Fluttershy was running late. The turtles in the nearby lake had gone a whole week without being fed, and Fluttershy felt terrible about it. She had left instructions with her friend Derpy to take care of the daily feeding while she had been away at the royal wedding, but poor Derpy had forgotten to visit the small lake that bordered the Everfree Forest. Normally Fluttershy would make a trip out to the lake three times a week, and she was horrified that the creatures had gone so long without ponykind visiting them. They might even have gone feral, she thought. Shuddering, she hoisted a saddlebag full of tiny fish and greens onto her flank and turned towards the door. At that moment, somepony knocked on it, causing Fluttershy to squeak in surprise.

Getting control over herself and opening the door a crack, she said, “Hello?”

“Hi Fluttershy.” It was only Sweetie Belle. Her eyes looked a little red, as though she had been crying a few moments ago, but she had a smile on her face.

“Oh, good morning Sweetie Belle. What brings you out here today?”

“I just wanted to see if you needed my help with anything. Rarity—” she coughed “—Rarity said she didn’t need me for anything today, Applebloom is busy doing farm chores, and Scootaloo is visiting Cloudsdale with her parents.”

“Oh… I was just about to go to the lake to feed the—”

“Perfect!” Sweetie said, “I’ll come with you!”

Fluttershy mentally sighed, but smiled. “Cutie Mark Crusader turtle feeder? Alright then, let’s get going.”



It was getting close to noon as they approached the tiny lake. They had walked in complete silence, but Fluttershy could tell something was on Sweetie Belle’s mind. The filly was normally quite talkative, yet she hadn’t even tried to say anything since they had left the cottage. A few birds were singing in a nearby tree and Fluttershy couldn’t help but join in on their melody. She began quietly humming, and, slowly, Sweetie Belle joined her with a soft harmony. Attracted to the accompaniment, the birds flew closer and continued singing. As more and more birds joined in the chorus, Sweetie Belle’s hum grew into actual singing. There were no words to the song, just vowel sounds that melded with the fluid rhythm the birds were creating. Fluttershy fell silent as Sweetie Belle grew bolder. Instead of harmonizing with the birds, she began to control the song. She would sing a series of notes, and allow the birds to copy the tune, only to add an additional bar once they had done so.

The piece of music lasted a few minutes, and in that time the two ponies had ceased all progress towards the nearby lake. Fluttershy had momentarily forgotten the urgency of her chore and was entirely absorbed by the combination of Sweetie Belle’s voice and the way her face had lit up once she had started singing. She was beaming: in a world of her own and loving it. As the song wound to a close, the birds flew away again, back to their nests and homes. Fluttershy said, “You have a beautiful voice, Sweetie Belle.”

Sweetie Belle turned to face her; her face contorted into a frown for the briefest of moments. “Everypony says that.”

“That’s only because it’s true. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if singing played a part in your special talent.”

Sweetie Belle sighed. “I don’t know Fluttershy. I don’t even know if I want singing to be my special talent…” She started walking toward the lake again and mumbled, “I don’t think Rarity would like it if it were.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing…”

The two reached the shore of the lake, and Fluttershy called out to all the animals for feeding. A bale of turtles poked their heads out of the clear water and smiled up at the two ponies. Flutterhsy smiled back and took off her saddlebags. “Oh good, it doesn’t look like anything’s gone too terribly wrong.”

Sweetie Belle made a face. “What could have possibly gone—”

“No! Don’t say it!” Fluttershy shoved a hoof over Sweetie Belle’s mouth. “Every time somepony says that phrase, something is bound to go wrong.” She withdrew the hoof. “Well, that is… Better safe than sorry, Swwetie. Just try not to say it; you never know what horrible things might happen.”

“Horrible things like what, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy blanched, but as she started tossing the bits of food to the gathered turtles she answered. “Oh, well any number of things might have happened. A dragon could have come and enslaved the turtles. Or another hydra could have slunk down from the bog. Or maybe even an evil pony mastermind could have made a secret lair for his League of Evil right at the bottom of the lake!”

Sweetie Belle laughed. “You can’t really think any of those things have happened, can you?”

“Well, I don’t think any of them are likely, but they might have happened, and we just might not know about them yet.” She gave a half-smile. “Of course, the most likely thing that would have gone wrong would be that the turtles had gone hungry for a little longer than usual, but that certainly wouldn’t be a good thing.”

By this time Fluttershy had emptied the first bag of turtle food and had started walking toward the opposite bank to feed the second group of them. Sweetie Belle examined the various reptiles, trying to spot anything peculiar about them. “They don’t look at all underfed.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment. “Well no, turtles are naturally omnivorous and they have a remarkable ability to fend for themselves.”

