I do not own MLP FIM or any of its characters or other stuff from the show. All MLP FIM stuff belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.
OC characters: Dusk Shine, Applejack (male), Rainbow Blitz, Bubble Berry, Elusive, Butterscotch, and Lord Solaris belong to Trotsworth.
OC characters: Eris and Prince Artemis belong to JaquelinDreamz.
I do not own other character names, abilities, music, and such things from other series. Their respective owners will be made known.
My OC: Keiji Maeda, Todashi Akechi
Chapter 1: Fluttershy’s new friend
It was a beautiful spring day in Equestria. Many people…or ponies rather were out enjoying the day. On the outskirts of a town call Ponyville there was a Pegasus pony who was walking to her home which was near the edge of the forest known as the Everfree Forest. It was a strange forest that not many ponies like to go into.
This particular Pegasus was a mare named Fluttershy. She had a pale light grayish gold colored coat and pale light grayish rose colored mane and her eyes were a moderate cyan color. She was a very timid and shy pony. Fluttershy was a shrinking violet, so to speak. Around others she tended to keep back and out of the way and was very self-conscious. She always considered others before herself, because she thinks they're more important. This lead to her often being walked over as she'll simply accept what happens and not complain about it due to her non-confrontational nature, though she did have her limits. She'll only let herself be pushed so far. She was a mediator, and knew that sometimes a kind word and some sympathy could be all that's needed to fix a situation.
It had been a couple of years since her and her friends had to stop a great evil or some other major threat. Everypony was quite happy with the fact that nothing super major had happened in such a long time. Though there were a few small rumors going around that there might be something either about to happen or show itself. But even the ponies who thought something might happen were not too concerned about it.
Little did Fluttershy know that she’d unknowingly help start some big things, but that’ll come later.
On this particular day Fluttershy was returning home from picking up food from the markets in Ponyville. She was taking her usual path home when she noticed something just ahead of her. There was a little blood smeared on the leaves of a nearby bush. It looked as though an injured creature was running from something and brushed up against the bush. Fluttershy started getting really worried because the thought of some animal being badly hurt made her really, really worried to say the least. She started to notice signs of which way the wounded creature went just ahead of her. There were broken branches and uprooted bushes going off to the right toward the east of the path just ahead. It looked like a very large creature was chasing a smaller one and it looked like it happened fairly recently. Fluttershy was facing a big dilemma. Should she run back to Ponyville to get help from her friends or does she try to see what’s happening and possibly run into a large a possibly large and dangerous creature all by herself. After about 20 seconds of thinking Fluttershy finally made her decision.
Then off she ran following the trail of broken branches and bushes.
She followed the trail for about three or four minutes. She kept following the trail until she saw a flash of light and heard a pretty large explosion a ways up ahead. This worried her to no end. She wasn’t sure what all this could be, not in the slightest. After a second or two Fluttershy gathered her nerves and took a few deep breaths and continued forward. She eventually came to a clearing, and watch she saw was both strange and a little scary.
On the eastern side of the clearing there was laying an ursa minor, though this one was much larger than the one her and her friends had seen before. From what Fluttershy had learned from her friend Twilight Sparkle about the ursa minors was that they grow up into ursa majors. The one before her she guessed was about a young adult based by its size. There were fallen trees and many branches from the trees strewn across the clearing. Fluttershy also noticed a few burn marks on the ground here and there. Fluttershy noticed that the Ursa Minor wasn’t moving at all and that it was pretty badly injured. As she got closer she also realized it wasn’t breathing, which made her quite sad because she cared for all living creatures. As Fluttershy mourned the poor creature she thought she heard something coming from to the left of her, it sounded like some quiet breathing and soft groaning.
“Hello is somepony there?” Fluttershy asked now even more nervous as she looked around. She started to notice that the sounds were coming from the other side of a fallen tree. She very cautiously approached and went around the tree, and there with its back left leg pinned under the tree was a creature she saw was one she’d never seen before. It was a wolf (think wolves of North America).
Fluttershy was both a bit shocked and a little scared to say the least. She’d never seen a wolf like this. It wasn’t a timber wolf, but rather what the old ponies called a northern wolf. Fluttershy had heard a few small rumors about these wolves, but not really a lot to go on. The wolf had a silvery white coat and had light fiery red tips on its ears and tail. As she looked a little closer at the wolf she could see it was pretty injured, with cuts and bruises all over its body, most. Its breathing was soft but steady, much to Fluttershy’s relief.
“Was the Ursa Minor chasing this wolf or…?” Fluttershy asked herself trying to take a second to figure out what caused all this.
After about 30 or so seconds or so Fluttershy decided to try to help it, mainly because that was the way she was. She made sure to be very careful and quite as she approached the wolf, thankfully it was unconscious. As she got closer she didn’t notices that there were a couple twigs on the ground just in front of her. She slowly and carefully stepped closer toward to the wolf, but then she heard a snapping sound. She looked down quickly only to see that she stepped on a couple small twigs. Fluttershy instantly became afraid as she saw the wolf’s eyes shoot open. They were fiery red mixed with a blood red color as well. The wolf flailed its front legs around a little, its claws clearly drawn.
Then it turned its attention to her. It swung one of its paws a few times at Fluttershy, who was now very scared. Fluttershy soon realized that the wolf seemed to be more trying to keep her away rather than actually trying to hit her. The wolf stopped swinging its paw after about 4 or 5 seconds and flopped back down on the ground from lack of energy and began breathing heavily. After a couple of seconds Fluttershy started to calm down and focus on helping the wolf. She started to approach it again only to have the wolf start growling and slightly bare its teeth at her.
“Shh it’s ok, it’s ok, and I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help you.” Fluttershy told the wolf softly. The wolf stopped his snarling and looked at her like it was able to understand that she was telling the truth. Fluttershy found this a little weird but didn’t really keep thinking about it. She turned around and looked for a good sized branch or something that she could use to help pry the tree off of the wolf’s leg. The tree wasn’t huge by any means, but it was big enough that it could trap a pony.
“Thank you…very much.” said a calm male voice from behind her. Upon hearing the voice Fluttershy spun around back toward the wolf.
“Did you just talk?” a very shocked Fluttershy asked to the wolf. She had no idea that the wolf could actually speak.
“Why yes I did. Is that so surprising?” the wolf asked while tilting his head to the right in a quizzical manner.
“Well it’s just I’ve never seen or heard of wolves talking, I’m so sorry” said a now quite embarrassed Fluttershy. She was blushing so much that you’d swear she was almost like a tomato.
“Oh it’s quite alright.” said with slight chuckle. “You’d be surprised how much that can happen. But anyway back to the matter at hand.” he said getting serious again. “Could give me your hoof…what’s wrong?” the wolf asked her sticking his front right paw to her before he noticed that she looked uncomfortable.
“Um…it’s just...that…I’m…um” Fluttershy stuttered very softly. She looked worried, unsure, and almost scared of something. The wolf stared at her for a second or two until he realized what was worrying her.
“Oh…I see…” the wolf said with a quite sad, almost hurt look on his face. “It’s because I’m a wolf isn’t it?” he asked getting a little upset.
“No...I’m sorry…it’s…not that…it’s just…” a now scared Fluttershy stuttered as she tried to respond, but the wolf cut her off.
“It freaking figures, all you ponies are the same!” the wolf yelled looking away from her. “You’re so quick to trust other ponies, but the second a creature like me that’s not a pony comes around you treat them with nothing but suspicion and contempt.” he said practically spitting the end of the statement out. “And don’t try to say that all of that “love and tolerate” stuff I’ve heard about! You ponies never “love and tolerate” us other races so quickly, if at all!” He continued on with his rant while looking away from her at nothing in particular. “And another thing you…” he started again but stopped when he turned back to the light yellow Pegasus.
