Fluttershy stirred awake with a grumpy groan. She could tell right away that the lights were on above the Circle again and that Zecora wasn’t in her bed anymore, which made it a little harder for Fluttershy to push herself to really wake up.

Push she did though, propping herself up with her arms and letting out an exhausted yawn. She almost felt more tired now than when she’d fallen asleep, as was often the way of things.

Oh well. She promised she wouldn’t let Zecora down, and Zecora had her own responsibilities to worry about anyway, she couldn’t just be doting on Fluttershy all the time regardless of how much Fluttershy wanted that exact thing to be the case actually.

So she sat up and stretched her arms up over her head, groaning away the sand in her eyes and the exhaustion creeping into her bones. There was a lot to do today, and nothing to do but to do it.

Fluttershy drew the curtains and looked down the mountain that her home was built on top of. The mountain wasn’t so high that you couldn’t see the ground at its base, but it was still enough to make an acrophobic siren a little dizzy, so she stepped away from the window and took a deep breath.

A knock at her door made Fluttershy jump and before she could ask who it was, the door slammed open and in walked a peryton— a monster with the face and antlers of a stag but the winged arms of a harpy and talons to match— with pale blue fur and a fiery red mane that fell across her face in neat bangs but was otherwise wild and untamed.

“Fluttershy! You’re awake!” Windy Whistles beamed, holding out her arms and Fluttershy just had to brace herself for the incoming hug.

“Good morning to you too, Windy,” Fluttershy squeaked out as her bones were crushed by Windy’s intense hug. Windy was a dear friend, but her unlimited energy and enthusiasm wore Fluttershy down awful fast sometimes.

“Are you ready to attack the day, Fluttershy?!” Windy exclaimed as she spun Fluttershy around, the siren wresting herself from Windy’s grasp for the sake of her health.

“I’m not even dressed yet,” Fluttershy said, and Windy just laughed.

“Well then get dressed, silly billy,” Windy blew a playful raspberry and Fluttershy rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. Despite the occasional hassle caused by Windy’s exuberance, her enthusiasm was hard not to love. “We got a big day ahead of us!”

“Oh!” Fluttershy perked up at that. “Do you know what we’re doing today?”

“Yes!” Windy pumped her fists. “I’ll tell you on our way down the mountain, we’ll walk and talk. But for now, you should get dressed! You’re the shining gem of our Family, you gotta look the part!”

“I know,” Fluttershy said, trying not to sound too worn down.

Windy headed on her way and left Fluttershy alone to get dressed. Fluttershy took a deep breath, which seemed harder to do with each passing day, and dragged her hands down her face.

She went to her dresser and retrieved her signature black and red dress which had been cleaned and repaired since last night and placed neatly folded back in her dresser. It was surreal, looking at this thing and knowing what it had been through yesterday, and now had no indication that anything had ever happened to it.

She envied that.

And now she was getting envious of a dress so she sighed and tried to put those thoughts out of her mind.

It was funny though, as she put on her dress and her sockies, it wasn’t Zecora or Tree Hugger or even herself that her mind became preoccupied with. It was that girl she fought yesterday; Rainbow Dash.

The girl’s quetzalcoatl partner was fine too, but Rainbow Dash was something else. Confident and boisterous, and with some incredibly powerful and complex magic.

Fluttershy had a strong hunch that those lasers were Aviamancy, fitting for a harpy, but the explosions were something else entirey; Dragomancy, Fluttershy suspected. Combining two different schools of magic into a single spell was quite a feat, and meant this Rainbow Dash must have been exceptionally talented.

And yet, Fluttershy had a sneaking suspicion that the harpy had no idea what kind of power she had. If she did, she wouldn’t be taking orders from that quetzal who was exhaustingly mediocre by comparison.

Fluttershy just knew that with the proper guidance, Rainbow Dash could become incredibly powerful, and the thought of having that kind of power under the influence of the Family made Fluttershy salivate. Though remembering Rainbow’s scantily clad body trussed up by Fluttershy’s tendrils may have had something to do with that too.

Still though, trying to tame a beast that wild might cause more harm than good, and it was too big of a risk to afford the Family’s resources to it.

But it was certainly something to keep in mind for Fluttershy’s own personal desires… next time she ran into that rainbow-maned harpy, she would have a lot to consider…

Fluttershy was now fully outfitted in the dress her mother bestowed upon her, Fluttershy’s symbol as the ‘shining gem of the Family’, with a window cut in the front to show off the literal shining gem in Fluttershy’s chest, her pride and joy as a siren. Wearing it was always a heady experience, both filling her with immense pride and shouldering her with immense pressure.

Nothing to be done for it though; she lived and died to serve the Family.

Fluttershy stepped onto the narrow stone balcony of her home, surrounded by moss and aging orange and white rock. The structures that dotted the mountain below her all looked identical in size and shape, with their only differences being the natural wear from time and weather.

Such was the home of the Family of Whispers, reigning high on a mountain over the foolish and simple creatures of the Underworld’s Second Circle, with no member having superiority over any other. Except, of course, for the Family’s shining gem.

Windy Whistles was waiting for Fluttershy on the balcony, and the two greeted each other with a polite, enthusiastic wave. But not only was Windy there, Zecora was as well, and Fluttershy’s eyes lit up as they met Zecora’s face for exactly one fraction of an instant before Fluttershy turned her eyes away and felt her cheeks burning up.

“Z-Zecora!” Fluttershy squeaked, feeling so silly that she still got all flustered talking to someone she’d know for uhhhhh a long time? Time felt meaningless and empty. “I didn’t expect you to be here!”

