My Little Tale

The human stumbled upon a pile of brown leaves, just in front of a large entrance.

They checked their phone for their overall status, a trick they had learned from confronting so many monsters.

' LV 1',

'HP 9 / 20 ',

'EXP: 0'

The human did not know what exactly most of these meant, but they were almost sure that 'HP' stood for their health, as they were feeling rather, weak, at the moment. It seemed as if that monster candy they'd found earlier wasn't enough to survive through the monsters' constant attacks without a scratch. But they were confident that they could dodge their attacks, no matter how grim the situation.

They lifted their head from their phone and gazed upon the large entrance in front of them. It looked as if home was just a few steps away from them.

... But that other doorway, to their right. Had it something special they did not know about?

Perhaps home could wait for a bit.

They stood up, and walked themselves through the doorway. Looking around, they spotted a little Froggit, standing there, munching on some spare lettuce on the floor. They approached it.

"Hm?" The froggit said as it finished its meal.

"Oh, you're the human, aren't you?" Not surprised.

"Yeah, I know you,"

"Fluttershy came down from those stairs over there, carrying groceries,"

"She kept talking about you all the way,"

"But I wasn't bothered, at least she gave me this! I was starving!" It finished, as it went for another piece of lettuce.

The human looked at the stairway, curious to where it led. They left the frog and walked up to it.

After a short while, they reached the top. They were amazed by the sight they had discovered.

The Ruins. At least now, they knew it wasn't just a couple of abandoned rooms that led up to the mare's house. From atop a balcony, they could see the whole extent of the ruins, ancient buildings of multiple floors dotted the view, some recognizable pieces of architecture had light emitting from them, signalling that there still lived monsters here.

After staying for a bit, enjoying the view, they decided to turn around and head back to the entrance. However, before they did so, they noticed a small object lying just by the edge of the balcony.

They took hold of it and examined it with detail.

A toy knife.

It certainly looked better than their stick, which was nearly breaking up due to it being stuffed into their pocket for so long. They decided to take it and leave the stick behind, keeping in mind that they needed to defend themselves, should the need arise.

As they climbed down the stairs, they couldn't help but feel a little tense for a moment, as if the floor beneath them was actually shaking. Though, once they had arrived downstairs, they felt nothing out of the ordinary. Froggit sure did not feel anything, being fast asleep near the corner of the room.

Passing the brown leaves, now riddled with small stones from the ceiling for some reason, they made their way to the entrance. Their attention was soon captured by a large flourishing tree, its leaves decorated with the same golden flowers seen back at the RUINS' entrance, specially the trunk, having a multitude of vines with those same flowers.

The human heard a voice approaching them.

"Oh no, they should've been here by now,"

"They haven't picked up their-"

"Oh!"

It was the mare, Fluttershy, who they had encountered once more.

"How did you get here, my dear?" Getting close to the human.

"Oh my, you've hurt yourself pretty badly, I knew I shouldn't have left you to solve those puzzles by yourself!"

"B- But anyways, I'm glad you've made it here,"

"I've just finished preparing the house for you! Come!" A little excitement in her voice.

The younger one accompanied the mare past the tree, and was greeted by the view of a colorful home. The same bricks covered the exterior of the house, but instead of the usual purple, it wore a shade of green, partially due to the amount of vines and degradation it already suffered from. The roof was obscured by the purple bricks from above, but they could tell that, it too had a similar color with the rest of the house.

The mare approached the door and opened it for the human.

"Come in, now!" A warm smile on her face.

They entered the house, and a cozy, warm feeling spread across their whole being. It felt like they had entered the most peaceful, and happy place since they remember. The entrance room appeared to have a staircase leading down to what the human presumed to be the basement, and a few hanging ambient pictures on the walls, all of them depicting scenes of the outside world.

The human nearly lost themselves just at the change of pace, from that certain eagerness to explore everything and everywhere possible, to the calm and warmness that let them almost tired from all of their previous adventuring.

They absentmindedly followed the mare through a corridor until she stopped right in front a door.

She opened it for them.

"Surprise! Your very own room, my child,"

"I hope you like it!"

"I've also prepared a..."

The human was nearly falling to the ground, their expression having 'sleepy' written all over it. The mare gave a kind smile.

"Alright, my child, you can go to bed for now,"

The human nodded weakly, yawning while they walked towards the bed. They made themselves comfortable in the bed sheets, and soon after, succumbed to their sleepiness.

