The Mane Six Chronicles Book 1: A Hero in the Woods

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 8

Chapter 1

Fluttershy lay in a flower filled clearing on a warm spring day, the wind blowing gently through the trees.
Its was the height of spring and Fluttershy was doing what she loved doing most of all, tending to the animals of the forest. She smiled as she watched two young rabbits hoping about cheerfully in play. "Oh how beautiful the day is today..." Fluttershy sighed gently and closed her eyes, a pair of bird twittering past her.

It had been 6 years since Discord's defeat and all was well, the woods bore the fruit of life with their shelter and food, the animals of the forest evidence of that. Here in this setting of peace and life, Fluttershy was at her happiest.
She opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings again, taking note as she did so of the quarreling pair of squirrels nearby a tree to her right, if they didn't break it up soon, she'd have to intervene. It wasn't often she needed to intervene on a fight, she generally tried to avoid them when at all possible. Fortunately she didn't need to do so here as the two squirrels stopped fighting and moved on to other things.

After awhile the animals in the immediate area began to wind down their activities, their movement weighed down with the weight of weariness. Fluttershy smiled as she moved toward them, nuzzling them and offering them a chance to nap with her, many of them accepted. She was well known in the forest as a great lover and protector of its inhabitants and few of the creatures of the wood refused her comforts and company. After all were situated, Fluttershy unfurled her wings and draped them over the small creatures and closing her eyes.

She had matured greatly since Discord, her wings were regal and beautiful, her body was strong and well developed, enhancing her feminine figure and petite appearance greatly. Despite looks that would make other ponies more confident in the field of love, she however was still too shy to say more than three words to any of the stallions in the town. Many of her friends tried to encourage her to open up more and try to find a boyfriend, Rainbow Dash gong so far as saying that her figure would make it easy to get anyone she wanted. This had only served to make her more embarrassed than she already was in just discussing the matter.

Fluttershy sighed as she pushed those memories away and allowed her mind to fill with thoughts of peace, alone with her animal friends. After a few more seconds, her mind slowly disengaged and she slipped off to sleep.

A few Hours Later

Fluttershy's mind slowly awakened as the cooling air made her shiver slightly. She opened her eyes and glanced upward, the twilight sky telling her just how long she'd been sleeping here. She breathed deep the smells of the forest and turned her head to nuzzle the small hedgehog that had been using her left fore leg as a pillow. She was surprised to see that it wasn't there any more, had she really been asleep that long?

Fluttershy lifted both her wings and looked around her, none of the animals who had rested with her were anywhere to be seen. She looked around carefully and soon became aware of another sensation, silence. The woods around her were as silent as a tomb, not one bird or cricket sounded its tune in the surroundings.
Fluttershy was beginning to feel uneasy, never once had she heard such silence, especially not at this time of day.

After a few more minutes, she heard a sound break the silence, like silk sliding across grass and she turned in the direction of the noise. The woods were a solid barrier of green and brown that obscured whatever it was that was making the sound. She opened her wings, intending to take flight from this wooded clearing when a brief flash of crimson caused her to freeze.

From between the branches of the tree slid a great serpent, easily eighteen feet in length and four feet in width, its eyes were shut, its tongue flicking out, tasting the air. Its scaled skin seamed to be clear as crystal, that is before changing color to perfectly mimic the ground, what ever this creature was it wasn't natural. Fluttershy felt herself trembling as the snake reared it head back, its head swaying as it searched for her.

She took a step back and felt her hoof snap a twig upon landing. As the noise reverberated unnaturally on the wood the snake hissed and it eyes snapped open. The creatures eyes flashed briefly with an evil light before settling into a roiling red sheen that locked with Fluttershy's terrified eyes. Upon contact with the serpents eyes her mind was immediately flooded with fear in its purest form, fear that was the stuff of nightmares, an ice cold paralyzing grip that chilled her to the marrow. However, it didn't have the intended effect. The gaze was intended to paralyze the serpents victims with fear, for ease of capture, far from being paralyzed, Fluttershy turned and ran screaming into the woods.

The serpent hissed and slid after her, branches snapping like twigs as it passed through the trees. She sprinted madly, ignoring the branches and vines whipping across her face, the only thing that mattered was escape. She heard her pursuer hot on her heels but she dared not look back. The woods grew thicker and thicker as she ran, her lungs burning with the effort to keep air flowing, her eyes streaming with unwilling tears at the fear and stinging pain she was feeling. Finally, after what felt like an eon, Fluttershy saw a break in the trees, perhaps over open ground she could escape her pursuer.
As Fluttershy about flew from the tree's she barely had time to register the simple wood cottage before her legs collided with a low wooden bench that sent her tumbling across the ground.

Her face slammed hard against the ground causing little white lights to appear, as her momentum carried her through rows of tilled soil and into a stone well. Dazed and confused Fluttershy pulled herself up by the stone wells edge and turned to look behind her, the serpent was feet from her, his twining tail tearing up the garden she had ploughed through. She pulled herself along the well wall, desperately trying to keep something between herself and the monster that pursued her. She screamed and ducked as the serpent lunged at her, tearing the well in half with a powerful blow from its neck, broken rock and wood flying in every direction.

Turning away from the ruined well she sprinted towards the house, using her wings to blast air towards the door hoping to force the door open. Before she could even reach it though, a large tail slammed into the ground in front of her, which she tripped over again landing flat onto the ground, and this time, her fight left her as exhaustion took its toll. She feebly tried to rise on her hooves as the snake coiled a large circle around her, managing just enough strength to tilt her tear filled eyes into the impassive and unfeeling face of the viper that had caught her.

It was over she knew it, and even as the creature opened it maw, she couldn't tear her eyes away from impending doom. She let out as sob as it reared back its head ready to strike. As its head lunged forward, she screwed her eyes shut...
A sudden bellow rang out followed by a solid thud and a grunt of pain, but one thing was for certain, Fluttershy still lived. She opened her eyes slowly and looked to see what had happened. A large and imposing stallion stood in front of her on his hind legs, his black coat flecked with white. He stood there with the serpents fangs sunk deep into his right shoulder his eyes fixed on the head of the monstrous serpent.

With one hoof he pushed the serpents head away from him, his eyes following the evil red glow of its eyes with superb indifference, the stallions eyes registering nothing short of rage at this creature. When the snakes fangs came free of his shoulder he put his nose against the beast's snout and glared into its eyes, Fluttershy saw the monsters eyes wane in intensity as the stallion pulled back one hoof and swung it in an upward arc with all his might. There was a horrid sound from the snake's jaw as it was physically lifted off the ground from the single blow and sent spinning through the air were it landed in heap at the edge of the clearing and moved no more.

The stallion let out a derisive snort and dropped to all fours again. He turned back to Fluttershy, his face softening greatly as he walked over to her. She was trembling slightly as he bent over and nudged her face, speaking in a deep, calming voice, "Peace young one, you are safe now."

Fluttershy let out a whimper and her failing self control broke and she began bawling, throwing her forelegs around her savior and weeping into his shoulder as her fear faded from her with each tear she spilled. He comforted her, holding her gently, softly whispering to her words of assurance and safety. Finally after a full thirty minutes her sobs faded into heavy gasps for air and from there slow peaceful breathing. The strong stallion shifted around and lifted her sleeping body onto his back, taking note of the fact that his shoulder was burning painfully.

As he walked slowly over to the door to his home, he surveyed the destruction that had been wrought by the chase and sighed heavily, it'd take some effort to fix it all but he'd do it while he tended to this pony who had found her way here. He sighed and turned into the house, closing the door behind him. After navigating through the comfortable house and into his bedroom, the feather down stuffed mattress and warm quilted blanket looking inviting after his most recent exertion, but it was not intended for him.

He gently pulled the quilt back and laid the pony onto the mattress, pulling the blanket up to her neck and tucked her in. After ensuring that she was comfortable he went into the next room, returning a short while later with a bowl of some herbal paste clamped between his teeth with a rag over his shoulder. He set the bowl on the night stand and began to rub the herbal paste into her scratches and cuts. When he finished this, he left again and returned with a cool compress which he placed on her forehead. She was so delicate, he felt a pang of sadness that she had to endure such a harrowing experience.

As he turned to leave for a final time he paused at the door to say, "Sleep well young one, let your dreams be filled with peace." Fluttershy smiled in her sleep as he closed the door gently behind him, safe and secure in a sweet sleep.

Chapter 2

Fluttershy stirred gently, so tired that the mattress she slept on felt as soft as clouds. She didn't want to get up, as tired as she was, all she wanted to do was to curl up into a little ball and sleep more. She sighed gently and rolled over on the mattress, pulling the blanket closer to her. As she got comfortable a deep male voice spoke out from across the room, "Good Morning young one, I trust you slept well."

Fluttershy sat bolt up right and looked across the room to the voices source. She wasn't in her room, nor was she in her bed, in fact she didn't recognize where she was at all and that alone alarmed her. She cowered In the bed and whispered, "Who are you?"
The pony that sat across from her frowned a little before saying, "You may call me Faith."

Fluttershy, still shaking, said nothing in reply but simply looked him over. He was an earth pony, no wings nor horn graced his body, his coat was jet black with small patches of white here or there with his mane hanging around his head and neck, but neatly cared for and well kept. He was powerfully built, every inch of his body was rock hard muscle and she could tell this by just looking at him, it was a subtle appearance, but there none the less.

His eyes were a piercing blue, yet despite their intensity, they were calm and gentle. Just visible on his left hindquarter was his Cutie mark, a radiant crystal heart, as red in color as a rose, a slight aura around it as if caught in the glare of the sun. He sat in a simple wood rocking chair, carved from redwood and at the moment was staring at her curiously. "Are you alright?"

Fluttershy started and cowered back into the blankets and avoided looking at him. His frown deepened and he stood up, moving toward her. Upon his movement, she covered her head, vainly trying to hide herself from him. He sighed and looked out the window behind his bed. As he stood there Fluttershy starred whimpering, her simple pleas just barely audible through the blanket,
"Please...please don't hurt me..."

That got his attention, she'd been out for two days now, and when he had met her, he'd taken a bite to the shoulder to save her life, surely she must remember that. He sat down on the edge of the mattress and said, "You have nothing to fear from me young one, I saved your life, do you remember?"

The trembling in the lump under the quilted blanket stopped near immediately and a cyan eye looked out from the folds of the quilt, Fluttershy's voice came out from the blankets soft as could be, "I'm...I'm sorry, I don't remember..."
Faith frowned at this and reached out to pull the quilt back a little as he explained to her what happened,
"I don't know what happened before you got to my home, but judging by what attacked you, I can guess it easily enough. I believe you were taking a walk or something in the woods when you spied a glint of red which froze you in place."

He paused here and looked to Fluttershy for conformation, when she said nothing he continued,
"The creature you encountered was a basilisk, a great serpent that is so rare I'm not surprised that you weren't prepared for it. Its a merciless predator that live on a simple cycle; hunt, sleep, mate. Its eyes have the power to dominate nearly any mind and flood it with fear, rendering them incapable of moving or fleeing. As it had to chase you, I would deduce that your mind was sufficiently strong enough to not fall completely to its control, allowing you the chance to flee it."Here he paused to allow Fluttershy the chance to absorb this information and she finally said, "I could have tried talking to it, if I'd thought about it..."

Faith sighed and said, "It wouldn't have worked...This creature is cunning, and evil through and through. A predator interested in only one thing, its next meal, nothing you could have said to it would have changed that... Besides, I'm guessing that it got the advantage over you from surprise and your lack of experience with monsters like it."

Again he paused as he allowed her to think on this and eventually she shook her head and asked, "How come you were able to resist it?" Faith sighed and sat back a little more comfortably before answering, "I've lived in this forest my whole life, and been luckier than most, that wasn't the first time I encountered that creature. After our first encounter, I practiced guarding my mind from its influence so that when we next met, I would be able to resist it."

