Every season has something that makes it special. Warm sunshine in the summer, beautiful foliage in the fall, glistening snowflakes in the winter, and of course, the newborn blossoms of spring. None more so than at Fluttershy's little cottage in the woods, where everything from daffodils to azaleas was in bloom.
Clear skies and sunshine; something that had been much needed after a severe storm that had passed the area not too long before.
While the weather team pegasi were masters in controlling the daily forecast, storms that were either required or just went rogue for no reason were not unheard of. But today was a beautiful day. Thoughts of the storm were hardly a footnote in Fluttershy's mind as she took a moment to gaze out the window from in her kitchen. Looking at the day before her, she smiled as she thought about what would be in store.
It had at last dried up enough making the conditions perfect for a picnic between her and her best friends. She had been planning it for some time and she knew the perfect spot for them to have it. Right underneath one of her favorite trees; a beautiful flowering cherry. The thought of that tree made her smile and she couldn't wait for her friends to see the beautiful pink flowers that adorned its branches. So pink that Pinkie Pie could blend in with ease.
Today was going to be great.
She hummed a tune as she went back to pack up the dish she planned to bring to the picnic. Each picnic participant planned to bring a dish to contribute to the spread. Fluttershy decided to bring along an assortment of jams to go with some fresh biscuits and a salad.
When she turned to face the table, she found Angel Bunny trying to sample one of the pieces of lettuce from the salad bowl. As he munched, he looked up to find that he had been caught red-pawed.
"Hungry?" she asked, giggling at the sight.
The bunny smiled sheepishly at her with stuffed cheeks. Fluttershy giggled again.
"If you wanted some salad, all you needed to do was ask," she said. She took out a small dish and placed just a small portion of the salad onto it for the eagerly awaiting rabbit.
"You'll look after things while I'm gone?" Fluttershy asked.
Angel looked up at her, still munching and gave her a salute. Fluttershy then went to work to pack up the now sealed salad bowl, the biscuits, and jars of jam into a wicker picnic basket. Satisfied, she bade Angel and her other animal friends goodbye, took her basket to her front porch, grabbed the basket handle with her fetlocks and took flight.
As she soared, she inhaled a deep breath of fresh air as she made her way towards Ponyville. She caught the sweet smell of fresh flowers that had blessed her world this Spring. Along with seeing her animal friends awaken from a long winter's slumber, the sight and smell of the brand new flowers were the highlights of the season. As the town came into view she soon spotted her friends by the creek bridge. Twilight Sparkle and Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Each with a basket, saddle bag, or a wrapped dish.
Pinkie squealed on seeing her.
"Eeee! She's here! Are we ready to go?" she asked, bouncing her knees. "Are we? Are we? Are we?"
Fluttershy giggled at her friend's enthusiasm as she landed on the bridge, joining the group. Truth be told, she was just as excited, even if she kept it quiet.
"Simmer down, Sugarcube." Applejack told Pinkie. "We've all got everything we need, right?" She looked at her friends.
"I know I do," the Princess of Friendship prided. "I checked the checklist for our dishes four times just to be sure. We are good to go!" She grinned a wide grin.
Starlight and Spike smirked at their friend's usual antics of how organized she was.
"All right then, everypony else?" Applejack asked. The rest commented that they were ready to go.
"Oh, I just know you're going to love this meadow," said Fluttershy, her enthusiasm building. "And I can't wait for you all to see the cherry tree. I just know all of the beautiful flowers are in full bloom!" She kicked her forelegs in excitement.
Her friends grinned, just happy to be there to enjoy each other's company.
"How far away is this place?" Spike asked.
"Not very far," she said. "A little towards White Tail Woods."
"Well, then lead the way, Fluttershy," said Applejack.
In spite of herself, Fluttershy found herself leading them away to their destination, with her basket on her back. The only map she needed had been drawn into her memory long ago.
All of them took the natural beauty around them in. Wherever they looked, life was present. This could also be said as they happened upon a shady wooded area.
"Oh, such beautiful weather today. And much needed after that dreadful thunderstorm," said Rarity, as she gazed at the sky past the treetops.
