Digging for Memories

          Three months had passed since Twilight found Destiny. His broken hind leg had healed a lot so he could walk again and so did many of his cuts and bruises. There were still multiple wounds on his body including the gash on his fore leg. Twilight said they were made by magical causes and would take longer to heal. Destiny was okay with that as long as he could walk again. As soon as he could walk he went everywhere and met everyone. He became friends with most of Ponyvilles's residents. He even met the troublesome Cutie Mark Crusaders.

          He had become best friends with all of Twilight's friends and Fluttershy didn't seem so shy around him. Twilight told him that during the winter she was all alone in her cottage. Destiny decided to visit her to see how she was doing. There was a blanket of snow on the ground and the air was cool and crisp. He had a smile on his face as he walked but it disappeared as soon as he could see Fluttershy's cottage. It was on fire.

          He rushed across the small bridge and towards the cottage. The entire roof was burning and the door was burnt black. He was hoping no one was in there but then he heard it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" It was a scream he instantly recognized as Fluttershy's. He burst through the door, shattering it into ash. The sight was horrible. There were birdhouses littering the ground and on fire and burning wooden beams falling down. The black smoke was entering his lungs, causing him to cough uncontrollably. He rushed up a small staircase and into a short hallway. He heard the scream again, coming from the door at the end of the hallway.

          He raced down the hallway and into the room. He gasped in horror followed by coughing from the smoke he inhaled. There was the remains of a scorched bed and burning picture frames littering the floor. He saw Fluttershy in the corner curled up in a ball crying and choking from the smoke.There was a large scorched safe lying on the ground spilling bits everywhere. He heard the voice from his dream in his head "Save her,rob her." He thought in his head "Save her." The voice replied in a slightly angry tone "Ugh! Your going to take a while,Very well." He felt an odd tingling sensation on the top of his head but shrugged it off.

          "Fluttershy!" He called out. Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw Destiny standing there. "Help!" She called out. Destiny felt the odd tingling again but this time it was in his head. All of a sudden Fluttershy glowed with a faint orange light and floated over to him onto his back. "Hang on!" He called over the roaring flames. He could feel Fluttershy tighten her grip around his neck. He ran into the hallway and down the stairs coughing and sputtering. His vision was starting to fade but he kept going. All of a sudden Fluttershy screamed and he looked up. A beam was falling onto them. Destiny grabbed Fluttershy and threw her out of the way. He braced for impact but the beam stopped in midair. He took the opportunity and ran out form under it just as it came crashing down. He grabbed a coughing and sobbing Fluttershy and raced out the door.

          He laid Fluttershy down onto the snow and collapsed. The smoke was taking affect on his body. He was coughing out black smoke uncontrollably. Fluttershy got up and rushed over to him. "Destiny are you okay!?" She half shouted in her gentle voice. "I'm fine as long as you are..." He said with a small smile. Tears were streaming down Fluttershy's face as she smiled and hugged him. "Oh,thank you so much. You saved my life..." He patted her back. "Your welcome." Destiny's vision slowly went black and he fainted.

          Destiny awoke slowly and looked around. He was in a hospital bed. There was an oxygen mask strapped to his face and an I.V. in his left hoof. He felt something on his lap. He looked down and smiled. Fluttershy's head was rested on his lap and she was sleeping peacefully. He stroked her mane for a while then she slowly awoke. She looked up at him and smiled. Tears started to run down her and she hugged him again and kept saying "Thank you" and "It's my fault..." and he kept saying "Your welcome" and "No it's not". This continued for a while then Fluttershy pulled away and asked him "Ummm...Destiny?" Destiny looked at her with a smile on his face "Yeah?" He replied. "How did you do...Well do what you did back there?" Destiny looked at her with a confused expression "What do you mean?" He asked. "Well when I saw you I could have sworn I saw a horn on your head...A unicorn horn." She said. " Destiny smiled again and pulled her close "You were just hallucinating. That house was filled with smoke and you were pretty frightened." He said gently. Fluttershy sat back, smiled, and nodded.

All of a sudden Twilight and all of her friends burst through the door with expressions of terror on their faces. "Destiny, Fluttershy, are you okay!?" Twilight shouted. "Yes Twilight, I'm fine, and so is Fluttershy." He replied calmly. Twilight came and hugged him "We were all so worried about you..." He patted her back and said "It's alright I'm okay now." Twilight pulled away from him and smiled. "That was very brave of you to save Fluttershy." Twilight said. Everyone nodded. "Yeah I would have done the same if I was there."  Rainbow Dash said with a grin. Everyone laughed at this even thought they knew it was true. The doctor came in and was glad to see Destiny was awake. He said he would be fine and could go. Destiny slipped out of bed and they all walked to Twilight's house. When they got there they all went inside and sat down.

