Lookin For Love (In All the Wrong Places)

Chapter II: Finding Balance

*Paw paw paw* Fluttershy wiggled her nose, brushing something fuzzy and soft from it. *Paw Paw Paw* There it was again, something small and fuzzy was poking her on the muzzle around her nose. It kind of smelled too, oddly like...mare spunk or very dense sweat. *Smack!* The stinging sensation made her open her eyes immediately. She sat up, rubbing her cheek, her eyes still trying to focus on what hit her. Sitting on top of her blankets at chest level was Angel bunny, his fur seemingly drenched on one side. It wasn't just drenched, it smelled really odd, like rotten pretzels mixed with sweat.

There was something else, it felt squishy underneath her tail and legs. She motioned for Angel to get off of her and he did, cursing under his breath. She removed the blanket off her legs and immediately regretted it. The smell of mare spunk filled the room, nearly bringing tears to her eyes. It was all over the bottom half of the bed, on her back legs and up most of her waist. Some bits of it had even congealed on her hooves to make what could only be described as mare fluid jello.

She rolled out of bed, the squishy feeling making her feel ill. The stuff was all over the place; In her bed sheets, her blanket, all over her legs both fore and rear. Some of it had even stained the mattress all the way through to the bottom. Not only was the bed basically completely ruined, the smell emanating from it had to be some kind of record; one that could only possibly be topped by how much mare spunk was all over the bed.

She tried to figure out what had happened. She knew that younger fillies could have a wet dream and do this kind of damage; she had done it some years ago as a teenager. All mares and stallions eventually did, usually requiring the replacement of the entire bed set. However, it had been years since she did it last and there was no way her pitiful sex drive could produce so much gunk. It had to be early on when sleeping as well. Most of it was still partially damp, but the vast majority was congealed.

A tug on her back leg broke her out of her train of thought. Angel motioned in no uncertain terms that he wanted words with her. Fluttershy stared at Angel and Angel stared back at her. Part of her wanted to laugh at how he managed to get covered in her juices, but the other part knew better. She was already in hot water with him and she was prepared for the storm.

Angel began firing of gestures rapid fire. He explained to her that in the middle of the night she started leaking, spraying him all over one side with mare juices; like a shower of disgusting horse heat. He then insinuated no less than four times that she was a dirty whore and needed to get laid really badly if she blew musk all over her bed like a fucking garden hose.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're angry with me, but to be perfectly fair it's not like I wanted to shower you with horse musk." Fluttershy watched Angels reaction, which was another handful of signs that read 'horse shit'. To be honest with herself though, she really wanted to laugh; he kind of deserved it for being a jerk all the time.

"Oh dear, what time is it?!" Fluttershy stared at the wall opposite her bed. The clock read three quarters past nine. She didn't have much time to prepare before Tree arrived. "How about a nice shower with me Angel? It will help get all the ummm...horse smell off you."

Angel made a few gestures asking her weather it was a regular shower with water, soap and shampoo or a kinky shower when she blows her horse musk all over him again; like a garden hose. He made another set of signs that read out 'I'm not into that kinky shit'.

"Regular shower. Also you shouldn't tell any of your animal friends about this incident. You know, better for both of us that way" Fluttershy said.

Angel made a few more gestures about how he was going to tell all her animal friends how much of a secret filthy slut-nugget she was. How she could barely contain her sex drive and sprayed innocent animals with her loin fluids. He then made gestures that signified that he may keep his silence, for a modest bribe.

"Well, you go ahead then. I'm not too sure you would like all the animals calling you a 'musk rat' when they find out who sprayed you down like a garden hose" Fluttershy said in a coy manner, smiling that she got the better of the him.

Angel stood there for a few seconds, his mouth agape at the insult Fluttershy gave him. He then made more gestures that read 'that's playing really dirty' and 'clever girl'.

"Well, you don't live with a smart ass rabbit for years and not learn an insult or two. Ready for a shower?" Fluttershy asked.

Angel scratched at his musk dried fur and frowned, sending gestures at Fluttershy that said quite blatantly that we should get on that before he smells like pony vagina forever.

"Might get you a date with a stallion if you kept that scent, I mean it's not like I ever see you with a lady rabbit." Fluttershy laughed, it wasn't often that she manged to get Angel to walk right into multiple jokes, but when he did she was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Angel put his finger up and snorted at Fluttershy, crossing his arms. He then moved his paw up, flipping Fluttershy the bird.

"May as well, I mean you already know what home plate feels like right?" Fluttershy giggled as she walked out of the room, thoroughly satisfied with her last insult. Angel soon following her, grumbling curses under his breath.

Fluttershy walked out of her room and into the adjacent bathroom across the hall. It wasn't much of a bathroom, at least not compared to some of her friends. Rarity having a Jacuzzi in hers, Twilight's having small library or Pinkie Pie's oven and...cooking supplies? Fluttershy shook her head, realizing that her home may as well be normal for all the strange things her friends had. It was kind of crowded, the sink and mirror being just a few feet from the shower stall, but at least the tub at the end was large enough.

"Oh, that would feel good..." Fluttershy had the slightest inclination to run herself a nice hot bubble bath, but sadly it would take almost twenty minutes to draw the water at least. Taking into account how long she usually soaked in one, it was entirely out of the question. She opened up the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and stared at her shampoo selection.

"What would be best for getting rid of mare funk?" She scanned her limited selection. She had peach sunset, summer waves and winter pine varieties. She wanted something that would get out he smell, but didn't know which one was best. Each of them had their own unique smell, but her body reeked and she didn't want to mess up her date by smelling like a combination of musty old shoes and funk.

Angel tugged on her tail, getting her attention. He then gave the gesture that she should probably use them all at once.

"I guess that could work. I'll scrub it into you first if you return the favor?" Fluttershy asked, grabbing all the shampoo varieties out of the medicine cabinet.

Angel nodded in agreement, though begrudgingly.

Fluttershy slid open the shower door. It was a small shower, baby blue in color and only five feet squared, but it got the job done. Fluttershy walked into the shower stall, Angel close behind her. She slid the shower door closed and reached for the handle to the hot water. Just before her hoof touched it she had the strangest sensation. It was like a sudden surge of power toward her head. It felt light she was flexing a muscle...but located in her brain? The sensation left her almost as quickly as it came, leaving her standing there pondering what it was.

She figured it was possibly a side effect of what happened in her sleep last night. That much mare juice was probably a world record somewhere and took a lot out of her while she slept. She turned the hot water handle until it reached the correct setting. Streams of water poured out of the above shower head onto her and Angel, quickly steaming up the shower. She motioned Angel toward her and into the jet of water. She picked up each individual bottle one at a time and squeezed the contents of each bottle onto his back. She then picked up a small scrub ball out of the corner of the stall and began to rub Angel's back.

The rabbit tapped his foot rapidly in appreciation. The shampoo's mixed together and began to lather, changing into a brownish red color. At first she thought that maybe Angel would protest and crack a joke about how the shampoo was now brown; insinuating she was into some kind of disgusting scat play. However, he seemed just content to have the mare spunk cleaned out of his fur. She slowly scrubbed down the small rabbit, being meticulous about getting behind his ears.

A few minutes passed and Angel has rinsed all the remaining shampoo from his coat. He turned and gave a an appreciated thumbs up, commenting on how he liked the smell being like fruit and pine trees growing by the ocean.

"Ok, do me- scrub me next." She had to pay attention to how she phrased things with Angel; she really didn't want to give him any ammunition.

