A few days later around midmorning, Twilight was sitting in the library reading a newly arrived book titled “Research Methods and Inquiry”. It was quite fascinating to her. One must wonder how different her attempts to explain Pinkie Pie’s “Pinkie sense” would have been if this book had been published much earlier. She was deeply entrenched in the book, taking notes as she went. As such, she almost missed the quiet knocking on the library door. The purple mare twitched. Spike was busy with his chores, so she would have to stop what she was doing in order to answer the door. Twilight sighed and put down her book and quill.
When she opened the door, the librarian was surprised to see Fluttershy standing there with a basket in her mouth. “Fluttershy?” Twilight began, “Don’t tell me something else crash landed in your yard!”
Fluttershy put down the basket and shook her head. “Oh no,” the yellow mare said, “I just… well I hope I’m not interrupting anything. It’s just that I found two strange packages sitting outside my front door today. This one was addressed to you… I think.”
Twilight peered at the basket. It was made of rather coarse material, and was covered over with a bit of burlap. A note sat on top. The unicorn used her magic to bring the letter to eye level and began to read it. The hoofwriting was rather poor, and the note was quite short. It read:
To the purple one,
This is a return of the favor you paid me. I hope it is to your liking. I thank you for the part you played in the return of my dear pet.
W.
P.S. There is something in the bottom for your little nestling so he does not eat your gift.
Twilight frowned at the letter. “Who is this ‘W’?” she asked, “and what is this ‘return a favor’ thing all about? It’s not like we did a whole lot.” The unicorn turned to Fluttershy. “You said you got two packages right? What was in the other one?”
Fluttershy’s face lit up as she flew into the air. “Oh it was absolutely wonderful! I got this darling little teapot that looks just like one of my little bird friends. When the tea is ready, it even chirps and flaps its wings!” the pegasus went on in delight, before dropping to the floor with a blush over her sudden outburst.
Twilight was intrigued. “Hmm,” she said, “I wonder if the whole thing is steam powered then. It would be interesting to see how such a device is put together. Would you show it to me sometime?” Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and then made her excuses to leave. Twilight waved goodbye to her friend before carrying the basket inside. She placed it on the table and opened it cautiously. Inside was a bulky item wrapped in burlap and tied with twine. When she opened it, the unicorn found a strange object within. She picked it up and inspected it closely.
The device was made of worked copper. It was as big around as her hoof and about twice as tall. It was made up of two parts, a base with a crank, and the larger upper part was riddled with small holes. Squinting through one, she could see a strange blue crystal formation inside. She turned the crank on the side, and felt a winding mechanism within begin to move. She continued to operate the handle until she heard a small “click” before releasing it and placing the device on the table.
The device sprang to life. Twilight watched as the upper half of the mechanism began to spin slowly. A simple tune began to play, akin to one heard from a music box. For some reason, the crystal inside began to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter, until the strange blue glow shone through all the holes, splashing the room with dots of light. Twilight looked around and gasped. The small pinpricks of light painting her walls were not just random dots, they formed several star formations she knew well. “There’s Orion, and the Big Dipper, and…” she began excitedly. In all, a total of eight complete star formations coated her walls. She watched them in awe for a few moments until the song petered out and the glow began to dim away into nothingness.
Even after the device had stopped moving, she continued to stare off into space. "What makes the crystal glow like that?" Twilight said to herself, "I've never seen anything like it. Where did that mare get it? Where did it come from?" She wondered aloud. She looked at the object again, staring as if somehow the force of her gaze would cause the object to reveal its secrets to her.
She was still staring at it when Spike came in from the kitchen. “Twilight?” he began, “What was that music I heard? It was kind of pretty and… what are you looking at?” There was no response from the mare. Spike wondered over and waved his paw in front of her face. “Helloooo, Equestria to Twilight! Come in, Twilight, are you okay?”
Twilight blinked and frowned at him. She rubbed her hoof over her forehead. All the staring was giving her a headache. “I’m fine, Spike,” she said, “I’m just trying to figure out why somepony would send me such a valuable gift for no logical reason. All we did was bring her pet back to her, this makes no sense!”
