131. New Day, New Beginnings
The sun still hadn’t risen when Big Macintosh woke up. The big red stallion glanced through the window to gauge what time it was, before he rolled the other way on the bed, extending his hoof to hug…
Nothing.
Big Macintosh sighed. It had been months since he had given Smarty Pants to Matt after the latter had tried to beat him in a hoof-wrestle for it. Months… and yet Big Macintosh still hadn’t quite gotten used to the doll not being there when he woke up.
The red pony was fully aware that it was rather unusual for a stallion - his age no less - to sleep with a doll (or play with it for that matter), but he couldn’t help himself from keeping it. It was just nice to fall asleep, hugging somepony, and waking up with a pony in your hooves.
Or, well, with a doll.
Despite that, however, Big Macintosh had given Smarty Pants to Matt. He remembered that day clearly. The paladin had discovered where Smarty Pant - the doll that Big Macintosh had found after the entire town went insane for some reason - was and came to ask if he could have it. Big Macintosh didn’t want to part with it, so the white pony tried a few other approaches, in the end challenging him to a hoof-wrestle.
He smirked at the memory. It had been clear from Matt’s expression when he had done so that he doubted if he could win. Big Macintosh took great pride in his strength, and on that day he was proven right to do so. No matter how hard Matt had tried, he could not push his hoof away.
But… neither could Big Macintosh.
Matt’s foreleg had been shaking, his muscles were flexed, his face red and tensed, betraying the pain he was in, but the paladin pony, though physically weaker, refused to be pushed back by his sheer willpower. Big Macintosh, shocked and impressed, as well as not wanting to cause his friend permanent damage stopped the duel. He was certain that a moment before he had done so he heard something crack - which was a sound he would later be more acquainted with on a different occasion - within Matt’s foreleg; the white pony was also limping on his way back that day, despite having healed himself. Once their duel was stopped, Big Macintosh had asked him exactly what he needed Smarty Pants for.
After some explanation from both sides and a short discussion, Big Macintosh decided, with heavy heart, to give the doll to Matt, and in return… well…
Big Macintosh’s mind returned to the present day, to today’s performance… to Nymph. His heart pounded in his chest when his thoughts turned towards her, and his lips spread into a smile. Ever since he met her, dazed after one of the apples he bucked landed heavily on her head, she had been on his mind more often than not. Nymph was just so… lovely, and so cute, and friendly, and awkward… Big Macintosh had known, of course, that she was a changeling, his sisters had brought her up quite often in the conversations around the farm, though both thought of her differently. He had gotten a good description of how her unicorn form looked. And yes, he was a tiny bit wary of her… but that was before he met her. When Big Macintosh had helped Nymph up, he just couldn’t imagine her being any sort of threat. Then, after encouragement from him, she started talking, telling him what had spooked her into teleporting there while he listened… which eventually led to them spending almost every day together. He would work on the farm and she would help; she would talk and he would listen, offering a short comment when it was required. Those were all great days for Big Mac, and he couldn’t imagine anything better… until he worked himself up to asking Nymph out on a date.
He did not care that she was a changeling. He did not care that Applejack didn’t trust her. To Big Mac, she was a kind, friendly being, who was so adorably, socially awkward. He felt good when she was around, and that was all that mattered to him.
The red stallion closed his eyes, recalling her happy face when she said yes, how warm her smile was… how beautiful she was when she blushed. Big Macintosh’s hoof once again cradled the empty space beside him, imagining-
With a shook of his head, he snapped himself from the daydream. This was their first date! Nothing of those sorts would happen. Not to mention that the mere thought of bringing her for a night with both of his sisters and Granny Smith being here scared him to death.
However… Granny was leaving in a few days to visit his great aunt Pine Apple… and Apple Bloom and Applejack were talking about going camping…
The thought of Applejack dispelled all embarrassing fantasies from Big Mac’s mind. “Where is she?” he wondered, raising his head and looking at the door. Usually, his younger sibling would have been banging on them in an effort to hasten him, as she always woke up first. For her to not do that…
Big Mac straightened his ears, listening. He could pick up faint noise coming from the hallway… “No,” he corrected himself, getting up. “From the bathroom. Why is she taking shower now?”
