There was a place only Fluttershy and a few of the creatures of the Everfree Forest knew. It was tucked away deep within the wilderness, far from the prying eyes of other Ponies. Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage and stepped out into the spring sunshine. The world was in bloom. The sky was as blue as a sapphire and puffy white clouds floated on its surface. A cool wind danced through the carpet of tall grass and tickled Fluttershy's feathers. She opened her wings and let the currents caress her pinions. She briefly contemplated going for a fly and then dismissed the thought. She just didn't feel like going into the air right now.
She brought her wings back down to her sides and stepped into the lush greenery growing outside of her home. The blades of grass swirled around her hooves and tickled her pasterns. Behind her home, which was a cottage carved into the bark of a living tree, there rose the dark and gloomy Everfree Forest. An army of trees stretched back, rank upon rank of fir trees and oaks and aspen whose branches continually intertwined to form a canopy that blocked out much of the sunlight.
Fluttershy stepped onto the soggy soil. The soil in this forest took quite some time to dry despite the vegetation greedily drinking it up. The ground of the forest always felt moist, so moist that Fluttershy struggled to lift her hooves as she traveled across the mire. Emerald vines wrapped around the trunks of the wide trees, threatening to choke the life from them. A symphony of squawks and chirps greeted her as she moved deeper into the woods. The ground lifted slightly and then flattened out onto a green plateau. Fluttershy took a slow pace as she trotted through the vegetation. She was surrounded by a world of greens and browns. Raindrops slipped from the broad leaves of the trees and Fluttershy realized that it had rained in her very recently.
The Everfree was a world unto itself and that world held an undeniable life. An oak tree spread its wide, brown and scaled arms in defiance to the potato vines trying to choke it of that life. The branches of that oak spread its shadow over all the other trees in its area. The oak's children lifted up from the ground, as strong as their father if quite a bit smaller. The wide spreading beech tree, kin to the oak yet as different as two cousins could be, rooted itself in the good earth and was neighbor to the elm trees and the gentle, ever swaying willow trees with their slender arms waltzing in the wind. White blossoms burst from the branches of the elm tree. A tree whose species Fluttershy didn't know was blooming with red and orange flowers, appearing to blaze like fire.
She spread her wings and lifted up, reaching out to touch the blossoms. She carefully plucked one and threaded it into the pink strands of her mane. She decided to pluck a few more as they did fit her hair's color, complimenting it quite wonderfully. She giggled to herself as she pranced in midair and wished that there was a mirror somewhere nearby so that she could look at herself.
She swooped back down to the earth after threading her mane with a crown of what she had decided to call fire flowers. That was why she loved the ground so much. Every time she went exploring, she discovered something different. She foresaw several days curled up in Twilight's library trying to determine if a tree like this had ever been named and discovered before.
If not, there was a paper she could write for Biology Monthly. Sure, her specialty was in animals, but there was no law against her being interested in plants. She hadn't gotten a degree in biology from Cloudsdale University for nothing. A happy tune burst from her lips as she wandered further into the depths of the woodland. The further she traveled, the darker it became. The sunlight only filtered down through slats in the canopy and came to rest as hundreds of pinpricks of light that illuminated fallen leaves that were all that remained of the autumns of countless ages that had come and gone. A family of ants trickled up and down the bark and a lizard jumped from a pile of leaves onto the bark and hooked his tiny claws into the tree's surface.
Fluttershy watched the ants and lizards as they went about their daily search for food. The lizard paused in his upward journey towards the tops of the trees. The ants utterly ignored him as they burrowed into the bark. Fluttershy knew that the bark was an incubator for their kind, a place where their children could flourish. The lizard scurried up the tree, still in search of a meal. For the first time, he noticed the ants. He grew still. Fluttershy, a prey animal herself by evolutionary lineage, felt a twinge of sympathy for the ants.
She didn't intervene, though as the lizard flicked out his tongue and swallowed up the ants. However, she did turn away. The lizard was only in search of meal as every creature in the Everfree inevitably was, as her own ancestors had been at one time as they ceaselessly roamed the earth before they had learned of the mysteries of the seed.
