Kindness is the Cure

by MegaTJ

Staying to Fight

Staying to Fight

Daylight awoke not far outside of the little clearing he found on his first night in Everfree Forest. Judging by his Cutie Mark, the sun had only risen about two hours ago. "If I'm lucky", he yawned, "Fluttershy's still asleep." Ignoring the usual morning sickness, Day followed his scent back through the forest, though he really didn't need to. In broad daylight, he could tell where he had been the previous night. He found that the forest was quite different in the early hours of sunlight than at night. "Most of the creatures are probably nocturnal", he yawned in explanation to himself. "Looks like I went far enough in. I think we can stay in Ponyville for as long as we need."

As he trotted along, Day noticed the way his breath smelled. He stopped to check it better. A few sniffs later still left him confused about the sour aroma in his mouth. "Is this wolfsbane? Can't be, that only grows on Kiba no Shima. But it smells just alike…hmm…"

Nothing further other than the added note to brush his teeth crossed his mind about it. If he lost any more time, Fluttershy would probably get worried about him. He made up the lost distance by quickening into a jog. The creatures around him scurried about back to their homes until the interruption to their foraging passed by. "My guidebook said that this was supposed to be a dangerous forest. I wonder why I haven't seen much danger. In the past I've encountered predators despite the problem…"

Again, he just left well enough alone to focus on getting back to the cottage before he was missed. It wasn't much of a trek for him, considering he had been through worse before. The worst part of it all was probably the sharp rock puncturing his hoof. It hindered his ability to jog, but it didn't stop him completely. He kept walking, enjoying the rays of sunlight shining down on him from the trees above.

D

Rime woke up groggily at the sound of frantic knocking at the door of his room. Seeing as how Day wasn't back yet, he quickly shook himself awake just in time to have Fluttershy burst in. She immediately noticed Day's absence. "Rime! Where's Day!?"

"He got up early and went for a walk. I think to the park", he replied shakily, "Why, what's going on?"

"There's a werewolf in Ponyville! Twilight told me to start warning everypony not to go out after dark!" Fluttershy breathed in deeply. "Make sure to tell him, I have more ponies to tell!"

Rime waited for her to take off again before letting the panic show on the outside. "Oh, no. Oh, no. Not good…"

The sound of the window creaking open behind him made him turn to see Day straining to get a grip on the inside of the room. Rime jumped over and grabbed the Earth Pony's ear and pulled with all of his might. With the combined effort, most of it coming from the pony with the sore ear, they managed to get Daylight in the window. "Thanks, Rime", Day said sarcastically, rubbing the bite-shaped ring of pain from his ear.

"We have a problem", Rime said seriously.

"Yeah, we do", Day agreed, "Fluttershy doesn't have a ladder that reaches the window. Phew!"

"No not that you dummy!" Rime screamed.

The tone of the situation finally got to Day, who straightened up to hear what the kitsune had to say. "What's going on, Rime?"

He took a deep breath. "It got through, Day. Fluttershy's warning Ponyville about it…"

The sudden news knocked the wind out of Day. "Got through?" he repeated hoarsely. "No, I-I led it far into the forest…how…"

Rime shook his head in an "I don't know" fashion. "I read her mind, but didn't see anything but a pretty beat up unicorn…"

"Somepony got hurt!?" Day choked.

"I didn't see anything other than scratches", Rime said, using what he saw from Fluttershy's memory, "She'll be okay."

"It doesn't matter." Day doubled over nauseously. "Do you know what this means for us?"

Rime nodded. "We hafta take off, don't we?"

"No." The pony stood up suddenly. "That would be too suspicious. Besides, I'm not leaving Fluttershy just like that."

"Ooh! Does this mean I win the bet?"

"Focus!"

Rime yipped and shut his mouth.

"I'm going to the library to pick up some books. If Fluttershy comes back before I do, tell her that's where I am."

"I don't get it", Rime said with a tilt of his head, "What are books going to do?"

