//------------------------------// // Fluttershy's Cottage, 8:30 pm // Story: The Everfree Files // by kaminakat //------------------------------// “Um I’m sorry I’m not feeling well please go away sorry.”                 Lyra turned and gave Moondancer a concerned look.  The two agents stood at Fluttershy’s doorstep.  Lyra’s hoof was still raised after knocking on the door.  Neither agent expected such an immediate and dismissive reply.                 “Fluttershy, it’s Lyra Heartstrings with the EBI.  Pinkie sent for us to come and see you.”                 The sound of muffled hoofsteps could be heard through the door.  The clicks and snaps of several locks being undone came from inside until the door finally creaked open.  A yellow pegasus peeked around the side of the door at the agents.  Her soft blue eyes moved from Lyra to Moondancer and back again.                 “Um, hello girls,” she said.  “Sorry about that, come inside now please.”                 Moondancer followed behind Lyra as they entered the house.  As soon as they were inside, Fluttershy quickly closed the door and re-did a multitude of locks.                 The inside of the cottage was quiet and calm.  A green couch and chair sat on either side of a small coffee table, and all three rested atop a faded blue rug.  The rest of the room was mostly filled with animal beds and toys.  A white bunny looked at the agents from the stairs before retreating to the top floor.                 Fluttershy herself was in much worse shape.  Moondancer recognized her as the mare from the photo of the “cockatrice” that Lyra had shown her earlier.  She currently looked much paler than she did in the picture.  She was wearing a puffy white robe with a small, pink butterfly stitched onto the front.  Her eyes had bags under them.                 Fluttershy sat down on the chair and motioned for her company to take a seat on the couch.  Moondancer did so, but Lyra remained standing and eyed the pegasus.                 “So!  I hear you had quite a shock last night!”  Lyra stood in front of the seated Fluttershy as she addressed her.                 Fluttershy winced and nodded her head.  Lyra drew closer.                 “I heard it was some kind of monster, is that so?”                 “Yes!” Fluttershy replied with a squeak.  Her eyes grew wide.  Lyra scooted even closer, maintaining eye contact with the pegasus.  Moondancer looked on with a growing feeling of concern.                 “What kind of monster?”                 “A scary one!”  Fluttershy was now cowering back in her seat.                 “Oh!  Does your brain seem scrambled at all, would you say?” “MY BRAIN?!” Fluttershy had now started hyperventilating.  She was gripping the arms of her chair tightly with her front hooves and leaning back as much as possible.  Moondancer stood up.                 “Lyra, could I have a word with you outside?”                 Before Lyra could reply, she felt her hooves leave the floor.  A dim rose-colored glow surrounded her, and she felt herself being levitated toward the door.                 “Hey!  Put me down!”  She protested and flailed around as Moondancer undid the numerous locks on the door.                 Moondancer looked back to Fluttershy.                 “I’m so sorry, Miss Shy.  Please excuse us for just a moment.”  She gave a small smile before exiting the cottage.                 Lyra continued to complain as she was pulled outside.  Her head bumped into the top of the door frame before she was set back on the ground.  Fluttershy shut the door behind the agents and they could hear all of the locks being re-done.                 “What the heck, Dancer!”  Lyra gave her partner a dirty look and rubbed her forehead.                 “You were frightening her.”                 “I was just asking-“ Lyra began, but was silenced by an icy glare from Moondancer.  Her mouth scrunched up.  Moondancer sighed and adjusted her glasses.                 “You are being unprofessional.”                 Lyra looked at her partner for a moment.  She then looked down and shook her head.                 “You’re right.  Sorry Dancer.”                 “It’s alright.”                 Lyra turned around and eyed the tree line which started in Fluttershy’s front yard and headed into the forest behind the house.                 “How about you talk to Fluttershy, and I’ll take a look around out here?”                 “Sounds like a plan.”                 Both ponies nodded in agreement.  Lyra began to walk around the cottage while Moondancer turned and knocked on Fluttershy’s door once more.                 After the charade of unlocking and relocking the door again, Moondancer was back inside.  She sat alone on the couch, Fluttershy opposite her in her green chair.  The pegasus had been still breathing heavy when Moondancer returned, but after just sitting for a moment both ponies reached a level of calm.  Moondancer took a breath and looked over to her host.                 “I do apologize about my partner,” she said, “I’m afraid she was just a little too excited about this case.”                 “Oh, that’s okay.  