Fluttershy sat at her simple table, in her simple cottage. The animals weren't there this time around. They were all sleeping. She looked out of the cottage door, and saw very few ponies out at this hour, and those that were would either be going back to their houses or to that club with the two DJs. However, what caught her eye was the pony standing by a building in Ponyville. He wasn't doing anything else, not looking at the town, not looking at her, just standing there, his body pointed in the direction of the Everfree forest. She couldn't get a good look at him, all she saw was a grey pony that was slightly taller than average He was closer, this time, and he began to turn around and walk towards her.
"AAAHHHHH!"
Fluttershy woke up from her bed in a panic. She looked around, her house was flooded with the dark of the night, and one woken up Angel Bunny looking at her with concern.
"It's alright, Angel" she reassured the bunny. "It was just a bad dream, that's all" Angel gave her a sceptical look, then went back to sleep. She got out of bed and looked outside. No pony was there, nothing, it was just a dream; a dream she had been having for a couple of days, same grey pony every time, and every time the dream occurred, he got closer.
Princess Luna said that dreams always meant something, so was this one trying to tell her something?
She poured coffee for herself as she thought it over.
(Later that day)
Fluttershy was pouring chicken feed into the coops, giving the beavers some twigs, and trying to get Angel to eat his salad. In the end the rabbit finally gave up and ate, after about two hours of nothing but pure stubbornness.
She decided to go shopping when she noticed she was nearly out of chicken food. She went to the shop but was still tired, despite the coffee. She began to walk back to her cottage when her vision suddenly began to blur. She stopped, and rubbed her eyes. She opened them, and everything seemed fine. She wasn't sure at first, but decided to walk on.
She walked right outside her cottage, and raised her hoof to open the gate
"Ah" she helped out as she got a huge headache and fell to the ground. She cringed, her hooves were clutching her head. She was afraid to open her eyes so she kept them shut. She eventually opened her eyes, and saw horror. Everything was a dull grey, like those old films, they were all stretching and blurring. She looked around her, she had to get to Twilight, maybe she knew what happened to her, she must have a book or something, with a description of what was happening to her.
She began to panic as she saw something, it was that grey pony, again.
It hit her instantly, and she began to get up, and she felt her dizziness ease off, a bit, as she got closer to him.
"What did you do?" She sort- of- shouted at him. It was a shout by her standards. She got a closer look at him and saw a horn on his head. He ran off into the Everfree forest, her dizziness returned as he got farther away, so she followed him going as fast as she could, though she could barely run. She went for the entrance, but heard a muffled screaming coming from behind her.
She entered the forest, and lost sight of him. She saw him running to the right, so she followed, then straight ahead, then to the left, and kept going on in different directions. It was like he was disappearing into the trees, she could barely keep up with him. She could feel herself getting steadier as she followed him and heard distorted wailing coming from behind her, as she kept on going but was getting faster. She couldn't understand, it was like he just kept slipping away at the last second. She didn't know what he wanted, but she needed to catch him. She stopped when she realised she didn't see where he went this time. She panicked, she was lost and couldn't remember where she went from. She was lost, she was all alone, she had no idea where she was, and she could her the wailing getting closer, but it as it got nearer it began to sound more familiar.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy!" The voice she heard began to sound completely different. She heard not the wailing of an unknown creature, but the calling of one of her closest friends.
Applejack finally caught up to her friend. She had been walking along, buying some nails and planks to build a new fence around the orchard, when she saw Fluttershy in the distance lying on the ground outside of her own cottage, she rushed towards her. She saw Fluttershy trying to get up and for some extremely dumb reason, went into the Everfree forest. She didn't know what in the hay was going through her head, at that moment, but she intended to find out once she caught up with her. She quickly dashed after her and entered the forest. She called out her name a couple of times, but that just made her run even faster.
"Fluttershy, where are ya going?!"
While running, she wondered where Fluttershy was going. It was almost as if she was running somewhere specific, but where, and why? She just collapsed, got up, and instantly went into the forest, no rhyme or reason. She had left her all her supplies outside the cottage to chase after her. When Applejack saw her, it was like she was looking around for something, and then going off in a new direction. Maybe that bunny of hers lost its temper or something, and ran off into the forest.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy!" She called her name again. She finally caught up to her to see that she had stopped, she had finally realised that she was lost.
"Applejack?"
"Now what in tarnation where ya thinking? You know the Everfree forest is dangerous!" She yelled at her. This suddenly made her realise that she hadn't seen anything dangerous in the forest whatsoever. No manticores, no timberwolves, no rockodiles, no nothing. They had come far into the the forest and hadn't seen anything dangerous.
Oh, I really am terribly sorry, Applejack, it's just..." She paused, as if she was considering something.
"What?"
"Well, you see, I've been having these... dreams" Se exclaimed. "They always seem to have this grey pony in them, and he keeps getting closer. I don't know why or what it means."
"And you thought you saw this 'grey pony' so ya went in after him?" Fluttershy nodded
"Yes. I can't explain it, but something about him seems to always make we wake up screaming" Applejack listened, and noticed that bags were starting to form under Fluttershy's eyes.
"Well, if it bothers ya so much, maybe we should get Princess Luna to look at yer dreams?" Fluttershy seemed to get a small headache when she heard this.
"No it's perfectly fine, I'm sure the dreams will go eventually. It's really nothing to worry about" She insisted. Applejack wasn't sure, but decided to respect her friend's decision, but she would ask Twilight if she knew anything about ponies in the Everfree when she got back. Then, she realised something, they were both lost. She was too busy chasing Fluttershy to remember where they came from.
"Well, ain't this just fantastic!" She said sarcastically "We're stuck in the Everfree forest, with no idea where we are or how we get back or find a path, and all because you were looking for some imaginary pony!"
They suddenly both smelled something dangerous, and it was coming their way. "Timberwolves!" Applejack yelled and they both ran. They both galloped away were about to turn left, when another timberwolf jumped in their way, forcing them to go right as it glared with it's glowing eyes, and snarled at them with its sharp wooden teeth. They ran, as the wolves kept forcing them in different directions. They thought they would never make it out alive, until they saw light in the distance.
"Look! It's the exit!" Applejack shouted as they put in everything to get out. Soon they were greeted with light, once again, and they continued to run, but something stopped them when Applejack looked back.
"Fluttershy, look!" She stopped her friend as she saw it, too. The Timberwolves had stopped at the entrance. This was odd. Applejack knew timberwolves well, she hated them more than anything, even more than the Flim Flam brothers and she knew that leaving the forest never stopped timberwolves from pursuing their prey, they would not hesitate to leave the forest if they saw food, so what was stopping them this time, but she learned not to question the good fortune and just shook it off.
Fluttershy wasn't sure about telling someone about her dreams, but she knew it was right. She would have to tell somepony eventually, if they continued and Applejack had risked her life by coming into the forest after her. She didn't tell her about what happened with her vision, something stopped her from saying anything. She also didn't know why she didn't want Luna involved, but she trusted herself, and waved goodbye to Applejack, while she went in and thought to herself.
Applejack picked up her supplies and went to fix her wall.
She arrived back at the acres where she was greeted by her little sister, Applebloom.
"Heya, sis!" She shouted "Where ya been?"
"Fluttershy went into the Everfree forest, so ah had to get her out" she replied " by the way, ya may want to hold off visitin' Zecora for a while"
"Aw, but Ah was gonna go look at some of her potions" Applebloom pleaded. "She's also been doin' lots of art, and ah think they're great! Mah favourite is the one with the grey stallion"
Author's Note
I have amended some grammar mistakes, thanks to palaikai. ^^
