There's A Little Problem

by Agaris

Reconstruction

Angel Bunny sat on the couch in Fluttershy's cottage, impatiently waiting for his caretaker and - although he wasn't about to admit it to anypony - friend to return. As much as he gave her a hard time, he still loved her for what she had done for him. He'd been one of the many orphaned animals in the Everfree, and Fluttershy had given him a home and a new family. Still, he could push the timid pegasus around and made full use of the fact. He knew when to back off though, and he knew when Fluttershy was deadly serious. Obviously, she was the latter right now. He could hear her calling off in the distance, something about clearing off the table RIGHT NOW, and that could only mean she'd found YET ANOTHER injured animal in the forest. Angel sighed and bounded over to the low dining table that doubled as a makeshift surgeon's bench. Eyeing the dishes and napkins that cluttered the wooden surface critically, he decided on a course of action. That being settled, he moved to one end, hopped up, and gave an almighty kick that somehow managed to send everything crashing to the ground on the other side.

Angel idly wondered what animal it was going to be this time. Hopefully nothing as dramatic as the time she brought in that manticore. Angel shuddered. He still had nightmares. And, 3...2...1...

It was a good thing that doors in Equestria as a general rule didn't have locks or bolts of any kind. This being such, Fluttershy was able to burst into her cottage, wings still pumping frantically, and race to the dining room where Angel was waiting for her. As she deposited her newest patient on the table, the pegasus was able to get a good look at it for the first time. When she first saw it, she thought it was some kind of hairless monkey. It had the same basic body structure as a primate, so it was a fairly understandable mistake. Now that she looked at it again though, she began noticing some key features. First of all, it appeared to be a male. Fluttershy blushed and moved on to the rest of its - his - body. His spine seemed to be straighter than that of a normal simian, and the proportions were off as well. Its - his, Fluttershy had to remind herself again - legs were too long, his arms were too short, and his chest was wider and less concave. Its feet - HIS feet - did not seem like they would be able to move with the same dexterity as a monkey's. The head was much larger proportionally, whereas the dull green eyes were much smaller, and no discernibly protruding muzzle existed. There were also very few places on the creature where hair grew, namely his head - where it was black and stubbly - a bit under his arms and a bit on his chest - where it was long and straight -, and -

Fluttershy coughed and forced herself to look back at the animals injuries. What she saw - truly saw, this time - almost made her emulate Angel, who had taken one look at the thing and gone to throw up out in the garden. Holes almost the size of a bit dotted the animal's frail torso and legs, rapidly filling with blood, and shallow, ragged, weeping gashes had been torn across his throat, from his left shoulder to the bottom of his rib cage, and across his legs above the knee. Splinters of wood stuck out of each bite wound; those seemed deeper than the claw marks, thank goodness - none of the bites had struck any vital place. If this animal's internal organs were situated in the same way as a normal simian's - as was most probably the case - and the slash injuries were any more severe, one of the wolf's claws would have gone... right through his heart. The Element of Kindness shuddered.

I have to try my best, Fluttershy thought. Trying to ignore the fast, heavy thumping of her heart, she walked over to a cabinet on the wall and retrieved a box. Unlatching it, she nosed around before pulling out a pair of tweezers, a bottle of antiseptic, and a needle and thread.

---

Greetings came from all around as Twilight Sparkle walked through town. Although she wasn't as popular as, say, Pinkie Pie, the mare was still well liked. Of course, that wasn't saying much considering the townsponys' friendly overall dispositions. Twilight and her friends had made plans a few days earlier to go in for a girls' day at the spa (Twilight still couldn't believe that Rarity had convinced Rainbow Dash to go along with it after the "Gabby Gums" incident) and Twilight always had to be places early - that's just the type of pony she was. "Morning, Carrot Top! Hello, Doctor!" Twilight waved to various ponies she knew around town. "How are you... Lyra?"

The mint-green unicorn was standing as still as a statue, ramrod straight, staring off intensely toward the Everfree Forest, a rictus grin plastered on her face.

"Um... Lyra? Are you okay?" Twilight waved a hoof in front of the other mare's face. Her eyes didn't even recognize the movement.

"Don't bother, she's been like that all morning." Twilight turned to see an off-white earth pony smiling sheepishly. "I don't know what's gotten into her - she won't say anything, and I don't think she's blinked in ten minutes."

"Uh, okay..." Twilight backed off slowly. "Well, have a good day!" she called as she walked off.