I hope I didn’t get her into trouble.”  Fluttershy looked down at her hooves with a worried expression.  Moondancer just smiled and shook her head softly.                 “Oh, I don’t think she needs any help with that.”                 Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof as a tiny laugh escaped her.  Moondancer allowed herself to let out a laugh of her own to follow suit.  This is good, laughing can help calm her down.  We need to undo the progress lost from whatever that was Lyra was attempting.  Good grief.                 Fluttershy rose from her seat.  Her wings unfolded, poking out from small slits on either side of her robe.  She hopped daintily into the air and fluttered into a connected room which housed her kitchen.  The sound of cupboards opening creaked though the living room.                 “I’m going to put on some tea,” came Fluttershy’s voice from the kitchen, “would you like some, agent?”                 “Ah, yes please.  Thank you.”  Moondancer felt her mouth salivate, she hadn’t realized how thirsty she was.  She leaned over to do her best to address the pegasus in the other room.                 “Oh, it’s Moondancer by the way,” she continued.  “My apologies, my introduction got somewhat run over by my partner.”                 A sharp clank came from the kitchen as a tea kettle was placed on a stove.  A moment later, Fluttershy hovered back into the living room.  She landed on the ground in front of her chair.                 “I think I may have heard your name before.  Are you Twilight’s friend from Canterlot?”  Fluttershy looked at her guest with interest.                 “Yes, Twilight and I actually went to school together.  Although she kind of fell off the face of Equestria when she moved here.  A while ago we caught up and sort of became good friends again, and she stops by to see me when she can.  She actually suggested for me to take a job at the EBI.”                 “I’m glad to hear you two reconnected.  Twilight is a really wonderful friend.  She has helped me out a lot over the years, along with pretty much all the ponies in town.”                 A squealing crescendo emanated from the kitchen and Fluttershy flew back to her tea kettle.  Moondancer could hear her turn off the stove and begin pouring two cups.  Fluttershy hummed gently to herself.                 “I don’t know if you could tell, but I’m a rather shy pony,” she said from the kitchen.  “Twilight has helped me come out of my shell so much ever since she moved here.  Would you like sugar?”                 Fluttershy peeked her head around the wall after asking this.  Moondancer smiled and waved a hoof in the air to signal her dismissal.                 “No thank you, I’m somewhat of a plain pony.”                 Fluttershy nodded and ducked back into the kitchen.  She emerged a moment later with a small plate in her mouth.  She balanced two cups of tea on top of it, choosing to walk this time back to the living room.  She set the plate down gently on the table next to Moondancer.  She picked up one of the teacups and took a seat on the couch next to the agent.                 Moondancer levitated her cup up to her muzzle and took a small sip.  She thought for a moment before continuing their conversation.                 “You know before I got back in touch with Twilight, I was a total shut in.  I barely left the house.  Just to go to the library or to get groceries.”  She sighed and took another sip.                 “Oh, I was very similar,” replied Fluttershy.  “Just replace going to the library with going out to get animal feed.  I could barely talk to ponies at all.”                 Moondancer nodded solemnly.  She levitated her cup back to the plate and set it down.                 “You know, I saw an old picture of you earlier today.”                 “Oh?”  Fluttershy blew over her tea.                 “You were standing next to a cockatrice.  At least that’s what Lyra called the creature.”                 “Oh yes, he was causing some real trouble.  Turning ponies to stone and whatnot.”                 Moondancer shifted in her seat, still unnerved by the fact that this abomination actually exists.                 “How did everyone get back to normal?  Did a unicorn change them back from stone?”                 Fluttershy shook her head.                 “I told the cockatrice to change them back.  I had to be a bit stern with him, but I knew it was necessary.”                 “Wow. That sounds very brave of you!”                 Fluttershy blushed and looked down into her tea.  “I suppose I do have my moments.  Usually when animals are involved.”                 Moondancer smiled.  She levitated her cup back momentarily to finish off her tea.  In that case, let’s hear about a different creature.                 “Can I ask you to be brave for me, just for a moment?”                 Fluttershy sat up straight in her seat.  She paused for a moment, then nodded gently.                 “I really do need to know the details of what transpired last night,” Moondancer explained.  “Then Agent Strings and I will resolve this case as swiftly as possible.  