"Lunch is ready!" Fluttershy's calm, soothing voice echoed throughout her cottage. Critters all alike, ranging from mice, squirrels and birds to bunnies easily found their way into the living room through the many opened windows and cavities of the pegasus' home. Scattered bowls overflowing with bite sized pellets were the center of attention for those woodland creatures as they gathered around to curb their voracious appetites. "Don't eat too fast now, or you'll get a really bad tummy ache," Fluttershy warned, placing a split second pause to the animal's feast.
Ignored once again, the pegasus brushed off the feeling as she hovered to the basket of a tiny, snow white bunny. "Angel, wake up, lunch is ready!" Fluttershy poked the lump under the sheets, awakening the creature from his deep slumber. "Look what I made for you, yum yum yum, it's salad!" She lowered her heard to Angel's general height, innocently pushing the bowl of freshly made greens towards him. Probably not one of her best ideas.
Slapping the salad bowl onto her face, Angel furiously stomped his paw at the bewildered pegasus. "I thought you liked salad," Fluttershy said, shaking off her new hat onto the wooden floorboard. Angel rapidly shook his head, rejecting her beliefs. "But then, what would you like to eat?" Reaching a paw beneath his pillow, the leporidae revealed a cook book, something he supposedly read to himself at night. Flipping through the contents of the book and finding what he had sought, the picture of another salad broke through Fluttershy's proxemic barrier, slapping her directly in the face. "Oh, I'm sorry, Angel, but I can't make this for you," Fluttershy apologized, mumbling through the pages as she removed the book by its border.
Angel was vexatious, randomly blurting out bunny profanities at the mare as he continuously poked at the image. "I said that I'm sorry, Angel, but I just can't get those ingredients," the pegasus began to explain to the already aggravated rabbit, patiently waiting as he folded his paws. "Urhm... well, you see... that last ingredient can only be found in Everfree Forest, a-and that place is unsafe, dark and not to mention very, very spooky."
Angel's perky ears cocked at the location of his desired ingredient. Immediately with the book snug in his paws, the white bunny hopped off and out the cottage's window, escaping Fluttershy and her bland salad. "Wait, Angel! Where are you going?!" the mare panicked, rushing through the double decked, mahogany doors. Angel stood midway on top the grassy skimmed bridge as he paused his hops, pointing to the image in the book and then to Everfree. The answer was quite clear.
With haste, Fluttershy proceeded to chase after her abusive pet as he, too, began to evade the mare, escaping into the misty fog of the eerie forest. "Angel, wait! Don't--" She reached out a hoof, a moments too late as the miniature silhouette disappeared within the thick mist. "--go."
Stricken with fear, Fluttershy was immobilized as the one thing that prevented her to save her little Angel, was herself. Beads of sweat trickled down her brow as she trembled before the horrors of the Everfree, the stories and myths she'd heard of the creatures within. Dilated eyes stared beyond and through the fog as her mind continuously fooled her of piercing red glares, waiting for their new-found prey... but what about her little Angel Bunny? What if she never saw him again? What if he became their prey?
"No, I won't let that happen!" Fluttershy shook away her fears with a step forward, galloping steadfast into the fog and entering the forest. Don't worry, Angel, I'm coming!
Dark, mysterious and gloomy. Everfree, where the sun don't shine and the clouds ominously drift by themselves. Just bucking unnatural for any pony.
The trees had eyes, watching every move that the traumatic pegasus made, their dark, dreaded leaves and branches crackling and shaking, startling the already frightened pegasus as she progressed deeper into the forest, her sanity deteriorating with every hoofstep. The forest was against her, playing her as a fool for entering its domain. From where the wide, dirt trailed road had stopped, she was now deep within the abyss of corrupted flora and fauna. All she had desired was her little Angel Bunny, praying to the princesses that he was safe, hoping that he was still well and alive. "A-Angel, come on, Angel, p-please come out now, it's time to go home," she pleaded for her bunny. A nearby shrubbery rustled upon hearing his name. "Angel, is that you?!" her heart fluttered with slight relief, approaching the murky greenery with a quick trot.