"Bye!" Bon Bon waited until the librarian was out of sight before she dropped the fake grin. "Honestly, Lyra, what has gotten into you?" she asked her frozen roommate.

Slowly, Lyra's head began to turn. She looked at Bon Bon with the same creepy expression. "It's here," she rasped.

Putting the odd business with Lyra behind her, Twilight continued her steady pace to the salon. Her mind began to wander, and she yawned as she shook her head to wake up. It wasn't like she hadn't pulled all-nighters before, so why was she so TIRED after this one? Must have been that spell, she decided. Suddenly, an unstoppable wall of energy slammed into Twilight from the side, driving her onto the ground in an alley between two buildings. Spitting a rock out of her mouth, Twilight coughed. "Good morning to you too, Pinkie."

The hyperactive mare was already talking. "TWILIGHT! Oh my gosh, I'm sooo glad I found you! My Pinkie Sense is acting up again! Twitchy left eye, itching belly, vibrating right hind hoof... straight tail? Straight tail! Now normally, a twitchy left eye, itching belly, and vibrating right hind hoof mean that Fluttershy got a new animal, but I'm not sure what the straight tail changes it all to, but I DO know that something is going to happen, I don't know what, but there's SOMETHING!" Pinkie inhaled deeply, but was interrupted via a hoof in the mouth before she could continue with her babbling.

"If we don't know what it's about, why don't we just forget about it for now and try to have fun with our spa day? Alright?" Twilight asked. Pinkie's head bobbed vigorously up and down. "Great." Twilight smiled and removed her hoof. "Now, let's find the others. Rarity's probably already there, and Fluttershy is most likely with her.... Have you seen Applejack?"

"Oh yeah, she was almost there when I came to look for you!" The pink mare replied enthusiastically.

"And Rainbow Dash?"

A voice came from the air. "Right here, Twi." The cyan pegasus swooped down and stopped on a dime in front of her friends. "Hey, just so we're clear, I'm only going because you want me to be there, okay? I'm not going for any other reason," she overenunciated.

"Alright Rainbow, whatever you say." Twilight attempted to stifle a grin.

One unimportant short walk later...

The doors to the spa swung open rather dramatically, lifting eyes from ponies everywhere from the front desk to the mud baths in back. When they saw that it was nopony particularly important, all of them went back to their business. "Hello, girls! Oh, we're going to have such fun today!" This exclamation came from the mares' fashionable friend Rarity. The alabaster unicorn trotted over to them (followed by a familiar orange earth pony), happy at first, then somewhat confused. "Well now, where's Fluttershy?" she inquired.

"We thought she was going to be with you," Twilight countered. "She's not?"

"No, I haven't seen her all morning. This IS strange."

"Well maybe... Rainbow, could you-"

"YeahI'monitI'llseeyougirlslaterhavefun," the clearly uncomfortable pegasus (keeping to her own name) dashed out the door and quickly rose into the sky, whooping with glee.

"I guess she wasn't kidding about not wanting to come after all," Twilight remarked after a pause.

"Oh you would not believe what I had to go through to even get her to come here at all!" Rarity gushed.

The girls chit-chatted for a few minutes when Rainbow Dash suddenly burst back through the door, gasping for breath.
"Rainbow, what's wrong?" Twilight asked in alarm.

"Fluttershy... bad... shouting... blood..." Dash panted.

"What?!?" cried various voices

"Ah'm sorry y'all, but spa day ain't as important as helpin' our friend out!" Applejack cried as she raced out the door, followed quickly by the others.

Rarity lingered a moment. "Aloe, Lotus, I'm so sorry to have to reschedule again, but..."

"Not a problem ma'am, come back anytime." The spa ponies smiled and waved as the unicorn charged out the door after her friends.

---

Fluttershy had done all she could to save the poor creature. She'd cleaned his wounds and done her best to sew him up, but his skin seemed exceedingly fragile. There had been a point where it looked like she was going to lose him though, and she may have raised her voice at Angel just a tiny bit, but she had apologized instantly, of course. All-in-all, it was a very harrowing experience. As she gently moved the poor thing to the couch, Angel bounded up and wiped the sweat from her brow. She thanked him and covered her patient up with a blanket. She looked at the animal, then decided that she couldn't just keep calling it "the animal". "Hmm..." she thought aloud. "Well, he looks like a hairless monkey, kind of, so... I'll just call him a hamon. That is, at least until he wakes up and can tell me what he's really called," she amended hastily.