He knew it had to be her, both Apple Bloom and Granny Smith stayed asleep for at least three more hours, unless there were some unusual circumstances. But why would Applejack take shower in the morning? That was a weird change in her routine. Most of the time, both he and Applejack would take showers after they’ve done their chores or by the end of the day. Big Mac wondered why she hadn’t done so… then frowned. At what time had Applejack got back home? She was at Rarity’s birthday party until late at night. He himself went to bed early yesterday, so he had missed her returning…
His ears flickered as Applejack turned off the water. Being curious, and also needing to use the bathroom himself, Big Mac stretched his still half-asleep body and trotted to the door. He opened it just in time to see his sister do the same with the bathroom’s door. Her mane was unbraided and still wet, and she was vigorously brushing herself with a towel in order to change that.
Upon noticing him, however, she froze. Applejack stood at the doorway to the bathroom, with the towel on her head, staring at her brother with wide eyes and open mouth. Big Mac raised an eyebrow, surprised at his sibling’s behaviour. What was going on?
It looked as if he wouldn’t even need to ask for an explanation. “Ah, um…” Applejack stammered, becoming - much to Big Macintosh’ surprise - red on her face. She cleared her throat and started again. “Ah got back mighty late and was… um… a bit...” she trailed off, scratching the back of her head.
As the reason behind Applejack’s embarrassment dawned upon Big Macintosh, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Couldn’t handle yar drinks, huh?” he thought, amused.
It was too late did he realize that he shouldn’t have done that, as Applejack’s gaze narrowed at him. “Somethin’ funny?” she asked angrily, glaring at him.
Big Macintosh quickly shook his head and gulped nervously. For the last couple of days, his sister – for reason unknown to him- was very easy to anger. Because of that, the idea of telling her that he was going on a date with a changeling that she clearly didn’t like became much less appealing.
She snorted and turned towards her room. “Ah’m gonna get some more shuteye, Ah’m still dead on my hooves,” she snapped, but soon her face was softened by the enormous yawn she gave, as if to emphasize her statement. Applejack glanced back at him. “Tell Granny to wake me up in a few hours, alright? Ah’ve gotta go sell our apples in town today.”
Big Macintosh nodded, relieved that his sister’s anger didn’t last long. Applejack yawned once more, muttered “Night,” and was about to head to her room, when something caught Big Macintosh’s attention.
“AJ?” he asked her. His sister stopped and looked at him questioningly, to which he pointed at her side.
Along her foreleg and shoulder there were weird looking scratches.
The red stallion looked at his sister inquiringly, and saw that she appeared to be about as surprised as he was. And… a little bit abashed? “Must have fallen in some brambles or somethin’,” she said after a moment, shrugging, and trotted towards her room. “See ya later, big brother.”
Big Mac continued to look at her with a raised eyebrow, confused, as she shut the door behind her. Finally, he shrugged, and entered the bathroom.
Rarity hummed to herself as she prepared three sets of breakfast; one for herself, the other for Spike, and another for Storm Clash.
Seeing how late it was, and having considered how long he had traveled that day, Rarity didn’t want the pegasus to go all the way to the Abbey before he would get some well-earned rest. Storm had tried to decline her offer, but the challenges of the last thirty hours, even with the aid of the Light, had taken a toll on him. As tiredness began overtaking him, the paladin had agreed to sleep on her couch in the living room, as Sweetie’s room was taken by Spike. That and Rarity wouldn’t go along with the idea of her coltfriend sleeping in her little sister’s room.
“Presumable coltfriend,” Rarity corrected herself, though she couldn’t help but utter a giggle at the thought. “It’s only one date for now, nothing is yet decided...”
Her mind went back to the night before, when after he asked her out they came to down to the kitchen. After all, it would have been rude from Rarity if she hadn’t offered her guest a piece of cake. During the short meal, Storm told her briefly about his adventure in the Everfree Forest… and Rarity couldn’t help but be lost in admiration. Ancient catacombs, giant monsters, evil centaur… all that he faced alone, to find her such a beautiful gift. It was so… romantic…
Rarity sighed with content. Never before have any stallion done anything like that for her. It was almost as if her dreams of a fairy-tale knight came true. Storm was just so… so…
It took some restrain from Rarity to not kiss him that night. A proper lady waits with the first kiss until after the date. Even so, however, she could not stop herself from brushing his cheek in a loving manner, wishing him good night as he tuckered in on her couch.
