A stinging but brief pain appeared in Fluttershy’s front hooves, causing her to trip over herself. She landed flat on her face, bringing another more present pain in her head, messing up her hair in the process as well. She immediately remembered what she had been carrying, and glanced back into her saddlebags to find them empty. Without turning back around, she heard the sound of glass shattering and dread instantly consumed her. She recalled the events leading up to this at a fast rate, while her mind processed the meaning behind the shattering glass.
Fluttershy had been in a bit of a conundrum earlier. Angel had somehow gotten stuck in Sugarcube Corner’s freezer for several hours, and he had begun to show signs of hypothermia when the Cakes had found him. No matter what Fluttershy or any other veterinarian had tried, Angel’s body temperature had not risen. Out of ideas, the ponies had chosen Fluttershy to visit the only creature who knew how to cure any disease; Zecora.
At first, she was scared going into the Everfree Forest, especially since she would be going all by herself. It didn’t help that it was pitch black outside. Fluttershy was also worried about leaving Angel by himself, but the trepidation of entering the forest outweighed her worry over her pet rabbit. She had managed to get to the outskirts of the forest, however, and was ready to go inside. The yellow pegasus knew that her pet’s life depended on it, and she trusted that in her absence that her friends would take care of Angel. Taking a deep breath, she entered the dark forest.
As soon as she entered the forest the general atmosphere seemed menacing to Fluttershy. The way the leaves rustled in the breeze; the way the moon barely showed itself among the thick leaves of the trees overhead; the way the creepy insects shot across her path. She took slow steps, darting her gaze from side to side, scared of whatever terrors that may have been hiding among the dense foliage. Her fears finally paralyzed her after what she had deemed as a far-off manticore had roared fiercely - very loudly - even at the distance between the manticore and the pegasus. Fluttershy curled up in a ball, attempting to hide in her thoughts so she wouldn’t have to face her fears.
She went over years and years of memories - her life literally flashing before her eyes - recalling each one as if they were but seconds long. She finally reached her previous encounters in the Everfree Forest in the timeline of her life, and looked out of her ball. She deemed the forest wasn’t so scary, after all she had been through since she met Twilight. She had out-stared a cockatrice for Celestia’s sake! That helped ease Fluttershy’s fears, but only a little. She remembered Pinkie Pie’s song that helped her ease her fears all those months ago, and started singing quietly to herself.
“♪...gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears, you’ll see that they can’t hurt you, just laugh and make them disappear...♪” Fluttershy chuckled to herself, imitating Pinkie Pie’s laugh. “♪Sooooooo, giggle at the ghosty, guffaw at the grossly, crack up at the creepy, woof it up with the weepy, chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky...♪” She repeated the same lyrics multiple times, eventually laughing herself into submission. She couldn’t continue walking until she made herself count to 10, and took deep breaths.
Fluttershy had regained complete control over movement along the path, albeit at a much quicker rate than before. She moved with a sense of urgency now, realizing how much was really on the line. Her nature-loving side showed itself still, however, even among this serious affair. She sung along with the birds in tune, smelled the flowers, and even stopped to play with a stray timber wolf pup that had came across her path, right in front of Zecora’s hut.
In the carefree mood that Fluttershy had been in, Fluttershy had been surprised to find a little timber wolf in her way, stick in mouth. The pup had approached Fluttershy and dropped the stick in front of her. It was panting heavily, as if it wanted to play fetch. Fluttershy humored the pup by picking up the stick with her mouth, and throwing it to the side. The baby wolf scurried over to the stick and picked it up again. It began to run back to Fluttershy, but a pair of howls disturbed the serenity of the scene, and the pup slowed to a stop. It dropped the stick and turned back towards the brush.
Two timberwolves popped out of the brush, leaping over the pup. They landed on the side of the baby timber wolf closest to Fluttershy, and started growling in a defensive manner. Fluttershy was forced to retreat as far as she could, curling up against the other side of the pathway. She desperately looked into Zecora’s hut’s windows, hoping that Zecora or anypony would appear any second now. She suddenly wished to be nothing but a fly on the wall; watching the events happen instead of participating in them. The growling wolves watched her, and she watched them, not sure of what was going to happen next.
What did happen surprised Fluttershy. The one on her right stopped growling, and turned around to seemingly tend to the pup. She realized the one who ceased to growl was the mother of the small wolf, and the other was the father. The pup and the mother exchanged a small flurry of barking, with occasional looks at Fluttershy from the both of them. The father, on the other hoof, continued growling throughout this, as if Fluttershy would “exploit” the situation to attack his family.
