~??????~
“Uhhh…” Phoenix groaned as he slowly came to, finding himself lying on a large rock outcrop.
“My head…” he moaned, raising a hand up to feel a fresh lump on the back of his skull where he was hit, his vision blurry and his head throbbing painfully. “Did anyone get the license plate number of that truck?” he wondered out loud, sitting up shakily, struggling to regain his senses.
A surge of adrenaline sped up the process when he didn’t recognize his surroundings, finding himself in a much smaller and darker clearing bordered by bushes, vines and trees with no obvious way out, his back to a large rock.
“What the—where am I?! I’m still in the forest, but I’m not in the clearing anymore!” he realized in alarm. “Damn it! It was a trap, and I fell for it! Now I’m lost!” he swore, cursing his lack of sense in falling for an obvious ambush. Pinkie was right! This was fishy from the get-go, but I didn’t listen! Why didn’t I LISTEN???
Fear rose within him; his heart was pounding in his chest. This must be how Apple Bloom felt the other night! Even though the sun is still out I can hardly see! he abruptly understood, trying not to panic, struggling to his feet. Looking down, he saw his suit was a mess, covered with dirt and loose brambles; his slacks were also torn in at least two places as he’d clearly been dragged part of the way. Rarity is going to kill me for this! the odd thought crossed his mind, a fresh sense of unease gripping him.
Wait a minute! As his vision finally cleared, he noticed that his jacket was open and all his pockets had been emptied, turned inside out. “WHAT!? WHERE IS IT?! ALL MY EVIDENCE IS GONE!” he slammed the surface of the large rock face behind him with a fist in frustration, realizing at that moment he’d been lured in for that purpose, regretting ever more his choice to enter the forest alone.
The sudden sound of rustling underbrush and crackling twigs told him he had much more immediate concerns than stolen evidence. Phoenix froze, his eyes darting back and forth; he was unable to see what was making the noise through the thick underbrush, but he could tell it was getting closer.
“H-hello?” he called out tentatively, but instead of ponies, the silhouettes of four menacing figures emerged from the forest around him and stepped into the small clearing in front of him, eyes glowing green against the dark backdrop of the woods, growling hungrily.
His guts clenched in fear as he beheld the monstrous, wolf-like creatures; their bodies appeared to be made entirely of leaves, twigs and bark but that just made them all the more horrifying to him, especially when they seemed to materialize right out of the trees and ground itself!
“Ah!” Phoenix stumbled backwards, backing himself up against the large and partially crumbled rock face behind him, quickly realizing there was nowhere he could run and nothing he could use to defend himself except a few loose stones, which he clutched at only to find them crumbling at his touch. Watching in dismay as his one pitiful means of defense fell to literal pieces, he returned his gaze towards the plant-like beasts and swallowed hard as he began to break out in a cold sweat.
“N-nice puppies!” he tried to soothe the beasts down, but he didn’t know what he was going to do if he couldn’t persuade them not to make him their next meal. He briefly thought he might be able to climb the rock outcrop behind him, but there was no time. They were just a few short paces from reaching him, and if they were anything like the wolves of his world, they would no doubt pounce if he turned his back to them in an attempt to climb up. Realizing he might be experiencing his final moments, the cold terror of death gripped his body and mind as he watched the Everfree predators move in.
I’m frozen in place… I’m too scared to move… THEY’RE GOING TO KILL ME! he realized as the pack closed in, the lead wolf ready to pounce.
In that moment, Phoenix was certain he was dead. “NO!” he shouted, raising his arms in what he knew would be a futile effort to protect himself. Just as he was about to accept his fate, his vision was flooded by a blinding beam of white as a shaft of light speared into the clearing from the canopy above; he beheld his salvation in a blur of pink and yellow as a pegasus mare came darting down as if borne by the beam, planting herself between him and the monsters menacing him.
“H-huh?” As his vision came back he was stunned to see… “Fl-Fluttershy?!”
“You should be ashamed of yourselves! Picking on poor defenseless Mister Phoenix like that!” She fearlessly faced down the four beasts with flared wings and lowered head, speaking with a fierceness and fire Phoenix would never have dreamed she was capable of. He couldn’t see her face, but as she turned her gaze on each of his assailants in turn, the wolves recoiled, shrinking back from her, whining softly.
“You are all acting like a bunch of big, mean bullies! What would your mothers think if they saw you behaving this way?” she demanded to know, picking out and pinning the apparent alpha wolf with her… stare?
Phoenix watched open-mouthed as even their leader, the largest of them, cowered before her, beginning to back away in respect and fear. He briefly caught the corner of her eye as she turned her attention to a flanking wolf, and he flinched hard from the sheer power of her gaze, suddenly understanding why the beasts couldn’t attack—her stare was terrifying in its intensity, feeling like a force of nature bending the forest creatures to her will.