When in response Storm took her hoof into his one and gently kissed its top, Rarity felt fire wash over her under her coat.
Now, as she walked out of her kitchen, Rarity felt pretty certain that she had found the one. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell my friends about it,” she thought, excited, as she entered her living room silently. “Even if that means I will have to endure some comments from Twilight…”
Her eyes locked on her couch, where Storm still slept. Knowing - to some extent at least - what he had been through the day before, Rarity decided to let him sleep for some more, and left the living room as silently as she had entered it, turning her thoughts to her other guest.
As Rarity began walking up the stairs, she wondered how it would be best to handle this situation. If it were anypony else, she wouldn’t have had too much of a problem explaining why Storm slept in her house, especially since they were (very, very, very, very) likely going to become a couple. However, this was Spike. One of her closest friends… who had a crush on her.
She sighed and stopped. Rarity knew that this moment was inevitable, though in her wildest dreams she hadn’t expected it to come so soon. While technically, whom she dated was her business, Rarity knew this was going to hurt Spike. And even though she didn’t return his feelings, she still cared for him a great deal. She needed a few moments to prepare herself for what was about to come.
“How would it be best to handle this situation?” she wondered. “Hmm… option A: I tell him that Storm had asked me out, that I really like him and I hope this will grow into something beautiful. Spikey-wikey could be saddened by it, but he would say that he understands, and that they would always be friends and is happy for me… or he could cry and run away.” Rarity winced at the unpleasant assumption. “Option B: I tell him nothing about the date, and when he asks why Storm is here I will just say that he came very late with his gift and not elaborate… but if I would want all three of us to eat breakfast together, I would have to warn Storm first, and then I would have to explain to him about Spike’s crush on me…” Once again, she winced; she read enough romance novels when one of the characters tried to protect somepony from harm with lies to know this would end badly. “Spike would learn about this sooner or later, and it would be best if it were from me.”
Rarity took a deep breath, knowing that this would not be easy but had to be done. She took a step towards the door of Sweetie Belle’s room… and then her eyes widened in surprise as the doorknob turned on its own.
“Oh, hi Rarity!” Spike greeted her cheerfully, walking out of the room. Rarity just stared in stupor. “Beautiful day today, huh? Thanks for letting me sleep over, but I should go back to Twilight. See you!”
The baby dragon didn’t even wait for her to reply in any manner. He tried to run past her, still smiling cheerfully and not meeting her eyes. Rarity, realizing that something was wrong, quickly grabbed him with her magic and pulled him closer to her.
“Spike, what is the matter with you?” she asked, looking at him closely. “Did something happen to you?”
“What do you mean? Nothing happened to me,” Spike said, still maintaining this weird happy-sounding voice. “Why would you think that something happened to me? That’s silly!” Rarity raised eyebrows as Spike laughed so fakely that it was hurtful for her ears.
The unicorn studied him intensively, wondering why in Celestia name he was acting so strangely, talking to her without looking at her. She soon realized the answer to that question when she noticed one detail, so obvious that Rarity couldn’t understand why it had taken her so long to see it.
Spike’s eyes were red.
He had been crying. And there was only one reason why he would cry.
“He already knows,” Rarity realized with a sinking heart. “But how? How could he-” She stopped in mid-thought as the memory of Storm’s entrance awakened in her mind. Rarity stifled the urge to facehoof at her own stupidity. “That was loud enough to wake the dead, of course it would’ve woken up Spike.”
This was already going worse that she anticipated. She planned to tell Spike herself, but the little dragon learned about it by himself. He cried, possibly all night, and now didn’t want to talk with her.
Rarity raised one hoof and placed it under the baby dragon’s chin. Gently, very gently, she lifted his head to meet his eyes. “You’ve heard what Storm and I talked about, haven’t you?” she asked softly.
“N-no,” Spike tried to deny. He hadn’t pulled his head away from her hoof, his eyes darted around, not meeting hers. They began welling up. “I-I mean, w-what would I h-hear…”
The last part of his sentence was lost to the world as Spike’s words transformed into gabble. Tears began falling down from his face. Rarity quickly pulled him into a hug, and was relieved when the little dragon didn’t try to run away.