He saw that she was curled up in a fetal position covering her face with her wings a few feet away. She was sobbing quietly, almost silently, though it was quite evident by the way her body was shaking. He immediately regretted yelling at her like that. He felt extremely ashamed for yelling at one who was offering to help him. He could tell how innocent she was and he started to feel worthless for yelling at her like that.
“Hey don’t cry…I’m sorry…I…” the wolf tried to apologize but the yellowish pegasus mare just kept crying. He knew he had to show her that he was truly sorry for he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep easily if he didn’t.
The wolf looked down at his leg that was stuck under the tree and closed his eyes.
(5 or 6 minutes later)
Fluttershy was still crying slightly, until she felt something’s arms or legs wrap around her. She was very startled and her eyes shot open as she tried to see who or what was wrapping around her. She looked up to see the wolf had draped his front legs around her and was hugging her. She was far beyond shocked and confused. She thought he’d try to eat her or something, but he was hugging her.
“Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you, I swear…on my life I won’t hurt you.” the wolf told her in a pretty gentle tone. “I’m hugging you because…well my mother always told me that when someone is sad or hurt that a hug can help them feel better. And you look like you could use a good hug.” he said explaining his actions with a small smile.
Fluttershy looked at him for a few seconds and she could tell that he wasn’t lying, but was unwaveringly telling the truth. She could tell there was an air of great honor and honesty coming from the wolf, she could just sense if from him. She felt a comforting feeling come over her, she felt safe. She felt safe with this wolf, a creature who was normally supposed to eat other creatures like her. From what she’d learned from a few old stories and an old book about animals Fluttershy had learned that the wolves of the north were an old, old race of viscous savages who were thought to have disappeared from Equestria long ago. But this wolf…was absolutely nothing like what she had heard. He was hugging her and making her feel safe and even swore on his life that he wouldn’t hurt her. He was about as viscous and savage as a puppy. It was so very strange to her.
Fluttershy’s train of thought was interrupted by the feeling of the wolf’s hug loosening from around her and pained groan he let out as her slid down from hugging her and slumped down on the ground next to her. She had forgotten that he was injured. She started to get worried again.
“Oh my, I completely forgot that you’re hurt.” she said franticly as she started to panic again. The wolf only grinned slightly at her worried expression.
“Relax I’ll be fine, I just need to rest for a little bit.” he said with a tired grin still on his face as he tried stood up. “I’ll be fine…” he continued, but as soon as he stood on his left foreleg he winced in pain and fell back down to the ground.
“Oh my, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked franticly as she took a look at his left foreleg, but she quickly got a worried look on her face. “Oh no this is bad. It looks like your left foreleg is broken.” she told him with an unhappy tone. “We need to get it splinted and braced before it can get worse. I have the supplies for a splint and braces back at my cottage.” she told him getting a little serious. She noticed that he was smirking a little at her. “What’s…the…matter? Is there…something wrong…with me?” she asked shyly in response.
“Oh it’s I just think it was funny how you seem to be getting pretty serious compared to before when you were looking at my leg.” the wolf said continuing to smirk. “But anyway, I’d be most grateful for your help.” he said his smirk turning into a full smile.
“Oh…it was…nothing, I just couldn’t leave you here when you’re hurt so badly. Though I think we…should get…going so I can put a splint one your leg.” Fluttershy said in a quiet voice.
“Alright let’s go” the wolf said as he rose to his three good legs. He paused for a second and then looked at Fluttershy. “And thank you, thank you very much for your help. I don’t think too many other ponies would've offered to help me out of this.” he said thanking the kind hearted Pegasus.
Fluttershy was a little surprised by how sincere and grateful he was being. “Ok then, let’s go.” She replied with a small smile. “My cottage isn’t too far from here, so it won’t take too long to get there.” She said as she turned to start toward her home.
“Oh by the way Ms., I never got your name.” the wolf inquired curiously.
“Oh…uh my…name is…Fluttershy.” the shy Pegasus replied in a very quiet voice. “Let’s…get…going.” She stuttered out still a little uncomfortable. She wasn’t use to others asking her any kind of personal stuff so quickly.
“Well it’s very nice to meet you Ms. Fluttershy, my name is Keiji, or as I’m better known by my friends, Keiji Storm Fang.” the wolf told her with a chuckle and a slight bow of his head.
(20 or so minutes later)
Fluttershy and Keiji finally arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage outside of Ponyville.
“Well we’re here. I…know it’s not much…but it’s my home.” Fluttershy told him as they approached her cottage.
“I think it’s just fine. I think your home is pretty nice, and to be honest I really think that having a simple lifestyle and tastes is better than trying to get extravagant riches and such things.” Keiji said back to her with a smile. “I mean I’ve seen someponies that just get everything dropped in front of them while others work extremely hard and get almost nothing.” He said with an almost annoyed tone.
“Oh…uh…thank you.” Fluttershy replied in a very soft tone as she opened the door of the cottage.
As they both entered the cottage Fluttershy went to another room to get things she needed to splint Keiji’s leg. As she left Keiji looked around and noticed that the interior was not too simple and not too fancy, just a nice little house. As he looked around the cottages’ modest interior Keiji noticed a little table that had a bunch of photographs on it. He curiously looked more closely at the pictures on the table, and see what kinds of photos were there. As he looked at the different photos he thought he recognized one or two of the ponies.
“Um Ms. Fluttershy, I don’t mean make uncomfortable by asking a lot of personal questions if it makes you uncomfortable, but might I inquire to who the ponies in these pictures are?” Keiji asked, but making sure it was alright with her.
“Oh, um those are some of my friends.” the shy Pegasus replied. She was about to explain who a few of them were but Keiji started to say something.
“It’s just...a couple of these ponies look familiar, sorry about if that was too forward.” he said with a sheepish grin.
“Oh no its fine, that’s ok.” she said as she picked up the biggest photo, which was a large group photo.
“Well the purple alicorn is Twilight Sparkle, or should I say Princess Twilight Sparkle. She’s a very smart pony, though she’s a huge bookworm. She very into her studies and can sometimes forget about the rest of the world. She also likes to read book quite a lot. She represents the element of magic of the elements of harmony.” she said with a slight chuckle as she started to wrap up Keiji’s broken leg. “She’s usually very calm and rational, but she can sometimes, when she gets really stressed out or overly anxious or confused she can spaz out somewhat and have a breakdown, though they don’t tend to last too long. Though she’s always there when her friends when they need her.” Fluttershy said finishing her explanation about the purple alicorn.
“The all pink earth pony mare with the puffy mane is Pinkie Pie. She’s…well…” she paused trying to find the right word also noticing that Keiji was a little confused. “Well I’ll just say she’s Pinkie.” she said finishing her thought, though she noticed that he was giving her questioning look. “It’s really hard to explain.” she added before starting again. “She’s a very hyper and happy pony who’s always trying to make everypony happy. She’s got a pretty random personality and doesn’t really ever follow one path or plan I guess you’d say, but she’s a really great friend none the less. Her element of harmony is the element of laughter.” she said finishing her explanation about the pink pony.
“The rainbow pegasus mare there is Rainbow Dash. I’ve known her for quite a while; in fact she was one of my very first friends. She’s quite confrontational and stubborn to say the least. She’s one of the best and fastest in Equestria.” Fluttershy said pointing out the rainbow Pegasus mare in the picture. “She usually acts before thinking it over, which often leads to trouble. But despite that she’s a very loyal friend, which is fitting because her element of harmony is the element of loyalty.” she said completing her explanation about the rainbow Pegasus mare. She noticed that Keiji had a knowing smirk on his face.
