Fluttershy took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh that hopefully sounded calmer than it was.

“Wow you sound nervous,” Windy Whistles chimed in, making Fluttershy’s face turn bright red. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay!” Fluttershy lied, the pitch of her voice raising to an octave that could only be described as ‘piercingly shrill’.

“She’s worried about the limits of her own abilities,” Zecora said, sounding as calm as Fluttershy wished she was. The mummy gave Fluttershy a comforting hand on her shoulder and an encouraging smile. “But she worries needlessly, for we all have the faith in her that she lacks.” Zecora put her hand on Fluttershy’s cheek and she sighed contently. “You’ve got this.”

A soft melody escaped Fluttershy’s lips as the siren began her hypnotic song, the enchanting sound echoing through the roads and homes of the small village that Fluttershy and her group stood on the outskirts of.

Fluttershy’s siren song had proven time and again to be an invaluable tool in recruiting new members into the Family, but Fluttershy had never pushed herself to the level she was being asked now, to hypnotize entire villages on her own.

She could feel the magic of some of the villagers beginning to resonate with her own, but it wasn’t enough, it was only a few. Fluttershy pushed herself harder and her voice started to crack and strain under the pressure, only serving to make her song falter and flounder against closed ears.

Zecora squeezed Fluttershy’s hand, and the song came to an end, Fluttershy holding back tears until she looked at Zecora’s kind smile, and Windy’s huge beaming grin and thumbs-up.

“You did great,” Zecora said sweetly, caressing Fluttershy’s cheek.

“I only secured a few,” Fluttershy said weakly, as several villagers exited their homes or stopped what they were doing to respond to Fluttershy’s call and approach her, followed by a small handful of non-enchanted villagers who simply wanted to know what the commotion was about.

“This is great!” Windy said, clapping her hands. She left to go make preparations, signaling to other members of Fluttershy’s group so that they could initiate these new recruits into the Family as quickly as possible, and convince some of the ones who hadn't been enchanted to join as well. It was never quite as simple as singing the song and that was that.

“You got more than enough for your first pass,” Zecora said, leading Fluttershy away so Windy and her group could do their work; it always stressed Fluttershy out cuz she worried so much that her song wasn’t strong enough or that they wouldn’t be able to convince the unenchanted. “I’m proud of you, especially for the way you pushed yourself.”

“But I failed,” Fluttershy let out a bitter scoff. “My ‘pushing myself’ only made my song weaker.”

“This time, perhaps,” Zecora mused. “But without pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, you won’t be able to grow. So I’m proud that you took the risk and chose growth over stagnation today.”

“You’re too kind,” Fluttershy said bashfully, melting under Zecora’s praise.

“I am just the right amount of kind,” Zecora let out a funny laugh. “Frankly, I’m not as kind as you deserve!”

Fluttershy laughed at that too, and Zecora took her gently by her chin and turned her to face Zecora, who then proceeded to lay a kind smooch on Fluttershy’s lips, the siren giggling as her lips tingled from Zecora’s touch.

“I’m still not used to that,” Fluttershy said, feeling like a little smitten kitten; she was embarrassed, or at least she would be if she were around someone other than Zecora, who she felt very safe with and understood by.

“Well I have plenty more where it came from,” Zecora said before kissing Fluttershy again, “to help you adapt.”

“Thank y—”

Fluttershy’s attention was suddenly grabbed by the woman standing tall in front of Zecora and Fluttershy, the former standing up defensively to meet the woman.

She was a short gray monster that looked almost like a pony; she wore a silly hat, and her body appeared to be made from solid stone, cracks forming across her arms and legs and dirt falling from those cracks onto the ground. She was a gnome.

“Who are you?” Zecora asked, politely but firmly.

“Maud,” the woman replied.

“Maud,” Zecora said tepidly. “Is there something we can help y—”

“You’re from the Family of Whispers,” Maud ignored Zecora, stepping past her to stand over Fluttershy, “right?”

“I am,” Fluttershy said, holding her hand in front of her defensively. “And?”

“You’re looking for the pony soul, but you’re in the wrong place,” Maud said, and her tone was flat and monotone; it was impenetrable and difficult to understand where she was coming from emotionally, and if Fluttershy should feel threatened or intrigued. “Why?”

“P-pony soul?” Fluttershy looked toward Zecora for explanation, but the mummy pretended not to notice; just because Zecora didn’t have eyes, didn’t mean she couldn’t see, and they both knew Fluttershy knew that, so that was really not the answer Fluttershy wanted. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know,” Maud said, and Fluttershy couldn’t tell if she sounded confused or disappointed. Or maybe both? Neither? “Your superiors didn’t tell you. Odd, considering your obvious power and value. There’s no way they don’t know about the soul.” Maud looked over at Zecora. “What’s going on?”

“The pony soul is none of our concern,” Zecora said, and Fluttershy’s ears perked up. What was she not telling Fluttershy?

Maud blinked at Zecora, then looked at Fluttershy who at this point was just desperate for some kind of explanation. Maud looked at Zecora again.