Angel rolled his eyes and gestured that he was far above going after low hanging fruit. He did however comment on how the bed might fulfill her wishes. Immediately following a gesture that said 'oh you wish I would do you'.

Fluttershy giggled. "Fair is fair I guess. Wash my mane and back first." Fluttershy laid down in the shower. The water flowing over her mane.

The rabbit grabbed the three bottles and jumped on her back, setting them down between her wings. He then picked up each of the bottle individually and put a dab at the base of her mane. He then laid down between her wings and put his large back feet up. He pushed his back legs into her mane, spreading and mixing the shampoo around. He then tucked his back feet under her mane and kicked rapidly, lathering the shampoo in mere seconds.

"I love how you do that" Fluttershy said, closing her eyes to enjoy the sensation. He may be just a rabbit, but he knew what she liked and how to be efficient about it. She got clean and a professional level massage

Angel went about repeating the same routine on her back, wings and chest; Fluttershy assisting him by getting her legs and belly.

"You know for a jackrabbit you can be sweet sometimes. I just wish you would chill out with the tough guy attitude all the time." Fluttershy said.

Angel replied by chattering with his teeth, speaking to her in a form of morse code since his paws and back feet were busy finishing up one of her wings.

After a moment of deciphering Angels chattering Fluttershy repeated what he had said, making sure she got the translation right. "I see, you think that because I'm a overly kind that I need a strong friend that will say no for me. Did I read that right?"

Angel chattered the morse code for yes.

Angel rinsed the last bit of shampoo off Fluttershy's wing. He then turned toward the mare and locked gaze with hers. He took a deep breath and began to gesture at her. He pointed to his wrist, followed by pointing at Fluttershy. He then clasped his paws together then forming them into a heart. He continued gesturing until he ended with pointing at himself.

"Oh, Angel." Fluttershy leaned forward to nuzzle the small rabbit. "Even if my date with Tree Hugger went that far, you would still be my friend. I wouldn't abandon you just because I was in love. I promise." She then stood up, realizing that here was one place she hadn't yet cleaned up; her private areas and tail.

"Angel...C-could you possibly?" Fluttershy spread her legs and lifted her tail out of the way, exposing her sex to the small rabbit. Just the thought of asking him was embarrassing, even though he had done it in the past. "It's kind of hard to reach back there."

Angel stood there, staring up into Fluttershy's private parts. The water flowed down each side of her sex, only the smallest stream actually flowing in between the slit. This wasn't the first time she asked him to help her out, but this time he just couldn't do it. The memory of sleeping on her tail, only to be awoken by moaning and a blast of mare musk to his side was still fresh in his memory.

Angel shook his head, giving the gesture that he was not in the mood to be climaxed on like last night. He turned away, opening the shower door and slipped through, closing it behind him.

"I guess I can't blame him. It's not everyday you see a mare Climax in her sleep, let alone be the unwilling participant." Fluttershy stood there for a moment. The rest of her body was as clean as it could possibly be. However, she could still smell the musk coming from her tail, flanks and sex. As she tried to figure out how to go about washing herself she had the shortest of dizzy spells. It was a sensation like from earlier, but this time it felt as if her back legs was...thinking?"

Okay, this is really weird she thought to herself. It was like her entire brain was located in her back leg, but only for less than a millisecond.

It was kind of annoying, but not exactly life threatening. She pondered that maybe she should go see a doctor about it after her date. Her proximity to Everfree could give her exposure to all kinds of weird aliments; even exotic pollen could make her sick. "Oh, I hope I'm not coming down with something." She outright couldn't afford being bedridden, least of all with her financial situation.

"Best not worry about it." Fluttershy picked up each bottle once more and mixed together each shampoo. She then spread it all over her tail, making sure to put another dabs here and there to cover it all. She slowly rocked her forelegs back and forth, pushing the shampoo as deep into her tail hairs as she could. She then stood up and pressed the tail against her back legs with her forelegs; using it as a makeshift scrubber. She moved it up and down until she was satisfied with the results, switching it to the other leg and repeating the process.

Then came the hard part; cleaning her private areas, starting with her bum. She could reach back there and manually scrub using her tail, but it took both of her forelegs to do it and she much disliked being face first on the shower floor in such a compromising position; especially if Angel were to see here like that.

"Oh, that could work!" Fluttershy pushed her tail up against the wall, making it bunch up into a ball and began to move her rear end up and down. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before. My tail is long enough for this with ease-"

Fluttershy saw a flash of an image. A pony that was shrouded in black was penetrating her rectum, followed by her screaming in pain. The image was gone a mere second or two later, but the pain...oh the pain was unimaginable. It quickly faded, but she had never thought her body could hurt that much. For a split second it was like a chainsaw forcefully stuck up her rear and turned on. She just barely managed to right herself before falling over from the sheer shock.

"What was that?" She tried to remember exact details of what she just saw, but the memory seemed fragmented or damaged somehow. She remembered a very faint memory of Princess Luna telling her to see her later for counseling, but she couldn't figure out why she would need such a thing in the first place.

"She only ever comes into dreams if there was a nightmare, but I don't remember having one." Fluttershy stood there, the water rinsing off her tail and backside. "I'm pretty sure I had a wet dream I don't recall, but Luna was there...it doesn't make-"

Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth. "I didn't seduce Luna did I? How scandalous...I hope that's not the case. Last thing I need is reporters here trying to get a story about lesbian relations with the princess of the night." Fluttershy pulled her tail up to her face and inhaled. There was still the smallest hint of mare spunk still in it, most likely due to her using her tail as a makeshift rag. After a few more dabs of shampoo and completing the cycle all over again; the smell was completely gone.

"Good, I no longer smell like a filly in heat" She said, putting her tail down. She turned the knob on the shower, turning the water off, slid open the door and stepped out. Sitting on the sink was a towel, most likely set out by Angel.

"He's so thoughtful sometimes." Deep down she had the slightest bit of guilt. She thought it was just plain jealousy coming from Angel, but it was really fear of abandonment, of being no longer in her life. She thought it was odd, that a creature so dead set on keeping up his bad boy attitude was really a softie deep down.

Fluttershy took the towel off the sink and began to dry herself off, humming a tune to herself. She moved the toweled to her backside, drying off the fur just below her sex when another flash occurred. She was laying on her back in a mostly dead field. A shadow that looked much like another mare was on top of her. There seemed to be small ..tendrils or objects going into her private parts.

"At last, that voice comes out. See, this isn't so bad is it?" The image said in a voice that sounded familiar, but somewhat off.

Fluttershy blinked and found herself holding the towel to her backside. For a split second it felt like she was ready to climax, but it faded away just as fast. It had only been maybe a second or two by her judgement, but it was much longer in her mind.

"What is going on?" This flash had a slight tinge of terror to it, but nowhere near the pain of the last one; this one was almost pleasant. Was she having flashbacks to some other dream or was this parts of a nightmare she had forgotten? The details seemed to fade just as quickly as they came, just like the last one.

Fluttershy finished drying herself off, being somewhat cautious around any part of her body even remotely related to sex. "Something is wrong with me, but I don't have the slightest clue."

Face your fears...

The voice of Luna popped in her head as she stared in the mirror. Words she faintly remembered from her dream last night. "She's right, I won't let this ruin my date!" Fluttershy turned toward the door and tossed the damp towel into the hamper by the door. She crossed the hallway into her room and stood in front of the large mirror by her bed; which didn't smell as bad as before. She noticed a white powder all over the bed, an empty bottle laid on the floor nearby.

