Learn to Fly

It was the afternoon of the next day. After Rainbow had run away, Fluttershy had freaked out but Tree Hugger calmed her down with kind words and more tea. That made her feel calm enough to help Tree Hugger with a few chores, then they’d had dinner. Fluttershy had fallen asleep at eight o’clock, and in the morning, there had been more farm chores. Farm life was hard! No wonder Tree Hugger looked so strong!

Anyway, she'd given Fluttershy the afternoon off. She’d paid her, too! Fluttershy had tried to refuse - she was getting room and board, and that seemed like enough - but Tree Hugger had insisted.

She had nothing to spend money on, though, so she went on a walk. Right now she was walking down a dirt road between fields of turnips; little green tops swaying in the breeze. To the south was a long line of dark green. That must be the Everfree Forest. Looking at it sent a chill down her spine. So much wildness. So much fear. So much beauty and wonder. Just like kissing Rainbow Dash...

Fluttershy felt a surge of rage. She kicked a rock with all her might. It rolled a few inches, then stopped. Gosh darn it, what the heck was Rainbow Dash’s problem? They’d shared a moment, hadn’t they? They’d been close to something. Close to togetherness. And then she’d run away!

Maybe Fluttershy misinterpreted. Maybe Rainbow hadn’t meant to kiss her. Like, her lips had slipped, or something. Maybe it had all been an innocent misunderstanding. But then why had Rainbow freaked out?

Maybe Rainbow was worried because they were both mares? Some ponies looked down on that. But there just weren’t enough stallions to go around! Some mares spent their lives alone, while others shared a stallion, but Fluttershy wanted a special somepony, and she didn’t like to share. And anyway, mares were a lot less scary than stallions. But maybe Rainbow thought being lesbians together was wrong? Or maybe she was in a secret affair with somepony else! Maybe she was nursing a broken heart and didn't want to be hurt again!

Or maybe, just maybe, Fluttershy had bad breath. She froze, held her hoof up to her face, breathed into the frog, and sniffed. It seemed okay? I mean, it smelled like a dirty hoof. Fluttershy sighed. There were many possibilities, and it was making her queasy thinking about it.

It was then that Fluttershy noticed two pairs of long white ears poking up over the turnip tops. She froze. Bunnies! Her heart felt floaty. Her second day in Ponyville, and already she was meeting bunnies! The ears began to move towards her. Two white, teardrop shaped heads broke from the edge of greenery beneath the fence. The larger one stopped, but the smaller one didn’t, making a straight line for her as his mother looked on in horror. The little bunny kicked her in the hoof, glared up at her, and pointed down the road with a forepaw.

“What’s the matter, little one?” said Fluttershy.

The small bunny said something about baby birds, and took off running down the path. Fluttershy followed after him. The mommy bunny tore past her, keeping pace with her son. They brought her to the place the little one had told her about — a single tree by the side of the road, with a nest in the branches. A tiny little ball of spiky feathers was peeping in the grass at it’s base.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” said Fluttershy, scooping the little robin up in her hooves. There were those who said that if you helped a baby bird, its parents would smell pony on it and abandon it. Fluttershy knew that this was wrong; birds had no sense of smell, and anyway they weren’t that ungrateful. She fluttered up three meters to the nest, and placed the nestling gently in next to its brothers and sisters.

“There,” she said. “All safe. Please be more careful, next time. Please?”

The siblings squawked at her, asking her why she didn't have any food, and where were mom and dad, anyway?

“Mommy and daddy will be back soon with some nice, juicy bugs and worms. So you stay here where it’s safe until they get back, okay?”

More squawking. Fluttershy’s wings were getting tired. “Okay. I have to go now. Bye!”

Her hooves thudded when she hit the ground. The bunnies were already gone. Too bad. But helping that bird had felt good. No doubt about it, Ponyville was where she belonged.

A dark thought crossed her mind, and made her stomach churn with guilt. Rainbow Dash was one of her last real connections with Cloudsdale. And she liked to think that they’d always be friends. But. She was already meeting new ponies, wasn’t she? Maybe one of them could be her special somepony. She didn’t think she could ever have a relationship with Pinkie, pretty though she was — Pinkie was a little too intense. But Tree Hugger was nice, and she was strong like Rainbow was. And she understood the importance of harmony with nature, like Rainbow didn’t.

Fluttershy shook her head, and tried to put those thoughts out of her mind. She’d just met Tree Hugger! Only naughty mares put the moves on ponies they just met.

Speaking of being naughty, Tree Hugger’s beetle problem was resisting negotiation. Those baby robins were hungry. Maybe she’d have a talk with their parents, later.

Fluttershy smiled. Nature was so fascinating.

✭☆✭☆✭☆✭

When Fluttershy got back from her walk, Tree Hugger asked her to help haul some wood back to an old shed she was trying to repair. She helped load the cart and buckle the harness around the other mare’s barrel. She walked behind the cart, watching sweat glisten on the other mare’s muscular backside. Fluttershy felt uncomfortably warm.

She knew Tree Hugger was a lesbian — not a bisexual out of necessity like Fluttershy and most mares she knew, but a real, honest to goodness fillyfooler. Fluttershy knew this because Tree Hugger had told her; she was the type of pony who’d work personal details like that into casual conversation the first chance she got. But just because she was a lesbian didn’t mean she’d want Fluttershy! And if she offended Tree Hugger by presuming she would, she’d be out not only a friend, but a place to stay! She might have to go back to Cloudsdale!

