A story about how Fluttershy worked up the nerve to write to The Equestrian Society for the preservation of rare creatures and ends up becoming infatuated with the pony who writes her back. A pony by the name of Tree Hugger.
This story will stretch from the first season all the way to make "Make new friends but keep discord" and is unabashedly a FlutterHugger shipfic.
Fluttershy has been taking baby steps since she first made friends with Twilight Sparkle and the other elements of harmony, and one of those early steps was to send a letter out to the Equestrian Society for the preservation of rare creatures.
The pony who writes her back and ends up corresponding with her becomes somepony really special to Fluttershy, and through her journey with her friends gains the courage she needs to meet with this pony... that might be her soul mate.
How many times had Fluttershy tried to write this letter? A dozen times? Two dozen times? She knew it was enough to span her entire time living in the cottage in Ponyville. She kinda knew what she wanted to say in the letter. She knew that the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of rare creatures were probably all really wonderful ponies whom cared for animals just like she did -- maybe even more so -- but it didn't help muster up the courage to even put the quill to paper much less send a completed one to them. The first few times she didn't even make it to getting the paper and ink set up. The next few times she had tried she had managed to get the tip of the writing tool shakily to the page but was unable to go on from there. The last few times she even managed to write a couple of words before giving up in defeat.
She wanted to do it. The pegasus knew that if she did it she'd probably be able to talk with ponies that actually had her interests. She wanted to do this so badly, but her fear pounced on her every time and dragged her back to her comfort zone like a warden locking up a prisoner. It was a frustrating thing to struggle with, sitting in her home separated from all other ponies -- feeling comfortable only with the animals she cared for. If it hadn't of been for Twilight, she may of never of even attempted to fight her fears to begin with.
Today was different though. Today...she had faced a dragon. She hadn't really wanted to go, her friends had practically dragged her the whole way up the mountain, but it had to be done. If they hadn't of done anything the whole sky would of been covered in smoke for a century and her poor animal friends would of suffered. However it was when the dragon was threatening her friends that something had awoken in her.
Call it a fear induced adrenaline rush, call it a moment of pure insanity, call it whatever you like; but to Fluttershy standing on that Dragon's snout and scolding it like that was something she never dreamed herself capable of. Her friends had helped her do that. Friends were the only way to fight this fear of hers. She didn't want to let it rule her life anymore. She didn't want to be all alone when she knew she had so many things to say to somepony who was willing to listen.
It was in this vain that she wrote out her letter.
Dear Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures
Hello there, my name is Fluttershy. Sorry for the shaky penmanship I'm kind of nervous right now as I write this. If you could believe it I've been trying to write to you wonderful ponies for quite some time. You share the passion and love for animals that I do. When I had first touched land (I'm a pegasus by the way, sorry for not mentioning that) I was surrounded by all the wonderful faces of woodland creatures and I knew in my heart that I wanted to see those beaming faces for the rest of my life. I knew I wanted to care for them and be their friends, because they were the first creatures that were ever truly kind to me up to that point. I know that sounds kind of sad when I write it like that, but I've managed to make some actual pony friends lately. Its been kind of crazy for me and I've been learning to step out of my comfort zone a little bit at a time. Its hard to do things all at once. That's kind of why I'm writing this right now you see. I'm shaking like a leaf on a blustery day, and I really want to stop writing, but I'm not letting myself stop because I know that If I am brave enough I can send this too wonderful ponies whom share in the same interests as me and can talk about how cute and cuddly animals are with me. Even the big animals with sharp teeth aren't really all that scary when you get to know how they behave and learn their languages. Its kind of silly when you think about how I can converse with a bear and a manticore, creatures ponies are usually scared of, but I have a hard time finding that same happy feeling around my own kind. Besides my friends that is.
Well anyway I feel like I'm kind of rambling here, and the words are looking more like scribbles by the second cause of my jitters, but I hope this letter makes it to you ponies. I'm happy I've mustered up the courage to do this, its been a long time coming.
Have a lovely day, Sincerely Fluttershy
Angel bunny may of had to give her some prodding but she did manage to get her quaking body to the mail box and squeak out in fright as she slipped in the letter. The anticipation was going to kill her to be sure. She could get rejected by them. They could turn out to be nasty ponies who only pretended to like animals to make fun of ponies like the pegasus, but that was a silly way to think. She decided that maybe taking up Rarity on her offer to go to the spa wasn't such a bad idea after all. Maybe it would help calm her nerves a little bit.
