//------------------------------// // Afternoon Decision // Story: Finding Solace // by Demichev //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Afternoon Decision Several hours passed while Fluttershy relaxed on her comfy green sofa. Jonathan had told her to take the afternoon off. When she had protested and told him that she had to take care of all the animals, he had silenced her with a finger to her lips and told her he would take care of the animals. He told her to just relax, lay about, and not worry about anything and that he would take care of it. It was not long till her thoughts again wandered onto his sleeplessness and the nightmares that haunted him. She knew she had to do something to help him. What could help him though? Nopony in Equestria had ever seen anything like him and that was why he stayed with her, away from any other ponies. Only Twilight and herself knew of his existence. They never even told their other friends, determined to keep the knowledge that she was keeping an unknown cre-...no he is not that... being at her place. Fluttershy lazed about and continued pondering on how she could help him. She started to doze off, but jolted awake as a thought occured to her. She just had to go see Twilight. She couldn’t let her beloved suffer any longer. So Fluttershy decided she would go to Ponyville and ask Twilight to help her help him. She got up and put her saddlebags on and trotted out the door. Jonathan was at the pond in front of the house, tossing food to the animals that resided there. “Jonathan,” she said softly, “I’m heading into town for a bit.” Jonathan looked up from what he was doing, smiled at her, and responded, “Alright dear, be safe and don’t let the vendors take all your bits.” Fluttershy blushed a little and trotted in the direction of Ponyville. _____________________________________________________________________________ After Jonathan had told Fluttershy to take the day off, he had spent all of the morning doing the various things around the property. He had fed most of the animals around the property and was hoping to spend any extra time he had sitting with Fluttershy in the cottage. That was the one thing he loved to do more than anything else. Just sitting near her and relaxing. He loved her company and the aura that surrounded her. The peace and tranquility that flowed from her like her long pink hair. He loved to listen to the sound of her breathing, the soft in and out that whispered like the wind among the willow trees, but that comparison was the best he could do and really didn’t do her justice. She was the one who kept him going when he awoke from those horrible nightmares. When she was out of sight, Jonathan could only think, “Well, there goes a peaceful afternoon.” He shrugged and finished feeding the creatures at the pond. Then he remembered that it was time the garden was tended to. He put the feeding supplies back into the storage shed and grabbed the gardening tools. A few months ago, when he and Fluttershy had become close, he had noticed that Fluttershy would often return home with a saddened appearance. He had asked her once what was bothering her and she had responded: “Every time I go the markets to get more food, I feel like I’m being robbed. It’s so much more difficult to take care of the animals, myself, and another on the the bits I make from taking care of other ponies pets.” At that moment Jonathan had a brilliant idea. “Perhaps you could have a garden. Then you could feed all the creatures and yourself and whatever you couldn’t grow here, you could buy at the market. You might even have stuff from the garden that you could sell or trade with the vendors.” Since then, they had a garden. Having the garden had alleviated much of the strain on Fluttershy’s finances and had even brought in some revenue every once in a while. It also served to keep him busy when he had nothing better to do or Fluttershy was out at the town. Jonathan walked to the garden and began checking the various plants for diseases and plucking the vegetables and fruits that were ready to be harvested off. After several hours, he got up from his work and looked up at the sky. “Hmm, it is getting quite late. I wonder where Fluttershy is?” he asked himself. He turned to walk to the cottage. Suddenly his vision went black and he crumpled to the ground. Pain shot through his nervous system, threatening to burn his inside and turn him in ash. He twitched and spasmed on the ground, moaning in pain as his heart raced and muscles coiled and tightened. He felt as if his entire body was burning and thousands of spikes were being drive into every pore of his body. _____________________________________________________________________________ Fluttershy knocked on the door of the tree library. “Come in.” twittered the voice of her purple friend from somewhere in the library. Fluttershy pushed open the door and trotted in. She shut the door behind her. It never ceased to amaze her that this tree had somehow been turned into library. She always wondered what force could have made this place. Her thoughts were interrupted as Twilight trotted into the main room. “Hey Fluttershy.” Twilight said as she gave Fluttershy a hug. “What brings you into Ponyville?” “Well,” Fluttershy answered shyly, “If its not to trouble I need to ask a favor. If you’re not to busy that is.” “Of course I’m not busy, I’m always free to help a friend when they need it. So what do you need help with.” Twilight responded with a smile. “It’s about Jonathan.” Fluttershy stated. Twilight’s smiling face twitched. Twilight asked, “What’s the problem with Jonathan? I thought everything was going fine.” “Twilight, I’m sorry, but I didn’t tell you the whole truth every time I came into town. I know you wanted to know how he was doing, but I left things out. You see every time he tries to go to sleep, he gets maybe an hour of sleep before he wakes up. Every time he wakes up he’s screaming and thrashing about. I thought at first that it was just the regular type of nightmare and that they would go away after awhile, but this has been going on for quite some time and now I just can’t bear to see him struggle anymore.” Fluttershy started crying, sobs wracking her body. Twilight pulled her friend into a hug and replied tenderly, “It’s okay Fluttershy, shh shh shh shh shh, I understand. You were only protecting him and you just want the best for him. I can see you care very deeply for him.” Twilight continued to hold her friend as Fluttershy began to calm. Fluttershy pulled out of the embrace and wiped the last remnants of tears from her face. She smiled and said, “Thank you Twilight, I’m so glad you’re my friend. I need your help to find some way to make the nightmares stop.” Twilight pondered this for a moment. “Hmm, stop nightmares huh? Alright I’ll see what I can find. In fact I’ll make it my priority to help you, er, him. The study that I was working on can wait. Friends in need first, leisure projects last.” “Oh thank you Twilight!” Fluttershy hugged Twilight tightly. “Thank you so much.” “Flut-cough-ersh-ah can’t-cough- breathe-he,” Twilight said, looking a whole new definition of purple. “Oh! sorry.” Fluttershy said sheepishly, letting go of Twilight and standing back. Cough “No problem, however, it may take me awhile to find something. So, feel free to go on home and keep an eye on him. I’ll be over there as soon as I find something that can help. See you later.” “Bye, Twilight.” Fluttershy left the library and began the trot back to the cottage.