She stopped and stood for a while, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Why had the thought of her ancestors caused a sudden tightening in her chest? She felt enclosed, cradled by the verdant hues all around her. A jackalope, the fearsome horned rabbit of the Everfree, darted out in front of her. Squirrels chattered at one another as they went about their daily routine, running up and down the branches, their bushy tails waving back and forth as if daring a predator to come and get them.
It was beautiful. Every part played perfectly into every other part to form a great web of life that Fluttershy sensed that she too was a part of, even if millennia of civilization had distanced her from it. Prey provided food for predators and predators weeded out the weakest, letting the strong and healthy flourish. The predators would die and the nutrients in their body would nourish the soil and help the plants that the prey animals ate grow.
Fluttershy closed her eyes and listened, feeling the wetness of the soil, hearing the endless chatter of squirrels and singing of birds. It was so beautiful. Why couldn't others understand her passion for the natural world? Why couldn't they just let her be?
Who said a Pegasus couldn't love the earth?
Her breathing hitched and the sharp burst of anger which bloomed in her breast surprised even herself. Her wings flared out, a threat display inherited from Equo-Avian ancestors, her body's reaction to her emotional state. The tips of the wings twitched with wrath she was desperately trying to suppress.
Ponies couldn't really mean it when they said things like that. With a grunt of effort she forced her wings to go back down and returned to merely listening to the life all around her. A lonesome howl raised the hairs on the back of her neck and told her that a manticore was out on the prowl. Her wings unfurled once more, one part anger and one part fear aggression.
She reflected that she really was connecting with her more natural state today. Not a single one of her bird friends would approach her if they saw her like this, with wings fully expanded, tips bristling, chest puffed out. All signs saying that this was an avian ready for a fight.
She inhaled a breath of fresh air, let the cleansing flow of it move through her. Her chest muscles relaxed. Her wing tips calmed and her wings once more returned to their normal positions at her sides. The manticore's howls indicated that he was battling a rival. Her sensitive ears picked up on the crackling of branches and a second howl joined the first one. This one was lower and deeper in pitch. An older male against a younger male, Fluttershy was sure.
She began walking in the direction opposite of where the loud growls, snarls and popping sticks were coming from. Nature might be fascinating, but it could also kill you. She understood this concept well. No matter how well she interacted with animals, they were still animals and for many of them she was simply lunch.
She honored her place in the natural cycle. She had no intention of becoming a participant within it. The law of nature also meant she had a right to survive. A yellow and black banded snake slithered by her hooves, hissed a greeting to her.She nodded at it. The snake went on its way, in search of a mate. A female snake's territory was not that far from here.
A patch of wild, blue flowers popped up. Fluttershy sidestepped them. She had enough problems without adding being cursed to the list. Zecora's hut lifted up from the ground, as if it had emerged directly from the soil. Fluttershy peeked inside and found that Zecora was out. Probably off to gather herbs.
A grove of bushes tickled against her sides and the trees thinned in places. Directly up ahead a pristine lake sparkled. A circle of pine trees surrounded it and dropped their green needles into the waters. Once, a lonely exile had maintained the lake, his self-imposed penance for his crimes. The exile was gone, released back into society and the lake was covered in a film of green.
Fluttershy shivered as her hoof made contact with the surface and she moved aside the needles. Her face stared back at her. She had been right, the color of the flowers really did compliment her mane. She allowed herself a few seconds of vanity and wondered what Rarity would think of her new headgear. She would certainly be charmed. Fluttershy stretched her tired legs and gazed into the deep waters. A frog broke the water's surface and hopped onto the ground. He stared at her as if in curiosity, croaked and then hopped away.
With one more glance at herself, she walked away from the lake. The trees here were even thicker and less tamed than they had been in the upper part. The deeper one wandered through, the thicker they became. There were places in the forest that were so thick that no Pony-or any other sapient for that matter-had ever explored them.