CAW! CAW! A flock of crows suddenly cried out, frightened as they dashed through the crossing path of the mare and bush. Through the slight gaps of the flock, pints of white were easily diminished as the butter coated mare focused on the contrast. To her surprise, if this wasn't one of the forest's tricks, it was a stallion! Another rare, civilized inhabitant of the Everfree, and probably a better chance in the hopes of finding her pet.
"Hello, sir! Can you hear me?" Fluttershy called out, reaching a hoof to the fellow pony. To her dismay, the crows finally parted, only ebony feathers left to dance in her vision to the Everfree's chilling air, not a single pony in sight. "Hello? Sir? Anypony out there?" she continuously called out in search for a response. Nothing.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, the forest is just playing tricks on you," she tried to reassure herself. "Nopony lives out here other than Zecora... nopony but Zecora, would live out in the Everfree," she said to herself, continuing her journey in search of her pet. "But, I-I swore I saw somepony there," she then glanced at the vacant spot.
Her slow pace throughout the Everfree allowed the mare to inspect every inch of detail of the forest, every plant, bug, tree and note... a note?
"Oh, what's this?" Fluttershy's curiosity drove her closer towards the flyer plastered onto the tree's mossy bark. "Oh, what a nice drawing," she praised the anonymous artist as she examined the content of black crayon shaded trees. "I better not touch it, though, somepony might get mad if I interfered with their hard work... I know Rarity would," the mare sighed, reminiscing on the elusive mare, the very thought of her friend seeming to have a soothing effect on her sub-conscience.
Before advancing deeper into the flora abyss, the shy pegasus examined the page once more, noticing a white stallion amongst the crayon based trees, something quite similar to what she'd experienced not too long ago. "Wait a second... th-that can't be!" Her mind finally added two and two together, realizing that it in fact was the same stallion, except for one crucial similarity... there was no face.
"What if the poor dear is lost?!" She had now added symbols and letters into that very equation, making it more complex than necessary. "What if he's using these pages as a guide?" Fluttershy's mind continuously rambled about multiple theories of the supposedly lost stallion, ripping the page right off the bark and into her saddlebag. Maybe if I find him, he can help me save Angel! she thought to herself a plan in mind, turning around and-- "EEP!" Fluttershy's scream echoed throughout the dense forest as she recoiled, hitting her back had hit against the tree. Recovering from the self induced blow, she gazed upon her stalker, the one she'd seen before, the faceless stallion.
Upon closer inspection, he was a splitting image of the crayon based pony. His coat was of pure, emanating white, the very touch of it frigid cold, representing Everfree's atmosphere in its finest. The stallion wore a scholar's suit of black, lengthy sleeves and a red tie in perfect contrast with his blank fur. He drew closer and closer, forever staring without eyes, penetrating her very soul. A tentacle matching his suit's color was drawn from his back, approaching the hyperventilating mare as she closed her eyes, preparing for the worst. "Please, I didn't mean any harm, I was looking for you!" the mare begged for forgiveness. The stoic stallion took no heed to any of her words, controlling the tendril as it reached deep into her saddlebag.
"Huh?" Fluttershy opened her eyes, bewildered at what was taking place. On her back, she watched the snake like movements of the tentacle, wiggling in search for Celestia knows what.
Receding from her bag with the very same note, the tendril slapped the drawing back onto the tree's sappy bark, sticking on forceful contact. With no harm done, the faceless stallion ignored the mare, slowly retreating into the depths of the forest. "I-Is that you?" Fluttershy asked, calling back the stallion who shared resemblance with that in the drawing. "It's... really, really nice."
The stallion's ears perked at this, looking at the mare, bewildered as to wonder why she would want to converse with such a pony as the likes of him rather than to scream in fright. With a faithful leap, the suited equine decided to reply the only way he knew how, in complete, utter silence. "..."
