It was night-time when Flutterbreeze finally arrived in Ponyville, and his wings were so sore he could barely move them anymore. He decided that both the mail and his mission, would have to wait until morning, so he gathered up a nice-looking cloud at the edge of town and went to sleep.
When he awoke, Flutterbreeze was startled at the sight of a blue mare with a rainbow mane hovering over him, looking puzzled. He asked her, “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Well its not every day a new pony comes to town, especially alone, in the middle of the night, wearing a uniform, and sleeping on one of my favorite clouds.”
“Oh I’m sorry, is this yours? I just needed some place to sleep for the night, that’s all.”
“Its not a problem at all, but who are you? And what do you have in the bag?”
He quickly said, “Mail! I’m the mailpony here to deliver the mail from Fillydelphia.” He forced a cheesy grin.
“Odd, I haven’t seen you around here before. And I see everything from up in the sky.”
“Well, I don’t always deliver mail to Ponyville, but when I do, I try to keep a low profile.”
This statement seemed to confuse the rainbow pegasus more that ever, and he realized his error. Nervously, he said, “Anyways, it was nice meeting you miss?”
“Rainbow Dash.”
“Rainbow Dash, eh? My name’s Flutterbreeze. Now if you’ll excuse me I have quite a few letters to deliver today.”
“Alright, nice meeting you too...” When he left she said under her breath, “weirdo” then laid down on the cloud for a nap.
When Flutterbreeze arrived at the Ponyville post office, he picked up an updated map and address book of the town, along with more mail, including the letter for himself. He began reading the letter silently to himself:
Agent Flutterbreeze, there are a few matters that need to be investigated and addressed in Ponyville.
‘Ha, addressed! I see what they did there.’
One of our operatives was investigating rumors of strange occurrences in the Everfree Forest yesterday when we lost all communication with them. Your first priority is to find her and provide aid if necessary. There have also been reports of a monster leaving the Froggy Bottom Bog, threatening the whole area. Last, but not least, you are to investigate the stories of a secret cult inside Ponyville that has been foal-napping young ponies for unknown reasons. As always, report your findings when you are done, and deliver the mail on time.
‘Sounds like a slow day for me.’ He thought sarcastically as he ate the letter. He looked around the post office. A few of the workers were staring at him. He recognised a couple of them from past trips to Ponyville. “What? Its a good source of fiber.” He said aloud. The others shook their heads and slowly returned to their work. ‘Why is everyone acting so suspicious today?’
He shrugged and walked out of the post office, saying aloud to himself, “This is going to be a cakewalk.”
Suddenly a very pink pony rushed up to him and said, excited, “Did somebody say cake? A cakewalk? Is that where we walk on cakes? Or maybe where cakes walk on us?”
With a concerned look on his face Flutterbreeze said, “No... that was just a figure of speech... there is no cake.”
“The cake is a lie? Awwwwwwwww. *gasp* WAIT A MINUTE!” With that, she dashed off at full speed, leaving Flutterbreeze clueless. ‘Well, this certainly is an interesting town.’ No time to spare, he flew off towards the Everfree Forest.
“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes. The wild and untamed forest, a mixture of primitive fright and natural beauty. I honestly have no clue what “strange occurrences” would mean for a place like this, but I guess I’ll find out.”
Flutterbreeze slowly made his way into the forest, marking landmarks as he went so he could find his way back. Then he realized he could just fly out if need be and stopped. A plethora of strange sights, sounds, and smells awaited every step he took. His curiosity was piqued, but he had a job to do, and it couldn’t wait a minute longer than necessary. That and the forest was a little bit creepy.
He still wondered what a “strange occurrence” was supposed to mean. ‘These vague assignments are always difficult. Its basically just a lack of Intel leaving 100% of the work to field operatives.’ He stopped dead in his tracks... no, not literally.
He quickly ducked behind a tree and peered around it. The outline of a small pony was visible through the brush, but it was unmoving. ‘It could be the agent I was looking for... or an enemy.’ He decided to fly up and take a closer look from above. He peered at the young filly for a while before thinking, ‘Mother of Celestia, she’s been turned to stone!’ He nervously looked around him and retreated to a nearby bush.
He reached into his mailbag and pulled out his communicator. He speedily typed a message to his commander:
Can I have a physical description of the missing operative?