After this explanation, Fluttershy was quite for a long while before she said, "Thank you for saving me...Faith."
Faith smiled and got up off the mattress; moving over to the door he said, "You are welcome, may I know your name?"
Fluttershy gave a small smile before giving her name. Faith's smile grew a bit as he said, "Its good to know you Fluttershy, if your hungry, I was just about to fix lunch."

Fluttershy nodded gratefully and climbed down off the bed, her muscles and joints flexing painfully from being unused for so long. After stretching a little she followed her host and saviour out into the main body of the house. Like its owner, it was simple and well built, the walls now that she actually got to look at them, signified that this house was a log cabin, the wooden beams interlocking seamlessly one to another.

The inside walls were smooth and polished, simple decorations hanging from pegs in the wall added to the warm and cozy atmosphere. She didn't quite know what it was but this ponies simple house calmed her, made her feel safe and protected. The kitchen, living room, and dining room all were one and the same, the only rooms that were not apart of the main room were the bed room that she had just come from and two rooms whose doors were currently shut.

Faith moved around the solid oak table to the kitchen area and began preparing a simple meal of various fruits and wild vegetables. He turned his head to look at her and said, "Please, make yourself at home, I don't usually have visitors."
Fluttershy took this as permission to explore the house and did so, walking over to the two closed rooms to see what lay inside. The first room turned out to be the bathroom, despite the secluded nature of the house, all of the plumbing was modern and up to date with the exception of the bath tub, which looked to have been built by hand.

Despite the apparent rough texture, the wood was as smooth as stone, and judging by the smell of it, well maintained and treated. A large wrought brass hand pump sat over the tubs edge, which confused her, why would anyone fill a tub with cold spring water. After a few moments hesitation she decided against testing it or asking about it, deciding it would be rude to pry into ones bathing did however need to go to the bathroom, so she closed the door behind her.

Moments later she left the bathroom with a relieved sigh and moved to the next door to her left. Upon opening this one she found that it was a large workshop, with all the tools needed to work wood and metal, a half finished figurine of a noble unicorn on a forested hill sat on the worktable. Smiling at this she closed the door and turned back to the kitchen table, realizing as she did so that most everything in this house if not the house itself had been built by him. He cleared his throat to get her attention and then motioned to the table. Fluttershy smiled a little and crossed to the table, sitting down at it and joining with him in the repast.

After they had finished eating Fluttershy asked, "Do you know how to get to Ponyville from here?" Faith paused in his picking up the plates from the table and said, "Its about thirty miles south east of here." Fluttershy gasped in shock, she'd barely been a mile from Ponyville when she'd been attacked, she had run that far? Fluttershy opened and closed her mouth a few times before asking,
"Is it alright if I go home?"

Faith frowned slightly and her heart seemed to stop beating, he wasn't going to force her to stay here was he? She determinedly kept a smile on her face to hide her fear and winced slightly as he spoke, "You aren't a prisoner here, you can leave whenever you wish, but I was hoping that you would stay and help me fix those things the basilisk tore up."
She flushed as those memories suddenly came back to her, she was grateful he didn't blame her for the damage. He motioned to her to follow him and went outside, after a moments hesitation Fluttershy followed.

When she laid her eyes upon the garden, her heart fell. The entire plot of land had been torn apart, dirt lay scattered everywhere, some of it containing small plant shoots, torn out in their infancy. The well was another matter entirely, bits of broken rock from the wells body and wood from the wells canopy and pulley lay scattered everywhere, it was so badly destroyed that the only solution was to take it down and rebuild it a new. Fluttershy felt pangs of guilt at what she saw, feeling directly responsible for all of it.

After looking it over a third time Fluttershy nodded and said, "I understand, I will help you fix it, its is my fault that it got broken anyway, but can I go home and tell my friends that I'm okay?"
Faith nodded and motioned to the skies above, "I'm not stopping you, Go tell them you are alright, but then head on back here, we have work to do."
Fluttershy nodded and jumped into the air, her wings stretching gratefully at the exercise. After hovering for a bit over the forest, making sure she'd be able to find this simple house again, she turned in the direction of Ponyville and flew off toward it.

Half an hour later...

Fluttershy landed lightly in the town square amidst the hustle and bustle of its inhabitants. It seemed a little odd to be among so many after having just left such a quite and secluded home as Faith's. She turned on the spot a little before spotting the bakery and trotting over to it. When she came within five feet however, she paused, noticing that Pinkie Pie was nowhere to be seen in the store, which was odd. A little worried, she went to Rarity's shop next and it too was closed.

Now very worried, She turned and hurried to Twilight's house, arriving just in time to see Applejack walk inside. Fluttershy sprinted to the front door and through it before AJ could close it, bowling into her and knocking her over. There were several gasps from inside the house and as Fluttershy looked up from her vantage point on the floor and saw all of her friends gathered there, some looking like they hadn't slept at all during the last two days. She picked herself up of the floor and said, "Hi...I'm...uh...I'm okay."

It was a rather feeble greeting, but then she'd never been one for long and lengthy conversations, usually keeping to herself. Even though it was simple it had an enormous impact as all of her friends, Spike included ran the intervening gap between themselves and Fluttershy and about nearly tackled her with many cries of relieve and joy. After the tearful exchanges Twilight managed to make herself heard and quietened everyone down before asking Fluttershy for a full account of what happened to her.

Fluttershy sighed heavily and explained everything she had been told and remembered from that day and left out no details. All of her friends bore equal looks of shock and relieve when she told them of her attack and rescue. When she revealed the name of the creature that attacked her, Twilight's look of worry deepened and she said, "You don't know how lucky you are to be alive. I've read books about those monsters."

Upon hearing Twilight confess to her that the encounter and her survival had been highly lucky and fortunate, Fluttershy felt even more grateful for Faith's timely intervention. When she told them of the powerful earth pony that had saved her and how he had taken care of her, Rarity grinned and asked, "Is he handsome?"

Fluttershy blushed and nodded, averting any more questions in that regard by explaining of the damage that had been caused during her run from the Basilisk and her own promise to help Faith fix it all. When she finished talking, her friends were silent while they digested this knowledge.

After another few silent minutes Rainbow Dash said with great enthusiasm, "Well, he saved our friend, I say we should all go help fix it." They all consented to this idea, all that is except Fluttershy. Fluttershy shifted a little before saying, "Um...No. I promised I would help him, and that I was only coming here to let you guys know I was okay."
All present fell silent again and this time Pinkie Pie spoke up, "Why can't we come help?"

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably and said, "I...I want to help him by myself." That got every ones attention, they all looked at her curiously, all of them wondering why exactly Fluttershy wanted to do this alone. She couldn't really put into words why she wanted to do this alone, but she knew this was what she wanted to do.

Eventually Twilight nodded and said, "That's fine, we won't pry into it. Thank you for letting us know that you were okay."
Fluttershy nodded and gave each of her friends a hug before leaving for her house, if she was going to be there for a while she might as well prepare for it. Sighing heavily she looked up at the cloudless sky and whispered,
"Oh I'm in for a long haul."

Chapter 3

Fluttershy landed gently on the ground in front of Faith's house, a small bag slung over her back containing all the things she brought with her on a long stay at a friends house. When she got her bearings, she couldn't help but laugh at what she saw. Faith was sitting on his hind quarters with a thoroughly annoyed look on his face as nearly all of Fluttershy's animal friends climbed over him, ran around him, or tugged on his mane and tail in play. No fewer than twelve birds were nesting on his head and a small kitten was curling around his legs, purring madly.

Fluttershy had to suppress a fit of the giggles as she watched the scene, Faith sitting there quietly as if at any moment these woodland animals could turn savage. Fluttershy took a few deep breaths and walked over to the group and said, "Okay I think that's enough, let the nice pony breathe."

The animals immediately diverted their attentions to Fluttershy and charged towards her chittering madly. She laughed as they bowled into her, rolling around on the grass with the animals running and jumping around her in play.
Faith stood back up and cleared his throat, which drew the groups attention back to him.
"Fluttershy, are there any more of your woodland friends I should be acquainted with before they maul me?"

The sound of irritation in his voice was not lost on her and she frowned in worry, "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind them..."
Faith took a deep breath and shook his head before responding,
"Fluttershy, I don't mind them, not in the slightest, but when I'm trying to get the equipment and materials for the repairs ready and a wall of fur and feathers comes flying from the woods to thank me for saving you. It makes doing what needs to be done harder."
Fluttershy nodded and spoke to her friends, "Okay now, Faith and I have some work to do now, please run along back home."

The animals nodded in unison, then scurried back into the woods, disappearing from sight.
Fluttershy turned back to her host and opened her mouth to apologize again when he cut her off, "Its okay Fluttershy, I really don't mind them, just a little forewarning would be appreciated next time."

She nodded, smiling slightly at his understanding and followed after him as he moved towards the house stopping in front of the door before motioning toward it saying, "You can go put you things in there, I'll let you have the bedroom during your stay, I'll sleep in the living room."
Fluttershy tried to protest this but he silenced her with a look before saying, "It is only proper that the lovely lady and my guest get the best comforts."

Fluttershy blushed at his compliment and wordlessly went inside to the bedroom while he went into a shed on the side of the house that she hadn't noticed earlier. She made her way over to the bedroom and pushed it open, immediately noticing the difference in the room.

The windows had been opened to allow a soft breeze to blow in, a lovely white vase sat in the windowsill with a bunch of wild flowers inside, adding their perfume to the room and further enhancing its comfortable feeling. The bed had been neatly made, a corner of the quilted blanket was pulled back, revealing the soft, clean white sheets beneath it. Fluttershy dropped her bag on the floor beside the bed and pushed it under the bed smiling at the room before leaving it and heading back outside.

Faith stood there, inspecting a large plough with a rope harness, tugging on various ropes and buckles to ensure they were in good shape.
She cleared her throat and he looked up at her with a quizzical look, "Finished already? I figured you were going to take a few minutes to put your things away."

Fluttershy shrugged and said, "I didn't have much to put away, are we working on the garden first?" Faith nodded and checked a few more of the ropes before motioning to it with a smile and said, "Wanna help me with this?"
Fluttershy looked at the plough and then back at Faith with a puzzled look causing Faith to sigh as he positioned himself in front of the harness and said, "Its not easy getting this thing on by myself, do you mind helping me?"

Fluttershy flushed slightly as she stood on her hind legs and pulled the harness open, Faith backing into it carefully until he was firmly in place. After he was in position, she pulled the ropes over his shoulders, feeling strangely embarrassed to be so close to this large, powerful pony. After tightening the harness into place she pulled her hooves away as if touching either him or the rope was like handling fire. Faith flexed experimentally and smiled, nodding at her in thanks. She smiled faintly in response before looking around the garden in curiosity. After a moment or so of searching for her assignment she asked, "Um...what am I supposed to do?"

Faith nodded in the direction behind her and she turned to see the ruined well, a large wheelbarrow positioned next to it, relaying to her his instructions;
"I would like for you to take the well apart, down to the ground, put the broken fragments into the wheelbarrow so no one gets hurt on them."

Fluttershy gulped as she stared at the shattered stone fragments, scattered over the ground, a veritable minefield of hazards. Even though the razor sharp rocks made her nervous, she didn't want to lose her nerve in front of her host so she trotted off over to the well and the long day's work began. Fluttershy first started by picking up the rock fragments off the ground, careful to pick up the larger, sharper ones first, and sweeping the smaller ones up second.

Due to her careful movements around the fragments, she had plenty of opportunity to watch Faith's work. The amount of strength the pony possessed was incredible, the large steel plough that he pulled barely seemed to register with him, the dirt moving out of the way like water to a boat.

Once or twice, a loud crack would prevail the clearing when his plough would shatter a hidden rock with little effort, each time causing Fluttershy to jump in alarm. Eventually, Fluttershy finished picking up the ground around the well, noticing as she did so that the sun was starting to dip down behind the trees, casting the area in an early twilight.

