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// Deep Into That Darkness Peering 
// Story: I Destroyed a Universe 
// by TheLastBrunnenG 
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Dusk closed around the little pegasus as she trembled at the edge of the Everfree forest. Her cottage lay a stone’s throw behind her, warm and safe and beckoning, yet she quaked and quailed for long minutes as precious daylight bled off into the horizon. Finally she took a deep breath, ruffled her pale yellow wings, and began the long walk into darkness.

Starlight and moonglow lit her way as she trotted down a well-worn path through underbrush and scrub. The soft squelch of damp earth and wet leaves softened her hoofsteps despite the added weight of saddlebags at her side. Through twists and bends the path led deeper, towering trees looming around every corner with house-thick trunks and branches like leafy umbrellas sized for giants.

Soon, too soon, the forest canopy above grew thick and layered, filtering out what little midnight light remained and plunging the woodland floor into cloying blackness. She froze as the serenade of crickets and nighttime birds gave way to the deathly silence of whistling breeze and oppressive stillness. Her mane drooped across her face, its cotton-candy pinkness now as grey as her coat in the inky lightless woods. She glanced side to side, nervous and shaking, searching the brush for a sign, a marker, any hint of the path.

Setting her jaw despite the trembling in her bones, she picked her way gingerly across the forest, trusting memories and hope and no small amount of luck to keep her moving toward her goal. The path became a tangle and with each misstep she was punished by rocks underhoof, walls of briars, and the lurking sense that she was far, far from alone.

She felt eyes on her, great and small, hungry and malevolent, and stood stock-still, mid-stride, willing her falling hooves not to find the ground. Shudders wracked her every move as she held her breath. Gravity fought her, weight against nature, and won as her hoof fluttered gently down into soft soil. Letting out a great and long-held breath behind a relieved smile, she took a single step. The twig her hoof found was the tiniest of all its branch-brothers, and her own steps were as dainty as dewdrops, but it was enough. A crack echoed through the darkened wood and her heart stopped.

Eyes she’d only felt now shot open, glowing and surrounding her, and the whistle of night winds became growls and snarls on every side. They held a frozen standoff for long seconds, predators and pegasus, hunters and prey. With the adrenalin of panic and terror she bolted, cutting through ranks of shining eyes and gleaming teeth. Her hooves thundered through the trees as claws and fangs hurtled after her. Ahead, too far, she saw the glow that marked her destination as marauders furred and scaled and horned tore at her heels. Brambles and limbs raked her sides as she galloped toward the light while howling and hot breath closed the distance from behind.

From ahead she could make out a figure silhouetted in the light of an open doorway, urging her onward as she heard encouragement pierce the night. “Faster, pony, to my home make haste! Run! Run, Fluttershy, or two lives you’ll waste!”

She closed her eyes and dove the distance, careening through the doorway in a crash of feathers and dust, slamming into a low bench as vials and cups shattered around her. She looked up in time to see a familiar zebra slam the cottage door shut and bolt it closed. The zebra dug her hooves into the dusty floor of her forest home, muscles straining as she gritted her teeth and threw her weight against the oaken door. Seconds later a massive weight bowled into the creaking hardwood, sending splinters flying as the zebra fought to keep it upright. Frustrated growls and the scratching of claws continued for minute after minute before receding into the wooded night.

Slumping to the floor next to the panting pegasus, Zecora wiped sweat from her brow and dirt from her mane and glanced at the bulging saddlebags. "You received my message, of the medicinal herbs I seek? I cannot treat the Gray Cough without them, and our forest friends grow weak."

"Yes," Fluttershy said, retrieving a thick packet from her bags. "Mister Crow brought me the news. He was missing more than a few feathers by the time he reached me, so I let him stay with my other bird friends for a while. I hope I found everything you needed."

Sniffing the twine-tied bundle, Zecora nodded. "My thanks to you for bringing these herbs! Without them my medicines would not have been at their best. I could not easily leave the forest to retrieve them myself, as you probably guessed." She grinned and turned to her disheveled guest. “The wolves will not return tonight, I think. Perhaps now we’ve both earned a drink?”

Fluttershy smiled a tired smile, her chest still heaving. “Thought you’d say that,” she giggled weakly, “so I brought you a present along with the herbs. I, um, didn’t know which one to get, so I, ah … I hope you like it.” Reaching into her rumpled and torn saddlebag, she retrieved a small tea-tin and held it out in trembling hooves. “Oh, it’s not your favorite, I just know it! I could go back and get something different, if you want.”

Zecora took the container, eyeing it closely as she frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Fluttershy, see that you do. And while you’re out, perhaps you could offer the wolves a cup, too?”

The yellow pony’s eyes went wide for a moment before both mares broke into cackling laughs and collapsed onto the floor, rolling and hooting and howling until happy tears replaced the sweat on their muzzles. When the gales of laughter finally settled and they could breathe once more, Fluttershy lay back against a low cushion before the zebra’s roaring fireplace while Zecora rested her head on the pegasus’ chest.

“Thank you, dear, for the Crystal Empire tea! I’d like to share a cup or two, if we might.” Running a gold-shod hoof through the yellow fur beneath her, she added, “But instead of returning through the Everfree in darkness, perhaps you’d honor me by staying the night?”

Wrapping a tattered wing around the zebra, Fluttershy beamed and whispered, “Oh, thank you, I’d love to! I was, um, kind of hoping you’d say that.”