She picked up the bottle and turned it over. "Baby powder?" This must have been Angels doing. It wasn't exactly a permanent solution, but the room no longer smelled like and orgy happened in it.

Fluttershy stared at herself in the mirror. This was the first date in her entire life, she finally found a pony that loved her for being herself. However, as she stared at the reflection in the mirror a sense of dread overtook her; she had no idea how to act on a date. She had seen old films, mostly very tacky detective movies about love, but she was quite sure that would never work.

She picked up her hairbrush on the nightstand beside the mirror and began to brush her hair, all the while going over in her head what she should and should not do. Should I be extra flirty? She was sure that it wasn't her body that Tree Hugger was attracted to, but most likely her personality and vibes she put off. She literally had no kind of experience in flirting as it was, nor the confidence to even try it. No, flirting was off the table, at least any excessive flirting.

Should I...make myself sexually available? She had heard that some mares skip the pleasantries and go right for the physical part. Being that forward or driven was just not in her nature. No other pony in her family was like that either, her parents and grandparents all took it slow from what she could remember. Neither of them even had foals until they were almost together for half a decade. There was also the danger of taking it far too fast. She really liked Tree Hugger, both as a friend and a potential lover. She didn't want to ruin her chances by seeming desperate.

Should I wear something? Makeup or a bow, maybe even a sundress? She didn't exactly have much in the way of clothing, her daily routine made wearing such things completely impractical. She did however have a few dresses made by Rarity, but they were far too heavy, hot and flashy to wear casually. They were also going into the Everfree Forrest, it would be prudent to not wear anything that could get caught on a stump or branch. She could possibly bring bug spray, but it was too early in spring for any of the biting insects to really be a problem yet.

How would my friends react? Would it drive us apart? The though of her friends reacting negatively was something she had to consider. She was pretty sure Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Twilight would be completely fine with her decision, but others she wasn't so sure about. Rarity always seemed a little bit distraught when Tree was around, she could see in her face that she thought Tree had no fashion sense and while she was never openly hostile to her; she also avoided conversation with her as well. Applejack might have a few words about it though. She was born into a very conservative farm family and her experiences told her that she wasn't too happy about filly fooling in general. Again, she wasn't openly hostile about it, she just didn't understand the point.

The reaction from the towns folk would be a mixed bag. Spike would be indifferent as would the cakes, most of the local weather ponies would probably not care, though Thunderlane would probably be sad though more for not getting to home plate with her or Tree; being the horn dog playboy he was. Lyra and Bonbon would probably be ecstatic about them, being the towns most openly lesbian couple. Even the Cloud sisters would be for them as both of them were bisexual as is. Most of the town would either be indifferent or supporting with only a very loud minority protesting them being together. Maybe she should count her blessings that a little out in nowhere town was so accepting of others compared to more rural areas.

Do..do I really love her or am I just being desperate? Can I really see myself living with her the rest of my life? This was the hardest question she could ask herself. It was true that despite having so many animal friends there was a void in her life that needed filled. friends were friends, but a lover shared a much deeper connection and commitment than just simple friendship. She really did think that Tree Hugger would make an amazing special somepony. They had some key differences in experiences. Tree Hugger was far more well traveled and knew much more about botany than she did. However, she was much better at talking with animals and problem solving while Tree Hugger was a bit more impulsive and cunning.

The last part of her question nipped at the back of her mind, could she envision herself living with her; maybe even growing old with her. She knew that she liked Tree, maybe even loved. She just didn't have enough information to work with. Was it just a passing attraction to her or a more long lasting attraction, a soulmate?

I think I may be being a bit silly. Honestly it's only the first date Fluttershy thought to herself.

She finished brushing her mane and moved onto her tail, that last question in her mind begging to be answered. Yes, she did love her, but no, she had no idea if it would last. This first date would have to answer a lot of questions. She finished brushing the knots from her tail and set the brush down on the nightstand. She took a long gaze in the mirror. Part of her still didn't see what the physical or mental attraction to her was. She was a timid, poor mare living next to one of the most dangerous Forrest's on the entire planet. She wasn't particularly ugly nor exceptionally sexy. Others offered so much more than she did, but Tree Hugger chose her and she didn't understand why.

"I-I guess I just need to have faith in myself...and face my fears."

*Gwwrroolll*

A sudden growl from her stomach broke her out of her self criticism cycle. "Or I need to stop overthinking this and get some food in me." Fluttershy glanced over herself one more time in the mirror before leaving the room and heading downstairs. As soon as she made it downstairs she noticed that Angel had already set out a few carrots for her on a plate and was busy filling a picnic basket.

"How thoughtful of you, wait a second..." She realized that there must be some ulterior motive for Angel being so nice to her. He was nice on occasion, but no several time in a row like the last two days.

"You're gonna ask me for something aren't you?" Fluttershy asked.

Angel stuck his head out of the basket and nodded. He then gave a series of gestures indicating that he only wanted three things from her. The first was quite obviously food, his gestures indicating he wanted a full size apple pie to himself with whipped cream on top.

"Okay, reasonable enough" Fluttershy responded.

He then made another set of gestures and sounds indicating quite rudely that she needed to get laid tonight so she didn't hose him down in her sleep again.

"First dates don't always lead to sex, Angel. I don't think me or Tree are going to make that kind of move on the first date." Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "Besides that kind of thing in involuntary anyways; I can't stop it."

Angel made a set of gesture indicating that she was indeed still a whore and that he would be wearing his raincoat to bed tonight if that was the case. He also made a gesture that was him with his paws folded under his head and his eyes shut, followed by holding his nose.

"Insult aside, you're right. That baby powder is only covering up the smell; the bed itself is still most likely ruined." Fluttershy put her hoof under her chin and thought hard. She remembered that the Apple's were selling the old guest bed and getting a new one because the frame was falling apart on it.

"I have an idea." Fluttershy rushed over to a piece of parchment stuck on the fridge and turned it over. She them grabbed a pencil out of the kitchen draw and began to write with her lips.

"Dear Applejack, I was wondering if you would be so kind to sell me the extra bed on an IOU? I don't need the frame it's just an accident has rendered my old mattress...unusable. It would be a big help to me if you could have Big Mac lug it to my home sometime this evening; assuming he doesn't have plans for hearts and hooves day that is. If not an IOU could you maybe work a deal out with me? Just send a note back with Angel with your suggestions and if the IOU is okay Angel will let you in to swap them."

Fluttershy read over the letter, making sure she didn't miss anything. "I guess I could ask that as well."

"PS: Alternatively, is there any home remedy to remove mare musk from a mattress? I umm, had a accident I guess."

Fluttershy wondered if telling Applejack what had happened was the right thing to do. It couldn't hurt though, she wasn't a very gossip driven pony, unlike Rainbow Dash or Rarity, both of which could have her business out on the town in minutes.

"Angel, I have a special mission for you while I'm out today. I need you take this letter and give it to Apple Jack for me." Fluttershy rolled up the bit of parchment and handed it toward Angel.

Angel raised and eyebrow and gestured at what his paw, quite obviously asking what his payment would be for such a long trip.

"Your payment would be not sleeping on the floor because there's not much room on my couch and getting that apple pie you wanted. I mean, unless you like sleeping on hardwood or a rabbit hole..."Fluttershy said, slowly moving the letter away from him.

Angel grabbed the letter from her hooves and gestured a quick obscenity toward her, quickly followed by a a gesture that signaled that she had won. He jumped out of the basket and onto the table, gesturing that he will run this over to Applejack's real quick.