“Sorry it’s just I’ve met a few ponies and others that are like that. I just thought it was funny, sorry, please continue.” he said explaining himself.
“Oh ok. The white unicorn with the curly purple mane is Rarity.” she explained pointing out the white unicorn. “Rarity can be pretty self-centered and snobby. But she can also be very generous at times too, especially to those worse off than her. She represents the element of generosity of the elements of harmony.” she said starting to explain about the white unicorn with the curly purple mane. “She also sometimes pays to much attention to the small details and such. She has a passion for making and designing dresses and other clothes, in fact she makes her living making dresses for ponies. Many of them are very nice from what I’ve seen. She has a younger sister named Sweetie Belle. She’s a very sweet little filly. Though she tries to help her sister out a lot she can sometimes turn a simple mistake into a disastrous one.” she said finishing up her explanation about the unicorn.
“The amber orange earth pony mare with the blonde mane and some freckles is Applejack. She’s a very dependable and loyal pony. She represents the element of honesty; in fact it’s very hard for her to actually tell a lie. She’s really loyal and you can always rely on her to help you when you really need it.” Fluttershy explained with a small laugh. “She’s the granddaughter of the owner of Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith. She also has an older brother Big Macintosh and a little sister Applebloom.” she said pointing out an elderly mare that had a light lime green coat that had a light gray mane, a large stallion with a moderate crimson coat and tannish mane, and a filly with a grayish olive coat and light reddish mane.
“Who are the other two alicorns with the weird manes, who are they?” Keiji asked pointing the two other alicorns in the picture.
“Oh those are Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna, the rulers of Equestria.” Fluttershy explained. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have ruled Equestria for many centuries, though they had a “falling out” a thousand years ago, but I’d rather not talk about that.” she said with a pause which left Keiji a little confused. “But anyway, the princesses are both very powerful alicorns. Princess Celestia raises the sun every morning and Princess Luna raises the moon at night. Princess Celestia is a very wise and benevolent ruler who always tries to do the best for Equestria, though she and Princess Luna now rule together. They’re very good rulers and are very loved by most ponies in Equestria.” Fluttershy said finishing her explanation on the two princesses.
“I’ve actually already heard a lot about the princesses.” Keiji responded in almost ‘yeah I know’ tone. “I’ve heard quite a bit about them through my travels.” he said turning to look at her only to see she had a somewhat confused look on her face. “What, you didn’t think just because I’m not a pony I haven’t heard about Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? Of course of I’ve hear of them, it’s kind of hard not to really.” he said responding to her look with a ‘matter-of-factly’ tone.
“Oh sorry, I…didn’t mean to…assume…anything.” Fluttershy said as a blush of embarrassment appeared on her face.
“Hehehe its fine, it’s no problem at all.” Keiji laughed waving off her supposed mistake. He mainly laughed at the cuteness of her embarrassment. “But I want to know, who are these colts and stallions in the picture?” he asked pointing to a group of colts and a couple of stallions that looked strangely similar to Fluttershy and her friends.
“Oh they’re…they are…” Fluttershy stuttered clearly not wanting to really say.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, I won’t press any further if you really don’t want to say.” the silvery white wolf said with a kindhearted grin that showed a few of his fangs.
Fluttershy was surprised to say the least. She was surprised at how considerate of her feelings the wolf was. She could almost feel the honor and nobility emanating from the wolf. It was almost hard to believe that this wolf was so chivalrous He was shattering all of the bad stuff she had learned and been told about wolves in only a few minutes. It was both strange and comforting. She felt like she could even trust him with her life and never doubt that he would honor that with his own life. It was so very strange indeed.
“Actually it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.” Fluttershy said getting a small embarrassed blush on her face. She felt a little silly getting all zoned out like that. She took a breath as she got ready to explain who the colts were.
“Well they’re not from Ponyville or even Equestria, well at least not this Equestria anyway.” she said before pausing to take a deep breath to explain. “They’re from another version of Equestria from what I’ve been told. Their Equestria is just like ours but everypony is switch genders. The colts and are the male versions of Twilight and my friends. The two alicorn stallions are their version of Princess Celestia and Luna. They’re Prince Solaris and Prince Artemis.” she said pointing to the two alicorn stallions on the right side of the picture.
“The colt version of Twilight is named Dusk Shine. He’s a pretty much the same as Twilight but a colt, though he can be a little awkward around mares sometimes. I think he and Twilight are seeing each other, which is pretty funny when you consider that neither of them have much experience when it comes to dating.” she said with a little giggle about Twilight’s colt counterpart.
The Applejack’s colt counterpart is also named Applejack, but we all call him AJ so nopony won’t get mixed up. He’s a really hard worker and a really reliable pony who you can always count on.” she said pointing colt version of the blonde mare. “And this is Rainbow Blitz, Rainbow Dash’s colt counterpart. He’s just as competitive as Dash and is always trying to act cool. He and Dash act kind of like brother and sister.” she said with a giggle. “It’s kind of funny though. Blitz has a big crush on Applejack and AJ is the same with Dash and vice versa, but none of them like to admit it to others. But either way they really do care for each other.” she said getting a very small blush on her face.
“This pink colt is Bubble Berry. He’s Pinkie Pie’s colt counterpart. He’s just as hyper and excitable and such as Pinkie is. Though he’s very sweet colt and always tries to make everypony smile, especially Pinkie. They’re crazy for each other and they’re not really shy about it, though they’re not always kissing and stuff in front of everypony all the time.” Fluttershy said blushing as she pointing out the pink party colt.
“Who are these two strange creatures there?” Keiji asked pointing at two strange, almost serpent like creatures in the background in the right side of the picture.
“Well they’re…they’re um.” she stuttered trying to find the right words. “Well the male one Discord. He’s the spirits of disharmony. He used to like to cause all kinds of chaos and havoc, but a few years ago I helped reform him from his evil ways. He’s not as mean or hurtful with the pranks he plays on ponies as he used to be, though his pranks can still be a little annoying from what I’ve heard.” she explained before taking a second to catch her breath. “Eris is Dusk Shine’s world’s Discord. She’s just as random and mischievous as Discord is but with a slightly different taste for pranks if you will. She likes to play more subtle pranks than straight forward ones. I’ve also heard of her and Discord argues over what kinds of pranks are better once or twice. I think what they’re called is draconequus, but I’m not entirely sure.” she explained about the two mischievous creatures.
“But who are this young dragon and the colt that looks like your Rarity friend? You never told me about them or the yellowish colt with the pink mane.” Keiji said pointing at the young dragon and two other colts.
Fluttershy got a little nervous and uncomfortable. Keiji noticed that quickly and tried to make her not feel so uncomfortable. He hated it when anyone was uncomfortable or sad because of him.
“I’m sorry Ms. Fluttershy. I won’t press the matter any further if it makes you so uncomfortable. It’s just I recognize them because I saw them in my travels. I was just wondering if they were the same dragon and colts.” Keiji said explaining his questions.
“You mean you’ve met Elusive, Spike, and Butterscotch?!” she asked almost franticly. Keiji could see she was clearly very shocked by this news.
“Yes, I do believe those were their names.” he said after taking a deep breath. “If I remember correctly the dragon was Spike, the white unicorn was Elusive, and the butter yellowish pegasus was Butterscotch, am I correct there? But why are you getting so worked up about them. I remember them saying that they were on their way back to Ponyville? Aren’t they around here in Ponyville?” the white wolf inquired with a confused look on his face. He then noticed that she was getting a little sad again.
