Fluttershy paced around her cottage.
It’d been several hours since she had returned from Canterlot. Most of which she had spent pacing around, except for feeding her animal friends. Several hours since she had welcomed back Arthas and his paladins along with the rest of their friends. Several hours since he had told them who he really had been and what he had done before his death.
Try as she might, she could not outpace what she had heard.
Fluttershy had known before that Arthas had been evil, of course. He had made it clear to them almost as soon as she and her friends had first met him. However, he had mentioned that his situation was somewhat similar to what Princess Luna had gone through. And in many ways it was.
However, never in her worst nightmares could Fluttershy have imagined the horrors Arthas had unleashed upon Azeroth as the Lich King.
Fluttershy understood that this wasn’t Arthas. Not completely. The best parts of him, the parts that made him him, had been consumed by that awful blade. Hearing about his past was… unsettling, but it didn’t change how she felt about Arthas. No, Fluttershy knew that her friend wasn’t that person, and he would never be him again.
But what she had learned filled her with such unrest that she needed to get back home to think about it in peace. Or at least as close to ‘peace’ as she could manage.
The destruction, the countless deaths, countless being bound to his will, the undead…
The mere idea of dead creatures rising would have been horrifying and repulsive to Fluttershy even ages ago; indeed, she had vehemently refused to go to a movie theater with any of her friends to any movie featuring ‘zombies’... or ‘infected’, ‘trotters’ or whatever else those were called now (as well as any horror movie in general, of course).
However, since she began learning nature magic from Provato, she started to better understand and appreciate the balance of life and death, and now could fully 'comprehend' how much of an… abomination the undead were. Their existence wasn’t just horrifying, it was a blasphemy in the eyes of nature.
But… was it alright to think of them as such? Many of those undead had regained their free will and fought against the Lich King’s evil. And she understood that those unfortunate creatures had no say in what they’d become, even less so than Arthas had. Certainly they had a right to exist, even in that state, right?
Fluttershy wanted to ask Provato what he thought about it… but she dreaded the answer.
Finally, she stopped her pacing. She had trotted in circles for so long that her legs started to ache a little. But she didn’t stop for long. She took a few deep breaths, then walked outside, ignoring her animal friends’ worried gazes. She let the cool air of the late evening wrap around her as she breathed in deeply.
There was something else that unsettled her, even more so.
For all of those horrible things Arthas was responsible for as the Lich King… he didn’t have a soul. Nothing but a tiny speck of who he had been was left to stop him from committing the worst acts imaginable.
The things he had done before he took up that horrible sword upset her much more. Stratholme…
“So much death…” Fluttershy thought, recalling that Arthas had told them how big the population of that city had been. “I can’t believe that Arthas could’ve done this…”
It was… unimaginable. To think that her friend, her caring and valorous friend, could have done something like this. It was horrifying, terrible, sickening what he had done…
But what unsettled her the most… was that she could understand.
Days ago…
“Let nature’s energy flow through you,” Provato had told her as she concentrated. “Focus on the bunny, feel his pain, and then channel the energy to heal him.”
Fluttershy barely heard him, she was too focused on the task at hoof. Before her was a tiny little bunny, laying on the ground and groaning in pain. They found him shortly after they began their training session, and the timberwolf demigod urged her to try and heal him.
Tapping into the life energies of the flora surrounding her, Fluttershy let energy flow through her, then directed them to the bunny. She could feel his pain, emanating from its belly. Poor little thing probably ate something bad and now had food poisoning. Fluttershy concentrated on that pain, weaving the life energies into the little animal, and dispersing its ailment.
Almost immediately, the bunny got up. It twitched its ears, looking up at her as she moved her forehooves, then jumped up to hug her in gratitude.
“Oh, you’re welcome little one,” Fluttershy giggled, hugging the bunny back, then let go of him as she felt the animal pull away.
The bunny started jumping away towards the meadow, only stopping to bow before Provato and wave at Fluttershy. A few hops later and he was gone.
“You have done well,” Provato told her.
As always, hearing praise from the magnificent timberwolf filled Fluttershy with pride. She was still amazed that he had decided to teach her the magic of nature, and even more so how quickly she was learning from him.
“Thank you,” she replied, smiling. “Helping little animals will now be so much easier to do since I can just heal them with nature magic.”
Provato nodded, but to her confusion, Fluttershy realized he was frowning. “Yes, though you would be wise to remember that not everything can be cured so easily as that little bunny’s food poisoning. Wounds that are beyond healing. Diseases that cannot be cured. The latter is far worse, as they can spread. The entire population of a species within the ecosystem could be wiped out, and with one species gone, the balance of nature would be broken. What do you think should be done to prevent that?”
Surprised by the sudden question, Fluttershy hesitated. “W-well, I, um… I could try healing them-”
“The disease cannot be cured,” Provato reminded her. “Magic isn’t enough to cure it, nor can it be treated through conventional means. What can be done to stop it from spreading to the rest of the species? What if there is an even worse scenario?” Provato added, tilting his head. “Imagine this disease causes animals to be violent. That it causes them to attack other animals, even ponies?”
“You mean like what happened to you?” Fluttershy interrupted.
Provato nodded. “Yes. What if it’s not exactly disease, but some dark, ancient evil that corrupted the minds of innocent creatures? What can you do to stop them from inflicting harm on others, if there is no cure?”
“W-well…” Fluttershy stammered. “I… I’m not sure.”
