There is a Cottage
After a hundred years, the town of Ponyville had seen quite a bit of change. The actual town itself had long disappeared, the buildings having been demolished for materials. Where the original town used to be, there was now a vast expanse of forest, the Everfree forest to be exact. It had taken over the town long ago. Now, the place known, as ‘Ponyville’ was a rural town, located about a mile away from the edge of the forest.
The Everfree forest did not have the best of reputations. It was said to be extremely dangerous, holding a vast amount of dangerous creatures. As such, most ponies did everything they could to avoid the dark and dreary forest. And as you could guess, most parents forbade their children from even going near it.
However, none of this mattered to a certain young earth pony colt. The young pony in question had an aquamarine coat, and a grass green mane. The young pony lacked a cutie mark though.
The colt was running as fast as he could in the outskirts of town, tears in his eyes, one of which was sporting a rather nasty bruise. As he ran, he turned his head to see three other colts following in pursuit. The colt looked ahead, and put even more effort into his run, desperate to escape his pursuers.
He had been running for several minutes now, and the strain was starting to take its toll on him. Still, he kept running. He could hear the other three colts behind him, yelling and insulting him. So he pushed on. Just as it seemed he was about to collapse from exhaustion, he looked ahead to see a vast expanse of trees.
‘The forest!’ thought the child. He knew the Everfree forest was a dangerous place. His parents had strictly forbidden him from going near it. However, the young colt knew that his pursuers wouldn’t dare follow him inside. That made it the perfect place to hide for a few hours. With his mind made up, the colt sprinted as fast as he could. He ran strait past the tree line, out of the light, and into the dark.
The three colts following him saw him enter the forest, and came to an abrupt halt, their hooves skidding the dirt. They looked and saw as the colt they were pursuing was becoming less visible.
“Is he crazy?” questioned the colt on the right, an orange unicorn, with spiky green hair.
“Must be,” said the leader, who was in the middle. This one was a brown Pegasus with a sand colored mane, which was neatly combed over the side of his face.
“What do we do?” asked the third, another Pegasus, with red fur and a darker red mane.
“We go home. He’s good as dead,” said the leader, who turned and began walking back to Ponyville.
“Shouldn’t we tell his parents or something? He could get hurt?”
“If you want to tell them you chased Minty Leaf into the Everfree, go ahead, just leave my name out of it!” The other two looked reluctantly to the forest, before turning and following their friend back to town.
As the young colt known as Minty Leaf made his way through the forest, he found himself observing just how dark the forest was. The treetops probably blocked out at least 75% of the suns rays, casting the entire place in an eerie darkness. If that wasn’t enough, the trees all seemed to have sinister looking faces on them. And with the addition of animal noises in the distance, Minty was quite terrified.
The colt’s teeth clacked together like a novelty pair of dentures, as he looked all around himself, looking for a way out. But he had run for so long, and takes so many twists and turns to avoid his bullies, that he had gotten lost. At that realization, the colt had gone from scared, to downright terrified.
Every sound, even as minor as a twig snapping would cause Minty Leafs heart to jolt, sending a wave of shock through his body.
“I should’ve just taken the beating,” whimpered the colt. One thing he took notice of was that he had yet to see any actual animals. He expected to see a few squirrels or birds, but alas, no. He decided to stop walking, and sit down and rest. He sat down in front of a tree, and leaned his head against it.
“I wish my parents were here. I don’t care if I get in trouble, I just want to go home,” said the colt in a saddened tone. Tears started to come to his eyes as the thoughts of being lost in a dark and dangerous forest took their tole. Would he be trapped here forever? Would he die here? The colt sobbed quietly to himself. That was, until he heard a noise.
It was faint at first, but steadily it grew louder. It roused him from his self-pity. It sounded…like singing. As Minty Leaf ceased his crying he could hear what sounded like an angelic mare’s voice coming from a distance. He looked up from the ground, and turned his head in the direction the song was coming from.
