//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: The Mare in the Woods 
// Story: Change the Heart 
// by FatesWinds 
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Chapter 5
The Mare in the Woods
"It can sometimes be the smallest of decisions that change our lives the most." —Featherfall the Wise



Heart Shield was putting away the Legends and Foal Tales of Early Equestria, 8th Edition that Owlowiscious had brought him when he heard the door to the library open and Twilight and Spike’s voices coming in.
“… is that a nice big fire ruby now and then isn’t too much to ask for is it? I mean come on Twi, I’m your Number One Assistant, right? Don’t you think a raise after all this time would be in order?”
“Having a raise would require you to be getting paid in the first place.” Twilight’s laugh came clear through the hall as she and Spike walked in.
“Well then how about we start paying me then, I’ll take two fire rubies every week,” Spike replied, the little dragon entered the room, looking proud, and slightly smug.
“I think that’s a bit too much for a beginning wage,” Heart Shield spoke up, gliding down to the floor beside his friends. “Maybe a monthly pay of two sapphires to start with.” He and Twilight laughed as Spike jumped a foot in the air, startled by the pegasus’s sudden appearance. “Sorry for startling you Spike. Today’s my day to work in the library, but you two were gone when I arrived.”
“Almost scared the flame out of me,” Spike grumbled to himself.
“Thank you for taking care of things while we were out,” Twilight said, smiling at Heart Shield. “It’s nice having somepony around who can look after the library when we’re not around. Did anypony come by?”
“Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle dropped in earlier and wanted a book on daredevil and extreme stunts and activities, and Rarity wanted some artsy books for inspiration, oh and Pinkie Pie popped up wanting to know if you were going to attend your 2nd Anniversary of Twilight’s Arrival in Ponyville Super Party Extravaganza Bash in three months.”
Twilight shook her head amused, “That Pinkie, any excuse for a party. What did you let the Cutie Mark Crusaders get?”
“Just Equestria’s Records, 20th Edition,” he replied.
“Well, they can’t get any dangerous ideas from that at least.” Twilight walked around the library, looking at the shelves and her writing table. “Books stacked and organized alphabetically, shelves and floor clean, ink restocked, parchment and quills stored neatly, you did a great job today!”
“Thanks, Owlowiscious helped out too so it wasn’t that difficult, and after working here for a year I’ve gotten used to what needs to be done. Is there anything else that you can think of to do?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, it looks like you’ve done everything. Are you heading to Fluttershy’s to help out today?”
“Yeah,” Heart Shield replied, nodding. “I’m going into the Everfree Forest, some of the animals told her that there’s something in there that needs to be seen to.”
“Sounds like you’re really needed then, I won’t keep you then. Will you be staying the night with anypony? Or can I expect you back here tonight?”
The pegasus fluttered his wings in embarrassment, his cheeks beginning to flush. “D-don’t say it like that,” he said, flustered, “it makes it sound like the three of you are all my special someponies.”
She laughed. “Are you so sure that none of us are?” she teased.
“Twilight!” he whined, tucking and untucking his wings.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “The guest bed will be made up for you in case you stay here tonight. Now hurry along before it gets too dark to be in the forest.”
Heart Shield nodded and hurried out of the library, though not before he heard Twilight joking with Spike about his spot as her Number One Assistant might be in danger of being taken by somepony else. He took off once he was outside, beating his wings in long strokes as he flew. He may not be as fast as Rainbow Dash, but his wingspan was useful for making his way from one place to another without tiring. Derpy waved to him as he flew past, a large blueberry muffin in her mouth and he slowed down to wave back. Other than this, he made good time in reaching Fluttershy’s house.
“Oh good,” the yellow pegasus said when he alighted on the ground before her, “we were getting worried you weren’t able to make it, not that it wouldn’t be understandable if you weren’t.”
“Sorry for taking so long, I wanted to wait for Twilight and Spike to come back,” he apologized.
“Oh, it’s quite alright. Can you look for whatever’s in there that has the critters all concerned? Angel’s stuck here with a sprained paw, so I have to look after him.”
Heart Shield nodded. “Did they say where it was?”
“No, but it sounded like it was pretty deep into the forest.” Fluttershy turned away to grab something from inside her house. Heart Shield watched curiously. Eventually she came back out, balancing a picnic basket full of first-aid and some fruits, something Heart Shield remembered from his first lesson from her. Use the fruit to calm and befriend a hurt creature, then tend to the problem. “Remember, if you need any help-.”
