Direction

A lone earth stallion squinted in the growing darkness as his hooves transitioned from the dusty road that he’d been trekking to the hard surface of cobble stone. A weary smile appeared on the stallion’s face as he closed his eyes for a moment, to mentally rest from his long trek. He was here, and he needed to find a room.

Somewhere.

As his eyes grew used to the dark, the stallion walked past house after house. All of them looked like residential homes, nothing like an inn to greet him. He huffed as he looked over the stores lining what he figured was the center of the town, and wondered how easy it might be to swallow his pride and sleep in an alleyway. He didn’t beat himself up too much, however, because he had been walking for a long time and didn’t know what would await him once he stopped.

Choosing the closest building he came across, the stallion sat down and sighed. His hooves felt like they would split if he walked any further, and even though the cobblestone felt good on his aching limbs, the thought of sleeping on them was far from appealing. Without giving himself time to argue, he laid down and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would overtake him. Unfortunately, a couple hours passed and sleep didn’t find the wandering stallion.

So he got up and kept walking, figuring maybe he’d find more comfortable places to sleep out in the woods or something. Maybe some soft grass would cure his ails, if just for tonight. Closing his eyes halfway, more involuntarily than not, the stallion left the town he’d just entered and wandered out into the nearby woods, hoping he’d find someplace to lay his head down to rest.

After what felt like ten or fifteen minutes of walking, the stallion figured enough was enough. The darkness was growing deeper, and soon the earth stallion wouldn’t be able to see in front of him. So, after confirming that it was indeed grass beneath his hooves, the stallion laid down and closed his eyes. He smiled a little to himself as dreams ebbed and flowed in his mind, a clear sign that he was indeed falling asleep.

After what felt like a few hours, he felt something nudge him. The stallion awoke, but didn’t move or open his eyes. He needed to be sure what was nudging him was friendly, and what time of day it was. If it was night, he’d be in trouble. Could easily be an unfriendly, much bigger animal than him. He had no reason to believe he hadn’t just found his way into someone’s turf either. Cracking an eye open half an inch, he saw it was still dark.

Not good.

“Um, excuse me?”

The man’s eyes blinked open. A soft voice. A very nice sounding, friendly, soft voice. Who could that be from?

“Yes?” the stallion asked, suddenly feeling very calm in the presence of this gentle stranger.

“Um, sorry to wake you, but I just couldn’t help but notice you looked really uncomfortable. Plus, most ponies don’t usually sleep outside at night like this.”

“That’s true.” The stallion said. He wasn’t sure what to say next to this figure, whom he had yet to identify. Sounded female, and he thought he heard some wings gently flapping. A female pegasus?

“Well, sorry to bother you.” The voice said, then the stallion spoke up.

“Wait.”

“Yes?” the mystery voice said.

“Um, I normally wouldn’t ask this, but…” the stallion took a few moments to get over himself before swallowing his pride, “you wouldn’t by chance have a place I could stay the night?”

“Stay the night?” the figure repeated.

“Um, well, sorry, didn’t mean to pry.” The stallion said, back-pedaling.

“Oh no no, it’s not that,” replied the figure, “I have a decent house that has more than enough room – if you don’t mind a few animals – if you’d want to stay there.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” The stallion said, audibly relieved as he stood up, waving a hoof around to try and come in contact with the speaker.

“My name is Ember Print, it’s nice to meet you.”

Ember felt a hoof contact his and the voice respond in kind.

“I’m Fluttershy, it’s nice to meet you too.”

Ember decided to trust the pegasus beside him as they walked, somewhere. Ember didn’t know how the pegasus across from him knew where she was going, but figured it was better to stick by her.

“So you live out of town out here?” Ember Print asked.

“Mmm-hmm,” Fluttershy replied, “it’s an easy way to stay in touch with all my animal friends.”

“Hmm,” Ember said, genuinely intrigued, “a pegasus who stays on the ground. You’re a pretty interesting mare Ms. Fluttershy.”

“Aww, thank you.” Fluttershy said, chuckling a little. “I know it’s a bit strange, I’ve just never been a fan of flying. I can when I have to, of course, but it’s not really my thing.”

Ember could feel like he was going up a hill, and soon he could feel Fluttershy put out a hoof to stop him.

“We’re here.”

With a click and a creak, a door swung open, and light shot out and blinded Ember Print’s eyes. He squinted and blinked as he beheld what looked like a tree house, just one that had fallen to the ground like a poorly constructed bird nest. And speaking of bird nests, there were several inside this house. Ember was unsure as to what sort of lifestyle Fluttershy lived in, but one of hording might be a possibility.

“This is my house.” Fluttershy said, trotting inside, followed by a small rabbit who Ember didn’t even know was with her.

“Very rustic,” Ember said, looking around him, brushing his haggard red mane out of his face as he took in the sights. “I appreciate you opening your home to me, Fluttershy.”

“It’s no trouble at all. The couch right over there is all yours for the night. And the kitchen is open if you need anything.”

“I’m sure I’ll just sleep, Fluttershy.” Ember said, smiling, “thank you again for giving me a place to stay.”

“Of course. If you need anything, just ask Angel,” Fluttershy said, looking down and gesturing to the rabbit that had been silently with her during their trip.

“He knows where things are.”

“Thank you again.” Ember said, smiling, then noticed Angel staring at him with wide round eyes. Ember tried to blow it off, until the rabbit ran up to him and pointed near his flank.

“What is it, Angel?” Fluttershy asked, then looked aghast as she stared too.

“Um, anyway,” Ember said, nudging the rabbit out of the way, “I’ll just turn in here, goodnight.”

Ember tried to leave the two, but grunted as Angel grabbed his red tail and pulled, forcing his backside to turn perpendicular with the other pony’s line of sight, and that only served to irritate Ember more.

“Could you let go of me, dumb bunny?!”

“Ember,” Fluttershy asked, looking very surprised, “why do you not have a cutie mark?”