The Dao of Fluttershy

by ashi

II. A Garden Forgotten

Rarity was grateful for the fact that Fluttershy's cottage wasn't so far away from Carousel Boutique; at walking speed, the journey could be made in under ten minutes, but what Rarity was doing definitely wasn't walking. She barely even had time to notice the dramatic changes to the landscape wrought by the oncoming autumnal months. The bright, optimistic greens had given way to sombre, placid browns, and though the temperatures hadn't yet plummeted there was still the faintest trace of a chill in the air.

Maybe it was just her imagination. Or maybe it was because of the lurking presence of the Everfree Forest, with all of it's attendant riddles and dangers. How a pony as faint-of-heart as Fluttershy could make her home here of all places still baffled Rarity.

Pausing for breath, her eyes turned to the cottage itself; nowhere more so than it's bulky edifice were the changes wrought by the rapidly-approaching fall more apparent, and it took Rarity a second longer than usual to recognise it as her friend's house. It resembled nothing so much as an enormous tree that somepony had, over time, whittled into the shape of a fairly roomy dwelling. Its previous owner, she knew, had also been a vet and he had taken Fluttershy under his wing after her tumultuous arrival in Ponyville. Following his retirement, he had elected to gift her the property.

Instead of the thatched roofs which were more common about town, the cottage appeared to be covered in a protective layer of moss; as with the many trees which dotted the grounds – festooned liberally with bird-houses – this, too, had turned a deep shade of brown. It would, in time, resume its usual leafy green appearance, but Rarity rather appreciated the reminder that ponies could adapt the environment to their own ends without having to dramatically alter it and make it impossible for their fellow creatures to thrive there.

Over the years, numerous hidey-holes, burrows, and various other nooks and crannies had been hollowed out – some by Fluttershy herself, but mostly by the various animals which also called this part of town home – and one had to watch their step lest they end up, literally, putting their hoof in it. Of course, not all of them were permanent residents of these parts; some of them were content to drop-by now and again when they needed Fluttershy's help, or if they simply missed the pleasure of her company. Fluttershy's cottage was a welcome respite for weary travellers, no matter who or what they might be.

How much of that calming influence was down to the abundance of nature to be found here, or whether it was because of Fluttershy's warm presence, Rarity could not say. All she could say was that there were few places in Ponyville – indeed, Equestria as a whole – where one could feel as truly at peace as they could here. Right now, however, as her detective's eye roved over the scene in front of her and her mind tried to get a grip on what it was that was bothering her, peace was the furthest thing from her mind.

If you didn't look too closely, you would have been forgiven for thinking that nothing seemed to be amiss, but to one who had spent so long training themselves to notice every tiny thread in a complex garment the clues hidden amongst the seeming mundanity around her were writ as large as any torn seam would be. The lack of animal noise, for a start: even accounting for the possibility that most of them were asleep or hunting for food, there should have been something.

Secondly, the garden was a mess; Fluttershy was the sort of pony who liked to keep a tidy house in order to make her guests feel more comfortable – to say nothing of keeping a better eye on her smaller animals who might get lost under loose debris – but leaves, twigs and other fallen detritus had built up a sizeable impediment to her front door.

Finally, though it wasn't cold and the moss made the cottage prone to high humidity which was bad news for some of the more delicate animals, all of the windows were closed; more than that, the curtains were tightly-drawn, too.

Rarity made a noise in the back of her throat. She guessed that Fluttershy hadn't been outside of the cottage all day, and that she wasn't planning on being outside of the cottage for the rest of the day either; whatever she was up to – or, despite her best efforts not to let her thoughts go down this path, whatever had happened to her – it was so important, so secret, and so sudden, that she'd broken off an engagement that she'd been looking forward to all week with absolutely no warning whatsoever.

I should just go, she thought resignedly, turning away from the cottage, and leave her to it.

She was about to do just that, but the raw shard of concern that had so ensnared her stomach refused to loose its icy grip on her; Fluttershy did not possess either the flightiness of a Rainbow Dash nor the capriciousness of a Pinkie Pie, so it was nigh-impossible for her to have so sudden a change of heart about something. It was not beyond the realm of reason that something had come up, of course, but Fluttershy was so unfailingly polite and well-mannered that, even if it cost precious time to do so, she would have informed her friends of an unexpected change in plans somehow.

Maybe I'm just annoyed because, next to our spa dates, this is the only time that we can actually get together with none of our other friends around and talk about girly stuff without being teased for it.

Taking a sharp breath which only served to deepen her sense of apprehension rather than the quantity of air in her lungs, Rarity hesitantly, carefully, negotiated the debris-strewn path over the small bridge to Fluttershy's front door. Swallowing, she raised a hoof and knocked tentatively. The deep, resonant sound of clunking wood was far too loud in the stillness, and Rarity felt her ear twitching in sympathy with the vibration. Despite straining to her maximum limits, she could not hear even a mouse skittering about within the cottage, however.

It was empty.

Empty in a way that was not just unusual, but frightening and Rarity felt her blood run cold. Even if Fluttershy wasn't in, Angel Bunny would be there holding the fort. Her house had been carefully locked-down, and that suggested to Rarity that her sudden disappearance hadn't happened in a hurry, so … why hadn't she told anypony where she was going and what she was doing, least of all her? She found herself caught in two minds as to what the right thing to do was: leave and come back later, or stay and investigate? Her muzzle darkening by several shades, Rarity hopped from one hoof to the other, silently cursing the ridiculous situation in which she'd found herself embroiled.

Hefting a pent-up sigh into the hushed air, she knocked, much louder than before, once more. To her immense surprise, the door creaked open slightly due to the firmer contact.

Oh. Well. That changes things, doesn't it?

Did it, though? There was so little in the way of crime in Ponyville – certainly not any thieves or burglars, not that Fluttershy had any valuables beyond the purely sentimental trinkets that she'd collected over the years – that nopony was particularly religious about locking their doors if they were only going to be away from home for a matter of hours. Rarity frowned, knowing that she only had her gut to rely on and knowing that there was likely a perfectly innocent explanation for all of this. She tried to tell herself that Fluttershy had been called out on some urgent business in the Everfree Forest before she'd really had a chance to open up her house, and that her coterie of animals were out and about, and that haste had prevented her from closing the door properly.

Nothing more to it than that, right?

Doubtless, she would be back soon, apologising profusely for not having gotten word to Rarity sooner about the change of plans. Perfectly logical, perfectly likely.

Yeah, that was definitely it.

Definitely. Definitely. Definitely.

It didn't matter how many times Rarity told herself that, she just could not shake the feeling that something darker was going on.

Pushing the door open further, Rarity caught sight of the heavy iron sliding deadbolt; it had been split in half by some tremendous force, and that sealed the deal for her. Overcome with concern for her friend, she went inside.