• Published 24th Jan 2017
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Stranger in the Forest - TrixterCat



When Fluttershy encounters a new creature in the Everfree forest, how will the ponies deal with its strange ways and its inability to speak?

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Interlude - Tea Time in Dream Time

“Face your fears…” Luna repeated to herself for the fifth time as she paced back and forth in the dream realm.

It had been several days since she encountered the filly in the dream and helped her, and the words of advice she had given to her still rung in her head. Luna wanted to meet with Scruffy for over a week now, but hesitation and fear was preventing her from doing it. She so easily said those words to the filly, so why couldn’t she follow them herself?

She moved closer to Scruffy’s dream star. Tonight, it was calm, and Luna could feel warmth emanating from it, indicating that all was well.
What would happen if she went in to his dream? What would the creature think if he saw her? Would he remember their first meeting? Would he even realize that she was real, or would he think she’s just another part of his dream? Of course, she could tell him that she was real, but what would he do then?

“Would you be my friend?” she asked the emptiness around her, flinching when she realized she had said her thoughts aloud.

It could go wrong. It could go wrong in so many ways if she tried to meet him in his dreams. Maybe the force that prevented her from sensing him in the Everfree forest was made by his people. Maybe they feared her, or Nightmare Moon. He might also distrust her for entering his dreams, when he wasn’t a pony. She had encountered some creatures, minotaurs and griffons, that didn’t like her “poking around” in their dreams. Maybe he would-

“No!” Luna shook her head. This spiral of ill thoughts was getting her nowhere. She could be here all night, thinking of excuses and what-ifs for her meeting him or not.

Luna shifted closer to the star and sat down. In the end, what mattered was that she wanted to meet the creature, and if that was what she truly wanted, she should go with it. If the creature wanted her to go away, she could apologize for her intrusion and leave him to his slumber. If he was afraid of her, she could try to amend that when they would meet in the waking world.

“Face your fears,” Luna said to herself one more time, before tentatively reaching out with her hoof, and entering Scruffy’s dream.

She found herself in a verdant meadow, with a forest behind her and a lake down a hill. It was a beautiful summer day, and the wind was gently blowing across the landscape. But all of it seemed a bit off in a weird way. She could recognize the trees and flowers she saw around her, but they looked…different. Like she was inside a very realistic painting. Luna wasn’t sure what had caused this, but she didn’t stop to think about it. In the distance, she could see a lone tree next to the lake, and she could see someone sitting next to it.

Luna made her way down the hill at a slow pace. A rogue thought came to her mind that she could still leave if she wanted to, but she squashed it and continued forward. As she neared the being sitting against the tree, she could see that it was indeed Scruffy. He was holding what seemed to be a fishing rod in his hands. Luna allowed herself to be seen as she got closer; she didn’t want to suddenly appear next to him and scare him. A few moments later, Luna noticed him shifting his head slightly and then turn towards her. He had a smile on his face, but it disappeared almost instantly when he saw her, and was replaced with confusion. Luna stopped and stayed still as the creature scrutinized her. Luna felt at the same time very nervous and the need to giggle at the utter bafflement that was showing on Scruffy’s face.

“G-good evening,” she greeted him, which made him wince in surprise. Luna could feel the dream waver a bit.

“-Ah...uh, hello?-“ Scruffy said back, while blinking owlishly. Luna had no idea what he had said, but assumed it was a greeting.

“I…umm…wanted to come and meet you! My name is Luna, Princess of the Night,” Luna said. When Scruffy kept blinking at her, she awkwardly shifted her weight from one side to the other. “I was h-hoping…perhaps you’d like to talk?”

“…-What?-“ Scruffy mumbled, while still trying to understand what was going on. He looked around, seemingly noticing the lake and the meadow for the first time.

“Scruffy?” Luna asked. “Twilight Sparkle told me she had been teaching you our language.” Scruffy turned towards her again.

“Lankuag?” Scruffy asked numbly, to which Luna nodded. He looked around the landscape again, before turning back to her. “Vher…?”

“We are in a dream.” When Scruffy didn’t seem to understand her, she continued. “You are asleep.”

“Ase…shee…r-rest?”

“Yes. You are resting.”

Luna could imagine the cogs in Scruffy’s mind grinding to a halt as he tried to process what she had said. Eventually he turned back towards the lake and leaned against the tree, still confused. Since he wasn’t yelling at her to get out, Luna walked closer, and sat next to him. Scruffy turned to look at her briefly, before going back to gazing across the lake. He haphazardly picked up his fishing pole, and cast the line in to the lake.

They lapsed in to silence, trying to come up with something to talk about, and waiting for fish to bite. Luna could see Scruffy’s lips moving, as he tried to find the correct words from his limited vocabulary. Luna felt too awkward to ask anything, and ruffled her feathered wings nervously. Wanting something to break the silence, she used her magic to summon a fish to bite Scruffy’s line. Scruffy was too deep in thought to notice at first, and Luna had to cough to get his attention, and pointed at the bopper. Luna had never fished herself before (although she had eaten it on occasion with foreign dignitaries), but she could see how expertly Scruffy reeled in the fish, detached the hook, and then released the small fish back in to the lake.

“Do you fish often?” Luna asked.

“Huh? Uh...j-jes?” Scruffy replied, not entirely sure what Luna had asked him.

“Where did you learn to do it?”

“Uuuh…”

“Ah, I’m sorry...I guess I should keep with simpler questions.”

“No...uh...s-sb...spack...sh-slov-v,” Scruffy said as his brow scrunched in concentration.

“Oh, sorry...okay...Where. Did. You. Learn. To. Fish?” Luna spoke slowly, while gesturing with her hooves.

“Ai...umm…uh…” Scruffy massaged his temple, trying to find the words. He patted his pockets, searching for something. “Umm...p-p-pen?”

“Right. Twilight Sparkle said that it was easier for you to write,” Luna said as she recalled a conversation that she, Celestia, and Twilight had had a few days ago. She summoned a scroll and a quill for Scruffy, which he took and started writing in. Soon, he offered the scroll back to her.

I learnt many ago, father teacher.

“I don’t know much about fishing. It’s not common with ponies, but minotaurs and griffins practice the art.” After receiving a blank stare, Luna wrote what she had said on the scroll.

Ponies fish?

“Some do. Myself and my sister knew a fisher pony by the name of Silver Line a long time ago. He was always so infuriatingly...optimistic,” Luna said with a hint of a smile. She had to write it all down again for Scruffy to understand what she had said.

Tell me?

“I would be happy to,” Luna said happily, and summoned a pair of small cups full of steaming hot tea. Scruffy scrutinized his cup for a moment, before writing down a sentence.

How you do that?

Author's Note:

Just a short interlude this week. Still feeling a bit sick, which has sapped me of motivation on some days, and I have been doing some writing for another story, which should hit my patreon next week.

Have a nice Sunday. :twilightsmile:

Edit: To clear something up: I consider Equestria to look very similar to earth in my mind for this story. So when Luna describes the dream as "very realistic", it is something she can relate to. Equestria does not look like a cartoon world. :derpytongue2: Thanks to DezzarTac for pointing that out.

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