The mother finally turned back around and barked something at the father. He stopped growling, and actually appeared to be smiling at Fluttershy. The mother and the pup took the same emotion, as if they were thanking Fluttershy for finding the small pup. Their smiles reassured Fluttershy, and she was able to find her ability to move again. The wolves then fled the scene into the large forest, disappearing in seconds. The entire affair had appeared to go by for several minutes, according to Fluttershy, but in actuality it was nothing more than two minutes.
Fluttershy watched the wolves go away, and a thought dawned upon her. The Everfree wasn’t just a home for menacing creatures such as the cockatrices or the manticores; it was also a home for hundreds, if not thousands of animals that relied upon the dense forest to survive. The Everfree Forest wasn’t just a scary place; it was a place of thousands of animals and plants to coexist. A weird feeling pulsated through Fluttershy as she took this all in, giving a sense of enlightenment for the information she just processed through her mind.
At long last, Fluttershy knocked on the door to find Zecora waiting for her.
“Ah, hello there my sweet Fluttershy. You are welcome inside, unlike most pegasi. What brings you to my hut, in the middle of nowhere? I doubt that it was much more than a simple nightmare.”
“Zecora I-I-I need something to heal m-m-my bunny.” Fluttershy chattered her teeth together as she talked, mostly the awkward result of traveling outdoors in this time of day, the other cause being that her best friend was on the brink of death.
“Oh my dear, tell me what is wrong with your little hare. Maybe then I can help give the bunny some care. And please do calm down. Your outlook does not need to have this tint of brown. Take a few deep breaths, Fluttershy. Rest assured I will concoct a brew that will heal the little guy.” Fluttershy took in deep breaths, counting to ten in between. She managed to calm herself down, at least the part that was still worrying about Angel. She was still freezing, even as Zecora ushered her into the warm hut, so Zecora gave her a minuscule sip of a potion that Zecora explained would heat her up.
Fluttershy explained the situation to Zecora, making sure to list the symptoms carefully.
“Feeling cold, you say? Sounds quite dire. As a remedy, I suggest a teaspoon of Phoenix Fire." Zecora picked up the vial that Fluttershy had sipped out of earlier, cleaned it, and poured a single teaspoon of a mysterious liquid inside. Fluttershy noticed that this was the same liquid she had sipped earlier, but Zecora had filled up the vial to the brim, which worried Fluttershy.
“Are you sure I’ll need that much?” Fluttershy asked cautiously.
“Angel will need more than one sip to heal his condition. This is only to ensure a return to his normal disposition. Give him but one sip every hour. Soon his health will no longer be sour.” Zecora finished pouring the brew, and gave the vial full of Phoenix Fire to Fluttershy. Fluttershy reluctantly accepted it, storing it away in her saddlebag. Fluttershy started to move towards the door to leave, but Zecora wasn’t finished talking. She put her hoof in front of Fluttershy, arresting her movement.
"Be careful. Not much is needed to start a blaze, so keep your head out of a haze. All it requires is but one spark; it will be very easy to do so in the dark. This is a very important warning, do you understand, youngling?” Fluttershy nodded her head slowly, not sure if she should handle such a big responsibility. “Now go, save your pet. What happens now is purely kismet.”
Fluttershy had ran back through the forest, racing against time. The last thing she remembered before tripping was that there was no light to go by; the only things that illuminated the dark insides of the forest were the wet leaves which reflected the small rays of light from the moon.
Recalling those events, allowed her to remember Zecora’s warning, and allowed her to overcome her mental block. Her mind cleared, she turned back around to find that a fire the size of a pea had started on a tree to her left. She breathed a sigh of relief, for in her mind Zecora’s warning had left a much stronger impression. She walked over to the affected tree, minding the broken glass on the ground. She pulled out a piece of cloth that Twilight had made to be resistant to flames, and smothered the fire with it.
She withdrew the hoof holding the cloth without looking, and walked back in the direction of Zecora’s hut. Zecora would understand her mistake, right? A sigh of relief escaped her lips, which turned into a gasp of fear as a crackling sounded off behind her. She revolved around to find that the small pea-sized fire had not just remained, but had grown exponentially in size, equivalent to the size of a watermelon.
Her wings took flight, adjusting to the cool air, and hastily regained the distance she had put between herself and the fire. Reaching the tree, she pulled out the cloth again and made sure to absolutely cover the entire span of the fire; in vain, of course. The “flame-retardant” cloth burst into flames, which led Fluttershy to deduce that it was a magical fire, and that it was probably hopeless. That didn’t stop her from trying, however. Her resolve was set on extinguishing the fire.