“No…they haven't …come back yet. They haven’t…been seen in…almost two years.” the shy pegasus stuttered quietly started to tear up a little. “But where did you see them and how did you meet them?” the shy pegasus asked wanting to know about the dragon and colts.
The wolf could tell that the yellow pegasus mare was very worried and he didn’t want to lie to her.
“Well I was traveling around in the north and I *yawn*” he started to say before cutting himself off with a fairly long yawn. He looked around for a clock. When he saw a small clock on a nearby table, it read 10:30. He didn’t realize they had been talking for so long. He also noticed that it had started to rain as well. “I’m sorry Ms. Fluttershy, it seems to be *yawn* later than we thought.” he said pointing to the clock with a yawn.
“Oh my, I didn’t know it was so late! I’m so sorry. I’ll get you a blanket or something.” the shy mare said franticly when she realized what time it was before running off into another room.
“Oh don’t worry Ms. Fluttershy it’s *yawn* ok I don’t need a…” Keiji called to her, but Fluttershy was already coming back with a pillow and blanket for him.
“Nonsense it’s the least I can do since you’re injured.” the shy mare replied with sweet smile. Keiji was a bit surprised at just how kind this mare was.
“Ok then, thank you very much for your kindness Fluttershy. I’ll crash on the couch, if that’s alright with you?” asked the wolf asked not wanting to do anything in her house without her permission.
“That’s alright, just make yourself comfortable and do try to stay off of your left foreleg.” Replied the shy pegasus mare as she headed to her own bedroom. She was just about to enter the bedroom but she stopped when she heard a sound come from Keiji. She turned around to see what it was. “What’s the matter? Is there something wrong?” she asked wanting to make sure to know if was wrong.
“It’s just….” Keiji said clearly trying to find the right words. “Again thank you very much Fluttershy for the kindness you’ve shown me. It really means a lot to me to see that not all ponies treat others who aren’t ponies with such compassion and kindness. Thank you for that.” He said thanking her for her kindness.
“You’re very welcome Keiji.” She said actually saying his name. “And thank you for showing me again that you really should never judge a book by its cover or a creature by its species.” She said thanking him in return as she turned and headed for her bedroom. “Good night Keiji, sleep…well.” She said as she entered her room.
“Good night to you too Fluttershy, good night and sweet dreams, you deserve it.” The white wolf replied as she closed her door.
Fluttershy got into her bed and started to fall asleep as the rain pitter pattered on the roof of her little cottage. She fell asleep thinking about the very strange day she had had.
(Sometime in the middle of the night)
Keiji steered a little in his sleep. He woke up after a loud crack of thunder. As he regained consciousness he looked out a nearby window and saw that it was raining and storming quite heavily now. He was readjusting and about to go right back to sleep, but something caught his ears. He listened carefully and heard a small sound. He listened and found the sound was coming Fluttershy’s room. He closed his eyes and listened more carefully. It sounded like soft sobs.
He got up and walked up to the door and listened to the sobs. It sounded like Fluttershy was crying. With another crack of lightning he heard a small gasp sound and the sobs get a little worse. He tried to think of what it could do to help her.
“Um Ms. Fluttershy, are you ok?” he asked.
There was no response.
He wanted to help the mare who had helped him so much. He looked at the lock on the doorknob and he didn’t want to break it or anything. So he closed his eyes.
(In Fluttershy’s room)
Fluttershy was curled up crying quietly under her blankets. She was very frightened by the storm. She remembered that the local pegasus had said there was going to be a pretty large storm tonight. She suddenly heard a kind of strange whooshing sound. She wasn’t sure what it was but she felt that she wasn’t alone in her room. She wanted to look and what was now in her room, but she was very scared at the thought of what it could be.
“It’s ok Ms. Fluttershy, it’s just me Keiji.” came a calm male voice that belonged to the wolf.
Fluttershy poked her head out from under her blankets and saw that he was standing in front of the door.
“How did you get into my room even though the door was lock?” the she mare asked getting both embarrassed and nervous.
“Well it a little trick I learned, but I’ll explain that in the morning, I promise” He said with a long pause afterward. “Well it’s just I heard you crying and I wanted to help if I can.” The wolf said with a sheepish embarrassed look on his face while he scratched the back of his head. “I just hate to see or know an um, “lady” is troubled or upset if there’s something I can do something about it.” He said putting emphasis on the word lady, clearly trying to find the right words to use.
“Oh…well…thank you.” Fluttershy replied wiping the tears from her eyes. “But its ok you don’t have to do…” she said but was quickly interrupted by the wolf.
“Oh no Ms. Fluttershy I feel I must do something. I always have.” Keiji said with no small amount of pride in his voice. “The males of my clan are taught to as helpful to the ladies as possible and other stuff too, but I won’t get into that right now. I just want to help you right now.” He said with an almost dopey on his face.
“And I know just the thing to do it.” He said quickly after a second or two of thinking. He sat down right on the floor where he was and closed his eyes to focus.
Then suddenly a faint glowing aura surrounded him. It intensified a little until it very slightly lit up the room. Then just as suddenly a large burst of smoke exploded around Keiji. It wasn’t thick smoke, but it just hung there for a second. When the smoke cleared Keiji was gone. Fluttershy looked around a little and started getting worried.
“Are…are you there? Are you ok?” the she pegasus mare asked timidly.
Then suddenly a small wolf jumped onto the foot of her bed with a smile on its face. He was not much bigger than Applejack’s dog Winona. To say that Fluttershy’s little bunny Angel was unhappy was a bit of an understatement. The bunny jumped up and started getting mad at the little wolf. The little wolf quickly gave the rabbit a look that said “I WILL eat you”. Angel backed away from the little wolf but kept looking at him with an “I’m watching you” look. The bunny hopped off the bed and returned to his own little bed that Fluttershy had made for him.
“I…is, is that you Keiji? How did you…” Fluttershy asked in shock and confusion.
“Yeah it’s me. It’s another little trick I learned in my travels. It should last the night, but I’ll explain about a few of my abilities in the morning, like I said I promise. But for now I’ll just keep you company” the much smaller wolf said a silly little smile on his face. He circled around a couple of times and curled up almost like a cat but being careful to keep his left foreleg from being laid on.
Fluttershy was just so touched at how kind and downright sweet this wolf was. This wolf went out of his way to make her feel more comfortable and happy.
“Good night Ms. Fluttershy, pleasant dreams.” he said as he closed his eyes to go to sleep.
“You too Keiji, and thank you.” She replied gratefully as she lay back down to go to sleep.
Fluttershy drifted off back to blissful sleep. She didn’t wake up from the storm again that night.
Ponyville Meets Keiji: Part 1
I do not own MLP FIM or any of its characters or other stuff from the show. All MLP FIM stuff belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.
OC characters: Dusk Shine, Applejack (male), Rainbow Blitz, Bubble Berry, Elusive, Butterscotch, and Lord Solaris belong to Trotsworth.
OC characters: Eris and Prince Artemis belong to JaquelinDreamz.
I do not own other character names, abilities, music, and such things from other series. Their respective owners will be made known.
My OC: Keiji Maeda, Todashi Akechi
Chapter 2: Ponyville meets Keiji part 1
The butter yellowish pegasus mare Fluttershy awoke to the sound of birds chirping. She looked out her window and saw that the storm had passed and the sun was now shining. She yawned and turned to
“Um, Keiji time to….” The mare said as she began to try to wake up the little wolf that had slept at the foot of her bed, but when she looked he was gone. “Uh Keiji…where are you?” she said as she looked around for the wolf. She scanned her bedroom until her eyes found a piece of paper on her nearby nightstand. She got out of the bed and noticed it was addresses with her name on it. She picked up the note and began to read it.
