Fluttershy's Garden

by SilentWanderer

Empathy

I watch the events unfold in slow motion.

The little unicorn colt climbs the tree to retrieve his kite.

As he grabs the kite, he loses his footing.

He holds onto the kite.

The kite rips in half, and he falls backwards.

I jump to catch him.

He passes through my body.

I turn and watch his head hit the stone pavement with a cracking sound.

Behind me, somepony screams.

-*-*-*-

The little colt's body splits into two identical copies.

One copy remains immobile on the ground, a pool of liquid forming below it.

The other copy stands up, and walks away without looking back.

Many ponies with shocked expressions surround the immobile colt.

I follow the other one, who does not notice the commotion.

-*-*-*-

We are now far away from the place where the accident happened.

The little colt rubs his eyes, as if waking up from a dream.

I land in front of him.

“Are you all right?”

He blinks.

“What is your name?”

“Pebble.”

“My name is Fluttershy. Nice to meet you.”

“Where am I?”

“You don't know?”

He pauses to think. “No.”

Tears form in the corner of his eyes.

“Why are you crying?”

“I don't know.”

I hug him with my wing.

“It's okay, Pebble. You do not have to be sad.”

He continues to cry.

“Do you want to play a game?”

He looks at me. “A game?”

“Close your eyes, and count to ten. I will hide while you count, and you have to find me.”

He nods.

“Now, close your eyes.”

“One, two, three, ...”

I go behind the nearest tree, making sure that the tip of my tail is visible.

“..., nine, ten.”

I do not have to wait long before he pokes me.

“Found you!”

“Let's try again. This time, I will hide better.”

“One, two, three, ...”

I hide behind a conveniently placed barrel. This time, I make sure that the top of my mane is visible.

“Found you!”

-*-*-*-

I play many foal games with Pebble to distract him from his situation. He is happier now.

We go for a walk around the town, talking about the many small things that we see. There are less ponies than usual, but it does not bother me.

“Fluttershy, I'm hungry!”

We are passing in front of a cotton candy seller.

“You cannot eat that, Pebble.”

“Why not?”

“I do not have any money.” I have an idea. “Listen, Pebble. Close your eyes.”

He closes his eyes.

“Imagine you are holding a big, sweet candy apple.”

He nods.

“Now you take one small bite. You feel the sweet taste filling your mouth.

“You take a larger bite. You feel the taste of the apple. You eat it slowly, one bite at a time.”

Pebble keeps his eyes closed for a minute. Then he opens his eyes. “It was delicious!”

“I'm glad you liked it, Pebble.”

“What will we do now, Fluttershy?”

“Do you want to see Ponyville from above the clouds?”

“Can you do that?”

“Of course I can. I'm a pegasus. I can carry you with me.”

I let him climb between my wings, and take off.

He screams with joy as the wind rushes past our bodies.

I fly around the town. I show him the rivers, the fields, the forests. I take care to not fly above the Everfree Forest, but other than that, there is no place we can't go to.

I show him the multicolored waterfalls. I show him the Ponyville dam.

I fly him to the cave where I once faced a dragon.

I show him many, many other things.

-*-*-*-

We rest on a fluffy cloud floating above the town.

It seems that Peeble doesn't know that unicorns can't walk on clouds.

He is perched on the edge of the cloud, looking at the view below.

“Do you like the view?”

“It's so pretty. I'm glad to have met you, Fluttershy.”

I smile as he runs to the other side of the cloud, and looks down.

“There are so many ponies there!”

I walk there to look too.

“Why is mommy crying?”

I look. Far below us, a small crowd surrounds a single small coffin.

I take Pebble in my hoofs.

“You have to be strong now.”

He nods. I hold onto him as I glide there.

I show him what is in the coffin. It seems he understands.

He goes toward his mother, and hugs her hoof silently.

He comes toward me, his eyes wet. I lower myself to the ground, and we hug.

“Thanks, Fluttershy.”

And with that, he is gone.

Comments

[JXWheeler]

Only one fanfic from the many "sad" or "tragic" fanfics has ever made me cry a tiny bit, but this one... it might take the cake, I nearly waterfalled when the mane six were crying showing they didn't forget her. Keep it up dude, liked and faved.

[JazzyWaffles]

And with that, he is gone.

Fluttershy is awful at moving on if that was any indication.