Spike examined the object she had indicated and shrugged. “Maybe she just likes you and… Wow! What’s that great smell?”
Twilight turned to find the young dragon rooting around in the basket. “Spiiiike,” she began.
The dragon ignored her and pulled the lower layer of burlap off, revealing the source of the awesome smell. He pulled one out and started to drool. “Alright!” he exclaimed gleefully, “sapphire-chip cookies!” He began to chew his prize with great gusto. Within seconds it was gone, and he reached into the basket for more.
Twilight frowned as she watched him stuff two cookies in his mouth at once. “That’s enough, Spike! You’ll spoil your lunch,” Twilight said as she levitated the basket out of his grasp.
“Aww, Humm hurrn, hwilight,”Spike said, spraying crumbs everywhere. Twilight said nothing, and merely levitated a napkin over to the dragon. She had a lot to consider about this mysterious individual who would give such thoughtful gifts.
Widget was pleased with herself. She hummed as she looked over the scattered pieces of her latest project. She had managed to repay the favor without being seen. Mama and Papa would be so proud of her. With Zecora’s knowledge of the Ponyville residents, she was able to come up what she felt were the perfect gifts for the two mares. The zebra had even gone so far as to help her to gather some of the materials that could only be found in town. She had been able to scrounge up most of the parts from tearing apart a few of her previous failed inventions. It had been so much fun to build things for other ponies. The devices had been made in record time, and she had even made sure to test them (she did not want a repeat of her mother’s last birthday; they never could get the stain out). She picked up a cookie from the plate next to her and smiled at it. The little dragon had been easy to find a gift for. She had been able to use Mama’s old recipe, with a small twist, and had even made enough extra to keep a few for herself. Widget crunched her cookie happily, paying little heed to the crumbs that were falling onto her work. She gazed into space, keenly feeling as if something was missing in her life. It would be nice to see them again, even if she could only watch their happy world from the shadows.
The next morning found Widget disguised once again, watching the yellow pegasus go about her business from the shadows of the forest's edge. There were in fact many more creatures living at the tiny cottage than she had initially thought. Somehow, the resident pony managed to feed them all relatively quickly. The entire time, she was followed around by a small white rabbit. It had a sour expression and did not fawn over the pegasus like the other animals did. Widget quickly pegged it as the pony's bodyguard. If this rabbit was able to protect the mare, despite his lack of size, he was obviously a force to be reckoned with.
Despite having repaid the favor of caring for her pet, Widget still owed something to this mare. Her invention had broken part of this pony's house, and now she had to watch the pegasus to figure out how to repay her. At least, that's what she tried to convince herself was the reason she was here. It worked. Almost. She still found herself imagining what Mama would do if she caught her acting like this.
Widget frowned. She needed to be focusing on solving the issue at hand, not worrying about rule breaking. Seeing the work the yellow mare went through every morning to take care of her charges had given Widget an idea. She knew where to find some ripe berries in the forest, ones that she often saw the smaller critters eating. Maybe she could pick some of those and bring them to the cottage. She ran off to do so. Of course one basket of berries won't be enough to pay her back. She would have to watch the pegasus some more to find out what else she could do. It would be the perfect excuse, at least for now.
An entire week had passed before Twilight was able to make room in her schedule to visit Fluttershy and inspect her gift. The pegasus was happy to show off her new teapot, even using it to make tea for the two of them. Twilight was pleased to see that her guess had been right, it was indeed steam powered. Just as with her gift, the object was unlike anything she had seen before, and perfectly suited for the mare it belonged to. “I still don’t know why she would send us these gifts,” Twilight said, “Also, why did she leave my gift with you instead of bringing it to the library?”
“She probably was too frightened to do it, she doesn’t like to leave the shadows much,” Fluttershy replied.
“How would you know that?” Twilight asked with a frown.
“Well… umm…” Fluttershy muttered, “She kind of comes by and watches me every morning from the edge of the forest. It was kind of scary at first, but I'm used to it now. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you before.”
The unicorn stared at her friend in shock. “You mean somepony has been stalking you and you didn’t even tell me about it?!” she exclaimed.