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Angel Bunny tapped his foot impatiently at Fluttershy as she stared at the letter on her table. She had been staring at the response letter for a good forty five minutes just hovering different parts of her body like her hooves and wings trying to find some way to open it that didn't completely send her into a panic. The bunny had had enough and hopped onto the table, snatching up the envelope and chewed it open. It grumpily took the letter out of the envelope and unfurled it before shoving it in the mares face.
"T....thanks Angel..."
She looked down at the letter meekly and read the contents.
Many blessings from the Equestrian Society
My name is Tree hugger and it is my great pleasure to finally receive your letter Fluttershy. I had felt an aura reaching out to us for quite some time before pulling back in seeming fright, and I can feel that same aura on this letter you sent us. I've been wondering whom this intriguing spirit was. I can tell you are trying to pave new paths in your heart right now, and I really admire that in a pony. I wasn't all that comfortable around ponies myself until I had found my true calling among nature. I've grown quite in tune with nature since my time here. Its kind of a sense of mine if you will. I speak and commune with animals as well. They have such interesting perspectives on the world around us, and we have such interesting things to offer them as ponies. They seem to really respond to our voices and hooves in ways even other ponies don't seem to resonate with. When even the most angry creature is mad and frightened, I know I can soothe it with my voice and let it know that those negative energies are not needed with me. It's a rare gift to be able to speak with animals, even among our numbers here at the society. This might sound a bit odd, but tell me Fluttershy, do you by any chance have pink butterflies as your cutie mark? I had this image of butterflies surrounding a yellow tree the other day while I was meditating and I had that same sensation when I read your letter. Its another one of those senses I get. If you've ever known an earth pony particularly in tune with their talent such things can happen.
I hope to hear back from you soon Fluttershy. I'm proud of you for finally reaching out to us. May this be the start of a friendship that will span a lifetime. Blessings Tree Hugger.
Fluttershy's face was light pink as she read the contents of the letter. Her heart was lightly fluttering as she tried to wrap her head around this. This pony had felt her reaching out to the society as she desperately tried to fight against her fears and just write the letter. She knew ponies like Pinkie had a sense when it came to things like danger, and the way it read and smelled were so nice to the Pegasus. She gulped as she felt her chest with her hoof, looking over the contents a few dozen times.
"Oh...my..."
She couldn't help but hug the letter and her grumpy bunny. She had done it, she had sent the letter and received a such a pretty response in return. The idea of her soul actually reaching out to her subconsciously, to the point where her cutie mark even showed up in the others mind... she could feel her face growing hotter just thinking about that and it made the smallest smile show up on her face.
She couldn't wait to work up the courage to write another letter soon. She felt like she...wanted to get to know this Tree Hugger a bit better.
Tree Hugger was calm. Water poured over her body from above in torrents as she balanced upon the same rock she had traveled to for the past month. Her body did not shake as it was held up by one single fore-hoof, holding a resolute pose against the cascading water that crashed against her far down to the rocks below her -- where the water frothed upon impact. She looked like a little speck of green and red against the large cliff face, barely visible at all amidst the violent deluge of water that thundered down by gravity's will.
The waterfall had made her stronger, and had made her meditation sessions that much more meaningful for her. She could look down below her at the rushing river and smoothed out rocks without feeling any sense of vertigo anymore. Water that once threatened her perch upon this vicarious position every second of her session and roared angrily in her ears now was the gentle massages and rumblings of an old friend. She barely required any of her own magic to maintain her position on there anymore, she had made peace with its turbulent nature and maintained her hoofstand as resolute as a tree with it's roots deep in the earth. Even as she shifted to the other side it caused no fear of loosing her perch. To her this place was like a second home, a place to commune her soul with the world at large, even as her crimson dreads were tossed about by the endless pounding of water from above.
Her sense of awareness had been gradually growing out as her trance increased in intensity. She could feel that Fluttershy's newest letter was on route to the society. They had been sharing stories with each other over the past few weeks. She was an utterly fascinating pony for Tree Hugger, and had been ever since she had felt her souls desperate pleas for friendship all those moons ago. She had wanted to act immediately, she wanted to rush up to the spirit of this mare and take her into a hug at that very second. However another, much larger spirit had stayed her hoof in that regard.