Fluttershy’s heart racing, she quickly tried blowing on the fire. The adrenaline flowing throughout her gave a burst of energy, but the carbon dioxide had no effect on the fast-spreading inferno. She continued on with this for twenty seconds, each breath spreading the fire even farther up the path of the tree. By now, the tree’s entire bottom was ablaze. Embers flew off of the growing flames, creating more pea-sized flames in the thick plant life around it. Smoke was starting to thicken in the enclosed forest; Fluttershy struggled for oxygen as the air was outnumbered by the accumulating fumes. Her lungs were already deprived of oxygen as it is, having tried to stop the spreading seconds prior.
Fluttershy’s body was at its weakest; she knew she had to get out of there quickly. But yet, she couldn’t just let the tree burn. Could she willingly abandon an ecosystem full of thousands of animals that depend on it to survive? No, she couldn’t. But this was a different sort of a situation. She could choose to either save her life and live to tell another day, or die in vain protecting the thing you love. If she died, then who would take care of her animals? Who would bother to go the extra length and take care of them? Nopony would, although they would have the compassion to do so. They just simply wouldn’t know how.
Fluttershy’s instincts kicked in, and her thoughts were lost. Whatever decision would have been made in good thought was lost among primal instinct as a burning branch fell with a thump. As it fell, it passed in front of her face, giving off intense heat. It horrified Fluttershy to find that the tree was entirely ablaze, and a huge bonfire had spread throughout the clearing. Animals who had been hiding amongst the profuse vegetation were fleeing their homes and were numbered by the dozens. Most of them would not make it out of the forest alive; those who did wouldn’t have any shelter to live in.
The path was abundant with escaping animals; even in Fluttershy’s current state she wouldn’t wish any additional harm upon them. Her wings propelled the pegasus through the trees’ rooftop, giving some minor scratches to the already injured Fluttershy. She kept on flying upwards until she reached a cloud that was a fair distance away from the forest. Landing, her senses came back to her, and she was herself again. She glanced at the forest, panting heavily, to find that the fire had spread to five times the area it was before Fluttershy took off, covering a fairly small patch of forest. At this rate, the Everfree forest wouldn’t exist by morning.
Fluttershy wanted to help again, but could she? The only way that she could help would be to go get the others, and she thought that was a great idea. She caught up with her breathing, taking several seconds to do so, and prepared to take off. However, her mind came to a terrible realization; she had caused the fire. Fluttershy would be blamed for the entire ordeal, and most likely banished. She couldn’t be known as the pegasus who destroyed the Everfree Forest just to save her rabbit. Speaking of Angel, what would she tell the ponies back in Ponyville? That she just went to the Everfree Forest for nothing?
Zecora’s agility would ensure her escape from the forest, however dangerous the fire would be, Fluttershy was sure of that. She would testify that Fluttershy had been given a dangerous potion, and had been sent on her way around the approximate time the conflagration had commenced. If Fluttershy came back to Ponyville empty-hooved, she would be implicated for sure. Smoke from the fire advanced upwards to Fluttershy’s position in the sky, causing her to cough violently. Her lungs hadn’t fully healed from the smoke inside the forest, so they were especially affected. For one last time, Fluttershy flew away from the cloud, going in the direction of the only place she had known as a child. She lost thoughts of current friends, pets, and dreams, and instead retreated to the setting of the earliest memory she had.
Rainbow Dash was tired, but she didn’t care. She had been flying ever since a random pegasus had woken her up at the only house in the sky near Ponyville, telling her that Fluttershy’s pet was ailing. She had gone to see the poor fellow, who didn’t seem to be doing well. The other bearers of the Elements had been there, even as late as it was, trying to heal the ill rabbit. Applejack brought some Apple family recipe that was apparently a cure-all, but to no avail. Twilight tried a spell that had similar success, only managing to turn his blanket into a heaping pile of hot rags. Pinkie Pie had brought a chocolate cupcake, only to be told that Angel couldn’t eat it, even if he was healthy
Rainbow Dash had felt a strong urge to just fly without any real destination, so she did so. Nopony saw her leave; they were all too occupied with Angel to notice anything else. She flew partly to satisfy her physical needs, and partly to just avoid the concept of messing up. She was never good with any of these sorts of situations, and she was fine with that. Her greatest and only fear was failure and the disappointment that came with it; she wouldn’t attempt something that she had no chance of accomplishing.
All of that didn’t mean Rainbow Dash couldn’t fly, however. After all, she was the Best Young Flier in Equestria. The cool night sky allowed a sort of freedom for Rainbow Dash; nothing to think about but watching the sky in front of her. In fact, doing so allowed her to witness a yellow and pink blob flying upwards in the sky over the Everfree Forest, which beyond question was Fluttershy. Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash and the rest of Ponyville at this moment, she was retreating from the fire. When Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy, her surprise stalled her flying, forcing her to hover steadily over Ponyville.
