Earlier – Fluttershy’s cottage

The front door to the cottage opened violently. Fluttershy raised her head in surprise to see what was going on. There were still tears coming out from her eyes, but she had managed to calm herself down. Spike was stomping in through the open door. He, however, was clearly upset and therefore he slammed the door shut.

“They don’t ever let me join their adventures”, he shouted. He took a quick look at Fluttershy and immediately regrets his unnecessary tantrums. He shouldn’t be upset by a small thing like this when Fluttershy is in this state.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I shouldn’t have gotten so upset over anything”, Spike began to apologize. “And I shouldn’t have slammed the door like that”. Spike suddenly got a sad look too, which surprised Fluttershy. For a second she forgot her own problems and wondered what was on Spikes mind. She wiped the tears away and tried to make him speak in an as casual way as possible. But Spike only sighed and hesitated. Fluttershy tilted her head and looked at Spike. She decided not to give up just yet and make another try. But it didn’t seem like she needed to, because Spike spoke up before that.

“It’s just that I sometimes feel left out”, he said while slowly scratching his neck. “Twilight never let me join your adventures”. Spike looked down to the floor and made circles with his foot. Fluttershy got up from the sofa and walked towards Spike. When she reached him she putted one of her hoof on his shoulder.

“It’s because she cares so much about you”, Fluttershy said with a little smile, but Spike just looked questioning on her. “She doesn’t want you to be hurt or worse”. Fluttershy suddenly got a sad look and turned her eyes to the window. She looked towards the road where she could see her friends and Sharpy walking. They hadn’t come far, considering they just left, but it hurt to see Sharpy walk away from her. Whenever he was far away she could feel her love for him still burning strong, but as soon as they came close to each other her fear took the better of her.

“She loves you, Spike… and doesn’t want anything hurt you…” Fluttershy continued, but Spike didn’t answer. He just looked down. He understood what she meant and then made him feel a little better. But he knew what Fluttershy was going to say. Or at least what subject she was going to bring up, so he decided to let her talk without interruption. “And there is a very special pony that I love too… and I don’t want anything to hurt him. But there is nothing I can do… I can’t even talk to him or see him in his eyes” At this point, Fluttershy were mostly talking to herself and not so much to Spike. “And it’s all because of my own stupid fear… for what? Dragons!? Sure it matters who you are not what you are, but… but I can’t…” Fluttershy stopped and looked into the wall with mixed anger and sadness in her eyes. Spike wasn’t sure if he’d seen Fluttershy like this ever before. He gave it all a thought. His own personal problems were nothing compared to the struggle that was going on inside Fluttershy. But there has to be a way to let Fluttershy forget about her fear so that she can return to her normal self. Because how she was acting now wasn’t her normal self. But Spikes thought got interrupted by Fluttershy falling down on the floor. She was slamming her front hoofs on the floor.

“And now I’ll never see him again”, she cried. “He and all my friends are going to die and there is nothing I can do about it!”

“Whoa, there! Nopony’s going to die”, Spike tried to calm her down but it didn’t work too well. She was suffering from mood swings too, that much was clear. Spike chooses to ignore Fluttershy’s cries for a moment. He wanted to go through his thoughts before saying anything. He didn’t want to make things worse. He tried to figure out a way to make Fluttershy calm down. That would be the first thing to do. But as he thought he came to think about what Fluttershy just said to him about why Twilight didn’t want him to join their adventures. He smiled as the idea came up in his head. It was so simple that he got surprised he didn’t thought of it right away. He shook Fluttershy to get her attention.

“Hey, Fluttershy! Guess what we’re gonna’ do?” Fluttershy stopped for a moment and looked at Spike. And so he continued. “We’re gonna’ follow them”.

“Are you really sure about this?” Fluttershy asked clearly worried. But Spike just shook his head. He was determined and sure that this would work. He’d even packed a little sack full of necessaries for a trip. He’d helped Twilight pack her bags so he knew what would be needed.

“Yes, of course I’m sure”, Spike said while grabbing his sack and tie a little rope around the opening so that nothing would fall out. It could also be used as a more comfortable way to carry the sack. “You told me that Twilight loved me and was worried that I might get hurt. So I figured that it might make you feel better if you could make sure Sharpy is ok. And you can make contact with him because of your fear, so we’ll just keep a safe distance. Then later on you might realize that there is nothing to worry about and I will get my adventure after all. Brilliant, isn’t it?” Spike was really determined indeed, but Fluttershy still wasn’t sure that this would be a good idea.

“But what if they’d see us? How would we explain?”

“Ok, don’t be like that. That’s a part of the fun”. Now Fluttershy really doubted Spikes idea. Was this just something that Spike thought was fun? She asked, but Spike just waived it away.