After a few moments, during which she stroked the back of his head in an effort to calm him down, Spike spoke up: “I… I just don’t understand,” he stammered. “W-Why him? I had a crush on you for years, I’ve been helping you at your boutique in any way I could, and, and...”
“I’m sorry, darling,” Rarity replied, and she truly meant that. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear.”
“Is it because I am a dragon?” Spike asked. “Is that why you would choose a pony with a crooked face over me?”
She bit her tongue to stop herself from berating him. “No, dear, this has nothing to do with you being dragon.”
“Then what-”
Rarity pressed her hoof against his lips. “Spike,” she started, praying that she was using the right words, “you are one of my closest friends. You matter a great deal to me. However, I never felt the same way you feel about me, mostly because you are a kid. No, let me finish,” Rarity told him, gently but firmly, as she saw him raise his claw to her hoof. “You are a kid, and what you feel for me is just a childish crush. Trust me, I went through that when I was your age. I had a crush on some colt, but that was just it, a crush. I grew out of it. Today I barely even remember his name.”
“But I won’t grow out it!” Spike protested, finally managing to free his mouth. “Rarity, I l-”
She once again silenced him. Rarity was certain that what he was about to say wasn’t true, and in that case... “Twilight told me that back in the Crystal Empire you fell under the spell of King Sombra’s dark magic. That it showed you your worst nightmare. What was it about? Was it about me rejecting you?”
“Like I am right now?” she thought with a pang of regret.
As she released him, the baby dragon looked down. “N-no…” he muttered.
“If you felt real love for me, then it would be,” Rarity told him gently. “Oh, Spike, I am sorry. I’d hoped you would’ve grown out of this crush by yourself before something like this would happen. Please tell me we are still friends?”
Rarity watched Spike carefully, not sure what his answer would be. The baby dragon stayed silent for a few moments, before he embraced her in a hug once again. “Of course we’re still friends,” he said, though in a broken voice.
“I am glad to hear that,” Rarity said, sighing with relief. “Will you be okay?”
“Y-yeah… I think…”
“Trust me, you will be,” she told him, resuming stroking the back of his head gently. “Someday you will meet a girl that you would truly love, and she will be a much better girlfriend to you than I could ever be.”
Spike murmured something doubtfully. Rarity wondered if it was about the part of him meeting a girl, or the girl being a better than her.
“I mean it,” she said softly. “You know, Spike, this was really mature of you to…”
Rarity trailed off as the sound of quiet snoring reached her ears. She looked down to see that Spike had fallen asleep, his head pressed against her coat.
“Poor thing, he must have cried all night,” Rarity thought with regret. She lifted him gently with her magic and lead him back into the room. “I should have made it clear to him that I did not love him years ago… but I just didn’t want to hurt him!”
She shook her head; it was no use crying over spilled milk. Rarity placed Spike on Sweetie’s bed, and covered him with a blanket. Once he was tucked in, she looked at his sleeping form and smiled. She bend down to kiss him on the forehead and whispered: “You will meet your real love someday. Who knows, maybe you will see her in your dream?”
Her eyes widened as she realized something. Quickly glancing at their surroundings, she added quietly but sternly: “Don’t dream of my sister!”
“Ain’t that one of Matt’s paladins?”
The pony’s whisper awakens Storm from sleep. “What’s going on?” he thought, his mind still clouded.
“Yeah… Storm Clash. Come to think of it, I didn’t see him yesterday around the Abbey… What is he doing here, Sweetie Belle?”
“I don’t know, maybe he fell asleep during Rarity’s party?”
“Rarity!” he repeated, the sound of her name jolting him awake.
The events of the last night came back to him; the most important being asking Rarity out on a date and her agreeing. He could scarcely believe what he had heard. Storm never expected a mare like Rarity agreed to go out with him, let alone hint to him that she wanted to be asked out. Despite everything that had gone through that day, the paladin felt as if it had been the best day ever!