Looking down, Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy’s shack, which is where Angel was being healed. She looked back up at Fluttershy’s position on the cloud to find that she had flown off. Despite the great length at which the two pegasi were apart, Rainbow Dash saw that Fluttershy was heading in the direction of Cloudsdale. Storing this as the most important thought in her brain, she lowered herself down to the shack. Her eyesight didn’t recognize the pillars of smog that were emitting themselves from the treetops.
Twilight Sparkle’s day had been a busy one. In the morning, she had woken up to find that Spike had locked up Angel in the Cakes’ freezer just because he hadn’t shared a snack with Spike. It took her all morning to attempt to calm everypony down; it had taken the rest of the day just to free him from the freezing prison. Spike had personally been the one to rescue Angel once Twilight got the door open, which had taken hours because the door had been enchanted to prevent thieves; the cause of Pinkie Pie eating too many corn cakes. She eventually had to rely on a pony of Bic Macintosh’s strength, who had been out of town for an apple convention until late that evening.
Now here she was, in Fluttershy’s cottage, watching over Angel yet unable to do anything helpful. At the encouragement of the rest of the caregivers, Twilight had attempted to heal the debilitated animal, with the results not looking well for Angel. Waiting for Fluttershy had been a grueling effort, as much as she believed the shy but kind pegasus would triumph in her short expedition to Zecora’s hut, she had a nagging fear something would go wrong. Tired, she had been laying on Fluttershy’s couch, and had been drifting off to sleep when the door burst open, giving Twilight a violent headache, and leaving her slightly agitated.
“Whuzzat? Who’s there?” At Twilight’s current angle of viewing, the door wasn’t in sight. Whoever it was, however, quickly showed themselves. It was Rainbow Dash, who was out of breath and gasping for air; the downside to quickly changing temperatures of the oxygen she breathed and the energy she had exerted.
“It’s me, Twilight. I know I’m not the most lovey dovey friend, but I just thought I’d let you know that Fluttershy is in danger. There’s something wrong here. I’m going to go get her, just in case. So don’t look for me. See ya in a couple hours.” Rainbow Dash saluted her purple unicorn friend, leaving the cottage with an audible thump. Twilight, on the other hoof, simply rolled over to her other side with a big yawn, barely taking in what had just occurred. She drifted off to sleep again, visiting the land where chaos was normal; up is down, and down is up.
That dream was short-lived, however, when a very high-pitched shrieking emitted from upstairs.
“T-Twilight! Th-th-there’s a fire! In the Everfree Forest! There’s s-s-smoke coming f-from the forest! My heavens! You must come up here immediately!” Rarity’s tone of voice only made the situation sound worse. Twilight’s sleep-deprived mind cleared itself quickly, motivating her body to rush up the stairs to Fluttershy’s bedroom where Angel was sleeping. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were all mesmerized by the site outside the window; to them, the smoke had escalated by twice its size in the time it took Twilight to scurry up the stairs. Pushing the others out of the way, Twilight saw this sight for herself, and was horrified.
“Girls, give me a second to collect my thoughts. I need to think of what we’re going to do next; we have to do it in a calm and logical manner.” Twilight minded her way back through her friends, taking a seat on a chair in the corner. She closed her thoughts, thinking of nothing but the situation at hoof. Normally, she wouldn’t take such measures, as they had been proven to be dangerous to a pony’s health, but this was no normal situation they were going to deal with. Animals’(and Zecora’s) lives were in jeopardy, and this fire appeared to be no normal fire, at least from the look on her friends faces.
Her mind was like a vast library; filled with shelves upon shelves of books that held important information to trivial matters. But she wasn’t looking for those, she continued deeper into her mind, reaching a large metal door that was labelled “Think Tank”. She walked into the door like it was nothing but her imagination, and she passed through as if she was a ghost. On the other side was a void filled with nothing but the very path she walked on. She trotted this path carefully, concentrating all her will upon the memories at hand. Books upon books seemingly appeared from thin air, floating alongside the path as she kept her slow pace. Soon, the books formed an entire circle around her, even as she continued forward.
A sudden earthquake shifted her path, causing it to tilt fifty degrees towards the endless pit below. The books faltered in their levitation for a brief moment, adjusting to the new position of the unicorn they were escorting. Twilight’s reflexes kicked in, pushing her head backwards so her horn would prevent her descent; it hurt, but it kept her from falling. She chuckled to herself as she recalled Celestia’s stern warning about using the Think Tank, how it was able to trap a pony’s very soul inside their own brain forever. Undoubtedly it had been Pinkie Pie, which was confirmed by the party pony’s very voice echoing throughout the chamber.
“...I don’t think we can stay calm, now can we! The forest is on fire, and Twilight’s being nothing but a sourpus! What’s she doing anyway? Ooh, I know! She’s throwing a party in there, and we’re not invited!” The path was crumbling now; little bits of it fell off every time Pinkie Pie spoke a word. The next voice was more soothing, however, it was certainly Rarity.