The Wild God sighed sadly. “There is only one thing that can be done. To protect the balance, to save the wilderness, and ensure the safety of innocent creatures, we’d have to end the infected animal creatures' suffering.”
It took Fluttershy a second to realize what he had meant. “But… that’s horrible!” she gasped, covering her mouth with her forehooves.
He nodded in agreement. “Yes, but necessary. It would be far worse to let a disease run rampant, causing irreversible damage to the wilderness.”
“But there are so many ways to cure animals!” Fluttershy argued, deeply disturbed that her mentor, this magnificent protector of nature, would speak of such things. “You have been cured from this dark influence that corrupted the Everfree Forest! Are you seriously saying there could be some worse alignment than what had befallen you?”
“My situation… was a bit unique,” Provato explained. “The exact nature of this ‘influence’ is still something that I don’t quite completely understand, but I would wager that the reason why it was possible for me to be cured had less to do with it and more with me being what I am. A Wild God, a powerful protector of nature. I fear that weaker creatures wouldn’t be as easy to cure. And as for worse ailments,” he added, changing the subject just as Fluttershy was about to question him, “I actually had seen some examples in the past.”
“You have?”
“A long time ago, a few hundred years after you ponies came to this land, a unicorn came to live in the town of Earth Ponistin - or Eastin as it quickly became known - where Ponyville now stands. He had wanted to conduct magical experiments that had been frowned upon in New Unicolt. And for good reason; those ‘experiments’ had caused an arcane surge across the area surrounding Eastin that affected the wildlife, mutating them and causing them to be aggressive to others. They had to be put down,” Provato said, closing his eyes as if relieving the sad memory.
Fluttershy looked down. She could see what Provato meant, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept. She wasn’t sure what horrified her more; the fact that some innocent creatures had to die, that a pony had been responsible for it… or that one day she might have to do the same.
“But… to kill them…” she began, then trailed off, unable to voice her despair.
She felt something touch her head gently. Raising her head, she saw that Provato had leaned forward to brush her with his muzzle gently. “Oh, little one,” he said, sympathetically, “death isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s not an ending, it’s part of a great cycle, just like birth is. Nothing is gone forever. But the cycle will continue only if it’s maintained,” he said, more assertively, “which is why, if there ever comes such a time when it’s threatened, we’d have to do what’s necessary. Do you understand?”
She did. She might not agree, not completely, and certainly, she wasn’t happy about it, but Fluttershy understood.
Now…
“Was there any difference between what Provato had faced hundreds of years ago and what Arthas had dealt with in Stratholme?” Fluttershy thought, then answered her own question. “No, there wasn’t. Animals, ponies, humans, people… we’re all living beings. There’s no difference.”
But if that’s what she believed… then did it mean that… she agreed with what Arthas had done?
Would she have done the same thing?
“No,” Fluttershy realized. “I wouldn’t have been able to…”
But she would know she should.
“Why?!” she thought, angry, as she grabbed her head. “Why are such awful things necessary?!”
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair what Arthas had to go through, it wasn’t fair what happened to the citizens of Stratholme, to the people of Lordaeron, of Azeroth! It wasn’t fair that crystal ponies had to disappear for a thousand years, it wasn’t fair that Princess Luna had lost her lover forever and had to see her daughter die! It wasn’t fair that Princess Celestia had to banish her sister! It wasn’t fair that the Everfree Forest had been corrupted!
Why was the world like this?!
She clenched her teeth.
The Lich King. The Burning Legion. King Sombra. Nightmare Moon. All part of the unfair system that plagued the universe and innocent living things in it!
It. Made. Her. Furious.
A growl escaped her. Why should she be responsible for putting down innocent creatures when they’d get sick or corrupted when she should rip apart those responsible? She could imagine their bodies shredded by her as she clawed the ground beneath her, her fangs sinking into their throats, the scent of blood filling her-
“Fluttershy?”
She turned sharply at the sound. Her eyes widened. It stood before her! The creature that ripped her friend’s throat open!
With a roar, she lunged at it. It raised a wooden paw in defense, blocking her from its throat. Fluttershy grabbed it with her paws and sank her fangs into its leg, drawing blood. She must have surprised it as it stumbled back. With her heartbeat drumming in her ears, she pushed forward, making it fall, and then pulled her head back, ripping a big part of its leg away.
She stared down at the creature, her thoughts becoming hazy. It was beaten, but it didn’t quench her fury. Howling, she went for the throat.
Suddenly a gust of wind took a hold of her. She barked in confusion, thrashing around and trying to flap her wings to get away, but she had been pushed away through the air, away from the creature. Recovering after a few heartbeats, she landed on the ground, angry. She raised her head to smell the air, but then she stopped as a rustling of nearby bushes alerted her.
Licking her lips, Fluttershy lunged after her prey.
Provato watched as Fluttershy, now far away, raced deeper into the Everfree Forest. He had sensed something was troubling his pupil so he sought her out. Despite all his wisdom, though, he couldn’t have predicted what he had found.
He couldn’t have predicted that in her fury she would subconsciously call upon nature's magic, that it would warp her body and mind. He never could have imagined that the rage that had overtaken her would be so great that it would cause her to attack him, nor that she would have been able to actually wound him so deeply.
The Wild God raised his leg, now missing a good portion of its wooden body, and started to lick it as he watched the yellow and pink timberwolf disappear in the distance.
“Teaching is hard.”