It read
Dear Ms. Fluttershy,
I just wanted to again thank you for the kind and generous treatment you’ve shown me. It means a lot to me to meet a pony that didn’t judge or treat me differently because I was a wolf. Thank you very much, but I must be on my way. I got places to go and people to meet, you know everyone does and I’m almost late to a meeting with a few other wolves to the north. But if I'm ever around Ponyville again I’ll make very sure to come see you. And don’t worry, I’ve always believed that things like this aren’t t goodbye, it’s just I’ll see you later. I’ll see you again sometime Miss Fluttershy.
Best regards and much friendship
Keiji ^__^
P.S
I got a little hungry and saw there were a couple of critters running around outside. So I decided to "stock up” my food supply. But don’t worry I didn’t touch your little bunny rabbit. I just took a couple of chickens and such. But anyway bye, and thanks for the food.
Fluttershy dropped the note with a look of sheer horror on her face as she read the ending of it. She dashed out her bedroom door to see if what the note said was true. But as soon as she was out of her room she smelled something, something that smelled like food being cooked. She ran to kitchen to see what was exactly going on.
The sight that Fluttershy now confronted was that of a wolf wearing an apron that had “Kiss the cook” on the front it. He was preparing a couple different things. From the looks of it he was making pancakes, toast with different stuff on it, and a simple salad, at least from what she could see. Then the wolf noticed that she was there.
“Oh good morning Ms. Fluttershy I didn’t see you there. I’m just preparing a little breakfast.” The wolf said with a smile. “Sorry about the note. I sometimes have a sick sense of humor.” He said as he let out a mischievous giggle. “But anyway, there’s buttermilk pancakes, toast with a few different choices of jellies, hash browns cooked golden brown, a pretty simple salad, and eggs prepared whichever way you’d like.” He said rattling off the different foods, but the last one made Fluttershy gasp in shock.
“Did you say eggs?” she asked the horror evident in her voice.
“Um…yeah, don’t you ponies eat eggs?” the wolf asked getting a confused look on his face. He could see that it discomforted her.
“It’s just…” she started to say with before pausing. “You didn’t get…those eggs…from the chickens outside did you?” she stuttered quietly.
“Oh.” Keiji said with pause. “Oh don’t worry these aren’t from your chickens, I snuck out to a local market and picked up a few eggs so that could make a proper breakfast. And don’t worry, I left a little money for the eggs and no one ever knew I was even there.” The wolf said with a stupid cocky grin on his face. “But if you don’t want any eggs Ms. Fluttershy that’s fine.” He said kindly his grin turning into a smile. “But what would you like for breakfast?” he asked actually inquiring of what she wanted this time. He grabbed a plate getting ready to prepare what she wanted. Then he heard Fluttershy’s’ stomach growl a little which only made him smile more.
“Well…breakfast would be…nice.” Fluttershy managed to say as she blushed profusely from the embarrassment of having her stomach growl in front of him. “I guess…I’ll have some salad and toast…and maybe a little hash browns.” She said quietly still blushing.
Keiji prepared a plate with her requested items as quick as a flash and presented them to her at her table. She took a few bites of everything just to try it out. She was surprised at how good it was. Then Keiji walked over and gave her another plate with a single pancake on it.
“Oh, I just thought you might like a pancake too.” Keiji said while giving her pleading puppy dog eyes as he place the plate with the pancake right next to the plate she already had.
“Um…thank you very much.” The shy mare replied as she carefully took a bite of the pancake. She was immediately more surprised at just how good it was. “Wow it’s really good!” she exclaimed happily. “Where did you learn to cook so well?” she asked questioningly?
“Aw shuck Ms. Fluttershy, you’re going to make me blush.” The wolf said with a small blush appearing on his muzzle. “It’s just an old family recipe I learned from my mother.” He said with no small amount of pride in his voice. “It’s like my mother always told me. “Son, it’s never a useless thing to learn a new skill!” he said speaking about his family with even more pride in his voice as he put his fist up to his chest as a sign of this. Fluttershy giggled at his enthusiasm.
“Well it’s very good. Thank you very much Keiji.” The mare said with a smile.
“Well I think I’ll have some breakfast too.” The wolf said as he prepared his own plate of food. In less than a minute he was sitting himself down at the table across from her.
It was then Fluttershy noticed something on his plate that was drastically different from hers. Much to her horror Fluttershy saw that there were two thick slices of bacon on his plate along with the other stuff he had given her. This shocked her extremely to see this almost to the point where she screamed.
Keiji quickly noticed this and gave her a quizzical look.
“What?” he asked simply, a little confused.
“You….you’re…you’re eating meat.” She barely managed to say. This caught Keiji a little bit by surprise.
“Well I am a wolf you know.” Keiji said almost like she should’ve already known. “What did you expect?” he continued starting to sound a little bit offended. It was then Fluttershy realized that she had never really thought about that. She realized that she never bothered asking him anything like that.
“I’m sorry…” the timid mare said with a pause. “ It’s just ponies never…eat meat and it’s…very…uncomfortable for me.” She managed to stutter. Keiji then started to feel a little guilty on account that he had never really taken her feelings into consideration on this matter.
The wolf signed. “I’m sorry Fluttershy.” He said beginning to look a little down. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of about that. I should’ve realized that it might be quiet uncomfortable for you.” He said regretfully. “And if it makes you feel better I will not eat meat around you unless I absolutely have to.” He said with a reassuring tone to his words.
Fluttershy was taken aback a little by this. She realized that he was fairly justified in his actions. He didn’t honestly have to apologize for anything. He was just doing what came naturally, yet he was still apologizing anyway.
“Oh it’s ok. You don’t have to apologize for eating meat. You were only doing what is normal for you.” She said with much understanding and compassion in her voice. “Thank you for considering my feelings anyway though.” She said thanking him for the consideration he had shown in turn.
“It’s nothing Fluttershy. I was always been taught to try to be considerate of all those around me.” He said with semi-dopey grin. “I’ve always loved the feeling you get when you help or be nice to others.” He said still smiling. “And it makes me especially happy when I prove wrong those who think less of us and others who they believe lower than them.” He said smugly.
This took Fluttershy a little by surprise. She didn’t understand why he said something like that. But then she remembered the couple old legends and stories she had heard about northern wolves. She remembered how the old stories painted the wolves out as simple minded savages who only liked to fight, raid, and steal from others.
It was then she really began to fully realize what he meant. She realized that there might be a prejudice toward wolves on account of the legends and stories about them.
“What do you mean?” she said very quietly before being cut off by the wolf.
“I’ll tell you when we’re finished with breakfast.” He replied with a small smile. “I promise.”
“You see Ms. Fluttershy. There’s a bit of a prejudice toward wolves. Though I don’t think it’s really out of hatred but rather the fact we’re a very “different” type of creature than ponies are used to. I mean we’re carnivores and ponies aren’t. I think that’s what it really just boils down to.” he said with a sigh. “It’s so very sad though. It…” he said before dropping it and continued to eat as if he never said anything.
“What? What is it?” the shy mare asked getting a little concerned at how quickly he dropped it.
The wolf looked at her concerned expression and couldn’t bring himself to lie to her about it. He really didn’t want to tell her the truth about what he was thinking about. With a sigh he relented.
“Ok Fluttershy I’ll tell you what’s the matter.” He said taking a deep breath. “It’s just, there have been a few time where I came into a pony town and was…I was.” He began to say trying to find the right words.