Fluttershy flinched at Twilight’s outburst. Then she said, “Oh… I don’t think stalking is the right word. She comes and watches me feed the animals, and sometimes she leaves food for them by the back door. I think she’s just lonely.”
Twilight frowned. “If she wants friends so badly why did she react like that when I tried to be nice to her?” the unicorn asked.
“Well, she kind of reminds me of that wolf I took care of once,” Fluttershy explained, “she wants affection, but she startles easily, and snaps in self-defense when you frighten her.”
Twilight nodded slowly. “Maybe you should be the one to try and make friends with her then,” the unicorn suggested. The yellow mare hid her face, but nodded slightly in agreement. Twilight bade her friend goodbye, and then left Fluttershy’s cottage, a thoughtful expression on her face.
A little over a week after Widget had begun watching the pegasus, she noticed a change in the mare's demeanor. The pegasus was looking around a lot more often, and was clearly nervous about something. Having such little experience with ponies, Widget just assumed the behavior was normal. Even so, she redoubled her efforts to stay hidden. She was proud of herself for not being detected so far.
A small rustling sound interrupted her usual morning routine. She looked down, and came face to face with a small white rabbit. Widget panicked. "Fire and rain! It's the yellow mare's body guard!," she thought frantically. "He must think I'm here to hurt his charge!" She had to get out of there, and quickly. Widget ran away as fast as she could.
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Fluttershy came up beside the rabbit, watching the frightened pony retreat. "Now Angel, that wasn't very nice," she said. The rabbit just crossed his arms and gave her 'the look' he reserved for when he felt particularly annoyed by the mare's actions. She looked at him. "You think I'm taking too long, don't you?" Fluttershy asked. Angel nodded. "I'm sorry. I know I told Twilight I would make friends with this new pony, but I don't think I can actually do it after all." The rabbit frowned at her. Fluttershy went back to her chores. Angel looked in the direction the cloaked figure had fled to, a calculating expression on his face.
Several days passed before Widget worked up the courage to head back to the cottage. The pegasus was still inside her house. She looked around furtively. There was no sign of the rabbit anywhere. Widget sighed in relief. She headed towards her usual observation spot. Maybe the rabbit took the day off and-- The world spun. Widget suddenly found herself hanging from a tree in a net that had been hidden in the leaves she had been walking on only a moment before. She looked down, and found herself face to face with a certain rabbit. "Aieeee!" she squealed in fear.
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A large body hit the cottage floor. "Eep!" Fluttershy said, startled by the sudden appearance of the cloaked pony in her house. The pony was wrapped up in a net, struggling to get out. Angel had managed to wrangle a few of the other animals into helping him get the netted pony into the cottage. He now shut the door and stood in front of it. He pointed at Fluttershy, then to the other pony. She took the hint.
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Mama had been so very right. Widget could see now that these ponies were crazy. She just knew they were going to do horrible things to her. Widget flinched as a pair of hooves reached out and gently removed the net that had been encasing her. She immediately turned and ran for the door. She stopped dead. It was there. That demon spawn in the guise of a rabbit was blocking her escape. With no where to run and her emotions on overload, she did the only thing she could do. Widget fainted.
Widget found herself drowning in shadows. She tried to wake up, but found she couldn't. she could hear a voice, but it was fuzzy and hard to understand. "You've really gone too far this time, Angel!" the voice was saying. If she had been awake, Widget would have been able to watch the 'demon bunny' be put in its place as Fluttershy gave him "the stare". Sadly, she missed it as she drifted back off into unconsciousness.
Widget awoke to a cool sensation on her brow. Her eyes snapped open. Fluttershy, who had been standing over her mopping her brow, quickly backed up. Widget sat up, wincing as the world spun around her. She looked at the pegasus. She was puzzled to find that the other mare been taking care of her while she was incapacitated. Widget knew what her Papa would do in this situation, but that didn't make things any easier.
Cautiously, Widget approached the yellow mare. "Umm... thanks for taking care of me," she said, "My name is Widget."
The pegasus looked at her. "I'm Fluttershy," she mumbled.
"Hello, Miss 'shy," the cloaked pony responded.
