Ghost of the Everfree

by David Silver

5 - Quiet Work

Dry heaved for breath, shuddering against Scootaloo. They had stopped. The stop had not been much better, all movement and speed, then suddenly not. How Scootaloo planted herself, he wasn't sure, but he was glad she was there to keep hold of as he shoved against her.

Not that this was much of a relief as he struggled to get himself back together. "Is he alright?" Oh, Fluttershy was there, apparently.

"I don't think he's ever rode, uh, maybe anything ever." Scoots let her scooter tip over as she stepped off it, guiding Dry's trembling form on the way. "I may have gone faster than we had to." She laughed a bit nervously. "He'll get better. Oh! We came to see you."

Fluttershy inclined her head faintly at the two foals. "Really? How can I help?" She wasn't sure what they could use her for. Hopefully not as a babysitter again!

Dry suddenly fell forward, releasing Scootaloo in the act of resuming four-hoofed standing. He squeaked and swallowed, his tongue running over his lips. Eyes starting to recover from their dilation, he let out one last great tremble. "O-oh!" He was becoming aware of the world again. "Fluttershy, hello. It is nice to see you." She was a far more comforting thing to consider than the ride he had barely survived.

Scootaloo threw a leg over his neck, pulling him closer. "Dry here's a pro at hiding."

"What an interesting talent." Fluttershy did not look that much more convinced she knew what they wanted.

Dry nodded at Fluttershy, his tension ebbing bit by bit. "They were saying I could watch animals and birds, while hiding."

Fluttershy's eyes sparkled with sudden understanding, sitting up. "Oh! Well, now that is something I have some experience with. Most ponies have a preference." She turned a hoof at herself. "Though who am I to talk? I love to watch birds and animals both." She lowered that hoof and a racoon advanced into its reach to be pet gently. "They're all so wonderful in different ways."

Dry smiled a little, recovering from his journey. "Are you certain Fluttershy is not a druid? Magic is the only thing I have not seen that matches what I know."

"Pardon?"

Scootaloo shook Dry a little, leg still hooked on him. "That's Dry for you. Did we mention he's from Everglow? He thinks you're an adventurer."

"Oh, my." Fluttershy leaned towards the colt. "What sort of adventurer do you think I would be?"

Scoots seemed surprised, recoiling a bit. "You're not upset?"

"I'm a little curious." She raised a hoof to her chin. "I haven't had... a lot of fun with that world, but... Well, what would I be, you think?"

Dry slipped away from Scootaloo with a toss of his head, hopping one step away to ensure his liberation. "A druid is a spellcaster of the living world. They love the natural world, and can talk to animals and birds." He inclined his head faintly. "They also use natural magic. Nature magic is, um, well..." He rubbed behind his head. "It can be nice and not."

"Treehugger!" The foals were looking at her oddly. "Pardon me... My friend went to Everglow, and she... She learned a kind of magic there. This sounds very familiar. Maybe she was a, what was it, a druid? She... She liked it." A little smile appeared, her focus not quite there, focused on memories instead of the present. "She could become an animal, she liked it. I kinda liked it too."

Dry clopped the ground with a soft thump. "Yes, they can become animals! Um. Sorry." He shied back a bit. "I didn't mean to distract you."

"Oh, no no no." Fluttershy quickly waved that idea even as she advanced, setting a hoof on the nervous little colt. "You gave a word I was missing, so thank you for that." She curled a hoof to her chin. "I suppose, of all the... Of all the ways I've seen ponies do it... a druid wouldn't be so bad. They're good at animals, like me. But I can't just... change into an animal, or a tree. Can they become trees?"

Dry frowned with thought, digging through his young memory. "Um... I think... the really good ones? I only heard stories, but a really good druid is a master of the living world, and a tree is a part of the living world, so...?" He shrugged helplessly with clear uncertainty. "Sorry."

Fluttershy let out a soft and deep sigh. "Maybe Everglow isn't all bad."

Scootaloo rubbed at the side of her face. "Have you been there before?"

"No! I mean... It's... Remember back then?" She gestured as if to the past. "When Equestria was in big trouble... When Everglow came..."

Dry suddenly had a hoof against Flutteshy's side. "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it."

Fluttershy's ears danced. "Um, thank you, but why do you say that?"

"You were scared." He nodded solemnly. "I know scared." A little smile displayed. "You were scared. I don't want you to be sad, Miss Fluttershy."

"Aren't you the most precious thing." She grabbed him up in a hug, squeezing the little ghost colt close to herself. "Thank you for caring. It's, um, past... My friends won... It..." She took a slow hissing breath, her wings flexing without her knowledge, echoing the pain she had felt in them. "It's past." It sounded like she was convincing herself as much as anypony else.

Scootaloo awkwardly shuffled. "Um, so... you two are alright then?"

Fluttershy released Dry as if he were hot. "Oh, sorry! That was rude of me..."

Dry slid to the ground, seated on his haunches. "I didn't mind." He inclined his head to the right, watching her. "Can you show me how to use my hiding talent with your friends? They said I have to take notes?"

"Oh, yes." Fluttershy nodded firmly. "A bird or animal watcher takes a lot of good notes, so we know how they're doing." Her tension faded as the topic shifted to one she was more comfortable with. "Not every pony can just ask how they're doing, so watching is the only other way. You watch and you take notes. Are there more than usual? Less? A watcher will be the first to know, so we can try to help our friends."