She tried to pay no mind to it until her stomach let out a loud growl. She frowned at the realization of how hungry she was, Faith had asked if she'd like to break for lunch, but she had turned down the offer, a little bit of Rainbow Dash showing in her, determined to prove she could go as long as he could. She removed another of the stones from the well, grunting as she hefted it with her front hooves into the wheelbarrow.

As it crashed into the other blocks, a hoof rested on her shoulder followed by the warm voice of her host,
"Alright Fluttershy, I think its time we stopped, we've both worked hard and we both have earned rest."
Fluttershy couldn't quite disguise her relief of finally being able to stop, feeling proud of what she accomplished today. Faith removed himself from the harness, with some help from Fluttershy, and then took the wheelbarrow to the edge of the clearing, where he dumped out the stone that Fluttershy had gathered up.

After finally returning both the plough and wheelbarrow to the shed, he stretched wearily and motioned for his guest to follow him inside. She did so, hoping very much that she would be having dinner very soon, but also hoping to be able to take a bath. As sweat covered as she was, she didn't care if the bath water was cold.

After entering the house, Faith closed the door behind her and cantered over to the kitchen and began to prepare the evening meal. As much as she was supposed to be there helping him out around the house, she couldn't help but feel that he was treating her more like his guest than his help, giving her his room, making her food, asking no more of her than what than what she was asked to do in regards to the repairs. She was very unsure if she should protest the matter or let it alone. Finally deciding on the latter, she turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

She looked at the wooden bathtub and noticed that there was no soap or shampoo available for cleaning oneself, and yet surely there must be some. She looked around the bathroom, opening the few cabinets in the room to find extra towels and other such linens. She let out a sigh, not relishing the inability to actually clean herself, turning back to the bathtub with a towel in her mouth.

She set the towel down on the floor and examined the tap; it consisted of one handle for the water, and with no obvious way for the water to be heated, the only logical thing was that it fed from a spring. Sighing resignedly, she pushed the handle with her hoof and was amazed when clear, steaming hot water poured out into the tub. She realized where it must have come when the faint smell of sulphur hit her nostrils, a volcanic hot spring.

Relieved that she would not need to take a cold bath, she put one hoof in the water and felt that its was pleasantly hot. After the tub was full she turned the tap off and placed her front hooves into the tub freezing when a large black foreleg reached out past her. With a scream she spun around and confronted the intruder, kicking him on instinct while spinning out of the tub onto the floor. Faith Stood there with a slightly winded expression, his left foreleg still outstretched towards the wall, but otherwise unphased by her actions. She felt her long dormant fury rise in her as she demanded, "What in the world were you doing?!"

Faith sighed and set his hoof against the wall, pushing on it slightly. To her surprise, a section of the wall rotated inward, revealing the soap and shampoo she'd been looking for earlier. Faith dropped to all fours again and bowed to her muttering, "I am very sorry that I did not announce myself. I had no other intentions than to show you this."
Without waiting for her reply, he turned and left the room, leaving her only slightly less angry.

He had only wanted to help her, but the manner in which he had done so was wrong. At least she thought it was until she remembered that he had been far removed from society for many years, and must surely not know such nuances as privacy. With a sigh, she locked the door that Faith had closed behind him and climbed into the tub, allowing her cares and aches to melt away in the hot water.

Perhaps this was what she was supposed to do, to help this reclusive pony open up more to the world and rejoin society, it could be that he'd never lived around other ponies and therefore didn't know how to act around them. Despite assuring herself that this must surely be the case, she couldn't help but feel also that this assumption was entirely wrong.

As she lay stretched out in the tub, the hot water covering all but her mouth and nose, with her heartbeat the only audible sound to her, she couldn't help but think about her mysterious host, how much about him could she learn in such a short period of time, and how much might she learn about him if she insisted on staying, even after the work was done.
She didn't know, but one thing was for certain, she wanted to find out. With a smile, she reached up and grabbed the soap, washing herself as she formed a plan for how to get him to open up.

Chapter 6

Fluttershy stood in the kitchen, lavishing great detail and attention upon the breakfast she was cooking for herself and Faith. The evening previous had passed quite peacefully, the pair of them had sat in the living room talking to one another for several hours after her friends had gone back home. Unfortunately though, neither had washed before sitting on the couch and it had taken all of Faith's bath time to clean the mud off before she went to bathe.

After they had washed up, the two of them had turned in for the night, but she had had difficulty falling asleep, due to the fact that she felt that she was being watched. Even now, as she flipped a pancake over with practiced ease, she felt like some one was watching her. It certainly wasn't Faith, who still lay snoring on the couch in the living room but she couldn't dispel the feeling.

She slid the cooked pancake onto a fairly large stack of them on a plate in the center of the table before turning her attention to the vegetables she was sauteing, trying to avoid burning them. After another few minutes she heard a stirring from the living room and looking over her shoulder saw Faith siting up, his mane disheveled and his eyes caked with sleep. He smiled in greeting to her as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, yawning broadly. Fluttershy smiled back at him and returned her focus to the meal she was preparing. Even though there wasn't really any plans for today, she fully intended to enjoy it as best she could, maybe she could learn more about her mysterious host with a few hours of conversation.

As she moved the cooked veggies from the pan to a serving dish, she still couldn't shake the feeling that some one was watching her. She looked around the room, and even out the door and window but she saw no one. Shaking her head she moved back into the kitchen and began setting the table, laying the food out upon it, arranging the flowers in the vase and setting the napkins beside the two plates. She enjoyed doing this for him, it gave her a contented feeling that she couldn't put into words. All she knew was that doing this felt right, and that was good enough for her. Faith came up to the table and volubly admired the meal, an act which made Fluttershy blush a little at his praise.

She was about to suggest that they sit to eat when Faith moved behind her and pulled her chair out for her, gesturing his hoof for her to sit. She smiled and sat gracefully upon the seat before being pushed to the table, Faith was such a gentlemen, to the point that it made Fluttershy reexamine what she perceived of him. He had extensive manners and respect, as well as some apparent training in self defense, carpentry, farming, masonry, and several social graces such as how to treat a lady.

But despite all this, he seemed to become distanced around all others except her, and for a few moments, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. He must surely have learned these skills from someone or from somewhere, he certainly wasn't the reclusive hermit she thought him to be, or was he? Was it possible that he had lived among others, but had chosen this self exile rather than live around other ponies?

There were so many questions and so few answers that she felt a little overwhelmed. Even as he sat in the chair across from her, she couldn't help be stare at him, to wonder at his curious nature. He smiled at her and asked,

"Is something wrong?"

Fluttershy started at the sound of his voice and shook her head, blushing a little. Faith stared at her for a minute or so before reaching for the platter of pancakes in front of him. As he took the tray a familiar voice sounded from overhead,

"I do hope you made enough for three."

Faith and Fluttershy both about jumped out of their skins as they looked up to see Discord reclining lazily on the ceiling, looking down at the two ponies below him. Faith scowled and demanded,

"Would you get off my ceiling?!"

Discord chuckled and dropped to the floor with a loud thud before pulling up a non existent chair and sitting at the table. Discord grinned mischievously and snatched the tray from Faith saying as he did so,

"Why thank you, its so nice for you to offer me, your guest, the food first."

Faith's eye twitched as he glared at Discord, as he had neither offered for him to join the meal, let alone be in his house and he certainly hadn't offered the food he had intended for himself to him. Faith took a deep breath while Fluttershy greeted Discord with cheer and began to talk with him. Discord used his magic to instantly fix his and Fluttershy's plates before setting the now mostly empty tray back onto the table. Faith felt his blood boiling, he struggled to keep his face as determinedly impassive as possible. He took what was left off the tray while Fluttershy and Discord continued to talk to one another.

Faith felt like he was being completely ignored at his own table and he was channeling every ounce of self control he possessed into not doing anything that would hurt Fluttershy's feelings. Fluttershy faltered halfway through her conversation as she noticed Faith sitting huffily in his chair, eying Discord. She had been around others long enough to know that glint of rage in his eyes.

Looking between Discord and Faith, she soon realized that asking these two to be civil was highly unlikely to happen. She had to be fair though, Discord could at times be spiteful to those he didn't like, even now after his reformation. She had noted that Discord had rudely invited himself to breakfast and taken the liberty of helping himself to the food even though Faith had already picked up the tray with the intention of serving himself.

She continued to talk distractedly to Discord, her eyes constantly darting back to Faith as she did so. It wasn't long after this that a silence fell over the breakfast table, a silence which made her acutely uncomfortable. Discord had long since finished eating and was now idly levitating plates in the air, looking around the house disinterestedly. Fluttershy sighed and moved to get up when a loud squawk echoed from outside. Fluttershy didn't just get up, she flew to the door and outside in response to the noise, leaving Discord and Faith alone in the room. Discord grinned wickedly and said,

"That one works all the time. Ventriloquism is such a nice skill, don't you think?"

Faith didn't immediately answer as he picked at his food, his teeth quietly gritting together until he could control himself no more. He slammed his hooves on the table, making everything on it jump and stood up glaring at Discord. With carefully picked words, Faith demanded,

"What in the name of Celestia are you playing at Discord, have you made it your mission in life to irritate me?"

Discord chuckled and flipped over in the air, floating on his belly in front of the table with his head propped in his paws,

"No, I'm just trying to divert the competition, don't want to lose my girl to some stallion she met a few days ago."

Faith paled at this, Discord's girl? The impossibility of such a loving and sweet pony being in a relationship with this misshapen embodiment of chaos was mind boggling. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before snorting and calling his bluff,

"I don't believe you, why should I? You were a creature of lies before your apparent reformation and I doubt you've lost your talent for lying."

Discord smiled and turned his body over, his head still in the same position it was before hand, replying with casual indifference,

"Oh well, you'll see soon enough, but I promise you, try to take her from me, and your in for a fight for the history books."

Faith grinned, positioning himself in a fighting stance,

"Is that a challenge?"

Discord shrugged as Fluttershy came back inside, muttering confusedly to herself. She looked over at her two friends, Discord causing her to shudder at the grotesque way his body was formed, and Faith worrying her with his combative stance, his eyes locked on Discord. She walked over to the two of them and asked,

"Is everything alright?"

Discord righted himself and his head, dropping to the floor with a thud. He looked over at Fluttershy and said with a grin,

"Of course dear, everything is quite alright. Now, I really must be heading back, thank you for the meal, I'll be sure to visit you again."

He swiftly bent down and placed a firm kiss on her cheek, right at the corner of her mouth before teleporting out of the house with a laugh. Fluttershy stood there with a very strong blush, her mouth working up and down in a vain attempt to speak. Faith felt his anger grow, even if she was Discord's girl, he fully intended to take her as his, just to spite the mad creature. At this thought he caught himself, disgusted. He couldn't believe his hatred of Discord had grown so much that he would cause the two of them to break up by try to make her fall for him. He shook his head and sighed, beginning to clear the table in an effort to clear his head.

He did like Fluttershy, but it didn't feel like a romantic liking, more a friendly one, if she wanted to be with Discord, that was her choice. Even though he determined to himself to not interfere, he couldn't help but hate the idea of her being with him. Fluttershy watched Faith work, her mind was fogged with confusion, first the non existent wounded bird that she'd gone to help, but also by the abrupt kiss that Discord had given her.

She had never known him to feel that way about her but she had also never known him to be serious about much of anything. She wasn't sure what to make of the situation but for the moment, she'd ignore the action and talk to him about it later. She moved over to help Faith clean the table off, but he shooed her away, his eyes showing a deep state of thought.

Something had happened between Discord and him, this much she was certain of but she couldn't just come out and ask him. Sighing lightly, she headed outside and sat on the porch, looking out over the yard, deep in thought. She wanted to know what was going on, Discord''s strange behavior, strange even for him, and Faith''s deep dislike of him. But it wasn't just his hatred of Discord that intrigued her, it was his strange unknown past, his seemingly self chosen exile from society, his incomplete knowledge of history, his long list of skills.