I can assure you.”                 Fluttershy took a deep breath.                 “It was after I had put all of my animals to bed for the night.  I was just about to turn out the last light in the cottage when I heard a noise.  It started as a knocking on my door.  It made me jump at first, but I figured it was just someone from town who needed a quick favor.  As I approached the door, the knocking got faster and louder.  I started to think someone was having an emergency, so I ran and opened the door as fast as I could.  Then I saw it.  It was a huge blue dragon.”                 “A dragon?”                 “At first.  I screamed and jumped back, and I closed my eyes for just a moment.  When I looked back up, it wasn’t a dragon anymore.  Now it looked like a deer, but with strange looking eyes.  It kept changing into different monsters and animals, and all the while letting out this awful shriek!”                 Moondancer was sitting at the edge of her seat, her eyes wide.                 “The last thing that it turned into was me,” said Fluttershy, “but it wasn’t like looking into a mirror.  It was like, like…”                 Fluttershy grimaced and shivered.  Moondancer placed her hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder.                 “Hey, you’re okay.  I’m right here.  It wasn’t like looking into a mirror, what was it like?”                 “Thank you.  It was like seeing your real self, but with a look on your face like you were about to die.”  Fluttershy gulped.                 “The creature looked scared?” asked Moondancer.                 “It looked like a terrified face, but it was screaming and screaming…and it sounded like my own voice!”                 Fluttershy let out a sharp “eep!” and buried her head in the corner of the couch, under a pillow.  Moondancer patted her back gently as she thought over the testimony she had just heard.  She could feel Fluttershy shiver.                 “You believe me, don’t you?” came Fluttershy’s voice, muffled from the pillow.                 “I do, Miss Shy.”                 Fluttershy sat back up and took a deep breath.  “Is there anything else you need to know?”                 “I don’t think so.  Thank you for your help Fluttershy.”                 Fluttershy smiled and nodded, and Moondancer rose from her seat.                 “I think I should regroup with Lyra and compare our info,” Moondancer continued.  “We’ll figure this out very soon.  Thanks again for your cooperation, and for the tea.  I appreciate it.”                 “Of course, thank you for coming.”                 Moondancer turned toward the door.  She started undoing locks when she heard Fluttershy clear her throat from behind her.  She turned back around to look at Fluttershy.                 “Is something wrong?”                 “Oh, no not at all.  I was just wondering if next time you’re in Ponyville, maybe you could come over for tea again?  Um, if you want to that is.  You’re much quieter than most of my friends.  That’s a compliment.”                 This took Moondancer off guard.  She had been focusing on steering the conversation into getting Fluttershy’s testimony, and hadn’t noticed how nice it had been just to sit and chat over tea.  That…sounds pretty nice actually.                 “I’d like that, thanks Fluttershy.  I’m glad I got to meet you today.”  She undid the final lock on the door and gave her new friend a wave.  Fluttershy smiled and waved back.                 “Me too.  Good luck out there, stay safe!”                 Around the back of the cottage, Lyra was standing at the edge of the forest and telepathically scribbling in a notebook.  As Moondancer approached her partner, she could see that Lyra had placed reflective red flags as markers in the ground in various places around the backyard.  They marked fallen branches, torn up grass, some claw marks on a tree…it seemed like Lyra was noting any disturbances made to the area.  Lyra looked up and waved to her partner.                 “I see you’ve made some progress out here,” said Moondancer.                 Lyra shrugged.  “I’ve found a good amount of potential clues, but I haven’t been able to narrow them down at all.”  She glanced over her notes as she talked.  “How did it go with Fluttershy?”                 “Very good.  I was able to get her full recollection of last night.”                 Lyra looked up from her notes.                 “Well?”                 “It wasn’t her testimony that was all over the place.  It was the monster.  She described it as continually changing shape, switching form between different monsters and animals.”                 “So, a changeling?”                 “That was one of the first conclusions I came to.  However, I see a few problems with that theory.”                 “Alright, walk with me.”  Lyra started walking toward one of the markers close to the cottage.  She motioned for Dancer to follow.  Moondancer looked over the yard as she caught up.                 “The most glaring issue is the fact that most of the changelings have been reformed,” she explained, “so at the very least the probability of this being a changeling with malicious intent is very small.  