“Why would you say such a thing, Pinkie Pie? Twilight’s not that type of pony who would just abandon her friends. Besides, you know her. She’s got a plan, darling. I know I don’t...but just quiet down now, you hear?” Twilight’s path returned to normal then, and that was the last voice she heard while in her Think Tank. Her books rearranged themselves again, back to their previous positions.
She took control of them for it was her mind, after all, and placed the facts that would be nothing but circumstantial evidence on her left; the facts of the fire on her right. As she did this, she wondered to herself why she would go to her Think Tank when it seemed so minor. But to her, it didn’t feel so minor. In her opinion, it felt like the biggest thing to happen in Ponyville since she had moved here those many months ago. Either way, she was here already, and she might as well take advantage of it.
Looking at the facts, she noticed that the time frame of Fluttershy entering the forest and not returning seemed odd. Knowing Fluttershy, she deduced that if anything had happened, she would have just flown back to Ponyville. Even if Fluttershy had successfully reached Zecora’s hut, unless she had valuable cargo, she could, again, just have flown back to Ponyville. This didn’t add up for Twilight. From this, she decided that either Fluttershy was injured and still in the forest, or that Fluttershy had fled somewhere. She pushed these theories aside, for they seemed irrelevant, and worked on the next batch of information.
The fire itself seemed weird; from the smoke, it was apparently spreading faster than a unicorn could make it. The fact that the Everfree wasn’t known for visiting unicorns(or alicorns, for that matter) made it even stranger. It couldn’t have been the Everfree Forest itself either, for even a forest wouldn’t be crazy enough to resort to self-destruction, could it? The Forest certainly seemed to have some sort of intelligence; its plant-life is always well-watered, the clouds that patrol the Everfree Forest do so on their own without interference from pegasi, and the animals that lived in the forest for dozens of years had never done anything major to the ecosystem of the entire forest. Her interpretation of all this information was that this was mystical; not even something a unicorn could do.
By themselves, these conclusions were nothing but conjecture. Combined, they left a trail of breadcrumbs that Twilight was able to easily follow. Ahead of Twilight’s path, an elegant but transparent door formed; it kept itself a reasonable distance from Twilight, but every time she thought of something the door became closer and more tangible. She didn’t notice this, however, being too lost in her thoughts. She had one last contemplation to attempt.
The last of the facts swirled before Twilight, but they were fuzzy. They weren’t particularly big facts, either. The only things that Twilight’s brain could associate with the given information were Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but what were they about? The only connection those two had was the fact that they were both pegasi, and that wouldn’t be enough for any sort of speculation to take place. No, Twilight would have to go deeper and take in every little last detail.
Fluttershy was shy, kind, and incredibly helpful to animals. Rainbow Dash, on the contrary, was ambitious, adventurous, and athletic. Yet, they have always held a special bond. What formed this bond? Was it them as young fillies when they developed this friendship? They had both lived in Cloudsdale, it was possible. But it was too coincidental and highly unlikely, they would have had to experience a common hardship together as extremely young fillies.
As Twilight went deeper and deeper into her thoughts, she became worried about Celestia’s warning that she may never get out again. The warning only gave her more encouragement though, and propelled her to even higher thinking capabilities. Back in Fluttershy’s bedroom, Twilight Sparkle’s horn slightly glowed for a brief second, which levitated the entire house off the ground an entire six inches, for a short millisecond. The ponies who were occupying the house, however, didn’t notice.
Twilight’s Think Tank became insane with chaos; the deductions and facts she had already processed were whirling around her, providing a mini tornado inside her thoughts. The path beneath her hooves was shaking like jello after an earthquake; anypony’s hooves would have never been able to keep their grip. Yet, throughout all of this, Twilight anchored herself to the path. She never stopped moving, although now at this point she was in a full-on sprint. Why she was in a sprint, however, was because she thought she had finally found her missing thought- a lone book was floating beyond the whirlwind of pages and books.
She gave chase to the book, noticing that the distance between her and the book wasn’t fixed, and that she would be able to catch it if she kept up her pace. At last, the book passed through the book twister like it was nothing as Twilight raced for the thought. She cheered silently and slowed her pace as she absorbed the book into her gravitational pull, and looked through it. It was the memory of a conversation she had once had with Rarity about the two pegasi, when Twilight had cast a spell for Rarity to give her wings. The conversation flashed through her head again, the colloquy being the only part of the memory that she recalled, and even at that she only remembered bits and pieces.
“Twi...what do you th........tershy and Rainbo...ond?...ave you....ndered where their...rents are?”
