The sun was rising and it was a lovely morning. The birds all sang and the flowers bloomed over the meadow next to the big forest. Behind the cover of some bushes Fluttershy and Spike were still sleeping. They were still lying back to back under Spike’s blanket. But as the sunshine reached Spike’s eyes, he slowly opened them. He was still dazed as he tried to fully open his eyes. He felt something touching his back. Strange… Spike didn’t remember that he’d gone to sleep next to something or somepony. He recognized the feel. It was a pony’s fur. He knew that because when he was younger and wasn’t able to sleep, he’d sometimes been lying next to Twilight in her bed. His first thought was that he was still sleeping and this was a dream where he was with Rarity. But then he felt something weird. Feathers? Rarity didn’t have feathers on her back. Only pegasi did. He was still very dazed and wasn’t sure what was going on, but as he looked up to the sun he realized that he wasn’t asleep. Spikes eyes opened wide as he turned his head. Fluttershy was still asleep, but Spike paid no mind to that. He jumped up and the sudden movement caused Fluttershy to wake up. Fluttershy mumbled something inaudible, turned around and looked at Spike.

“Oh… Good morning, Spike”, she said tired.

“Why were you lying beside me?” Spike asked. He wasn’t angry. Just surprised and confused.

“Well you see… when you fell asleep, I decided to take a quick look on how Sharpy was doing…” Fluttershy began slowly. Her cheeks had started to redden. “He was sleeping outside… and it was so cold last night so I thought…”

“…you gave him your blanket?” Spike ended her sentence. Fluttershy nodded and smiled. Spike sighed. “We have to get you that blanket back. Mine is way too small for us both”. Fluttershy tried to argue with Spike to make him change his mind, but Spike just shook his head.

“Can’t he sleep inside one of the tents?” Spike asked. Fluttershy looked sad at Spike and then turned her eyes to where the camp was at.

“It doesn’t seem like he want to… I don’t know why”.

“We’ll just see what we can do at the next stop”, Spike said and shrugged. Then he picked up his things again and putted them in his little bag. Spike looked at Fluttershy, waiting for her to do the same. Fluttershy quickly got the hint: Spike wanted to get moving. Fluttershy, however, already got all her things in her back, so she simply picked it up with her teeth and attached it to her back. But as they came to the camp, they were apparently not ready to leave just yet. Only Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Sharpy were currently awake.

“Aww… now we have to wait for everypony to wake up”, Spike said irritated. Fluttershy looked at him for a second before looking back at Pinkie, Applejack and Sharpy. She didn’t mind waiting. It was dangerous in that forest and she’d prefer not going in there at all. But she had to follow Sharpy. She wouldn’t make it not knowing if he was all right.

Fluttershy looked at the three ponies that were currently awake. She wondered what they were talking about. But then she saw Pinkie pick up something golden. Pinkie had her back turned against them, so it was impossible to see what it was, but it appeared that she was holding it to her mouth. Applejack and, right after her, Sharpy covered their ears with their hooves. Spike noticed this and quickly did the same. Spike did not know what would happen but since Applejack and Sharpy covered their ears it would be for the best that he did it too. Fluttershy however did not, so she had to hear the most defining sound that she’d ever encountered. The sound for Pinkies trumped echoed through the forest. All the animals close by fled in panic and Fluttershy couldn’t resist letting out a loud scream. The second later she covered her mouth, trying to shut herself up. They were very close now and louder noises would surely be heard. She just hoped that all the sounds from the fleeing animals would drown the sound of her scream. She didn’t seem to be the only one who got surprised by the sound. Out of the tents all the sleeping ponies went out of their tents wondering what had happened. Well, except Rarity, because her tent completely collapsed.

When Fluttershy recovered from the surprise, she waited for them to go and help Rarity. She knew they would and when they did, she will sneak into the camp and steal that trumpet. The noise that it made all the animals terrified, so it simply just had to go. Fluttershy could still hear some kind of ringing sound in her ears, but she didn’t care too much. It would disappear sooner or later anyway.

