Courage in the darkness

It was a cool autumn evening in Ponyville. The sun was just setting, and its final rays lit a small cottage on the edge of the Everfree forest with a beautiful orange light. In the yard outside, a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane was feeding her chickens, accompanied by a purple unicorn who was talking animatedly with her. Or, more accurately, talking at her.

“… and I never even knew that existed!” Twilight Sparkle concluded, and looked at Fluttershy expectantly.
“That’s, um, nice,” said Fluttershy, somewhat unsure how to respond to such enthusiasm.
“It’s toxic to ponies, as well as most herbivores, which is probably why I hadn’t read about it in any medical books. But apparently in most carnivores its only side-effect is mild indigestion; I wonder why that is.” Twilight continued, unperturbed.
“Didn’t you ask?” Fluttershy enquired, looking up at Twilight with renewed interest in her eyes.
“Zecora may have explained it, but if she did then I didn’t quite get it. Toxicology isn’t one of my stronger subjects, especially when it is delivered in a format that doesn’t quite rhyme properly,” admitted Twilight, somewhat sheepishly.
“Well, that’s unfortunate, but you can’t expect yourself know everything Twilight,”
“No, but…” Twilight paused, an idea popping into her head, “I know! Fluttershy, why don’t you come along next time I visit Zecora? You’re far more experienced with animals and their diets than I am, and you could take down notes for me. Then I could read them as many times as it takes to understand it!” Fluttershy recognised the ever so slightly manic look in Twilight’s eyes, the look that always seemed to turn up when she was on a quest for knowledge.

“I don’t know Twilight, it sounds like you talk about some awfully clever things with Zecora, and I wouldn’t want to get in the way or distract you…” Fluttershy tailed off, looking into the Everfree Forest. The sun had set now, and the forest looked dark, foreboding and dangerous. Which it most assuredly was; on several occasions she had met some very dangerous creatures in the Everfree, the hydra in particular still haunted her nightmares almost a month later and it was rare for her to venture too far in.
“Of course you wouldn’t get in the way, and I’m sure you would find it fascinating,” Twilight caught Fluttershy’s nervous glance at the forest, and comprehension dawned. She couldn’t exactly reassure Fluttershy that it would be perfectly safe, as the Everfree was demonstrably not safe; but she knew that the chances of meeting something really dangerous were very low – even with her record of misadventures. “Don’t worry – we’ll both be going, and we can keep each other safe. I’ll be safer with you along too; you are far better with animals, after all.”
“Um, ok then, Twilight, if you really think so.” Fluttershy said eventually. Feeling a little bad about pressuring Fluttershy, even if it was for her own good, Twilight moved on to another topic. It was well and truly dark by the time they parted ways, and Fluttershy was glad to retreat to her warm, cosy cottage after Twilight had left. She looked out of a window at the Everfree, its long shadows stretching out towards her as the moon rose above it, making her shiver. Then Angel reminded her in a less than tactful manner that it was time for evening tea, and she pulled the curtains shut.

It was a full two weeks before Twilight went to see Zecora again, and Fluttershy was beginning to hope that Twilight had forgotten about her promise when one afternoon there was a knock at her door. Fluttershy opened the door to find Twilight standing outside with fully packed saddlebags and an enthusiastic smile.
“Hello Fluttershy, are you free this afternoon?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, um, hello Twilight. I don’t have anything planned,”
“Great! I was planning to go and visit Zecora, and I had hoped that you would be able to come with me,” Twilight said and, after Fluttershy failed to react with the appropriate level of enthusiasm, she added, “We were going to ask her about animals, their diets, and so forth, remember?”

Fluttershy didn’t want to go and visit Zecora; her hut was deeper into the forest than Fluttershy had gone in over a month. There was no denying that she had grown very afraid of the Everfree, but she had told Twilight that she would go. And she really was interested in seeing what she could learn from Zecora. And Twilight wanted her too as well. She really couldn’t upset Twilight. And Twilight was clever, and brave, and it would be fine. It would be fine.
“…uh, Fluttershy, are you ok?”
“Fine!” Squeaked Flutteshy, before regaining her composure, “Yes, that’s, um, fine. I’ll just go and get a few things.” It didn’t take her long – she kept her veterinary notebook and a pencil in her emergency saddlebags by the door, just in case she was called out to an emergency unexpectedly, so all she had to do was slip her saddlebags on. With a reassuring word to Angel that she would be back by teatime, followed by a reassuring word from Twilight that Angel would be fine, Fluttershy and Twilight departed.