He was a complex and mysterious individual and she longed to know everything about him. Of all the ponies in all of Equestria, she felt more drawn to Faith than she had anyone else. Perhaps in time, she would learn everything about him, she just hoped that he and Discord wouldn't kill each other before she could have a chance to discover everything there was to know about him.

Chapter 7

Fluttershy slept peacefully in the comfortable bed of Faith's bedroom, the warm spring sun trickling in gently in the early hours of the morning. It had been a full week since that interesting breakfast with Discord and Faith and things had been rather uncomfortable around the house since then.

Not only was there an uncomfortable silence whenever she was alone with Discord, but there was also an uncomfortable tension whenever Faith and Discord were in the same room together. Despite this, both of them seemed to be getting along, at least that is, they hadn't started a fight yet. Fluttershy rolled over and gently opened her eyes, the morning sunlight making her eyes sparkle at least until she screwed them shut again.

Living on the farm with Faith meant that she got up early every morning, whether to check on the crops outside or to cook breakfast for everyone. She didn't mind the work she had to do, but she really wished that she could sleep in a little bit more. She covered her head with the quilt and closed her eyes again, hoping to steal a few more minutes of sleep before Faith got up. However any and all attempts to get more sleep were ended when a piercing scream echoed through the house.

Fluttershy jumped to attention in an instant, her heart hammering madly as the scream still echoed in her head. It was then that she heard the sound of chuckling before a male voice to her right said,

"I believe our host has discovered the surprise I gave him."

Fluttershy, already on edge from the earlier scare, jumped sideways out of the bed, landing in an undignified way on the floor, Discord's face appearing over the edge of the bed to look down at her. She took a few deep breathes in an attempt to slow her heart rate before she asked,

"What in the name of Celestia are you talking about?"

Her answer was given to her when the door to the room flew open.
There in the doorway stood a slender mare with a jet black coat, flecked with white. She had long eyelashes, a well kept mane, and a figure that would make even Rarity jealous, however, her eyes were wide with horror and she was moving her mouth in an unsuccessful attempt at speech. Fluttershy looked the mare over once more before politely asking, "Who are you?"

Her politeness surprised her, given her fear from a moment ago, but for some reason this new pony seemed to instill a sense of calm in her. The pony opened and closed her mouth a few more times before turning to the left a little to reveal a bright red crystal heart cutie mark. Ice cold realization hit her with the force of a stampeding buffalo, all of the air seemed to vanish from her lungs as she choked, "Faith?!"
Faith nodded and finally managed to say, "I'm...I'm...I'm a mare!"

Fluttershy didn't bother asking how this happened, instead she rounded on Discord and angrily demanded, "Discord! What did you do to Faith?!" Discord was shaking slightly, but not out of fear of Fluttershy's anger, but rather from the laughter he was straining to control, the fur around his face a darker shade than normal as he kept a paw over his mouth in an attempt to not burst out in mirth. This eventually proved impossible as Discord suddenly erupted into raucous laughter, holding his side as he laughed. Fluttershy stomped her hoof angrily and demanded again,

"What did you do to Faith?!"

Discord eventually regained enough breath to wheeze, "I removed competition, though if I may say so, you do look fine Faith."

At this he wolf whistled and Faith eye twitched in anger, he made to charge at Discord and noticing this, Fluttershy grabbed him by the shoulders and attempted to hold him back. Faith was so strong that she did little to stop him, eventually going from holding his shoulders to his hind legs in an attempt at keeping Faith from attacking Discord. Noticing Faith's advance, Discord floated lazily to the ceiling and out of reach, still chuckling feebly to himself as he eyed the two ponies below him. Faith angrily demanded, "Get back down here so I can kill you!"

Discord chuckled and responded casually, "All the more reason for me to stay up here then."

Fluttershy let go of Faith's legs as he stopped moving and picked herself up off the floor, looking up at Discord in the ceiling. She had known him to do some pretty crazy things, but changing the gender of a friend of hers for fun was overstepping the boundaries of what she would allow, and what had he meant by removing competition? She shook her head and asked, "Discord, would you please change Faith back to normal, he can't stay this way."

Discord shrugged and suggested with a wicked grin, "Why not? He may grow to like his new body and all the attention it'll bring him, besides, I'm sure there are a number of singles in Ponyville who would love to take interest in such a cute mare."

Faith gritted his teeth. This insane creatures suggestions and demented thoughts were infuriating him, if he could fly, he'd knock a few of his teeth out and then make him change him back. Faith took a number of deep calming breaths while Fluttershy angrily argued with Discord about how even though Faith now looked female, that didn't change what he actually was. Discord didn't even seem to be paying any attention to Fluttershy's words as he backstroked lazily through the air and eventually he flipped around and said with a bored voice,

"Well, I think I'll be going, the spell doesn't have a time limit so you might as well enjoy it sweetie, I'll see you both later."

Before Fluttershy or Faith could do much more than open their mouths angrily Discord vanished with a poof. Faith swore loudly and Fluttershy covered her mouth in shock, angrily reprimanding him for his use of profanity before saying,

"Faith! Getting angry won't help this, swearing certainly won't! We need to keep calm and think about this."

Faith frowned and apologized to her while closing his eyes and taking a number of deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. After a few moments he opened his eyes and asked, "Well, what do we do? I certainly have no plans to be a mare for the rest of my life."

Fluttershy had already been thinking about that, even before she had asked Discord to reverse the spell, she had known he wouldn't. That being said, there were three other ponies who had the knowledge and power to undo magic like this, Celestia, Twilight, and Trixie. She definitely did not want to ask Trixie for help, Celestia was all the way in Canterlot, so the best choice available to them was Twilight. Smiling reassuringly at Faith, Fluttershy said,

"Don't worry, I know just the unicorn to help us, my best friend, Twilight Sparkle. She's Celestia's apprentice and the most powerful magician I know." Faith let out an audible sigh of relieve and said, "Well, what are we waiting for, lets go see if she can help us."

Several hours later...

Fluttershy and Faith entered into Ponyville around noon, a bit later than faith had wanted to get there, but they had needed to plan. Faith's new found beauty rivaled that of Rarity, which meant that it was highly likely the stallions of the town would attempt to woo him, without knowing the truth. The best policy was to avoid meeting as many pony's as possible and reach Twilight's house as quickly as possible.

Faith looked over to Fluttershy and they nodded in unison, moving as one into the town. It didn't take long for them to reach the town center, where a vast number of ponies were milling around, trading, conversing, or traveling from store to store. Faith looked around nervously, there were a larger number of Ponies in town than he would have expected, enough to make it easy to get separated.

Fluttershy motioned for Faith to follow her and he did so, darting into the crowd in an attempt to get through it quickly. They made it about ten feet when a stallion bumped into Faith. Initially, he paid it no mind as he attempted to keep up with Fluttershy, that is until the same stallion ran in between them and made to grab Faith's right fore hoof. The stallions eyes seemed to sparkle unnaturally as he gazed at Faith, he grinned broadly and said,

"Oh sweet lily of the fields, your fragrance has carried on the winds to me, the bee who will carry your pollen and fill the fields with your children."

Faith's jaw dropped at the stallions words, quickly snatching his hoof away and attempting to muscle past the deranged stallion. He made it all of two feet past him when another stallion flew in out of nowhere with a bouquet of a dozen roses, offering them to him with a broad grin and sparkling eyes, he said, "A rose for each heartbeat you stole from me when I laid my eyes upon you."

A shudder of ran down Faith's spine as he recoiled from the flowers and attempted to sprint after Fluttershy. He didn't get very far when three more stallions muscled their way through the crowd, carrying gifts wrapped in bows, cakes, and bits of jewelery. Faith had no intention of being propositioned by these stallions and turned to run in the opposite direction, freezing when he saw the previous two he'd encountered earlier blocking his path. With no other options available he yelled, "Fluttershy! Help Me!"

Fluttershy looked back over her shoulder at the sound of Faith's voice. She'd been so occupied with carefully navigating the crowd that she hadn't noticed that Faith had fallen back. She saw him being cornered by no fewer than seven stallions bearing gifts and she paled; the last thing they needed was for one of them to get his hooves on Faith without realizing that he wasn't actually a mare.

She tried to push her way towards him but three more stallions ran past her, knocking her over in their rush to get to this new and beautiful mare. As the number of would be suitors grew from seven to thirteen in under a minute, Fluttershy gave him the only bit of useable advise she could think of, "Faith, run!"

Faith needed no encouragement. As one of the suitors made a grab for him, he grabbed his foreleg and flipped him onto the ground, kicking another in the head before speeding off as fast as he could through the opening he had made. As he ran, he heard a chorus of love calls, requests, and poetry following behind him, as the number of stallions grew. Faith chanced a glance back and saw stallions coming out of houses he'd past, a few tossing off wedding bands and others getting into hoof fights with those that got in their way. The mass of stallions numbered in the dozens by the time he rounded a corner and saw the one creature that at that he wanted to see, Discord.

He ran right past him, having no time to slow down and wasn't surprised when he came floating up beside him, lazily gliding along on his side while examining his talons. Eventually Discord asked, "Soooo, are we having a problem?"

Faith nearly swore again as a cramp started in his sides and he snapped, "This is YOUR doing isn't it?!"
Discord smiled wickedly and said, "I may have had a claw in it. Aren't you just loving the attention?"
Faith turned another sharp corner and Discord sailed past, before he was too far away Faith screamed,
"I'm going to get you for this Discord! I swear it!"

He heard Discord laughing jovially in the distance as he continued to run. It wasn't much long before Faith felt like his legs were about to give out, his lungs burned, his legs burned, his heart hammered. Despite want no part in whatever those stallions had in mind, his mind could only will his body to go so far. Just when it seemed like fate had conspired against him, he let out a yelp as a lasso of magic flew out the front door of a nearby building and yanked him off his hooves into it.

He heard the sound of a door slamming shut and being locked, looking up from his vantage point on the floor he saw a brilliant white mare white a purple mane looking out through a crack in the window curtains as the mob of stallions ran past, unaware that their target was no longer on the streets.

The mare sighed in relieve and turned back to Faith who lay shaking on the floor. She stepped forward and nudge Faith gently on the cheek. She sighed and said, "You poor thing, you must be scared to death. Come on, lets get you some tea."

Faith shook his head, he didn't want tea, all he wanted was for whatever that insane creature had done to him undone. He attempted to stand but fell back onto his stomach, his legs having no more energy left in them. The mare looked at Faith quizzically and said, "I've never seen you around town before, who are you?"

Faith gave her his name still stubbornly trying to make his legs support his weight. When they again collapsed under him he resigned himself to resting here for awhile and hoping that Fluttershy would find him. The mare before him smiled and said, "My name is Rarity, its nice to meet you Faith. So tell me, why was that mob chasing you, judging by how you look, we'd be about equals in the beauty part, so what was it, perfume?"

Faith shook his head and weakly said, "No, Discord put a spell on me to make all stallions fall in love with me."
Rarity raised her eyebrows, she knew Discord was a prankster but this, it was just cruel. She sighed and helped Faith to his feet, guiding him towards the bathroom. As she opened the door with magic she said,

"What you need darling is a soak in a nice hot bath and the full salon treatment, mud facial, hoof polish and mane styling. I promise you'll feel like a new mare when we're done."
Faith let out a groan as he was dragged into the bathroom, the door closing with a click behind him.

Chapter 9

Fluttershy sat on the front porch of Faith's home, idly watching her animal companions mill around the garden that she and Faith had worked on almost a month ago. It had been two weeks since the fiasco with Discord changing Faith into a mare and things had been somewhat tense the first few day's after he had been changed back. Discord had sensibly decided to not return to this small cabin in the woods for at least the first few days after they had gotten back, and hadn't shown up until a full week after he'd said that.