Angel looked at her with a worried look on his face. Are you sure you're alright? You look really tired.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be fine. I just need to take a bit of a rest, that's all." Fluttershy smiled wearily. "I'll be..." she yawned. "I'll be in my room if you need me." The strain of a high-risk surgery combined with having Angel wake her up early to find that plant did a number on Fluttershy's mental capabilities. Nothing could have sounded better than a little bit of sleep right now - except maybe knowing that the hamon would be alright. But, she couldn't know for a while more, so sleep was the best course of action. Right as she was drifting into an almost coma-like state, she heard voices. Oh no! I forgot today was supposed to be spa day! Fluttershy called off as she fluttered groggily down the stairs. "It's okay, Angel, you can let them in."

---

When the group of friends finally made it to Fluttershy's cottage, they saw at least part of what Rainbow Dash had been so worked up about. In multiple places along the path, the dirt and rocks were splattered with blood and the grass was all blown back toward the modest cottage, where the door swung ajar. Naturally, Applejack and Rainbow had made it to the cottage several minutes before the others and were seemingly having a heated debate with Angel.

"Look, sugarcube," AJ reasoned, "Ah know yer worried about Fluttershy, but so'r we! Let us in, please." The bunny was obstinate. He crossed his paws and shook his head.

"This is pointless!" Dash seethed "We're going in whether you want us to or not!"

Angel stomped his paw on the threshold, making his intent clear: he was not moving. A quiet, breathy voice came from inside the darkened house. "It's okay, Angel, you can let them in."

"Fluttershy!" The girls screamed in relief. They swarmed into the house and engulfed their friend in a warm group hug.

"Oh dear heavens, Fluttershy! You're injured!" Rarity exclaimed.

"What?" Fluttershy was very confused. "No I'm not."

"Then why..." Rarity swallowed audibly. Her voice trembled. "Why do have blood on your muzzle and hooves?"

Every single pony in the room gasped except Fluttershy. "Then does that combination mean somepony is going to become a serial killer?" Pinkie wondered aloud.

"No, it's okay, it's fine!" Fluttershy reassured everypony. "I just had to do an emergency surgery and, well... I guess I forgot to wash up." She blushed and gave a sheepish smile. "I'll go... do that... now." She ran off, and the others could hear water running. When she came back, her yellow coat was as clean as ever.

"So what 'emergency surgery' did you have to do that made you sound so panicky when I came looking for you, huh?" Rainbow Dash asked belligerently, slightly miffed that they'd gotten all scared over nothing.

"Well," Fluttershy took a deep breath. "I think the only way to actually get you to understand is to show you." She gestured to the couch, where the others noticed for the first time something bundled up in a blanket. They trotted over to it.

"What... what is it?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure. I call him a hamon, because he looks like a hairless monkey, but I don't know what he's really called."

"Where did you find this... hamon... exactly?"

"I found him in the Everfree Forest, but -" She was cut off by almost all of her friends speaking up at once.

"The Everfree Forest?!?"

"Fluttershy, you of all ponies should know how dangerous that place is! How could you -"

"This thing might be a threat! You should -"

"Um..."

"For all we know, this could be another parasprite incident!"

"Haven't you learned anything at all?"

"Can't say Ah think it's the best ahdea to keep this critter in yer house."

"Excuse me..."

"We can take it back now, it has to be close to waking up doesn't it?"

"I haven't seen anything like this before; might not be safe."

"Just put it back in the forest."

"Would you all BE QUIET AND LET ME EXPLAIN!" Fluttershy's voice rang out amidst the clamor. She was breathing hard, her eyes dilated to... well, much smaller than normal. Everypony got the idea and shut up. Fluttershy closed her eyes. Slowly, her breathing calmed and she opened her eyes. Her friends relaxed as they saw the large, expressive eyes their friend belonged with.

"I'm sorry... Um... " She seemed on the verge of backing down when her gaze strayed back to the hamon and hardened. "When I found him," she began again, "He was being attacked by a timberwolf. You're saying I should just take him back to the forest? Let me show you why I can't do that." She peeled back the blanket covering the hamon's torso.

There was a stunned silence. "I think I'm going to be sick," Rainbow Dash muttered. Although Fluttershy had done her best, there were still several places where blood was soaking through the bandages, and the animal's skin was stretched tight and pink and ragged near the scratch marks. Fluttershy glared at the mares surrounding her, all of whom were recoiling away in various states of shock.

"Do you understand now?"

Comments

[Xaerouzle]

Good story. Would love some more.

[Fugly Duckling]

this is great! keep up the good work

i can't help but think i've read something similar to this...