well…” Fluttershy sighed. “The portal is shut. You’re stuck here, in Equestria, for at least another year.”
“Oh.” Seabreeze found his good mood faltering. But he swallowed away any signs of distress. “That is fine. They can handle themselves for a while. Breezette will lead them just fine.”
“Glad to hear it.” Fluttershy filled the thimble and brought it back over to him so he could sip at it. “And I’ll take care of you here. You should be up and about in a couple of days, and you’re welcome to live with me until the portal opens again.”
Seabreeze nodded as he sipped at the water. “Thank you. I would very much appreciate that.”
“No, thank you, Seabreeze, for saving my life.” Fluttershy reached out with her hoof as if she wanted to hug him, only to let it drop. “For such a small Breezie you really have a big heart, you know.”
“If I do, it’s only because you showed me the right way to treat everyone.”
Fluttershy broke into laughter, and Seabreeze joined her, happy to let his worries slip away.
Author's Note
This story was written for a speedwrite prompt back in 2021. At the time, I wrote it in memory of my cat, who had passed away the previous December from this very heart condition, and I had made notes to myself to edit this story for a number of reasons that I never followed through on. I recently uncovered it while cleaning out my Google Drive, and after showing it to a couple of friends, I decided to upload it as is, rather than let it languish. I only made minor edits for grammar. I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for reading. 