Rainbow Dash spoke up "So what happened Fluttershy?" Fluttershy sighed and started "Well it was early in the morning..."

"I woke up and decided to sleep in since there were no animals to take care of. I fell back asleep and woke up again later but kept my eyes shut, hoping to fall back asleep. Then I heard voices. There were 2 of them, one deep and one high and scratchy. The deep one said 'So is this her?' and the second voice said 'Yeah,but it doesn't matter who she is as long as she's a friend of his.' I heard a shrill laughter then the deep voice sighed and said 'Just kill her already.' Th-they were g-going to k-kill me..." Her voice started to crack. Rainbow flew down and put a fore-leg around her. She smiled and continued "I looked up in time to see the outline of a pegasus and a unicorn before they disappeared in a column of flames. The flames spread so quickly. They trapped me in a corner and covered my entire house in seconds. I screamed and started to cry. A few moments later Destiny burst through the door. I cried out for help and then I felt a weird tingling sensation and I was lifted into the air and onto his back. I held on tight and he ran downstairs. All of a sudden a beam fell from the ceiling. I screamed at him to look out. He threw me out of the way and risked his life to make sure I was safe. He almost died but then I felt him pick me up and carry me outside. He dropped me onto the snow and collapsed. Then the paramedic ponies showed up. They took him to the hospital. After all of that I had forgot about something strange,something that really made it weird...Destiny had a unicorn horn..."

Everyone turned their gaze to Destiny. Twilight said the same thing Destiny said "You were probably just hallucinating from the smoke since it was made by magical causes." They all nodded. Then Fluttershy said "But what do I do now? My house is burned down and I have no where to stay..." Applejack smiled "It's okay Shy. We'll help you rebuild yer house." Then Twilight spoke up "Yeah and you can stay here in the meantime." She said. Fluttershy smiled and tears of joy streamed down her face "Oh thank you so much, I don't know what would I do without you guys." She said. They all smiled and had a group hug. After a while everyone went home. Twilight pulled out a spare mattress for Fluttershy who thanked her again, crawled into bed, and fell asleep. Twilight and Destiny walked downstairs and into the main room. All of a sudden Spike,who had been at Rarity's,burst through the door holding a scroll. Twilight immediately took it and read it. Her eyes widened "Destiny I have to go I will be back tomorrow. Take care of Fluttershy for me." She said all this while she scooped up Spike and stuffed a few things into her saddlebag. She ran out the door and shut it on her way out.

Destiny just sat there stunned with his eyes wide open. All he heard was back tomorrow and take care of Fluttershy because of how fast Twilight was talking. He shook his head and started to pace around the room. He couldn't sleep. He had too much on his mind like Who tried to kill Fluttershy and why? or What is that voice I keep hearing? he pondered on these thoughts and then he heard Fluttershy scream. He raced up the stairs and nearly broke the door bursting through it. Fluttershy was on the ground screaming and crying. Destiny rushed over to her calling over her sobs "Fluttershy what's wrong!?" Fluttershy started to sobbing out "Fire everywhere... All my friends dead... Rainbow..." Destiny then remembered what Twilight did 3 months ago. He picked her up, put her into her bed, and climbed under the covers with her and pulled her close. "Shhhh...Its okay Fluttershy it was just a dream..." Fluttershy's cries diminished until they stopped completely and she fell into a deep sleep. Destiny couldn't keep his eyelids open and fell asleep along with her.

In her dream Fluttershy was running. She was being chased by something. She ran until the beast cornered her into a tree in a clearing. She turned around and saw a Timber-wolf walk into the clearing but it looked strange. It was larger than an ordinary Timber-wolf and its eyes were red instead of green. It bared it's teeth and crouched low as it made it's way toward Fluttershy. "St-stay back!" She stuttered at it. All of a sudden a pony leaped into the clearing. It was in the shadows so Fluttershy couldn't see who it was. They leaped at the Timber-wolf and rammed into it's side sending it flying into a tree. The vicious beast stumbled back up and roared. It charged at the figure with the force and speed of a bull. The figure dodged the creature and bucked it in the side and it shattered into pieces. The figure stood up straight and walked towards Fluttershy. She backed away, frightened of the figure. Then they stepped into the moonlight and Fluttershy gasped. Destiny was standing there, smiling, his hoof outstretched. Fluttershy smiled back and took his hoof.