//------------------------------// // Why? // Story: Gwenwyn // by BronyWriter //------------------------------// The remaining five ponies trotted away from Fluttershy's house. Four of them had their ears flattened and were looking anywhere but back at the cottage. Twilight, for her part, was frowning and looking between the four of them. "Okay... can anypony tell me what just happened?" She glanced back to Fluttershy's cottage. "What exactly is a day to cry?" "It's..." Applejack sighed as the group reached the town. She motioned to her other friends. "Y'all go on, girls. Ah'll explain it ta Twilight." "If you're sure, darling," said Rarity. Applejack nodded and waved her away. "Ah'm sure. Y'all just go on and have a good day. Maybe we can get together tomorrow." The other three nodded and said their solemn goodbyes as Applejack, Beckoned Twilight towards the park. They only got a few hooves before Twilight started up again. "Okay, so what exactly is going on again? Why is this 'a day to cry'?" Applejack gave Twilight a wry smile and the two stopped at one of the park benches. They sat down on it and Applejack adjusted her hat on her head. "It's..." She sighed. "Everypony 'round here knows what it means, but we don't generally see it as polite ta talk about. Since yer new here, Ah'll say." Twilight frowned. "Uh... okay." "So y'all know that Fluttershy's special talent is takin' care of animals, right?" Twilight nodded. "Yeah. I heard from Rarity that she really did a great job with Opal last week with a cold she had." Applejack's wry smile returned and she chuckled slightly. "Yeah, the local vet says she'll probably put her outta business if'n she keeps up bein' as good as she is." Applejack's smile fell again. "But... uh... what do ya think happens when she can't fix 'em?" Twilight raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "What do you mean?" "When an animal is hurt so bad that she can't do nothin'," Applejack replied. "Well..." Twilight bit her lip thoughtfully and stared down at the ground. "I don't know. I haven't known her for that long, so I don't know how she does things." Twilight tapped the bench. "I mean, when an animal back in Canterlot got old our vet would have to..." Twilight's eyes widened and her head snapped up to look at Applejack. "Are you seriously telling me that she--?" Applejack grimly nodded. "Ah'm 'fraid so." Twilight put a hoof to her mouth and turned a little green. "But... but how can she do something like that?! The vet back in Canterlot had..." Twilight spun her hoof. "Well, she seemed a little more... capable of doing what she had to do." Twilight looked back in the direction of the cottage. "You're seriously expecting me to believe that Fluttershy of all ponies has it in her to do that kind of thing?!" Applejack chuckled weakly and rubbed her forehead under her hat. "Ah guess so. Ah've never asked her 'bout any of the details, and Ah'd rather not say how Ah know that she does it, but there ya go." "But how does she..." Twilight bit her lip for a moment as she thought of the word. "Deal with that? I mean, she's one of the kindest and meekest ponies I've ever met." Twilight shakily raised a hoof and put it on Applejack's shoulder. "You're seriously expecting me to believe that the mare who was too shy to even look me in the eye occasionally euthanizes the animals under her care?" Applejack sighed, but slowly nodded. "Yeah, Twi, Ah do." Applejack locked eyes with Twilight. "Ah know it can be hard to believe once you've met her, but it's just somethin' that she feels has ta be done." "I'm not arguing that, AJ," Twilight insisted. She flattened her ears. "I've known ponies who have had to put down their beloved pets because they're old or suffering. I'm just more wondering how somepony like her can handle it mentally, you know what I mean?" "Yeah, Ah do." Applejack clicked her tongue and began kicking at the edge of the bench. "Ah've kinda always wanted ta ask her how she does it, but like Ah said: it ain't exactly polite ta talk about. Plus, Ah never really knew her that well before the Elements of Harmony thing." Twilight turned her head and stared in the direction of Fluttershy's house. If she squinted, she could see the outline of the place just over the hill closest to them. "It's strange, thinking that not only had she done that, but she does it a lot." "Twi, Ah know that Ah ain't exactly the most perceptive of ponies sometimes, but Ah wouldn't go talk to her today if Ah was you," said Applejack. Twilight turned her head back to Applejack and saw that she had a slight frown on her face. "She's really hurtin', Twi. It wouldn't be the best time ta talk ta her 'bout it all. Leave her be today, ya hear?" Twilight studied Applejack's face for a moment, but slowly nodded her head. "Yeah..." Her gaze flickered back over to the cottage for the briefest of moments. "Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be the best idea to talk to her about it today." Applejack's frown hardened into a slight glare. "Or any day, Twilight. Like Ah said, it ain't polite ta talk about, and it would be especially tasteless to talk to her about it." Twilight slowly nodded and shook her head. "Yeah, you're right." She gave Applejack a small smile. "Sorry, I was just curious is all." Applejack returned her smile and patted her shoulder. "Aw, it ain't nothin, Twi. Ah know it's somethin' that y'all would be curious about. Ah was too when Ah first heard." Applejack's smile disappeared. "But stay out of it. Trust me on this one." * * * * The next morning found Twilight slowly walking up the path to Fluttershy's house. Despite Applejack's warnings, she couldn't help but wonder how a pony so kind could do something so soul crushingly terrible. Of course it needed to be done. If an animal was suffering and it