“What’s a mare doing all the way out here?” questioned the colt. But that question soon left his mind. It didn’t really matter. If there was a mare all the way out here, then perhaps she could help him. The young colt got up from his sitting position, and began following the singing. He navigated his way through the trees, searching for the mare.
After a few minutes, the young colt finally came to a clearing in the forest. He looked up, to see a gap in the trees overhead. There was a brilliant beam of sunlight shooting through the overhead leaves, shining down on what appeared to be…a cottage? The cottage appeared to be half artificial, and also half natural, with green moss and leaves making up the roof. He could see light coming through the windows, and a wooden double door at the front. He also noticed several bird houses were built into the cottage, along with a chicken coop near the back portion of the home.
Minty leaf saw a variety of animals near the front of the house. He saw birds, tweeting and chirping. He saw squirrels, possums, rabbits, and even a bear. But what caught his attention was…her. She looked like an angel, as she gently flew in the air, with a group of birds accompanying her. The light coming from the sun caused her yellow fur to glow with a majestic radiance. Her pink mane and tail where beautiful, the former ending in a slight curl.
Minty could see that the singing was coming from the mare. The young colt wondered what a Pegasus mare was doing this deep in the forest. But that didn’t matter as much as the possibility that she could help him. He slowly started making his way towards the cottage. The mare had her attention on a little squirrel, and it appeared as though she was communicating with it. When he got close enough, passing over a small bridge, a twig snapped beneath his hoof. The mare, slightly startled, raised her head and looked in his direction.
Minty took notice of her beautiful teal eyes, with a look of surprise in them, before she took notice of the colt, her eyes then softening, looking welcoming. She turned to look at him, and then spoke to him.
“Hello there little one,” she said.
“Oh, um hello,” replied Minty Leaf. The mare sat down on her haunches, her sweet gaze directed at the young colt.
“There’s no need to be afraid. Why don’t you come over here, I promise I won’t bite.” The young colt looked hesitant for a moment, before making his way towards the mare. He stopped as when he came a few feet away from her.
“Hello,” said Minty.
“Hello. My name Fluttershy. What’s yours?”
“Oh, um, my name is Minty Leaf.”
“Hm. That’s a nice name.”
“Thanks,” replied the colt.
“So, what brings you this deep into the forest. Its dangerous for a young colt to be this deep in the Everfree.” The colt noticed that the animals were now resting in a slight circle around the two ponies.
“Well, I uh, I got lost,” said Minty Leaf.
“Oh, that’s not good.”
“Yeah. I was starting to get really scared. But then I heard your beautiful singing, and it lead me to you. Speaking of which, what are you doing living this deep in the Everfree Forest?”
“Oh you heard my singing?” questioned the mare, who was hiding behind her mane.
“Yeah, it was beautiful. It was the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard!”
“Oh, um…thank you….” The mare took a few seconds, and then returned her gaze to the colt. “Well, to answer your question, I’ve lived here for a long time. You see, I like to take care of animals, it’s my special talent.”
“Oh. Don’t you get lonely all the way out here?”
“Yes, sometimes. But I have my animal friends here to keep me company.”
‘I wish I had some friends, even animals would be a step up,' thought the colt.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get lost all the way out here?” questioned Fluttershy, as a white rabbit hopped up to her, nuzzling her leg, which she returned with a soft petting.
“Well, um….I kind of got chased here.”
“Oh my! Who chased you?”
“It was three bullies from my school. They gave me this black eye, and then I started running. I went in the forest, because I knew they wouldn’t follow me.”
“Goodness, that’s terrible! You poor thing!” said the saddened mare. Minty looked down and to the side, before the mare spoke up again.
“Would you like to come in for something to eat and drink?”
“Oh, um, yeah, sure, I mean as long as it isn’t a bother.”
