A Fundamentally Flawed Filly
Blind Spot
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The orchards of Sweet Apple Acres stretched onward as far as the eye could gather. Row upon row of tall, healthy apple trees rustled in the chilled autumn breeze, sprawling out from the central farmhouse where Applejack was preparing an early dinner for her family. She wasn't the most organized of chefs, this fact attested by the stacks of filthy bowls and mixing utensils stacked anyplace there was free space, but that did nothing to hinder the end result: a delicious home made casserole for the Apple clan that could rival any Canterlot dish in the taste category. She had just finished preparing the dish for baking and readied to place it in the oven.
"Applejack, Applejack!" The youngest Apple called out through the fields as she galloped home from another school day, "You won' be able ta guess what miss Cheerilee's teachin' us now!" The energetic filly burst through the entryway, hardly slowing despite the best efforts of the front door. She skidded to a halt in the kitchen and restlessly awaited her sister's response. Applejack smiled around the pan she had clamped in her mouth. It always lit up her heart to see her little sister so excited, especially for anything school related. She pondered on the point her sister brought up for a moment while she loaded the oven with her casserole.
"Yer right, Applebloom, Ah can't rightly guess if ya won't tell me!" She teased, tousling her sibling's mane, skewing the red bow she perpetually wore. Applebloom didn't seem to notice, instead launching into her description of the school day.
"Well, miss Cheerilee started talkin' 'bout bio... bio-log... bio-olo-gee... uh, ya know, livin' things!" She happily recalled, following Applejack around the kitchen as she began to clean up after herself. "She told us all 'bout plants 'n mushrooms, 'n how ponies are kinda flawed."
Applejack paused midway through scrubbing a large mixing bowl. "She said what now?"
"She explained how plants like our apple trees work-"
"No, that other thing."
"Mushrooms?"
"No, that other, other thing, 'bout 'ponies bein' flawed' an' all?"
"Oh!" Applebloom's eyes lit up as any filly's would when they realized they had the opportunity to educate an older sibling. "Well, uh, she said everypony's flawed an' stuff 'cause of our eyes bein' in the wrong place, er somethin', an' that's why ponies like ta live together!"
Despite her years of experience deciphering and translating the cryptic language that was Applebloom, Applejack couldn't understand a word of her younger sister beyond Cheerilee's seemingly blatant insult. What reason did she have to say everypony is flawed? Is she really that high on the hog as Ponyville's most educated mare (second to Twilight) to make such a claim? Applejack's cheeks flushed crimson as she thought of such a mare teaching the younger generations. She caught herself and took a deep breath. This could be just a misunderstanding, after all.
"Applebloom, Ah'm gonna walk ya to school tomorra so me an' miss Cheerilee can have a little talk 'bout her lessons."
"Why? Don'tcha have to help Big Mac with the harvest?"
"He can handle it while Ah'm out with ya. Ah jus' don' think it's right o' Cheerilee to be teachin' ya that yer all flawed. Sure nopony's perfect, but that don't mean yer worse off. Shoot, lookit li'l ol' Derpy! That pegasus is more wall-eyed than a chameleon, an' she still goes through her life no different than you or me with a smile on her face." She took another breath to steady herself. "Now go an' git Big Mac from the fields, then wash up fer dinner."
The walk from the farm to the schoolhouse the next morning passed in silence between the two sisters. Applejack was mulling over just what she'd say to Cheerilee about Applebloom's report from the night before. In her excitement, the little filly could have possibly forgotten key notes on the lesson. She hoped that was the case, at least. If it wasn't, Applejack wasn't sure she'd be able to contain herself.
As the small schoolhouse came into view, Applebloom zoomed off to find her two closest friends, presumably to get an early start to the day's trouble making. Outside the main doors to the building stood Cheerilee, waving happily to the parents was they dropped off their foals for the day before heading off to work.
"'Scuse me, miss Cheerilee?" Applejack began, bringing the teacher's attention to herself.
"Oh, good morning, Applejack!" She greeted with a smile. "How are you?"
"Fine, Ah guess." She replied, a little less than believable. "Listen, last night mah li'l sister came home sayin' that you were spoutin' how everypony's flawed, somthin' 'bout their eyes. Now, Ah know yer a respectable mare, and would never insult a pony directly, but that just seems a little mean spirited. Was there something from yesterday maybe Applebloom didn't quite pick up on?"
Cheerilee almost looked hurt by the accusation, but shrugged it off soon after. "Oh, ha ha, yes, yesterday's lesson did include some more challenging topics for young foals to grasp, plus she did fall asleep in class on more than one occasion.
"I was simply discussing pony evolution and how we today have a large blind spot behind us." She motioned over her shoulders with a hoof for emphasis. "See, with most prey animals like rabbits, their eyes are on the sides of their head, allowing a greater field of vision, and a greater chance of spotting a predator. In fact, some rabbits can see completely around themselves without the need to turn their heads. They lack depth perception however, because the fields of vision from both eyes don't overlap much, just enough to the front of the head to focus on their food.
