//------------------------------// // Everything is going to be okay. // Story: You can rest now // by rikusorasephiroth //------------------------------// She woke up in the middle of an open field. Her surroundings unfamiliar. Nothing around her was familiar. Not the scenery, not the sounds, not even the smells. Standing up quickly, she look around. She could see no sign of her home or the people who cared for her. She was separated from everything she knew. Her bed, her blankets, her pillows, her warm clothes, even her socks. Mildly afraid and very confused, she did the only thing she could. She walked. As she made her way along the expanse of bright green grass, she took noticed that her breathing was steady and she was in no pain, so she stopped and checked herself over. Gone was her scar on her belly from her surgeries, the painful growths on her sides, even her leg that she'd broken, that ached in cold, wet or windy weather seemed to be healed. After checking herself over, she looked ahead and continued forwards, hoping to find some answers. No longer could she hear the loud calls of Kookaburras in her back yard as they sat on the clothesline or Galahs and Cockatoos screeching out from the bushlands nearby. Instead she heard unfamiliar tweets and warbling from many birds she didn't recognise. Her journey lasted several hours, far longer than any she had taken alone before. Cold lonliness crept deeper into her heart with every step she took. A lack of understanding gnawing away at her mind as she frets over where the people she knew could possibly be. Eventually, just as she was growing tired she saw something that vaguely resembled a house like she was familiar with. It had a wooden door and windows, but seemed to be set in a hillside, next to a small, free-flowing stream. As she apprached, she saw a myriad of animals, the likes of which she had never seen, a good few she was familiar with, such as cats and dogs, and some that only vaguely resembled things like the Brush-tailed Possums that she saw a couple of times a year. What she failed to see was a small bird flit into one of the house's windows to inform the occupant. As she continued her slow approach to the abode, the door opened and out stepped yet another creature she had never seen before, with a bright yellow fur coat and long, pink mane. Her surprise at the sight of this newcomer was exacerbated when it spoke to her in a soft voice. "Hello there. I've never seen you around here before. Are you lost?" Looking into their kind eyes, she starts to tear up. "Oh, no, don't worry. It's okay. You're not in any trouble. My name is Fluttershy. Why don't you come inside and have something to eat?" Following the kindly Fluttershy, she was soon offered a small dish of food, which she was too hungry to care what it was. Once she was finished eating, she looked back to Fluttershy, questioning what the Pink-haired caregiver was, where her home was and if the kind one knew a way to get her home. "I'm a pony, my home is on the outer edges of Ponyville, and I'm sorry to tell you that I don't know where your home is." With a sad sigh she looked out a nearby window, tears building on the edges of her eyes as she came to realise that there was a chance that she may never return to the life she once knew. "You weren't... abandoned, were you?" As soon as the words left Fluttershy's lips, she glared hard at the pony. She knew, without question, that she wasn't abandoned, and that the ones she left behind cared for her. "O-oh. I'm sorry. I am just worried for you." Hearing that she softened her glare and lowered her head. She didn't know how much time had passed as she sat in that position. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours for all she knew. All she knew for certain was that when she litfed her head next, there was a steel bowl full of water beside her. Looking into the bowl, she began to lap some water, as her reflection stared back. Her soft white fur bouncing ever so slightly with her head movements as she drank. Her deep brown eyes reflecting the sadness and confusion she felt. Finishing her drink, she stood up and looked around for her host. It wasn't long before she saw Fluttershy nearby, lightly fluttering wings she hadn't noticed until that moment, with a small basket, which was being lined with a pillow that was shaped to fit the basket and a few soft looking blankets. Sloly walking over, Fluttershy tapped the edge of the basket, inviting her in. With the weariness of her long journey starting to take hold, she accepted the invitation and climbed in, one small paw at a time. As she settled in, she noted to herself that as much as this basket was comfortable, it just wasn't the same as her own bed back home, and she found herself restless as that lead to her thinking of all the things she'd left behind. Her breakfast of chicken, torn apart by hand. The two treats she would get every day after her breakfast. Getting scratches on her sides, under her chin and behind her ears. Getting wrapped up in a blanket and having a nap on the lap of the people that cared for her. As she reflected on al, these things, a single tear rolled down her little face. She almost didn't notice Fluttershy approach and start gently stroking her back. "I can see how much you miss them." A light sniffle escaped her nose. "They must have loved you a lot." Another tear rolled down. "I'm sure that, wherever they are, they miss you greatly." Her eyelids slowly grew heavier. "Everything is goingto be okay." Her eyes closed and she drifted off. "You can rest now."