The Mare and the Wolf

Landscape

Two days passed after the fabulous/random duo visited the cottage.

These couple of days consisted mainly of waking up early in the morning, waiting silently for Fluttershy to wake up, greeting her when she did, eat breakfast together, watch her fly away, take a nap, eat lunch, take another nap, wake up when she came back home, talk and eat dinner together, go to sleep, repeat.

On the third morning, however, the monotony was broken by a surprisingly successful attempt to get up, without the pegasus's help. Fluttershy was happy to hear it.

"I'm so glad you're getting better already."

"So am I. I was getting tired of sitting on the couch all day, no offense though, it's a great couch."

Surprisingly enough, Fluttershy took it as a joke and gave a typical quiet laugh, instead of thanking the wolf for the compliment.

"What are you going to do now, um… if you don't mind me asking?"

"I think I'll go for a walk, and tomorrow I should be good enough to return to the forest."

Winter turned and walked out the door calmly, not wanting to push his luck with his wounds. He didn't see the frown that appeared on Fluttershy's face.

"I'll see you later." Said the wolf.

Fluttershy quickly turned on a happy face and said goodbye to her new friend, as he went past the hills around her house.

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Winter decided to walk along the outskirts of Ponyville, to avoid either scaring the locals or being chased by an angry mob. He eventually stopped and sat sown on a hill overlooking the town, and stayed there for hours, looking at the ant sized fillies playing in a small park, the merchants in the square, and a cyan pony practicing stunts in the distance. He was taking it all in, so that he would have a longer memory of happiness, for when he went back to the forest.

"What are ya doin' here?" a familiar, southern equestrian voice interrupted the silence he was enjoying so much. The wolf turned around to face Applejack, who was pulling a cart full of apples.

"Not much, what about you?" said Winter, as he got up to walk up to her. He didn't like Applejack a whole lot, but he was willing to at least try to get along with her for Fluttershy's sake.

"None of yer business." She responded coldly to the attempt for small talk.

"What's your problem?"

"You're ma problem, I don't like ta see ma friend hangin' out with a murderer like you."

"You don't have to treat me like that, you know. I'm not going to hurt anypony."

Applejack just turned to the landscape and pointed a hoof to Sweet Apple Acres "Ya see that farm?"

Winter though of letting out a "Duh" but decided this wasn't the best time "Yeah, Fluttershy told me you had a farm. So that's it, huh?"

The mare completely ignored his statement and proceeded "If I catch ya anywhere near it, I'll make sure even Fluttershy can't fix ya."

The wolf gave a growl "First of all, don't think I'm scared of you, because I'm not. And second of all, what did I ever do to you to deserve this crappy treatment, anyway?"

Applejack gave him a dark look of despise, like she had spent her whole life hating him "Ya wolves are all the same ta me, cold blooded killers."

While Winter was angry at the mare's offensive attitude, her voice showed something other than anger, sadness. And right before she turned around to walk away, he could swear he saw a tear starting to gather in the corner of her eye. He knew the signs all too well to realize there was a deeper reason for her hatred, so he didn't even say anything else and went back to the cottage.

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"Hi Winter, your dinner is ready." Fluttershy greeted with a smile when he arrived.

"Thanks, but I'm kinda tired, I think I'm going straight to sleep."

"Um… if you don't mind me asking… did something happen?" the mare asked, worried.

"I ran into Applejack." Winter answered, before laying on the scarlet couch and closing his eyes.

"Oh…"  Fluttershy knew the meeting probably didn't go well. After nibbling on her lettuce sandwich for a  while, she went to her own bed with a frown on her face.