Author's Note

I realized that I had been focusing way too much on AppleDash. Even though it is my favorite ship, I'm making myself take a break. And since this story should be about Fluttershy, why not have her return in this small intermission? I promise, both Fluttershy and Keres will make more of a major appearance later on, but this chapter is just to tide everybody over until then. That's why it's so short.

It's also short because it's currently 5:30 in the morning and I have a final exam due tomorrow. I'm just so tired that I need to publish this chapter as soon as possible.

11. Interlude: Fluttershy

Fluttershy came to suddenly and without warning. She jerked awake, sending a ripple of pain through her foreleg. She yelped and looked down at the offending limb. Her eyes widened as she gazed upon the wound. How had this happened? The semi-fresh laceration was still oozing blood; thankfully not gushing like it apparently had been. The fur coating her foreleg was a light crimson and matted with gore.

Fluttershy gulped as she assessed the wound. She unconsciously reached for her first-aid kit - working with accident-prone animals and friends () had reinforced this habit multiple times.

Where is it? She thought to herself, eyes finally breaking away from her foreleg to find the kit.

Only, she wasn't at home. Not in the slightest.

She was surrounded by trees that creaked ominously. Her teeth chattered from more than shock as she looked around frantically.

Where is Ponyville? More importantly, how did I get here? She thought, terrified. It was dark, suggesting nightfall. Fluttershy could hear creatures rustling the bushes and underbrush. Her wings pressed tightly against her sides and her entire body trembled in fear.

She strained, trying to remember how she got here and, more importantly, why she was hurt, but nothing came. Frustrated, she turned her attention back to her foreleg. It looked too precise to have been made by claws. A knife, maybe? It was deep, too, but it had luckily missed her arteries.

Fluttershy screwed her eyes shut as she licked at the wound to clean it. The sour, metallic taste of blood was horrible, but it was easier than worrying about who might be lurking in the shadows around her.

The best she could do was wait until Celestia raised the sun. Then she could get a proper look at her surroundings and figure out where Ponyville was. If she was lucky, maybe Zecora would find her before some other not-so-nice creature did. The pegasus' teeth chattered at the thought.

Once her injury was clean, Fluttershy curled herself up into a little ball at the base of the nearest tree. She shook as tears drenched her face.

The past couple weeks - or was it months? - had been increasingly hard on her. First, there was the issue with her memory, then Rainbow Dash went missing and Applejack's prime suspect was her, and now this! She just wished that things could go back to the way they were before everything went wrong.

She sighed. It was still a long ways 'til morning and, if her thoughts were anything to go by, she'd be awake for all of it.