“Was what?” was the only thing that came from the shy mare. Keiji sighed and continued.
“I was run out of town. Just for being a wolf, for being different.” he said bluntly. “And this happened to me a couple of times. There was one town in particular somewhere near Appleloosa. I don’t really remember the name very well. It was like Coltston or something I don’t really remember, nor care to remember that well.” He said with no small amount of distain in his words. “The ponies there were nothing but a bunch of stupid intolerant jerks. It was weird, I don’t know of all the major cities in Equestria, but I know a couple of them. The town was like a bit of a combination of the superior high class attitudes of the ponies of Canterlot and Manehattan with a little bit of, I guess “countryness” of towns like Appleloosa and such.” he said putting up quotation marks with his hands for emphasis.
“Well I was traveling around that area not too long ago. I hadn’t seen much of anyone or anything for a while. And then I came across a fairly large town that looked like a good place to rest. But I was in for a bit of a surprise.” he said before pausing, the look on his face showing that the memory clearly not a very happy one.
“W…what happened?” was all that the shy pony could reply with.
“Well it in a way started before I even got into the town. I was…”
(Flashback) (Keiji’s POV)
It was a fairly day. I was walking down a dirt road for quite a while. I was wearing a simple cloak to keep ponies from freaking out and such. The road was taking up a small hill. As I was coming to a small hill I noticed a simple makeshift sign near the top. As I got closer I saw that it had the name of Coltston etched into it. At first I didn’t really think anything of it so I kept walking.
I noticed that the sun was starting to get low, so I knew I should hurry and get to the town. I kept walking for about half an hour until I finally reached the town itself. I was pretty tired by the time I actually reached the town. I had been walking pretty much all day and it was about 6 or 7 at night. It was a fairly large town, about 8-10 miles all around from what I could see anyway. It looked like a nice enough place to spend the night, so I just kept heading toward the town.
As I walked into the town I noticed ponies glancing at me and murmuring to each other. It didn’t really surprise me. Even with the cloak I was wearing most ponies could tell I wasn’t a pony, I was very used to it by now. I was able to find my way to a local inn where I try to get some food and rest for the night.
As I headed into the inn I saw that it was similar to an old fashion saloon in a lot of ways. As I entered the inn the bartender that was there gave me a weird look. I could already feel a bit of tension and uneasiness from the ponies around. I ignored it and continued walking to the bar.
“All I need a room to stay in for the night and I’ll be on my way tomorrow. That’s all I need and I won’t cause any trouble.” I said as I tossed a small bag of coins onto the barkeep. “I’m sure that’s more than enough for one night.” I said with a bit of a serious tone.
The barkeep looked at me for a second. “Fine, whatever.” he said handing me a key to a room. “Your room is up the stairs and down the hall to the left, just look for the number on the key.” he said to me as he placed the room key on the bar. I took it and headed for the room. I really didn’t want any trouble right now. When I got to the room the first thing I noticed that it wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t tiny, it was enough to get me through the night. The bed was not too small but smaller than the one I’m use to sleeping in. I just decided to go straight to sleep so I could get going earlier in the morning.
I got into the bed which was not as comfortable as I would’ve really liked, but it good enough for one night. I just tried to close my eyes and go to sleep so that I could wake up earlier. I actually fell asleep rather quickly considering the bed and all.
(Sometime later that night)
I woke up some time in the middle of the night to the sound of some kind of commotion going on down stairs. Now I’ve always been a curious one, but at the time I was more annoyed at the fact that I was woken up in the middle of the night. I left the room and head back down toward the saloon area of the inn. Even before I arrived at the stairs I could hear a couple of voices.
When I got to the stairs I saw three stallions standing around a zebra mare and what looked like her daughter. The first earth pony had a light tan coat and black mane, another one was a pegasus stallion a dark brown coat and rusty red mane, and the last one was a unicorn with a dark bluish coat and a light grey mane.
Now I’d seen plenty of zebras around in my travels. Many of the ones I had met were either traveling merchants or traders, though I’d met a couple who were herbalists or potion makes, or just wandering travelers just out there to see the world and learn new things.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t like it. This was mainly because the stallions seemed to be fairly drunk.
“Come on baby, why don’t ya stay a while and have *hic* some fun?” said the tan stallion.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in your type of “fun” sir.” The zebra mare replied calmly, though I could tell there was a fair amount of annoyance in her voice. She started to turn away before the blue stallion stops her with a front hoof on her right shoulder.
“Come on now *hic* don’t *hic* be that way baby.” The blue stallion’s said for a drunken reply.
“Let go of me. I don’t want any trouble, just let me go.” The zebra mare said as she tried pull away from the stallion.
“Not so fast there lady, we’re not done.” The brown stallion said quickly stopping her with his right hoof on her left shoulder. That was the final straw.
I leapt down from the balcony and quickly walked over to them. I quickly grabbed the stallion’s shoulder.
“Hey, leave the lady alone.” I said somewhat calmly drawing the attention of the three stallions. “Just let her go. And leave her to her business.” I continued.
“Hey! Why don’t you *hic* mind your own business ya mutt!” the brown stallion replied rudely as he poked my chest with his left hoof.
“I’ll let that one go because you’re drunk.” I replied calmly to his not so subtle insult. “Just let her go and leave her be fellas.” I said giving a small smile to try to hide my irritation. This didn’t make them too happy
“Why do you care?” the tan earth pony stallion yelled at me angrily. “Why the hell should you care?! She’s a zebra!”” the unicorn stallion drunkenly said as he poked me in the chest with his hoof.
The smile disappeared from my face. I knew exactly what they meant. I had heard a few rumors about some ponies having somewhat racial prejudices toward zebras and other non-ponies, but I’d never really seen it that much before. I really did not like such ignorance coming from anyone, pony or not. And I was certainly not going to stand by and do nothing.
“I see.” I said quietly. “Now I don’t want any trouble now, but I’m not about to stand aside and let a lady be mistreated and disrespected,” I continued “whatever her race may be.” I said bluntly stepping between her and the stallions.
“Oh is that so?” the earth stallion said obliviously getting pissed. “Are you trying to be some kind of hero of the zebras or something?” he said stepping forward to try to get in my face, obviously trying to intimidate me.
“Stay behind me you two.” I quietly told the Zebra mare and her daughter. I stood on my hind legs before turning my attention back to the stallions. As I turned back to the earth stallion I got into the stallion’s face. “I’m not trying.” I said in a quiet serious tone. I must’ve had a pretty serious look in my eyes.
“Why you dirty piece of…” The stallion began to say before I cut him off while steeping closer to him.
“I know it’ll sound a bit silly, and maybe even a little cliché.” I started with before pausing briefly. “But go ahead pal, make my day.” I said angrily with the utmost seriousness in my tone as I looked him dead in the eye.
The stallion stood there for a few seconds, obviously intimidated by my actions.
“Whatever forget this, let’s go!” the tan stallion finally said angrily after a few seconds of silence. They started to turn and walk away. I sighed with relief at this.
“Let’s go.” I said turning back to the zebra mare. “I have a few things back in the room I was staying in. I’ll be right back.” I said before quickly leaping up the stairs toward the room I was staying in. I came back as quickly as possible
When I returned I was very relieved to see that the mare and her daughter were still there, which made me feel really relieved.
“Come let’s go. I’ll find you somewhere else to stay tonight.” I said to her quickly, giving her and her daughter a reassuring nod. “I’d rather sleep outside then stay here with such…unpleasant company myself. That is if that’s alright with you mam.” I said as I started to walk to the door.