So, Fluttershy couldn’t come right out and ask. That risked rejection. But Fluttershy had done this before. Her usual mode of operation was to create opportunities for a mare of interest. To present herself, ready to be kissed, and do nothing to prevent kisses from happening.

So while they were unloading the wood, Fluttershy made sure to touch hooves and brush up against Tree Hugger’s side as much as possible. She would make eye contact, then look away shyly. To be caught sneaking looks. After about ten minutes of this, Tree Hugger started giving her funny looks. Fluttershy realized she had only done this at flight school house parties, and then only so she didn't have to talk to anypony. In this context, her clever plan was in fact a creepy plan, and that she should probably dial it back a hair.

Tree Hugger looked like she was about to say something, when the bell at the farm’s front gate rang out. Fluttershy followed Tree Hugger to the gate from a safe distance and peeked out from behind a compost box.

The mare was elderly, with shaking, knobby knees, and a racking cough. Fluttershy suspected that cough might have something to do with the cigarette dangling from her lips. The mare's coat was dark yellow, her mane was magenta, and her cutie mark was a circle of pink tulips. The baby rabbit sitting on her back glared at Fluttershy. Oh no. She knew that bunny!

Tree Hugger looked over her shoulder, and waved Fluttershy over. Apparently she was terrible at hiding.

“This is Posey,” said Tree Hugger, as Fluttershy approached. “She runs an animal shelter at the edge of the Everfree Forest.”

“Oh my,” said Fluttershy. “Isn’t that very dangerous? I’ve heard the Everfree is terrible.”

“Only to ponies who don’t belong there.” rasped Posey. “Angel here says he talked to you earlier today.” Her voice was the sound made by rubbing sandpaper over a steel pipe. “It’s a rare gift, to be able to talk to animals. Especially for a pegasus. Do you have any experience working with animals?”

Fluttershy ducked her head, and looked at the ground. “I volunteer at a bird shelter in Cloudsdale, sometimes.” She scuffed her hoof against the dirt of the road. “There aren’t any other kinds of animals up there.”

Posey nodded. “Any medical experience?”

“Some.” said Fluttershy. “My mother’s a nurse; she taught me a few things. Um, why are you asking?”

Posey’s eyes evaluated Fluttershy coldly for a few moments. “Well. That’s promising enough.”

“It is?” Fluttershy was confused.

“Do you drink?”

Fluttershy squinted. “Um… I drink tea?”

Posey snorted. “Fine. You’re going to come to my cottage at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Tree Hugger here can tell you the way; you’ll know my cottage when you see it. We’ll drink tea. Anyway, I’ve got work to do. I’d say it’s been a pleasure, but I’d be lying.” She turned to go. “Oh,” she added, looking over her shoulder, “If you’re going to be late, don’t bother coming at all.”

Fluttershy watched Posey limp away with a worried expression on her face. “Is she okay to be out on her own?”

“Posey’s a powerful crone,” said Tree Hugger. “It would take an army of timber wolves to take her down. That or cancer.”

“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy. “That’s terrible.”

“Equus gives us all our allotted time,” said Tree Hugger. “We only live long enough to learn the lessons she wants to teach us. Then our souls go away to rest until she needs them again.”

Fluttershy stared at Tree Hugger. They’d learned about the teachings of the Old Ways in civics class, but it hadn’t occurred to her that ponies on the ground actually still believed those things. “I… um… I don’t really… I mean. I don’t think Equus is real. But it’s okay if you do.”

Tree Hugger smiled. “You don’t? Then what are you standing on?”

“Um. Well, obviously I believe in the planet. But I don’t think it’s alive,” stammered Fluttershy.

“Are the trees alive? Is the grass alive? Are the animals alive?”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. “Yes.” Where was Tree Hugger going with this? Was she trying to trick her?

“Then why shouldn’t we view them taken together as being alive, too?”

Fluttershy backed away. “Please, I don’t want to criticize your beliefs. Can we not talk about this?”

“Of course! Equus speaks to each of us in her own time, and in her own way. If not in this life, then in the next. Anyway, there’s always been somepony living in Posey’s cottage, as long as anypony can remember. The first Ponyville settlers found somepony living there. It’s a holy place.”

“That’s… odd,” said Fluttershy.

“Yes. Odd,” said Tree Hugger. “So. It’s not really my business, but I noticed you becoming very physical while you were working. I’m getting a lot of frustrated energy from you.”

Fluttershy gulped. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Is this about boundaries? I promise to be more careful about your boundaries.”

Tree Hugger nuzzled her cheek. “No. Thank you for checking, but my boundaries are fine. But I think you need to have some fun. The Founder’s Day dance is tomorrow. You should go. Meet some new ponies.”

Fluttershy felt dizzy. Being unescorted in a social situation was not an exciting prospect. “Could I go with you?”

Tree Hugger grinned. “I’d love to go with you.”

“Oh. Okay. Good.” Fluttershy blinked. “Wait, did I just ask you out on a date?”

Tree hugger chuckled. “You did. Now come on, let’s get back to work on that shed.”