But the night hadn’t finished on just that. Rarity led him down to her kitchen and given him some cake, the leftovers from her birthday party that he had missed; she asked him about what exactly he had been through in the Everfree Forest, and he told her (leaving out some more terrifying moments, there was no need for the lady to learn of all that at that hour); then, as Rarity had insisted on him sleeping at her place (which he had to agree, as his exhaustion caught up with him), he fallen asleep on a couch… but not before kissing Rarity’s hoof.
And now as he woke up, he found himself in the company of Rarity’s younger sister and her friends. “I suppose it could have been worse,” he thought as he blinked to clear the rest of the sleep out of his eyes. “Like my younger sibling being here…”
“Morning girls,” he said, aware that the three fillies were looking up at him with furrowed brows. “What are you doing here?” Storm was certain that if the girls were meant to be here at this time, Rarity would have woken him up earlier.
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to reply, but Scootaloo stopped her by pressing a hoof to her mouth. “She kinda lives here,” she said, then with a roll of eyes amended: “Well, half the time at least. What are you doing here?” she inquired, smirking.
Storm didn’t rise to the bait. Staying perfectly calm, he narrowed his eyes at them. “I was sleeping.” he told them, accenting “was”.
This time it was Apple Bloom who was about to reply, but just like with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo covered her mouth with a hoof. “And what would Matt say if he knew you were sleeping here?” the little pegasus asked with mischievousness written all over her face.
“You clearly haven’t gotten to know my brother well when he was here - thank the Light for that” he murmured under his breath “- if you think this tactic of yours is going to work on me.”
Scootaloo frowned, but just like she had interrupted her friends, so she was now stopped right when she opened her mouth.
“Storm dear, are you awake?” asked the silky voice of Rarity, coming from the stairs leading to the upper floor.
The paladin ear’s raised as he hears her hoofsteps. He looked down on the fillies, curious as to what they were going to do now (continue to ‘interrogate’ him or not), but to his surprise and confusion, he saw Sweetie Belle jump up.
“Quick, hide!” she told the other two in a hushed voice and pushed them back in the direction of the door separating this room from the shop part of the house. The white filly then turned around to look briefly at Storm pleadingly while pressing a hoof against her own lips.
Still confused, but now somewhat intrigued, Storm nodded. As the filly’s attention shifted to the stairs, the paladin glanced at the other two. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were looking at him from above the small decorative “batwing” doors. Upon seeing him look their way, the young pegasus pointed a hoof at her eyes, at him, and then repeated the gesture.
Storm raised an eyebrow, but just then he heard Rarity’s surprised voice. “Oh, good morning Sweetie Belle. What are you doing here so early? I hope you weren’t disturbing Knight Storm Clash?” she added before the filly could respond.
“Don’t worry,” Storm spoke up, directing his attention to the mare of his dreams. He rose from the couch and slid from under the blanket. “I was already waking up when she got here.”
The white unicorn brightened at the sight of him. She flashed him a smile before she returned her attention to her sister.
Sweetie Belle gave her a stare, it was The look. The look Storm Clash was very familiar with. It was the look a younger sibling gives to their older sibling when they ask for something. “I was wondering if the best sister ever would go with me on a few-day long camping trip starting tomorrow.”
“Camping trip?!” Rarity exclaimed, shocked. “I despise camping! All of that... brrr” she shuddered with disgust, “nature.”
“Note to myself: never, ever, invite Rarity for a camping trip.”
But it looked that the filly wasn’t ready to give up yet. “Applejack's going with her little sister,” Sweetie Belle said, saddened. She then looked down and closed her eyes. “But, y'know, if you don't wanna spend time with me…”
At the last part of that sentence the filly turned around and looked back at her sister with big puppy-eyes. Storm had to admit that she pulled them off much better than Oak Heart ever had.
Rarity was helpless before those eyes. “Oh, all right!” she said, clearly unhappy at being talked into this. Sweetie Belle, on the hoof, brightened up immediately. Rarity looked at her smile with a mild annoyance, but then her eyes widened. “Ooh!” she exclaimed, sounding a bit excited. “Of course I will need to find an outfit more appropriate for ‘roughing’ it.” Rarity turned around and was about to walk up the stairs before she turned back. “Oh, Storm dear, I will be back in a moment, but help yourself to the breakfast in the kitchen if you want.”