The sun was still shining but the Everfree’s canopy was thick, and only a little light filtered through. All the colours seemed muted, as though the forest had drained the life out of everything, almost as though the forest were some giant parasite that feasted on those foolish enough to enter. Desperate to stop that train of thought before it went any further, Fluttershy tried to identify some of the plants that grew by the forest path. There were quite a few brambles, and if she came back here in the autumn there would probably be a good crop of blackberries to be gathered. Oh, there was some woody nightshade. And that moss; she didn’t recognise it, but she was sure that she had seen it in a book before now…

With her fears if not assuaged then at least buried, Fluttershy began to relax. Twilight, who had been caught up in her own more academic thoughts, noticed, and smiled. They walked in silence most of the way, Twilight thinking of all the questions she could ask Zecora and Fluttershy distracting herself with her botanical observations. It wasn’t particularly far to Zecora’s cottage, but the twisting path did not go straight and travel over the rough terrain was slow. When Twilight and Fluttershy reached the cottage, Twilight knocked on the door, Fluttershy hanging back a little until Twilight gestured that she should stand beside her. The door opened and Twilight walked through, followed, with only a moment’s hesitation, by Fluttershy.

The rest of the afternoon flew past for Fluttershy. She talked with Zecora about veterinary medicine, about herbs and roots and berries, about the biology of various animals and ponies; all the while Twilight was frantically scribbling down notes and sketching diagrams, and loving every minute of it. Finally, after Zecora had extracted a promise from Fluttershy to come and visit her any time she wanted to talk about medicine, Twilight and Fluttershy bid her farewell.

“It’s nice to see you a bit more at ease, Fluttershy,” Twilight said as they ambled down the winding path back to Ponyville, “You’ve been awfully on edge for a little while now, and I’ve been a little worried for you.”
“Have I? Oh, dear, I hope I haven’t made you worry about me too much. I wouldn’t want anypony to worry…”
“But you have been more nervous, haven’t you,” Twilight pressed, not really meaning it as a question. Fluttershy paused for a moment, wondering how best to answer Twilight. In the end, she decided on the truth.
“…Yes.” Twilight stopped and looked straight at Fluttershy, trying to give her a comforting look.
“What was it?” She asked gently, “What happened?” Having gone too far to back out, Fluttershy took a deep breath to steady herself, and began her tale.

“Do you remember the Hydra at Froggy Bottom Bogg? When I was helping all those little frogs? Well, Froggy Bottom isn’t very far into the Everfree, and I had never met anything so big or dangerous there before. I had thought that I was safe, but if you Applejack, Spike and Pinkie hadn’t turned up then, um, oh dear…” Fluttershy stopped talking, her mind imagining huge mouths filled with sharp teeth.
“Fluttershy, it’s ok,” Twilight said, “we were there. I’m here. You’re ok.”
“Sorry Twilight. Do you see, though? What if you hadn’t been there? What if you aren’t there next time? Where else isn’t safe?” Fluttershy was breathing hard by the time she had finished talking, and not from exertion. No wonder she seemed nervous, Twilight thought, the poor pony had been traumatised by the incident. At the time Twilight had only been thinking about Pinkie and her infuriatingly inexplicable Pinkie Sense, to the point of disregarding her other friends. There was probably a lesson to be learnt from that, she realised. She also realised that the sun was starting to sink below the horizon, and that soon the Everfree would be very dark indeed. It might be best if Fluttershy weren’t reflecting on how dangerous and unpredictable life was when that happened.

“Um, Twilight, it’s getting awfully dark,” said Fluttershy, making Twilight wish that she had kept an eye on the time whilst they were at Zecora’s.
“Yes, well… we’d better hurry back. Angel will be wondering what’s happened to her tea.”
“Twilight, the timber wolves hunt at night,” said Fluttershy, not even trying to hide the fear in her voice.
“They only hunt ponies when they have no other choice, remember? You taught me that yourself,” answered Twilight, desperate to try and reassure Fluttershy. But Fluttershy wasn’t thinking rationally anymore; all she could see was the rapidly lengthening shadows reaching towards her, huge heads with sharp teeth… “Fluttershy, Look at me. Listen to me.” Twilight said firmly, standing in front of Fluttershy, trying to get her to pay attention. Fluttershy started, but she looked straight at Twilight, the shadows at least partially hidden from her.
“Y-y-yes, Twilight?” She stuttered, still on the verge of panicking.
“Fluttershy, there’s nothing here. There’s no hydra, no timber wolves, just us. But please, we need to keep walking.”
“I-I-I, I’m not sure I can,” Fluttershy answered, close to tears, “It’s so dark! Anything could be there! I don’t…”
“Fluttershy, we need to keep going. See the path,” Twilight gestured to the winding path in front of them, “That’s the way back home. Once we’re back in Ponyville we can talk about this more, but right now we have to go somewhere, and the only way is forwards.” Tears were streaming down her face, but Fluttershy nodded, took a deep breath, and started walking again. Twilight illuminated her horn, casting a purple light over the forest, pushing back the darkness. Shadows with vicious claws and insatiable hunger danced between the trees, but Twilight kept them at bay. Keeping close to her, Fluttershy walked on forwards.