**

They opened their drowsy eyes, and sat up, stretching their arms as a yawn woke them up from the irresistible warmth of the bed. The room seemed dark, but not too much, as they still could make out the room's furniture.

They rubbed their eyes in an attempt to shoo the drowsiness away, but they weighted so much, they wanted to go to sleep again, yet they couldn't anymore. After feeling the walls for a few moments, they found the switch and turned the light on.

The human was quite surprised to see a slice of Cinnamon Pie laying right in the middle of the room. They now know why Fluttershy had asked them which they preferred while they were out exploring the Ruins. They smiled.

Although there were not hungry at the moment, they stored it for when they did so.

Now taking a better look at the room, they found it to be perhaps a little empty on the other side. Only having a small drawing and a lamp to cover the brown wall. Another bed would maybe do good there... But why?

After observing the rest of the bedroom, they decided to leave and close the door behind them.

They looked around, interested in exploring other parts of the house. On their left, they spotted another room, which so happened to be open. Curious, they entered it.

What they found, was Fluttershy's own room, neatly decorated with nature-oriented furniture and paintings. It was clear now that the mare appreciated (if not admired), nature and its little creatures. Suddenly, they spotted an open book. They soon came to discover that it was a diary.

The human peeked inside, and read a random line:

'What does an elephant say to a bad pun?'

'Your pun is IRRELEPHANT '

'Hey, let MINNOW if you change your mind!'

The rest of the diary was filled with jokes of similar caliber.

After tiring themselves with the incredibly funny jokes on the diary, they decided to leave the bedroom and take a look around the house some more.

They had spotted yet another bedroom, however, its door had a sign stating that it was under renovations, and was defiantly closed. The human sighed, they were half-hoping that this one contained a similar diary of terrific bad puns.

Their curiosity still at its peak, they decided to look around some more, and came across a wide mirror. They looked at themselves, smiling, due to how happy they felt here and that things could only get better... Yes, it was their precise reflection.

They jogged all the way to the entrance area and reached the living room. There, they found a sitting Fluttershy, reading a book atop their large cushion near a blazing fire. The human observed the rest of the living room, which had a large dinner table with four chairs in each side, and a sizable yellow flower in the middle of it.

Now that the human saw it, they recalled a couple of vases with the same yellow flower back in the hallway, but otherwise ignored the fact.

"Already awake, dear?" Fluttershy said, noticing them. The human nodded.

"Did you enjoy the pie? I made it with your favourite ingredient!"

Not wanting to disappoint her, they nodded.

"Good," Glancing back at the book.

"Oh! Dear, do you want to hear this?"

They approached the mare and sat down next to her.

"It's an old book I've had for many years, it tells of mythical beings and fabled treasures," The human seemed excited for a moment.

"And including, my favourite, Nature itself! It's quite interesting if you get to read it," Their dreams were ruined.

"Did you know that butterflies begin their lives as tiny caterpillars? I think that's interesting,"

"Don't you agree?" The mare asked with a smile.

The human tried smiling back, but couldn't. Still, they nodded.

"Well, if you want anything, just call, dear,"

They lifted themselves up and walked towards a doorway.

They had entered a kitchen, which was undoubtedly clean, even though Fluttershy had baked that enormous slice of cinnamon pie... It appeared as if they'd discovered the rest of the pie, just laying atop the counter and large enough to break someone's head with sheer weight.

Apart from that, the kitchen seemed just like any the human would see in the surface...

... In the surface.

A thought occurred them.

They exited the kitchen and approached the mare. They tapped their head for attention.

"Yes, my dear?"

...

"What?"

...

"B- but this IS your home now, dear!"

...

"... I see, I'll be right back, stay here,"

The mare left the living room in somewhat of a hurry. The human followed her in her steps.

Fluttershy trotted down the stairs to the basement hurriedly, and the human followed her still. The basement led to a long hallway which turned a corner at the far end. Both sides were dotted with torches, allowing for them to see clear as day, as the mare stopped in her tracks in the middle of the hallway.

"So, you want to leave the Ruins, little human?"

"I will not permit it, it is too dangerous out there, and you will get hurt,"

She continued walking.

"If you leave the Ruins, his subjects will find you, and bring you to him,"

"He, Zephyr, will see you, a- and..."

"...I will destroy the entrance, so they cannot do such thing to you,"

"Please, return to your room now,"

The human persisted in following her.

