Beyond the Forest

by Landon531

Begone, Doctor [REWRITE]

Beyond the Forest

After the second night, Cat and I wake up freezing. We had spread some spare clothes over us like a blanket, but whatever hadn't migrated to the foot of the "bed" was too thin to keep us warm. It also seems that an aluminium airplane hull does not retain heat very well.

We go outside to bask in the morning glow before we catch a cold. It's not much better out here, but the sun helps a bit. The fire we used to boil the water with, which had come from the burning wreckage, had long since gone out. I tell Cat to gather some small sticks and twigs while I get some larger pieces from the downed trees nearby. When we have enough to start a fire, I shred some of Troy's old clothes while Cat makes a circle of rocks next to our plane-hut.

I try the old rub-a-stick-until-it-combusts trick, but I can't get it to work. I notice a bright white dot on the shredded cloth, and look up to see Cat holding Troy's broken reading glasses up in the air. A few seconds later, the pile starts to smoke and catches fire. I put some small twigs on top and give the little genius a hug.

"That was brilliant! You're brilliant!" She giggles as I swing her around. "Now we just have to keep it alive, and it will do the same for us."

---

I awake as the sun comes up, a beam of light smacking me in the face. I lay there for a bit, listening, and sure enough hear another one of those damned birds! My goddaughter is still asleep beside me, but the yellow pony from yesterday is nowhere to be seen. I get up gently as possible and head outside, but she's not out here either.

Instead, I find two shiny red apples and a note. I’m stunned, not by the apples, but by the note; it’s written on actual paper, in actual ink, actually. I have to assume it's a thank-you for the medical treatment, because it comes with a gift. I have no idea what the note really says, being written in what I see as gibberish, but there is one word at the bottom, in some sort of cursive, that is at least readable. I fold the note and put it in my pocket, and my attention turns to the apples.

Those smooth, glistening, deep crimson fruits.

I haven't had one since before we came here, and nothing would make me happier than to sink my teeth into one, but I resist the urge. No, I have to wait for Cat, or she'll think I'm a pig or something. Right on queue, the door opens and a sleepy girl lumbers out, yawning. Upon seeing the apples in my hand, she's suddenly wide awake.

"Where did THOSE come from?!?" Not waiting for an answer, she runs over and starts eating one. She doesn’t take the apple, she just starts eating it out of my hand. I take a bite out of mine before she swipes it, too.

“I guess that yellow pegasus thing from yesterday gave them to us, there was even a note." I produce the letter from my pocket and hand it to Cat. "I can't make heads or tails of it, can you tell what it says?"

"No, not really. The only word I can read is *this* one." She points to the bottom. "Fluttershy. I wonder what that means."

"I think it's her name. I'm more impressed that she could actually write. Imagine what else she's capable of."

---

Now that we have a fire, we just need food to cook over it. The bag of chips in my suitcase was emptied a long time ago, so I go out to find something in the forest while Cat looks for plants that might be edible.

After half an hour of walking, I stumble across a pear tree. There are only a few left, but they're huge and perfectly ripe. I shake the tree and catch them when they fall down. This isn't enough, so I keep looking. After a few more minutes, I'm standing at the mouth of a cave. I'm not stupid enough to go inside, but I search the surrounding area and find some treasure. A shiny green gemstone the size of my fist is just lying there, and I cut my foot on a sharp claw protruding from the ground. After pulling it loose, I notice it looks like something I once saw in a museum... in the Cretaceous section. Something moves around inside the cave, and I make a break for it.

I limp back into camp, and I see Cat stirring a pot of something. To my amazement, she's found wild carrots, some kind of lettuce, and a weird plant called arrowhead that tastes like potatoes and made it all into a rich soup. It smells disgusting but tastes incredible. I show her the pears, gem, and claw. The jewel fascinates her, like all shiny things. I think of making the claw into some sort of weapon, and we have the fruit for dessert. We plant the seeds in hopes of one day having more pears.

For the first night in what feels like ages, we go to sleep warm and full.