“Ask the animals to get you or Rainbow Dash,” he finished. Fluttershy beamed at him, pleased that her assistant remembered, and allowed him to take the basket. The birds chirped to grab their attention before flying into the Everfree Forest. Heart Shield said goodbye to Fluttershy and hurried to catch up with the birds, holding the basket’s handle in his mouth. To say that it was hard to follow was an understatement. The birds were fast, but with the trees growing closer and closer to the path, it wasn’t possible for him to take flight too. Twice he lost sight of them, and almost got lost three times; had it not been for Zecora walking by the last time, he would have stayed lost. The birds took him as far as the other side of the river that ran through the woods, refusing to go any further. He argued with them, almost shouting after a few minutes of their stubbornness, before they pointed the way, chirping once in answer to him asking if they meant to just continue going straight.
He sighed, picking the basket up, and walked in the direction they indicated. As he went even deeper into the woods he began to wonder if they hadn’t just sent him the wrong way out of irritation for his arguing. When he’d gone straight for forty-five minutes and still hadn’t found anything, his frustration grew and he almost turned back and left, the only reason he didn’t was that Fluttershy would be beside herself if he turned back on a creature in need. By seventy-nine he was about to quit when he reached a clearing in the woods. He dropped the basket as he saw what lay there.
There, laying on the ground by a tree, was a pony, one like he had never laid eyes on before. She, for it was a mare, that much he could tell at first glance, was jet black, though she looked like, instead of a pelt like everypony else, everything was smooth, almost like her body was velvet covered, but it had an odd sheen to it, like silk. Her mane and tail were both teal, her mane hung down along her face, partially covering one eye. What he noted most about them was the literal holes in them and her legs, all towards the very end. The next thing to grab his attention was her horn. It looked like a twisted, completely mangled unicorn horn, or, more accurately, like Lady Celestia’s, as it was longer than any unicorn’s, and for a heart-stopping moment he thought it was broken, but he soon realized that it was supposed to be that way. The thought of Celestia brought his attention to the pony’s wings. He couldn’t believe his eyes, she had wings! This made her an alicorn, didn’t it? But her wings, they weren’t like his, or any of the alicorns he knew about. They looked like tattered insect wings, and he counted four in total, two up top and two directly below those, like a dragonfly’s. Her top left was bent at an odd angle, and he just now noticed the scrapes and bruises all along her body, she even seemed to be breathing weakly. She had to be the one the animals had told Fluttershy about. Heart Shield picked up the basket and stepped into the clearing. His hoof landed on a twig, and the wood’s snap seemed to echo through the forest. Instantly the odd alicorn’s eyes opened and she leapt to her hooves, wincing as one of her back legs hit the ground. She brought it up against her body tenderly, bent over slightly in obvious fear of the pegasus who had found her, her expression one of wariness, as if she’d had bad experiences around other ponies. He met her gaze, noticing her eyes. Like everything else about her, they were nothing like he’d seen before. Dark green, dual-colored eyes stared back at him, her pupils long and thin like a cat’s.
Heart Shield took a step towards her, stopping when she backed away. “It’s okay,” he said softly, “I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to help.” The mare’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Honest,” Heart Shield said, pulling the basket into view, and opened it, pulling out Fluttershy’s first-aid kit and showed it to her. “You’re injured pretty badly, that leg doesn’t look too good and your wing is broken from the looks of things. Please, let me at least help you with those?”
She continued to look at him through narrowed eyes, as if thinking his words were a trick, but eventually she bent her head, reluctantly accepting his offer. He trotted quickly over to her and, after a few fearful jerks from her when he reached out to her, got her to lay down as he checked her injuries. It was worse than he had originally thought. Her wing was bent over itself, definitely broken, her leg, as best as he could tell, had a slight fracture in two places while one of her forelegs was sprained. Her ribs were the worst though, from what he managed to feel, she had four broken, and the rest were bruised. Her legs and scrapes were going to be the easiest to patch up, her wing needed immediate attention. She allowed him to bind it between the two flattest bits of wood he could find, with barely any fussing, and even let him put a splint around her fractured leg, and tightly bind her sprained one. She winced as he cleaned her scrapes up, but didn’t voice any discomfort, though she grunted in annoyance and pain when he made her raise up while he bound her chest as tightly as he could.