“Omnivorous”—Sweetie Belle scrunched up her face, then paled—“Wait, do you mean you just fed them—”

“Meat? Well, dead fish in any case. In fact, a lot of the creatures I take care of have diets that don’t entirely consist of plants”—Fluttershy started feeding the next group of turtles—“Sometimes I feel a little sad when I have to feed snakes or other carnivores, but every creature needs to be shown kindness. And the fastest way to an animal’s heart is through its stomach.”

“Yeah, Fluttershy, because carnivores might eat you as much as whatever you’re feeding them.” She reached a hoof towards one of the turtles to demonstrate. The turtle snapped at her, then turned back to the floating morsels Fluttershy had tossed into the water. “See?”

Fluttershy emptied the remainder of the turtle food bag and turned to face Sweetie Belle directly. “Now, Sweetie Belle, one day you’ll learn that just because someone is a carnivore doesn’t make them evil, or dangerous. Why, if they were all bad, they wouldn’t let Griffons live in Cloudsdale. Even Spike is omnivorous, though he could live off gems alone if he had to, and as far as I know he mostly eats the same as we do.”

Sweetie Belle groaned. “But that’s not what I mean! What about the non-intelligent animals? What about hydras, and manticores, and ursae? I don’t think I’ve even heard of any that were nice or safe.”

Fluttershy beamed. This was a point she knew she could refute. The debate was interesting, and at the very least it was taking Sweetie Belle’s mind off of whatever had been bothering her all day. She lay down on the grass to continue the conversation more comfortably. “Actually, I do know of a manticore that was nice. I met him not too far from here, just inside the Everfree Forest…”

Fluttershy told the story of Nightmare Moon’s return. She brushed over most of the details up to the point where the manticore showed up; it wasn’t a story Sweetie Belle hadn’t heard before, if from Rarity’s perspective. “…Just after we had fallen down that cliff we reached a small ravine with only one exit. Right in the way was the manticore. Now, as everypony thinks that manticores are evil, Rarity ran up to the poor thing and kicked it in the face.”

Sweetie Belle mumbled in response to this latest, “Sounds like Rarity alright.”

“Oh. Well, he did roar at us before she kicked him, but that’s just because was in pain, not that anyone knew that at the time. Well, being kicked naturally made him mad at us, so he started to fight back. I tried to get everypony to wait for a moment, but nopony heard me. Applejack jumped in after Rarity, and then Rainbow Dash tried to fight him. After she got knocked away from it, the girls were all ready to charge at him when I jumped between them. I got everypony to pause for a moment so I could see what was making the manticore so angry. I asked him what was wrong and he showed me his paw.

“You see, manticores and other creatures may not be as… communicative as ponies, but they still have minds. And almost every creature can understand at least some part of what any other creature tries to say. And every living needs to be shown kindness. Anyway, I saw the thorn and knew I couldn’t just leave it in there. I pulled the thorn out, and he was so grateful that he let us go past, even though it had been us who attacked him first.”

Sweetie Belle interrupted the story at this point. “Wait a minute Fluttershy, just because he let you all go doesn’t make him ‘nice.’ It just means that he was grateful that you pulled out the thorn. If you met the manticore today, how do you know he wouldn’t just eat you?”

“You see, I could tell; there was something in his eyes that showed a quiet kindness.”

“’A quiet kindness?’” Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “What does that even mean?”

“Oh. Umm, I don’t know for sure, it just seemed like the right way to describe the feeling I had.” Fluttershy looked up. The sun had started to drop towards the horizon. “Oh no, we’ve taken too long out here. Rarity and I were going to go to the spa today. I hope I’m not too late. Come on Sweetie, let’s go.”

“I’m not going back! At least, not right now.” Sweetie Belle stood up. She looked suddenly bitter and sad. “Rarity doesn’t want me around anyway.”

Fluttershy rose to her hooves as well. “Now Sweetie Belle, what could possibly make you think that? Rarity loves you very much, your whole family does. I’m sure—”

“No! Rarity said to go away, so I’m going to stay away. She said she couldn’t have me singing while she was working, and—you know her—she’s always working on something, even when she’s not.”

Fluttershy winced. “But you can’t just stay out here, Sweetie Belle. We’re only just outside the Everfree Forest. I can’t leave you alone out here. It’s not safe.” She looked around, suddenly afraid for herself as well as Sweetie Belle.

“Well, I’d rather run into the forest right now than go home. At least I can sing out here without bothering anypony. In fact, the animals even seem to like it when I sing. Maybe I’ll just stay out here forever!” With that, Sweetie Belle ran into the treeline and out of sight.

Fluttershy was on the brink of following when she realized there was no way she would be able to catch the smaller, more nimble youth in the thick of the forest. Oh no, what am I going to do? she thought. Then, What am I going to tell Rarity?