With that, the white unicorn was gone. Storm’s attention returned to the younger one, who was looking at her friends triumphantly. “See? Told you she’d wanna go.”
“Oh no, oh no, oh no…”
This had started on such a beautiful day. Fluttershy woke up, ate breakfast, and then fed her animal friends around her cottage while humming a soft melody. She hadn’t been in a hurry; her meeting with Rarity and Nymph at the spa was a good few hours away. That left her with plenty of time to make sure everypony was fed, do some chores in her cottage and play with Angel.
She was looking forward to the spa date. Nymph was a very nice changeling to talk with, and Fluttershy was really curious about her. Also, Rarity told her that they’d need to help her with something, and Fluttershy couldn’t say no to help.
However, all thoughts about the spa evaporated from her mind when she had reached the chicken coop, intending to feed her four chickens.
There was a hole in the fence surrounding their coop.
Whatever hope Fluttershy had that none of the chickens had run away was quickly gone as only three emerged at the sound of her calling ‘Breakfast.’ Elizabeak, the most adventurous of them, was missing. The hen’s habits of wandering around, which at one point had almost ended with tragedy, were what prompted Fluttershy in the first place to put the short fence around the chicken coop. Of course, after that adventure with the cockatrice, Elizabeak had calmed down a bit, but now it looked like her curiosity had returned. How long it had taken her to peck her way through the fence was beyond Fluttershy, but she knew one thing: her tracks lead to the Everfree Forest.
“Alright, Fluttershy, stay calm,” she told herself, stopping her earlier ‘Oh no’ mantra. She eyed the forest warily. “She couldn’t have gone too far… I’m sure I heard her along with the other three clucking just an hour ago…”
If she hadn’t left earlier than an hour ago, she could still be close. Fluttershy nodded weakly, even though there was nopony there other than the remaining chickens, deciding to go after her. “If I won’t find her by the border of the forest, I will go ask Mattie- I mean, Arthas, for help,” she told herself as she flew.
She reached the trees standing at the edge of the forest very quickly. Like always whenever she had to come here, she was disturbed by the eerie silence of this place. Fluttershy shook with fear, but she didn’t give in to the feeling; she had a chicken to find.
The pegasus looked at the ground, her trained eye easily recognizing the marks left by Elizabeak’s claws. “It looks like she went this way…” she thought as she followed on the ground. To her mild surprise, at some point the trail made a sharp turn, leading to the spot where trees grew with wider space between them. “Weird, the last time she came to the forest, she went straight ahead… it’s almost as if somepony had called her…”
Fluttershy stopped her inner monologue as, when walking with her eyes on the ground looking at the trail of Elizabeak, saw the roots of the strangest tree before her. “Funny, it looks almost like a timberwolf’s paws,” she thought in an amusement, raising her head-
- to look exactly right into the eyes of a timberwolf.
For what seemed like an eternity, Fluttershy just stared at him in mute terror.
The very next second, she gave voice to that terror.
Taking a cautious step back, she looked at the timberwolf carefully. “Um… h-hello?” she tried weakly. She remembered, of course, how she had managed to handle that timberwolf who attacked Applejack while it tried to attack her and Arthas, but the sudden appearance of another now have disturbed her. She had trouble collecting her thoughts.
And the fact that the timberwolf replied didn’t actually help her.
“Hello.”
Fluttershy stopped, shocked. She had no idea that timberwolves could speak… but then again, as she took a good look on him, Fluttershy realized that it wasn’t like any timberwolf she had seen so far. It was bigger, almost twice her size, and a mane of leaves and flowers adorned its neck and chest. And his eyes… they glowed like small suns, and there was definitely an intelligence behind them.
Fluttershy blinked. She could swear that there was something familiar about this timberwolf…
“Cluck cluck.”
“Elizabeak!” the pegasus exclaimed, stunned, now noticing the missing chicken was standing beside the timberwolf. Ignoring the timberwolf, she jumped to Elizabeak and nuzzled her. “I was so worried about you! What did I tell you about coming into this forest?”
The chicken looked sorry and embarrassed for being scolded. She clucked a few times in apology. Fluttershy smiled. “That’s alright; the important thing is that you are safe.”
“You understood her?”