Fluttershy's secret place bordered that area. A wild deer, separated by generations of evolutionary divergence from his talking kinfolk, lept from a grove of pink flowering almond trees. The horns of the buck curled up from its head, great, long antlers with which to slay his rivals. The buck paid her no mind, leaning down to nibble on the grass. Fluttershy passed him. A gentle doe timidly strode up from the same grove and butted Fluttershy as if to say hello. Fluttershy pressed her cheek against the warm fur of her fellow herbivore. The doe was followed by several more females of her kind and a few fawns. The herd followed the buck way into the distance after grazing for a little while.
Fluttershy's secret place came ever closer. She passed through the grove of sweet smelling almond trees, some of the pink petals falling onto her fur. She did nothing to wipe them off, enjoying the sensation of the petals against her fur. She had first discovered her secret place after coming here on the trail of a butterfly she had never seen before. It had had the most beautiful, midnight blue wings. Fluttershy had followed the butterfly all the way into a clearing and that clearing was where she was heading to now.
The clearing was filled with orange petaled flowers, flowers as far as she could see. She inhaled the scent and then paused at a flash of pink. Another pony was in her clearing. There was another surge of anger of a completely irrational variety. It wasn't truly her clearing. It's not like her name was on it.
Fluttershy ducked behind a tree and suppressed a groan. Pinkie Pie was bouncing in the meadow, a basket hanging from her side. She plucked the flowers, laying them in her basket. Fluttershy didn't dislike Pinkie. She just couldn't handle her rampant, incessant cheerfulness at the moment.
On the other hoof, she had come an awful long way. It would be a shame just to go back now. She chewed on her lip, trying to decide what to do. Should she just go back to her cottage and brew herself a cup of tea? Or should she sally forth into the meadow, her refuge of peace and quiet in troubled times?
Pinkie collected her last flower and flopped down onto her belly. Fluttershy chewed on her lip, continuing her inner debate. She suddenly realized where Sugarcube Corner's new meadowflower muffins were coming from. They were actually quite tasty although Fluttershy had never grazed in this meadow, preferring to leave it undisturbed.
She stepped one hoof into the meadow. The flowers swished around her, the sweet aroma comforting to her. They were just tall enough...she laid down and found herself safely tucked inside of them. It was actually very comfortable and she doubted anypony could see her. As long as she just remained curled up in a ball which was a state she quite enjoyed.
Her ear twitched as Pinkie began to trot across the surface of the land. Pinkie bounced into the air, all four hooves leaving the ground and then coming back down. For the ten-thousandth time Fluttershy wondered if Pinkie didn't have just a bit of antelope blood.
Pinkie stopped. Fluttershy curled up tighter, wrapping her tail around herself. Pinkie nosed her way through the flowers and glanced right at her. Her face broke into a broad grin and she pronked over to Fluttershy's hiding spot. "Hi!" She shouted.
Fluttershy, miraculously, didn't launch into the air and rocket off. "Hi, Pinkie."
Pinkie burrowed down next to her. "Are we hiding from something?"
Fluttershy didn't reply, not sure how to do so without hurting Pinkie's feelings. "No, Pinkie. This is just my place I like to go to. It's calming."
"Yeah, I know." Pinkie moved closer to her. "And these wildflowers are delicious!"
Fluttershy nibbled on one and made a moan of satisfaction. The taste was the same as the meadowflower muffins, only fresher. It was a delightfully sweet taste that danced on her tastebuds. She took a few more bites. "So, this is where Sugarcube Corner has been getting its new muffins."
"Yeppers! Do you like them?"
Fluttershy started nibbling on another flower. "They are quite good."
"I know! These, though, are just for me. I want to make my own personal muffins just cause they're so good."
