Windy Whistles led Fluttershy and their relatively small faction of Family members through the forests of the Second Circle on a mission to rescue Tree Hugger from the Lightning Knights. It wasn’t long before they reached a curious village.

It was built on top of a narrow hill, but you could still see the swamp below on either side. The hill wasn’t that high up, you wouldn’t even be hurt if you jumped. The houses were all carved out of thin, tall trees that lined the hill in a pitchfork pattern. No other trees were around except the handful of houses. Something about the place immediately stood out as odd to Fluttershy, and she wanted to leave.

But the group was weary and needed to rest. It wouldn’t do for Fluttershy to push her Family beyond their limits, both out of practicality since they all needed to be at their best to save Tree Hugger, and also just because it simply wouldn’t be right.

And for what it was worth, the villagers were incredibly welcoming, readily inviting the Family to rest with them and take a load off, and even insisted on the visitors enjoying a feast for their troubles.

“Wait, a feast?” Fluttershy asked confusedly, the siren halting and putting a finger to her lips as the villagers showed off a grand table in the middle of their community stacked with sumptuous food and mouth-watering drink.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Windy clapped her hands, already seeing stars.

“You make food out here?” Fluttershy asked one of the villagers, ignoring Windy for a moment.

“We do,” the villager nodded her head. “Culinary arts are an important part of building community, even if food isn’t a necessity for monsters.”

“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy hummed. “But what about the Lightning Knights? They destroy every farmland they come across, how have you not—”

“Just good fortune, I suppose,” the villager shrugged. “We’re pretty outta the way, and we just haven’t had any contact with the Lightning Knights.”

“Good fortune, huh,” Fluttershy muttered as the villager joined in on the feast and left her behind. Fluttershy’s mantra was to always be skeptical of good fortune. “Windy?”

Fluttershy tried to get Windy’s attention, but the peryton was already lustfully looking over the table with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. There was a lot of chatter too, between the villagers and the Family, and the more time Fluttershy spent in that circle of trees, the more she felt like she was about to pass out, so she saw herself out when no one was watching.

She headed out past the circle of trees that made up the village, and everything seemed a lot less cramped outside. She looked up and saw only the canopy of trees that blotted out the Underworld’s makeshift sky and she sighed.

“Hey,” Windy’s voice made Fluttershy nearly jump out of her skin. “Oh, sorry.”

“You’re fine,” Fluttershy waved with a polite smile, hand over her pounding heart.

“Everything okay?” Windy walked up and put her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, and honestly even that small gesture made her feel leagues better.

“Umm, I dunno,” the siren muttered. “Maybe I’m over-worrying.”

“Probably,” Windy nodded and that made Fluttershy chuckle.

“It’s just,” Fluttershy groaned and twirled a strand of hair around her finger, “doesn’t this seem a little suspicious to you?”

“No,” Windy shrugged. “This village is on the outskirts of where a lot of our conflict with the Knights is happening, so it makes sense that they’d be a little more welcoming and that they haven’t had a run in with the Knights.”

“Mm, I guess,” Fluttershy took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. “I still— I dunno, I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling about it.”

“Well, I think you should trust your gut,” Windy said confidently, putting her hands on her hips. “And I trust you, so. If you think this is a bad situation, we’ll move on and camp at the next village.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy smiled softly. “Thank you.”

If only the rest of the Family had been as easy to convince as Windy had been. Or the villagers for that matter.

Fluttershy hadn’t the heart to tell everyone that they were packing up and leaving already, so that job fell to Windy. Still though, not being the one to directly relay the bad news didn’t make the Family’s collective groans and complaints and frustrated barbs sting any less.

The villagers weren’t happy either, bemoaning how rarely they got guests or saw new faces, or how the Family had just gotten here and hadn't seen the best their village had to offer.

Eventually everyone just started yelling at each other until Fluttershy finally relented and left the village again to go hyperventilate on the outskirts, this time with Windy in tow.

“Well that could’ve gone better,” Windy laughed awkwardly, and Fluttershy let herself chuckle. She appreciated Windy being on her side at least.

“They were really going at that food, huh?” Fluttershy said.

“It was GOOD!” Windy clapped her hands and licked her lips. “I only got a wee bit in before I left to come check on you, but wow. These guys know their stuff!”

“You know, if you want to go eat with everyone, I understa—”

“Don’t be silly!” Windy laughed and slapped Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I’m not gonna let you stand out here all alone. Besides, food is nice and all, but company is even better, especially when it’s with my favorite girl!”