"Help us out." Day slipped his saddlebag on. "I've had it with running. From this moment on, Rime, we stay and fight. I'll come back with a plan ready."

Rime stood on his hind legs and rendered a salute. "Yes, sir!"

The stairs of the cottage weren't even touched on Day's decent. The yellow pony kept himself as low to the ground as he could to increase his speed as he attempted to rip the grass up with his hooves. The Golden Oaks Library came into view faster than he thought it would, but he didn't have time to think about it when he saw the two armor-clad guards standing right outside the door. Common sense told him that Princess Celestia was for some reason on the inside and that he wasn't going to be admitted until she left. He pretended to be passing by, putting the guards at ease while he made his way around to the back. When out of sight, he sniffed along the ground until he found what he was looking for: a basement window.

To his satisfaction, it was unlocked. Before squeezing his small frame through the window, Day took a good look around for any patrolling guards. The coast was clear, but he still made haste in pushing his saddle bag through the window before crawling in. He misjudged the height of the window from the floor and crashed to the ground. Luckily no pony heard him. The door to the attic was open, and when he saw the many book cases towering to the ceiling, he knew why. "A section of the library down here?"

Hoofsteps above moved about frantically. Deciding that he should get what he came for and skedaddle, Day put his saddlebag back on and began searching. Having no idea how books were arranged in a library, he scanned through the "W"s. "Nope, nope, no…aha!" Day grabbed every book in that category and filled the biggest pockets of his saddlebag with them. He was on his way back out when he caught part of the conversation upstairs. He curiously crept up to the last step until he could hear well.

"…is very concerning", he heard a mare say. "I will assign several guards to Ponyville and include a team of elite trackers to help find the wolf."

"Thank you, Princess", a younger mare replied, "Is there anything you want me and the Elements of Harmony to do?"

"Stay vigilant, Twilight", she replied, "The shipment of books I had sent from the archives should contain books about werewolves. Do you still have them?"

"Yes, they are down in the basement with the rest."

Hoofsteps moving to the basement door were Day's cue to take off. Unfortunately, he forgot about the stairs and upon the first step, tripped and tumbled down with a racket of noise. The excitement dulled the pain, but not the sounds of his landing.

"Prowler!" a guard shouted.

Day shot for the window, smashing it out with his well-aimed saddlebag. He dove through it just as the guards made the bottom step. He got caught half-way, but managed to squirm his way through before the guards could pull him back in. Scooping up his spoils, Day kicked in the morning energy to get a full sprint back to Fluttershy's.

"Halt!"

Day looked behind him to see a Pegasus guard swooping down on him. Thinking quickly, he turned a tight corner, barely missing being grabbed. He saw a porch with a gap under it and slid underneath, out of sight. Guards galloped by, screaming various orders and statuses. The Pegasus was still in the air, scoping out the surrounding areas for him. From what the fleeing Earth Pony saw, the house under which he was hiding was elevated above the ground. He crawled over the moist foundation, ignoring the mud and the mice scurrying away from their nests as he got closer to the rear of the house. He hoped that it was high enough to still hide him from the flying guard because in a not-so-well-thought-out dash, he continued his previous sprint. Nothing came from the Pegasus, so he figured he was making a clean getaway.

It turned out to be true when most of Ponyville was behind him. The solitude didn't slow him down; as a matter of fact he didn't stop until he reached Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy still hadn't gone back from making panic in Ponyville with her warnings, so he was relieved to finally be able to take in a relaxed breath. "I hope they didn't get a good look at me", he said on his way upstairs. "That would really be a problem."

Day found Rime asleep on the bed when he opened the door to his room. Disturbing the kitsune didn't cross his mind. He could do his research without him. The five books he collected from the library fell from his saddlebag as he shook it upside down on the bed. "I've seen two of these before, but haven't read them…"

"Books haven't helped before, Day", Rime yawned, climbing up on Day's head.