"Be safe, I don't suggest you take he direct path there through town. There was yellow jacket nest in the dead tee by the road the last time I was up that way" Fluttershy warned.

Angel just stared at her for a brief moment, putting one paw in his bicep and flexing it then gesturing that he wasn't afraid of no punk yellow jackets. He then turned around and jumped out the open window near the door, dashing off down the path leading into town.

Fluttershy shook her head. Somehow she knew she would be pulling out stingers from an overconfident rabbit later on in the day. "I wonder what he packed in the basket?" Fluttershy opened he top of the basket and peered inside. There was a small bag of baby carrots, a couple dozen small radishes, four bundles of celery, two pudding cups and some cream cheese.

"Not bad actually. Could use a bread product though." Fluttershy reached on top of her fridge and pulled down a bag filled with raisin bread, tossing it into the basket. She then looked up at the clock, it was nearly a quarter to eleven.

"Oh my, I need to down these carrots and get moving." Fluttershy leaned over the table and picked up the carrot in her mouth. As she shoved it down her mouth to take a bite she felt a sudden surge of pain, followed by a flash of light. She saw a female figured pony cloaked in shadow with what looked like little devil horns behind her ears. Behind her was a dark cloudy sky, but more importantly there was something deep in her mouth all the way down her throat. She looked down to find that a thick rigid cock was in her mouth, further down than what any sane pony would deem safe. She could barely breathe, she could also feel some kind of liquid pumping down the shaft from the bottom of the member by feeling it pass her bottom lip. It was some kind of watery substance that burned like coals in her throat and tasted oddly like sour grapes.

The shadow mare shot her a sinister grin. She then could feel the girth of the member in her mouth thicken, pushing her esophagus to it's breaking point. She couldn't breathe and the pain was unbearable. With a single thrust she felt her lower jaw break and vast amounts of red light leaving her mouth and into the shadowy figure, then another flash.

For a split second she could feel the residual pain in her jaw. She gasped for air as she pulled the carrot from her mouth. I don't get it, what exactly happened? It was quite obvious that she had gone through a traumatic event at some point, but why was she remembering it now?

"Did I have a nightmare and forget most of it?" It was the only conclusion she could make. She remembered what she dreamed about early on and then suddenly Luna. Either her mind was making things up or something happened last night; with Luna being related to it.

"Don't let it ruin your day, eat and get ready." Fluttershy shoved the carrot in her mouth and chewed for a few seconds, swallowing the whole thing in one go. As she picked up the next carrot she had an odd sensation, her tail twitched and then there was no feeling in it. Before she could inspect it, feeling had come back to it.

"Okay this is just getting weird" Fluttershy growled. Breathe deep, don't let it get to you...

*Knock Knock*

"C-come in!" Fluttershy yelled!

The door opened and Tree Hugger walked in. "Hey, you ready to frolic through natures grace?" Tree Hugger said enthusiastically.

Wow Fluttershy thought. Here she was going about things lightly, but Tree looked like she meant business. She had a double set of saddlebags on her back, one bag with what looked like reference books in it, another with tools sticking out of it, another filled with food and an empty one on back right. She had a blue bandanna around her neck and her dreadlock styled mane was in a large ponytail at the back of her head; being held in place by a yellow bandanna with printed flowers on it.

She actually looks kind of adorable, yet sporty at the same time. Those eyebrows really accentuate her eye color.

"Oh, uhhh, sure." Fluttershy grabbed the basket by her and made for the door. She quickly tossed the pair of her own saddlebags over her back, placing the basket of food in one of them.

"Calm down, no need to rush-" Tree stopped mid sentence, turning her head sideways at Fluttershy. "Shy, I'm getting really weird vibes from you. Like your energy is jumbled and all over the place, kinda like discord but somehow less orderly."

"Oh , It's probably nothing. maybe something I ate" Fluttershy lied.

Tree gave her a long soft stare, as if she was looking deep into her soul for an answer. She felt as if Tree knew she was lying to her, but didn't want to speak up about it.

Tree gave her a reassuring smile. "Okay then, lets get to it!"

Fluttershy could feel it; that nonchalant dismissal of hers seemed forced. She was always more in tune with nature than her and could most certainly feel something was off. Why she didn't push the point confused her though, maybe she was giving her the benefit of the doubt? Or was it because she didn't want to pry to much into personal matters.

"Fluttershy?" Tree said, noticing Fluttershy space out.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking of where we can start at. There's a meadow not to far from here that had a lot of basic herbs we can get easily." She knows I'm lying, I can feel it Fluttershy thought, giving a fake laugh and waving her foreleg in a vain attempt to push the lie.

"Well, lead the way" Tree said, enthusiastically.

Fluttershy nodded and headed out the door, Tree Hugger close behind.

"So, this spot. What kind of herbs we talkin about?" Tree Hugger asked.

"Mostly common stuff. Silverleaf, Hailbloom, Coppercap mushrooms, actually I think Fire truffles may grow near there as well; though by this time of the year the local boars have already dug all the easily accessible ones up." Fluttershy went over the herbs she could think of in her head.

"Those are nice, but only the Fire Truffles really sell for anything and even then only maybe ten bits a pound." Tree Hugger opened one of her bags and pulled out a book titled 'Natures Gold'. She laid it flat on the floor and turned the pages, some dust flying off the edges as she turned the pages.

"How old is this book?" Fluttershy asked coughing a few times as she waved the dust away from her face.

"It's been in the family for a dozen or so generations. It has a lot of details and personal notes about plants that you just can't find anywhere else. Including how to get some of the more dangerous rewards out of them safely." Tree stopped turning the page and let the dust clear.

Fluttershy examined the page closely. On the left was an entry for a plant she had seen before, but never actually knew it's name. The picture looked sort of like a very fluffy sea urchin, but one that had an entry below warning of an incredibly potent toxin it secrets.

"I think I seen this plant before. It's kind of deep into the Everfree Forrest though, near the castle of the two sisters." Fluttershy continued to read the plants description, including it's name.

"Lions mane, roughly about seventy bits per ounce of poison collected from it. Used in anti-venom's for all kinds of snake bites, earth ponies are immune to it, but pegasus ponies can die from a sting. If we find them I'll do the harvesting, but look on the other page and the pages after, those are where the big money is." Tree pointed to the opposite page. There was an illustration of a very large yellow cylinder covered in sharp protrusions all over it surface.

"Yellow Grenadier?" Fluttershy asked.

"Each plant has a rareness classification from one to ten. Lions mane is about a seven or so. Anything past that page are nine and up, with the last few pages being elevens or plants thought long extinct." Tree kept turning the pages until it reached the last four or so at the back of he book.

"This one for example is called the Dragons Lava. The last one seen alive was well over a century ago. The plants burrow deep into the ground and find gold to cover their seedlings in. The shininess of the gold would attract birds to the seed pods and the birds would disperse them." Tree let out a sigh. "Sadly prospectors would take all the seeds the plant made and not plant any of them. The plants themselves only make a single pod in their entire lives and they soon went extinct from greed."

Tree picked the book from off the floor and stuffed it back in her bags. "There should be more rare stuff a couple miles into the Forrest itself. I've heard stories about the dangerous stuff that lives in there, so stay close to me okay?"

"So long as we don't cross the Lucoa Hot Springs then we should be alright. Much more beyond that point and we will start running into the Lost zone..." Fluttershy scratched behind her head nervously.

"Lost Zone?" Tree asked.