It took some time, but soon they were all gone to help Rarity. Fluttershy took her time to sneak into the camp. She didn’t have to look a long time after the trumpet, because it was so very different from everything else. She looked at the trumpet before picking it up. It didn’t feel very good to steal from her friend, but if Pinkie used that trumped again more animals would get scared. Not to mention Fluttershy herself. She quickly picked it up with her mouth and started heading towards the bushes again, quietly so that nopony would notice her. But after a few steps, Fluttershy stopped. She just remembered that Spike wanted her to take back her blanket that she gave to Sharpy. She looked towards the place where Sharpy had his sleeping spot. As expected, her green blanked lied there on the ground. She carefully walked up to it. But she didn’t take it. She stood there for a few seconds. She could smell his scent. It made her warm inside and she remembered that one time when they had shared the same bed. They had just been sleeping next to one other, but she could still remember his presence. She sighed and walked away, leaving the blanket behind.

When she came back to Spike he was looking worried at Rarity’s collapsed tent. He just hoped that she would be ok. Sure, it was still just a tent, but the tent pegs could still hurt. Fluttershy left him alone for the moment. She had to hide this horrible instrument somewhere. She found some thorny bushes, so she simply pushed it into the bush as long as she could without hurting herself. When she returned to Spike, he looked a lot calmer than what he did when she walked passed him a couple of minutes ago.

“Is Rarity, all right?” she asked, knowing that was what Spike was worried about. Spike smiled and nodded.

“Yes, she is. But I don’t think Pinkie is too happy that somepony stole her trumpet”. Spike said. During the last sentence he gave Fluttershy a funny smile which Fluttershy replied with a guilty look on her face. Then they both chuckled.

“Come on, Fluttershy. I think they are about to leave any minute now”, Spike said and began to walk a bit into the forest to be prepared when the group they were following started moving. Fluttershy flew over Spike, picked him up with her hooves and flew with him to the treetops. Spike, who wasn’t ready for this got surprised and started to kick in the air with his feet before realizing Fluttershy were carrying him. When they got to the treetops Spike understood why Fluttershy had done this. Up here they could rest on the thick branches, stay hidden and at the same time have full lookout on what was going on down on the ground.