When he did comeback, it was with his usual zany antics that had only annoyed Faith, but Fluttershy was grateful that Faith had not raised hoof towards Discord and was endeavoring to keep the uneasy peace between them. Faith had left earlier that day into the woods to do some scavenging for herb's to restock his dwindling supply, while Discord was taking it upon himself to actually do something useful and was currently washing dishes in the kitchen, leaving Fluttershy free to think and socialize with her animal friends.

This current situation had to be one of the oddest she'd ever been in in her entire life, crammed in a small cabin with a mysterious and heroic hermit and the obnoxious and crazy embodiment of chaos. She sighed heavily and laid back onto the porch, starring up at the sky, just visible through the trees, wondering idly when Faith would be coming back.

Faith meanwhile was rummaging through a patch of overgrown flowers, looking for various aromatic herbs for tonight's dinner. As he plucked a particularly large sprig of basil, he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him grin. He placed the basil into the satchel around his shoulders and turned towards the plant he'd seen. It was a large flowering plant, more akin to a vine than anything else, that had grown out of the ground and wrapped around other smaller plants, strangling them as it pulled at their roots.

The flowers that grew on it were technicolor and vibrant, stretching out about as far across as his hoof. The flower was emitting an intoxicating aroma that recalled to mind the ocean, roses, and his various favorite foods. He reached down to pick it as a wicked idea returned to his mind, the same idea he had been formulating since he'd gotten back home a couple weeks earlier. This little plant would most certainly be of use in accomplishing it. As he plucked the flower off the plant, he heard a cough from behind him. He spun around quickly, almost dropping the plant off his hoof as he turned to face the newcomer. Before him stood a pony with a black and white striped coat and wore a large number of rings around her neck and one in each ear.

She was eying Faith with a knowing look, her eyes glancing to the flower before fixing back on his eyes. She motioned to the plant he'd plucked it from and said, "Faith, this plant is full of venom, it is an evil thing, why then would invite deaths sting?"
Faith looked at the flower balanced on his hoof and then back at the zebra before saying,
"It's no business of yours what I intend to do with this, Zecora."

Zecora scowled and tried to take the flower away from him, but Faith was too quick and easily avoided her. Faith grinned and tucked the flower into his satchel before saying, "You have known me for almost 14 years and you know that I never take something like this unless I had a use for it."
He motioned to the vine the flower had been on and continued, "The Mystic Adder, a flower that absorbs and seals all magics, feared by unicorns and valued by alchemists and the mischievous alike."

Faith grinned broader, a curios light in his eyes as stepped past Zecora and out of the clearing. Zecora continued to watch after him and said in an ominous way, "Take care that you do not anger the Spirits of the world, else karma hit you with a curve ball surely hurled."
With that she continued on through the glade, hoping that Faith would think twice about his plans.

Faith paid no heed to Zecora's words however and was home within ten minutes, coming through the tree's and seeing Fluttershy on the front porch, watching her animal friends play. She waved to him as he entered into the clearing and he walked over to her, rearing onto his hind legs briefly so slip the satchel he was carrying over his head and catching it in his teeth before dropping back on all fours again. Fluttershy reached up to take the satchel from him and her cheek brushed against his as she grabbed the strap in her mouth.

He heard her eep and felt the spot where the contact had happened burn. Though when she pulled back her face was burning deeper shade of scarlet than he would have thought possible. She turned stiffly and trotted back into the house, trying not to betray her embarrassment. Faith smiled as he watched her, and made to move when Discord floated gently down beside him before sharply demanding,
"Don't you go making moves on my girl. I won't stand for that."

Faith snorted and turned toward Discord, his powerful gaze boring into Discord's eyes as though he were trying to pierce through them and see into the mind behind. Faith shifted his stance a little and said,
"Don't be such a liar Discord, I've been observing the two of you when you have been together. The most I can say is that she considers you a friend just as you consider her. You show no signs of romantic interest in Fluttershy and she show's no such interest in you."

Discord's eyes narrowed dangerously and he dropped to the ground, all pretense of loftiness gone. He towered over Faith and spread his wings dramatically, before growling, "I would be careful if I was you, I won't take you spying on me and I certainly won't have you stealing Fluttershy from me."

Faith leaned closer to Discord, his eyes remaining fixed on his as he said, "Well then, you had better pick up the pace, because at the rate you move, she'll have kids before you can protest."

Discord continued to glare at Faith for another moment before dropping into a more normal mood, forcing his anger to fade. He walked over towards the house and said, "Challenge accepted Faith, we shall see which of us is the better. She'll pick the right one I know it."

Faith nodded at Discord retreating back and said in a low voice, "Yeah, but lets see how you manage without magic."

Faith sighed a little heavily and followed after Discord and into the house, where he found Fluttershy pulling the various herbs and plants out from the satchel. When she pulled the flower out she paused, examining the strange blossom, as if trying to figure out what exactly it was. She had heard of flowers being used in cooking, and that they gave interesting flavors to meals. She had never cooked with them herself and looked questioningly at Faith. Faith, who knew of this flower's properties and uses, could not in good conscious allow Fluttershy to cook with it, if he did, she would be poisoning Discord's ability to use magic without even knowing it.

He took the flower from her and said, "This is a special flower for tonight's dinner, I'll cook it this time so don't worry yourself over how to cook it. You just sit down and relax."

Fluttershy perked up and nodded in agreement to this idea, heading into the living room and sitting on the couch, picking up one of the interesting books that Faith had in his home. Discord scowled in Faith's direction and moved over towards Fluttershy, saying in a sweet voice as his paws rested upon her shoulder's, "Here, you've been working awfully hard over the past couple of weeks. Allow me to get rid of your built up tensions."

He slowly massaged her neck and shoulders and she let out a sigh of relief that made Discord grin smugly at Faith. Faith grit his teeth firmly and slid his hoof through the handle of his mortar and pestle, slowly grinding the various herbs in pastes and powders that he put into there perspective containers until at last he came down to the Mystic Adder. He smiled at the flower and dropped it into the mortar, grinding it down into a fine paste that he then added water to. As he let that steep he grabbed all the ingredients for dinner that he needed, trying to ignore Fluttershy's giggles as Discord tickled her sides in his massage.

It wasn't long before some semblance of a meal began to form, by far the most extravagant that he had ever made before in his entire life, consisting of five separate dishes and a dessert. As he stirred at the savory vegetable stew that was to be the main course he poured the juice from the steeped flower through a strainer into the stew, being careful to remove the petals themselves, which were highly toxic if eaten themselves.

The nectar and water contained within the petals was what had the magic inhibiting properties that he was looking for. He stirred the stew a bit more before checking the wild berry pie he had put in the oven when he heard a yelp from behind him and Discord swiftly saying, "So sorry my dear, I got carried away. I promise that it won't happen again."

Faith chanced a glance over his shoulder to see Fluttershy sitting upright on the couch, stiff as a board, her face a bright red and her eyes wide. Faith almost swore again as a dozen mental images formed in his mind of what happened to cause this, all of them making him want to throw his fruit knife across the room at Discord. Faith took a few deep breathes as he heard Fluttershy quietly forgive Discord of his "carelessness" before she turned back to her book politely declining his offer to continue with his massage.

With no other choices left to him, Discord instead walked over to where Faith was cooking, a slight grin on his face as he leaned against the counter staring at what Faith was doing. He opened his mouth to say something but Faith interrupted him by saying in an undertone, "Not one word Discord, or I'll kick you where it hurts."

Discord closed his mouth sharply and instead began to try to help with dinner, despite Faith's protests that he not. After a nearly silent argument, Discord eventually resigned to just setting the table, floating a stack of plates and mugs, staked one on top of the other in an alternating pattern towards the table, a slight scowl on his face as he rapidly and neatly, set the table.

It was already apparent to Faith that the he and Discord were rapidly devolving into a head to head fight with each other over Fluttershy, it didn't help matters when Faith's feelings in the matter were conflicted. On the one hoof, his feelings towards Fluttershy were confused, he didn't know if he truly had feelings for her or if he simply was competing for her because of how much he hated Discord.

He was more inclined to believe the latter of the two feelings, but their was always a wriggling doubt in the back of his mind that made him wonder. He gripped the handle of the pot the stew had been in and moved over towards the table, careful in his movements to limit the chance of burning himself with the hot cast iron pot.

He set it on the table carefully and made four more repeat trips before calling Fluttershy over for dinner. Fluttershy had a quiet air about her as she moved from the couch to the table, her head seemed to hang a little low as she approached the table, her eyes remaining fixed on the floor. When she got to the table, both Faith and Discord wisely did not move to pull the chair out for her, allowing her the space she clearly needed.

If looks could kill, Discord would have been utterly destroyed with the venomous glare that Faith was sending his way as they pulled up their own seats opposite each other. The atmosphere surrounding the dinner table was uncomfortably thick, everyone eating their meals in near total silence, it wasn't until the third course, the vegetable stew that a little life returned to the table.

Faith carefully slid his hoof under the lids handle and pulled it off with an exaggerated motion. Fluttershy's eyes widened as she stared in amazement at the dish, the aroma that was wafting off of it was superb and even Discord admitted that it smelled and looked great. Faith smiled and began to serve the dish, feeling somewhat relieved that the tension around the dinner table was starting to lighten.

Faith served each of the individuals at the table and returned to his seat in time to watch Discord pick up the bowl before him and drain everything from it in seconds. Discord grinned broadly and asked politely for more, to which Faith happily provided. The rest of the meal passed without incident, the previous tension had finally faded and a warm atmosphere prevailed for the remainder of the evening.

Even Faith enjoyed the companionship, to which Fluttershy admitted she was proud and happy to see. She didn't know it, but the main reason Faith was getting along better with Discord was because now finally, they were truly on even ground. At least for a little while, Discord could not alter reality or change events as they unfurled. Faith grinned broader to himself at the thought of all the things he could do now, all the things that were now possible and couldn't help but feel excited for the things that were about to unfold.

Hours later...

Faith lifted his head off the couch and looked around the darkened room. It was late at night and all was quiet. Faith had deliberately stayed awake for the last few hours so that he could have a shot at executing his idea. After a few more moments he rolled off the couch and onto his hooves, slowly walking towards the door. As he pushed it open he froze when he heard a snuffling sound from the bedroom. Propping the door with a small brick he walked over towards the bedroom looking inside. Inside he saw Fluttershy asleep on the mattress, the quilted blanket hanging loosely off the side of the bed. He smiled a little and walked into the room, pulling the blanket up over her and tucking it gently around her.

He couldn't help but feel his heart lift at the sight of the sleeping pony, so sweet and innocent. He smiled broader and bent to to gently kiss her on the forehead. She smiled broadly and curled into the blanket. He chuckled softly and turned and left the room. After closing the bedroom door behind him, he quietly left through the open front door and out into the yard. Out across the garden was a sizable hammock in which rested Discord.

Faith had had a lot of time with which to devise a means of getting back at Discord and had been working on it off and on ever since he had gotten home two weeks earlier. He turned and headed into his work shed, emerging moments latter with his large wheelbarrow, full to the brim with a semi solid mixture of mud.

He pushed the wheelbarrow over towards where Discord slept. After setting the wheelbarrow down gently he went around to the back of the work shed. A few minutes later he returned to Discord, pushing a large wooden frame. He'd being asked about it before hoof by both Fluttershy and Discord and had waved away their questions by simply stating that it was a secret.

They had stopped asking about it and that had suited him just fine. After he reached Discord, he positioned the wooden frame and pushed it under the creature. After ensuring it was in place, he stood on his hind legs and carefully untied the knot of the hammock with his teeth.

With the greatest of care to not wake Discord he slowly lowered the hammock into the wooden frame, sliding the fabric out from under Discord after he came to rest. Faith waited a few minutes to see if Discord had woken up. His sleep seemed undisturbed and after a few more moments of waiting Faith moved on to the last step of his plan. After moving the wheelbarrow into position, he lifted up the wheelbarrow and poured the mixture into the mold, burying discord up to the neck in the mixture.

