The Willow
No pony in Equestria has yet to hear about the Everfree Forest that encompasses the outer rim of Ponyville. As many ponies that exist outside the thicket of Everfree one could argue that there are just as many myths and tales about what goes on inside the haunting woods. Cannibalistic voodoo ponies; trees with gaping maws that watch as you go by; beasts with blood red eyes that would petrify your very being with a meeting glance; abandoned strongholds that are rout with nothing now but wisps of the past. So many stories; a new one born on the hour it would seem. But fact and fiction, while standing at the opposite of one another, go hand in hand. With truth, you will find concealed lies. And from a lie, you will find the grains of truth. The myths and tales surrounding Everfree Forest may be fact or may be fiction... But only if your ears and eyes see it for themselves, you will only be able to say that they are tales.
There exist ponies that live to expose the facts and fiction of the Everfree; to plunge into the abyss and bring tales of what they saw and what they heard. It would seem though, that no matter how many times those adventures plunge in, a new tale or a new amendment must be added to the lore of the Everfree. One pony saw this, another saw that; one had confirmed this, one had disproved that; they saw it as this big, that group saw it as only so small. What is fact and what is fiction of everypony's word? Not one can confirm that... Except the one that sees it all happen.
The one pony who sees pony after pony enter into the darkness of the forest but remains silent of it nonetheless. The one pony who had made her home just out of reach of the forest itself. Fluttershy, keeper of stray animals and ailing pets, watches from her home these adventures venture into the Everfree's clutch from her home's safe confines. Her whole life of living in that cottage has fashioned her mind to know what is fact within the Everfree Forest. But, her mind has not once rid itself of what is fiction. The facts of Everfree chill her to the bone as she curls against her bed sheets each night; and the fiction of Everfree keeps her ridged throughout the morning when her back is against the looming thicket that threatens to consume her with what she does not know.
Fear is within the mind they say... That we need to only embrace our fear and know it for what it really is. But for some, fear will always prevent that first step against the unknown.
The late night of Equestria began its final stretch against the cooling land. Young ponies and elder ponies alike began to settle against their places of rest, eager to end their day and perhaps wait until the next to greet them with the baking sunrise. One light from each window that looked out against the roads of Ponyville began to dim into darkness one by one, leaving only the fireflies and few streetlights to usher against the blanket of night. Luna's orb hung beautifully against the soft night sky, lulling even the critters of Equestria into a somber rest.
Out near the edge of Ponyville and on the tail of the Everfree Forest, the cottage of Fluttershy's dimmed down a light to but a flickering, warm ember atop a candle's wick. Fluttershy looked out the window above her bed for a final check on her coop of critters. Not a one was out and about, all nicely and safely kept inside their own small abode. She breathed a sigh of relief and lowered herself down to meet her tired head against her soft pillow. Her eyes met the dim ember that danced on the candle placed on her nightstand, her mouth forming just as warm an expression as the fire. The night air mixed against the hot smell of wax and wood and sent a small prickle of a soothing nature through Fluttershy as her eyelids slid down little by little. Second by second, her lids drooped and shuttered, each time meeting with more resistance to opening wide once more. Once her eyes were closed from the world around her, slumber began to weave its web around her.
Awooooooooo...
The wind pushed against her window, clacking the glass against the wood pane. Though Fluttershy stirred and ruffled her blanket a bit, her eyes did not return to the world. Windy nights happened from time to time, it was one of the risks of living out of the reach of town; odd weather patterns that weren't always pegasi controlled. And though it once scared her and continued to frighten her on days of absolute fear, she had learned to hush it out with her own thoughts. The winds would not last for long; as they would always twist back into the forest where they belonged and rattle against the dark leaves and uncut brush.
Awooooooooo...
Rstl... Rstl... Rstl...
Fluttershy's warm look of peace was interrupted as a small yawn mixed with a sigh went out of her. It soon returned and the last leg of slumber finally dawned on her as her breath steadied to small, quiet breaths. The wind had returned to the forest and would not bother her for the rest of her night. It was a more stressful routine in the day, but it wasn't harmful; that was enough for her. Through the darkness of her eyelids, she could still see the dim fire keeping the darkness from swallowing her room away from her. Peace... Quiet... Warmth... Serenity...