As I was about the reach the door I felt something sharply hit me from behind. As I was hitting the floor I noticed that there were piece of a now broken chair landing on the floor around me. I knew what was happening, and it really annoyed me.
“So ya thought you could try acting like such a tough guy huh?” I heard the voice of the earth pony stallion I confronted earlier say. “You ain’t so tough now are ya mutt?” I heard the stallion say with no small amount of cockiness in his voice. And I knew what was about to happen, and what I was going to have to do. And it really annoyed me to know that.
“Well for starters, you hit like a filly.” I said as I got up off the ground and stood up on my hind legs and dusted myself off.
“But how could you…” The unicorn stallion said in shock at the fact I had just been whacked with a chair and got up like it was nothing. They didn’t know much about me and what I was like.
“If this is how you guys are going to be, then fine.” I said as I fully turned to face them, giving them a small grin in the process.
“Oh yeah tough guy, we’ll see about…” The earth stallion said as he turned to take a swing at me only to be met with a punch to the nose that sent him flying a few feet through the air before landing on the ground unconscious. Then I turned my attention back to the unicorn and pegasus stallion, looking them straight in the eye.
“So, who’s next?” I said honestly kind of hoping they’d try something.
But I could see the scared and intimidated look in their eyes. I could tell they weren’t going to dare do anything.
“Good thinking fellas.” I said before turning and walking out the doors with the Zebra mare and her daughter.
(Just outside of the north side of the town)
We had been walking for about an hour or so and were already a few miles outside the town heading north. The mare and her daughter were walking to the right of when I realize something. I realized that I never asked the mare her name or her daughter’s name. I stopped walking and turned to the zebra mare.
“I’m sorry, but I never got your name ma’am. I ask that you forgive me for thinking of not asking earlier.” I asked giving her a small smile to try to ease any stress she might’ve had.
“Oh uh, my name is Zamira (Za mira), and this is my daughter’s Hashina (Ha shina).” She answered hesitantly at first, but replied politely.
“Well, it’s really nice to meet you Miss Zamira and to you too young Miss Hashina.” I said with a smile and a respectful bow. “But may I ask? What are you doing in these parts?” I inquired while trying not to sound like I was trying to pry into her personal life. I think she already knew what I was getting at. “I’m only asking because I’ve seen that there are sadly still some ponies out there that either don’t like or don’t trust, or for some other reasons have a prejudice against non-ponies just because they’re different.” I said with disappointment in my voice.
“Well I’m a traveling merchant and we had been traveling for most of the day and were looking for a place to sleep for the night.” She explained before getting a slightly depressed look on her face. “I didn’t expect to be treated so rudely.” She sadly said.
“Hehehe, don’t worry miss Zamira, I know of a place not too far from here that you’d feel much more at home in. At least until you’d want to move on and keep traveling that is.” I replied getting a small grin on my face. “And don’t worry, it’s just a little town hidden away in the forest just up the road here.” I said motioning to the forest ahead of us. “You’ll find the folks dare don’t care if you’re different, mainly because we’re all different.” I said with a chuckle. It wasn’t too long until we were entering the forest.
(About 15 minutes later)
“Halt, stay where you are!” came a voice from somewhere within the trees.
Suddenly four wolves stepped out from behind some trees. Two of them had brown fur and yellow eyes while another had grey fur and blue eyes, and the last wolf had black fur and cyan blue green eyes. All of them were standing on their hind legs and carrying spears.
“Whoa there guys, let’s calm down now.” I said stepping forward. They recognized me quickly.
“Oh Mr. Keiji, it’s you.” One of the wolves said quickly as they lowered their spears. “I’m sorry sir, we didn’t recognize you at first” said the black furred wolf.
“That’s ok my friend.” I said placing a hand (paw) his shoulder before turning toward Zamira. “This is my friend, Zamira. And I’d like for her and her daughter to be able to stay in the town for as long as she feels like.” I said motioning to said zebra mare and her daughter.
“Oh, ok then. We’ll show you the way there.” One of the wolves said as they lowered their spears and motioned for us to follow them.
We made our way through the forest pretty quickly, until we came to a small clearing. As we entered clearing ahead of us there seemed to be nothing there but the clearing. But as we kept walking we noticed there was some kind of barrier that was camouflaging something. We kept walking toward it. As we passed through the barrier we saw a town that was sprawling with wolves, ponies, and even a few zebras and griffons just going about their days. And none of them were treating the others differently or anything. I noticed that there was a look of disbelief on Zamira’s face.
“I know…” I said before pausing, trying to draw her attention to me. “It’s kinda hard to believe that all these different species can live together in peace isn’t it?” I asked with small smirk. She looked at me with surprise, almost like I she knew I knew what she was thinking.
“Yes I am surprised that such a place exists, where all can live together in peace and harmony.” She said with an almost sad tone.
“Well, we’re not perfect. We still have problems like most others.” I said chuckling at the irony. “But we do try to stay friendly, even loving toward our neighbors. Because we’ll be able to stand together when and if times get tough, knowing that we can fully trust one another, despite our many differences. And that is very encouraging.” I said with confidence in my voice.
Zamira just looked at me. She seemed extremely surprised at how honest I was being about it. She got a small smile on her face.
“I am quite impressed. I myself had heard rumors about your kind, about wolves.” She said getting an almost shamed looked on her face. “And I’m ashamed to say that I believed some of them.” She said looking away from me. I smirked at her expression.
“It’s alright Zamira.” I said putting a hand (paw) on her shoulder. “That’s all in the past. What’s important is that you now know that those things you hear were just that, rumors. Things said by ones who don’t know us, who have never met us, wolves and or possibly any who are a different race or whatever than them.” I said giving her a reassuring smile, letting her know it was alright.
She just looked at me, clearly moved by my sympathetic and compassionate attitude toward it. Her eyes started to water before she spoke. “Thank you Keiji. Thank you so very much. You’ve truly shown that you must never judge someone by what they look like. You’re such a…” she said trying to continue giving me praise before I cut her off with a putting a finger to her lips to stop her.
“Ah! There’s no need to sing praises toward me and my actions.” I said with a soft, kind tone. “My mother taught me from a very young age to help those in need and never care what race or tribe or anything that they were. I was honored to help you, and would be honored even more so if I could call you my friend.” I said with complete sincerity.
Her eyes started to water. Then she suddenly threw her forelegs around my neck and hugged me. I was a little surprised that she, so very quickly, accepted my friendship. I even heard her start to cry softly. “It’s ok Zamira, its ok.” I said softly patting her on the back.
Hashina even hugged me as well, wanting to also hug her mother’s new friend. “Thanks for being so nice to us mister Keiji, you’re a really nice wolf.” The zebra filly said as she continued to hug me.
I was touched by the filly’s kind and loving words. I even started to get a little teary eyed too. I was always a little embarrassed at just how emotional I could easily get some times. “Thank you Hashina, that’s very kind of you to say.” I said gently patting the filly’s head.
I gently broke out the embrace Zamira was giving me. I reached into a small pouch I had on the belt I was wearing. I pulled out a pair of necklaces made of wood with a little silver and gold on them, both with a white wolf paw mark in the center on either side of them. “These are for you.” I said placing one on Zamira’s neck and the other on Hashina’s.
“Keiji that’s very kind of you, but you don’t need to…” Zamira started to say before I quickly cut her off.
“No I insist. This is a gift I truly want to give you.” I said with tone that was trying to convey kindness but sternness, meaning that I wasn’t going to accept no for an answer.
“But Keiji, what are they exactly?” the zebra mare asked me looking over the necklace around her neck.
