Working Relationships

“What Makes You So Sure...”

• Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Hearth Warming's Eve (and a Happy New Year!)

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Twilight woke up in a cold sweat, the moon was high, and the soft vibration of the train was tapping throughout the cars.  She looked out across the barren wasteland of desert, as the train went across the tracks at a medium speed.  She had some drool slipping out of her not so dry lips, and wiped it off.  There was only two other ponies in the car with her, holding their luggage, which seemed to be filled with thick, heavy coating.

She wondered about Spike, and Pinkie, but mostly Spike.  How would he act when she returned?  She tried not to think about it.  The dust from the ground was slightly kicking up from the train wheels, causing a line of thin soot around the horizon.

Her luggage was hanging above her, on the metal rack, and the cart consisted of about fifteen seats before leading into the other one.  All the way back to the caboose, and then miles and miles of open land, filled with creatures of all shapes and sizes, wolves and dogs.

Twilight decided to start up a conversation with the pony sitting across from her.  She was rugged, tough, and strong for a pony.  Twilight opened her mouth;

“Were are you heading?”

The pony looked up, it seemed that she was taking a nap.

“What?” her voice was a little low, almost like Rainbow Dash’s, and tom-boyish.

“I’m getting off at the base of the mountain,” she said, looking back down, and shutting her eyes.

“I’m going to Timberwoods, on royal business.”

“Royal?” the pony asked, getting more interested.

“I’m the private student for the Princess,” Twilight said, almost bragging.

“Well, up in Timberwoods, that wont matter,” the pony said, laughing silently.

“Oh? Why?” Twilight asked.

“I bet I can already pick out your type: smart, book worm, not to tough... Am I right?”

She was totally right.

“And what does that have to do with Timberwoods?” Twilight asked, getting annoyed.

“After you get out past those walls of the city, it’s everypony for themselves,” she gave the answer.

“What makes you so sure I will go outside the walls?”

“You will, curiosity kills the pony, so just watch yourself out there,” the pony said, and fell back asleep.

That sent a shiver down Twilight’s spine, and she stayed quiet for a long time.

Fluttershy’s caboose was dropping in temperature fast, her wings were tucked underneath their flaps.  Her nose and most of her face was frozen up.  Her mouth formed an ‘O’ shape, as she breathed cold breaths out of her frozen and chattering mouth.  She looked around for a way of warmth, such as a heater or piece of clothing.  There were a few trunks, in a row.  She opened each one gently.

The first one contained a scarf, she threw it on, and the next was a pair of mittens and a blanket.  They would do her good and keep her alive, but it would be a nightmare.  She couldn’t shut her eyes, her eye lashes would freeze over each other, so she took short blinks.

Her whole body was shivering, but out of all this dismal look of all things, it was for Twilight (how sweet).

The thing that bugged her the most, was that Twilight was right next door, on the other car, but she couldn’t go, this would ruin her plan.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” she whispered, frozen tears leaking down her face, she was sorry for everything, and nothing.

How would she break this to her?  It would be hard, but she was destined to do it, her heart ached for nopony else.  Her coughs were very slow, and hurt her throat, even though the scarf was wrapped tight around her long neck.  Her hair, long purple hair was wrapped around the top of her head, and pulled down into the scarf.  All four of her legs were wrapped up, clenched together.  Pulled tightly to her body, they bent over, and she was huddled in the corner of the rocking car.

Twilight, alone, held her head against the glass, as she could see the climate changing, as the sun started to rise upon the horizon.  The snow wasn’t seen yet, not for another amount of miles, maybe thirty or twenty five, but it became colder.  The cart became hotter too, as the sun beams were glistening from the windows.  They started climbing the mountain, as they could feel the gravity change in a very small amount.

The beams hit the pony sitting across from Twilight, the one she talked to the night before, and she woke up, nudging her hat down, to block it.  Twilight got no sleep, but circles didn’t form around her eyes, she was to eager to get to Timberwoods.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, was able to get some sleep, for only an hour, and her eye lashes did freeze shut, only to be entangled by the cold chill that came through.  Actually, her whole body was sweating, until she realized she still had her blanket and scarf on. It was getting colder, but it wasn’t that cold anymore She discarded them carefully, and waited for their arrival.  She got up, stretching her bones and joints, and looked out the back of the car, seeing the bright, blue sky that spread all over the desert.

She remembered the time she invited Dash and Twilight to that small picnic, the one with the oranges, and such.

“What a stupid idea,” her conscience said.

“How?” she talked back to herself.

“Look what you got yourself into,” it returned.

“I know, I know, but there are no other ways,” she sighed.

“Yes there are, you could go out there, right now and tell her,” her mind barked.

“Really?”

“Yes, yes, the door is right there, go out and tell her,” it commanded.

“But... what if others hear us?”

“To hay with them!  You see how they do it in the movies!” her childish side was taking her over.

“Really, I guess it could work.”

Fluttershy turned around and face the door, but hadn’t started towards it.

“Really?”

“Really.”

