Prances with Ponies

by Typewrittensoul

Chapter 9: A Perfect World

With slow, haggard flaps of her wings, Rainbow Dash arrived back at Fluttershy's cottage. Hours of searching through the Everfree Forest high and low ended in failure. Her ears drooped and heart grew heavy at seeing that the lights were turned on. She took a deep breath and long exhale. Braving through the nervousness that pulled at her to fly away, the pegasus mare stepped into the cottage and caught sight of a pink tail in the dining room.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and gulped, walking into the other room after closing the door behind her. “Fluttershy, I'm so...what's that?” She had expected to find her friend crying or at least anxious as to what happened. Instead, the pink maned pegasus was seated nearby the dining table reading a piece of paper with the utmost focus on her face.

“A letter from Kevin...”

“From Kevin?” Dash approached the other pony and looked at the piece of paper from over her shoulder. She figured since she was in such a hurry that she didn't notice the letter in the dark cottage. Of course, it wouldn't have mattered if she did find it considering that the squiggles and scrawls of hue-men writing was all Dash saw, written messily in ink. The left edge of the paper was ripped, making it seem as though this letter was torn right out of Kevin's journal.

“What did this word mean, again? Aw...and I just learned it today, too...” Fluttershy sighed and pressed her hoof under a group of squiggles and stared at it before moving along what could assumed to be a sentence.

Dash blinked. “Wait. Are you saying that you can read that? Since when?”

Fluttershy's eyes remained focused on the letter in front of her. “Only very recently...for the last few weeks I've been going to Twilight's to learn but reading's a lot harder than I thought it'd be...and even though she offered her translation spell to help...I couldn't bare the idea of using it.” She answered slowly and distractedly while continuing to read. “To be honest, I can actually understand most of this, it's just that there's still a lot of words here I haven't learned yet.”

Dash brought her face closer to the paper in Fluttershy's hooves. “Well? What does it say?”

For a moment there was only the rustle of paper as Fluttershy moved the letter so her friend's head wasn't in the way. Taking the hint, Dash promptly sat down and watched in confusion as Fluttershy set the letter onto the table next to her. She closed her eyes and after taking a soft breath, Fluttershy smiled then began to growl and grunt, as she recited from memory...

---

Dear Futtershee,

If you're reading this, then my theory about the Everfree Forest was correct. I didn't want to make you worry by telling you my thoughts about it, nor could I risk writing it down since I knew it was only a matter of time until you were able to read what I wrote. You are, after all, reading this. In my time in Equestria I've learned how to say “thank you” and “you're welcome” and “hello” but luckily, I never learned “goodbye”.

I don't know where you've been going these past few weeks but I can say for certain that when you came back home every night I've never been happier. I'd find myself smiling and you'd smile then apologize and I couldn't help but smile in return. How strange it's gotten, that you were the one to welcome me into your cottage and I ended up being the one to welcome you back everyday.

I've never been big on the whole destiny thing. The idea that I'm not in control of my own life. That everything is predetermined and I have no choice but to go with the flow or struggle vainly against the current. It's egotistical and self-centered, I know. But I also can't deny that there was a reason it was you who found me.

I think I started to doubt things like destiny when I lost my brother a few years ago. The idea that it was planned for him to simply disappear was something I couldn't agree with. I fell in love with his dreams and I wanted to follow in his footsteps and learn about the world and about people. I don't know for what reason and may never know but I found him recently. He wrote a journal like I've been doing, and what I thought I knew about him was so much different from who he really was and what he wanted me to be. While my parents wanted me to become him, my brother wanted me to just be me. My older brother wanted to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes he made, or put myself to risk the same mistakes others have.

I've decided that I want to help animals. I want to help the ones that are sick, orphaned and unloved. I want to help people better understand animals and nature and each other. You showed me that a perfect world is possible and exists and things like language and culture and species are no obstacle to kindness and friendship and love.

I have no delusions that it will be easy, or that I can even succeed in my lifetime. But when I feel I've done all I can, to at least spread the seeds to get this idea going, I'll take a trip. I'll travel down a highway until I come upon a certain forest, and head into it and simply enjoy nature for what it is as the sun shines overhead and the beautiful sights of the night sky when the sun sets. And I'm certain that even if I lose my way, a smiling angel will come and guide me to where I'm supposed to be.

Until then, Futtershee, you'll always be in my heart. In good times and in bad.

Sincerely,

Comments

[Dan50]

AWWWWW

[reader of the night]

Beautiful bittersweet ending

[Mandas]

Made me cry a bit

[JohnIsOffline]

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[White seal]

0)-(0
Oh...ok