The great branches of the tree of Harmony had appeared in her mind the moment she had thought of going to her. Its overwhelming spirit washed over the earth pony and told her in her heart that the paths of friendship had already been laid for the mare, and that she was to be of the utmost importance to it in the coming months. It was a vision like nothing she had ever felt. The physical presence of the tree may of been relatively small, but its soul was so great that it took up her entire vision when she reached to it.
Its plans had came into being, and Fluttershy had been made into its element of harmony, its element of kindness. She had seen the weeds of doubt and insecurity start to ever so slowly peel away from this soul that resonated with her own so well until that very first letter had finally made it to her society. Tree Hugger had to keep herself from tearing up all over it when she had read it, feeling those familiar energies permeating the shaking penmanship that scrawled its message.
Another sense started filling her mind at this moment however, as her brow scrunched under the deluge of the waterfall. The local earth pony village was in an uproar. She focused into that area, her sopping wet ears twitching as her mind painted the image of what was happening.
She could see the hydra. It was frustrated and angry. Its soul cried out for solitude and the frightened ponies feared its presence as readily as any prey fears its predators.
It was time to go to work it seemed.
bunching her fore-leg she bounded off the rock she was perched on, arching into the air as she let out a warbling note from her throat. The vibrations of her voice reacted with the magic within her body, gently guiding the water that had clung onto her bare form and mane to drift back to the rushing waters from where they came. She used her magic to become light and buoyant as she gently touched the tops of trees with her hooves to propel herself forward. She could not fly like a pegasi, but especially gifted earth ponies could float and glide with the greatest of ease when they learned how.
It did not take terribly long bounding through the forest, barely disturbing a leaf, before she made it to the angry and frightened village below her. Several ponies in straw hats and drawling accents were chucking rocks at a steadily advancing hydra, trying to aggressively steer off the massive multi headed beast as ineffectively as every other time they had tried it.
They paused and glared up into the sky as Tree Hugger descended upon them and touched the ground so lightly the ground didn't even seem to register her presence at first.
"GET OUTA HERE YA FLOWER FILLY, WE GOT BUSINESS WITH THIS CREATURE ENCROACHING ON OUR NEW FARM LAND!" snarled the elder of their village, pointing aggressively at her.
"Peace Buck Weed, Peace. You know Hydra are an endangered species..."
"ENDANGERED MY FLANK! LOOK AT THING, IT COULD EAT US ALL UP IN ONE GO WITH ALL THEM HEADS..."
A young stallion showed up behind the elder and tried to calm him down. "Come on dad, please stop yelling at her, she's only trying to help...."
The elderly stallion growled through his grey beard "Ah don't want to hear that flower talk coming out of my grandson, ya hear me! This is our land, and that land down there is our land down there is our land too! No pony gobblin monster is going to keep my family from makin a living."
The hydra was getting closer, it looked slightly hurt from all the punishment it had been getting and looked ready to fight for its territory.
"A REAL livin mind you, not like these pansy flower ponies talkin friendly with buckin monsters like they are yer damn pet dog. Back in mah grand pappy's day damn near thousand years back we woulda strung up these buckin witches by their ears for their nonsense...." He spat at Tree hugger's hooves before lumbering off into the house. The younger stallion looked at her apologetically.
"I'm really sorry about that, we are trying to keep the elders from trying to farm in that direction, we really are, but they are set in their ways about how things should be done. I'll make sure to deposit some bits with the society for your services and give you extra for the harassment my grand dad gave you."
Tree Hugger waved a hoof and smiled at him kindly. She was used to such things by now."Peace Lumber, its not your fault. I'll calm the Hydra for you."
Lumber called out to the ponies and told them to get inside and to stop hitting the monster, and they all reluctantly put down their stones and pitchforks before turning back.