“N...rity I haven....hy do...sk?”
“Yo...on’t...ow? Her p...both of th.......re gone...shy and Rain.......rphans togeth...”
The puzzle pieces clicked together as her smarter than average brain strained itself putting all the information Twilight knew about the two ponies together into easily fathomable lines of thought. Of course! It had been hiding itself all long! Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy weren’t just friends when they were fillies - they were best friends. Their common loss of their parents drove them together, although it may have only been because of something as little as them sharing the same room in the same orphanage. In fact, that was probably what happened, now that Twilight thought about it. The fact that they were two entirely different ponies in most regards allowed Twilight to come to that conclusion. The fuzzy facts, however, were still unclear, but Twilight didn’t need them, not now, at least.
Twilight’s Think Tank simply ceased to exist as Twilight started to pick up the pace again, expressing dismay at the fact that she wouldn’t be able to piece together her first two conclusions in the enhanced senses that were provided in her Think Tank. The path behind her hooves fell into the abyss, disappearing into nothingness. Her books disappeared into the same never-ending darkness, albeit they floated towards the direction of Twilight’s library-mind. The door that had stood in front of her path that had been nothing but an unattainable goal moments ago became solid and started to glow with brightness, blinding Twilight momentarily. She crashed into the door with her side, not even stopping to look behind her.
Twilight came back to the real world with an unsettling jolt throughout her entire body. Her mind refreshed itself, adjusting to the sober thinking in comparison to the highly influential Think Tank. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that she had spent no more than five minutes doing the work of several hours. A couple more minutes time would be all she needed to finish her thinking. She reminded herself of the two cogitations she had made; the first one being that Fluttershy was wounded or had fled the forest, and the second one being that this fire was not exactly magical, but not natural either.
Taking in the fact that Fluttershy had gone into the forest in the first place to get medicine for Zecora, and then it hit her. The cause of the fire had to be the only thing she didn’t fully understand: Zebra magic. Fluttershy must have reached Zecora’s hut, for Zecora wasn’t foolish enough to let her potions harm anything. Twilight horrified herself by coming to the denouement that Fluttershy must have started the fire herself, and was still either wounded or had fled the fire. It was the only explanation for this entire ordeal that could be found from the information she knew, and it was a start. But if she had escaped, why didn’t she come back to Ponyville? She would have come back already, so Twilight was led into believing that Fluttershy was wounded, and had to be rescued.
Her analyses complete, she looked around herself for the first time, finding that the room was empty, save for herself and Angel, but noises were coming from the hallway leading to the stairs, unmistakeably her friends. She dismounted the chair with clumsiness and fell onto her side; she had become too used to the Think Tank’s ethereal gravity. Slowly but surely, she was able to make it to the door, opened it, and went into the hallway. There she found her friends, trying to get a view of the fire from the window in that hallway. Twilight was mildly surprised when she saw this, in part because when Twilight had passed by, she had seen nothing out of the ordinary in the section of the Everfree Forest that the window was able to provide a glimpse of. Rarity was the only one to notice Twilight, who was hanging back, unsure of what exactly to tell them.
“Twilight, my dear, what’s wrong? What did you discover?” Rarity nudged the others as she said this, who gave Twilight their full attention. The ponies turning around gave Twilight a brief look at the forest outside, and she could make out small fires in the distance coming from the treetops. This gave Twilight some confidence that it followed her previous thoughts’ line of logic. To Rarity’s questions, however, Twilight was unsure of what to tell them.
“Nothing, Rarity. All I know is that the fire isn’t magical, at least, not unicorn magical. It’s probably the forest doing another one of its strange shenanigans, but the fire is real enough that there will be dire consequences.” Unknown even to herself why she had done so, Twilight Sparkle had told a lie. “Did anypony contact Mayor Mare?”
“I did Twilight! I used my extra special Pinkie Pie technique to get back to Ponyville! I just arrived back here at the cottage, actually! Princess Celestia was in Ponyville, and she came with us!"
“P-P-Princess Celestia is here? Where is she?” Twilight became nervous at the concept at having to tell her teacher that sue used the Think Tank.
“I’m right here, my most faithful student.” Twilight turned from her friends to find that Princess Celestia was standing in the doorway of Fluttershy’s bedroom. Twilight quickly bowed, and her friends did the same. “Oh please girls, the Elements of Harmony certainly don’t need to bow to me. Where are the other two Bearers?” Twilight finished bowing, walked over to the window, and pointed at the forest.
“I don’t know where Rainbow Dash is, but I can assure you she’s safe, and Fluttershy’s in there, Princess. Did Pinkie Pie appraise you of the situation yet?”