He waited a few moments before the response came:
Young filly. Yellow coat. Red hair. No cutie mark. Wears large pink bow.
Although being a stone, coloration was not visible, it was obvious that this was the missing operative he was looking for. He took a picture of her and sent it with the response, “I found her.” back to the commander. He waited another minute before receiving the final message:
Sweet gravy and sassafras! What happened?!? I suggest you leave the area immediately and gain information from the locals townsponies about the cause and remedy of this.
Flutterbreeze sighed. ‘Of course, I’ll just walk into town and ask somepony what to do when you get turned into stone. Brilliant!’ He took one last look at the statuesque agent. Without another alternative, he decided to do as he was instructed and cautiously left the forest for town.
Although the bright sunlight was always a bit bothersome to him, Flutterbreeze welcomed it as he exited the gloomy woods. He was just getting ready to take off for town when he noticed a rabbit running straight at him, which then jumped on top of his hat, much to his surprise. And then he saw her, a yellow pegasus with pink mane and soft blue eyes. He thought she was beautiful... and she was running right at him.
She stopped near him, and they paused for a moment. He didn’t know what to say at first, but he finally smiled and said, “Uh, hello there. Is this bunny yours?” He picked the rabbit up off his head and handed it to her. It seemed reluctant.
“Oh, yes.” she said, “I was just going to give angel here his bath, but he always makes such a fuss. Thank you for finding him for me.”
He blushed. “It, it was nothing, really. He just sort of jumped up on my head.”
“Oh, well that’s odd. He’s usually so shy around strangers... oh, by the way, who are you?”
“I’m Flutterbreeze, a mailpony.”
Then she blushed, making him blush again. “My name is Fluttershy.”
They didn’t say anything for a few moments. They just stood smiling until Flutterbreeze remembered his mission.
“Oh, sorry I uhh, have to go now. But it was very lovely you- meeting you.”
“Oh, I suppose do have a lot of mail to deliver. See you later then.”
“Yes, I hope so. See you later.” He tipped his hat and flew off, but watched Fluttershy from the air long enough to see which way she was trotting home to. She stopped once to look up at him. He noticed a fuzzy feeling in his stomach.
As he flew over Ponyville, Flutterbreeze wondered where he could possibly go, or who he could ask to find out what turns people into stone... without seeming too suspicious. ‘Cake shop, dress shop, oh the library! A fountain of knowledge both real and fictitious, and its a tree. Fancy that. Meh, I guess its worth a shot.’
He landed at the door of the library and walked in. He spotted a baby dragon snoring on the couch, but then a lavender mare walked up and greeted him, “Hello, and welcome to the library. Can I help you find something in particular?”
“Actually, yes. Do you have anything about people being turned into stone?”
The mare looked a bit confused. “That’s... a bit of an unusual request, but yes. Are you looking for non-fiction or mythology?”
“Non-fiction please.”
The confused look changed to worry on her face. “Alright.” She walked over to a bookshelf. “Why on Equestria do need this for anyways?”
He became a bit anxious. “Oh, I’ve just always been curious about such things.”
“Well, I’ve actually been turned to stone once myself.”
This excited him. “Really? How did that happen?” He may have made himself seem a little too interested.
“It was a cockatrice, a rooster-headed creature that lives in the Everfree forest. If you look at it directly it can turn you to stone.”
“That’s it! I mean, um, that’s just the sort of thing I would like to read about.” He made a really fake-looking grin.
She used her magic to bring a book about the forest’s strange creatures down from a shelf, and opened it to the section on cockatrices. “You haven’t, say, run into anyone turned into stone have you?”
“Oh, no no no no no. I’m just genuinely curious is all.” Her glare showed that she didn’t buy his story for a minute. He started reading:
The cockatrice can turn its victims into stone at a glance... yadda yadda yadda... The effect of being turned into stone cannot be undone by killing the cockatrice. Although few accounts are verified of recoveries, it is believed that one may be revived if the cockatrice cries at the sight of the victim... blah blah blah... it is said that one who forces a tear from the cockatrice is forever immune from that particular beast’s effects, though not to other cockatrices’ gazes.
“Well that was very helpful.” Flutterbreeze looked at the unicorn still glaring at him. “Helpful in satisfying my curiosity. Thank you.” He handed the book back to her, and she put it away.
