A three headed family

by valexto

1: A discovery in the Everfree

Author's Note:

I've put the animals lines in Italic to make it clearer to understand. Only Fluttershy and the other animals can understand them while Fluttershy only speak Equish.

Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus pony with a pink mane and tail along with a cutie mark of several butterflies was in her cottage, preparing herself for a little trip in the Everfree forest. Winter was here already and the Everfree didn't look less scarier when covered in snow, the top of the trees and the ground covered by a layer of whiteness. The house, far from a modest size, was filled with dozens of animals going from mouses and bunnies to birds and even a bear outside despise the fact that he was hibernating in a cave for the winter.

If it wasn't for one very special rabbit she wouldn't have to go in the Everfree but she needed a few plants and it was too cold for him to go out there, he wouldn't be able to go very far so she took it upon herself to go collect all the plants he required.

"Come on Fluttershy, it's only the Everfree forest" She encourage herself, looking at the forest from a window of her cottage.

Putting her saddlebags on her back and a beanie on her head, she open the door and got out before looking at Angel still in the house.

"Don't worry Angel, I'll be back soon."

The white rabbit looked at her with concern before talking in this language that only Fluttershy could understand.

"If you're not back before the night I'll go tell Rainbow Dash" Warned the little rabbit.

"Oh no, it won't take more than a few hours. I'll see you later" She said closing the door.

'At least I hope it will be quick' She thought trotting toward the Everfree forest, leaving the safety of her cottage and all her little animals inside. The dark woods were a bit more illuminated with the snow but it was still that weird forest that was acting by itself, no pegasus to regulate the weather and wild animals with some of them being the scary timberwolves and the manticores. But Fluttershy was ready for this, she did it many times and was always very careful to not end up in a dangerous situation or at least to run away before it turned out like one.

Knowing where she had to go, she followed a precise path in the Everfree that she alone and maybe Zecora the Zebra could know, trotting through the snow and looking around her at all the wildlife leaving here and listening carefully to any noise coming from the weird forest.

For a good hour Fluttershy continued, going forward without any issue before she felt something strange. It was suddenly silent, very silent, too much for being normal. Very careful to not make any noise, she got closer to the bushes and tried to camouflage herself within, a bit of snow falling on her back and wings.

"Don't-t worry Fluttershy, there's nothing to be scared about. It's probably a little, tiny something" She whispered for herself.

She continued more careful and silent than ever before she heard it. A noise very recognizable, like wood scratching on a rock that only one creature could do along with several growls of frustration. Frozen on the spot, Fluttershy listened to where the sounds came from and went deeper in the bushes, a few wigs getting lost in her mane and tail before she arrived on another side of the bushes.

And there it was. A timberwolf, as big and scary as any other in a little clearing. His body made out of wood was creaking with the cold and the wigs and plants usually green looked brown due to the cold of the winter. This told Fluttershy that something was wrong. Timberwolves were not supposed to be here with this cold so the natural question that came to her mind was 'What is a timberwolf doing here?' and the answer soon appeared to her.

The large wooden jaws of the timberwolf were angrily trying to crush and destroy something in his mouth. At first Fluttershy thought it was a rock but the shape and color didn't matched and she almost let out a gasp of shock when she noticed a large red egg stuck in the jaws.

Deep down she knew that timberwolves, despise being scary and dangerous creatures, had to feed themselves too but it always felt wrong to see a predator trying to eat something not even born yet. But she couldn't do anything. She wasn't strong enough to go against a timberwolf and the stare couldn't affect this creatures closer to a living assemblage of plants than a real living being.

But strangely, the timberwolf was struggling to break that egg. It looked like he was using all of his strength on a real rock and his massive teeth only left little scratches all around the egg, making the wooden wolf angrier as he tried to smash the egg on the ground with no success.

Silently, Fluttershy was encouraging the egg from her hideout, looking at the timberwolf that circled around the egg, visibly looking for a crack or a weak point but no, there was nothing he could do to break it. Disappointed in this loss of time and energy, he swept the egg away, sending it to crash somewhere in the bushes, not far from Fluttershy who tried her best to not make a noise. She looked where the egg has been thrown away and at the timberwolf who had enough, leaving the small clearing through the trees.

Fluttershy waited a few minutes, looking where the timberwolf had disappeared before cautiously leaving her bush toward the egg. She spent a few seconds without finding it, a feeling of fear feeling her mind before a little red shape appeared in one white bush, clearly not normal.