"But with ponies, our eyes are on the front of our heads, giving us binocular vision. We can judge distances fairly easily, which helped some of our earlier ancestors in territorial disputes and navigation, but did nothing to help them avoid predators. This is the flaw: With our eyes so far to the front, we're left with a gigantic blind spot behind us. With such a flaw, creatures which hunted early ponies had no trouble capturing them when they were on their own.
"There was one solution though: communal living. When a group of five early ponies or more gathered together in one place, they could cover more angles and prevent a predator's attack. This trait evolved into our social behaviors today, which is why you'd be hard pressed to find a pony living completely on their own today of their own volition. They just don't survive long alone." She applied yet another smile. "I didn't mean to insult anypony, does that clear things up?"
"Uh.." Applejack just sat there for a moment processing the information, or at least made a valiant effort. How this was to be understood by young fillies was beyond her, but as long as it was knowledge, not bigotry, that Cheerilee was preaching, she had no problem at all. "Yup, sure does! Jus' make sure all them li'l fillies understand that. Ya have a good day now, miss Cheerilee." She said before heading back for the farm, a cloud of thought still darkening her features.
That evening, all was quiet in the Apple homestead. Big Mac had a good start on the field for the day before Applejack returned from meeting with Cheerilee, and was out like a light by the time supper was finished. Applebloom had a few scrapes and bruises from the day's crusading, and joined Big Mac in slumber soon after she was patched up. Applejack, while just as tired as her siblings, just couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed, but every time she felt the embrace of sleep beginning to envelop her, thoughts of the morning's biology lesson rushed in to keep her awake. She knew it shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did, but something was just... off about the whole thing.
Cheerilee's last line, what did she mean by it? Are there still things that hunt ponies outside of the Everfree, or was that just a slip of the tongue? She must've meant they didn't last too long before seekin' friends. Applejack gave an exhausted yawn as her mind continued to rationalize the ordeal. Yep, that was it, jus' sayin' they didn't wanna be alone. I can't rightly imagine bein' without Rainbow, or Twiligh', or... Flutter...shy... She trailed off as sleep finally took a welcome hold of her, her mind at peace.
Her blissful slumber was all at once shattered by Winona leaping to her paws, barking madly while skittering along the wooden floors of the house towards the front door. Applejack glared at the clock as she dragged herself out of bed.
"Land sakes, Winona..." She mumbled while begrudgingly making her way downstairs to the crazed canine, who now anxiously awaited her master at the door, "It's one in the mornin', and Ah know Ah took ya out before Ah went to bed." As soon as the door was open wide enough for her to squeeze through, Winona bolted for the western fields, quickly disappearing into the chilled air. Her incessant barking quickly became the only marker of her location. How she hadn't awoken the rest of the Apple clan or half of Ponyville was beyond Applejack as she chased after the wayward hound.
Suddenly, Winona let loose a series of low, menacing growls. Whatever she had been looking for, she had found it, and was now keeping it in place for her master to determine its fate. Applejack quickened her pace, nearly ramming head-on into several trees in the dark orchard. When she finally got close enough to see just what Winona had corralled, she let out a startled gasp.
"Fluttershy?" Applejack asked over the malicious growls. "Winona, bad girl! Don't you growl at Fluttershy like that! Git on back to the house!" She scolded while swatting the dog away from the emotionally distraught pegasus. Winona reluctantly slunk away towards the farmhouse as her master bade her, keeping a wary eye on Fluttershy all the while. "What in the hay are you doin' out so late anywho, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy looked up at Applejack, her cheeks flushed and discolored from where fresh tears were streaming. "O-oh, Applejack, I shouldn't have trespassed, I know, but-but..." She hung her head as another fit of sobbing overtook her.
"It's alright, sugarcube," Applejack consoled, placing a forelimb around the mare's shoulders. "Ya know yer always welcome here, no matter how late it gets." Fluttershy looked up, earning a warm smile from Applejack. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth in reply before the farmer continued. "Now, jus' why are you out here all alone at such a late hour?"
The shy mare frowned and looked away before responding. "Well, I was giving my chickens their midnight meal, but one of them got away from me. I chased it all the way here, but then I lost track of it in all of these trees, and I realized I was all alone at night, and I was too scared to move, and then Winona showed up and began growling at me." She whimpered at the frightening memory.
"Ah well, don't get too worked up 'bout Winona. The ol' girl's got more bark in her than bite, anyhow. How's about ya stay at my place fer the rest of the night?"
"And leave nopony to care for the animals at the cottage? I can't do that..."
"Alrighty then, what if Ah walked with ya back to your place? Would ya be okay with that?" Fluttershy mumbled an affirmative, and the two set off in silence towards her cottage through the cold night. After a few minutes, Applejack tried starting a conversation, but every time she thought of a topic, the only one which surfaced was Cheerilee's biology lesson.