Fluttershy looked back at the timberwolf. He - Fluttershy was fairly certain of that - had been observing her with great interest. “Yes, of course,” she replied, smiling a bit nervously.
The timberwolf narrowed his eyes for a moment. His gaze softened quickly, however, and he nodded at Elizabeak. “I was passing nearby when I saw her. I figured this was not a place for her and beckoned her to me.”
“Really? Thank you, I don’t know if I could have found her if she had gone deeper into the forest.”
“It was the least I could do after you and the child of the earth had done for me,” the timberwolf replied, bowing his head slightly.
Fluttershy tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”
A rumbling noise came from the timberwolf’s mouth, and she realized that he was chuckling. “You don’t recognize me, don’t you?”
Fluttershy’s brow furrowed… and then her eyes went wide. “You’re the timberwolf that Mattie had healed!” she realized.
She could scarcely recognize him. He was bigger than back then, and she was sure he hadn’t had this mane and the bark covering the rest of his body was much more… tangled-like.
The timberwolf nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”
“But you look-”
“The power your friend wields healed more than just my injury,” he interrupted her. “It also affected my mind, freeing me from the Darkness that had corrupted the entire forest. It took time, but slowly I recovered, both mentally and physically… and it was thanks to you as well.”
Fluttershy eyes went wide once again. “R-really?” she stammered, not understanding.
“Something you did, when you spoke with me… or rather, when you scolded me,” he amended with humor, “somehow, you opened my mind for your friend’s power through the fog of darkness. I wanted to thank you for that.”
“Oh…” Fluttershy exclaimed, not sure if she understood what he had said. She quickly dismissed her confusion and smiled. “There’s no need to thank me, I am happy that me and Mattie could help you. And I’m glad to see you’re better.”
The timberwolf didn’t reply to her, nor did he give any indication that he heard her last words. He continued to gaze into her eyes. Strangely, Fluttershy didn’t feel nervous. It was weird, really weird, considering how much bigger he was, how he had almost killed Applejack, and where they were, but... for some reason, she felt that she could trust this strange timberwolf.
Finally, the timberwolf’s gaze have shifted from her and rested on Elizabeak. It stayed very briefly on her before it returned to Fluttershy. “Would you like to learn how to speak with her better?”
Fluttershy tilted her head, not understanding what he meant. “I’m sorry… what?”
“I can teach you how to commune with nature if you’d like, how to speak with animals and plants, how to harness the nature’s power to protect it from those who would wish to harm it. And, most importantly, learn how to protect your friends.”
The pegasus felt dizzy as the timberwolf spoke. What he was saying sounded… crazy. Speaking with plants? Harnessing the power of nature? And she would be the one to do that? It seemed like something more up Twilight’s alley… and yet Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel captivated. She had always wanted to be able to understand her animal friends as best she could, and now she would be able to speak with plants as well? And be able to protect her friends… her? Thought she knew her friends loved her despite her being so easily scared, Fluttershy often wished she could be more like Rainbow Dash, to be able to stand up for others.
And there was also this timberwolf. Something about him, the way he spoke… it resonated within her soul. As if she had always been meant to hear him say those words.
Smiling timidly, Fluttershy looked into the timberwolf’s eyes. “Y-yes… I would like that very much… i-if that’s really okay!” she added quickly, scared that she sounded greedy.
The timberwolf chuckled warmly. He looked at her, and Fluttershy noticed the edges of its mouth curving upwards, signaling that he was smiling. “How about we start with introductions, then?”
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Flutterdruid is now a thing. Hell yes.
druid fluttershy GO
Flutter-druid! Yay!
Glad to see Spike be comforted by Rarity and Fluttershy bonding with the Timberwolf.
A shy druid. What a stereotype. Perfect for Fluttershy.
HA
33.media.tumblr.com/db02cd73206b6e48d2eb74d3dbf51a29/tumblr_n7kyj5njiE1sow22ko4_500.png
No. No i didn't. Druid fluttershy! Turning into bears and wolves, shooting stars...
No. No i didn't. Druid fluttershy! Turning into bears and wolves, shooting stars...
Can't wait to see Arthas shit bricks when Fluttershy drops a totem.
Good. We need a tank for SoO.