I don’t believe this! This CAN’T be the same timid little pony I saw in court this morning! Phoenix watched in disbelief as she cowed the entire pack, the four large wolves now submissively cringing like misbehaving dogs did before their human masters, prostrating themselves before her.
“Now, leave here this instant! And I want the four of you to go back to your den and think about what… you’ve… done!” Fluttershy scolded them, a stomp of her hoof with her final word sending them scurrying. The beasts whimpered and ran off into the darkness with their wooden tails between their legs, never to stalk Phoenix again.
When they were out of sight and sound, Fluttershy turned to him, her gaze back to normal while Phoenix was still gaping at her, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. “That was close, Mister Phoenix. Those lupines are called Timberwolves. Being made of wood, they can travel directly through tree roots and trunks, and they’re known to rip their prey apart within a few seconds,” Fluttershy informed him in the same tone Phoenix thought she’d use to narrate a nature documentary.
The badly shaking lawyer slowly regained his composure, leaning on the rock behind him for support. “Fluttershy, th-thank you! You… you saved my life!” he said in gratitude, amazed a pony so shy could be so fierce.
She gave him a knowing grin. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Even if you had been killed, you would have come back to life from your ashes more magnificent than ever, right?” Fluttershy asked in perfect innocence, and it finally clicked somewhere in the back of Phoenix's mind that she actually thought his name meant he was the mythical bird of fire that died and was reborn from its own ashes—a creature which apparently existed in this world?
“Uh… yeah.” Phoenix just went along with it, afraid of losing her protection if he didn’t—hopelessly naïve she may have been, but helpless she clearly was not. Even more than that, she had saved his life when she had every reason to hate him, and he knew it now fell to him to make amends…
To ask forgiveness for something that in his own mind was utterly unforgivable.
Closing his eyes, he knelt on the ground in front of her, getting on her level and bowing his head before her. “Fluttershy, p-please listen…” he all but begged her, his voice quavering badly.
She nodded and stood silent, waiting.
“The reason I accused you in court earlier… I know you didn’t do any of that crap I was claiming, but I was about to lose and got desperate! Casting suspicion on you was the only way I could think of to stop a guilty verdict and keep the trial going for another day,” he told her, tears in his eyes as he remembered again the frightened, bewildered look on her face as she was led away for questioning, begging him for help he could not give.
“I did it to save Rainbow, but I did it at your expense and without your say in the matter. I’m very, very sorry for doing that to you, and I wouldn’t blame you if you h-hated me for it!” Phoenix said, burying his face in his hands, tears streaming down his cheeks as he finally gave voice to his long-suffering conscience, holding his breath as he awaited her reply.
Fluttershy stared at him for several seconds without speaking; Phoenix was afraid to open his eyes for fear of what he’d see on her face. Suddenly, he felt a gentle touch on his chin, her hoof raising his head up to meet hers. His wet eyes opened to find himself staring into her beautiful bluish-green ones, deep pools of teal that shone with nothing but concern and compassion. “It’s alright, Mister Phoenix. I forgive you,” she said softly, giving him a gentle smile.
He stared at her in stunned disbelief, barely daring to believe it. “Y-you forgive me? J-just like that?” he choked out.
She moved closer in response and swept a broad yellow wing over him, brushing his head and cheek with her soft feathers; Phoenix all but felt like he was being touched by an angel. “Yes. Because I believe you and believe in you, Mister Phoenix. That’s why I came here to look for you. To make sure you were safe,” Fluttershy said with her sweet little voice that was, to Phoenix, like a beam of light breaking through the clouds of his greatest hour of darkness.
“You’re far too kind,” he barely managed through his tears, reaching up to grasp her hoof in both his hands, feeling unworthy of her rescue and the forgiveness she was blessing him with—thinking that simply calling her ‘kind’ didn’t even begin to describe the incredible, wonderful mare before him.
Fluttershy held him close while he slowly regained his composure; it took another minute before he was able to speak again. “But Fluttershy—wh-what are you doing here? I thought you were arrested?” he asked her, failing to remember what she said earlier about coming in to find him; his traumatized mind still reeling from his close call.
“The police let me go,” Fluttershy answered simply, stepping back from him and letting him gather himself.
He had recovered just enough of his faculties to know that didn’t make sense. “They let you go? But I thought you were a suspect!” Phoenix said, his mind coming up with some slightly nonsensical theories why they would have. A bribe? Did she have connections? Was her shyness all an act and she was actually some secret government agent? Did Trixie arrange this attack? he suddenly wondered, not sure if he’d put anything past the grudge-driven showmare.
“I don’t know why, but they said I didn’t have to stay anymore and let me out,” Fluttershy explained patiently.