She took her first hoof step towards the door, then another, her face disgruntled, and her mouth making the same ‘O’ shape, and her hair was flowing back down, and she was reaching for the knob, she could see three silhouettes in their seats.

“Open it.”

“I’m going.”

“Open it, now, now, do it!”

“Okay!”

“OPEN IT!”

“ALRIGHT!” she flutteryelled, soft, but loud enough to hear under a rain shower,

As her hoof was about to hit the handle, she realized, she was just talking to herself.

Her nerves in her brain were sent up from her arm, as she could feel the cold metal of the door, even though she felt like a million degrees.  She slowly turned it, and right there, she could hear the locks flick open from the door, even over the hum of the engine, then it happened.

“Uh oh,” the engineer of the train said, looking nervously at the engine letting out way too much steam, then smoke, the fire, not from the pit of coals.  It was nothing to bad, all he had to do was release the steam, push away the fire.  He reached over to the shovel, which was place upon the wall, but as he reached for it, his attention was caught by a large pop coming from the furnace, causing him to miss the shovel, and smack the high pressure valve, causing the pressure of the air, and Co2 to engulf the fire.  The engineers eyes got wider, as he hugged himself in terror,

“Oops,”

A big explosion went off in the front of the car, and everypony was thrust forward, and Twilight was hit on her noggin, knocking her unconscious.  Ouch.

Fluttershy was thrown forward, smacking her fore arm into the glass of the door, smashing it, sending her over the door, through the broken window, just dodging the the glass.  The engine blew up, that’s what happened, and the engineer bailed out, just in time, rolling down the small hill, leaving him stranded out, halfway up the first mountain, even though they still had another one to volley.  The train brakes started kicking in, after a few seconds from the initial damage.

They finally stopped, and Fluttershy tried shaking her head, only to find herself next to the limp body of Twilight.  She shuttered at it, and noticed the smoke coming from the car in front of them, and the fire was spreading out too.

“Hey, you, yellow one!” the pony with the hat yelled, as she was departing the car, “get out of there!”

Fluttershy paid no attention to her, as she bit down on Twilight’s neck, dragging her off, as the fire roared up, from the car, dropping her limp body a few feet away from it.  There was now a little group of ponies out there, the pony with the hat, Fluttershy, Twilight, and one other, who was obviously having a nervous breakdown of some sort, mumbling to himself.

“Now who are you?” the pony asked, “I never saw you get on before.”

“I got on last,” Fluttershy returned,

“Well, we got to go back,” the pony returned,

“No, Timberwoods is closer.”

“Are you crazy? We’ll get killed up there.”

Fluttershy thought to herself for a second, but knew Timberwoods was their best bet.

“Timberwoods is better, we need to go there, I need to, and she needs to,” Fluttershy pointed at Twilight.

“What?! You ARE crazy, I’m going back across that desert, and I’m taking him with me!” the pony pointed towards the still mumbling stallion.

She dragged him away, and Fluttershy nudged towards Twilight, and slung her over her back.  She was light for a little pony, and Fluttershy gained extra strength with her satisfaction knowing Twilight was out of harms way, for now.

The snow started to fall, after a long mile of walking up hill, the trees started getting thicker and thicker.  The tall pines were starting to form, as Fluttershy started growing a bit weaker in her effort to take Twilight to safety.  She finally reached where the tracks turned, but the path upwards to the first peak of the mountain was.  The wind would blow hard, and after they made it over (if they made it over), the next mountain would be miles away, surrounded by trees, creatures, caves, and other dangers an adventurer would love, but this was Fluttershy.  Just Fluttershy and Twilight, alone.  That was the one thought she had, as she started ascending the mountain trail.

The rocks were medium size, and the wind was blowing harshly against the, pushing Fluttershy down, with Twilight on her back.  Her hair was whisking around everywhere, but they were lucky this wasn’t the tallest mountain.  She made it to the top, after an hour of merciless climbing, only leaving the snow in her tracks.

She could see the mountain up ahead, and she was right, they had another possible sixty miles to walk.  The trees were thick, very thick, and tall.  The snow started falling heavier now, and it flew down onto Fluttershy’s head and Twilight’s whole body.  They needed to find shelter fast.  A cave, perhaps, but she had to find one fast, as she galloped, but balanced herself down the mountain.

The base of the mountain has a small spot of no trees, but then, the tree line was right in front of it.  Fluttershy stared at the tree line, scared to continue, but it’s just like what Pinkie Pie once said, its just like a Hop, a Skip, and a Jump, through the incredibly scary, incredibly large, and ever so incredibly dangerous woods.

She trekked through, watching Twilight’s head bob up and down.  She got very lucky that day, as when she found a cave very early into the woods.  It was enclosed, and could fit the both of them.  She walked in, stepping over the objects she couldn’t see without the light.  The trees were so tall and the snow was so thick, she couldn’t see the sun at all, and it was getting darker.

She needed wood, which was sitting in a pile in the cave, and a stick that she could rub against it, to start a spark... or she could use some of Twilight’s magic...