Somewhat unusually, Fluttershy spent most of the next day in the library with Twilight and Spike. Twilight copied some of Fluttershy’s notes to complement what she had learnt a Zecroa’s, they talked a little more on toxicology and veterinary medicine and Twilight dictated a letter to Princess Celestia about the importance of looking out for all of your friends – not just those you want to talk to at the time. Having delegated most of her day’s chores to Angel, with Twilight peering over her shoulder to make sure that Angel didn’t extort too large a bribe, Fluttershy was able to relax, and as the day wore on she felt able to talk with Twilight a little more about her fear of the Everfree and the big wide world in general. Twilight promised that next time she would keep a closer eye on the time and that they would be able to return in daylight in return for Fluttershy promising that she would go again. As she trotted home that evening, Fluttershy realised that she felt better for having shared her problems with Twilight, and resolved that she should talk about her worries with her friends more often. As she shut the door to her cottage behind her, she felt that she had achieved a certain amount of closure to the business with the hydra.

Two weeks passed, with Fluttershy feeling better by the day. Though hardly a bastion of confidence, she ventured out of her cottage and met up with her friends more frequently. One afternoon Fluttershy was cleaning out the henhouse when Applejack walked into view, Winona trailing behind her unusually slowly. Sensing that something was wrong, Fluttershy went over to greet them.
“Hello Applejack. And hello Winona,” Fluttershy said, and her worry grew as Winona’s only response was to wag her tail feebly.
“Howdy partner. Winona here’s been feelin’ a bit under the weather. Big Mac and I ’re a mite busy workin’ on the farm, so we wondered if you could look after her for the afternoon.”
“Oh but of course she can stay for as long as she needs to. Oh dear, she really doesn’t look very well; why doesn’t she stay with me for the rest of today and tonight, and then we can see if she’s any better in the morning.”
“Well, it would be mighty kind of you to do that, Fluttershy,”
“It’s no trouble at all, Applejack. I’ll take good care of Winona for you.” Fluttershy said confidently.

Later that night though, she was less confident. Winona’s condition had deteriorated, and she was frantically flicking through her notebooks to try and diagnose her. Eventually, she found the cause when Winona vomited up a half-digested rat, as well as some everfree yew seeds. It appeared that the rat had consumed some everfree yew berries, the seeds of which were highly toxic, and Winona had then caught it and eaten it. Although it was good that Winona had been sick, judging by her condition the seeds had already done severe damage, and unless she was treated soon then it could yet prove fatal. Fluttershy knew how to treat everfree yew poisoning, but she needed a particular rare fungus, parabaspore, to make the medicine – which, thanks to her no longer visiting the Everfree, she had run out of. The vet had run out as well, as they often went to her for certain ingredients rather than ship them in at great expense from Canterlot, so Fluttershy was always informed when they were running short on something.

Fluttershy was starting to panic now. There was no way she could find any parabaspore at night; it was difficult enough to find as it was, and she could wander the forest for hours without finding a single one. In the dark, she could pass right by one without even realising. Who else did she know that might have some parabaspore? With a flash, she recalled that Zecora had a huge collection of dried herbs, roots, berries and fungi; and she was fairly sure that she had seen some parabaspore in that collection. That settled it – there was no time to waste, not with Winona weakening by the minute. She had to brave the Everfree forest, at night, by herself, to go and see Zecora.

Minutes later, walking through darkness so deep that she could barely see the track in front of her, Fluttershy was feeling far less sure about her decision. Maybe there had been time to go and fetch Twilight, Rainbow or Applejack; anyone that could be brave for her. But then she reminded herself that she simply could not afford the delay; the longer Winona went without treatment, the less effective the treatment would be.

Fluttershy heard a rustling noise in a bush ahead of her and she stopped dead. With her eyes straining, her mind conjuring images of razor sharp teeth, slashing claws and a sudden, violent death. For a moment, she was a little filly again, lost in the deep, dark forest with monsters hounding her and nowhere to run. But the moment passed, and Fluttershy managed to control her panic. She could run; she could turn back now and be safe back in her cottage within minutes. But how could she face Applejack then? She had promised to take care of Winona; and more than that, caring for animals was her passion. She would have braved the Everfree anyway. This time, she may have been heading away from home and into the deep, dark forest, but still the only way she would go was forwards. She could turn back, but she wouldn’t. Was this what it felt like to be brave?

The bush rustled again, and then a badger emerged from it, causing Fluttershy to heave a sigh of relief. Breaking into a brisk trot, which was as fast as she dared in the darkness, Fluttershy pressed on into Everfree.

Applejack knocked on the door to Fluttershy’s cottage, and was slightly worried when she heard no response.
“Fluttershy?” She called out, knocking again. Flutershy opened the door suddenly, causing her to jump slightly, “Dang it, Fluttershy!”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said, looking mortified.
“That’s ok, you just startled me,” Applejack paused, and then looked around, “Where’s Winona?” She asked, a note of worry creeping into her voice.
“Oh, she’s resting,” Fluttershy answered, and Applejack sagged with relief, “she was awfully ill, but thankfully I knew the right medicine to make her all better. I’m afraid she’ll need to take it easy for a month or so, no hard exercise or anything too strenuous, but she should make a full recovery,”
“Thank you Fluttershy,” Applejack said; a huge smile on her face, “I knew she’d be safe with you.”

Fluttershy just smiled.

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