His conscience soothed and his mind settling back down, his attorney instincts started to kick in again. That can only mean one thing. The feather didn’t match any of her animals, he realized as Fluttershy continued with her story.
“When I got home, I saw Pinkie Pie standing by the entrance to the forest, so I asked her what she was doing. She said you went in here all alone, so I got worried and I flew in to find you!” she explained further.
Phoenix closed his eyes at that, realizing he owed his new earth pony friend yet again. Thank you, Pinkie Pie! “By chance, did you see anyone else in here while you were looking for me?” he asked, finally able to stand up again—with the help of the rock face behind him to lean on.
To his surprise, Fluttershy shrank back from him. “No… I didn’t? Um... sh-should I have seen someone? You know, like how I should have seen Apple Bloom that night? I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do something wrong again!” Fluttershy said, cringing like she was in court once more.
Phoenix stared at her cowering form, the ghost of a smile touching his face. It’s funny how she just took on a pack of savage wolves and then goes right back into submissive wimp mode! “No, it’s okay, Fluttershy,” he reassured her, hands raised and palms out. “It’s just that… someone lured me in here to attack me. They knocked me out and left me for dead in the middle of the forest,” he explained, sitting on a lichen-covered rock. It was dirty, but considering the shape his suit was now in, it didn’t matter.
Her eyes widened at that. “Oh, my. That’s not very nice,” Fluttershy remarked in a prize understatement.
“On top of that, they stole all the evidence I was going to use to defend Rainbow Dash in the trial tomorrow,” Phoenix continued, slumping over and burying his head in his hands, thinking his life was saved but his case was now lost—all the progress he had made undone by a single stupid decision. What the HELL was I thinking, coming in here alone?
Fluttershy suddenly looked confused. “But, um… Twilight said she was going to defend Rainbow Dash tomorrow.”
Phoenix looked up sharply at that. “Huh? What?”
“She talked with me at the Detention Center earlier and told me to forget about you,” Fluttershy informed him apologetically.
Phoenix had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Oh, no! I hope she’s not doing what I think she is!” he began, but he knew there was only one possible explanation. “She’s going to get me dismissed as Rainbow’s attorney for what I did to you and take over the defense! Trixie will eat her alive if she tries to defend Rainbow Dash alone!” He clutched his head, having one more major issue to deal with on top of the ton of other problems he already had.
She gave him an odd look. “Trixie? Are you talking about that blue unicorn in the wizard outfit?” Fluttershy asked, remembering the not-so-nice pony that had interviewed her after the murder and been in court the next day, constantly shouting at her to state her name and occupation.
He nodded, his eyes narrowing. “Yeah. I barely held my own against her, and I have experience! Twilight won’t stand a chance! I have to get her to reconsider!”
“I’m sure if you tell her what you told me, she’ll change her mind,” Fluttershy suggested.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. She was pretty upset,” Phoenix told her, thinking he’d almost rather face the Timberwolves again than a betrayed and angry Twilight.
“She’s my friend. I’ll help you explain it to her,” Fluttershy offered, flaring her wings protectively and putting a hoof on his knee.
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Phoenix said in heartfelt gratitude, reaching out to squeeze her hoof again. “Hey, wait a second—I just thought of something!”
“What is it, Mister Phoenix?” Fluttershy asked curiously, sitting down on her haunches in front of him.
“You said Pinkie Pie was standing by the entrance, right?”
“Um… yes?” she confirmed.
“Well, then whoever knocked me out would have had to leave through the entrance, since that’s the only way out!” he realized.
Her teal eyes widened in understanding. “Oh! I see now! Since Pinkie Pie is waiting by the entrance—”
“Pinkie Pie will probably have seen whoever attacked me leave the forest!” Phoenix finished, standing back up, finally feeling able to walk again.
Fluttershy got up as well. “I’ll show you the way out. You were right about that this morning, you know.”
“Huh?” he looked at her in confusion.
“Even if I may not like visiting it much, this forest really is like a backyard to me,” she told him with a wan grin. “I do know my way around it.”
Phoenix cringed again, remembering that observation had come in the middle of his attempt to accuse her, meant more as a rationalization than something he really believed. “And I’m very glad you do. Lead the way, Fluttershy!” he invited her, letting her guide him out of the foreboding forest.
As Fluttershy escorted him out of the dark and misty woods, Phoenix just wanted to see the light of day, and Pinkie Pie in that order, hoping against hope that the latter had seen his unknown assailant leave the Everfree and he would be able to recover his lost evidence.
As he walked, questions were running through his mind—who had attacked him? How had they called him on his cellphone? Why had they gone after his evidence and left him for dead? Was he getting close to a truth somepony didn’t want him to find out?
He didn’t yet have any answers, but for now, Phoenix was just grateful to be alive, vowing he’d never think ill of Fluttershy again.