The wind gently blowing on his muzzle: that was what he was feeling while, with his eyes closed, he tried to listen to the beat of his own heart. He was able to find some peace from all the thoughts that were messing with his mind...memories of the past and worries of the future that didn’t want to free him that night.
It lasted just a few more seconds; after a sob, the brown stallion decided to look again at the world around him. It was nice to see the gentle breeze of the night shaking, for a couple of moments, the foliage of the trees, giants that looked darker in the weak light of the night, illuminated only by the bright moon that was dominating the clear sky.
His sight focused on the stars, as they could be able to guide him in his own solitary trip in the forest; he smiled, knowing that he had no knowledge of astronomy or about anything that would allow him to know which direction he was heading in.
In reality, he didn’t mind at all the road he was walking on, nor was he aiming at a certain destination; he just needed to walk...he just needed to find silence.
He felt that night was enfolding him, something that was slowing his heart, even if that place, the Everfree forest, was not a place where somepony could stay at ease at a late time like that. “How could a place called ‘Everfree Forest’ be so bad?” he wondered when a citizen of Ponyville, the town that in the previous days became his new home, gave him the information he was seeking “Just its name, Everfree, gives me a sense of eternal freedom from problems.”
Lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice how far in the woods he was walking in...he could just sense the feeble sound of the crickets, the rustle of the leaves that were waving as decided by the wind. In those moments, all of his problems were gone, as blown away by the same wind that was moving his dark brown mane and tail.
A sound of a wooden branch cracking brought the stallion back to the real world, travelling from dream to nightmare in a fraction of second; that was the time needed to realize that he wasn’t alone anymore. With worry, he saw that in front of him a little dark shade from which two unpromising eyes were standing out; when it came closer, he could clearly see that he was facing a beech marten.
The pony stayed still, without moving a muscle. The expression of the animal wasn’t promising; it was as if it came to scare him...or to do worse.
It slowly walked towards the brown pony, who took few steps back at the same speed ‘What should I do?’ he found himself thinking, trying to come up with a plan to come out from the troubling situation.
“Do not fear her, good sir.” All of a sudden, a voice as soft as the wind of the night reached his ears. Both the animal and the stallion turned their attention to the source of that melodious sound, finding that a yellow pegasus was slowly flying in their direction.
It was as though both the spectators were frozen from her arrival; the mare landed so gently on the dirt that she almost didn’t make a sound, as she didn’t intend to disturb the world. The pony couldn’t not stare at her for various reasons: the long light pink mane that surrounded her cute muzzle, the way she was smiling...and, above all, the fact that she was venturing into the forest without even a sign of fear in her emerald green eyes.
“If you befriend her, she’ll be like a sister for you.” she whispered so low that it was as if the night breeze was making a louder sound than her “she doesn’t want to hurt you...does she?” the last question was directed to the beech marten that, upon hearing her voice, was abandoning the aggressive stance it had before.
“If they sense that you don’t want to cause any harm, she will leave you alone...or maybe she could show you the secrets of the forest. After all, she lives here.”
Comforted by those words in a way he couldn’t even really understand, he turned back to the animal, without moving or acting in a way that could be read as aggressive. As told by the yellow mare, the little animal rose her little head, looking at the two ponies in a more calm way; then, she ran away from the path, not before making something that the stallion could swear was a bow.
“You see? She didn’t want to cause any harm.” The pegasus said with a smile that could melt the coldest ice in the world. The thing that hit the mind of the brown pony was the self confidence she showed in that situation...the same self confidence that shattered in few seconds when she saw that he was staring at her, something that made her blush.
“Ehm...c-can I ask you, why are you here, good sir?” She spoke in a completely different way: it was clear that she was feeling uncomfortable “The forest is not a safe place during the night.”
The stallion sighed at the true sentence he had just heard “You’re right milady...but I needed to find some rest to my thoughts and laying in bed wasn’t helping.” He didn’t know why, but he felt the need to speak honestly to the one he was facing “As I did before coming here in Ponyville, I’m trying to put my mind at ease where nobody can cause trouble...and this forest seemed the best place, especially now.” The stallion paused a little, looking at how the mane of the mare was dancing in the wind.