“There,” he said when he finished, sitting back and looked her over. “I’m no doctor, but without magic, that’s the best I can do for you. I’d take you into town, but I don’t want to cause you any more injuries by flying, and this place is too far in for anypony to be patient enough to come help.” Heart Shield walked over to the basket and brought it over to the strange alicorn, laying the fruit out before her. “Eat, it’ll help.” She didn’t move, eyeing the food warily, so he took a bite out of an apple, and swallowed it. “See? It’s not poisoned.”
She relented and bit into the apple. Heart Shield studied her as she ate. So far, she hadn’t said a single word to him, and he had no idea how she got into this condition. Did she crash here from the sky? Or had she been attacked by some of the monsters in the woods? He shivered at the thought of anypony having to go through that. If that was the case, it was too dangerous to leave her here, even if it was to seek help from Zecora, who was closest to their location, and too risky to carry her or fly her out of here. Not to mention her seeming to be afraid of even an innocent pegasus, bringing her to Ponyville would likely be too much for her to handle. While he thought, the unknown pony finished off her meal and now avoided looking in his direction.
“My name is Heart Shield,” he said, to break the silence and the ice. “I live in Ponyville, it’s just outside the forest. It’s been a little over a year since I first moved here. Unfortunately, there isn’t any place for me to stay on my own, so some of the other ponies let me board with them. It’s a little odd, but I have a roof over my head and friends who look out for me. I like it here, things haven’t been like they are here my whole life.”
He began to talk about when he was a tiny little foal, how he was sent to Cloudsdale and dealing with being so different from other pegasi for his wings and lack of a cutie mark – “I still don’t have one, take a look.” – and had begun to tell her about leaving Cloudsdale when he noticed that her breathing had grown slow and steady; she was asleep. He smiled a little and watched over her through the night. Whenever something in the trees around them moved, he reared up as high as he could and spread his wings out to their full wingspan to frighten the creatures off, he was grateful that this worked, he didn’t know what he would have done if any of the creatures was brave enough to come near. The silent figure sleeping before him didn’t once stir until the sun rose the next day. She awoke with a start, feeling something all over her, calming when the memories of the last day came to her. Her eyes wandered around until they alighted on the pony who had treated her. Heart Shield yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes to stay awake, only noticing that the odd alicorn was awake as he lowered his hoof.
“Morning,” he said cheerfully. “How are you holding up?”
She eyed him, studying the one who seemed to be so blissfully ignorant of who and what she was. Hadn’t the tale of the events at the royal wedding reached Ponyville, wherever that was, during the weeks since she had been defeated by that infuriating band of ponies – who single-hoofly defeated her army where Celestia’s own Guard had failed – and cast out by her loving groom Shining Armor and darling Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. After several long minutes of silence she opened her mouth to speak when-.
“Heeeeeeey! Large-wing! You in here?” Rainbow Dash’s voice, though far off, came through the Everfree Forest clearly, joined by others.
“Heart Shield! Now where’d y’all run off to!”
“Oo! Oo! Maybe he’s-.”
“I don’t think he’s playin’ Hide an’ Seek, sugarcube.”
“Applejack’s right, there has to be a reason he never came home last night. Fluttershy, you’re sure you didn’t see him leave?”
“Oh no, Twilight, I didn’t see anything. Why, if you and Applejack hadn’t come to me earlier, I wouldn’t have known he never left the forest.”
“Oh that poor thing, spending all night outside in the cold forest with twigs and mud and all sorts of creepy-crawlies lying around, why I can’t begin to imagine how utterly awful it must have been.”
Heart Shield looked over in the direction his friends’ voices had come from, then back at the injured pony. Her eyes were wide with terror, and her whole body was shaking. If it was this bad just hearing voices… He stood up and walked over to her, placing his forehead against hers, like Lady Celestia had on occasion for him when he was scared, to calm her. Her shaking stopped immediately and she quickly pulled her head away, staring at him as if he had just done the Pinkie-Poky dressed like the Flim-Flam brothers. He supposed, since it was now day and all the monsters were gone, that she’d be fine, at least until the evening. “Hey,” he said to her softly, “don’t worry, I’ll stop them before they reach here, and I won’t tell anypony about you, not today at least. I’ll be back in the evening to bring you some more food, okay?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but, after seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she bowed her head in acceptance.
“Stay right here until I come back, I don’t want to get lost in the woods for real this time.”
She rolled her eyes as if to say “And where exactly do you think I could go in this state?”
“Fine,” he laughed, tossing Fluttershy’s basket onto his back and hurried to the edge of the clearing. He looked back at her. “I’ll be back tonight, promise.”