"I've only ever been that far in once and it was terrifying. Hydras, wasps the size of footballs, even the occasional dinosaur." Fluttershy scratched her foreleg with her other nervously. "The rarest animals and plants can be found here, but it's incredibly dangerous past that point; many notable explorers have never returned."

Tree put her hoof to her chin. "Well, we will see how far we need to go in. Hopefully not that far. Shall we get going?"

Fluttershy nodded, closing the door behind her when she heard very angry clucking. "Oh, if you will excuse me a second, I forgot to feed the chickens!"

"No problem, I'll help" Tree said enthusiastically.

Somethings off about her today. A pony that dedicated to animals wouldn't just let something as important and routine as feeding skip her mind that easily. Tree thought as she followed Fluttershy out back toward the chicken coup.

Fluttershy opened the chicken coup and walked in, grabbing a bag of chick peas by the fencing as she walked in, Tree following her lead and doing the same. The chickens seemed, erratic at best. Some of them didn't seem to recognize Fluttershy while others did, but seemed to keep their distance.

They feel something is wrong with her as well... Tree watched as Fluttershy began to disperse the feed around the yard. She kept getting the strangest vibes from her. It's wasn't like she wasn't herself, but that her energy was jumbled and chaotic, like her friend, Discord. Best act nonchalant, so I can keep an eye on her... Tree put her hoof into the bag and scooped some feed out, sprinkling it around her as the grateful chickens swarmed her and seemingly ignoring Fluttershy.

"It seemed they really like you Tree." Fluttershy said as she watched the chickens surround tree in a tornado of feathers. She suddenly felt a tug on her wing, but before she could see what had tugged her she had another flash. She was in the same position as earlier, with her jaw and throat on fire from the mare above her. She stared up into he creatures face, a face full of nothing but malice. She then felt a hard member from before push into her anus, the pain making her scream in agony; like someone turned on an industrial blender in her butt. Then she felt a sickening crack and a shooting pain up her back and rectum. Her wing flopped to the side, twisted the wrong way and useless. The stallion pumping into her anus had been using it for leverage, his last painful hump snapping it like a twig.

Another flash brought her back to her senses. The pain in her wing was extreme, but fleeting. She scanned the ground for what had pulled her wing. A few feet away was a chicken giving her the saddest of glances. This little chicken knew something was wrong with her.

Oh no, even the animals feel some things is amiss. Tree didn't see that did she!?

Fluttershy turned her head toward Tree, thankfully a couple of chickens seemed to had perched on her muzzle, blocking her line of sight as they headbutted her affectionately.

"Your chickens seem to really dig me Shy" Tree said,laughing as the feathers tickled her nose.

"Oh, they do that. They like meeting new ponies. I guess you put off all the right vibes." It actually almost hurt to say those words. She knew the chickens were avoiding her. Aside from a couple very worried ones staring at her the rest seemed to not want to look her direction or intentionally avoided her path. She would have to tell Tree sooner rather than later that something was seriously wrong with her.

I'll tell her at lunch... She really didn't want to ruin the date by worrying her, but Tree was incredibly perceptive even though her calm somewhat relaxed demeanor betrayed that part of her.

"Okay, I think they have enough for the day. I feel so silly letting that slip my mind like that" Fluttershy gave a fake smile as she made her way out of the coup.

Tree picked up one of the chickens from her muzzle and set them down. She watched as they all glanced nervously toward Fluttershy and then back to her. They feel it too. Shy is sick on the inside and she's doing her best to not worry me. Tree watched as Fluttershy put the bag of chick peas down outside the coup. She then returned her gaze to the chickens, nodding that she too knew Fluttershy was in trouble.

"If you play with the chickens all day we won't get any work done, silly" Fluttershy said.

"I almost wish getting paid for animal play-dates was a thing. I could hang with these lovely ladies all day." Tree smiled, picking another chicken off her back. "Sorry girls, I got work to do. See you all later okay?" Tree nodding at the chickens and they nodded back. She mumbled under her breath that she would make sure Fluttershy was okay before leaving the coup.

"You ready to roll?" Tree asked.

"Only if it's in the grass with you!" Fluttershy responded, her terrible attempt at flirting quite obvious.

"That was adorable hun, bit on the nose, but you know I wouldn't mind that." Tree replied.

They each gave the other a smile and headed toward the treeline into the Everfree Forrest.

***

"I found some more over here!" Tree yelled, waving down Fluttershy. "It's a big one too!"

It hadn't been a half hour since they reached the meadow and Tree was already moving like a mare possessed. In just a matter of minutes she had already spotted and collected eight whole pounds of Fire Truffle and an additional two pounds of the far more rare Blizzard Truffle; something she didn't expect entirely since the local fauna usually ate those during the winter months. Meanwhile she had been keeping herself occupied with the less expensive herbs. Silver Leaf, Kings Blood, three dozen or so Bronze Cap mushrooms and oddly enough a single Lunar blossom, a flower that typically only grew much further into the Forrest around the old castle.

"That makes another two pounds of Blizzard truffle shy! This spot is loaded!" Tree yelled, barely containing her excitement.

By her estimates she had collected maybe forty or so bits in the common stuff and an additional eighty or so from the Lunar blossom. Tree on the other hoof was quite possibly approaching the five hundred mark. The key difference being is that Tree's finds would require a trip to Canterlot to sell while hers could be easily sold locally. The locals of Ponyville just couldn't afford the more expensive truffles, well, maybe Rarity and Mr. Rich though he would most likely push her where she found them.

She scanned the ground looking for more herbs, but all she could seem to find were more mushrooms and some snake-root, which no sane pony would buy. She looked up and watched Tree move like lightning, she seemed to not have an end to her stamina. It wasn't that she couldn't keep up with her, she could if she was feeling well, but as they made their way to this clearing kept getting more and more strange sensations. She would get a sensation where her heart would skip a beat followed by her wings not wanting to work. She would go to move her leg only to have her tail twitch or her wing flap.

"I think I need to sit down for a moment." Fluttershy sat on her haunches and something pricked her right on the side of her vulva. She saw a flash of light and again taken back to the burned out clearing from before. This time was slightly different. There was nothing really sexual going on, but her entire body hurt something fierce. Her jaw was loose, her wing in tatters and an extreme amount of pain coming from her hips, sex and ribs. She tried to move , but there was no response from her body. All she could see was a red mist hanging around her, some of it flowing into her and some just floating like kicked up dust. There seemed to be flecks of blue and green floating around in it. Every time a green or blue one passed close to her it would absorb into her body.

the sensation made her feel a little bit better, it dulled the pain and the more that entered her body the better she felt. With a flash of light the image came back to reality.

"Are you okay?" Tree asked, only being a few feet behind Fluttershy. "I heard you yelp in pain like somepony hit you with a log."

There was a pain in her backside, but she couldn't see what it was. "I think I sat on something sharp but it's umm...in a very private place." Fluttershy blushed. She could feel where the pain was coming from, but it was in a spot she couldn't reach on her own. She was hesitant to ask tree to remove it.

"I...I think something sharp poked me in the well...the lips area and it really hurts." Whatever it was that pinched her was actually quite painful.

"lift your tail for me hun." Tree approached Fluttershy, but noticed that her face was beat red. She was clearly nervous about showing her private parts to another pony, even another female.

"I...okay." Fluttershy lifted her tail to the side, blushing furiously as she exposed herself in front of Tree.