“It’s no bother at all, I’m happy to offers something to a pony in need.” Fluttershy stood up from her sitting position, and turned to open the door. It was then that Minty leaf saw something on the left side of her body. Striking across her torso were three long scares. They were raised, and reddened. They looked quite old, since they had obviously had time to heal, but had not gone away completely.
‘That looks like it hurt. It’s a lot worse than my black eye,’ thought Minty leaf. Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage, and held it open, gesturing for the colt to enter, which he did. At first glance, Minty Leaf was quite impressed by the inside. It was beautiful, and homey. There was a large window in the corner, and in front of that was a beautiful curved couch, and a tall lamp behind it, lighting the room. He could see a variety of small animals moving about the room, various houses and holes in the cottage for them to live in.
“Why don’t you sit down on the couch, I’ll get you a snack and something to drink.”
“Ok,” replied the colt as he took a seat on the couch. The Pegasus mare went into the kitchen, humming a soft song. As the colt got comfortable, he saw a small white rabbit hop up next to him. The rabbit had a look of annoyance on his face, slapping one of his feet against the couch, with his arms crossed. The colt looked to him, before scooting over a bit, allowing room for the bunny. The rabbit took its position next to him, and curled into a ball, closing his eyes. After a few minutes, she returned with a pitcher of lemonade, a few glasses, and a few apple fritters on a plate.
“Thank you,” said Minty leaf as he took one of the fritters, and started to eat. The second he took a bite, his taste buds exploded in ecstasy due to the deliciousness of the pastry. He quickly wolfed it down, before grabbing another. Fluttershy giggled, before pouring him a glass of lemonade.
“I see somepony is hungry,” giggled the mare.
“These are delicious!” said the colt.
“I agree. They were baked by a good friend of mine.” After finishing his second fritter, Minty leaf took a drink of the lemonade.
“So…you said you were being bullied right? Do you want to talk about it?” asked the Pegasus. The colt’s face saddened at the mention of his troubles. But he felt that this mare genuinely cared about what happened to him. He felt that he could confide in this kind mare.
“Well…alright. You see, there are these three colts back in my hometown Ponyville. They’ve been bullying me because I don’t have a cutie mark. It started out as just verbal, but recently it’s gotten physical.”
“Oh goodness, you poor thing! That’s awful!”
“Yeah. Today they started picking on me again. The difference is this time I tried to fight back. They gave me this black eye, and chased me all the way to the forest.” Fluttershy appeared to be very saddened by this news. But she perked up, and looked at Minty.
“You know, I also used to have a bully problem.”
“Really?” asked the child as he looked up at Fluttershy.
“Oh, yes. You see when I was a filly; I got teased for not being a good flyer. Of course, it never got physical, but still it was no walk in the park.”
“How did you deal with it?”
“Well, one day, some colts were bullying me rather intensely, when one other filly came to my defense. She told those bullies off, and even beat them in a race to defend my honor.”
“I wish I had a friend like that,” muttered Minty Leaf.
“You know, if there’s one thing my life is taught me, is that friendship truly is magical. It may be hard, but if you show true kindness to ponies, chances are, they’ll return the favor.”
“I want to have friends, but, well, I’m just too shy.” This caused Fluttershy to giggle loudly. “What’s so funny?” questioned Minty Leaf, sounding a bit angry.
“Oh, I’m not laughing at you, I promise. It’s just that, I too am extremely shy.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yes indeed. I was so shy; I couldn’t even speak or look anypony in the eye. But then one day, I opened my heart, and let others in. And that friendship was the greatest thing in my life.”
“That sounds great! But, I really don’t know if it’ll work for me.”
“Just give it a try. Just show somepony a little kindness, and I promise, somepony will want to be your friend.”
“Well, ok. I guess I’ll give it a try.” Fluttershy offered Minty a kind smile. Just then, Minty noticed a clock on the wall. It read 4:15 pm.
“Oh man! It’s late! My parents are probably worried sick!”
“Well we wouldn’t want that, now would we. I’ll walk you to the edge of the forest.
