The sun was just beginning to set when Fluttershy of Ponyville entered Whitetail Wood. A pegasus pale yellow of coat and strawberry pink of mane, she strode through the trees with all the confidence of a clothing model suffering from stage fright. She turned her head nervously this way and that to look at shadows that seemed to stretch and loom, even though the sun was still high enough to prevent them from doing so. Birds perched on branches without a song, and solemnly followed her as she moved past them. Most critically, however, she felt slow and weighed down, as if her stomach were filled with a chunk of ice.
Of course, she was not nervous because Whitetail Wood was by any means dangerous. Even if it was, with the abundance of birds following her, and squirrels and foxes watching from the branches and bushes, she would have ample warning of any danger that might stray too close. She was not nervous for her own safety at all.
Her nervous start would naturally have been understandable all the same, given these factors, when a hummingbird suddenly zipped in front of her, chirping frantically. “Oh, please slow down,” Fluttershy pleaded after taking a moment to calm herself. “I can’t understand you when you go that fast.”
Rather than slow down, the hummingbird flew twice through a short loop-the-loop, curtly chirped once more, and then flew off into the woods, Fluttershy quickly galloping after and the rest of the tiny flock not far behind. The chase continued for only a short, few minutes before Fluttershy slowed to a canter, then a walk, and finally stopped at the entrance of a small glade in the woods. The hummingbird returned to hover in front go Fluttershy’s face, then gave a sharp — but not painful — peck on her nose and flew off. Although she wasn’t hurt, Fluttershy nonetheless rubbed the spot where she’d been pecked, resolving to have a chat with him about his behavior at a later date.
Moving on from that issue to the immediate one, she took another look into the glade, but didn’t see what had her hummingbird friend so wound up. Not, at least, until after she heard it; an almost imperceptible sniffling. She walked quietly forward into the glade and looked briefly around, and then she saw. Almost within arm’s reach and curled up near the roots of an elm tree was a filly with a blueberry coat, cherry red mane and no mark yet, looking to be barely school-age and weakly crying.
“Sugar Song?”
The filly immediately jumped up when she heard her name, spinning to face Fluttershy and retreating into an even tighter ball, her teary eyes wide.
“Oh, you don’t have to be afraid, little one, I won’t hurt you. My name is Fluttershy. I’m a ranger,” she said soothingly.
Sugar Song uncurled just a little bit. “Are you r-really a ranger?” she asked meekly.
Fluttershy nodded. “I can show you my badge, if you’d like,” she offered.
Sugar Song didn’t even wait until Fluttershy had finished, galloping over in what was more of a swift leap and latching onto the ranger’s arm. “I wanna go home,” she whimpered, burying her face into fur.
“There, there, sweetie. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Here.” Fluttershy settled down onto her belly. “Climb onto my back, and we’ll be out of here before you know it.” The filly pulled away from Fluttershy just long enough to wipe her nose, and then climbed onto the mare’s back as directed. Once Fluttershy felt certain Sugar Song would not fall off, she carefully stood up again, turned about and began walking back the way that she came from.
The walk out was vastly different from the walk in. The shadows no longer seemed to stretch and loom, even though the sun was nearly set and the shadows reached further than ever. The birds that had solemnly followed her in and perched on branches now flitted about excitedly, chipping happily. Most importantly, however, the chunk of ice in Fluttershy’s stomach had melted, now that she knew Sugar Song was safe. As she moved back towards Ponyville at a sedate pace, she could feel the bundle of nervous energy riding on her back slowly relaxing as it became more and more obvious that neither of them would be staying in the forest. After a few minutes, Sugar Song began to timidly ask questions about the birds following them, which Fluttershy answered happily. By the time they reached the edge of the woods, Sugar Song was hanging on Fluttershy’s ever word as she talked about the other animals that could be found in Whitetail Woods, when a cry of, “Sugar Song!” pulled both their attentions away from each other and to the pair of ponies that came rushing towards them.
“Mommy! Daddy!” replied the filly as she jumped from Fluttershy’s back to the ground and hurried over to her parents. In short order, she regretted her decision as she was swept us and fussed over.
“Oh, why did you run off like that? It’s dangerous for a little filly to be alone!” her mother said. “Oh, we were so worried!”
“I just wanted to see the animals!” Sugar Song protested, trying to squirm out of her mother’s arms.
Fluttershy didn’t wait another moment before she stepped in. “Your mother’s right, Sugar Song,” she said sternly, drawing the attention of both the filly and her parents. “It’s true that nothing bad happened to you this time, but something bad could have happened, and I might not have found you in time. I know you really wanted to see the animals in the woods, but even a brave filly should never go into the woods without a grown-up.”
Sugar Song’s ears flattened against her head. Mommies didn’t know anything about the woods, but rangers knew everything about them. “I’m sorry,” she said feebly, tears welling up in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to be bad.”
“Oh, you’re not bad, sweetie,” said Sugar Song’s father as he took a step forward, nuzzling his daughter’s cheek while her mother held her even tighter. “You just made a mistake, that’s all. Mistakes are to learn from, remember?”
“I just wanted to see the animals,” Sugar Song said again.
“Well, Sugar Song, if your mommy and daddy say that you can, maybe before your vacation is done, you can come see all of my little animal friends,” Fluttershy said with a smile. An instant later, she shied away from the other ponies, gaze turned towards the ground and hooves shuffling nervous. “If, you know, it’s alright with them.”
Sugar Song sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Can I, mommy?” she asked.
“After what you did today? Absolutely —” Sugar Song’s mother wasn’t able to finish before her father interrupted.
“Mommy and I have to talk about it tomorrow, sweetie,” he said, ignoring the glare he received. “But you have to be extra good and mind your manners, and we’ll see. Ok?”
“Yes, daddy. I’ll be super good!”
Sugar Song’s mother interjected with a heavy sigh, finally releasing her daughter. “Let’s go back into town. With everything that happened, we’ve all missed lunch and it’s almost supper time,” she said, not even waiting for a confirmation before she turned and started down the road.
Sugar Song didn’t follow her immediately, looking to her father instead with an expression of concern. Her father gave her a smile in return, and then turned to Fluttershy. “We really can’t thank you enough, Madam Ranger,” he said.
“Yeah!” Closer to her original level of excitement, Sugar Song bounded over and squeezed Fluttershy’s leg tightly. “I love you, Miss Fluttershy. You’re the best!”
Fluttershy blushed and turned her head away with a sheepish smile. “Oh, I-I was only doing my job,” she said
Sugar Song’s father chuckled briefly and started back towards Ponyville. “Come along, Sugar. We’d better not keep your mother waiting,” he said.
“Ok!” Sugar Song hurried after him, trotting just to keep up with his brisk walk. She stopped briefly and waved back over her shoulder. “Bye, Miss Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy waved back. “Goodbye,” she said, and then Sugar Song and her father were gone. Breathing a contented sigh and wearing a small smile, Fluttershy began the trek back towards her home. There was work yet, to be done, of course; one did not simply recover a filly from the forest in an official capacity and call that the end of it.
But that was work that could be done in the morning. For the rest of the evening, she would make her memory of the day not the tense moments going into Whitetail Wood nor the growing peace coming out, but of a foal’s innocent sincerity when Sugar Song said, ‘I love you,’ and meant each one of those three words.