Tree leaned in to get a better look and saw something black moving around. Upon further inspection she noticed it was a wood borer beetle. It had it's two pincers on its head grabbing between Fluttershy's labia and vulva. "Looks like you sat on a beetle hun and he's none to happy with you." He didn't seem to have a very tight grip on her, but she imagined that that must be painful.

"Can you get him off me?" Fluttershy asked, wincing in pain.

"I'll try to coax him off you, this may tickle a bit though." Tree reached into one of her bags, pulling out a wide stroke paintbrush. Gripping it in her mouth she slowly moved inwards toward the beetle. She slowly moved the tip of the brush back and forth across Fluttershy's sex, trying to coax the insect to let go.

If the pain only kind of bothered her, the paintbrush was just torture. Despite the prickling sensation and it being merely slightly ticklish, this kind of sensation was almost like foreplay. She gritted her teeth to try and bear it, but broad strokes were arousing her. She could feel her wings start to become stiff, the rush of blood to her fact and worst of all her body was trying to force her to raise her rear in the air.

"There he goes!" The Beetle had let go of Fluttershy and fell to the ground, scuttling off under a nearby log. "He's gone, you can put your tail do-" Oh, shes , well then... Fluttershy was doing her very best to hide how she was feeling, but Tree was just as good at spotting animal behavior as Fluttershy; all the signs pointed to her being aroused. Her wings were slightly lifted, her front legs bent ever so slightly as to raise her flanks into the air, her ears folded back to instinctively allow a stallion to grab them; all this just from some tickling.

She must feel like she's going to die of embarrassment. I know that part of anatomy is kinda automatic, but she is really pent up for some reason Tree put her brush back into her saddlebag and walked up beside Fluttershy, putting her foreleg over the back of her neck. Best ignore it, she can't help it. All better Fluttersh-

The moment she put her foreleg on Fluttershy's shoulder she could feel just how out of balance her energy was. She knew something was off earlier this morning, but the physical contact made everything crystal clear. Her energy just wasn't slightly off balance, it was nearly completely in ribbons. Little flecks or power that were supposed to be assigned to other parts of her body where in the completely wrong spots. Some of them had managed to head, grabbing small bits here and there, but the majority was all over the place; like it was thrown into a blender.

She shouldn't even be walking around in her condition, let alone working... There was something else buried deeply in her. A very strong power holding her together and keeping her moving. Alicorn magic? Could Fluttershy be some kind of secret princess? A moment of searching invalidated that thought, this energy was foreign; most likely from one of the princesses.

Fluttershy watched as Tree stood there in shock, the game was up. She knew something was wrong with her and could feel it."I umm...I have to tell you something..."

What could have done this kind of damage to her? There were only a handful of creatures of magical nature that could. She had the urge to berate Fluttershy for not telling her earlier, but she knew better. Fluttershy had her own reasons for not telling her what was wrong.

"You see..." Fluttershy wiped a tear from her face. "I been having these strange flashes where my body doesn't fell right. Like I'm a jumbled up mess inside of me..." She thought for a moment weather or not she should tell her about the strange flashes of her being hurt, even raped, but she wasn't sure if they were real or a byproduct of he weird bodily sensations or not.

"Sit down Shy , we can talk about it over lunch." Tree opened up her saddle bags and began to set different containers of food on a nearby rock. After checking the ground for any rabbit holes, bugs nests and the like she pulled out a green and white checkered table cloth. With a quick tug of her mouth she unrolled it, allowing it to drift to the ground calmly.

"Come, lie down for a bit." Tree laid down on the blanket, patting a spot beside her to indicate where she wanted Fluttershy to lay.

Fluttershy inhaled deeply and laid down beside Tree Hugger, doing her best not to make eye contact. "I'm I-I'm sorry I wasn't completely honest with you earlier. I didn't want to worry you, ruin our date or anything like that." Fluttershy's ears folded back as tears formed in her eyes.

"Shhh, calm down. I'm sure you had your reasons." Tree lowered her chin over the back of Fluttershy's neck. She glided her neck, muzzle and mane up and down her neck affectionately; doing her best to calm her down. She's completely messed up inside. How can she still be functioning with all this weight on her all the time? If a mere touch on her shoulder told a story, rubbing up against her like this told a much more detailed event. He imbalance of energy was no only messing up her bodily functions, but putting all her fear, anxiety and other emotions out for anypony to fell out. All this pent up frustration, both physical and...oh. There it was, plain as day; she was in love.

"That feels nice, Tree" Fluttershy nuzzled her back affectionately, brushing her mane up against the bottom of Tree's neck. "I know that you can feel it. You've always been good and feeling out these kinds of things..."

"I feel it Shy, why do you think I invited you out with me today? I had to find out if you were feeling the same way about me as I was about you." Tree pulled away and stared into Fluttershy's cyan eyes. "I'll go first. I love you Fluttershy. The day we met was the most bodacious day ever. Even with Discord being a douche-whistle, my mind would wander thinking about how you were doing from time to time."

"I...I wondered about you too. I wasn't sure I was good enough for anypony, let alone a mare as amazing as you were. I...I love you Tree, but I'm such a broken mess right now that I'm not sure you can love me back." Fluttershy lowered her head, staring at the blanket below her.

She wanted to lean in and give her a deep breath stealing kiss. However, she was absolutely sure it was the wrong choice of action. The way her energies ebbed an flowed pointed to a serious complication. She desperately wanted to show her how much she loved her with actions rather than words, but such a high cost emotion like that could trigger a cascade effect. Until she found a way to balance out the damage there was no way they could get more intimate than just some playful rubbing. She has a lot of sexual tension built up as well. Most likely from years of feeling lonely...if I kiss her now I'm pretty sure she would want to immediately go the full distance. I have to put her safety over my desires though. Especially in her condition.

"Is something wrong" Fluttershy asked, her mouth half open; awaiting Tree to steal a kiss from her.

Tree Hugger sighed. Every fiber of her being hurt to hold back, but she knew the damage had to be mended before they could go any further. "Listen...I know what you want right now, but I'm worried about you. You energy is all blended up and we have to fix it before something terrible happens." Tree nuzzled Fluttershy affectionately. "Trust me, I want to stop sand bagging too, but I need to put you first."

Fluttershy didn't know what to think. Here Tree was, ready to get intimate with her, but she knew it was dangerous; that it could hurt her or worse. "I...I think my heart can hold back a little more."

"I know the feeling hun, it hurts me too." Tree reached over to the containers of food she placed on the rock and began to set them one by one on the blanket. A container of celery sticks, some marinara sauce and cheese sticks, a couple of biscuits and crackers and hummus. "We need to figure out what kind of creature did this to you. I know of a few magical creatures that could damage a flow, but not to this extent."

"Well, I don't remember being attacked by anything. I pretty much went right to sleep when I got home." Fluttershy reached into her saddle bags and pulled out a picnic basket. She began to slowly unload it's contents onto the blanket while tree began to open the containers she previously set down.

"Doesn't mean something couldn't have attacked you in your sleep. Did you maybe check your bed to see if it was a mimic?" Tree asked, dipping a cheese stick into he marinara sauce.

"No, Angel would have warned me if a mimic was in the house and it's not like they could lug the bed out by itself without any of the other local animals noticing. Pretty sure Mr. Blue Jay, the local otters or seals would have warned me about such a thing before I entered." Fluttershy dipped a baby carrot in creme cheese and swallowed it in one go.

