//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Angelswift // by Nevel //------------------------------// Cherry waited outside as she watched her big brother go into the house. It had been about ten minutes she waited and it was getting darker. The wind picked up and had a bitter icy chill to it. Her hooves were wet from the grass caused by the cold night air, but she didn't move. She waited like she said she would. SNAP! Cherry jumped as she heard the noise of a branch breaking. She looked over to see where it came from. A small white rabbit was running towards the Everfree forest. “Mister Rabbit, wait!” Cherry called after it, but it didn't stop. She struggle against herself as she saw the rabbit getting closer to the forest. “Wait, it's dangerous in there!” She took a step forward and then before she knew it, she was running. She didn't want the rabbit to get hurt. As it reached the edge of the forest, Cherry called after it again. “Wait, Please don't go in there!” The rabbit stopped and turned towards Cherry Blossom. The rabbit then seemed to shake its head at her, then quickly turned back and hopped into the forest. Cherry stopped right on the edge, where the rabbit had been just a second before. The pink filly stood there shaking. The ghost stories from the party remained in her head, but they all said it was just a joke. Yet the forest still looked monstrous. The trees looked like they had long arms and sharp claws, with each branch reaching out towards her. The cold wind blew against her from behind, making it feel like she was being pushed in. The bush in front of her shook and then she saw the rabbit going deeper into the forest. Cherry wanted to call out, but couldn't find her voice. She wanted to help the poor rabbit. If everything they said about the forest was true, then she just couldn't leave the poor animal. Cherry put her head down low and walked into the forest. The ground felt softer. Wetter. Colder. She focused on the spot the rabbit had jumped over to and followed it. Cherry couldn't understand why the rabbit would want to go into the forest in the first place. It was horrible. The air tasted stale, the plants looked ugly and disgusting. Animals would never eat this, would they? Cherry thought to herself. Cherry kept heading deeper. There was another rustle of a bush and Cherry hurried over to it. "There you are Mister Rabbit. We should get you outta here." But as she leaned down to the bush, a bird flew out of it, making her scream and jump backwards. Cherry fell over a branch that was sticking out and she fell down a long slope. She rolled to the bottom, but luckily she wasn't hurt. When she opened her eyes, her vision was blurred by the tears that had started to come. The little filly tried to climb back up but the grass was too wet and she kept slipping. Cherry sat down, wiping her eyes with the back of her hoof. She couldn't sit there now. She had to find a way back up. Cherry walked back towards the way she thought was back home. But in the dark, she wasn't sure. It had only been about five minutes, but it felt like forever. Cherry had lost the rabbit and also gotten herself lost. She walked back the way she thought she came in, but that just seemed to make her go deeper into the forest. Cherry had been crying silently but that wasn't going to help her. She called out for her brother but stopped when she heard something in the forest. It was up in the trees and sounded too large to be that same bird. The noise of the forest echoed around her with every step. The darkness left her blind. She couldn't even see her own hooves at the ends of her legs. Cherry bumped into something and was about to scream, till she realized it was only a tree. She sat down next to it, sobbing. “I-I want my brother. I w-wanna g-go home.” She kept her voice low to barley an audible whisper. She didn't want to be found by any of the creatures in the forest. Cherry heard rustling noises coming from beside her. She looked to her side and could barely see the bush next to her. “M- Mister Rabbit?” The filly stood up and moved closer to the bush next to her and knelt down low. She didn't want another bird flying at her again. Cherry could hear the animal breathing heavily and deeply. It definitely wasn't a rabbit. Cherry's instinct told her to run, but she was frozen to the spot. THUD! Something large landed behind Cherry. She didn't dare turn around, she just screamed and ran. She ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't see in this darkness. Something was behind her, it was making a low noise but she didn't hear it over the sound of her heart beating. Her hoof caught on something and she tripped, falling to the floor. She looked up and saw a gap in the trees with the moon was shining through it. The creature that had been chasing the filly landed right next to her. She felt the creature grab her and saw in the light of the moon, the feathery wings of the creature surround her, bringing her into a tight embrace. Cherry panicked and started kicking her hooves to fight the creature off. “Please, calm down!" It said in a soft and gentle whisper. "It's okay. I promise I won't hurt you.” Cherry stopped fighting and then looked at the creature as the moon illuminated it. It was a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane, and she smiled down at the little filly as the white rabbit that Cherry had followed into the forest appeared on top of the pegasus's head. * * * Lance ran around the outside of the house panicking. Cherry had disappeared and he had absolutely no idea why. “Cherry! Cherry Blossom!” Lance called out her name repeatedly. But there was never any response. Pinkie Pie ran over to him after coming back from Sugercube Corner. “She never ran back to the party, so I have no idea where she went. She's really good at hide and seek.” Lance stared daggers at Pinkie. This wasn't a game. His sister was missing. What if it was their father? Or just a complete stranger took her? Lance turned his ferocity onto himself. I never should have left her. I was so stupid! What kind of irresponsible brother am I? Lance looked around and then thought about the forest. Cherry isn't stupid. She would never go in there. Not after everything that was said before. Lance's panic was getting worse. Then he heard Pinkie shouting. “Ahhh! Up in the sky!” Lance turned is head up to above the Everfree forest and saw a dark silhouette of a pegasus with its wings stretched out and flying with the full moon behind it. "It's Batmare!" Pinkie screamed and then ran off. Lance looked towards Pinkie as she ran back to the town, and then back to the pegasus. On the pegasus's back, Lance could see a small filly. “Cherry!” Lance galloped over to where the pegasus was coming down to land. Cherry was okay. Lance felt such a wave of relief rush over him as the pegasus landed and Cherry got down and jumped into her brother. Lance sat down as he held her close to himself. "Big brother!" “Cherry! I'm so sorry I left you alone.” After a moment, Lance then slowly pulled out the hug to look Cherry Blossom in the eyes. “What happened to you? How'd you end up in the forest?