"You got that right," said Applejack. "Rain's good for the crops and all, but there is such a thing as too much. I guess the weather team's losin' their touch." She grinned a smug grin, glancing towards the multicolor-maned pegasus.
Rainbow Dash scoffed.
"Give us a break," she said. "We can't always tell a storm is gonna go rogue. Sometimes things just happen."
Applejack laughed.
"I know, I'm just yanking yer tail."
Starlight Glimmer smiled at her friends' bit of banter before turning to speak up.
"It's so nice of you to invite me along."
"Why wouldn't we?" Twilight asked as she walked beside her.
"Well, you know how even your friends have friends that kinda do their own thing," said Starlight. "It's just nice to be included."
"Well we're more than happy to have you here, Starlight," said Fluttershy. "I just know you're going to love this place."
Starlight smiled. So much excitement and over a tree. In hindsight, it seemed a little strange that so much stock would go into as something as common as a tree. But she knew Fluttershy well enough to understand her love for nature, so there was that.
"That pretty of a tree, huh?" she asked.
Fluttershy nodded.
"Oh yes," she said. "It's one of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen. And it's been one of my favorite places to go to for years."
"What kind is it, again?" Starlight asked.
"A beautiful cherry tree," Fluttershy said. "With the most beautiful pink blossoms."
"Oooh! I love pink!" Pinkie Pie chimed in as she popped up out of seemingly nowhere. Even if her friends had adapted to her little antics, she was still full of surprises.
"We know, Pinkie," said Starlight. "We know."
The eight continued on with their trip.
"I hope you don't mind that I brought my sketchpad with me, Fluttershy," said Rarity, motioning to her saddlebag. "When you spoke of this meadow and that tree, I thought to myself, what if I suddenly get a flash of inspiration for my new line? So it only made sense to come prepared."
"Ooh, I don't mind at all." Fluttershy declared with a smile. "I'd love to see what you can come up with."
"How much longer till we get there?" Spike asked. "I'm getting hungry."
Fluttershy looked ahead. As she saw that they were nearing a clearing, she smiled.
"It should be just through..."
She suddenly froze. In only a quick glance, time seemed to come to a screeching halt and break into shards.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked as she approached her. She looked to where Fluttershy's gaze was fixed and automatically gasped. This gasp would be followed by an ensemble of gasps as the others soon caught up and looked onward to the sight that beheld them.
Fluttershy's eyes were open wide as the moon, fixated on a spot in the meadow before her. There was no tree where it was supposed to be. Now in the clearing was nothing more than what looked like remnants of a charred stump. Branches, leaves, and blossoms were dashed across the grass.
"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.
Fluttershy said nothing as she slowly advanced towards the stump.
She picked up a tiny blossom in her hoof and held it close and tenderly to her chest. Tears began to leak from her eyes and slowly stream down her cheeks.
"How... how could this happen?" she said.
Applejack circled the stump, examining it closely.
"My guess is that hootenanny of a storm did a number on it," she said. She took note of a discernible deep groove embedded in the stump. "Hmm. It looks to me that a bolt of lightning hit it."
"But where did the rest of it go?" Dash asked. "Did the wind blow it away or something?"
"That could be. It's also possible that it burned up," Applejack said. "We've had that happen on the farm." She glanced up at Rainbow. "Can't you weather workers control them bolts?"
The blue pegasus scowled again.
"Us weather workers make that lightning for the plants down here, AJ. It's not our fault they have a mind of their own when they're out here!"
"Um, guys?" Spike said to the two arguers. He pointed towards a downtrodden Fluttershy who promptly began to sniffle. It was enough to tell them that it was hardly time for an argument.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Fluttershy," said Applejack, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Me too," said Rainbow, as she finally set her hooves on the ground. "Sorry."
Fluttershy could only reply with quiet sobs. It could have been that she didn't even hear the two bicker. It didn't matter anyway. The tree was gone, and nothing could be done about it. All she could do was let her grief out in the only way she knew best.
The others didn't know what to say. Wanting to break the silence, Starlight approached her.
