The young colt staggered while trying to get up from the cold cave ground, ears ringing and vision extremely blurred. In front of him, two figures, in a protective stance, facing forward. He rubbed his eyes, trying to see what they were facing. What he saw was a large, menacing silhouette, directly facing them. Suddenly, two red dots flashed on the shadowy figure, making him gasp.
"We need to get him out of here, now" said one of figures. Soon after, a large, booming voice echoed through and shook the entire cave.
"You shall not leave this place alive" boomed the voice. Quickly, the two figures reacted. The colt was suddenly enveloped in a bright aura. Whats going on? he thought. Before he could speak, he was forcefully thrust backwards and straight out of the cave.
Suddenly, a large, white, blinding light shined out of the cave, filling his sight. Then, he fell unconscious.
It was a warm, breezy spring day. The sky was turning to overcast as Fluttershy was getting ready to take another small group of frogs to the swamp in the Everfree Forest.
"Is everyone ready?" she asked kindly. All the frogs croaked with agreement and excitement.
"Alright, here we go!" she said, as she began to flap her wings in takeoff. It was a calm and relaxing flight, as she flew over the dark forest through the refreshing spring breeze. The only thing that had her worried however, were the frogs. They were constantly trying to jump around their bag, and Fluttershy grew increasingly worried the some may fall out.
"Careful all of you. I don't want any of you falling out into the forest. It's extremely dangerous down there" she warned the frogs, who immediately settled down. With a quick smile she continued her flight. Soon enough, she made it to the murky swamp. She was quick to let the frogs out and get them settled in. She did not want to repeat the tragedy of last time. Twilight almost didn't make it away from the hydra when she was attacked here, and she doubted her ability to do it alone.
Within a half hour, she settled in all the frogs into the swamp. She was getting rather tired and wanted to head home. The heat and humidity was getting to her, and it was quickly draining her. Fluttershy quickly gathered her things and was ready to head home for a nice, soothing nap. However, right before she took off, she heard something rather unusual. It sounded like a deep moaning, like something was in pain. She quickly began to investigate, knowing she couldn't leave some poor creature in pain.
She soon found the source coming straight from an old, hollow, rotting log. She peered inside to see an injured frog who had cut himself on a splinter from the log. Fluttershy quickly debated whether or not to take him home, as the sky was now in a dark overcast, and it looked like it might rain soon. She decided to stay and take care of the creature, as she did not want to make another trip back, especially in the rain. If it did rain, she could wait it out in the log.
Fluttershy pulled out a cloth to clean and wrap the wound. She then stayed with it for a while to make sure the frog would be okay. However, her suspicions were soon confirmed, as rain began to drizzle down. At this point, she was half thinking to fly in the rain, as this log was very uncomfortable. However she soon decided against it, as the rain turned into an absolute deluge.
As she waited the storm out in the cramped log, she soon began to worry. The rain lasted longer than she had hoped, as the sun began to set. I can NOT stay here she thought to herself. It took her a lot of courage building, but she decided to brave the forest. It offered some protection from the rain, and was still safer during the day than at night.
She began to squeeze out of the small log, and stepped out into the very wet and muddy ground. She was disgusted, but knew she'd have to live with it if she wanted to get home safely. She wanted to hurry out, but the mud slowed her down drastically. However, as soon as she reached the edge of the forest, her slow trot turned into a very fast gallop as her desire to get home took over her legs.
As she ran through the dark forest, the rain still seeped through the canopy. Within seconds, she was drenched in rain and mud. However, she still pushed through, even though the rain seriously slowed her down. She quickly grew very tired, but her desire to leave the forest was in control, not herself. She was forced through the burning in her legs. She wanted to stop but she couldn't. She had to get home. She however, soon began to pay the price, as she started to lose focus of the surroundings around her. She couldn't focus or think straight, as the only thing on her mind was to get home. Suddenly, she took a sharp turn around a tree and ran head first into a hard branch, knocking her straight to the ground on her back.
Owww, what happened...? she thought as she stumbled around, trying to get up. As soon as she got back on her hooves, she took a good look around, and came to a horrid realization. She had no idea where she was. She was lost. She suddenly felt a flood of panic and screamed. She began to dart around frantically trying to find some way out. Eventually, she began to lose hope, and slumped down against a tree, beginning to cry.
Through her teary haze, she looked up. What she saw startled her, making her gasp. What she saw ahead of her, between a few trees, was a tall figure, hiding in the shadows. She stared at it for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, it began to move forward. Fluttershy broke into a frantic sprint, doing whatever she could to get away from the mystery figure. As soon as she thought she had gotten away, she slowed down. However, she suddenly saw the shadow dart on her side. She quickly turned around and continued running, but she soon saw it dart across the path ahead of her.