Awooooooooo...
A second wind...? It would pass like the other. Fluttershy worked her body against the bed a bit, her brows furrowing through her slumber and her warm expression turning to a frown. The wind of Equestria and the Everfree Forest were very distinct as Fluttershy noticed. In Equestria, the summer winds were always straight and crisp, bending against anything they met without resistance to keep pushing. The winds of winter were much more twisting, but had an edge to them that once something pushed against them, they would push back with what chilling force they could carry. Spring brought a very gentle and caressing wind, one that would never dare to hurt anything but would be strong and carry the seeds of new flowers across the sprouting green. The fall was much like the winter, strong, brazen, but it wouldn't try to push anything; it would only whip leaves about as if it were playing with you like a mischievous child.
But the Everfree wind remained the same year round. The wind was there. That was all that could be said. It was not cold, it was not warm; it was there. It possessed no strength to whip leaves about, just to rustle them against one another. It could make a window wiggle and moan just-so, but it could not be a threat against it. The wind was only just there. Empty, unnoticeable unless it desperately tried to make itself known. The wind was quiet for the most part; as if it was content with its ways. But this wind that had come against her window not once but twice was not content. It was heart broken. It was trying to push against her window; to pierce through the night. That was when Fluttershy's opened wide and her body shrunk up against itself.
This was not the wind.
Awooooooo...
No, now that she listened to it, it defiantly wasn't the wind. It was more sharp, more calling than the wind itself. But would it go away like the wind had done before it? Fluttershy curled her hind-legs against her chest and opened her wings out just enough to cover her eyes and side just a bit. The light of the fire pressed red against her yellow body as it shook and quivered. Would it leave if left alone?
Awoooooo...
It didn't matter either way. Fluttershy's body calmed just a little bit and her eyes softened with the calming fire to soothe her. Whatever it was, it was out there while she was in here. She was safe from whatever it was that called against the summer night. It was out there away from her. Away from the safety of her secluded home and alone out there... With the other animals. The critters and pets she was charged with to protect and nurture.
Awoooooo...
Fear ripped against the pegasi's heart as she found her hooves trotting across her room and the door to her room swinging open as she darted down and through the dark house. That fear wrenched heart beat with a loud rhythm as Fluttershy's tired breath scratched coldly against her throat. Down the stairs and across the living room -being sure to not wake Angel nestled against the couch- and through the kitchen. Her hooves clambered to a halt as she met with the screen door; the gateway to her backyard and nursery for the animals she took care of. It was as if all at once her mind flew through what she was doing, what she could be doing, and what could be happening out there. So many options, no idea about the time, or what sort of danger was out there in the night. Her mind caught up with her heart finally and she calmed her breathing.
It was nothing... Well, it was something; but nothing to worry about. The animals were safely put into their respective homes and would remain there until morning. Safe as ever, and safe as always. Nothing to worry over...
Awooooo...
The screen door opened very, very slowly; very often slapping back shut as the creaking sound mixed with the darkness startled Fluttershy to jump back a bit. Around the fifth attempt, the door was moved open and Fluttershy's head peeked out into the blanketed backyard. The soft warmth of the morning had been replaced with a cooler air, but it was still warm enough to call summer. Fluttershy looked for something to find solace in as she poked her head into the maw of night. Her eyes soon met with two twinkling lights in the canvas of night. Though the sky was glittered with so many stars and Luna's own moon, those two stars seemed to bring a peace to her. That peace was tucked deep against her body and her wings curled against her ridged form. One step at a time, small subtle clops of her hooves against the chilled night grass formed as the only sound around her as she pressed on against her chills.
It was halfway across the yard that something occurred to her. Something that had made her wings cling painfully against her sides. What was she looking for? Suddenly, the Everfree Forest had never looked so dark...
Awooooo...
No longer was she within her home, and she could hear the sound in full and without distortion. She may have been mistaken, but she knew that sound. It was faintly different than the one she knew, but it was a sound she knew. A sound she had heard once a year every year; but what was it? Fear was slowly replaced with thought and Fluttershy's wings loosened up ever-so slightly.
