The day was just like any other; sun shining, giving life to the happy awakening day, while the rooster's crow informed everypony of the incoming day. Meanwhile, the smell of fresh apples ripe for the picking, gave new life to Applejack as she prepared to get straight to work, just as the hardworking farm pony always did.
Applejack, awoken by the scent of apples and their need for plucking, took her stetson from the nightstand and got out of bed. She headed straight out of the house and into the fields, where she often spent much of her time bucking apples. As she walked, she couldn't help but take in a deep breath from the refreshing scent of apple fields.
With a small smile on her face, she headed for her first target: a vibrant tree with deliciously red apples just begging to be plucked.
Applejack lined herself up next to the tree, getting into the most optimal bucking position. She picked her legs up and reared them back a bit, preparing herself for the strike. And just as she was about to buck the poor tree, she was halted by ear-screeching wails. They were coming from the other side of the farm and it sounded like her pigs!
"What in tarnation!" Applejack muttered before heading off in the direction of the screams.
She raced over to the pigs, numerous thoughts running through Applejack's head as to what could be causing so much distraught to her animals. When she finally made it to the pigs and their pen, she noticed that all of them were huddled into a corner, all but one. Applejack's eyes trailed to the opposite end of the pen, where the last pig was. It was wailing and screaming as something had it encased within its jaws.
Applejack's eyes immediately darted towards the attacker. It looked like a mini timber-wolf. However, she didn't take in too many of the creature's details as she was more focused on what she needed to do to save her pig. The creature had its teeth stuck in the pig's side, causing the poor pink animal to shriek in a combination of pain and fear.
Applejack immediately raced to the rescue, charging the mini timber-wolf creature. As soon as the attacker noticed the suddenly approaching figure, it let go of the pig in its grasp. The poor pink pig with light traces of blood covering its side, immediately ran to the opposite end of the pen once it was free. It was obviously still absolutely frightened, breathing heavily and still noticeably in shock.
"Dang varmen!" Applejack hissed under her voice, as the timber-wolf creature retreated over some hills, headed for the Everfree Forest.
As she was now able to calmly think, an important question arose within her thoughts, "What was that thing?"
She'd thought it was a young timber-wolf at first glance, but when she had charged it, she could see that it wasn't actually made of wood at all, and instead had a fur coat, looking somewhat similar to Winona, except much larger. Applejack hadn't ever encountered such a beast and thought to ask Fluttershy about it when she got the chance.
And actually, now that she thought about it, she'd probably need to take her injured pig over to Fluttershy's anyways to heal the wounds inflicted by the strange creature.
Applejack and the pig were quickly approaching Fluttershy's cabin. Applejack had left the farm after telling Big Mac about the whole encounter with the beast and commanding him to take watch over the animals while she was gone, so she had no reason to fret over the possibility of the beast returning to the farm and attempting a second attack on the pigs.
Although the farm was relatively safe under the watchful eyes of Big Mac, the beast still hadn't left Applejack's mind. Applejack couldn't stop hypothesizing what it could've been. Whether it was a timber-wolf, some possessed dog, a monstrous rat, or an even more ridiculous possibility that she continued to develop, the question could not be put to bed. What was that creature?
Applejack hoped that Fluttershy would have the answer to this question that she so dearly needed to know.
Knock Knock
"Oh, uh, coming," the familiar timid voice said from within the cottage.
Applejack only had to wait a couple moments before she heard soft hoof steps and watched as the front door creaked open. Fluttershy peeked her head through the opening and, noticing Applejack, calmly flung the door open.
"Oh, hi Applejack! How are you on such a wonderful day?" she asked with a grin.
Applejack took in a big sigh before answering, "Well... it was all fine and dandy before some strange creature showed up at the farm and tried taking one of my pigs," she plainly stated with a bit of rage present in her voice.
"Oh no," Fluttershy said with fear in her voice.
"Yeah, i was just glad that I was able to get there in time to scare off the dang creature before it took a pig with it. Oh, which reminds me, I was wondering if you'd be able to take care of this little pig, Fluttershy. It was dancing with death this 'smornin and I just wanna make sure that the poor thing's alright," Applejack finished, pointing a hoof at the pig next to her.
Fluttershy had only now noticed the pig next to Applejack. "Oh certainly," she said, quickly wrapping the pig in her hooves as she flew inside. "Would you like to come in Applejack? Maybe you could tell me more about the creature that did this."
Applejack responded with a nod and headed into the cottage.
Fluttershy had placed the pig on a cushion and was now searching her cabinets for medical equipment to clean up the bite mark on the pig's side. When she had located the adhesives, Fluttershy returned to the animal and began patching it up. And as she did so, Applejack began describing the creature she had encountered at the farm.
"Well, at first glance, I thought the thing that did this was a young timber-wolf, but when I got a closer look, it looked a lot similar to Winona. The thing had a gray coat, brown eyes and two pairs of sharp teeth. I'd never seen anything like it."
Fluttershy, having patched up the pig and listened to Applejack's description of the creature, was deep in thought, trying to figure out what Applejack had seen.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I've ever even heard of this creature before today. I wish I could be more help, but I really don't know anything about it," Fluttershy responded.
Applejack let out a sigh, disappointed that not even Fluttershy knew what it was. "Well, in any case, I appreciate you fixing up my pig, Fluttershy. I just hope that darn thing doesn't come back to the farm or..."
Applejack was quickly cut off, as the sounds of shrieking animals from the backyard of the cottage made their way into the house. The sudden noise made Fluttershy and Applejack look at each other before racing outside.
When they breached the backdoor, Applejack and Fluttershy's eyes raced over the many terror-stricken animals that ran around in a frenzy. Then, Applejack noticed the familiar creature that was instilling the fear into the many animals.
"There," Applejack shouted to Fluttershy, gathering her attention towards the gray creature.
The beast was chasing around a small squirrel, doing its best to snatch up the small critter in its snapping jaws.
Both Applejack and Fluttershy knew that they needed to act fast or else the beast would catch up to the small squirrel.
Applejack trailed after the beast, intending to scare it off like she had done at the farm, while Fluttershy took to the air, intending to pick up the squirrel before the gray beast could reach it.
As Applejack neared the beast, she began to holler at it, garnering enough of the creature's attention for Fluttershy to rescue the squirrel. In a swift move, Fluttershy flew from the sky and picked up the panicked squirrel, before calmly setting it on a high enough tree branch that the creature couldn't reach.
Meanwhile, the beast now had its attention on Applejack, who was approaching it in an aggressive manner. Although, the gray creature was growling at Applejack, it was obvious that the beast was scared, as it backpedalled away from her.
Fluttershy decided to help Applejack with the beast by using her patented "Stare" on it. So, while the creature was distracted by Applejack, Fluttershy moved into the creature's line of sight, gathering its attention. And once she had it, she immediately used her patented "Stare" on it.
As soon as the creature's eyes met Fluttershy's, it's mood instantly changed. The once menacing growl that had protruded from the beast's muzzle had stopped, as it now had its jaws shut and was lowering its head, emitting a whimper as it did so. Additionally, the bit of fear that the creature had expressed a moment ago grew exponentially in magnitude. It was basically trembling!
Fluttershy, never stopping her onslaught of "Stare" on the creature, advanced towards it, making the thing backpedal even faster than before. Eventually, the beast had stumbled over its hind leg, causing its head, and gaze, to shift away from Fluttershy's stare. And as soon at it did, the creature took off running back into the Everfree Forest.