“Your superior is after the soul,” Maud said, “and using your group as a decoy for the Lightning Knights.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘decoy’, that somewhat undersells the importance of this group and our mission,” Zecora said. “But close enough, I suppose.”

“Odd place for a decoy,” Maud said, “so close to the soul. Would make more sense for the decoy group to be in an entirely unrelated area, unless… unless the soul retrieval group isn’t looking in the right area.”

“Our intel is sound,” Zecora said defensively.

“You sure?” Maud asked. “Bet against the Lightning Knights getting to the nearby mining village first?”

“Nearby mining villa— ugh, enough,” Zecora groaned and shook her head. “We don’t have time for this nonse—”

“Zecora,” Fluttershy stood up and spoke, “I want to hear Maud out. She has an awful lot of information for a civilian, don’t you think?”

Zecora was speechless, until she sighed and extended her hand in a gesture for Maud to explain herself.

“I came here from the surface recently,” Maud said. “Part of a Paladin expedition. My soul was taken, but our leader was cautious. Her lingering magic allows me to detect and locate her soul, even from a distance.”

“That’s an awfully specific story,” Fluttershy looked to Zecora again and smiled anxiously, “is it wrong that I trust it?”

“No,” Zecora grumbled. “It is awfully specific.”

“The mining village isn’t far from here,” Fluttershy said. “It wouldn’t be that much of a detour, and if Maud is telling the truth, we’ll have saved our group an awful lot of trouble.”

“And if it’s a trap?” Zecora crossed her arms and grimaced.

“Then we fight back,” Fluttershy said sincerely. “It’s like you said, sometimes we need to risk choosing growth over stagnation.”

“Hm, it’s not my place to argue with you, Fluttershy,” Zecora sighed. “I support you no matter what, and if this is what you believe is right, I’ll follow you.”

“Thank you, Zecora,” Fluttershy bowed her head to Zecora, and then to Maud in turn. “Maud, will you guide us to the mining village, please?”

“Sure,” Maud shrugged. “I’m not interested in what happens to the soul, I just want to make sure my friends are safe.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy put a hand over her heart and breathed a sigh of relief, “now that we have that settled, we can—”

“You guys!” Windy said, charging toward the three women, looking and sounding deathly pale, which of course instantly put Fluttershy on edge. “I have really bad news! I just heard from some of our information peeps that Tree Hugger was taken captive by the Lightning Knights!”

“Wh-what?” Fluttershy said, feeling like her spirit was leaving her body as she lost the strength in her legs to stand and collapsed onto the bench behind her.

“Fluttershy,” Zecora said sternly, Fluttershy immediately giving Zecora her full attention. “Do you still care about following this potential lead on the pony soul?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said, and she wondered how Zecora could even possibly ask her that. “But Tree Hugger—”

“Then I will let Maud lead me to the soul,” Zecora said, and Maud nodded slowly, “and you will take Windy Whistles and the majority of our forces, and go rescue Tree Hugger.”

“W-without you?” Fluttershy said, terrified.

“Yes,” Zecora nodded, and she knelt in front of Fluttershy and took her hands. “Windy isn’t able to lead a force on her own.”

“It’s true, I’m too dense,” Windy chuckled awkwardly.

“And I can!?” Fluttershy shrieked.

“Yes, you can,” Zecora kissed Fluttershy’s fingers. “You have been raised and trained to do exactly that, even if you haven’t had the opportunity to put those lessons into practice before now. But sometimes we need to take a risk and choose growth over stagnation.”

“O-okay,” Fluttershy said, trying to breathe calmly and not cry and freak out, as was her instinct, “if you’re sure.”

“I know you can do this,” Zecora put her hand against Fluttershy’s cheek, and it was like she was physically instilling her confidence into Fluttershy, and it made her smile. “We can use the information network in case of emergencies, we won’t be that far from each other.”

“If anything happens to you,” Fluttershy said, taking Zecora’s hands in hers, “I’ll come running to your rescue, I promise.”

“Likewise, sweet Fluttershy,” Zecora laughed softly and pressed her nose against Fluttershy’s before laying a tender kiss onto her lips.

“Don’t worry,” Maud interjected, “I’ll take good care of her.”

“Thank you, Maud,” Fluttershy giggled. “And thank you Windy, and Zecora. Without all of you, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“Don’t sell your own strength short, my dearest,” Zecora said, standing up and helping Fluttershy to stand too.

“Okay,” Fluttershy snorted and wrapped her arms around Zecora, once again trying not to cry before forcing herself to let go. “Let’s just get everything done as soon as possible so we can meet up again.”

“Of course,” Zecora did a bow and kissed Fluttershy’s hand. “Until we meet again, Fluttershy, I will see you later.”

“See you later,” Fluttershy said, and Zecora took Maud and went to divvy up the Family’s group, Fluttershy whispering under her breath, “Zecora. I love you.”

the most important part of being a gnome is wearing a silly hat