Fluttershy blinked. She smiled at Widget. "I'm sorry Angel did those horrible things to you," she said, "He's in time-out right now, I hope you can forgive him."
Widget frowned. "A demon bunny named Angel?" she thought. "Why doesn't she see the irony in that?" She smiled back at the pegasus. "M-maybe I can come visit you again?" she asked, throat tightening. Fluttershy nodded. Widget was overjoyed. She never would have thought she would end up making friends with a pony.
A few weeks after their last chat at her cottage, Fluttershy brought Twilight another note from "her new friend Widget". The note, written in the same awful handwriting as before, was rather short. It read:
Twilight,
Fluttershy tells me you wanted to know more about my inventions. I have included notes the plans for the two items here, so you can look at them. I am glad somepony else is interested in such things.
Widget
Twilight stared at the paper, and then at the two following pages. These were even rougher than the note, but showed a detailed view of how the two items were put together. She was fascinated to see that the sketch included information on how exactly the crystal in her gift glowed. Apparently, it was a strange type of rock that lit up when exposed to electricity. The schematic showed that the device produced this electricity by rubbing a bit of leather across a ring of wool within the contraption. The resulting static charge was then used to power the crystal. "This is truly ingenious," Twilight said to herself. "Did she really make this on her own? It does say ‘my inventions’ on the note. This pony has an amazing skill, so why is she hiding in the woods?"
Twilight looked at Fluttershy, who had been waiting quietly while she read the note and muttered to herself. “I take it this means you were able to talk to her more?” the unicorn asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yes. She’s ever so nice to talk to. She even brings me food and herbs from the Everfree forest, and she once even found an injured squirrel there too.”
“Do you think she would talk to me?” Twilight asked.
The pegasus thought for a while, then nodded. “So long as you let me tell her you’re coming first, so she doesn’t get scared.”
“Alright,” Twilight agreed. "I don't want to be hissed at again."
Two days later, Twilight and Spike made their way to Fluttershy’s cottage. Dawn had just arrived, so the latter of the two was still snoozing away on the mare’s back. Twilight had been surprised when Widget had insisted on Spike coming to meet them as well. She rounded the back of her friend’s house and saw Fluttershy standing in the backyard, talking softly to a figure dressed in a ragged cloak.
Twilight approached cautiously, but this time she was greeted with a small smile instead of an angry growl. Formal introductions were made. Even Spike was willing to cast off his usual morning grumpiness when he found that Widget had brought him some more cookies. The morning was spent in quiet conversation. Twilight was pleased to find that the new mare was quite well read when it came to the math and sciences. Widget thought it was nice to be able to talk to somepony who understood what she was saying as well. All too quickly the morning was over, and Widget bade them farewell before slipping back into the forest. “That was more fun than I thought it would be. We should do it again.” Twilight said. Fluttershy smiled and nodded in agreement.
For over a week, these morning sessions continued. Twilight remarked on how it was surprisingly easy to fit the meetings into her schedule. Even Spike seemed to consider the outing worth getting up for, if only because Widget usually had a treat for him when they arrived. She always took time to talk to the small dragon, and ask him about his day. This pleased Spike greatly. Fluttershy often asked about her pet's health. She would answer these questions happily. Eventually, Widget even began to bring Sydney along, despite voicing her fears that he would wander off again. The yellow mare seemed to enjoy petting him.
Widget quickly warmed up to Twilight, and was happy to "talk about egghead stuff" as Rainbow Dash would put it. Fluttershy followed their conversation well enough, though she seldom made any comments of her own; either that, or she was very good at feigning interest. With a little prompting, Twilight was able to get Widget to discuss her inventions. Widget thought little of her devices, which surprised the purple mare. She was more than happy to share what she had made with them though, even giving Twilight a raw piece of the blue crystal for her to study later. Widget even brought along her plans for inventions she "had been dreaming of but hadn’t built yet". Sunrise often found the three hunched over one of her schematics, deep in conversation while Spike lounged with the platypus in the grass nearby. The meetings grew longer, and Widget no longer twitched at every sound, nor felt the need to hide from the sunlight. For once, she was glad she had made the decision to not listen to Mama. There wasn’t any reason to hide from these ponies; she could be part of their world after all.