Spike and Fluttershy waited patiently for the group to get ready to leave. It took some time, but soon enough the group packed their things and went into the forest. Fluttershy and Spike followed them from the trees. Spike had a good laugh watching the group trying to get past certain obstacles. But as they got further and further into the forest the obstacles got only more and not only for the group, but for Fluttershy and Spike as well. There were more dead trees further into the forest which included loose branches which could cause Spike to fall off. Fluttershy were pretty careful though not land on any, so that wasn’t the biggest problem. The biggest was to find a suitable place among the trees where they could stay hidden. The dead trees made them too exposed so it wasn’t as safe to travel at the treetops anymore. They had to go down to the ground. Both Fluttershy and Spike felt unsecure when walking on the ground. It felt like they were making a lot more noise than when flying from tree to tree. Besides, they were also an easy target for potential predators and other beasts. But so far they hadn’t seen any dangerous animals. Perhaps they would be able to make it through the forest without any dangerous encounters. But they would soon forget that thought, because they heard a roar in the distance. Spike held his breath, quickly grabbed Fluttershy’s front leg and froze. Fluttershy herself tried hard not to scream of surprise. There was some kind of dangerous beast coming their way. She felt like she had responsibility for Spike, so she had to keep calm. Even if the beast would come for her. But to her relief the beast, which turned out to be a manticore, came from the other side of the road, which means the group of six ponies was standing between it and her. But her relief didn’t last very long when she realized what danger her friend were currently in. But he tried to calm herself and Spike down. They had faced a manticore before in this very forest. She just hoped that her friends remembered what she had told them: “Sometimes you just need to show a little kindness”. But it didn’t seem like they remembered, or just didn’t care. They obviously let Sharpy make up a plan for how they should defend themselves and Fluttershy feared that it would include a lot of pain for the poor manticore. And she was right. In just a few moments the manticore was done. It was apparently very hurt and had a hard time to move. Fluttershy shook her head, worried for how the poor animal felt. Sure it was a dangerous animal, but she couldn’t stand seeing it in so much pain. But now Fluttershy’s heart almost stopped beating. She saw how Sharpy slowly started walking towards the defenseless manticore. He was showing his sharp teeth and his eyes were pouring out anger. Was Sharpy about to kill the manticore? Fluttershy was now more scared than ever. Sharpy was a dragon. He had the ability to kill. And he would kill, given the chance. Fluttershy’s eyes wandered from Sharpy’s teeth, to his eyes and to the laying manticore. Sharpy had the intention to kill. Fluttershy didn’t want to look, but couldn’t turn away. She watched how Sharpy walked up to the manticore. Fluttershy tried to turn away once more, but couldn’t. Was she about to witness her first killing? But in the last second Sharpy stopped. Rarity had shouted his name. Then she said something that Fluttershy couldn’t hear, but she didn’t really care. She was more focused on Sharpy. Something had changed. His eyes didn’t have that strong sign of anger anymore. Only fear and sadness. But not for the manticore, that much was clear for Fluttershy. But then for what? Sharpy kicked the manticore unconscious, but the look in his eyes remained. It was something she didn’t understand. But when the little group left, she ran forth to check out the manticore, and Spike followed her.

“Wow, did you see that?” Spike said, clearly amazed by the fight. “They took down a manticore”. Fluttershy nodded but didn’t answer. She was busy checking out the manticore… and thinking of what she just saw. She’d assumed that Sharpy’s newly discovered self, his aggressive self, was because of him being a dragon. But she wasn’t so sure anymore. Why did the look in his eyes change to quickly? He’d changed from somepony ready to kill, to somepony scared, worried and insecure in the blink of an eye. But why? Had it something to do with the recent events about the death of his sister? She didn’t understand and realized she probably wasn’t going to just yet. But now she had a goal more than just follow them and make sure they were okay. She wanted to figure out who Sharpy really was and what was going on. If she could understand Sharpy better, perhaps her fears for him would disappear. Or it would have the opposite effect. But she had to take that risk. She knew Sharpy could be nice… and that was the one she fell in love with. But apparently he had another side. If it was just temporarily due to the resent events or if it was who he really was were yet to be found out. Fluttershy had now checked the entire manticore’s body for any life-threatening damages, but as far as she could see he would recover. But she couldn’t just leave it like this. Her friends would probably just follow the narrow passage that they had been walking on this entire time to the edge of the forest, so it wouldn’t hurt to stay a little while to make sure the manticore would be ok.

“Um, Spike? Could you please help me move this manticore?” Fluttershy asked Spike with her sweetest voice she could come up with. Spike looked at her with big eyes.

“Move it…?” he asked quickly, doubting that she was truly serious.

“Well, yes. I want to make sure that he will be okay”. At first Spike didn’t want to help her, complaining it would be too hard, but after Fluttershy had looked him in the eyes and said “please” one more time he couldn’t resist. Fluttershy sure knew how to convince others.

It was really hard, just like Spike would have said it would be. The manticore was a lot bigger than Fluttershy and Spike combined, not to mention how heave it was. But they developed a technique to push it, inch by inch until they’ve managed to push the manticore away from the road.

“Phew… that took some time…” Spike said. He was clearly tired and rested on the manticores back.

“… Yes it did…” Fluttershy panted. “The others are sure to have made it quite a bit”.

“So… What are you going to do now?” Spike asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy hesitated before answering.

“I’ll try to wake the manticore up”, she said after a few seconds. Spike reacted by standing up, still on the manticore’s back.