Dry suddenly brought his hooves together. "That does not sound scary." High praise from him. "I can watch the creatures while I hide."

Fluttershy inclined her head. "I think that word has a different meaning, in Everglow."

"Which word? Watch? ... Hide?"

Fluttershy giggled softly, a little titter. "No, creature. We say 'creature' to mean any sort of... Things that talk." She pointed at herself. "I am a creature, and a pony more specifically. A griffon or a dragon would also be a creature, oh, or changelings. There are quite a number of creatures in the world. Why, I imagine I haven't even found them all."

"You have griffons too?!" Dry looked towards Scootaloo. "You said this world was safer. What's a changeling?"

Scootaloo inclined her head. "Hey, I used to think griffons were trouble, but wait until you meet Gabby. She is... possibly the sweetest thing I ever met." She smiled in fond memory. "Oh, right. I should get back to the girls. Fluttershy, you got it from here?"

Fluttershy pointed down at the colt. "I don't mind showing him a few things, but where does he live? And where are his parents?"

Scootaloo applied a hoof to her face. "Right. He doesn't have either of those right now."

"Oh dear." Fluttershy set a hoof on his little head. "Well, um... For today, you can stay here."

Dry hopped up, his smile radiant. "You are very kind. I feel safe here." He looked from one animal to the next. They all lived in peaceful harmony. "Please teach me your ways. I will listen carefully."

"We'll come back tomorrow!" promised Scootaloo even as she powered away, her form shrinking with the fluttering of her wings propelling her along back into the town proper, away from the two left behind.

Dry considered that receding form. "Do you think she was afraid you'd change your mind?"

"Maybe." Fluttershy stood up properly. "But I don't think I will. You seem nice." As opposed to many foals she'd been around, Dry seemed quiet. Quiet and gentle. As foals went, she had already decided she was alright with Dry. "Now, what do you know about them already?" She pointed at the raccoon. "Do you know what he is?"

Dry considered the furry critter. "Um... A mouse?"

Fluttershy blinked softly. "Oh dear, we have to... start a little more basically. Wait here a moment." She trotted off into her cottage.

Dry jumped as something thumped him. Looking down towards it, a rabbit was scowling at him. "Uh..." He could not speak with animals. He had done something wrong?! Was that animal going to hurt him? Could it? He decided assuming it could was wiser than not. When the next kick came, he was hopping away. "Stop that."

But the angered animal didn't stop, squeaking and flailing its little paws as it came closer, but he had no intention of letting it get close enough to attack, withdrawing a little-- oh no, it was coming still, faster. He broke into a gallop, the rabbit hot on his heels.

Fluttershy emerged from her cottage, a book held in her mouth. Darting across her lawn was Dry and Angel Bunny. Were they playing a game? She set the book down on a cobble stone and inclined her head, watching them a moment.

"Stop chasing me!" wailed Dry, hopping suddenly back, right over the rabbit in a sudden shift of trajectory that would have done any hare proud. It would have been even more impressive had he stuck the landing, sprawling out with an oof.

It was suddenly quite clear that wasn't a fun game. "Angel Bunny!" The rabbit looked towards her. "You come here this instant." The rabbit gave Dry one more glare before breaking off his chase to go to Fluttershy's side. "That wasn't very nice. He's just a little foal. Did he do anything wrong?"

Dry watched as the rabbit and Fluttershy... conversed? The animal was squeaking and gesturing, and Fluttershy was reacting as if words had been said. Druid magic. Equestrian druid magic! All he could decide as he sat up, glad he wasn't being chased anymore.

"You go and you apologize." Fluttershy was pointing at Dry. "Really. You can't be like that any time a pony shows the slightest interest."

Dry inclined his head at the little animal approaching him, tension mounting. Would he be kicked again? Perhaps bitten? That little creature had teeth, and teeth really only had one purpose.

The rabbit made some kinda noise, then hopped away, the attack over. Had that been an apology? "Did I do something wrong, Miss Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy waved the colt closer. "No, that's just Angel Bunny, being jealous." She huffed softly, shooting Angel a look that he ignored. "But, that is a good reminder that avoiding animal attention may sometimes be the better option." She pointed at his rump as he came in close. "Which you are already good at?"

"I'm very good at hiding," he crowed with pride, a smile on his face. "The gods said I would be, and they weren't wrong." He pointed back at his own brand. "But the girls... They... I don't think they're wrong. Just because I am good at hiding doesn't... I may..." He sat on his haunches, trying to regather his thoughts. "Hiding may be the start, instead of the end."

"I would like that." Fluttershy leaned in, touching her nose to the cheek of the little colt. "Thank you for trusting me, to try this. I know that can be very scary."

"It is!" he emphatically agreed, but he wasn't running. He was relaxed. Fluttershy seemed like such a safe pony to be around. "What is in the book?"

Author's Note:

Angel Bunny remains the little jerk he tends to be.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Extra hide from Angel Bunny and his ops teams, training?

[Auram Potentia]

reader.exe has stopped working due to cuteness overload.

[David Silver]

10862688
Oh darn it, another one?! Where is that power button...?