---

We don't actually see Fluttershy until about two weeks later. Every day she's left us two apples on our doorstep before we wake up, so this morning I got up very very early to catch her. She hovers about a meter off the ground and removes the gifts from what appears to be a saddlebag. Her species must be incredibly advanced and intelligent to have discovered bag technology. I hide around the back of the hut as she approaches, and call her name when she's close.

"Fluttershy?" She looks up in shock at my sudden appearance, the apples falling from her mouth. "That is your name, right? Please don't leave, I want to talk to you... or, at least try." She nods and sits down next to the fire, covering one eye with her pink hair. "I want to thank you for the apples each morning. They're delicious, and they remind us of home. Second, how is your wound doing?" She smiles and moves her wing to show what was once a hole left by an arrow. Now it's stitched up and almost healed. "That's great! But, what I want to ask you most is, are there others like you? Where do you go after coming here?"

She sits up straight, clears her throat, and speaks in broken English. "I'm... live in Ponyville, far past of that is the forest." I stare at her, my mouth hanging open.

"W-where did you learn to speak English?"

"I'm ask friend Sunset help, and..." she looks ashamed as she reaches for something in her bag. "Sorry, take book for help learn." Nudging the book towards me, she looks like she's about to cry. I move closer and give her a hug.

"It's okay, don't cry! Cat has tons of books; she didn't even know it was gone. I really appreciate you going through all this trouble." She looks up, wiping the tears from her eyes before they can fall.

"You're is not mad?" I shake my head no and she returns the embrace. We sit like this for a minute before the door opens and Cat walks out. She takes one look at Fluttershy, smiles, and runs over to join our hug.

"Fluttershy, you came back! I missed you. That’s your name, right?" Fluttershy smiles and nods.

We spend the next few hours chatting and trying to improve Fluttershy's English. She's an incredibly fast learner, and can soon speak better than most teenage Americans. She tells us about her friends, and we tell her our story and describe where we came from. She seems really interested in animals, especially ones they don't have here. We talk all day and only stop when the sun begins to set. Fluttershy promises to return soon, and flies back the way she came.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE TIME!
I want to thank you all for responding so positively! I never expected this after my last failure of a story.
Thanks to Platinum2094 for pre-reading.

Expect Chapter 5 in a few days
Bless your face, if you sneezed while reading this bless you.
Peace off!

Comments

[Platinum2094]

Can't wait for more!

[Marine Magic]

Ill be surprised if this doesnt get on EqD.

[Landon531]

713688 Yeah, how exactly does that work? Do they find it themselves, or does somepony send it to them, or what?

[theRedBrony]

I'm surprised this doesn't have more views and thumbs up.

Now keep writing. *cracks whip*

[Marine Magic]

713697 It accually works like that or you send it

[Landon531]

713769 Yes, sir, right away, sir.

[SonOfTheNorthe]

It's pretty good, but I think the story has to progress more for it to be EQD material.

[Landon531]

714144 Excuse me? Have you seen some of the crap they have in their archives?

[FoxUnderFire]

714204
If you go to EqD there is a tab that says submit on the top right.

[SonOfTheNorthe]

714204

Actually, no, I haven't.
And I'm just saying there's too little pony in it so far to be able to be submitted, in my opinion.

[Baked Brony]

Moar nao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lava blade]

why has it been cancelled?

-lavawing

[Landon531]

757428 I just can't write it anymore. I don't have the time, and I can't think of where to go from here.

[lava blade]

763065
ok thanks for letting me know

[theRedBrony]

763065 That's easy, Fluttershy takes them out of the forest to her cottage. Introduces them to her friends, etc. A bit cliche, sure, but there's not much of a way around that. The stuff that transpires will be interesting enough. Ima send you a pm with some suggestions.

Now get writing... *cracks whip*

[Baked Brony]

not cancelled anymore

[Landon531]

889754 Probably!

[Late Registrator]

not cancelled anymore?

24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6hbkxN8Q21rwcc6bo1_250.gif