However…”                 “What if it was a changeling just trying to play an innocent prank?”                 “Precisely.  The next thing I took issue with is simply the notion of a changeling in Ponyville.  I haven’t heard of them traveling anywhere outside of Canterlot, at least not yet.”                 Lyra shook her head.                 “I saw Thorax last week.  Plus, there was a changeling at a wedding I attended in town a while ago.  And that was even before the reformation.”                 “Hm, noted.  However, my last problem is the way that Fluttershy described the monster’s activity.  She said it was screaming, and that it looked and sounded like it was scared.  I’m certainly no expert, but that doesn’t sound like much of a prank to me.”                 “Good point.”  Lyra levitated her notebook along with the quill she had been taking notes with into her shoulder bag.  “Well, regardless of the monster’s motivation, I do believe I’ve found a trail.”                 “That’s what the markers are for, I presume?”                 “Mhmm.  At first these all looked like disturbances caused by different animals or creatures…”                 Lyra tugged Moondancer over to the first marker in the yard.                 “But if our assailant is a shapeshifter…”  Lyra squished her cheek against her partner’s and placed a hoof over one of her eyes.  Moondancer let out a nervous grumble as Lyra manhandled her head so she was looking one-eyed from the top of the marker out toward the forest.  Her annoyed sound ceased as she saw Lyra’s endgame; although the markers would vary slightly to one side or the other, they made a distinct path from the cottage to the forest.                 “Looks like we’ve got either an escape route or an approach route,” said Lyra, letting go of Moondancer, “and either of those give us more to work with.  Let’s take a look at the end of the path down by the forest.”                 Lyra trotted down the path, arching her back as if she were some ghoulish monster.  Moondancer followed closely behind, rubbing her cheek and feeling very weirded-out.                 The path ended at the edge of the forest, where a large patch of blue flowers covered the ground underneath the trees.  Moondancer looked over the flowers curiously.                 “The trail seems to end right at this flower patch, I wonder…” she began, reaching down to touch one of the flowers with her hoof.                 “Don’t touch that!”                 Moondancer turned around, her hoof an inch from the flower.                 Pinkie Pie was standing behind her and Lyra, hoof outstretched and panting.  Moondancer withdrew her hoof and backed up.  Both she and Lyra turned to address the pink pony.                 “Those are poison joke flowers!” said Pinkie.  She took a moment to catch her breath.                 “So these are what poison joke looks like,” said Lyra, examining the flower patch.  “I heard about your debacle with them around town, but I’ve never seen what the flowers actually look like.”                 “Poison joke?” said Moondancer.  “That’s what this plant is called?”                 “That’s right!” replied Pinkie.  “It’s a plant that plays tricks on you!”                 Moondancer raised an eyebrow.  “A cockatrice, a shapeshifting monster, and now trickster flowers?  This town is just full of kooky stuff.”  She shook her head, then looked over the patch of flowers.  “So how exactly does it play tricks on you?”                 “It changes your body in some way,” said Pinkie, “but it always has to do with your personality!”  Pinkie pointed to her mouth.  “Like for me, I love talking to all my friends more than anything.  So the poison joke swelled up my tongue!  I couldn’t speak right for a whole day!  A whole day without the charming voice of Pinkie Pie filling the streets of Ponyville…can you believe it?!?”                 Moondancer looked over at Lyra, who nodded in response to Pinkie’s tale.                 “A plant that makes you unable to talk for a whole day…” said Moondancer, scratching her chin.  “Hey Lyra, why don’t you jump in there and grab a sample.  You know, for the investigation.”                 Lyra rolled her eyes as Pinkie giggled to herself.                 “Well when you’re ready to take this seeeeeeeeriously,” said Lyra, bopping Moondancer on the shoulder, “I’m ready to head to our next destination.”                 “Where is that?” asked Moondancer.                 “The Ponyville Spa!” replied Lyra gleefully.                 “Of course, the Ponyvi-…wait, what?”                 “Oh!  Don’t forget your cookies!” said Pinkie, reaching into her mane and pulling out a box wrapped with a bow.  “Sorry it took so long to get these to you guys, I had a bunch of orders back at the bakery, plus I had to help stop a yak resistance uprising in Yakyakistan.  See you later, good luck guys!!”                 With this, Pinkie set the box of cookies on top of Moondancer’s head and jolted off back toward town.                 Moondancer blinked a few times.                 “…WHAT?”