“She most certainly has, Twilight, although it was difficult to understand her excited speech at first. I was in Ponyville, visiting Mayor Mare about some finances that she requested for the town, when Pinkie Pie burst through the door, yelling something about a fire in the Everfree Forest. Pinkie Pie told the both of us about the fire, and Mayor Mare immediately sent pegasi to get the supply of rain clouds to put out the fire, while I tended to Pinkie Pie. She was speaking five words per second it had seemed like, but I managed to understand that Fluttershy’s pet was sick, and that the other Bearers of the Elements were here as well. I teleported Pinkie Pie back here, while I made sure that Mayor Mare had the resources capable of helping. I followed shortly after, appearing in the bedroom, right next to the poor rabbit. I couldn’t let him lie there like that, so I used my magic to cure him. He should be fine in a couple days,” Princess Celestia finally finished.
“And what of the fire? What do you think is going to happen, Princess Celestia? I can just not simply think that Fluttershy can be ignored while that fire is burning the entire forest down. It does not certainly seem natural either, the fire. They don’t spread as fast as this one does,” Rarity said, returning to her viewpoint of the forest. The other ponies did so as well, leaving Twilight and Princess Celestia the only ones not watching the fire.
“I don’t know, Rarity. The forest...it’s giving me weird auras. I can’t go in there; its evil is too thick, even for somepony of my magical prowess. This isn’t an ordinary fire, I can tell you that. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, as much as I’d like to help, and that’s an order, by the way.. I must leave now, however. While I can’t stop the fire itself, I can prevent it from spreading as much as possible. I’m going to set an invisible barrier around the forest that will hopefully bar the fire from encompassing the homes that border the Everfree.” Before Twilight and the others could say goodbye, Princess Celestia departed in a flash of light, leaving nothing but the air she had been surrounded by. Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were too captivated by the Everfree Forest to notice; the trees farther inside the forest had started to collapse and were producing loud snaps, even the span between the trees and the ponies did nothing to dampen the sound.
Having just been told not to interfere with the fire, Twilight was curious about the rabbit. She opened the door to find that Angel was sleeping soundly, which did nothing to help calm down Twilight. She approached Angel and felt his forehead; it was normal; invisible fanfare and merriment filled Twilight’s thoughts. As Twilight enlivened herself with hope for this entire affair, a black and grey shape crashed in through the window, and landed right next to Twilight. Muffled, a voice came from the strange visitor.
“My home up in flames, its just so sad. On top of it all my head hurts oh so bad.” The mysterious animal stood up to reveal a zebra, with minor burns and singed hair.
“Zecora! What are you doing here? I thought that you would be a goner for sure!” In fact, Twilight had completely forgotten about Zecora. So did everypony else, from Twilight’s memory.
“I may be an old zebra, Twilight, but I still know how to make a proper flight. I had a forethought, you might say, that something would happen this very day. Kind Fluttershy visited my home, asking for a brew, I sent her off with two less than a few. My feelings urged me to flee, so I did, moving from tree to tree. Soon my nose smelt of smoke and despair, and at that point of the fire I was aware. Although months of ingredients and dozens of animals’ homes are lost to this flame, I am glad I am still part of life’s eternal game. Before you ask, I must imply, that no, I did not see Fluttershy.” Zecora walked up to the same chair Twilight had been using for her Think Tank and collapsed into it before Twilight could ask any further questions.
As Rainbow Dash entered the building, a cool draft came in from the outside. The room she entered was dark and foreboding, but even among the darkness she could maneuver her way among the familiar shapes. It had been tough for Fluttershy to get in, apparently, the entire lock had been smashed off, and a tuft of yellow feathers had been left on the cloud right next to the door. It worried Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy had been able to get that lock off by herself; it meant that whatever she was going through, it was serious enough to give her enough strength to do so. Lost memories echoed through the condemned building’s hallways, words of her past bounced around the walls, echoing themselves in Rainbow Dash’s ear as she continued to go to the home she had known as a tiny kid.
“...her parents in the crash...both of them lost...”
“...mean both of them? In the same...”
“...the blue one’s taken it hard...her name again?”
“...Rainbow Dash...we should put the two together...the same room...”
“...genious...they’ll be able to help...other out...the yellow one though...”
“...Fluttershy is...yellow one...doesn’t realize...parents...dead...”
Rainbow Dash took a moment to shudder as the corrupted memories, both good and bad, flowed through her thoughts that were focusing on finding Fluttershy. She attempted to block out the thoughts - all of them - but Rainbow Dash had not paid attention when Twilight tried to teach her how to.
“My name...Rainbow Dash...want to be like...Wonderbolts...just like...parents!...before they died, I mean...roommates now!”
“...Fluttershy...want to go home...with my parents...”
“...but Fluttershy...your parents...dead...”
“...do you mean?”