"You're right, also mimics wouldn't stop with a single bite. They go for the kill if they get the chance. Maybe a vampony bit you in the middle of the night? Those neck wounds they leave do heal up rather quickly." Tree picked up a biscuit, taking a solid bite from it.

"Hmm, maybe. I do remember that vamponies make you feel really lethargic the next day. Also, they avoid targeting any pony that smells like their own." Fluttershy took another bite of her food.

"Own kind? You can't be a vampony hun, you're energy is entirely different." Tree Hugger stared at Fluttershy curiously.

"It's a long story, but occasionally on full moons I transform into a bat pony myself and go hunting fruit. It's kind of a leftover backfire from one of Twilight's spells." Fluttershy noticed the very distraught look on Tree's face. "Oh, it's not dangerous or anything. Well, it's dangerous if you happen to be a fruit tree. There have been a few times I woken up in Applejack's south field with a couple dozen apples next to me."

"That's really neat actually. Is it like, the bat ponies that work for Luna or?" Tree asked.

"No, more like a feral bat. A bat that has a thing for apples" Fluttershy explained.

Tree put her hoof to her chin, humming. "Could your bat thing be related to how your condition is? If you ran into a air phantom at night time they could have done this too you."

Fluttershy swallowed. "No full moon out, so no. Also air phantoms avoid pegasus like the plague. Their particular brand of magic has next to no effect on us.

"Hmmm I guess you still qualify as a pegasus in that form. The only thing left I can think of is some more rare metaphysical stuff. The problem with those is they are exceedingly rare and avoid ponies in general. Aside from those I'm right out of ideas." Tree sighed dejectedly. "I can still help treat you, but I suggest you taking it easy the rest of the day."

Fluttershy stared into Tree's lazy laid back eyes. S-should I tell her about those flashes I been having... The thought had crossed her mind, but she wasn't sure how Tree would react. She couldn't even remember them ever happening, every time she got them the memory would fade away as fast as it came, leaving her grasping at straws. the pain remained for a moment, but no sooner did she try and think or comment about it, the memory vanished; like it never happened to begin with. I don't even remember how many of them I had today...

"You...have an idea Fluttershy?" Tree asked.

"I...don't take this the wrong way. I keep having these...walking hallucinations I think where...something is happening to me. They happen randomly and leave me in a large amount of pain and distress, but the memory of what caused them seems to slip away just a few moments after. All I can remember from last night is you in my dream in this field, then suddenly Luna." Fluttershy took another bite of her food.

"You must of had a nightmare of some kind. Maybe whatever attacked you triggered a nightmare and she came running." Tree took another bite of her food. "She might know what attacked you."

Fluttershy sighed. "She probably does, but she's asleep currently and it's a long ride to Canterlot by train." Fluttershy stood up, dropping a celery stick from her mouth. "That's it!"

"What is it?" Tree stood up, looking in the direction Fluttershy was, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"My friend Twilight could just send her a letter through Celestia! We can get the answer straight from the source instead of sitting here guessing all day" Fluttershy said.

"So, do you want to go now?" Tree asked.

"Well, maybe not right now. We should get our foraging done for the day. Besides, Luna wouldn't even be awake until later in the night anyhow. So...how close are you to your target?" Fluttershy looked back at her own, pitiful harvest in her saddlebags.

Tree put her foreleg on Fluttershy's chest, pressing for her to lay down. She quickly took the hint and laid back down on the blanket, Tree following suit. "Before we go any further, we need to at least try and re-balance your energies."

"How do we do that?" Fluttershy asked.

Tree leaned forward, embracing Fluttershy in a hug. "This may seem a little bit invasive, but I need you to close your eyes and clear your mind. You need to be in harmony with me so I can try and mend the damage."

Fluttershy blushed. "Y-you're going to enter my mind or something?" The thought of another creature possibly finding out her secrets bothered her a bit. There were things inside her she would rather not be made public.

Tree didn't fail to feel Fluttershy's apprehension. "I'm only interested in finding your core, I won't pry any secrets from you unless you want to show them to me."

"O-okay then." Fluttershy closed her eyes. She slowly calmed herself, trying to forget her woes and pains, focusing only on nothingness. At first it was difficult, little images of current moments and Forrest background noise kept popping in. However, she stayed calm until there was nothing but a blank slate. She had a sudden lurching motion pull on her belly, sucking her into an endless void. She opened her eyes and found herself in a clearing...one that had been touched by flames.

"Your core is in complete turmoil. " Coming toward her was Tree, but not in a physical sense; her body seemed semi transparent. She didn't make eye contact with her at first, but seemed to be focused on the sky. "Yeah, I haven't seen damage this bad in years."

"Really?" Fluttershy looked around her. There was effectively nothing alive around them, only burned grass, the wind occasionally kicking up dirt, dead trees all around the edge of he clearing and a sky filled with dark clouds. She felt a slightest bit of a whooshing sound behind her.

"It's right behind you shy, that is the center of your body or at least a representation of it." Tree pointed behind her.

Fluttershy turned around to find a blue and green glowing glob floating several feet in the air. It seemed to be pulsating or beating like a heart would, but a heart that had seen better years. There were other small fragments that seemed to be orbiting it, little flecks of red, blue and green energy. On the glob of green and blue were what looked like colored streamers in the same red, green and blue configuration as the power orbiting it.

"All that is the core of your being Fluttershy or a representation of it that our minds can comprehend." Tree sighed as she examined the damage. "This is worse than what I felt on the surface. Damage like this must have been forcefully extracted from you, I can see the bulges in the core where Alicorn power is doing its best to heal."

Fluttershy watched as one of the red streams of energy reached out and touched a passing red fleck, absorbing it. At the same time another one reached out and absorbed a green fleck, this one chopping off a bit of the stream and making another red fleck.

"As you can see, it's healing, but at a very slow pace. Whatever attacked you could have very easily killed you." Tree pointed to bulges in the glob of blue and green. "The way it is bunched up like this tells me you must have been in excruciating pain. They were forcefully tearing your essence from you and if they were not stopped this would have very likely ended your life."

"Could those flashes be imprints of whatever attacked me?" Fluttershy asked.

Tree nodded. "They most certainly are, but the memory of them seemed as if it were purged or hidden from you. I can feel malice coming from inside the core, but we cannot reach it. The memory of what attacked you in in there, but we cannot risk damaging you any further."

Fluttershy approached her core and reached out to it. "C-can I touch it?"

"You are already touching it, it's part of you. I suggest being gentle though, she's barely holding together as is." Tree said, pointing at some of what looked like scarring on the cores surface.

Fluttershy reached up, touching the bottom of the core with her hoof. A sensation of pain shot down her leg, followed by a emotion that felt like deep sadness. She jerked away her hoof instinctively, shaking it as if she was just shocked.

"Yeah, it's a pretty nasty wound. Here, let me show you how to help fix the absorption problem." Tree moved beside Fluttershy and reached up to one of the red ribbons hanging at the bottom. The then lifted it up until it floated straight out in a line at the middle.

"Your spirit is trying to heal itself, but these little seekers are reaching for the wrong spots." Tree moved another two red ribbons toward the middle.

"I don't get it." Fluttershy scratched the back of her head, confused.

"Each energy has it's own density and floats a different way. I'll explain; green is the energy of life and is the heaviest, it will float close to the ground here." Tree moved two of the green ribbons on top toward the bottom, small specks of green slowly started connecting to them.

"Red is the next densest energy, it's controls you physical strength, willpower and stamina." Tree pointed to the red ribbons slowly getting longer as they reached out and absorbed other red bits of light.