“Oh…” she replied doubtfully “M-Maybe I’m disturbing you, sir.” she bowed her head, looking sincerely sorry “If you want I’ll leave you alone, but I” a moment of uncertainty stopped her for a short moment “I want to suggest you go back to the town...if that’s okay with you.”
The brown stallion looked puzzled at the pegasus, a thing that made her feel more unsettled...something that he tried to solve with a sincere smile “You’re not a disturbance at all, milady; you even...well...saved me in a dire situation” the last part came with a bit of embarrassment...the same embarrassment the mare was probably feeling in that moment, judging by the colour of her cheeks.
“But...I would kindly ask you to go back to your home.” The stallion’s voice became a bit more serious “Besides...I wish to follow your tip, taking the road our previous guest took to see if she’ll really show me the secrets of the forest.”
“Oh my.” she answered worried while bringing a hoof to her own mouth “B-But going further into the forest could be dangerous.” she seemed truthfully worried about him, something that made him smile in a sincere and genuine way “Please do not worry about me...I’ll be fine.” The stallion then bowed his head a little, giving the mare the most respectful salute he could, before taking some steps towards the direction the animal fled to.
“G-Good night” the mare whispered in a way her interlocutor couldn’t hear her. She remained there, alone, staring at the figure that, while walking into the woods, was becoming more and more dark.
*****
The walk of the lonely stallion was bringing him deep into the world inside that world; branches and leaves were so close up in the air that they were almost able to cover the moonlight, the only source of light he had. In that moment, however, he didn’t feel any fear...the complete silence that suddenly fell, and the calm and temperate air of the night were able to let him feel good.
‘I wish life could be always so calm, without the concerns of changing places, beginning a new life, surpassing the obstacles that it put in front of you’ he thought while looking all around, enjoying the wonderful show that nature was offering him...just for him.
The yellow pegasus he met was right...the way taken by the beech marten was clear of any obstacles; he had the occasion to stare at a wonderful little river that probably crossed the entire forest and to drink the pure and fresh water it carried, something that restored him from all the fatigue of the long walk.
The stallion stood still on his hooves, raising his head to enjoy, with closed eyes, the sounds that he was hearing in that moment.
*Fruuuush* The sound of leaves that were taken away from the ground by a breeze that was suddenly breathing lightly;
*Whooosh* The wind that, as it was making with the leaves, was moving all around his mane and his tail, giving him chills for a brief moment.
*GRRRRR* The sound of…’Wait, what was that?’
The stallion’s eyes opened immediately and, with surprise, he didn’t find anypony in front of him; his ears rose up when another growl came from behind him, a thing that literally locked all of his muscles and, for a moment, his heart, too.
Slowly, he turned back, realizing that there was a timberwolf staring at him with bright, threatening eyes. With horror he focused on the sharp, wooden canines bared in anger, something that could pierce his flesh like a hot knife through butter.
The stallion’s heart rate increased drastically; the sound of every beat was the only soundtrack to that critical situation. He felt dizzy, as he was losing control of his own body...fear was playing with his mental sanity.
His eyes rolled all around, looking for an escape route...nothing; besides, the beast could outrun him in a fraction of seconds. Maybe there was a way out, but his mind was completely numb. The timberwolf was slowly coming closer...and he knew that he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Do not fear him and stay calm, good sir.”
That voice again; maybe his mind was tricking him, trying to suggest what course of action could be taken.
The prospect changed when his attention was driven away from the hostile animal to the sound made by the hooves of the yellow kind pegasus met earlier gently hitting the ground.
“If you befriend him, he will be like a brother to you.” There was no determination in her soft tone of voice, nor arrogance...it was the voice of somepony that was sure of her ideas and that knew that everything was really all right.
“You don’t really have the intention of hurting us, do you?” To the stallion’s astonishment, the mare slowly walked towards the timberwolf that, as the question didn’t reach its wooden ears, snarled louder.
As an answer to all that hostility, the mare smiled gently to the beast “We didn’t want to cause any kind of disturbance to you, mister timberwolf...if we looked as if we wanted to cause trouble, then we ask you to forgive us.”
The brown pony was staring at the scene happening in front of him without saying anything, realizing that his words could only be a source of trouble.
In that moment, he was looking at a self confident mare that, only with kindness and calm, was slowly persuading the wooden beast to abandon its bellicose thoughts...the same mare that, just some time ago, blushed and bowed her cute head from too long a stare.