“...in an orphanage...what do you think...in here for?”
Sobbing filled the corridors, both real and imagined, both coming from the same pony. Rainbow Dash accelerated towards the source of the sobbing to find a room filled with a small light that was emanating from a small candle on a table. The floor was filled with a scattered mess of athletic equipment such as footballs, baseballs, softballs, anything that was sports-related was there. The walls were adorned with pictures of a small yellow pegasus by herself. Only two decorations were unlike this; one was of a grown-up version of the small pegasus assisting another pony, who appeared to be crying, the other was a Wonderbolts promotional poster.
A pair of bunk beds was in the corner, and they were in major disrepair. Even the interior of the cloud building couldn’t slow the deterioration of the old bunk beds; springs were popping out of the mattresses, which were disgustingly dirty, and flies seemed to have made the top bunk their nest. The bottom bunk, however, had no flies, and its springs were more intact than the other bed, as well as having a slightly brighter shade of color. A blanket was covering the bottom bunk, and it had a huge bulge inside and was quivering. Rainbow Dash approached the bed, and uncovered Fluttershy. As soon as Fluttershy saw Rainbow Dash, she broke into desperate tears, spewing out a jumble of words that were barely comprehensible.
“Rainbow Dash I didn’t mean to do it I’m so sorrrryy!”
“Calm down, Fluttershy. Do what? What did you do, Fluttershy? Is there something wrong? Why aren’t you back in Ponyville, helping Angel?” Fluttershy composed herself for a couple seconds, allowing her to answer the most basic question being asked.
“I-I-I couldn’t go back to P-Ponyville. I-I s-set the Everfree F-f-forest on fire. Zecora and all of the a-a-animals. Th-they’ll all die. A-a-and even if they d-don’t, their homes will all be g-g-gone. It’ll b-be all m-my f-fault.” Fluttershy broke into tears again. Rainbow Dash sat on the bed next to Fluttershy, patting her on the back.
“It’s okay Fluttershy. Everypony makes mistakes. No one will blame you. Remember the time that Twilight went all cuckoo over her friendship letter? No one blamed her, it was just simple jitters. Yet the entire town went crazy over a single doll. And what about the time with the parasprites? All of Ponyville was almost destroyed because you brought home an innocent little creature. Yet it wasn’t your fault. If anything, it was all of our faults, not knowing anything about those little guys.
“Fluttershy, what I’m saying is that this isn’t your fault. It’s everypony’s fault and yet it’s nopony’s fault. It’s everypony’s fault for sending you by yourself into the Everfree (I still don’t know how you started that fire, but I’m assuming it was because of visiting Zecora) and expecting that you’d come back just fine. It’s nopony’s fault because things like this happen, Fluttershy. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Okay?” Fluttershy nodded her head, the tears drying up slowly. She felt a little better because of Rainbow Dash’s speech, but she still wanted to make up for what she had done.
“Do I get to tend to the rabbits who lost their homes?” Rainbow Dash chuckled.
“Yes Fluttershy, you can tend the rabbits. You can feed ‘em too with that special alfalfa of yours. You can help with all the animals, in fact, they’ll need places to stay, and that’s some busy work right there.” They sat at that bed for a long time, Rainbow Dash recalling forgotten memories of this dreadful place; Fluttershy trying to justify that everything was alright. “You know Fluttershy, we had some good times here. It may have been mostly bad, our parents being gone and all, but we had each other, and that’s all that mattered. You wanted to help other ponies who had gone through tough times, and I wanted to be the best flier, just like my parents.”
“I remember the first day we met...it was ages ago...I hadn’t even realized my parents were dead yet...I think I was in shock. It was after you helped me deal with the loss of my parents that decided I wanted to help ponies with their problems. My shyness always saw an end to that dream, and yet you were always there with me, telling me that I could always find a way. You were right.” She wiped at her eyes, clearing them of the rest of her active tears. “If you don’t mind, I’d, um, like to go home now. To Ponyville.”
“Let’s go then.” And so, the two pegasi left their childhood behind, forever. They returned to Ponyville an hour later, and acted like that conversation had never existed for the rest of their lives. The Everfree Forest burned down completely and there were no trees or foliage left at dawn of the next day. All of the animals miraculously survived, however, albeit there were a few that had singed fur. Their lack of homes was short-lived, for the arcane forest regrew itself to its previous size that very afternoon in an instant. Zecora returned to the site of her house to find that even the entire hut was there like it had never burned down. Twilight Sparkle kept all of her deductions to herself, even as she discovered her assumptions were correct about everything.
The fire that burned down the Everfree Forest had very minor lasting effects on the ecosystem, and it was soon forgotten by many. Many, except two pegasi who tied the burning of the forest with the memory of them discussing days that have long passed.