"The lightest is blue energy. It controls your ability to think, calculate and is part of your imagination and inventiveness." Tree pushed two of the remaining blue ribbons toward the top.

Fluttershy watched as each ribbon collected bits of energy. Though she was pretty sure she didn't feel any different. There was however the sound of chimes coming from her core. They sounded almost in harmony, but just ever so slightly off every few notes. "so...what happens if you lose all of any of these energies?"

"hun...that already happened." Tree pointed behind her. There was what looked like a massive cloud of red mist rushing toward the core and turning into red specks of light as they collided with it.

"To simplify it, whatever attacked you drained you dry of red and blue and a significant portion of green. That blue blob you see half merged to the green is Alicorn magic. Most likely Luna is the only reason you are not a weakened blithering mess right now." Tree walked around Fluttershy's core, examining it.

"Your life energy and hers was supplementing what was missing. Life force can do that, but if you lose all of your life force..."

"I would have died." Fluttershy said, finishing Tree's sentence for her.

"Yeah, barring stronger magical intervention you would have died in your sleep. My theory is that's exactly what happened, Luna found you on the brink of death and pulled your energy together in a hurry to save you; binding it with her own power." Tree sighed. "I get why she did it though, letting you heal naturally just wasn't an option. Unfortunately her power is now working against your own body."

"How so? If it kept me alive then it can't be all bad, can it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Your body doesn't like it. Alicorn energy is vastly different to ours and much stronger. When your body is done healing it will most likely either be absorbed or purged." Tree stared at Fluttershy, a stare that spoke of her worry greatly. "You may want to have Luna remove it sometime soon, save you the trouble of being out for a week when it finally decides it can't cope."

"Wait, out for a week? How dangerous can it be?" Fluttershy asked.

"Potentially life threatening. Your body seems to be in harmony with it for the most part. Luna may have slacked off saving you, you know with your energy in shambles, but this patchwork seems stable so far." Tree walked around the core, inspecting the core for any fissures or signs of cracking.

Fluttershy watched as bits of her being slowly reaffirmed themselves onto the mass of blue and green. "Is there anything more we can do?"

Fluttershy's eyes shot open. She was back in the meadow on the blanket. Tree was close by, but seemed her attention was entirely focused on a very large shadow moving among the trees.

"Is there som-"

"Shhh" Tree interrupted, putting her hoof to her mouth.

The creature moving about the trees grew closer. What was once a mere shadow was now easier to distinguish. It was long, easily as long as most houses and it was shaped like a half moon, a dozen feet in the air or more at it's peak. It made the ground tremble as it moved, making the local birds in the area flee in all directions.

Tree lowered herself to the ground, near Fluttershy. "I don't know what it is, but it's big and angry. I heard it knocking over trees; that's why I broke the connection between us." Tree whispered.

The creature finally began to walk toward the meadow, the sun illuminating it's identity. It was brown and red in color with tan colored splotches all over its body. Down it's back were what looked like spikes or sails of some kind, getting smaller down he tail. however, on the tail was a large set of four spikes, each of them larger than a full grown stallions body.

"Fluttershy, do you know what that is?" Tree asked, a terrified tone to her whisper.

"It's a Stegadon, it's a kind of dinosaur that you can find in the lost zone. He shouldn't be this far out though..." Fluttershy peeked above the nearby log to get a better view of the creature. It seemed to be swaying it's spike sails back and forth, the tops turning purple with every motion. It groaned and growled, thrashing his tail about. Both of his eyes looked somewhat cloudy, as if it was nearly blind.

"It's an older bull I think, I think he's looking for a mate...which means..." Fluttershy ducked just as the bull looked her way. "He's in heat."

"Can we tell him he's in the wrong area?" Tree whispered back.

"I know about dinosaurs, I don't actually speak their language. Even if I could his judgement and vision are already impaired." Fluttershy peeked above the log once more to check if the stegadon had noticed them. The second she lifted her eyes above the log a feeling of immense regret for poor decision making washed over her; the bull was staring directly at them, no more than ten feet from them at most.

"Ummm I suggest we CHEESE IT!" Fluttershy took off running, Tree Hugger shortly behind her.

Mere seconds after taking off running, the bull smashed though the log behind them, tearing the picnic area to ribbons. He continued charging at them as if none of the rocks, logs or bushes in his wake even existed.

"Head for the tree line, we need to put as many obstacles in his way as possible!" Tree Hugger yelled.

Fluttershy merely nodded in approval, though the tree line they were headed toward was where the bull stegadon came from. She hoped there wasn't any predators stalking him; they could easily outrun a single bull but, an Allosaurus, Carnosuar or Raptor pack would be another story entirely.

As they made it to the tree line she could hear another very loud roar; her judgement was right, there was a predator nearby. She realized they were in a near no win situation; they had a rampaging Stegadon behind them and an apex predator somewhere ahead.

"What in blazes was that?" Tree yelled, dropping her usually cool and calm demeanor entirely.

"It's an apex predator of some kind, I just hope it's one of the slower ones." Fluttershy yelled back.

"You mean like a Re-"

Birds fled from the trees ahead of them as a deafening roar echoed throughout the Forrest. It was loud, but sharp, like it was a combination of elephant trumpet, tiger and lion roars. The sound sent shivers down her spine, she recognized that roar nearly anywhere. It was loud, but had a very slight gurgling sound toward the end of the roar.

"Listen to me, very carefully. If we come across this Rex, go around his left side, hes slower there and entirely blind on that side." Fluttershy yelled just as the T-Rex in question came into view a mere hundred or so yards away.

Grab her and fly, you fool!

She felt a part of her inside screaming at her, telling her a different course of action. The T-Rex had noticed both of them, but his one good eye seemed to be completely focused on Tree Hugger.

Her mane, he's attracted to the color of her mane! She new T-Rex was colorblind, but it didn't mean he couldn't mistake the way her mane refracted light within the gray-scale vision he did have. He's mistaking her for the Stegadon behind us...

She only had a couple seconds to act, they were less than thirty yards from the Rex and he had his one working eyes solely on Tree Hugger, moving his body into a position to grab her up even if she went wide of him.

No, No, No! not like this! Fluttershy began to flap her wings with everything she had. She gabbed Tree Hugger and lifted her into the air. The Rex lunged forward, his snout smashing into a tree, just missing her and Tree Hugger by mere inches. She flapped her wings harder than she had ever before in her life, getting higher and higher off the ground. The Rex didn't give up however, he stood back up and jumped up into the air, again barely missing them by inches. Just as the Rex was about to make another try at making them both a pony sized snack the Stegadon rammed into him, knocking him on his side.

The two began to fight with one another, the Stegadon getting the first blow with his tail impaling the Rex's leg.

"This is absolutely bonkers!" Tree yelled.

Fluttershy could barely hear her, her ears were ringing with the wind in them, her eyes cloudy from watering up and her wings were protesting how hard she was pushing them, getting more painful with each flap. This is what it must feel like to go fast, the blur of Trees below them attested to that. That said, there was no way she could keep up this kind of effort, and she slowly began to lose altitude.

"B-brace yourself, this is going to be a crash landing!" Fluttershy yelled. With one more flap of her wings she felt them entirely seize up. She watched as they began to gain speed toward he ground. She pushed herself to spread her wings one more time, hoping she could glide down safely.

She watched as she passed the first set of trees and right into a large set of vines. A branch struck her square in the forehead before she felt the vines grab them. All she could hear was Tree yelling her name in panic and the whooshing sound of air. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head...