"I think I have a lead this time." Day opened the first tome. "I met a zebra the night I left to scope out Everfree Forest. She said that I need to find my deepest desire, accept it and let it grow…whatever that means. I'm going to search these books for anything along those lines."

"I don't follow", Rime said.

"I don't either for once", Day replied. "So I'm just going to look into it."

"No, I mean, why are you doing this?"

Day sighed, "Because for the first time in my life I'm tired of running. I met and fell in love with Fluttershy by fate. I can't just pass this chance up."

"Now you're making less sense than me in a sugar coma!"

"I know. Let me put it like this: I think I have a shot to stop this, and I'm taking it because Fluttershy is the prettiest and sweetest pony I've ever met."

"But, but", Rime sputtered, "You're breaking rules five, nine, and twelve!"

"I know what I'm doing." Day flipped through a few of the pages, cringing at a few of the illustrations.

"What if it gets by you again?" Rime asked, jumping onto the book. "What if somepony else gets hurt?"

A hoof swiped the ice creature aside. "You know I can keep it from getting too bad. It might be a little selfish, but I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't like this at all…"

"And you're really going to love how I had to steal these books to keep from getting caught by guards", Day flat-toned.

"And the life of crime begins."

Day rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Rime."

The fox huffed. "I'm going outside to play", he growled.

"It's your day off anyways", Day called after him, "Behave or no cakes!"

On the way down to meet up with Angel downstairs, Rime passed Fluttershy, who didn't see him on the way down. He didn't have enough time to go back and warn his friend, but the closed door he left behind should provide an adequate barrier for the yellow pony.

"Okay, let's see", Day said to the book he had opened. He didn't get to read many words before Fluttershy's gentle knock came from the door. He quickly shoved the books under the bed and jumped down to answer it. Knowing who it was almost made him smile upon opening it, but he refrained with all of his might.

"Good morning, Day", Fluttershy said. She seemed rather calm considering she just found out about a werewolf in Ponyville.

Day studied her face when he returned her greeting, wondering just how the timid mare could be so calm. He was so engrossed in her beautiful face that he didn't notice he was staring until she pointed out how dirty he was. "Oh, yeah", he said, finally noticing the mud staining his fur and tail, "I slipped on some mud during my walk this morning.

"I see", she replied, "You weren't out before sunrise, were you?"

"No why?"

Seeing as how Rime wasn't in the room, Fluttershy assumed Day wasn't informed of the events of the previous night. "There's a werewolf somewhere in Ponyville."

Day put on the best surprised expression he could muster. "R-really?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yes…I warned much of Ponyville, and the mayor will tell everypony else. I didn't know how early you had gone out, I was worried that something might have happened to you."

Day's heart jumped at that last part. No other living being with the exception of Rime had ever shown him any kind of concern like the way she did. He scratched the back of his head to help quell his desire to bring his lips into a smile. "Uh…no, I didn't see anything. I actually just walked out to wake up before starting work today. Speaking of which, what is there to get done today?"

"Well", Fluttershy replied, taking the bait to get off subject, "We mainly just have to feed the animals today."

"I'll get it done before lunch", Day declared. He stretched, then headed out to begin today's chores.

"Shouldn't you have breakfast first?" Fluttershy asked.

"Not hungry", he lied.

"Oh, okay." She watched him leave the room. When she was sure that he was gone, Fluttershy slumped to the floor. There was just so much going on in Ponyville she wasn't sure what to do anymore. With the new threat lurking very near her, she would have to put so much on hold. And that meant trying to figure out Day and Rime's bet. The only bright side was that now she had a real mystery to solve, just like the ones in her books.

The Pegasus put her stressed energy into making Day's bed again. It wasn't as untidy as the previous morning, but she didn't question it. Her flank bumped Day's saddlebag, sending it to the floor. She quickly picked it back up and positioned it on the chair. His name on the side reminded her of the lunch they shared the previous morning. She smiled when she remembered how Day blushed.

"I wonder", she said to herself, "If Day will go out with me for dinner tonight…"