Fluttershy the Druid. Resto druid? Hmm...
Now she'll finally get to be a tree!
and a new circle is born
Okay, I really didn't see that thing coming with Fluttershy. That's an interesting Twist... She's going to become a druid isn't she?
once again a good chapter! i really like this story.
FLUTTERDRUID
And thus, the Equestrian Circle (or whatever it ends up being called) was born.
Interesting that Fluttershy is turning into the Malfurion equivalent.
5055688 Lol fluttershy in tank armor and a large mace of her back xD
Dis going to be good
5055789 Who will be Chris Metzen's baby boy? We need the world shaman!
WOOOOOT DRUID FLUTTERSHY!!!!
Wow, you just breached 500k words total!
Great chapter by the way!
5055853 Spike. A Dragon (Orc) amongst Ponies (Humans), he must go on an adventure to discover himself and overcome great trials to become the World Dragon.
5055853 I'm pretty sure that Chris Metzen's personal favorite character from Warcraft's lore is Malfurion, not Thrall
Oh dear god, Fluttershy's gonna be a Druid.
Update ! Woo-hoo !
What was up with Applejack? Did she do the nasty with somepony when I wasn't paying attention?
The ending...I ship it.
Flutter druid? ... I demand Trixielock!
lol it looks like Arthas called it right when he said she reminded him of a druid and now a demigod timberwolf is going 2 teach her the ways of being one and storm and big mac seem to be doing fine but storm might want to make sure rarity is going 2 be alright on the camp out hehehehe might work in his favor and i can aready tell applejack will most likely tail nymph and big mac on there date
Oh my god, that was perfect!
And, as pretty much expected, Flutterdruid. This will be interesting...
Fluttershy, the Pegasus, now being offered the power of the Earth?
All she needs now is a focus for her magic, and Twilight will have a very powerful second in command.
CMC go camping with older sisters. Who gets to haul Rarities luggage train this time? given Rincewind declined.
5056805 Druidism uses power of nature, not earth. Power of earth can come from shamanism.
5055687
Totems are a thing shamans do. Druids are the shapeshifters.
Ooh, can we see Flutterbear?
5056841 ... maaaaaybe
Lets see, well Equestria already had Shamans (Zecora), Warriors (Shinning Armor, Royal Guard) and Mages (Twilight Sparkle). Now we have Paladins (Arthis) and soon to be Druids (Fluttershy). All we're missing now is Warlocks, Priests (Though I think Serenity might be turning into one), Monks, Hunters, Rogues and maybe Death Knights (Though I think Arthis might not like that last one popping up).
5055687 wrong class but good one
5057018 Zecora ain't a shaman. I will elaborate on that in the future
Also, I'm not exactly sure if Shining Armor can be considered a warrior when he can also do magic.
5057051 Hmm, good point on Shinning Armor. So, what class of mage does that make him? I haven't play WoW in years (Going to start playing it again though) so I'm pretty fuzzy on what type of mages there are. As for Zecora... huh, I always assumed she was a Shaman, or at least a witch doctor.
So fluttershy is gonna be a Druid xD can't wait to see her go tree form xD
5057266
I very much liked what you've done with the rarity/spike thing, real emotions, nothing stupid or cliche, very nice
This was a very good chapter overall. Personally I didn't see the fluttershy thing coming, but now I can't help myself seeing what new powers everyone else may get. Keep it coming!
5056834 Welp time to hide the weed, and fluttershy in catform... stealths when scared bwahahaha
I can see Arthas wanting to get away from FS for some reason and her using Entangling Roots on him. I also wish to know AJ's strange behavior in this chapter
Druidshy. I should have seen this coming.
NICE! this can only end well (at the end of everything)
Now all we need a a big twist of Fluttershy being Private Pansy but hiden from the world under the name of Fluttershy ( this part is maybe :her personality and demeanour could come from the fact that maybe she was horribly treated in the time of that trip all those years ago and she easily lash out at anyone after her secret and silence escape (can either severly damaging or killing them) so she retreated to herself and keep her secret to herself) ...and I can call it madness! Mwuhahahahahahahaah.
SHIT, DRUID FLUTTERSY INCOMING!!!!!
Druidshy!
5056841 Personally, I want to see Fluttertree.