After smoothing the surface over with his hooves he smiled at the scene before him. Now not only did he sleep like a rock, now he'd sleep IN a rock. He stifle a chuckle and returned the wheelbarrow to the shed before heading back to bed, eagerly looking forward to tomorrow.

Chapter 4

"Go! Flee to the castle! We haven't much time!"

This sentence rang out into the darkness of Faith's dreams as the shapeless world of his sleeping mind formed shapes of grey and black, indistinguishable in form or function and menacing to behold. He felt the ground around him shudder, as if an earth quake had hit it and the sensation of his legs moving, carrying him far away. He twisted in his dream and looked behind himself, shadows of blackest night following after him, shifting and without form.

Fear gripped him as he moved up a set of stairs and through a pair of doors, bellowing out orders for the doors to be sealed immediately. A loud boom reverberated in the silence. He heard muffled voices, his body turning to see various shadows milling around this grey filled void that he had entered. He couldn't make out anything that looked recognizable at all, not even himself. Finally he turned back towards the door and spoke, but even his own voice was muffled, as if absorbed by the room. His vision blurred then faded, the only audible sound was his heart, beating out firm and strong. He couldn't help but feel that whatever this was he was dreaming about, it must be of some importance. As he strove to make the world of his dreams to reform...

"Good morning Sleepyhead!"

Faith jerked awake suddenly to see the cyan eyes of his guest, Fluttershy, staring down at him, a wide smile upon her face. Faith sighed and let his head drop back to the couch, thinking about his dream. Whatever it had been, he felt that it was of significant importance to him, something that he needed to know. All he knew currently was that there had been some sort of castle. It was all so confused, all jumbled and meaningless, despite feeling that it had some sort of meaning to him, he couldn't force the images to return.

He growled softly and pressed his hooves to his eyes, his head throbbing in pain, a headache that had just know hit him. Fluttershy noticed this and backed away from the couch slowly, looking at her host with a look of fear and concern, had she upset him?

Faith noticed this and forced out a smile through his pain and said, "Its nothing, just a bad headache, that's all."
Fluttershy smiled a little in relieve and turned back to the kitchen. Faith watched after her until he realized with a jolt that she had been making a sizeable breakfast for the two of them. He smiled a little before dropping back onto the couch covering his eyes to block out the sun. He had no idea what had caused his headache but regardless, for the coming days events, after all, they had quite a lot of work to do, Fluttershy was just under half way done with taking the well apart, and he had a lot more left to do in the garden. He hoped very much that his headache would go away.

He sighed gently as his head pounded, the sound of the skillet over the wood stove serving only to exacerbate his migraine. It wasn't too much later when he heard a light cough next to him. He pulled his fore leg down to look at the source, seeing Fluttershy standing there with a cup of some sort of dark tea in it. It didn't quite smell of tea which caused him to look questioningly at her, she nodded and he took the drink, drinking it down quickly. It was a tea of sorts, but held a very bitter taste to it that made him grimace, despite not wanting to upset Fluttershy.

However, all she did was smile and take the cup from him, placing it in the kitchen sink before turning back to what she was cooking. Still trying to clear his mouth, Faith slumped back onto the couch and covered his eyes again. It was a few minutes before he noticed his head ache ebbing away. Whatever had been in the tea to make it so bitter had obviously been an herbal medicine of sorts, yet another element about her that he liked...

At this Faith opened his eyes and stared up into the blackness his foreleg created. Had he just admitted to liking her, he barely had known her a week and he liked her? It was strange, but he couldn't help but like her. She was the sweetest pony that could ever remember meeting, but that raised another topic, one that made his goofy smile slide into a frown. He couldn't remember meeting any other ponies besides Fluttershy, well, apart from those he traded with for materials and supplies. He must surely have had parents and friends, but he could remember none of it.

With a heavy sigh, he sat back up and looked over to the kitchen, seeing Fluttershy preparing two plates of food, her soft voice floating over to him as she hummed gently to herself. He smiled and watched as she worked, watched as she put out the wood stove, placed all the dishes she'd cooked with into the sink and finally set the table, lavishing a little extra care on the small bunch of flowers she had arranged in a vase there.

She turned back to the couch and noticed Faith watching her, his piercing gaze made her blush with amazing intensity. He smiled at her and her blush deepened to a shade he didn't think possible. Sliding off the couch and walked over to the table and sat down at it, motioning for Fluttershy to join him. Still blushing she sat down at the table and focused on her food, trying to get rid of her pounding heart, not looking at Faith as she ate.

Faith watched Fluttershy eat for the first couple of moments before turning back to his food, loving every bite of the delicious meal that she had prepared. Despite her previous cheer, a deep quite settled over the pair of them and despite all of Faith's attempts to break it, the silence continued for quite some time. Finally, after a full ten minutes of silence, the meal came to an end, Faith moving to cleaning up before Fluttershy had even blinked.

He took her empty plate and his own, placing them in the sink before looking at her, her eyes shining brightly in the light of the morning sun. He smiled at her to reassure her but her face darkened to a deeper red and she looked away. He had never in all his life known many ponies and the first one that he had spoken to and been around for longer than a day was the most shy pony he'd ever met.

Faith sighed and said, "Fluttershy, you don't need to be this embarrassed around me. I've already proven to be more than kind to you haven't I?" She nodded silently and continued to stare resolutely at the floor. As he stood there watching her, a thought occurred to him, maybe she hadn't spent much time around a stallion, maybe all her friends where mares. Thinking on this he asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

The second he finished his sentence her face went such a dark shade of red that he thought she was going to faint. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before managing to say, "I...I...I don't..." He had thought as much, she was shy around stallions; she socialized most frequently with her friends, which must surely all be mares. On this he smiled and said, "Well, how about we get started today, after all, we don't want to waste daylight."
Fluttershy silently nodded, still completely stunned by her hosts complete lack of tact, and followed Faith as he walked out from the house.

Hours later….

Fluttershy sighed wearily as she finally removed the last of the destroyed stones from the well and tossed it into the large wheel barrow she'd used yesterday. The work had proceeded much smoother than Faith had expected, he had long since finished reploughing the fields and had been sowing seeds for his garden for the past three hours. It looked like she could be heading back home earlier than she had expected.

Somewhere in her heart she felt a slight pang of disappointment at the idea of leaving this comfortable little home. Even though she found it difficult to socialize with Faith, his earlier question had kept her flushed for two full hours, she still wanted to help him grow, to open up more to the world. She had tried to formulate ways in which to talk to him, or introduce him to others, maybe even get him to come to one of Pinkie Pies frequent parties, but she wasn't sure of how to do it.

She turned to look back at Faith, who was busy sowing seeds down at the far end of his garden and with a jolt she realized that he was almost done with it. The speed with which he worked clearly indicated to her that he had done this a number of times, his deft movements flowing easily as he tossed seeds into the recently ploughed earth.

Fluttershy sighed and turned towards the wheelbarrow, grunting with exertion as she pushed it over to the pile of rock that she'd cleaned up the previous day, tipping it over with a heave and spilling the rocks out onto the pile. She let the wheel barrow fall back to the ground with a thud and felt rather than heard Faith approach her, she turned to see him standing a few feet away from her, looking like he was about to say something. He seemed to change his mind about what he wanted to say and merely smiled and nodded.

She smiled back a little and pushed the wheelbarrow back towards his tool shed, following her host. He set his bag of seeds down onto a little shelf inside the shed before standing aside and allowing her to push the wheelbarrow inside. Faith moved to leave and brushed up against her, the cramped tool shed was never built to hold all of his farm equipment and two ponies. She felt the spot on her shoulder burn with nerves but she ignored it the best she could and followed out past him.

Hitching a smile on her face she asked, "Well, um, we are done for today…should I make dinner?" Faith turned to look at her and smiled before shaking his head, "No that's alright; I'll take care of it. You just relax." To his surprise, Fluttershy shook her head and insisted, "No. I'll do it. You've done much more than I have today, you sit down and relax."
Caught off guard at her sudden show of assertiveness he nodded and moved inside, Fluttershy opening her mouth to protest until she saw him head into his small work shop.

With a sigh she went into the kitchen and proceeded to fix dinner for the pair of them. She felt sort of proud that she'd managed to take this chore from him, especially as he'd been so adamant about it. She started humming to herself as she began cooking. It wasn't long after she started that Faith came out of his workshop and headed outside again, though why he'd go back outside left her confused, had he forgotten something? Still pondering on what it was he was doing, she continued with her work.

After about fifteen more minutes, she set the table and walked over to the front door, pushing it open to tell Faith that dinner was ready. She paused as she set eyes upon him; he sat there on the porch of his home, slowly whittling away at a piece of redwood that he held between his hooves, the blade of his whittling knife making practiced movements as he scored shaved and carved at the wood, his deep voice humming out in a calming tone as he worked. She was entranced by what she saw in spite of herself, she had never seen such skill in all her life and yet it seemed to come to him with ease. She just wanted to sit next to him and watch as the wood carving came into being, to marvel at its design and crafting.

Fluttershy moved and sat down next to Faith, who spared her a glance as he cut another stroke into the wood. Still staring in amazement Fluttershy asked, "How do you do that?" Faith turned his head away and spat the blade out of his mouth, the sharp tip burying itself in the wood. He examined his work a little before answering, "Very carefully."

Fluttershy giggled sweetly and reached out for the carving, which Faith handed to her. She looked it over with a smile, it was the starting of a carved house, probably the same one they were staying in but the detail he had managed to work in with the knife was amazing; everything from the outline of the door to the windows was perfectly square. She handed the carving back to him and he stood up and stretched a little, "I assume that dinner is ready?"
Fluttershy nodded, smiling as she turned and went back inside Faith following behind her with his carving and knife left on the porch as they both went to dinner.

Chapter 5

Faith and Fluttershy stood side by side, looking over the open hole in the ground that was soon to be a well. Faith, having finished the garden yesterday, had opted to assist in finishing the well with her, despite her protests and insistence on doing it herself. He had over ridden her protests by stating simply that it would be finished much faster with the two of the working together. Apart from the obvious fact that she didn't quite feel comfortable being this close to him and the fact that they were bound to bump into each other with such a small workspace, she didn't want to be finished so soon, it meant that she'd have to go home and she hadn't yet figured out how to help him open up to the world outside the forest.

She looked over to the wheelbarrow full of mortar and the stack of bricks that he had left over from when he built the house and had gathered for repairs like this. There were a couple of trowels as well, but Faith had said that if it got too difficult for her to do to let him handle the rest of it. She couldn't help but feel that this particular task was a fair bit over her head but she was determined to do her best.

Fluttershy moved past Faith and began to pick up the bricks for the well, grasping them in her teeth carefully and placing them in a special saddlebag meant to carry them. The sudden initiative left Faith a little off guard but he recovered quickly and lugged the wheelbarrow with trowel over to well, beginning to lay down mortar as soon as she dropped off the first load of bricks.

The movements were seamless once a rhythm was established, Fluttershy bringing over very full packs of bricks and Faith rapidly slathering the mortar onto bricks and set new ones into place. Within an hour the well was a quarter of the way done, Fluttershy's back and shoulders aching from her rapid burst of exertion. Faith on the other hand was grinning broadly, as if the fast pace had done nothing to damper his strength. She frowned to herself and redoubled her efforts, ignoring the aches as best she could. After another two hours of fast paced work, the well stood completed, just as pristine and perfect as it had originally been.

Both Faith and Fluttershy were breathing hard and dripping with sweat. Fluttershy ran her hoof across her forehead and took a deep breath, smiling at the completed structure. Despite feeling proud of the work they had done, she also felt sad that she now had no reason to stay anymore. She looked over at Faith who was still breathing heavily, his face showing a look of satisfaction on it, He was obviously happy with the job.

Faith turned and headed into his house, returning a short while later with a small tray clenched in his teeth, two large mugs resting on it, full to the brim with cool water. Fluttershy eagerly took the proffered mug and drank down the water, her dry throat relishing the feel of the drink. After Faith had downed his water, he wiped his forehead and looked over the completed well,

"We certainly made good time, It took me a week to build it the last time."