“ Cherry looked away from him at first. She knew that it was a silly reason. “I-I'm sorry.” Cherry was trying to fight back the tears. She didn't want her brother to be mad at her. “...Umm, ex-excuse me?” The voice was so quiet and timid, they almost didn't hear it. Lance looked over to the yellow pegasus. “I... I'm sorry. It's umm... my fault she was in there.” Cherry turned her attention to the pegasus too. “You see, Angel here came in to get me when I had spent too long in the forest. I... I was with my friend Zecora and didn't see how late it was, and Angel was worried about me coming home in the dark, so he came to get me. And, well, Cherry saw Angel going into the forest. And she's such a little dear for worrying about Angel and she wanted to help him. But Angel got too far away and she got lost. So I... I'm very sorry. Please don't be mad at me.” The pegasus looked down at the floor, hiding behind her mane. Lance thought to himself. How could anypony be mad at her? “No, it's- it's alright. I just...” Lance couldn't find the words. He wanted somepony to be mad at. Himself for leaving Cherry? Cherry for disobeying him? This gentle yellow pegasus? “Umm... are you okay?” The pegasus looked concerned. “If- If you are mad, I'll just go.” She turned to leave but Lance called out. “No, wait!” Lance jumped up and walked over to her. “I wanna thank you. Thank you for helping Cherry get out of the forest.” “Oh umm... that's okay.” She backed away timidly Lance was struggling to find the words. “Can I do anything to repay you, Miss...? ” “Umm, I'm Fluttershy” Fluttershy had now become incredibly quiet. Was Lance making her uncomfortable? “I'm Lance Angelswift. And you've already met my sister Cherry Blossom.” “Oh yes, we had a nice talk on the flight back.” Fluttershy was smiling now and talking a bit louder. Cherry came over and stood next to Lance. “Fluttershy has lots of animals, and she said that I could go see them any time!” Cherry had a smile on her face that made her look an awful lot like Fluttershy. Anypony would have guessed that they were related. “Well, if Fluttershy is okay with you visiting her, I don't see a problem.” Lance smiled back to the both of them. Cherry turned around to Fluttershy. “Can I come over tomorrow? Please, Miss Fluttershy?” Cherry asked with a pleading look on her face. Fluttershy just looked down at her with the same smile. “Oh yes, that would be wonderful.” “Excuse me, Fluttershy.” Lance interrupted “But umm, where exactly do you live?” “I live in a little cottage just down there.” Fluttershy pointed a hoof off to the left from their house. They couldn't see anything due to it being night time, but Lance figured he could find it in the morning. “Well, we should be getting inside now. It's late.” Lance said politely. He would have invited her in for a drink, but the house was still completely empty. “Thank you again, Fluttershy” “Oh, umm... that's okay. Goodbye, Mr. Angelswift. See you tomorrow, Cherry.” Cherry waved a hoof. “Bye Fluttershy! Bye Angel!” Cherry called out as they walked off. Lance saw the little white rabbit wave a paw at Cherry Blossom. He then nudged his sister and directed her towards the house. “Cherry,” Lance started. “You know you broke a promise to me, right?” Cherry's smile fell. “I...” She was about to apologise when her brother cut her off. “I know you wanted to help that rabbit, but if anything were to have happened to you... If Fluttershy hadn't found you...” Lance didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to. Cherry understood. They both walked inside and Lance took his sister directly to the bedroom. It was very late and after everything that happened in this one long day, she needed some sleep. Cherry suddenly noticed how clean everything was. Lance explained that somehow, Pinkie had cleaned up the entire house and she did it as an apology for making her cry. Lance then made Cherry climb into the bed. “Now, you lie down and go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning, okay?” Lance turned around and blew out the candles. He drew the curtains shut and then began walking towards the door. “Wait!” Cherry called loudly. Lance turned to look at her in the dark. “Can... can you stay with me tonight?” Lance shook his head. “There's not enough room for-” “Please?" Cherry pleaded. "I... don't wanna be alone.” Lance's heart hurt. He walked over to her bed and took hold of one of her hooves. “Cherry. You'll never be alone again. I promise." Lance nuzzled the side of her neck. "Let me put out all the other candles first. Then I'll be right back.” Lance left for each of the other rooms, blowing out the candles and locking the front door. As Lance went into the kitchen he saw a pink box on the side. Walking up to it he saw a card on top. 'Welcome to Ponyville, Lancie and Cherry. You newest and bestest friend, Pinkie Pie' Lance opened the box up and inside was a large cake with yellow and pink frosting. The word 'Welcome' was written across it in blue icing. Well... I guess I know what's for breakfast. Lance closed the box and then blew out the last of the candles. He headed back into Cherry's room and saw she was sitting up, waiting for him. “I thought you might have fallen asleep.” Lance said quietly. Cherry shook her head. “I couldn't sleep. T-The dark...” Cherry sounded like she was holding back tears. Lance understood that she had been lost in those woods and couldn't imagine how scary it must have been in there. Lance climbed gently onto the bed and Cherry immediately hugged him tight before he'd even gotten comfortable. He said nothing about it though. “Cherry. I want you to make a promise to me, and this time you have to keep it. No matter what. Okay? “Uhmm.” Lance could feel Cherry nodding against him. “I want you to promise that no matter what. You won't go into that forest again, alone. You understand?” “Uhmm” “Promise me, Cherry.” “I Promise.” Cherry said it quietly, but it was enough. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. Cherry then gently lifted her head up to say one more thing before resting her head down again. “I love you, big brother.” Lance felt like somepony had just squeezed his heart. He smiled down at the little filly. “I love you too, lil' sis.”