The two lapsed into silence. The grass was comfortable and the blooms lifted up a fragrance that spoke of summer days nearing. Fluttershy jerked up as she felt a warm, wet muzzle poke into her primaries. She whirled around and Pinkie backed away, a bashful expression on her face. "Sorry! You looked sad and I hate it when my friends look sad and I know Pegasii like their wings being preened, but I also know not just anypony can do it and I probably just crossed a huge line and I'm always doing this and I don't know why-"
The rambling was cut off when Fluttershy pressed her cheek to PInkie's in a calming nuzzle. "Shh, it's alright Pinkie. Preening isn't that big of a taboo, not anymore. We are very selective. Traditionally, only family could do it. We've been through so much, though, that I don't mind you doing it. I let Dash do it because we're blood sisters so I can let you do it. You just have to ask."
Pinkie nodded. "Can I preen your wings?"
Fluttershy unfurled her right wing, wondering if Pinkie realized how big of an honor Fluttershy was conferring on her. Pinkie hesitated only for roughly half a second before positioning herself behind the other Pony and plunging her muzzle back into the feathers.
Fluttershy stiffened at the moist sensation of Pinkie's mouth brushing through her pinions. "Um, a little slower."
Pinkie paused. "Like this?" The rhythm of the preening slowed and Pinkie gently ran her mouth over the yellow feathers. Fluttershy felt tension she hadn't realized she'd been holding in melt away. Her neck muscles, taut as a bowstring, relaxed. Her back muscles, containing most of the tension in her body, began to unclench while Pinkie continued to run her mouth back and forth over the wing. Getting into the hang of things, she would occasionally tear away an old or broken feather. Fluttershy quickly surmised that she had done this before, probably to a Pegasus who didn't mind a bit of a rough preening. Pegasii like Rainbow Dash. Though that shouldn't surprise her, they were engaged after all.
Still, pre-marital preening? With an Earth Pony no less? My grandmother's teeth would drop out.
Pinkie's preening experience could be seen in the way she would ever so gently place her mouth on the feather and use only the barest hint of force to remove it from the rest of the wing. Not only had she done it before, she was good at it. Pinkie removed the final broken feather. "Hey, Fluttershy?"
There was a waver to her voice. "Yes, Pinkie? Is something wrong?"
"You remember when we all found out you could sing? I didn't...I didn't mean to scare you just like I didn't mean to freak you out by preening you. Dash always likes a good preening and I guess I got really excited when I found out you could sing, but looking back it was dumb to get in your face and talk about how somepony in the audience could get jealous and all those eyes on you and I can't stop talking, please help, I'm serious-"
Fluttershy brushed Pinkie's lips with a wing. "It's alright, Pinkie. I forgive you."
"Thank you."
Pinkie gave one last brush through the wing. Fluttershy spread her left wing and Pinkie went to work on it with the same gentle care that she had shown the right wing, pushing apart the feathers with her nose, delicately twisting away old feathers and broken ones. Pinkie laid the old feathers in a pile that was developing on the grass before going back and smoothing down each feather. The final vestiges of tension in Fluttershy's wings vanished. She hadn't realized how stiff her wing joints had been until she could feel the pressure off of them.
Pinkie moved away and Fluttershy gave her wings several flaps. Pinkie, thorough as always in cheering up others, gave the wings one last brush through.
"Thank you, Pinkie. That was nice." She smiled and received a smile in turn as Pinkie settled in next to her. The silence returned, but it was companionable. Fluttershy rustled her now lighter wings and a felt a sudden, heady urge to fly. Her desire to rest in the meadow won out. A yellow butterfly, his wings looking like they were pieces of the sun, sauntered among the flowers.
Pinkie shuffled a hoof.
"Is something wrong, Pinkie?"
"No, it's fine."
Fluttershy glanced at her. "Pinkie, we're friends. I just let you preen my wings. That's a really big deal among Pegasii and you're marrying my blood sister so that kind of makes us...well, we'll be kind of like sisters."
"Really? I never realized that."
"Yes. So, you can tell me anything."
"It's one of those social cue things that I'm not very good at."
Fluttershy snorted. "I'm the last Pony who'd judge somepony else for not being good at social...anything."
"I know you're sad about something, but I don't know if I should ask. Sometimes, Ponies don't mind if I ask. Other times, they get mad and tell me to stop being nosy."