“You’re going to… WHAT!?” Spike shouted.

“Well if I’m going to make sure he’s ok he’s got to wake up”, Fluttershy answered calmly. She knew what she was doing. She needed the manticore to open up to her, show her if she needed her help. Her instincts of taking care of animals in need made sure she didn’t change her mind, whatever Spike said. Fluttershy began to nudge the manticore gently and asking him to wake up. Realizing this wasn’t going to work, she turned to Spike.

“Um. Could you please help me, Spike?”

“Sure, Fluttershy”, Spike said with a grin. “I think I can lend you a hand”. At this point Spike was a bit tired and grumpy, so he simply walked up to the manticore and slapped it across the face. The manticore immediately opened its eyes, staring down at Fluttershy and Spike. Slowly, the manticore turned from being confused to angry. Spike took a few steps backwards as the big manticore stood up. But Fluttershy didn’t care about the manticore’s current conniption. She just walked straight up to the manticore, nudging it gently on the paw with her muzzle.

“Um… Mister Manticore? I just wanted to know…” Fluttershy began but got interrupted by the manticore roaring. Fluttershy got scared and backed off, especially when the manticore stood up on its hind legs, preparing a strike. But it never came to that. The manticore simply pushed Fluttershy and Spike out of the way and ran away, roaring in anger. Fluttershy and Spike realized that the manticore would run up to their friends. And this time it wouldn’t be looking for food, but for revenge.

“No, no, no, no…” This wasn’t good. Fluttershy knew that. And she knew he had to do something, so she took air and flew after the raging manticore. Spike, however, got left behind.

“Fluttershy… Wait!” Spike shouted and followed her as fast as he could. It wasn’t enough to keep up with her and she quickly got out of sight for him. Fortunately the manticore was easy to track because of the roaring and devastation it left behind.

Fluttershy however tried her best to stop the manticore. She dragged its tail, careful not to get stung by its poisonous sting. She tried to push it, but it seemed like nothing happened. She bit herself in her lip. She had to get in front of it. It would be risky but if she didn’t the manticore would attack her friends once again. She flew as fast as she could and stopped a few meters in front of the manticore. This slowed it down a little, but didn’t stop it. The manticore roared loudly to make Fluttershy move out of the way, but she didn’t budge. The manticore didn’t care. He could easily ram her. But as the distance grew shorter, the manticore got a good look into Fluttershy’s eyes. And Fluttershy stared back. She demanded the manticore to stop. Not by words, but purely with the powerful force of her famous stare. The manticore got confused. It couldn’t resist the pure force from the yellow pegasus stare and felt like the best thing to do was to obey. The manticore stopped just before ramming Fluttershy out of the way. Fluttershy shone up when she saw that the manticore stopped and so she walked straight up to it.

“Hi, Mister Manticore”, Fluttershy said in her sweetest voice possible. “Please don’t attack my friends again. They just wanted to defend themselves”. The manticore looked at Flutterhsy for a few moments before replying with an unsatisfied grunt. It could easily have crushed Fluttershy on the spot, but something kept him from it. Fluttershy moved forward and rubbed her muzzle against the manticore’s paw again.

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re not hurt”, Fluttershy said smiling. The manticore calmed down a bit and actually shook its head. Fluttershy gave the manticore a hug to show her relief and the manticore answered by gently licking her mane. Afterwards the manticore wandered off. Fluttershy felt accomplished. That manticore was feeling fine, it would probably not attack anypony ever again and she’d just managed to stop it before it reaching her friends, which she could hear talking just behind a few bushes and trees. They were apparently tired of this forest and so was she. She’d just need to fly back and pick up Spike and then they could be on their way as well. It would be nice to finally get out of this forest. She’d just hoped that she would remember where they would be going next? She could ask Spike. He probably remembers.

Next Chapter: Chapter 14: Nothing Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 16 Minutes