"This is your last warning, my child,"

"If you follow me now, there will be c- consequences,"

The mare made a turn past the corner of the hallway. The human made up their mind and continued on forth.

When they reached the mare, she was facing against a tall gate, head down and breathing slowly.

"You are that determined to leave, then?"

She turned around, her expression changed drastically. Her eyes had shrunken and were visibly twitching, she nearly gritted her teeth.

"T-then prove to me, prove to me that you can survive what's out there!"

She threw her dress to the floor and unfolded her... wings, which now covered most of the entrance with yellow feathers, all of them so perfectly arranged and cared for. Fluttershy was desperate.

"I'm sorry, my child," Her voice trembling.

The ambient changed into one of a FIGHT.

The human had to choose carefully now.

They first began checking for the mare's capabilities... They were dumbfounded, to say the least.

Then, in a swift take off with her enormous wings, she unleashed her attack by air. Storms of wind reached out from the corner of their vision and charged at their SOUL. They managed to dodge most of them, but a stray one reduced their health significantly. They gritted their teeth in pain.

They chose to ACT, and attempt to dissuade her from fighting... However at that moment, they could not come up with anything remotely comforting. They limited themselves to simply looking at her.

Another attack, a small tornado shot out various types of debris that would occasionally hit their target. The human struggled to keep standing much longer.

They chose to SPARE her, they could not bring up the courage to...

She looked sideways, and unleashed another attack, shattering the floor below with spikes of wind, that would seriously hurt the human. They noticed their health reaching a dangerous low point. And yet, they remained persistent.

"What are you doing? Stop it and fight!"

Another devastating attack, their health was a mere three now, they were about to die, and they knew it. But they remained confident.

"Please, don't do this, fight!"

' 2 / 20 HP '

The mare began shivering, "Stop... Please,"

' 1 / 20  HP '

They would not succumb to the pain, they simply could not. They struggled to breathe, knees on the floor. They slowly lifted their head and looked at Fluttershy.

With a smile, they used MERCY.

Fluttershy prepared her attack, but something seemed wrong in her. She shivered as her gaze met the child's. She couldn't muster a proper attack, and all of her missiles fled to the exact opposite direction.

MERCY.

"I... I-"

She broke down and fell to the ground.

"I- I'm so sorry!"

"I only wanted you to be safe, I wanted you to feel like you were at home!"

"I couldn't even save one of them... Oh, my child, I only wanted to keep you safe!"

"Oh, please forgive me, my child, please,"

She nearly gasped as she felt the human's hands on her mane. Fluttershy looked up and saw the most kind and sincere smile from the bruised human. They embraced her with their arms tightly.

They forgave her.

"Th- thank you, my child,"

After a moment, the human broke the embrace.

She rose up and cleared her tears.

"I- shouldn't have doubted you, my child,"

"You have been honest with your feelings all along,"

"My fear, my loneliness,"

"For you, my dear child, I shall allow it," She returned the smile.

Fluttershy trotted past the human, and began leaving them. However, as she looked back one last time, she nodded at them with a new-found confidence.

**

Once she left their sight, the human took a deep breath . They turned around and opened the gate.

As they slowly opened, the human was presented with another corridor, this time completely obscured from beyond the reach of the gate's torches, and unable to tell if it were long or not.

But they were determined to face whatever situation that awaited them further ahead.

They walked right in.

Their visibility began to fade, and it became increasingly difficult to know if they were approaching its end or not. They wished they'd brought a torch from the previous corridor now.

They heard the wind howling, but they did not know from where it came from. It sounded as if they were reaching ever so closer to the surface... Could it really be?

Suddenly, they saw light from their left side, and turned to face it.

Unfortunately, it was not the exit, but their 'old friend'.

"Howdy! How was the trip?" Asked the plant in a mocking tone, with a burned pellet beside its face.

The human seemed dissatisfied.

"What a show back there! You really told us all how it's done,"

"Hahahah, you're pathetic,"

"You think you're really smart, don't you? Sparing a single life from death,"

"How dramatic,"

"I bet you couldn-"

The human had enough of this flower's aimless shenanigans, and walked right past them without a care in the world.

"?!"

"HEY, I'M NOT FINISHED TALKING TO YOU!"

They waved them a goodbye from behind.

...

...

"You shall pay for this in due time,"

A menacing chuckle could be heard before the human opened a gate, to what they thought to finally be the outside world...