“Good morning, beautiful,” Zecora hummed and grabbed Fluttershy by the collar of her dress, dragging her forward and putting her hands on Fluttershy’s butt, which got another lustful squeak out of Fluttershy that was quickly silenced by Zecora’s lips locking with hers, Fluttershy nearly collapsing from the sudden deluge of gay emotions as she moaned happily in Zecora’s embrace.

“You’re a charmer, Zecora,” Fluttershy giggled bashfully, playfully pushing Zecora away. “So, what are we doing today, uhhh Windy, you said you knew.”

“Mhm, I sure do!” Windy declared proudly, pounding herself on the chest. Fluttershy was definitely paying at least fifty-percent attention to her too, with a mere fifty-percent of her focus going to the feeling of Zecora holding her hand. “Walk and talk time!”

The walk down the Family’s mountain was always a pleasant one for Fluttershy. Family members would poke their heads out their windows or be playing on the mountain or just chatting, and they’d all spare a second to say hello to Fluttershy as she passed by. It was a humbling thing, and reminded her that she was part of something much bigger than herself.

It was nice, and it helped to keep Fluttershy from getting overwhelmed by the very unpleasant news that Zecora and Windy were relaying to her.

Apparently, according to the Family’s spies within the Lightning Knights, the Knights were preparing for a final campaign; a full-on assault on the Family’s headquarters, recruiting or just razing every village between the Lightning Knights’ fortress and the Family’s mountain.

Until now, the two factions had been battling over small towns, in skirmishes that had a fiercely limited scope and minimal collateral damage, but apparently the Knights were tired of losing, and they wanted to take matters into their own hands once and for all.

The only problem was that the Family had no idea why the Knights had suddenly had this change of heart and strategy, which was more than a little concerning.

“So what are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked as the trio reached the base of the mountain.

“We gotta hit ‘em where they live,” Windy said confidently, pounding her fist against her palm. “Or at least, we need to cut their legs off.”

“Our plan is to split our forces,” Zecora explained. “One group, led by Tree Hugger, is going to be meeting the Knights in the fields and whittling them down as best they can.

“Meanwhile, Fluttershy dearest, our force is going to take the secret battery the Lightning Knights have been relying on away from them and use it for ourselves. That alone should provide a swing in momentum that at the very least will cause the Knights to go skittering back into their caves for a while.”

“Battery?” Fluttershy asked curiously. She was aware of some mysterious magic the Knights had been using to empower their soldiers, Fluttershy nearly lost to it yesterday in her battle with Rainbow Dash, but if they had discovered its source then that was news to her.

“A creature, a poppet, named Pinkie Pie,” Zecora said, a predatory grin creeping onto the mummy’s skeletal face. “That’s our target. We will sway her to the Family and, as Windy so elegantly put it, cut the Knights off at the legs.”

“We’ll have two shining gems,” Windy beamed, holding up two fingers before clenching her fist, “and they’ll have zero.”

“It will be dangerous,” Zecora said, caressing Fluttershy’s hand. “We will likely need to go into the heart of the Lightning Knights’ territory. And as our Family can’t match the Knights’ penchant for bloodlust, we will need to defeat them with numbers.”

“Which means,” Fluttershy whined, “we’ll need my siren song.”

“We’ll need it more than ever before,” Windy said. “We’re going to attempt to capture several villages on our road to the Knights’ encampment, and we’ll need as many of those villagers on our side as possible.”

“I’ve never been able to sway a whole village before,” Fluttershy said. She wasn’t quite hyperventilating yet, but her confidence was certainly slipping as she was faced with what felt like a completely impossible task. “I don’t know if I can…”

“You can,” a tender, loving voice resonated in Fluttershy’s ears, and she turned to see a woman who would almost seem like an ordinary mare at first glance if not for the mouth full of sharp fangs, several of them sticking out even through closed lips. She had pink curled hair and pale yellow fur, a warm beacon of softness and light in the treacherous world of the Underworld.

“Mom!” Fluttershy called out giddily, running to her mother who welcomed her with a comforting embrace. “I’m so glad you’re here to see me off.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Posey said softly, refusing to let Fluttershy go, and making her feel safe. She gently raised Fluttershy’s chin to look her in the eye. “And trust me, I know you can do this. We’ve been training you for this your whole life. You’ve got this.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy nodded shakily, “okay! I’ve got this!”

She refused to let her mom down. She didn’t want to let Windy or Tree Hugger or Zecora or anyone else down either! Everyone was counting on her now, and it was her time to show everyone how brightly this gem could shine!

“Alright, now that we have that out of the way,” Posey cleared her throat and then let out a giddy squeal as she squished Fluttershy’s cheeks, “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU! MY BABY’S FIRST CRITICAL MISSION! OOOOOHHH I’M SO EXCITED! You have to promise me to tell me all about it as soon as you get back, okay?”

“Okay,” Fluttershy laughed and batted her mom’s hands away. “But wait, how come you can’t just come with me?”

“I have a mission of my own,” Posey said, her tone and expression deadly serious, but only for a moment before her warm and gentle smile returned. “It requires a personal touch.”

“Awww, I wish I could go with you,” Windy Whistles whined and trotted up to Posey, who laughed softly and gave Windy a kiss on the cheek.

“I wish you could too,” Posey said, running her hand through Windy’s mane. “But there’s no one else I trust more than you, and I want you to be with my daughter and keep her safe, no matter what.”

“You can count on me!” Windy gave a fiery salute.

“I know I can,” Posey said fondly, tracing her finger across Windy’s cheek and under her chin, before planting a kiss on her lips.

And with that, and a few more goodbyes and well wishes, Fluttershy departed with Zecora and Windy in tow, onward to a mission that would prove critical for not only the Family’s victory in their war with the Lightning Knights, but their very existence as well.

No pressure or anything!

moms should kiss other moms, that's what i think

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