---

Sweetie Belle was deep in the forest now. She knew it had been stupid to go running off like she had, but if Rarity—and anypony else—didn’t want her singing around them, she’d take her singing somewhere where it wouldn’t bother anyone. It wasn’t quite night yet, but the trees combination of the trees and the sinking sun made the space around her hard to navigate through. She had only run for a few minutes, when she had slowed to a walk to make sure she didn’t trip on the thickening undergrowth. She hadn’t crossed anything that looked like a trail yet, but she was looking for one now. Despite what she had said to Fluttershy, she really didn’t want to spend the night alone in the Everfree Forest if she could help it, but she was starting to get tired.

Right as the light was fading to the point where she couldn’t make out anything but the shape of objects on the ground anymore, she reached a clear patch of earth. She could tell that it wasn’t very wide, but as she turned to see how just how small it was, she could tell that it stretched in two directions: a trail! Picking a direction at random—she was thoroughly lost—she did her best to follow the winding path. She couldn’t see clearly in the failing light, but she could feel the difference between the packed earth under her hooves when she was on the trail and the softer soil and plants whenever she slipped off it. She decided to follow the trail in the hope that it would either lead her home, or to somewhere she could at least spend the night in relative safety.

The sun had long ago vanished, and to Sweetie Belle’s distress there was a new moon tonight, meaning she had nothing but the dimmest starlight and feeling to guide her way. After following the trail for about half an hour she heard a soft noise in the distance: she had found a river. As she approached its banks, she could hear how fast it was flowing—far too fast for her to even think about crossing in the dark. She fell to the earth. She didn’t know what else to do. There was no bridge, and even if she could have gotten across at some other part, there was next to no chance she would be able to find the trail again. Then, she heard the water heave: Something was moving, something big.

A massive shape rose from the water just in front of Sweetie Belle. She could tell that it stretched high above her, and shivered in fear. She was about to try to run away from it when she heard it speak. “Why hello there little pony, what are you doing out here in the forest this time of night?” That’s when it hit her just what, or who this was.

“I’m lost and I can’t even really see you, let alone my way back home. Your name’s Steven right?”

Steven Magnet laughed. “Well, it seems my reputation precedes me, and you have me at a disadvantage. Is there anything I could do to help you miss…?”

“Sweetie Belle. Is there a trail on the other side of the river right here?”

“Naturally. This particular part of the river is a natural ford where it’s safe for you land creatures to cross and you’re standing on one side of it right now”—he paused for a moment—“Do you need any help crossing little lady? As far as I know the trail over there leads to the nearby village.”

Sweetie’s expression brightened considerably. “Oh, would you? I’d be ever so grateful.” Thinking of her sister, she tried to bat her eyelashes at where she assumed the serpent’s head was.

“Certainly. Think nothing of it. Hold still and I’ll have you over in a moment”—he reached over to her—“Up we go, and there you are. Are you sure you want to go now though? The forest isn’t exactly safe at this time of night and you could spend the night here.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Thanks for helping me so much, but I think I can make it home before I get too tired if I go now.” She reached a hoof out to find Steven’s face and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning back toward the path.



She had wandered for what felt like another hour when she ran face-first into a wall. Stumbling backward she raised a hoof to her face to comfort her nose. The path must take a sharp turn in one direction or the other along the cliff face, so Sweetie Belle probed first in one then the other. In horror, she realized that she couldn’t tell by feel which direction to go. There was no way for her to guess which way she needed to go, and she was too exhausted for trial and error now. Curling up against the rock to help her feel more secure, she looked out into the blackness around her. The immediate area was clear of trees, but still the starlight wasn’t enough to be useful. Even though she was exhausted, she didn’t know if she would be able to sleep. She didn’t hear anything threatening: just the wind blowing through the trees and the music of crickets. Music! Maybe she could sing herself to sleep. She just had to relax a bit and music always helped her relax.

She began humming the melody of a lullaby when she heard something move across the dirt. She could feel the ground shake the tiniest bit at each step. Whatever it was, it was big. Too afraid to do anything else, she froze, going silent. She felt a paw the size of her head brush her side.

For a moment, nothing happened; then the paw nudged her. She stayed frozen, not daring to move or make a sound. The paw nudged her again, and then she heard a deep rumble. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was a particular note: the same she had stopped humming a moment ago. Praying for the best, Sweetie Belle quietly started humming the lullaby again. Whatever it was standing over her sighed in appreciation. Its huge form settled down next to her and she heard a new sound. It was purring. The big thing was purring.

Not knowing what else to do, Sweetie Belle kept humming. As she kept going—surprisingly—she realized she felt safe. Whatever it was snuggling around her didn’t feel dangerous. It was warm, and it was soft, whatever it was. Slowly, Sweetie Belle relaxed. She continued humming, making up her own music to fill the void the end of the lullaby would have made, and eventually drifted into a deep sleep.