Panic soon began to control her, as she continued to run through her tear covered vision, continuously seeing the figure around her. However, she eventually made the same mistake again, by not paying attention to the environment. She tripped over a large rock, falling face first to the ground. She scattered to get up, but quickly stumbled to the ground again. She turned around to see the figure again. She screamed in panic as the figure approached her slowly. She noticed it was distinctly pony like, and quickly hoped that it was just Zecora, who would gladly help her. However, she was proved wrong as the figure drew even closer, being less than 2 feet from her. It looked her dead in the eye with an emotionless expression. However, what happened next surprised her.
"Oh, you're just a pony? I was just a bit worried, there are a lot of dangerous creatures out here. I'm sorry if I scared you" he said, holding out his hoof to try and help her up. Fluttershy, who was feeling a huge rush of relief, slowly accepted and grabbed his hoof as she staggered to the ground.
"Thank you" she said as she took a good look at the pony in front of her. He was red with a black mane, and was rather tall. He wore a black leather jacket and a brown hat, and below the hat were a pair of dark green eyes. She looked over his shoulder to take a look at his cutie mark, which was a blue handled sword. Interestingly enough, he had that exact sword in its sheathe over his shoulder. He looked like an overall serious and tough pony, but however also looked rather kind.
"What are you doing out here in the Everfree Forest? Especially in the rain. As a matter of fact, you should probably take this" he said as he grabbed the umbrella on his jacket, and gave it to Fluttershy.
"Thank you again. I was out here because I was taking some frogs to the swamps out here, and I must have gotten carried away with taking care of them. You see, I care for a lot of animals, and the frogs were starting to get crowded" she explained to him.
"I suppose you're from the town then?" he asked. She nodded.
"Yes I am, and I'm very lost out here" she answered.
"Well, lucky for you I know the forest like the back of my hoof. I've been here my whole life. I can easily take you back!" he said happily.
"Really?! Thank you so....... Wait did you say your whole life?" she asked him, sounding surprised. But, soon after she said that, the wind picked up and blew heavily against the two wet ponies under the heavy rain. They both shivered as the wind chilled their bodies.
"I'll explain later, first we should get out of this rain. Follow me" he said, pulling out a flashlight and walking into the dark forest. Fluttershy, without question, followed quickly and closely, not wanting to get left behind. Soon enough, they arrived at a moderately sized cottage, marked by a lantern above the wooden door. The stallion held the door open, and followed Fluttershy in. He then flipped a light switch, and Fluttershy saw the home in front of her. Below them, in front of the door was a small mat. To the right was a small potted plant, and to the left was a rack for his jacket and hat, which he still hasn't taken off. In the bottom left was a blue couch, in front of it was a table and a chair. Across the room was a door into the kitchen, and next to that some stairs, which she assumed led to a bedroom. The most obvious feature however, were a lot of bookshelves. They filled up all empty spaces on the left and right walls.
"Yeah, I know. A lot of books, but they were here when I found the place." he explained to her.
"Found?" she asked.
"Yep. I'll explain in a bit, but first we should dry off" he said, commenting on both of their soaked bodies. He took the umbrella and proceeded upstairs. He came back a few seconds later with two towels. He handed one to Fluttershy, and they both dried off for a minute. He offered her a seat on the couch, then went into the kitchen. He then emerged with two glasses of water and gave one to her, then sat down in the chair.
"So, what's your name?" he asked.
"I'm Fluttershy..." she said shyly.
"That's a nice name. I'm Stingfire" he said smiling.
"So you're probably wondering what I'm doing living out here". She nodded.
"Well, it's an odd story. Mainly because it's no story at all! About ten years ago, I found myself on the lying on the ground, just waking up. I have no idea how I got there, and I have no memory before that, but I do know that my whole body was sore. When i finally got up, I looked around and saw a saddle bag next to me. In it I found some cloths and blankets, basic tools, and some food and other essentials. I also found this sword hanging over my shoulder. I started exploring around, and after about a mile I found this little cottage, with a few pieces of furniture and every book you see in here now. I probably owe my life to these books, most of what I know today comes from them. Anyway, having no where to go, I just stayed in the forest my whole life, learning its secrets and mastering its challenges."
"Wow, so you've just lived out here your whole life? Never decided to go to the town, or at least try to find some answers?" she asked him. He shook his head.
"Never felt any need for answers, and I would just be an outcast in the town" he explained.There was a short, depressing silence.
"Well anyway, I'll take you back to town tomorrow." he said to her.
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, it's way to dangerous to go at night, let alone in the rain. Don't worry, you can stay here. You can sleep upstairs in my bed, I'll take the couch"
"Ummm, okay. Thank you" she said shyly.
"Also, feel free to use the bathroom up there to wash up."
"Okay, thank you very much. Goodnight" she said, starting to walk upstairs.
"No problem, goodnight!" he said, hearing the door close. Then he went over to the couch and pulled down a blanket, laid down, and went to sleep.