“Really? Thanks!”
“It’s no problem at all,” said the smiling mare. She stood up, and opened the door for the colt, who got up, and followed her. The two then made their way strait away from the cottage, going through the forest.
After about half an hour of walking, Minty and Fluttershy came to a spot that looked familiar. Minty saw the light in the distance.
“Well, here we are. Just head that way, and you’ll be back in the outskirts of town.”
“Thanks Fluttershy. I’d really be lost without you. I can’t thank you enough.” Minty turned to face Fluttershy, but was surprised to find she was nowhere to be seen. “Fluttershy? Fluttershy where are you?” As he turned around and searched for the mare, he heard the sound of a stallions voice in the distance.
“MINTY! MINTY LEAF, WHERE ARE YOU?”
“Dad? DAD!” cried the colt, as he turned to see his father in the distance. He sprinted towards the direction of the voice, now seeing his father.
“Minty!” cried his father. Minty ran strait into him, and hugged his barrel.
“DAD, DAD I’M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU!”
“Oh Minty, thank Celestia you’re safe! What where you thinking, going into the Everfree forest!”
“I’m sorry dad! I didn’t mean too! Those bullies chased me, and I thought they wouldn’t chase me into the forest, and I was so scared, I’m sorry!” His father sighed, returning the hug.
“It’s ok. All that matters is that you’re safe. It’s just a good thing that you didn’t run into any dangerous creatures.”
“I actually got lost in here. But thankfully, Fluttershy led me back here.”
“Whose Fluttershy?”
“She’s this mare who lives in the forest. She gave me food, and lemonade, and kept me safe from the dangerous creatures. She led me back here safely!”
“Minty, no pony has lived in this forest for decades.”
“She does, she lives in this beautiful cottage deep in the forest. She’s the kindest mare I’ve ever met.”
“Son, no pony lives in the forest. We’d know if she did.”
“No, it’s true, she does. Follow me, and I’ll take you to her!” Minty’s father didn’t seem thrilled at this idea.
“No son, it’s too dangerous.”
“Please! It’s safe, I promise!”
“Well…fine. But stay close to me.”
“Thank you! Follow me!” With that the colt lead his father down the path he had went. The two walked, and like before, they did not see any animals. The difference this time is that Minty did not have the sound of Flutter shy’s singing to guide him. But, he did remember the way.
Eventually, the two came to the clearing. But the sight that greeted them shocked Minty. The beam of sunlight that shone on the cottage was gone. And the house…the house looked so much different. The leafs and moss that covered the roof was rotted, and gone. The windows, and door were broken and cracked. Many of the birdhouses had fallen and were broken. The paint was peeling, and the chicken coop had collapsed in on itself. But what surprised and scared him most was that there were animal skeletons lying all about the area. He even saw the skeleton of a bear lying next to the door.
“Sweet Celestia,” muttered the colt under his breath.
“Is this the place? It looks like it’s been abandoned for years,” said Minty’s father.
“No…no this is all wrong. It wasn’t like this. The sun was shining, and the house looked brand new! And the animals, the animals were all alive!”
“Son, you must have been seeing things. This place looks like it’s been abandoned for a century.”
“NO! NO, SHE WAS THERE!” The colt ran strait towards the cottage before his father could grab him.
“Minty, come back here!” But the colt didn’t listen. He ran strait towards the cottage, and once he reached the door, he opened it, and stepped in side the cottage. And he screamed. He screamed when he saw the skeletal remains of a Pegasus pony lying on the rotting rug. As tears came to his eyes, his father caught up to him, and gasped when he saw the corpse.
“Oh…oh Celestia.” Minty was crying his eyes out.
‘This…this is all wrong.’
“She must have died years ago,” said Minty’s dad.
“No…but…but….” Muttered Minty. Then Minty’s dad put his hoof on his shoulder. It was then that Minty remembered something Fluttershy had said. “And that friendship was the greatest thing in my life.” Was…she had said was. It all dawned on him. Fluttershy….she was dead. But that meant….