Aw, what the hay, she likes that critter stuff anyway. She might take to it. "Hey Fluttershy," The mare gave a twitch at the sudden mention of her name, "Ya won't believe what miss Cheerilee's teachin' them foals at the schoolhouse now."
"You mean about the blind spots?" She asked. "Oh, yes. I ran into her the other day and she told me all about them. It's really awful, especially with those... things around... " She shuddered.
"Huh? What 'things?'"
Fluttershy sunk into herself as she continued along the path, uncomfortable with the subject. "Well, most ponies think everything which hunts ponies stays in the Everfree Forest, b-but I've heard of these new creatures that don't mind going outside the forest at all." She explained, her eyes darting about nervously.
"W-what do they look like?"
"T-they have terrible, razor-sharp claws a griffin couldn't match for snatching and t-tearing apart ponies," She continued, now visibly shaking, "vicious fangs, and their fur is almost always matted with the b-blood of other animals." The pegasus froze on the wooded trail, fear forcing her to curl up into a self-protective ball.
"C-come on now Fluttershy, there can't rightly be somethin' like t-that 'round here...not so close to Ponyville..." Applejack said to the mare, more to steady her own nerves than anything.
"They know, Applejack, about t-the blind spot... they use it when they hunt ponies... and they don't hunt alone, either. They work in pairs: one to draw a pony out, all alone, with nopony else around, and... and..."
"'And' what?"
"The other strikes."
A sharp pain blazed throughout Applejack's body as she was viciously tackled to the ground from behind, slender talons gouging deeply into her sides. With her stomach pressed into the dirt, she couldn't see the dark form pinning her. She tried to yell, but with her attacker bearing their full weight upon her, breathing became difficult.
"Flutter-shy, go an' git- help!" She eked out while squirming to displace the beast, only managing to drive the talons deeper. Fluttershy looked up from her protective ball towards Applejack and the beast, but she only stared, seemingly frozen in place. "Didn't ya- hear me? Go- git- help!"
Applejack's blood chilled as Fluttershy let a toothy smile slowly crawl across her face, all signs of fear seemingly lost. The pegasus slowly stood and sauntered over with a hungry gleam in her eyes. "Oh, poor Applejack," she cooed in a manner a mother might gently correct her child, "I already have help. Isn't that right, Cheerilee?"
At once, the pressure on her back was released and Applejack was flipped over to stare into the slitted eyes of the beast which was Cheerilee. Her fur no longer carried its magenta hue, diluted to the dull grey of a cold killer. From where her hooves should have been sprouted the sharp talons still digging deeply into Applejack's sides. A wicked grin displayed her fangs, glistening with drool. Applejack tried to punch the beast off of her, to earn her some time to run off for help, but the beast responded with a punch of her own.
Dazed and with ears ringing from the hit, Applejack's eyes fell to Fluttershy. The pegasus began convulsing, her well-groomed coat rapidly growing ragged and unkempt as its color drained to the same steely grey of Cheerilee. As a set of talons presented themselves on her hooves, her feathers began dropping out as her wings shrunk into her body, leaving her with a bare back, and a new set of pointed teeth glinted in the moonlight. When she opened her eyes however, they were the same, soft, aquamarine eyes the mare always wore, but now carried a glint of feral hunger.
"Yer a- a-"
"'A what? Changeling?'" Cheerilee laughed, leaning in close to Applejack's bruised and bloodied muzzle. The stench of death wafted out from between her teeth as she spoke. "Hardly. We're much more deadly. Oh Fluttershy, care to take the first bite? She is -well was- your friend, after all. "
"Please, d-don' do this!" Applejack pleaded. "Lemmie go, Ah-Ah promise Ah won't tell no one!"
Cheerilee clicked her teeth in disapproval. "Double negative..." she teased.
"PLE-HE-HEASE!" She shouted as the beast which was once Fluttershy readied to strike. Tears were beginning to stain her bloodied coat. "Jus' lemmie- let me- live!" The strong cowpony broke down into hysterical sobs, unable to control herself any longer.
Fluttershy's expression of hungry malice softened into one of compassion. "There, there, don't cry," she cooed in her motherly tone, stroking Applejack's cheek as though she were but a frightened filly, "It'll all be over soon."
The last thing Applejack saw was Fluttershy lunging for her throat.
The Next Day...
"Eew, what is that?" Sweetie Belle asked, contemplating the strange object sitting on her teacher's desk.
"It looks like a rotten apple..." Scootaloo added, a look of disgust on her features.
"Miss Cheerilee said it was a model of a pony's heart..." A depressed Applebloom reported.
"Ugh, are you still moping about your sister running off to help your cousin last night?" Scootaloo asked. A slow nod was her only response. Before she could fire back how Rainbow Dash had been missing for the last three days, the schoolhouse door opened.
"Good morning, class!" Cheerilee greeted. "Today, we're starting a new lesson: Anatomy!"