"Fluttershy, are you ok?" she asked.
Fluttershy looked at her with glossy, overflowing eyes and a little pout.
"Right. Sorry," said Starlight, finding that to be an obvious answer to a stupid question. Rarity soon chimed in, confused.
"What I don't understand is why a bolt of lightning would have struck this particular tree when there are plenty of others surrounding the meadow that are unscathed."
"I guess sometimes it just happens," said Twilight. "Lightning is unpredictable."
Fluttershy sniffled again as she cradled the blossom in her hooves.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered to it. "I'm so sorry..."
"Whatever for, darling?" Rarity asked, placing a hoof on her friend's back. "You didn't cause this."
"Aw, Fluttershy. It's not your fault." Starlight said with a small grin. "It was just a tree. Nopony was hurt by it."
Fluttershy's eyes shot wide open as yet another piece of her shattered inside her. She turned her head towards Starlight.
"Just a tree?" Fluttershy asked, starting to shiver.
Rainbow Dash inhaled a hiss through clenched teeth.
"Starlight... don't.." she said.
Fluttershy rose and faced Starlight as her expression contorted into a scornful glare. Seeing this, Starlight grew fearful and slowly backed away. In those rare moments when Fluttershy would get angry, ponies who knew her knew that they had better look out.
"It's NOT just a tree." Fluttershy hissed.
"But..." Starlight said.
"IT'S MORE THAN JUST A TREE!" Fluttershy yelled. She punctuated it with a heavy stomp of her hoof causing Starlight and the others to flinch. She was met with stares of shock and concern. There was a dead silence and the air around them grew heavy.
Fluttershy stared back at all of them, her anger dissolving as her face matched her friends. Wide-eyed and alarmed at herself.
"Oh dear," she said, taking a few steps back. "I'm sorry..." she squeaked. She breathed out hard, eyes darting everywhere. Her breathing began hastening as if she were drowning. She didn't know what to do or to think.
"Fluttershy...?" Twilight asked, taking a step forward.
But Fluttershy couldn't bear it anymore. Her mind was spinning. She quickly grabbed a stray branch that had managed to hold some flowers into her teeth and took off to the sky as fast as she could.
"Fluttershy, wait!" Pinkie called. "You left your pic-a-nic basket!" But Fluttershy didn't answer. She just kept flying until she was out of their view. The staring game was then directed at Starlight. All the eyes that were on the unicorn put her on trial. After a brief pause, she spoke in her own defense.
"I-I didn't mean to upset her!"
"It's not your fault, you didn't know," Rainbow said. "But she's right. It wasn't just a tree. She's been coming here and taking care of it since she was a filly and it meant a lot to her."
She paused.
Now it was Rainbow Dash who fell victim to the staring contest as her friends gazed her with expressions ranging from full attention to awe, and even dumbfounded. Rainbow just blinked at them, confused. It wasn't a real contest, so it didn't count as a loss.
"Why are you guys staring at me like that?"
"We're uh, kind of surprised," said Applejack. "No offense, but you're not always the best when it comes to Fluttershy's feelings."
Rainbow huffed and rolled her eyes. She knew they were right, but that wasn't important.
"Yeah okay, whatever. But trust me on this. We grew up together. I know why that cherry tree was so special. It's kind of a long story."
"Well we're all right here," said Starlight as she took a seat. "You might as well tell it."
"Wait!" Pinkie interjected. "As much I love stories, shouldn't we go after Fluttershy and help her feel better?"
"I think it's best that we let her cool down by herself for a bit," said Twilight. "I don't think she's ready to talk to anypony yet."
The ponies and dragon sat down after Rarity set down a cushion for her to relax on, of course. Pinkie Pie reached into her picnic basket and pulled out a couple of chocolate chip cookies. One for Spike and a few more for her.
"I got the soft kind for storytime emergencies," she said.
"Thanks." said a grateful Spike, as he took the treat.
Rainbow rolled her eyes at that before continuing. "It started a while back. We were just fillies," she began. "She went on a picnic with her family right here."