“Come on…let’s go home.” His father turned, and headed strait away from the cottage, but Minty was frozen to the spot. His father noticed this, and turned back, and nudged his son. “Come on Minty, it’s time to go home.” He nudged his son again, which seemed to succeed at rousing him from his trance. The two then headed away from the abandoned cottage. As they made their way back home, Minty turned his head to look back at the cottage. His eyes widened as he saw Fluttershy standing there in front of the door. Only, her body looked thinner, like she hadn’t eaten in quite some time. And there was white mist pouring off her body.
The ghostly mare raised her hoof, and waved goodbye to Minty. The young colt stopped walking and did the same.
“Minty, come on,” said the colts father. Minty turned to look back at him, before turning his gaze back to Fluttershy. Only, this time she was gone. Minty turned his head back towards his father, and the two made their way back home.
93 Years ago
Fluttershy sang with her melodic and angelic voice as she tended to her animals. She filled the bird feeders, and gave food to her bunnies. Recently, the forest had started to expand, now covering the cottage with trees. Because of that, many more animals now visited Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy was just finishing her chores, when she saw her pet bunny angel running out the door, heading deeper into the forest.
“Oh goodness, Angel, come back!” called Fluttershy. But the rebellious bunny did not heed her words. Worried for her pet’s safety, Fluttershy chased after him. Deeper into the forest she went, following her beloved pet. She galloped after him, following him into a clear area in the forest. She saw the bunny just standing there, looking into the distance. Quickly, Fluttershy scooped up her Angel in her arms.
“Angel, what were you thinking? The forest is dangerous, too dangerous for each of us!” She set the bunny on her back, and started to head back towards her cottage. But she stopped, blood running cold when she heard the sound of growling behind her. She slowly turned her head, eyes widening in fear as she saw a group of timber wolves approaching her. Fluttershy started to tremble in fear.
“Oh…oh my…” Fluttershy started to back away slowly, only for the wolves to start moving forward. In an instant, Fluttershy turned and sprinted back towards her cottage, desperate to get to safety. As soon as she did that, the wolves gave chase. Fluttershy ran as fast as she could, but the wolves were faster. Fluttershy turned her gaze to see one of the wolves pounce on her. The wolf brought its right paw right down on Fluttershy; it’s claws cutting right through her flesh.
The mare cried out in pain, screaming as loud as she could. Adrenaline kicking in, the mare took flight, and ascended into the air. At the realization that their prey could fly, the timber wolves ceased their pursuit, and turned, looking for prey that couldn’t flee.
Fluttershy flew with Angel on her back. As she pumped her wings, blood continued to flow from her wound. As she neared the cottage, her wings gave out, and she plummeted to the ground. She hit with a hard thud, and cried out in pain, catching the attention of her animal friends. The animals all gathered around her, concern on their faces. Fluttershy shut her eyes, trying to fight back the tears. She saw her bear friend walk up to her. Gently, he took her in her paws, and lifted the injured mare up. He made his way to the door to the cottage, and went in. Gently, he set the mare down on the floor.
Smaller animals gathered round the mare, trying to offer her support. The bear left the cottage, and stood in front of it, protecting his friend from any other predators.
Fluttershy looked up from the ground to see her animal friends gathered around her, with Angel in the front. Seeing her pet safe brought a smile to her face.
“Oh Angel, I’m so glad…that you…are safe,” said the mare as her eyes started getting heavy. The animals gathered around her, nuzzling her. “I hope you don’t mind but…I’m getting a bit sleepy. I think I’m going to take a nap,” said Fluttershy as she closed her eyes. But all the animals at the cottage stayed where they were. Fluttershy had cared for them, nursed them back to health, and fed them. She was their friend. And they were going to stay by her side. As long as it takes for her to get better. They would never leave her side again.
The end