It was clear that, despite the grim situation, she was feeling in her world. She was doing something that she liked, that was the explanation for the lovely and happy expression painted on her muzzle. Whatever she did, it worked. The timberwolf’s eyes became less aggressive while the roaring left space to calm growls.
The yellow mare looked at it in a tender way, raising a hoof to caress it “I knew you didn’t mean to cause any harm.” Words accompanied by a gentle contact with the forehead of the beast that, in that moment, made something that resembled a smile.
After a last glance, the timberwolf moved quickly towards a little space between two dark green bushes, disappearing from the sight of the two ponies in a few seconds.
“He surely knows the secret passages of the forest that cuts through the trees and that leads to places that we don’t know.” her whispers could reach the stallion’s ears only because there was a complete silence in the air; probably she was just talking to herself.
“I think I should have listened to your advice, milady.” the stallion said with a mortified voice, sighing disconsolate.
“Can you hear that?” The question of the mare let him bring his attention back to the mare who, with her ears risen, was focusing on something.
The stallion rose his head with a puzzled expression, figuring not what she was talking about; he needed few more seconds to hear the gentle sound of...water.
“It came from the way the timberwolf left” she said pointing at the path walked by the animal just some time ago.
Both the ponies looked at each other in silence; both of them were curious but worried at the same time...and they could read these feelings just by looking at their expressions.
He smiled at her, communicating his decision to step forward to see with his own eyes the source of that sound.
The mare looked at him without saying anything; after a while, she walked behind him, closing her wings to better pass through the slim passage between the bushes and the brambles.
Both walked in a deep silence, exchanging a glance from time to time, giving strength to each other when the place became too dark due the fact that the moonlight was hampered by the thick wood that didn’t allow it to pass through the branches and the leaves.
After walking in an almost completely dark place for a minute, they didn’t expect to see in front of them a bright light that, in the darkness, forced them to close their eyes for a moment. Both of them walked faster, drived by the same curiosity colt and fillies have at a young age.
When they went out from the dark passage, their eyes were filled with wonder and surprise.
In front of them, there was a big lake, filled with crystal clear water and fed by a river...the same river that probably the stallion met previously on his way. All around, majestic oaks and all sort of other trees surrounded that sort of paradise. There were flowers of every colour, bushes rich with red little fruits and the grass all over the place stood there as a huge blanket for the ground.
The stallion opened his mouth, but he wasn’t able to speak; all of the words died in his throat, stopped by the deep emotions he was feeling in that moment. He was so taken by that wonderful landscape that he didn’t realize that the pink maned mare abandoned his side to slowly reach the lake.
He walked to go near her, remaining silent while, with a joyful expression, she rose her head to stare at the sky filled with white brilliant stars; she then closed her eyes, enjoying the fresh breeze that was waving in the air both her mane and tail.
She looked like a goddess in the stallion’s eyes: she was able to deal with the danger just by smiling and gently speaking; he could easily figure that she had an inner strength that could move mountains and break the toughest of rocks.
In that moment he felt the deep temptation of asking her name...he tried to speak, but then again all the words remained in his mind. He smiled, realizing that he would ruin a wonderful moment by unsettling her with any kind of personal question, even just her name.
She stared at the mare while she was still enjoying the sensation of feeling blindly the wind on her in a genuine amazed way before turning his attention to the lake and realizing that, far on the opposite side, there was a timberwolf that was looking at two puppies of its own species.
A sincere smile grew on his face before turning his attention to the sky, looking at the full bright moon that, for all the night, lighted and guided his trip.
Somepony said that when night enfolds you, it quickens the heart and lets you walk alone.
That night, he never walked alone...and he learned that facing his own fears with calm and a smile could lead him to overcome them.
He was seeking peace...he found an experience that will remain in his memory...forever.
Author's Note
Good day to you all. I hope you enjoyed the read.
As promised, here is the link to the song that inspired the story: Song
The real song starts at 4:20, but I suggest you listen to it all.
After this one shot story, I will focus on the next chapter of the crossover fiction I'm writing...if you want to give it a shot, I'll leave the link here: Link to the story
See you next time.
Cheers
A_Storyteller
