This was not the ideal area to be in for Celestia. It had a beauty to it as most things in nature did, but it was so wet and mucky. Though she tried to stay on solid ground, she found her hooves being sucked down in the earth most times. Sometimes as far as her knees. Her legs were so disgusting with mud and her mane and tail dripped with equally as gross water. Her wings flapped slowly up and down in her indignation. It wasn't until she finally had enough of being stuck that she flapped faster, pulling herself free as she also shrunk down to the size of a butterfly.
Could she have done this from the beginning? Yes, of course. She didn't do it often. Being small was nerve-wrecking, as a strong breeze could set her off course and sometimes large birds saw her as prey. She'd been swat at a few times, almost stepped on. And the world was just so big when you were small, it would take so much longer to find the owl.
Dipping her lets into the water to wash away the mud, Celestia frantically shook her legs back and forth in a galloping motion to dry them off before continuing her search.
It hadn't been long since Hedwig had failed to come back. But come back she always had and normally not too much later than when she had left. Loyal to the end, the owl never liked to be away from the Flutter mare for very long. So naturally, Celestia was feeling a bit worried for her friend. Nothing but actual trouble could keep them apart.
So she searched, keeping close to the edge of the swamp, knowing the terrain far too wet for the owl to hunt. Taking much longer than she wanted to as she tried to keep her head on a swivel, paying close attention to everything around her with her vision being so short-sighted now. After another bit of searching, wondering if maybe she had gone back to the last place they had been together, Celestia spied some quick movements in front of her. One blur looked very white and was giving off familiar screeches. She quickened her pace.
"Hey! You leave her alone!" came the tiny voice as the butterfly-sized Flutter darted before the nose of the reptilian-looking creature, all bravery.