“They’re somewhat like what you’d call a “royal seal” of sorts.” I said with a small chuckle. “They’re basically to let folks in the different villages and towns of my people know that the person wearing them is a friend of someone who’s well known or greatly respected by them.” I explained. “Basically when you wear these, it’ll let any and all wolves know that you’re my friend. And that you are to be treated with the utmost respect and kindness.” I continued. “And if necessary, protect you from harm.” I added with a fairly serious tone.
“Wait. Are you some kind chieftain or king or something?” she asked me with wide eye and an almost concerned look on her face.
“Oh, well...I’m not a king or anything like that per say, but I am quite well known and respected among my fellow wolves, both far and wide. I’ve mainly helped settle some problems and such other things here and there.” I told her not wanting sound like I was some pompous big shot. I was trying not to overwhelm her with all the things I’d seen and done.
“Well I won’t press anymore if you don’t want me to.” Zamira said with a sincere tone to her voice, clearly not wanting to offend anyone.
“Oh, it’s ok Zamira. I just didn’t want to bore you with a bunch of details and boring stuff like that. But anyway, I just wanted to give you it so that you’d to always be able to find a place that you’d feel safe and at home in.” I said trying to ease her mind. “I know it sounds pretty silly, but hey. The way I see it, I’m just being a proper gentleman.” I said with a laugh while giving a silly exaggerated bow causing Hashina to giggle. Zamira even chuckled a little at my silliness. Even a few nearby wolves laughed at my silly joke.
“But sadly I must get going Zamira.” I said somewhat sadly after looking at the large town clock that was on a nearby building. “I have some things I must tend to.” I said with a fair amount of disappointment in my voice.
“It’s alright, I’m sure that what you need to do must be important for you to need to leave quickly.” She said with a great deal of wise and understanding in her tone. She understood that it might be really urgent or something and that I wasn’t trying to ditch her or something. It really was nice to see how understanding she was about it.
“Thank you, Zamira.” I said with a smile right as I turned to leave. “I’ll see you around Zamira.” I said as I quickly began to run off. “And I’ll defiantly make sure that I’ll come see you two again!” I yelled back to them. “And remember to take care of her guys! She’s a friend of mine!” I yelled to some of the wolves and others as I kept running.
“Don’t worry, we will boss!” I heard one of the wolves yell.
As I kept going, I felt very confident and happy in the fact of knowing things for Zamira and Hashina would be looking up now.
(End of Flashback)
“And so I was really glad I was able to leave Zamira and her daughter in safe hands, so to speak.” Keiji said finishing his little story.
“Wow.” Fluttershy said in somewhat shocked amazement. “I never knew that there ponies like that in Equestria.” She said with an almost shamed expression.
“It’s ok Fluttershy. It’s not your fault.” Keiji said putting a hand (paw) on her shoulder. “There are just those ponies out there that aren’t loving or tolerant as you.” He said putting his good paw onto her shoulder. “But don’t worry about it Fluttershy, that was in the past.” He said with a smile.
After the two of them finished their breakfast Keiji had expressed his want to go walk around the woods a little, but Fluttershy quickly sternly forbade it. She was insistent that he not be up moving around a lot or doing these that could injure his broken leg any further. Fluttershy wanted to ask if she could introduce Keiji to her friends, but she didn’t want to seem prying or disrespectful, decided not to ask just yet.
Just after they had finished breakfast and cleaned up there was a sudden knock at the door.
“Fluttershy!” called a high hyper feminine voice from the other side of the front door. The hyper voice belonged to Fluttershy's party loving friend Pinkie Pie.
Keiji suddenly got a somewhat worried look on his face.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” Fluttershy asked him getting a little worried herself.
“Well I’m just a little worried of the reactions from the ponies of this town might have to seeing a wolf like me.” He said quietly. “And I’m not overly fond of the idea of a bunch of ponies freaking out and panicking just because I’m around here. So please Ms. Fluttershy, don’t tell anyone I’m here, at least not for a little while. Can you do that for me?” the wolf quietly asked the shy pegasus.
“O…o…ok, I’ll try my best.” The timid mare replied. She wasn’t sure of how exactly she was going to keep something like this from her friends, but she decided not to think about it too much right now.
“I’m just going to hide in the closet here until your friends gone. Just worry about your friend right now.” Keiji said quietly with a small smile before he walked over to the nearby closet and walked into and closed the door behind him.
Fluttershy then went to her door and opened it revealing her pink party loving friend.
“Hi Fluttershy, what are you doing?!” the pink mare happily asked her shy friend.
“Oh, I was just finishing breakfast. I was going to feed the animals in just a little bit. Though I think I need to go to the market to pick up a few things.” The shy mare told her friend.
“Oh, ok! I was just going to throw a party for somepony today. When I woke up today, I got a strange feeling that I should come see you today. I don’t know why, but my tail was twitching a bit when I woke up, though I didn’t see or hear anything fall or something. I’m not sure what it was.” The pink party pony said with her usual happy energy.
This caused Fluttershy to get a little worried. Did Pinkie somehow know about Keiji? Did she somehow know that there was someone here in her house?
“I guess it was nothing. I’ll see ya later Fluttershy.” The pink party pony said suddenly. As Pinkie turned to leave her tail started to twitch. “What the, twitcha twitch!” she said before the twitching stopped. Suddenly there came a crashing sound from the closet.
“What was that?!” Pinkie said as she rushed over to the before Fluttershy could stop her. She flung open the closet door, only to see a few coats and other things lying on the ground. She looked from right to left but saw nothing else.
“Well, I could’ve sworn something or somepony fell. Well, I guess it was nothing.” Pinkie said in her usual happy tone before she pulled a list from behind her back. “Well I have to get going Fluttershy. I’ll see you later then!” She continued in a carefree way, before zooming past Fluttershy and out the door, door shutting behind here, no doubt off to her next little thing on her list for the day.
Fluttershy just stood there almost 30 seconds after Pinkie left. It never completely ceased to amaze her at how just crazy and random Pinkie could be.
“Is she gone?” a voice coming from the closet asked that belonged to a certain wolf.
“Um…yes…she’s gone.” Fluttershy replied as she turned back toward the closet.
She turned toward the closet to see Keiji climbing down from the ceiling of the closet. He first lowered himself down while hanging onto a small rafter with his right paw until his back feet were on the ground.
“Well I’m glad she didn’t see me.” Keiji said with a small chuckle. “Judging by how hyper she seemed, she might’ve run off and told of every pony in town about me, which might cause a lot of panicking.” He said with relief evident in his voice.
“Yes, you’re probably right.” The shy mare said in reply.
“Don’t feel too bad Fluttershy. It’s not like you were lying to her.” He said in an almost nonchalant way. “You’re just trying to keep a secret for another friend, a friend who doesn’t want cause a scene.” The wolf said in an almost nonchalant tone. “So there’s really nothing to be unhappy about.” He said confidently.
Keiji noticed though that his words didn’t seem make her feel any less conflicted.
“Anyway, how long do you think I’ll have to wear this splint on my leg?” he asked trying to change subjects.
“Oh, well your leg luckily didn’t seem to have been really badly. It looked like the bone was more bruised or badly sprained, than actually being fully broken.” The shy mare said very clearly, to Keiji’s surprise. “You shouldn’t have to wear it for more than a week or so.” She said calmly.
“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad.” The wolf said optimistically.
“Well….my friends tend to visit almost every day.” Fluttershy said quietly, to a bit of Keiji’s dismay.
“Oi, this is going to be a long week.” He said lightly smacking his paw to his forehead.
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