“Of course not! This is highly serious. But having a bit of fun now and then can’t be wrong, now can it?” No, Fluttershy couldn’t argue with that. And she guessed it would feel better if she knew that Sharpy and her friends were all doing okay. She wouldn’t usually doubt her friends like this, but this time it felt different.  And if she spent some time observing Sharpy she would perhaps get used to his new look and her fear would disappear. After a short while she finally agreed to go after them. Spike looked up to Fluttershy and smiled. He had faith in this idea. Spike couldn’t see any reason why this wouldn’t work and even though Fluttershy didn’t seem to agree completely, it was still worth a try.

They began to pack Fluttershy’s things in a little sack too, but what disappointed Spike was that he had to carry that one too. Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to carry a sack when flying because it would interfere with her wings. But Fluttershy would have to carry Spike on her back all the time, so that would be enough to make it even. When they were ready they both walked outside. You couldn’t see the others any more, but Fluttershy knew where they were going, so it wouldn’t be hard to find them. And if she was flying, even with Spike on her back, she would be a lot faster than them.

Spike was holding both his and Fluttershy’s package, waiting for Fluttershy to stretch her wings so that she would be ready the fly off. When Fluttershy felt ready she looked back at Spike.

“Okay, then. Jump up”, Fluttershy lowered herself so that Spike would more easily climb up on her back. But when Spike climbed up and sat down on Fluttershy’s back like he usually did on Twilight they ran into a minor problem: Spiked legs were interfering with Fluttershy’s wings. She wouldn’t be able to fly properly as long as Spike’s legs were in the way.

“And this is why you don’t use bags…” Spike said ironically as he looked for a alterative way to sit.

“Umm, Spike? Is it possible to lie down?” Fluttershy asked. She felt how Spike’s feet were in the way as she tried to flap her wings.

“I can try…” Spike said as he changed position. He was now lying on his stomach, holding Fluttershy around her neck and the sacks were carefully being grabbed by his tail. “Does this work?” Fluttershy flapped her wing a couple of times and turned carefully from side to side to see if everything were all right. When Fluttershy was satisfied she looked back at Spike and smiled as she nodded. Then she leaped and they were airborne. It was pretty slow in the start. The extra weight wasn’t something Fluttershy was used to, but she quickly got the hang of it.

“These sacks really make you a lot more heave than what I’m used to”, Fluttershy said as an explanation for the poor start.

“Don’t worry”, Spike said and laughed it off. As long as they were still in the air and everything was going fine he wouldn’t complain.

Fluttershy and Spike quickly reached up to the others. Fluttershy decided to fly even higher up so that they wouldn’t get noticed. The only problem was that it was impossible to hear a word what they were saying down below. But she and Spike could at least see them clearly and by using the clouds to their help, they didn’t risk being seen themselves. From up where they were they could see Sharpy was taking the lead. Twilight was right behind him. It looked like she wanted Sharpy something and it seemed like she did, because Sharpy slowed down to talk with her. Fluttershy and Spike couldn’t hear what they were saying of course, so they checked out the others. Rainbow Dash were more or less randomly flying around the group, while Pinkie were jumping around, obviously talking about… whatever Pinkie talked about. Rarity and Applejack were in the back. Rarity didn’t seem very satisfied and Applejack was giggling at her. Everything seemed quite normal and to Fluttershy’s relief, Sharpy seemed quite happy at the moment. Fluttershy guessed that socializing with other ponies could ease most sorrows pretty quickly. At least for the moment. Fluttershy smiled to herself as she looked back at Spike. She could feel how she quickly felt better just by having someone close to her.

True friends are indeed important, Fluttershy thought. Spike, however, didn’t pay Fluttershy any mind for the moment. He was currently more interesting of what was going on down on the ground, so Fluttershy did the same and looked down. It looked like they were saying something important. At least Sharpy and Twilight. Spike leaned down as an attempt to hear what they were saying, but it was impossible. He looked up to Fluttershy.

“Is it possible to fly lower?” he asked. “I want to hear what they are saying”.

“Is that really safe?” Fluttershy didn’t think this was such a good idea. They would be detected for sure.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. If something happens we’ll improvise”. Fluttershy swallowed. This was really risky, but Spike was right. It would help them a lot if they knew where they were going or what they were doing. This road didn’t have any sidetracks, so she knew that they were going towards the Everfree Forest, but not where they were going after that. She carefully flew down to the lowest possible cloud. Spike and Fluttershy tried to eavesdrop on Sharpy’s and Twilight’s conversation, but they were still too far away. Spike showed with his claws that they needed to go even lower. Fluttershy nodded. This was already too close according to her, but they needed to hear what they were saying. They left the safety behind the cloud and carefully flew even lower. Fortunately for them, none of the ponies down below were looking up. Fluttershy and Spike could at least hear most of the conversation which later turned into, with some exaggerations, a verbal conflict. The ponies were apparently unsatisfied with Sharpy not knowing the exact location where Huffy were hiding. But Applejack stopped the incoming complains by showing that she wasn’t afraid of some searching. She took the lead and shortly after Sharpy joined her. The other ponies followed and soon the mood was back to normal.

