//------------------------------// // Sacrifice // Story: Fluttershy's Garden // by SilentWanderer //------------------------------// I entered the forest through a wide path. The treetops filtered the sunlight. The cold wind made me shiver. I was afraid. The path was long. I walked cautiously, always on the lookout for Everfree Forest beasts. I walked for at least a full hour. Many times, I hid behind bushes when animals were passing by. The path narrowed. I continued following my map. While I was passing near a particularly dense set of bushes, I heard crying. It sounded like ponies crying. I carefully walked towards the sound, ready to fly away if I saw any danger. Behind a bush, I saw a pair of foals hugging each other, and crying. I made a small sound with the bush, so as to not startle them too much. Both foals raised their heads, and looked at me. “Are you lost?” Both foals nodded. They were a couple of earth ponies, around the same age. “Do you want to come with me? I know how to get out of this forest.” Both foals nodded again. They stood up, and walked towards me. I wiped the tears from their faces with my hoof. “Feeling better now? What are your names?” “I'm Winter Leaf,” answered the colt. “And I'm Summer Leaf,” answered the filly. “I'm Fluttershy,” I said. I walked with them back into the path I was following. “I have first to go deeper into the forest, to get a medicinal herb. Then we can go back. Are you two okay with that?” Both foals nodded. I walked, followed by them. “What were you two doing alone in this dangerous forest?” Winter Leaf answered, “We didn't know it was dangerous.” “How come you didn't know about that?” Summer Leaf answered, “We are not from this town. We are on vacation.” “Vacation?” “We live on Manehattan,” said Winter Leaf. “Mom decided to visit a rural town, and chose Ponyville.” “She must be worried about us. She left us playing on the park, and we decided to explore the town.” “We found a bakery, and a nice pony there gave us some cake.” “We saw a house within a tree!” “A friend of mine lives on that house. And it is also a library. When we get back, I can take you there.” “Cool! Do you think they have the latest Daring Do book? I didn't read it yet,” said Winter Leaf. “She has the complete collection.” “It's as if we are in a real Daring Do adventure! Fluttershy and the lost twins!” said Summer Leaf, jumping and making poses. “Shh! Don't speak so loud, we do not want to attract dangerous animals.” They shut up and looked nervous. “It's okay to talk, just not too loud.” The terrain became irregular. The howling wind shook the leaves around us. I looked at the map. “We are close now. We will get to this clearing, then we will take another path for a bit, and there we should find the medicine that I'm looking for.” The forest was calmer here. We walked slowly, stepping over the rocky terrain. We arrived at the clearing. We rested for a bit, and I shared some of my food and water. I looked for the trail marked on the map. It was not easy, but I found it. As I looked back to call for the foals to follow me, I saw something big move behind them, just outside the clearing. “RUN!” They jumped out of the way in the nick of time, as a large mass of rocks smashed the middle of the clearing, kicking up a cloud of dust. The twins ran to my side. The dust cleared, revealing a large deformed body made solely of large rocks. The rocks were not attached to each other, they only touched. I gulped. I knew what I had to do. I took off my saddlebags, and gave them to Summer Leaf. “I will distract it. You two run as far as you can, back the way we came. Be careful to not get lost. Use the map to get out of the forest. After you are safe, I will fly to escape.” I spread my wings and walked slowly towards the creature. Its rocks moved independently, changing its shape. With each step I took, the creature changed its shape again. Without warning, it attacked. I was expecting it. With a strong flap of my wings, I leaped backwards, at the same time shouting a command to the foals. Each of them ran to a different side of the clearing, and both met behind the creature while I dodged another attack. I smiled when I saw the blue colt and the green filly disappear in the distance. Now it was only me and the creature. I flew as high as the dense canopy of trees allowed me to, and prepared to leave the clearing in a dive, trading height for speed. I didn't expect the creature to be able to leap that far, or that fast. In fact, it was not a leap. The stones, bound together solely by magic, were able to float. The creature hit me in the back, flinging me into the ground. -*-*-*- I did not know what that creature was. I did not know what it was doing there. I did not know who made it. Perhaps some unicorn, back in the age of myths, created it for some task, long lost in the mists of time. Perhaps the wild magic of the Everfree Forest animated some common rocks, giving them the breath of life. Perhaps it was some strange kind of animal, one yet unknown to ponykind. It did not matter. My body could not move anymore. The creature lost interest and went away, crushing tree branches as it left the clearing. I was alone. I thought of my friends. I thought of my animals. I closed my eyes. I felt cold.