The snarling and roaring hydra continued its advance, nearly entering the village as she turned around. Taking a deep breath she let out a strong note that filled the air. The hydra's heads all perked at once at the sound. She changed the pitch and waved her hoof, causing their eyes to start to droop a little and their necks to sag under the calming notes filling their ears. Slowly Tree Hugger walked forward, using her notes and her magic to gently turn the lumbering beast around and back to the boggy swamp he had came from. It wasn't even worthy of farm land, but the elders of this village wanted it off of their land and didn't care if it could only live in a select few places in all of Equestria. The younger members were learning, but it would take time.
She followed it back all the way to its home, watching it sway to the rhythm of her voice as it moved in its placated trance. At the entrance of the bog two smaller hydra, barely a quarter of its size rushed out to cling onto it as they listened to the notes of Tree Hugger as well. It was a mother, which was fantastic news. It also meant that the elders are probably even more afraid that they would come and gobble them all in the night.
Calmly the Hydra drifted back into the murky water with its children, not turning around even as the emerald mare's notes died down and she turned to walk to the society. The Letter had arrived from what she could tell, and she was anxious to read its contents.
She couldn't help but feel like it had something to do with poison joke...
Fluttershy read Treesy's letter under the sunlight shining through her torn open roof. Even though her house was in utter shambles after she had brought in a deceptively cute infestation apparently known as parasprites she felt the need to stop what she was doing to get to reading what her pen pal had sent her. Her face couldn't help but contort in all kinds of expressions as she read it. She smiled and silently giggled at Treesy's own stories about dealing with poison joke. Apparently they used the plant at parties just to see what kind of wacky things would go on, like one stallion who couldn't stop moonwalking, or another mare who sang opera instead of talking after applying the stuff they made out of the plant. It made her feel better about the previously embarrassing experience about having a deeper voice, and even thought about the different kinds of songs she could do if she ever tried using it again.
A plank of wood fell from her roof and caused her to jump in her half eaten couch before getting back into a comfortable position. Angel was peeved with her sense of priorities, stomping his little foot rapidly and glaring at her from across the room silently demanding her to fix the broken house that was kind of her fault in the first place since she brought the pests in the first place.
"In a minute angel, I'm going to go and help my friends fix up Ponyville just as soon as I'm done with the letter from Treesy, she's so funny."
As her eyes scrolled down the page though, her smiles turned into a sadder expression. Apparently one of the villages that are near the society weren't very nice to them about their stance on endangered and rare creatures and how Treesy in particular communicated with animals. It made the pegasus happy that Ponyville was much more forward thinking about that kind of thing. She never got any side long glances about her communing with animals or helping out her neighbors with animal related problems. They were a bit mean sometimes because of how much of a doormat she was, but her main group of friends were especially nice to her. She couldn't help but feel like she was intruding whenever she saw them, but she was getting better at fighting that feeling off now. If only a little bit.
Treesy was amazing though. She bravely went up to mean ponies and helped them out even if they spat at her and everything. Even if they were being awful to poor animals she would make every effort she could to change their minds, and it was working! Fluttershy couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt though.
Reading about her pen pal guiding out a hydra that the village had riled up into coming into their village bore a striking resemblance to what Pinkie did with the Parasprites. Just like those villagers, nopony understood what Pinkie was doing until she had all of those pests bouncing along in a single file behind her many instruments. She couldn't use her voice on them like Treesy could, but she knew exactly what she needed to make sounds that would resonate with the creatures and make them mesmerized just like the Hydra was.
She'd have to make sure to give Pinkie a super big apology for not listening to her after this. With a sigh she folded up the letter and put it away inside the drawer she had been keeping all of her letters. She wanted to think about what she'd write back to her while she was helping with the rebuilding of the town.
"Ya comin sugarcube? We thought we'd start with the town hall and work our way out from there..." Applejack stopped as she looked into the house and saw Flutters, giving her a wry grin.
"What's got you smilin like that? Look like you got kissed by your special somepony or somethin."
"Wha~ ? I...um...well...um... you see..." she gave out a little eep as she flushed and lowered her head "...could we go fix up the town now?"
Applejack gave a hearty chuckle and gave the shy mare a casual hug around the neck with one of her fore legs. "Yer adorable Flutters, lets go fix up a town! After we're done The whole town's gonna have a nice feast, ya know, since we were preparin for the princess and what not."