But as Fluttershy and Spike was following them, Spike noticed something. It looked like Sharpy was being suspicious of something. He looked behind himself like he knew someone was following him.

“What is Sharpy doing?” He asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy focused her eyes on Sharp. It looked indeed like he was looking for any followers. But what if he looked up? Fluttershy reacted quickly and flew upwards towards the clouds. The acceleration was so high that Spike almost fell off. He held Fluttershy tight so that he wouldn’t fall off. He took a quick look down at Sharpy to see if he saw them. It looked like they would make it to the closest could, but the moment before they escaped Sharpy looked up. Fluttershy sat down at on the cloud and looked back at Spike.

“Did he see us?” she panted. Fluttershy wasn’t used to fly at top speed and with Spike as extra weight made it a bit more exhausting. But she was still far from finished.

“He must have”, Spike said worried. He pointed at a nearby cloud. They had to get off this cloud without being seen from the ground. Fluttershy nodded and looked to the cloud Spike was pointing at. She reached out carefully to the next could. If she could grab it they would be able to move to that one without being detected. The cloud was just in reach, but Fluttershy had to leap to grab it. She didn’t want to use her wings in case Sharpy was closed than she thought. And it was good that she didn’t use her wings, because as soon as Fluttershy and Spike climbed up on the cloud Sharpy went flying straight through the cloud they were just hiding behind. Fluttershy embedded herself and Spike in the cloud to hide. They didn’t come out before they were absolutely sure that Sharpy had returned to his group. Spike was the first one to look up through the could. He was still laying on Fluttershy’s back. Unlike a pegasus, he couldn’t stand on clouds, but he didn’t really mind. He wasn’t even able to fly by himself yet. He tapped Fluttershy on her back to notify her that the coast was clear. When Fluttershy’s head popped up through the cloud she looked very nervous.

“How could he know we were there anyway?” Spike asked curiously.

“He must have heard my wing beats”, Fluttershy said without looking at Spike. “Can’t we just follow them from up here until they stops for the night?” Spike rolled his eyes to this, but accepted that as the best thing they could do right now. They really didn’t want to alert Sharpy even more. That would only increase his suspicions.

The night was upon them as the little group finally reached the Everfree Forest and decided to take a break and call it a day. Fluttershy was completely exhausted from flying with Spike on her back all day so they flew down and hid behind a shrubbery close to the camp. Fluttershy felt relieved when Spike jumped off her back and she decided to take this moment to stretch out her wings. Spike stretched as well, because he’d been lying in an uncomfortable position for hours. He handed Fluttershy’s sack to her and opened his own. He picked out a little light blue blanket and lied on the ground. He was really tired after a long day and decided to go to sleep immediately. He said good night to Fluttershy and fell asleep almost instantly. Fluttershy smiled to Spike and fixed his blanket a little so that he wouldn’t get cold. Then she opened her own sack and picked up a blanket for her own. It was green, her favorite color… just like Sharpy’s coat. She sighed. But as she thought of Sharpy she just had to see how he was doing one more time before going to sleep. Fluttershy carefully looked through the bushes in a position so that she could see the camp, but someone on the camp couldn’t see her. They had all just recently erected their tents, but Sharpy didn’t have any. Fluttershy looked how Sharpy politely denied sleeping in one of the other ponies’ tents, even though they insisted that it was ok. Instead he chose to sleep on the ground close to the fire. Fluttershy didn’t like the looks of this. Even though the fire would keep him warm, it would still be very cold for him during the night. But then something caught Fluttershy’s attention. And everypony else’s too. A shout was heard from Pinkies tent. I sounded like she said “F.P.A.D.G.O.F.R.O.M.M.D” but she wasn’t sure why or what it meant. But she saw how everypony rushed towards her tent. This gave Fluttershy a good opportunity she wouldn’t miss. She dashed back to Spike where she’d left her green blanked. Then she ran back to the bushed. She looked from side to side to make sure that nopony was around. Then she ran through the bushes to Sharpy’s sleeping spot. She placed her blanked on the ground.

“You won’t be cold tonight, Sharpy”, she whispered as she turned back through the bushes. But when she returned to Spike she realized something. Now she’d made sure that Sharpy wouldn’t get cold, but that meant there was nothing keeping her from not getting cold. She looked through Spike’s sack to see if he’d brought another blanket, but no, he hadn’t. She took a look at Spike.

I wonder if he would mind…?, Fluttershy thought. But then she shrugged. What are friends for? She carefully rolled under Spikes blanket, turning her back against his. This would at least keep her warm. Spike would understand.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12: The Everfree Forest Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 48 Minutes