was between that and letting them slip away peacefully, the choice was obvious. But Fluttershy? Twilight was just about to reach Fluttershy's front door when it opened up revealing the pegasus in question. To Twilight's utter surprise, she was smiling like nothing bad had happened the day before. She had a bag of birdseed perched on her back, and her bunny was contentedly hopping behind her. Twilight's jaw dropped open slightly, and she took a slight step back. Knowing what Fluttershy had done yesterday made this scene a little disturbing. It was as if she didn't even remember. Of course Twilight couldn't stand there for long without Fluttershy realizing she was there. She had only taken a few steps outside of her cottage before she saw Twilight standing just past the bridge to her house. She flashed Twilight a smile and trotted up to her. "Good morning, Twilight." "Uh..." Twilight blinked three times, but managed to regain enough brain power to respond. "H-hello, Fluttershy. You seem..." She cleared her throat as she tried to think of the right word. "Better today." Fluttershy's small smile faltered, and her eyes flickered over to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Angel, for his part, had also stopped smiling, and had fixed Twilight with a heavy glare that was surprisingly unsettling coming from a creature as small as he was. Sensing that she had stepped over a line, Twilight flattened her ears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to be tactless." Fluttershy softly sighed and slid the bag of birdseed off of her back. "I guess you want to talk about it." Twilight bit her lip. "Uh... I w-wouldn't want--" Fluttershy gently held up a hoof. "It's okay, Twilight. I know a pony like you would be curious." Fluttershy retreated into her mane, and she began subtly pawing at the ground. Her voice dropped to just below a whisper. "Let's just not talk about it too long, okay?" Twilight raised her hoof as if to take a step forward, but held back. On one hoof, there was the drive inside of her to learn about this less savory part of her new friend. On the other... this was a less than savory part of her new friend, and one that clearly disturbed her on top of that. To add to the cons, Fluttershy had just had to deal with this the day before. Even if she should ask her, now would be the wrong time. Twilight deeply exhaled and shook her head. "You know, Fluttershy, I can't deny that I'm not curious, but..." She ran a hoof through her mane. "Now isn't the right time, I think. It was tactless of me to come at all." Fluttershy's head gently poked through her mane, and she fixed Twilight with a one-eyed stare. "Oh. Okay." Her visible eye twitched over to the Everfree Forest again. "Whatever you want, I guess." Twilight forced a smile on her face and motioned over to the bag of birdseed. "It looks like you're gonna feed some birds, right? Do you mind if I help?" It was like a switch had been turned on. Fluttershy came out of her mane completely, and she was positively beaming. "Oh, that would be wonderful!" She picked up the bag of birdseed again and placed it back on her back. "You can meet some more of my animal friends!" Twilight's smile flashed with a hint of genuineness as Fluttershy beckoned her towards her chicken friends. Seeing her friend happier made it so that she couldn't help but be a little happy herself. Still, there was the curious aspect of Fluttershy continuously glancing towards the Everfree Forest. * * * * Evening had fallen over Equestria by the time Twilight had said goodbye to Fluttershy for the day. in truth, she had quite enjoyed getting to know Fluttershy a little better, and feeding some of her animals wasn't too taxing. Even Angel Bunny hadn't been too obnoxious. However, as Twilight had walked home, something stuck out in the back of her mind. Every now and again, particularly when Twilight had come to talk to her about what had happened the day before, Fluttershy would glance at the Everfree Forest. It was well known that she was scared of the place, most of the residents were, but the look behind Fluttershy's eyes when she stared into its depths was not one of fear, but of heartbreak. Given the events of the previous day, that was intriguing to Twilight. Twilight took a sharp left turn and began trotting back towards Fluttershy's cottage. The knowledge that her friend was capable of doing something like that was unsettling to her, and part of her said that she needed to see it to believe it. There were answers in the Everfree Forest. She reached the edge of the forest in just under five minutes, and walked inside with only a brief moment's hesitation. The bright rays from the evening sun were diluted by the thick overhanging branches of the towering trees above her. Knowing Fluttershy as she did, she doubted that she would be able to go far into the forest. It was too dangerous at any rate. Twilight's assumptions proved correct, and she soon found herself in a small clearing. There were no branches filtering the sunlight. The tall trees had been pruned so that the whole clearing was illuminated. What Twilight saw made her gasp and almost run out of the forest. Small mounds of dirt covering obvious graves, each with a small stone with a crude drawing of an animal on them. Some of the stones had names, but on the whole the only identifying mark was the crude picture of whatever animal was buried under the mounds of dirt. To complete Twilight's horror, there were dozens of them. A small, quick count gave her the estimate of at least somewhere in the high seventies, with space for plenty more. Despite herself, she choked back bile that tried to force itself up her throat. Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the mass grave in front of her, she turned tail and ran out of the forest.