Pushing the leaves and twigs away, she grabbed the egg in her right foreleg and pull it away, finally putting her hoof on this poor egg. To her surprise, it felt a bit warm at her contact but now was not the time to ask questions.

"Don't worry, everything is fine now" She said as she warmly hugged the egg.

She put the egg on her bag, carefully placed between her wings and started to go back to her cottage a bit quicker than before.

Only a few minutes passed before she felt her back getting colder so she put a wing on the egg only to feel it getting colder too.

"Oh that's not good. Don't worry, we'll be at my cottage soon" She assured to the egg before speeding up.

Almost running through the woods, looking regularly at the egg if it was still in place, it took her half an hour to come back to the treeline of the Everfree with her cottage not far from her. All this time she listened to the forest finally retrieving its sounds with more light and colors as she was getting closer to the exit. She didn't wasted a second before rushing through the grass and opened the door, immediately going near to the chimney and lightning up the fire with a few logs.

Many of her animals started to gather around as she placed the red egg on a cushion right before the fire. It looked like it was time as it was starting to get too cold for her and she added a little blanket on top of it, leaving an opening to let the fire warm up the shell.

Angel came close to her hoof and climber next to the fire, standing at Fluttershy's eyes level. He looked at her and at the egg a few times before speaking up.

"What is it?"

"It's an egg I found in the Everfree" She casually replied.

"In the Everfree?! Fluttershy it could be a monster's egg!" Angel screamed tapping his paw in frustration.

"Maybe but it doesn't matter. It's not even a baby yet and I couldn't leave it alone. I found it attacked by a timberwolf and even him couldn't break it so I'll make sure to take good care of it".

"And what if it's parents come to pick it up? We don't even know what type of egg it is!" He continued.

"Then I'll give them back their egg. Angel, it doesn't matter what it is right now. If I put him back in the forest it'll be too cold, I won't let any creature die because we don't know what it is, it would be very cruel" She said with a motherly tone.

"*sigh* Well you're right. I won't change your mind on that" He conceded.

"Thank you Angel."

"Did you get my plants?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I completely forgot when I saw the egg and the timberwolf" She apologized.

"What? But what about my special recipe?" He almost yelled.

"I'm sorry Angel but you'll have to wait a bit more. I won't return to the Everfree forest today but I'll make it up to you tomorrow, can you just be a bit more patient about this?"

"You really need to do it tomorrow" Angel said before jumping on the ground, leaving Fluttershy with the egg and the rest of the animals as he went back to his bed.

For anyone else that might have been very rude but Fluttershy was used to the stubborn and bold personality of the little bunny, almost the exact opposite of her shy and silent constant behaviour. Not minding a lot Angel that she knew perfectly able to take care of himself, she refilled a few of the bowls of all the bunnies, mouses, birds and other critters in the warmth of her house before attending to the egg.

She had no idea of what it could be. From the look of it, it was most likely a lizard with all the tiny scales protecting the shell despise the numerous scratches left by the timberwolf. But what kind of lizard? It was a bit too big for a normal one and she never saw an egg of a such a size. She didn't had a single idea of who else she could ask for help as she was the only caretaker for animals in Ponyville. Maybe Twilight would know something thanks to all her books?

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you" She said petting the egg with her right hoof.

"I need to go ask something to Twilight. Can I ask you to watch over him? That is, if you want to "

A little squeak from Mr Mousey gave her enough confidence to leave the house in tranquillity.

"Thank you, I better get going then"

She put back on her saddlebags and get out while the animals shared many looks, all wondering what kind of egg was left before their eyes.

---

Sage was still stuck in is infinity of darkness but many things had changed since he first awoke. First, it became cold. Very cold. Without any idea of how much time had passed, he could simply imagine that something was wrong or that it was cold outside but he couldn't guess what.

That is, until he was violently shaken in many directions, hitting the walls of his small prison of darkness and listening to some kind of creature growling outside. He had no idea of what it could be but at least he seemed to be safe in here so he didn't mind the shaking too much.

Then he finally got free for a few minutes before being picked up by something else. This time he heard some kind of voice, he couldn't make out any word as it was muffled but at least it was better than a dangerous predator trying to eat you up. And for several minutes he was left shaking in his prison again but at a much more comfortable rythme until many new noises came to his ears, along with the same voice as before.

And finally since the first time he arrived here he felt warm again. So much that he started to get too comfortable and went back to sleep like many times before all of this, feeling completely safe. Who knows, maybe he was with his family?

Comments

[ChakatRedstripe]

Some grammar (I think that's the right term) issues I think, but good overall.