“How can I do this?” she asked herself, she knew, as if anypony knew, that unicorn horns were extremely sensitive to touch, and sends shocks of energy to a unicorns brain, releasing nervous amounts of magic.

“So all I have to do is touch it?” she guessed.

She brought her hoof closer to Twilight’s horn, and gently tapped at it with the tip.  It sparked out a little bit of ‘magic’ from the top, and it fell to the floor.  I guess that worked, so she started poking at it some more, until her arms got tired.  Tapping didn’t seem to do much, it only released small fragments of magic, so Fluttershy put Twilight’s head in a position, aimed towards the pile of wood in the center of the cave, and put both hoofs on the horn.

She started rubbing it frantically, friction was building up in her hoofs.  Twilight’s unconscious head was being pushed in all directions by Fluttershy’s efforts.  Fluttershy’s arms were getting tired, but she couldn’t stop, she bit her lip to keep from losing strength, and didn’t stop.

Her hoofs felt like they were on fire, and the horn started to glow wildly, as Fluttershy aimed Twilight’s head.

“C’mon! Work!” Fluttershy exclaimed, sweat started rolling down her temples, even though it was cold.  Faster, and faster, she rubbed out the magic, Twilight’s mouth started to drool out some saliva, as her horn finally shot out a small beam of energy towards the wood, and BAM! A fire was started.

Twilight’s body began to seize up, and, out of most embarrassment, her liquids were released from between her legs.

“Uh oh,” Fluttershy said, upon seeing the sight, thinking that she did something wrong, possibly hurting Twilight, but then relaxed as Twilight began to take deep, sturdy breaths near the now lit fire.

Fluttershy gathered next to the fire, and wrapped her long hair around Twilight, keeping her warm.  She would do anything for Twilight, anything in the world for her.  Not long had passed, as every second seemed the same, and the fire was starting the crackle more, as the whistling of the wind flew around the cave.

Fluttershy began to shut her eyes, seeing at what good she had done that day.  Her eyes shut tight, safely away from having them frozen.  She slept for a good time, after carrying Twilight for hours.  Her breath was brushing against Twilight’s face, being covered by Fluttershy’s purple hair.  She didn’t dream, it was only darkness, like the woods.

When she woke up, she couldn’t honestly tell what time it was, but the wind stopped blowing.  The snow was just falling very slowly, down in a straight pattern.  She checked if Twilight was okay.  She pushed the hair of her face, but could only see the unconscious body of her friend.

She got back up, to kindle the fire.  Then something startled her, in a terrible way.  The light stretched away into the back of the cave, and there was a big pile of bones.  Bones of all kinds of animals, and Fluttershy’s ears were pricked up, from the sound of steps in the snow, nearing the cave.

She had to hide Twilight, quick.  Fluttershy dragged Twilight all the way to the back of the cave, right behind the bones, and the fire started dying out.  These were all bad signs, as shadows started emerging from the trees.  Here they come.  They looked like coyotes, but bigger, so they had to be a pack of wolves.  Hungry wolves, very hungry wolves, and Fluttershy couldn't believe her eyes, besides dragons, wolves were her worst fears!

“This, this here cave is ours, pony,” the possible leader said, “you don’t belong here.”

“But I need this cave for my friend, she’s hurt very bad,” Fluttershy’s voice trailed off.

“Pony, you can’t throw us out of our own home, my kin belong here, you don’t,” the leader said.

This was bad, and wasn’t going to end well.

“My friend needs this cave,” Fluttershy tried standing her ground.

“You will die here, pony.”

“Please, let us stay!”

“My kin will rip you apart!” the leader sent one towards Fluttershy, and she did the quickest thing she did, and she tossed the still lit wood towards the wolf.  It caught on the fur of him, and started burning him alive.  The wolf quickly rolled in the snow, almost bare, and retreated.

“You were lucky, pony, but not for long!”

Fluttershy clenched up, and shut her eyes, waiting for the attack.

“Kin, attack!” the wolf shouted, and all of them, maybe seven or eight, rushed her.

Fluttershy was knocked off her hoofs, and was hastily slashed across the face by a claw, and almost hit by another one, when a large eruption shook the ground, and a bright light started from the pile of bones.  It was Twilight, who started to get up, on her hoofs, and sent a spell across the cave, to all of the wolves.

The spell burst out, grabbing each wolf, and quickly turning them to dust, outside the cave.  Fluttershy was safe, finally.  Twilight fell back down, over with a thud, and Fluttershy rushed over to her side.  Twilight’s violet eyes opened up, and the first thing she saw was Fluttershy’s smiling, bruised face.  She was so confused, she looked around, she still thought she was on the train, or in Timberwoods.

“Fluttershy?  What happened?  Where are we?”

Fluttershy held Twilight’s head, and hugged her friend.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now, with me.”

Happy Holidays, everypony, I am having a great time writing this fanfiction for you all, and there is much more to come!  Hope you get what you want and I would like to thank all my fans, you guys make the fic the way it is!

-APB