"yay!" the pegasus cheered softly as she perked up. She was glad Applejack dropped her tease about the special somepony thing as they walked out of the house back to the town. She was already a bundle of jitters and excitement whenever she got one of Treesy's letters, plus she couldn't help but imagine what that mare must look like. She knew she was an Earth pony, and that her cutie mark was a tree with a heart on it... and she had imagined Fluttershy as a tree... and that her name is Tree Hugger...
"Whoa nelly girl, you lookin like you are thinkin bout somethin mighty interestin right about now... mayhaps I wasn't all that off about that special somepony thing after all....'
Fluttershy leaped in the air at Applejacks remark, she had forgotten she was there for a moment.
"Its...Its nothing AJ, I...uh... just... you know.... um..." She wanted to explain it, but her brain was tripping over itself and the words were getting all jumbled, and her face was getting warmer by the second as she fiddled with her hooves.
Applejack gave her a wink "Don't worry about it girl, whomever it is is a right lucky pony... "
Fluttershy couldn't help but cover her blushing face with her wings with a little squeak of embarrassment, making Applejack laugh again as she pressed the mare on by the tail back to town to get started on fixing the place up. Thankfully the farm pony didn't bring it up again when they were among their friends, and Fluttershy had been able to turn down the furnace that was her face before showed up there.
During the evening when they worked through rebuilding every house and item that was affected, they finally made it to Fluttershy's cottage.
"Hey Pinkie..." She said tentatively, tapping her from behind with her hoof. She jumped as the party pony rounded on her with a huge smile.
"Yes Fluttershy? What can I do for you this fine evening?"
"Thank you...again...you know, about the parasprite thing... I'm sorry we didn't listen to you sooner..."
Pinkie gave a dismissive noise and waved her hoof, "Don't worry about it! It's all fixed now right? Plus the sooner we get done the sooner we can PARTY!" She leaped into the air and hovered for a moment like a balloon before settling back on the ground and getting to work with the others fixing Fluttershy's place up. Just like Treesy, Pinkie was willing to help regardless of the treatment she got... that's an awfully special trait in a pony.
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Dear Treesy (I'm trying to get used to calling you that, I kinda like it now)
We've had an eventful day over in ponyville. I had met this adorable little creature that looked like a fluffy ball of cute with wings. It had this ravenous apatite but I didn't really mind it until it... you know, started multiplying and devouring everything in town. They are called parasprites, I have a feeling you've heard of them. Pinkie Pie, the funny earth pony I mentioned a few letters back, knew what to do about it but nopony was really listening to her. In fact we were doing everything but listen to her, and Twilight (the unicorn librarian) ended up making them eat stuff instead of food... it was kind of a disaster. We've spent the entire day fixing everything up.
I guess what I'm saying is Pinkie ended up having to get all the supplies to safely lead all of the creatures out of the town all by herself because nopony wanted to see her way of thinking.
I can't help but feel like its similar to what you ended up going through. I'm sorry ponies don't treat you nicely when you are trying to help. I really like that about you, you know? Helping ponies out regardless of how much of a meanie they are? I've always avoided ponies because of that. It wasn't even until I started making friends that it felt even remotely comfortable being around other ponies, and here you are saving the day with your gifts.
It... it makes me want to be a better pony if that makes sense. You're a good friend. Oh goodness my writing is getting all wobbly again. This is the third try for this letter. I've been getting better though.
Oh! And thank you for all the silly stories about Poison joke, I'm still giggling over some of them. I think one of your parties would be a lot of fun to go too. It really makes me feel better about the whole situation, plus we made a new friend in Zecora.
Maybe...one day...we could have that party together or something...you know...if that's okay with you...
Have a wonderful day Fluttershy
She was beat red as she looked at the last line she wrote. Every fiber of her being wanted her to rip it to shreds, but she bit her lip and scrunched her eyes before shoving it in the envelope and squeaked all the way to the mail box before she shoved it in. She had Angel guard the door to prevent her from going out and bringing it back in, like she tried to do five minutes later. He stood there resolute, brandishing a newspaper until the mail mare came and took the letter, immune to all her bribes and excuses like wanting to check for spelling errors.
"Thanks Angel." She said pitiably as she finally sank to the floor in relief that the letter was finally gone.
Nothing wrong with suggesting maybe they do something in person sometime. Nothing wrong at all. No reason to have burning cheeks what so ever. Nope.
