“TWILIGHT, ZECORA! HELP!”
Fluttershy's tear soaked face burst through the doorway to the Zecora's shack, eyes reddened, almost dried out from the cold wind she brought with her.
“I HAD NO IDEA! I...I JUST DIDN'T KNOW! OH PRINCESSES FORGIVE ME! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”
“Calm down 'Shy, and just tell us what's wrong? Just sit and tell us where you have been”
Shaking and turning her head to her saddle bags she began undoing the harness hugging her abdomen. Gently, gently, she rested it on the a bed in the corner of the room. Whimpering she turned to three pairs of confused eyes looking over to her.
“Shy?.... what's wrong?”
“I... I just don't know how.... how this could have happened Twi...”
Fluttershy brought her hooves back up to her saddle bags resting before her, and flipped back the layer of fabric covering its contents....
…..Pulling all of the items out with shaking hooves she proceeded to throw what little she had thought to bring in to the forest with her around the, until recently, abandoned shack.
“Its OK little one, it's OK... Oh Princesses, please be OK”
The little foal had not stirred, aside from occasional shivers, since his foalish uttering after Fluttershy had stumbled across his prone form. His breathing was shallow and he would surely not be able to walk through the forest to the safety of Zecora's hut.
“Please be OK... I... I don't know what I w-would do if... if”
Stiffening her face and wiping errant tears with a fetlock she moved to the foal and placed the now empty saddle bags gently beside him. Taking a blanket she had removed just a moment before and draping it around the tiny body, she lifted him off the ground and wrapped it around him three times.
“Hush now..”
She moved the bundle to the bags and placed him gently within, careful not to bump him on the hard floor.
“..quiet now..”
Her melodious voice seemed to echo through the silent forest as the light from the moon guided her parcel to the bottom of the bags beside her.
“...It's time to lay your sleepy head..”
Making sure the tiny foal was secure she lifted the bags up to her back and began securing it in place, folding a flap of fabric over the opening to protect it from the elements, she moved to the doorway.
And ran.
“'Shy, what is it? Oh please tell me what's wrong!”
“H-how could this...”
Fluttershy lifted a blanket out of the bag before her and held it in her forelimbs. Brushing the now empty bags to the floor with her muzzle she placed the bundle in to the place on the bed and began uncoiling its too tiny contents from its grip.
“...who... w-what could have done t-this Twi?!”
Fluttershy was galloping through the forest now, the dim light of the moon strobing through the forest canopy barely enough to allow her to see the terrain before her. There was no sign of any creatures lurking, or she simply did not see or wish to acknowledge their existence.
She knew that time was of the essence. A young foals life depended on her swift arrival at Zecora's home, surely Twilight and Spike would be there? They would know what to do!
An unnaturally heavy burden caused her to slow for a moment. Every sinew of strength sapped in an instant as her mind finally realised how she had been led to this.
'He wanted me to save this foal' she thought as her mind cast back to the previous days visits. 'and I would not come'
Her pace redoubled. Fatigue simply did not matter. A tiny foal pressed in to her side through the fabric of the bags over her back reminding her of the job at hoof. 'This is my fault!'
Fluttershy moved the last fold of the blanket to reveal to her friends around her the tiny Unicorn she had found.
“W.... w-what...”
“He was all alone in the forest Twi!”
“Shy...”
“I knew something was wrong Twi! I just didn't... I.... I was too sc-scared!”
“Fluttershy...”
The stony silence was broken by Zecora bustling in a herb cupboard, throwing ingredients into a wooden mortar on the table at the other end of the hut.
Spike climbed up on to the bed and looked down at the foal and raised a clawed hand to its forehead.
“What happened to his horn?”
It was more a statement than a question.
Fluttershy was racing through the forest now. Breaths were coming harder as she galloped through trees and avoided fallen branches, but her pace did not slow, could not slow. On her mad rush to follow the squirrel who had guided the way to her charge she had not paid heed to the distance she had covered.
Every hoof-step seemed to take an eternity but she knew she was not far now. All was not lost. How could she forgive herself if she did not make it in time?
Jumping over the twisted remains of a fallen tree she came to a stop and took in her surroundings. Just up ahead, illuminated mercifully by Luna's moon was a dirt path trampled into the floor of the forest. A path she knew would lead her to Zecora's home.
Blinking twice to clear her vision of tears she no longer realised she was producing she moved to the path and steadied herself.
A brief shiver escaped her...
..Her ears flicked as a tiny cough sounded from behind and a weight shifted ever so slightly...
She blasted through the final furlong to the sanctuary up ahead. She could see the faint aura of lamplights flashing through the trees as her aching body steadfastly kept it's speed.
Gradually, mercifully the hut, Zecora's hut, came in to focus.
“It's going to be OK little one.. My friends will know what to do.”
Laid upon the bed the little foal made no movements aside from the shallow breaths entering and escaping his chest. Pale brown coat muddied by several days of forest dwelling and sleeping rough darkening it at his limbs.
A short white mane jutted imperiously from his head and neck and a white tail, darkened to almost black in patches from dirt, spread thinly behind him.
Twilights eyes moved to his horn... His lack of horn and widened.
“I....”
Tiny sparks flashed intermittently between the crooked remnants of a unicorns horn on his forehead. She cast another look at Fluttershy and her expression softened.
“Fluttershy, thank goodness you found him when you did, I cant possibly imagine how you feel but you are not to blame for this.. You, I am sure, have saved this child's life”
“I...”
“Its OK 'Shy, here help me undo his saddlebags, let's get him cleaned up... I am sure the Princesses can help us once we find out what happened”
Twilight moved forward and started to work the ties on the little foals saddlebags, enveloping them in her purple aura.
“Its all my fault.. If I had come sooner! if.. if I”
“No Fluttershy, don't think like that. Zecora will make a brew and everything will be fine, you'll see... now help me with these bags”
Twilight blinked away tears, she had to stay strong for her friend, now was not the time to mourn or reflect on mistakes.
“Come on 'Shy, Spike too, both of you help me here”
Her aura released the fastenings in front of her as Fluttershy moved to gently lift the little foal. Spike and Twilight moved closer and slowly removed the hessian bags and placed them to the side of the bed.
Twilight cast down her gaze to the tiny saddlebags now on the floor and slowly raised her eyes to Spike.
“...Spike?”
The young dragon did not respond. His eyes fixated on the sight ahead of him. Mouth agape.
“...Is everything OK, Spike?”
Slowly she turned around and met Fluttershy's gaze.
“Twilight...” she whispered, barely audible through the Zebrican melee in the background.
“.....I ju...I... what... wh-what does this mean Twilight?..”
Her body finally caught up with her mind and the mare looked at the tiny foal draped across the forelimbs of her friend. Starting at the head and surveying the body her eyes slowly widening at the sight before her.
“..What does this mean Twi?”
“...Oh.. Princesses...”