Awooooo...
Wings slapped back into a trembling place on Fluttershy's sides. The sound was very clear, and also very near. It lurched her heart to do it, but Fluttershy tried her best to fix in on where it was coming from. A single drop of sweat rolled down from Fluttershy's forehead as her ears flapped to attention. The night was still young, very young, so no crickets began their chirping and no frogs had taken to croaking in the stream flowing around Fluttershy's cottage. Her ears could tune in easily to the sound. That is, if her heart would stop thumping so loudly against her head.
Awooooo...
The chicken coop. It was coming from behind the chicken coop. There was no mistake of that. Fluttershy's throat grew dry as she tried to swallow some air down before starting a wobbly hoof step in the direction of the coop. Once more, the soft clops of her hooves against dirt and grass became the only sound through the night. A mixed blessing. As her hooves swept against grass in a refusal to step off the dirt, Fluttershy's mind began to wonder. Did some monster wonder out of the Everfree Forest to eat the critters she was watching? Why did it wait until tonight? Maybe... Maybe it's trying to lure her out so it can eat her. Was it too late to turn around? When she looked back at her house, all she could make out was the still flickering light of the fire she kept lit on her nightstand showing through the window on the second floor.
Awooooo...
It wasn't distant anymore; nor was it filtered by something blocking it. Without Fluttershy being fully aware, she had taken the final step around the chicken coop and was standing right next to the cause of the sound. Her neck and head were still turned to look at her house, fighting the urge to look at what creature was making the sound. If her hooves could have clenched against the grass, they would have. Her nerves shambled and buckled all at once, refusing her will to make her eyes look at the monster. Instead, when her head began to turn, her eyes clamped shut and she swung her head a bit too much and when she opened her eyes, they were met with the sight of a tree. A lone willow tree that decorated the corner of her yard. It was her favorite tree. She loved how modest and concealed it was; as if it didn't want anything to see the bark under its draping greens. Seeing it awakened a small fleck of calm inside her. Though she was terrified, her eyes squeezed tightly and she turned to look at the creature.
When she turned... There was nothing. Her eyes opened clearly and she looked around frantically. Nothing. There was no sign of anything here. No monster to be found. She swore she heard something, and more so that she heard it coming from right here.
Awoooo...
That sound echoed against her body and she realized her head was up too high. This beat, this monster, was no taller than the stretch to her knee. Looking down, she saw the monster; the monster that was howling and rattling her night. Before her, sitting on its wooden hind was a yellow eyed hound. A Timber Wolf no older than a pup was looking up at her with searchlight-like yellow eyes that were framed on the top by two leaves. It looked at her blankly, without a motion to speak of. She looked at it, without a motion to speak of. The two pair of eyes had only just looked into the other; neither owner speaking an action of any kind. That was until Fluttershy noticed something glistening as the pup's eyes made a small reflecting light off of her.
An amber shaded substance, from what she could make out, was coating against the pup's right front leg. Fluttershy recalled that Timber Wolves didn't have blood like normal animals since they were purely constructs of nature and magic. But they did 'bleed'. They 'bled' a sappy substance... Which was what was covering the pup's leg. Instincts over came fear and Fluttershy bent down just a bit in the direction of the pup.
It moved to stagger away, but it only seemed to lurch just slightly to one side as his right leg splintered slightly in refusal to budge. Fluttershy could vaguely follow what direction the pup was trying to scamper towards. Just to the side of both of them was the fence outlining Fluttershy's backyard, which seemed to be the pup's aim of escape. A small segment of the fence had been snapped in half it seemed through the dim moonlight. That probably had served as his means of entry; and when Fluttershy looked at it closer, an amber glisten was clinging to some of the splintered wood there as well. A pain twisted through Fluttershy as her compassion burned for this creature now. Once more, she moved in closer to the pup, testing for safe waters between them.
The pup only staggered a bit, a gentle whimper crackling through its wooden passage of a throat. She made no attempt to go any close with her whole self, prompting instead to outstretch one of her wings to the pup. The wing was touched with both the dim light of the moon and the yellow hue of those yellow eyes. The pup looked to this wing than at Fluttershy herself. She may have been mistake for a second time that night, because when she smiled at the Timber pup, she thought it smiled back. A wooden paw tapped down against the yellow wing offered to the pup just once, followed by one after another until four light paws were pressing on the pegasi's wing. It slowly moved up and planted the pup onto Fluttershy's warm, soft back; where the pup stayed and remained silent for now.