"I'm sorry that they do that. I know you mean well." She nestled deeper into the grassy floor of the meadow. "You can ask."
"So, why were you sad? Your back and wings were really stiff."
"Yes, because I was very stressed out."
"How come? Did something scare you?"
Fluttershy could understand how Pinkie would reach that conclusion. On most days, it would probably be true. "No, nothing scared me."
"Then what happened?"
"My grandmother came to visit."
Pinkie cocked her head. "You don't sound too happy about that."
"I love my grandmother. Really. She's just stuck in her ways. You know how Dash's parents and family had no problem with you two being together? My grandmother would have thrown a fit. A Pegasus with a Ground Pony? Unthinkable. With a Dirt Pony of all things?" Fluttershy shut her mouth. "Oh, Celestia, I'm so sorry."
Pinkie had shrunk back from the slur, but quickly recovered. She patted Fluttershy's shoulder. "Go on."
"She's traditional. Really, really traditional. I'm pretty sure she thinks the Pegasus Tribe even being part of Equestria was a mistake." She took a deep intake of breath and released it as a sigh. "Earth Ponies belong on a farm. Unicorns in a city. Pegasii in the sky. She just doesn't understand how I could live on the ground among my animals. She told me there's an opening at the Cloudsdale Zoo. That I should go back to Cloudsdale and take the job, that I should go back to being among my own tribe."
Pinkie thought on this for a while. "Maybe she just wants you to be closer to your family. Maybe she misses you and just doesn't know how to say it."
Fluttershy blinked. "I really hadn't thought of that. And it's not like she's a terrible Pony. She brought me a box of teas I like. She just has a lot of ideas I don't agree with."
"Sounds like my folks."
"Really?" Fluttershy turned to Pinkie who was staring at some spot in the distance.
"I love my parents and my sisters. We've been rock farmers for generations and I guess my parents thought I would be a rock farmer too. They've never said it, but I think they were disappointed that I didn't get a rock farming cutie mark."
"I sometimes think my family-even my parents-were disappointed that I wasn't a better flyer. They just don't understand and I just...I love them and I wish they'd understand me."
Pinkie rolled over onto her back and stared into the bright blue sky. "I know that feeling. A lot of Ponies don't understand me either. I love my family, but we're so different I sometimes wonder if I wasn't adopted." She chewed her lip. "It'd explain a lot actually."
Fluttershy rolled over and spread her wings, enjoying the way the grass tickled her feathers. "Why can't a Pegasus love the ground? Why can't I just want to spend time in nature with my animals?"
"Why can't I just be silly and happy all the time? Is it really that strange? Am I really that strange?"
A collective sigh emanated from both of them. Pinkie popped a flower into her mouth. "The sad part is when you know they love you, but you know your destiny is going to lead you far from home because you can't stay-"
"Because you feel like being home is strangling the life out of you."
"Because you know you're meant to be somewhere else."
Fluttershy expanded her wing, slid it under Pinkie and Pinkie held her hoof. "I guess we're a lot a like, Pinkie."
"Yeah. I never realized that before. Y'know, your grandma probably just wants you to be happy and she thinks being in the sky will make you happy just like I always think a party will make everypony happy even though it doesn't always."
"I'm happy here. Why can't she see that?"
Pinkie shrugged. "I don't know her, but she sounds really stubborn. She probably just can't comprehend things that aren't the way she feels they should be."
"She's not a bad Pony, you know."
"I know. My parents aren't bad Ponies. Stern and serious, but not bad. I knew they missed me so I started visiting them on the weekends. It made things easier because they saw I was happy and they were happy."
Fluttershy mused on this. "I suppose I could visit her more. Say, Pinkie, I have a lot of new teas and I know tea goes good with muffins."
Pinkie's ears perked up.
"So maybe you could show me how to bake those meadowflower muffins and I can share some tea with you?"
Pinkie smiled and jumped up. Fluttershy leapt into the air, swept up by a sudden joy.
"I'll race you to your cottage!"
Pinkie was off with a shake of her tail and Fluttershy zoomed after her.