Fluttershy felt a glow of pride at this, a glow that immediately faded as Faith continued,

"I suppose there's no reason for you to stay anymore, all the repairs are done now..."

Fluttershy looked somberly at the ground as Faith looked at her, he couldn't help but feel that in some way he had crushed her spirits. Faith sighed and said,

"I suppose you can stay another day or two, to see if the well sets up correctly."

Fluttershy immediately perked up again and thanked him greatly. Faith smiled brightly as he lifted the end of the wheelbarrow up and started pushing it off toward the usual dump site. Fluttershy walked over to the well to admire the work again when her hoof made a funny squishing sound. Looking down, she saw a lump of the mortar they had used on the well, she sighed, fully intending to wash up from the days work. She lazily tossed the mud off her hoof and her eyes went wide as she watched its trajectory, right at Faith. She opened her mouth to warn him but the ball of mud splashed across his backside with a resounding splat.

Faith yelped and turned around sharply to see the cringing pony, Fluttershy had curled up tightly against herself, her mouth working in an attempt to apologize for what had happened. He remained stoic for only a moment before a smile split his face, he scooped up a hoofull of the stuff and flicked it at her, the mud splashing on her back as it had with him. Fluttershy yelped as the cold mud hit her, she sat for a moment stunned as Faith chuckled eventually losing her shyness and giggling as well.

Fluttershy started giggling madly as she ran past Faith and scooped some of the mud out from the wheel barrow, throwing two hoofulls at him before dodging quickly to one side to avoid being pelted again. The mud war between the two of them lasted for ten full minutes, finally culminating when Faith caught hold of Fluttershy, lifted her off the ground while she kicked playfully, laughing with joy, and dumped her into the wheelbarrow full of mud, resting his mud caked forelegs on the side as Fluttershy giggled herself into silence.
She stared up into her hosts eyes, seeing her own tremendously filthy body reflected in them. Faith let out a half chuckle as he shook his head and said,

"You know, I think this is the first time I've had this much fun in years. I'd almost forgotten what it was like."

Fluttershy smiled a little broader, feeling hopeful that maybe he'd opened up a bit more to others. She reached up and wiped some mud from his face, giggling a bit more before saying,

"You know, I really think we should go wash up, we're filthy!"

Faith chuckled and responded with mock indignation,
"Well, what did you expect to happen from flinging mud at one another for the past ten minutes."

She giggled again and opened her mouth to respond when another voice entered the clearing.

"It certainly looks like you two are having fun."

Faith's disposition changed from cheerful to stoic so fast that Fluttershy flinched, He slid off the edge of the wheelbarrow and turned to greet his new guests with a straight face, as if all humor had left him. From the trees came a unicorn with a purple coat, followed by a pegasus, who had a cocky smile and bright blue coat and rainbow colored tail. The last of the group who came from the trees was a tall curiously disfigured being, having the tail of a dragon, the hind legs of a goat and lizard, the arms of a lion and gryphon, the wings of a pegasus and bat, a veritable walking menagerie of oddities.

Faith immediately grew wary of this new group of people, mainly because he recognized Discord, creature he knew was to be feared and hated. Twilight smiled at Faith warmly and introduced herself,

"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I'm one of Fluttershy's best friends."

Faith nodded to her, not taking his eyes off of Discord. Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash, who stepped forward, trying her hardest to keep a straight face, due to how ridiculous both of the ponies in front of her looked. Clearing her throat in a determined manner, she said,

"I'm Rainbow Dash, I'm also one of Fluttershy's best friends."

Faith spared a glance to her and nodded in acknowledgment before staring back at Discord. Rainbow Dash huffed in annoyance and muttered,
"Rude much..." under her breath before Discord walked towards Faith.

He glanced over at Fluttershy before hitching a smile on his face and offering his gryphon claw to Faith as a Sign of friendship,

"And I'm Discord, I just wanted to say how grateful I am that you saved Fluttershy's life."

Faith didn't move a muscle as he stared from the claw to Discord's face, his powerful gaze boring into the creatures eyes. Finally after a full awkward minute Faith finally spoke,

"I know you, Discord the deceiver, the One Who Brings Chaos, and the Bane of Order. I know you very well..."

Discord shifted a little before looking over at Fluttershy,moving instead towards her, letting his arm drop back down to his side.
As he moved towards Fluttershy, something altogether unexpected happened. Faith reared onto his hind legs and grabbed Discord's arm, kicking sharply at his knee, causing him to drop to the ground. With great strength and skill, Faith wrapped his left foreleg around Discord's neck and flipped him over his back and onto the ground where Faith pinned him with Discord's arm and tail pinned against his back. Faith looked with disdain at the stunned creature below him speaking with a voice of clear anger,

"And where do you think you were going?! I won't let you within ten feet of my house let alone Fluttershy."

He looked back over at Fluttershy who wore a look of distinct horror, which Faith initially took as due to Discord's presence, that is at least until She jumped out of the wheelbarrow and charged straight at him. He did nothing to stop her, instead stepping down off of Discord and backing away from him. Fluttershy ran straight past Discord and skidded to a halt in front of Faith, anger filling her eyes and voice as she screamed,

"How dare you attack my Friends!"

She stomped her hoof into the ground in anger before turning back to check on Discord, who was gently massaging his arm and knee in equal regards. Fluttershy moved over to him, checking each limb for damage leaving Faith to stand there at a complete loss for what was going on. Every single one of his instincts was telling him that Discord must be beaten, that he must be stopped, and yet here was Fluttershy, codling him.

He didn't know whether she was mad or if her love for all animals stretched to include him. After another moment or so, she turned and glared back at Faith who's confusion only grew until Twilight stepped up and explained the whole story of his reformation due to Fluttershy's kindness and his abandonment of the ways of chaos. Faith was left more confused than before, mainly because this new information clashed with all that he knew of the creature. After a few more minutes of silence Faith shook his head and said,

"I don't believe it, everything I know about Discord says that he should be despised and feared, that he causes all kinds of disasters in his wake and that he is never to be trusted, I thought that Celestia was still fighting him."

This last comment made everyone look at him. After sharing a few confused glances Twilight said,

"Celestia defeated Discord a thousand years ago, he escaped about seven years ago and was defeated by myself and my friends, a few months later Celestia asked Fluttershy to reform him, and her kindness succeeded where all others failed."

At this Faith looked back at Discord and Fluttershy, his jaw worked up and down a few times, with no sound produced. After a few more moments Faith sighed and walked over to Discord, bowing to him and offering his most sincere apology. Discord nodded and said,

"Its okay, I don't blame you for being wary of me, most people outside of Ponyville are. Just in future, let the story be told before you react."

Faith looked back over at Fluttershy before standing up straight and nodding to him. He turned back to Fluttershy and said,

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he was your friend. Please forgive me."

Fluttershy's anger held for a moment before it dissolved into a faint smile, "Its alright, but in future, don't attack others unless you are provoked first."

Faith nodded and turned back to Twilight and asked, "So, you are Fluttershy's friend, Twilight. Its good to meet you, I generally don't get visitors."

Twilight smiled a little and motioned to the clearing, "Well, given your location, I can see why you wouldn't."

Faith shifted a little before turning to Rainbow Dash and nodded to her,

"And you are Rainbow Dash, I've not met many Pegasi in my memory, its good to meet you as well."

Rainbow Dash offered her hoof to him with a smile though to her surprise, he didn't shake it, instead he took it and kissed it gently, causing a blush to rise in her cheeks. Faith stood a bit straighter and motioned to his house and said, "I know it doesn't look like much, but you are welcome to come inside for a bit."

Twilight smiled and said, "Thanks, but I don't think now is the best time, both you and Fluttershy need to bathe and I'm sure you don't want to sit and talk while being caked in mud."

Only now did both Faith and Fluttershy become aware of the fact that both of them were still very filthy. Both of them smirking slightly as they looked each other over, Fluttershy nodding before trying to scrape some of the mud from her forelegs,
"If you'd be so kind as to come back a bit later, when we've had a chance to clean up a bit, then we can have a nice time together."

Twilight nodded in understanding and motioned for both Discord and a still red faced Rainbow Dash to follow her, calling back over her shoulder as she trotted off into the woods, "We'll see you later, next time I'll bring the rest of the others with me."

Fluttershy waved at her before she disappeared into the trees with Discord and Rainbow Dash. Faith turned to look at Fluttershy again, he still felt bad about having struck one of her friends, he didn't want to upset her. He opened his mouth to apologize and she forestalled him with a raised hoof. "Faith, I know your sorry, I am not mad at you so lets go on with our day like it never happened."

Faith closed his mouth and nodded with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back as Faith turned and went into the house, heading over to the bathroom to clean up. She wasn't strictly mad at Faith, as secluded as he was, it was understandable as to why he wouldn't know about Discord's reformation. Only one thing about what he had said hadn't made any sense, how could he know about Celestia's battle with Discord, and yet not know that he was defeated. After a few more undecided moments, she shook her head, in time, the answers would come, until then, she would continue to stay with Faith, that is if he wouldn't mind, though something inside told her, that he wouldn't mind in the least.

Chapter 8

Fluttershy hurried through the streets of Ponyville, looking for any sign of Faith. It had been two hours since he'd been chased through Ponyville after Discord's magic had caused all the males of Ponyville to fall in love with Faith, a stallion who had been recently transformed into a mare by the magics of Discord. Fluttershy was very angry with Discord, but right now her fury was eclipsed by her worry.

She had no idea how far Discord would allow this charade to go, the very thought of it sickened her but she was confident that if any of the stallions of town had caught Faith, that Discord surely would have intervened. The wriggling worry in the back of her mind that she may be wrong about that plagued her and this more than anything spurred her to find him.

She turned a corner and saw Rarity, sitting in a chair in front of her shop, sipping idly at a cup of tea she had floating in front of her. Having exhausted all other possibilities, having already asked the other four of her friends if they had seen the enormous mob of ponies that had been chasing after one mare, she might as well ask Rarity.

She strode up to her and said, "Hey there Rarity, can I ask you something?"

Rarity smiled and set the tea cup down on a small table to her right and said, "Of course dear, what is it?"

Fluttershy shuffled her hooves a little as she asked, "Rarity, did you by any chance notice a large mob of stallions run through here earlier? They were chasing a single mare, by the name of Faith."

Rarity raised an eyebrow and nodded before saying, "I did indeed dear, poor thing was scarred to death when I pulled her away from them."

Fluttershy perked up and relieve washed over her as she let out a long sigh. She smiled at Rarity and said,
"Oh thank you! I'm so glad he's safe."

Rarity looked at Fluttershy confused and belatedly Fluttershy explained that Faith was actually the same stallion that had saved her life a couple weeks earlier She explained of how Discord had changed him into a mare and then put a spell over him to make him irresistible to the other stallions of the town.

When she finished Rarity's face hardened as she exclaimed, "Now that's just evil! That he would do this to the very stallion who saved his friend and then cursing him like that. Faith's inside resting from the ordeal. You should get him to Twilight right away."

That was indeed what Fluttershy intended to do. She followed Rarity into the house and froze upon walking over the threshold. On a couch in the main area of the house, where Rarity sometime napped, lay Faith. His coat was sleek and shiny and his mane had been braided into fashionable style.

His face bore the unmistakable signs of makeup and eye liner, that enhanced his new feminine features and currently, Sweetie Belle was busy applying a ruby red hoof polish to his hooves. Rarity frowned slightly and shooed Sweetie Belle away from Faith, which she obliged without argument, picking up her hooficure kit and trotting off to put it away.

Fluttershy walked over to stand next to Faith and cleared her throat softly. He opened his eyes and looked over at Fluttershy who was smiling at him, he smiled back and sat up, looking over at Rarity he said,
"Thanks again for your hospitality, I really appreciate it."