“Oh, am I your favorite girl?” Fluttershy said teasingly. “I wonder what mom will think about—”

“She’s my favorite woman,” Windy bit her lip, and looked to the sky for a sec before turning her focus back to Fluttershy. “Big difference! You’re a swell gal, Fluttershy. Posey really raised you right.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said bashfully, rubbing the back of her neck as she leaned against one of the trees surrounding the village. “You’re a real charmer, Windy Whistles.”

“I just like being nice,” Windy said confidently. “And you’re cool. You remind me of— ugh, can I be like super lame with you right now?”

“Mhm,” Fluttershy nodded and smiled sweetly.

“When I came down to the surface, I had a kid with me,” Windy said, and she looked uncharacteristically melancholic. She took a deep breath for a sec before continuing. “He was the cutest little ball of energy I’d ever seen. Born during the night, so his soul was taken right as he was sitting in my arms.

“But I’m not just a mom, I’m a mama, and I’d fight the devil herself to keep my kid safe. I couldn’t do it though. The Nightmare took him, but it took me with it. Umm…”

Windy took a sec to sniffle and dry her eyes, and Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder as the peryton laughed bashfully.

“So anyway, we got separated when he was still a wee thing. Dunno if he’s even still— uh, my point is, you’re about his age. So. I guess I wanna do right by you extra hard cuz of that. Gawd, is that super dumb? That feels—”

“No, it’s fine,” Fluttershy sighed softly and took Windy’s hand. “It’s very sweet, and I appreciate you looking out for me more than anything. I know my mom does too.”

“Your mom is an absolute angel,” Windy sighed and smiled fondly, “but I’m sure you have probably heard that a time or two already.”

“I have,” Fluttershy giggled, “mostly from you.”

“WELL IT’S TRUE!” Windy blurted out loudly, making both women laugh, Windy putting her arm around Fluttershy. “In that battle, where I got separated from my kid, it was Posey who saved me. Took me into the Family, gave me a new life. One where I’m not constantly fighting to stay alive, like I was with the Lightning Knights.”

“Good,” Fluttershy huffed. “No one deserves to be with the Lightning Knights, least of all someone as nice as you are.”

“Sheesh, now who’s the charmer?” Windy said and playfully gave Fluttershy a little push.

Fluttershy giggled, and she pulled out one of her most prized possessions that always helped her focus when she was anxious; a water bottle, that was enchanted to fill with clean water in response to a little spark from Fluttershy’s magic.

She took a sip of water and felt instantly refreshed. Water was another thing monsters didn’t need, but for Fluttershy it was her lifeline, the thing that kept her sane above all else.

“I still think it’s so cute how you and your mom both drink water,” Windy laughed sweetly.

“Yeah, she must’ve passed the habit onto me,” Fluttershy shrugged. “You want some?”

“Sure!” Windy beamed and politely took the bottle from Fluttershy before putting it to her lips and taking a big chug, letting out a loud satisfied sigh when she was done. “I don’t need it but, damn. Old habits, I guess.

“I think a lot of us who remember what the surface was like have a harder time saying no to good food and drink.”

“You may be right,” Fluttershy said. “I was born here, so I don’t really— um, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah?” Windy looked like she was visibly sweating, and she started wobbling to keep her balance. “Why do you—”

She fell to the ground and Fluttershy gasped, getting onto her knees to check on her friend. Windy was still breathing, but she had passed out, and naturally Fluttershy was immediately worrying. She caught sight of some shadows on the nearby trees, likely the villagers walking by. She had a bad feeling, and decided to disappear into the spilled water from her bottle that Windy had dropped.

A small group of the villagers came out from the trees toward where Fluttershy and Windy had been talking, laughing amongst themselves. One of them Fluttershy hadn't seen before; a teal-furred fury with lightning coursing through her semi-translucent body, a mane of golden hair, and bloodstained wings on her back.

The fury walked over to Windy and picked her up, slinging the unconscious peryton over her shoulder and cackling.

“Nice job, everyone,” she said. “Y’know, usually I don’t like resorting to petty tricks, but in this case it was worth it to get our hands on that siren.”

Oh.

Now it was all clicking together.

The reason these villagers seemed strange to her, and why they hadn't been visited by the Lightning Knights.

They were the Lightning Knights.

remember folks if u ever find urself in a spooky village full of overly-friendly townsfolk who offer u mysterious food and drink, maybe just don't