She merely shrugged. Heart Shield waved to her before rushing off back the way he had come. Twilight and the others were still calling out his name, which made it easy for him to find his way back, and he made a mental note of every tree, rock, and bush he passed so that he’d be able to find his way back later. He saw somepony up ahead and sped up, thinking he had found his friends, skidding to a halt when he saw that it was only Zecora. The zebra raised an eyebrow upon seeing him, and motioned for him to follow her, which he did without question. He was surprised that she didn’t say anything, though she looked back at him with a knowing expression.
“Heart Shield! Where are you!”
“Fret not your search is at an end, I have found your missing friend,” Zecora said the moment she and Heart Shield reached the others. “He is safe, as you can see, though the cause of his absence is known only by he.”
Pinkie was the first to look over at Zecora’s words. “See!” she said, bouncing happily around. “I told you he was playing Hide and Seek!”
Heart Shield laughed, only Pinkie would consider an entire night in the woods a game of Hide and Seek. His friends ran to him and immediately he was underneath a pile as they hugged him, glad that he was safe.
“What were y’all thinking spendin’ a night out here?” Applejack chided him. “If you were in trouble, all ya needed to do was send some critters to Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash.”
“I wasn’t in any trouble-,” he began.
“Oh! Why just look at the state you’re in Heart Shield. You’ve got twigs and brambles caught all over your mane. Those will take ages to get out,” Rarity remarked, pointing at his head. He reached up and pat his hair. There were indeed twigs and burrs stuck there.
“Those’ll come out easy,” Rainbow Dash said as she floated in the air. “Just pluck them out-.”
“‘Just pluck them out’?” Rarity looked at her aghast, as if Dash had suggested they sheer off his tail. “One does not simply ‘pluck them out’ without the proper tools. Well, not unless you want to pull out clumps of your hair and leave broken bits of twig stuck there.”
Heart Shield, who had already been busy doing just that ever since Rarity had pointed it out, voiced his disagreement. “I seem to be doing okay,” he said, pulling the last of the burrs out of his hair. “Nothing a good wash and brush won’t fix.”
“There, see? What’d I say?” Rainbow Dash grinned smugly at Rarity, who huffed and strode off to Ponyville with her nose in the air. Pinkie followed, bouncing along the path in her usual manner. Rainbow Dash said something about needing to move some clouds around and flew off, leaving Heart Shield, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack standing there, Zecora having disappeared sometime while they were all talking. Twilight demanded to know what had happened, and Heart Shield told them what happened, or at least an edited version of what happened, as they walked back to Ponyville, claiming that the creature in question was a wolf pup who had gotten stuck in one of the thorn bushes and separated from her family.
“So you mean to say that you patched up this critter and got lost findin’ your way back?” Applejack asked.
“The trail was hard to see without a light in the dark,” Heart Shield quickly replied.
“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy apologized, “I never thought that it’d be so far in you wouldn’t be out by nightfall, so I didn’t think to pack a flashlight.”
“It’s not your fault I waited for her to finish eating after we found her mom before I headed back,” he said, feeling terrible that she was blaming herself for what happened. “I’d have been out while there was still light if I hadn’t done that.” He returned her basket and yawned. “Sorry, I was awake all night…”
“I would think so,” Applejack said. “Why, anypony stuck there all night wouldn’t get a wink of sleep if you ask me. Go an’ take the day off sugarcube, I reckon me and Big Mac can handle things today.”
Another yawn came over the sleepy pegasus. “Are you sure? I can-.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Twilight chided, picking him up with her magic. “You are going to sleep; you look like you’d fall over snoring any second.”
“Besides, there are still some handy-hooved young’ns who want to give farmin’ another shot. Listen to Twilight and rest up.”
Applejack tipped her hat at him, like she had the day they met, and galloped back to Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy thanked him for taking care of things in the forest, and apologized again for not packing a flashlight for him, before she too left. He looked down at Twilight from where she was levitating him. “Am I going to be let down?” he asked with a grin, spinning over in the magic to look at her upside down.
“No.” Twilight laughed at his actions and brought him back to the library, letting him down once they were inside. Spike ran over, wanting to know what had happened, but Twilight shushed him, promising to explain later and to stop pestering Heart Shield.
The pegasus was grateful that she had done this for him and made his way to the guest room, collapsing on the bed the moment he stepped inside, asleep before he hit the pillow.