Rarity nodded and moved over to her makeup stand and pulled out a tin of polish remover and gave it to Faith, saying as she did so, "Well Faith, as Fluttershy has told me of your REAL self, I should think you'd like to get this makeup off, it wouldn't do to have a stallion walking around wearing makeup and hoof polish."

Faith looked at the tin he held and nodded gratefully. After setting the tin down and removing the lid he stuck his hooves in one at a time, waiting until all traces of the polish was removed before heading over to the bathroom to scrub his face clean. He left his hair up, but of the makeover that Rarity and Sweetie Belle had given him, it alone was all that remained. He came back into the living room a moment later and smiled, glad to be rid of the make up. After thanking Rarity again for her help and kindness he made to leave out the front door, stopping when Fluttershy moved in front of him.

She smiled a little and said, "Faith, after what happened earlier today, do you really think its a good idea to just walk out into the town again, we'll have to get Twilight to come here."

Faith frowned and nodded, feeling a little silly from his lapse in thought. He moved to sit back onto the couch but Rarity stopped him and said, "That may not be necessary. I've been practicing the teleport spell under Twilight for a few months now, I figured when I become super famous, it would help me get to all my fashion show's instantly. I could try to teleport the two of you to Twilight's."

Fluttershy perked up and said, "That would be wonderfully helpful Rarity, thank you."

Rarity nodded and stood between Fluttershy and Faith, her horn glowing with the light of magic, the mystical energies of the spell emanating outward from her and enveloping Fluttershy and Faith. Moments later Faith experienced the unsettling feeling of time and space moving around him, the whole world felt like it was flowing around him, like the currents of a river. Just as an extreme feeling of vertigo gripped him, the spell ended and he found himself standing in a warmly lit library, shelves of books running around the walls, covering nearly every square inch of the room.

In the middle of the room sat two ponies, one was a unicorn with a vibrant purple coat that sat on a cozy armchair. She was talking animatedly to a light pink pony who possessed the wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. She had a bright blue crystal heart shaped cutie mark and wore a crown on her head as well as a golden band around the base of her horn. They both looked over at the newcomers as they got their bearings, both Rarity and Fluttershy looking like they were about to be sick, while Faith merely shook his head, steadying his hooves and feeling the floor beneath him, dispelling the nausea inducing vertigo quickly.

Twilight grinned a bit more broadly and got up from her arm chair, crossing over to the group and saying,
"Oh, hi guys, if your going to be sick, please do so in the bathroom or outside, I'd rather not have that in here."

Fluttershy seemed to turn green and sprinted for the door the moment Twilight finished her sentence, the sound of her hooves thundering up the stairs was soon followed by the bathroom door slamming shut. Rarity took a few deep breaths before putting on a weak smile and shaking her head as Faith had done, trying to dispel the vertigo she was feeling. It seemed to have a marginal effect but she did not try to run for the door like Fluttershy had done. Twilight just smiled at Rarity and turned her attention to Faith who stood there, looking over at the alicorn who had been seated in the chair across from Twilight.

Twilight followed his gaze and saw who he was looking at, she motioned over to the pony, who sighed lightly and slid from the chair to the floor, allowing everyone in the room the chance to see her rounded belly. Rarity covered her mouth in delight and her eyes moistened as she stared at the pony. When she was level with Twilight, she reached out a hoof to Faith and said, "Hi, I'm Cadence, queen of the Crystal empire. Its nice to meet you."

Faith stared at her for a long moment, looking from her hoof to her face and back again. After doing this several times, Cadence shifted uncomfortably and let her hoof drop to the floor. Twilight began to apologize for Faith's rudeness, explaining that he had lived in the Everfree forest his whole life and didn't have very many manners. However she stopped mid sentence when Faith descended t his knees and bowed his head deeply. He remained in this posture for a moment before saying, "Your highness."

Everyone in the room stared at Faith for a few moments, during which time the only movement he gave was his steady breathing. Cadence looked at Twilight with a look of confusion and when Twilight shrugged in equal confusion Cadence looked back at Faith and said, "Um...Rise to your hooves if you please."

Faith immediately obliged, straightening to his hooves and staring at her for a moment more before turning to Twilight and asking, "So, Twilight, do you think that you could undo the spell that Discord put on me?"

The abrupt change in his mannerism unsettled everyone, the ponies starring from one another for a moment before Twilight cleared her throat and adopted a professional manner. She walked around Faith, examining him from various angles while muttering to herself, occasionally reaching out and poking him, as if to test that his body really was shaped like a mares.

Eventually she stopped and said, "I think I may be able to reverse it. It doesn't appear as if Discord put up barriers to prevent another pony from working magic on you. If he had, this would be a lot harder."

Twilight turned back to a bookshelf and began looking down the long line of books, muttering out various bits of the titles as she went. While she did this, Fluttershy reentered the room, looking pale and unsteady but otherwise normal. She moved to stand next to Faith and muttered, "If I never experience teleportation again it'll be too soon." under her breath before forcing a smile and looking over at Twilight who was now pulling down books and skimming through them.

When she noticed Cadence and her rounded belly she gasped and her smile broadened. Cadence nodded and shuffled her hoofs a little, a bashful smile appearing on her face at the happiness of her friends. Faith looked her over and eventually said,
"Your highness, I would suggest that you sit down for a while, it wouldn't do to weaken yourself through exertion."

Cadence raised and eyebrow and she stared at Faith. There was something about him that just felt off to her. It wasn't the fact that the mare before her was actually a stallion, she had already known that due to Fluttershy's earlier visit. It was the way he acted more than anything else, she had been told, by Twilight and Fluttershy both that he seemed to lack manners and was blunt, extremely honest, and generally lacking in tact. She had expected a recluse hermit, who rarely took care of his coat and mane, who was uncouth and rude. On the contrary however, he had an air around him that radiated nobility, he stood with his head held high and gave respect to royalty.

He was from what she had heard, selfless, modest, honorable, and kind. She had no idea why he seemed to live so withdrawn from the world when he clearly had experience with it. She cocked her head to the side and continued to examine Faith while Twilight let out a triumphant exclamation and returned to the group with a massive book in front of her. She dropped it on the floor with a deep thud and opened it up to a page about halfway through before looking back up at Faith.

She smiled and said, "I found it, the solution to our problems, the magic reversal spell. When cast it reverses the effects of magics so they do the opposite of what they were supposed to do. If I cast it right, you should revert back to being a stallion."

Faith smiled and nodded his approval to the idea, he was more than ready to be his normal self once more. Twilight grinned motioned for the others to stand back. They obliged and stood away from Faith, who closed his eyes as Twilight's horn became enshrouded with magic, the purple pony carefully reading the spell on the page as she focused her magic. As she uttered the last word the magic blasted from her horn and engulfed Faith in a blinding vortex of energy. When it ceased and the others were able to look at him again, there he stood, strong and proud, clearly a stallion once more.

Twilight smiled and said, "There you go Faith, good as new."

Faith looked himself over and let out a sigh of relieve, grateful to be back to normal. He smiled at Twilight but stopped as he saw that a strange look had come over her face. He almost jumped out of his skin when yellow furred hooves slid around his neck and he felt Fluttershy nuzzling his neck.

It was only then that he belatedly remembered the second spell that Discord had put on him.
He heard Fluttershy breathing in his ear as she whispered, "You know, I forgot how absolutely gorgeous you are. Oh, I could just hold you forever."

Faith's heart stopped and his mind froze. He looked around and saw that Rarity also had a dreamy, distant look in her eyes as she slowly sauntered over towards him. He tried to back up but only succeeded in bumping against the bookshelf behind him. This would be fix to his problems had turned into a nightmare, but he had a bastion of hope. Cadence was the only one who seemed immune to the spells effect, she stood there gazing in bewilderment at the other three ponies who were advancing on Faith.

When she realized what had happened, she gasped and her horn glowed with magic, promising to bring help as quickly as she could shortly before teleporting out of the house. Rarity managed to catch a hold of his neck with her forelegs, rubbing her head against him while Fluttershy offered to give him a full body massage, her hooves running down his neck and across his back. In an act of desperation he twisted around on the spot and dislodged the ponies that were clinging to him,
Fluttershy dropping to the floor with a thud and Rarity falling backward to the floor as well.

Faith jumped over Rarity and made for the open door but the wood door slammed shut before he had moved three feet. He turned in time to see a moving comet of purple fur collide with him, nearly knocking him over as Twilight gripped him in a tight hug.

Things only proceeded to get worse when Fluttershy landed on his back followed by Rarity teleporting directly beside him. The three ponies cuddled and snuggled with Faith until he felt like he was about to be smothered when with a bright flash of light. A tall white alicorn appeared in the room with cadence beside her. Faith let out an audible cry of relieve that immediately turned into a yelp of protest when one of the three ponies playfully nipped at his ear.

Celestia eyed the situation before her, roving between the three mare's who were lost in their own little world snuggled up to this new stallion and the stallion who was giving her a pleading look. She sighed and her horn was enveloped by magic which she directed at Faith. There was another flash of light and after it had faded all three of the ponies that were clinging to Faith froze. Three sets of eyes flew open with looks of horror as the spell that influenced them faded.

Fluttershy eeped loudly and rolled off of Faith's back onto Rairty who released Faith as though the pony was about to combust. Twilight likewise let go of Faiths mane, which she'd been playing with and backed up so fast that she tripped over her hooves and landed flat on her back. Faith let out a sigh of relieve and moved towards the white alicorn who had saved him from who knew what. He knelt down before Celestia and thanked her profusely to which she smiled and said, "Its quite alright, was this a mishaps of Twilight's?"

Faith looked over to Twilight, who was gazing up at the ceiling with a disbelieving look on her face. After a moment he looked back to the Princess and said, "No milady, this was the work of Discord, He placed a spell on me that changed my gender and made the Stallions of the town fall for me. Twilight tried to undo the spell by reversing the spells effect, but we both forgot about the love spell."

Celestia's eye's narrowed and she turned her head towards Fluttershy, who was hiding her head under her wing in shame and embarrassment, and then to Rarity who was in a similar state to Twilight, disbelieve etched all over her face. Her gaze eventually drifted back to Faith and she said, "Discord had better hope for his sake that I don't get my hooves on him. He'll do time in the palace courtyard for a few weeks for pulling something like this."

Fluttershy stuck her head out from under her wing and exclaimed loudly, "No! Princess please don't do that! I don't know why he's been acting up lately, but I'm sure it'll pass."

Celestia eyed Fluttershy for a long moment before sighing and nodding to her saying as she did so, "I'll leave it to you Fluttershy, but if something of this nature happens again, I'll have no choice but to punish him. If he is to be treated as a citizen of Equestria, he must abide by the same rules that you do."

Fluttershy brightened and thanked the princess before her eyes drifted to Faith again, a deep blush coloring her cheeks as she looked determinedly away. Faith blushed as well and moved over towards her. He stopped in front of her and said, "Fluttershy, I don't blame you for the way you acted. Why don't we pretend this never happened?"

Fluttershy smiled a little slyly and said, "Well, I suppose we could do that...although you are handsome."

Faith gave a goofy smile and said, "Well, your very pretty too Fluttershy"

Fluttershy blushed a little deeper and said nothing in reply, but her smile widened a bit more. Faith turned back to the princess, who was likewise smiling and once again thanked her for her help. Celestia nodded and said, "It was no trouble. Why don't the two of you run along back home for now."

Faith nodded and moved towards the door, Fluttershy following after him. After they left Celestia turned to Cadence and said, "I have a good feeling about him."

Cadence smiled and said, "As do I Celestia, something about him just feels right to me."

Cadence looked out to the door that Faith and Fluttershy had left through, something about did feel right, but more than that...she felt as though she knew him...like something out of a dream. She shook her head. Whatever it was she was sure it was nothing, it was so faint a feeling it was hardly worth mentioning. Whatever she was feeling, only time would tell if it meant anything