"Why, yes, your drawings are really lovely... it adds a nice effect to the forest... I-I can tell you don't like ponies touching them, though... I'm really, really sorry," the element of kindness apologized, returning to all her fours. Fluttershy had no reason to fear the unique equine, for he was still a pony- a four legged, two eared, fashionable pony, seemingly the only one who could maintain such a classy suit at the price of twenty bits.
"...?!" The stallion was in utter shock and disbelief, now being his turn to recoil at the stranger before him with a question. "...?"
"Urhmm, yes, sorta... well, you see, I can communicate with animals, somehow the same thing, but yes, I can understand you," Fluttershy smiled towards the silent, expressionless stallion. "What are you doing all the way out here, mister? I-If you don't mind me asking."
"..." he blatantly replied, bemusedly gesturing his tentacles.
"Your job? What do you do?" the mare asked, trotting closer towards the stallion, knowing he had meant no harm. Actual silence, not the stallion's kind of silence, but the no response kind of silence. "Oh, I see, you don't want to talk about it... sorry," Fluttershy apologized, twiddling her hoof in circles in the Everfree's dirt.
The suited pony nodded in response, and with a hoof, gestured the same question. "...?"
"Well, you see, I came in here searching for my pet bunny, Angel after he ran away. Have you seen him? Urhm, he's a bit... white." The stallion nodded. "Really?! Where is he?! Is he safe?!" The mare's heart fluttered with relief, pleading for the knowledge of her dearest Angel Bunny. Without an actual response, the stallion turned around, revealing a certain white bunny biting at his right hind leg. "Angel, please stop!" the embodiment of kindness pleaded. "You're hurting Mister... mister... sorry, I don't think I caught your name."
If the stallion had eyes, they'd be rolling as he figured out the mare had terrible timing for formalities. "..."
"Oh, Slender, that's nice... but Mr. Slender, doesn't that hurt?" Fluttershy wondered, pointing to the assaulter on the stallion's hind leg. He simply responded with a shake of his head. "Oh-okay... he's just a bit over protective, sorry... m-may I have him back, please?"
In silence, an ebony tentacle wrapped around the aggressive bunny, placing him back into the hooves of Fluttershy, once more in her possession. Slender could have only hoped the vermin had his rabies shot. "..........." he reminded the mare of what was supposedly common sense to foreigners of the Everfree.
"I-I know I shouldn't have gone this far but, I was so scared for my Angel Bunny, I didn't know what to do!" Fluttershy exclaimed, relieving herself of the withheld tears from his silent, soft scold. "Thank you, Slender... thank you, so, so much... I-I don't know what I'd have done without you," the butter coated pegasus cried, bringing the stallion into a tight embrace as she released every bit of bottled emotion throughout the worried journey.
What is this strange feeling in my chest? Slender realized the fast beating rate of his heart, his first time experiencing a hug from another pony. Why is this happening?
Releasing the embrace, the pegasus had a question for the gentlecolt of the Everfree."Mr. Slender, w-would you like to come over for some dinner, tonight? Well, once we get out of here?" Fluttershy's innocent, soothing voice offered, disrupting the faceless stallion from his thoughts.
Contemplating on his answer, Slender nodded with a "..." accepting the mare's invitation, taking lead as the two began their expedition out of the Everfree Forest.
"You may not be able to talk or show expression, Mr. Slender, but don't worry, I can understand you," Fluttershy smiled, trotting in line beside the stallion.
"...?" Slender asked, facing the shy mare, unsure if he'd gotten the answer before.
"Oh, right, my name's Fluttershy," the element of kindness responded, shocked that she'd forgotten to introduce herself. With the usual silent nod, the suited pony continued the track throughout the Everfree with a heavy thought in his mind.
Thank you, Fluttershy... thank you for my first conversation in eight hundred and forty three years.