Fluttershy felt a warm sappy touch go down her back and across her wing very slowly. Her body tensed a bit, but when she felt the weight of that pup pushing down against her firm back, all other feelings were blanketed as if it were the night's doing. Suddenly, her screen door didn't seem so far away. Once her front hoof moved to take a step towards her home, she stopped.
Awooooo...
That sound, for some reason now, didn't seem all that frightening now. There was no way to put a hoof on it, but that sad, defeated howl didn't sound as such any more. She could be wrong, but it almost sounded like peace. This beast that had startled her awake on the fear of having her critters harmed was clearly not doing that at all. His weeps of pain had drawn her attention for better of perhaps both of them. And as Fluttershy moved to her screen door and in turn her home, she looked over onto her back at the now sleeping pup. Something that had scared her so deeply was now resting soundly on her back; the back of a stranger pony. While she looked back, she noticed the tree just behind the chicken coop. A tree that helped her just a moment ago. A tree that led her to seeing this little pup.
"...Willow..." her voice was as soft and soothing as the night as she looked at the sleeping pup. Fluttershy gave the pup the smallest kiss on his wooden snout, making her notice something rather strange. Though its body was wooden, it felt distinctly warm. The two moved out of the darkness of the outside and went into the dark of the cottage, the squeaking screen door bothered Fluttershy not in the slightest. Even when it closed with a little crack against the wooden frame.
The kitchen was also where Fluttershy kept her medical supplies; so she gently laid the wounded pup on the top of the counter when she went to a cupboard for what she needed. This may have been something she had never treated, but an injury of a cut could be handled fairly the same for any animal. Her wings quietly slid the cupboards open until she came across a roll of white medical bands and a bottle with a swab latched against it. These in the grasp of her wings, she took them and placed them without a sound beside the pup. First, she cleaned the excess sap off from the cut with a cloth kept beside her sink. Small dabs were taken until the glistening texture was all-but-gone from around the cut. The cut itself was small, it just hadn't been tended to for too long.
Fluttershy unscrewed the bottle with her teeth and put the cap down beside it. Again, she used her teeth to clamp down onto one side of the swab clutched against the side of the bottle before dipping the other end inside the top. The aroma of alcohol burned against her nose for just a moment before she pulled back, sure that the swab had collected enough. Gently as much as slowly, the swab was pressed against the cut. The pup stirred a bit and whimpered as Fluttershy rubbed against the wound. The pup's activity lasted for just a moment, then it fell quiet once more and Fluttershy put the swab down on the counter. She redid the cap onto the bottle and pushed it off to the side. One step left and she would be done.
Her teeth gripped against the end of the bandage roll and pulled on it, using her wings to anchor the whole in place so she could get a fair amount off. Once the stretch was far enough, she jerked her head a bit and snapped the bandage off from the rest of the roll. Her wings were careful as they elevated the wolf's leg a bit and wrapped the wrappings around the wound snug. The wrap was finished off with both ends being tucked in against the inner lacing. For the second time that night, a sigh of relief went through Fluttershy when she looked at the pup. Her wings caressed it into a ginger hold as she carried it off to her room. Through the living room -once more care not to wake Angel- and up the stairs, Fluttershy was happy to see her candle light welcoming her with a waving flicker at her return.
Her wings placed the pup onto a throw-pillow that was placed on her personal couch in her room. At first, the pup whimpered again once the warmth of Fluttershy abandoned it, but it was ended once Fluttershy put a tattered quilt over its body. After a lasting look to this pup that stirred her night, Fluttershy shambled over to her bed and once more laid her head against the pillow she used once before this night. Her wing outstretched to the living fire on her stand, waving against it and finally laying the flame to just a black wisp of smoke and dripping wax. Fluttershy's wing moved to return to her body, but fell short as it flopped down against the bed with a dull thud followed by Fluttershy's slow, even breathe.