“Anyways, I’d better get going, I have important stuff to do.”
“I’m sure you do.” He felt ever more awkward the more she spoke. “But before you go, who are you? I’ve never seen you here in Ponyville before.”
“I’m Flutterbreeze, a mailpony.”
“And I’m Princess Celestia. Oh wait, that’s not right, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I hope you have a real nice day with that new-found knowledge of yours.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
He left quicky, glad to be away from that incredibly awkward situation, and her stare.
‘Alright, now. How do I make a bird-headed monster cry? Oh, now there’s an idea!’
Back at the Everfree forest, Flutterbreeze prepared for the task ahead by putting on a pair of blindfolds. ‘Alright, I got this. No cockatoo is gonna turn me into a lawn ornament.’ *bonk* ‘Ow, that was a very stealthy tree.’ *bonk* ‘Same with that one.’ *bonk* ‘Ok this isn’t going to work!’ He ripped the blindfold off and threw it on the ground, then rubbed his nose.
‘I need another plan.’ He rummaged through his mailbag. ‘Hmm, I wonder...’ He pulled out a mirror, and some duct tape, then attached the mirror to the brim of his hat, in front of his face. ‘Alright, its awkward, but it just might work... or at least keep me from running into trees.’
And so, he walked backwards into the Everfree forest. He thought about honey badgers, which made him feel better about the scenario.
He returned to the young operative, still stone, and then wandered the area aimlessly. Suddenly there came a noise that put a chill down his spine. It was something halfway between a rooster’s crow and and a roar.
‘Now I know I skipped the part explaining what it sounded like, but if I were to take a guess, I would say that was it.’
He flew up into the canopy, then backed towards the direction of the noise, looking skywards so he could see the ground.
Then he saw it... the dreaded cockatrice! He quietly reached into his mailbag and pulled out a sack, then slowly lowered himself towards it. It was pecking at the ground, not noticing the pegasus descending upon it, inch by inch, little by little. Flutterbreeze started to sweat a bit as his tail got inches from the ground. It was right behind him. He slowly lifted the sack up... opened it wide... NABBED IT! In one acrobatic flip he snatched the bird-thing up in the sack before it knew what happened.
He let out a huge sigh of relief. He could feel his heart pounding, trying to leap from his chest. He tied the end of the sack and removed the mirror from his hat. After catching his breath, he dragged the cockatrice back to the stone agent.
Flutterbreeze untied the end of the sack, holding onto what he believed to be a foot. The beast bit at his hoof through the fabric. He reached in with his other hoof and grabbed its rooster neck, and pulled it from the sack. It struggled, but he jumped on top of it and forced its gaze upon the victim. He then pulled a knife out of his mailbag, then carefully positioned it below the Cockatrice’s head, and sliced mercilessly at an onion he had placed there.
As tears flowed from its chicken eyes, it subdued, and the stone pony became flesh again. Flutterbreeze let the beast run free, then walked over to the young filly, apparently now dizzy.
“Wha... what happened? Who are you?”
“I’m agent Flutterbreeze, I was sent to find you after you went missing. And you are suffering from Whoa-I-was-just-turned-to-stone sickness. It should pass in a few hours.”
“I’m agent Applebloom. Wait, I was turned to stone?”
“Yes, by a cockatrice.”
“Gosh darnit! Not again. Hey what’s with the onions?”
“Oh, never-mind that. Have you found out about the “mysterious occurences” yet?”
“Yeah, it was just a false alarm. These here pony folk get so spooked by the forest.”
“All that for nothing. Well, almost nothing.”
“Anyways, why don’t y’all come on over to the farm so we can discuss the rest of the mission.”
Flutterbreeze’s stomach growled.
“An’ we can rustle some grub too!”
“I suppose that would be best. As long as we can get out of this strange place.”
“Absolutely! Oh, but first ah reckon ah’d better call the chief an’ let ‘em know what happened.”
“Well, here were are, Sweet Apple Acres! C’mon an’ let me introduce yah to mah family.”
Flutterbreeze and Applebloom walked past countless apple trees full of ripe, juicy apples, which did nothing to help his hunger. Eventually, them came across a orange mare with yellow mane, bucking apples off a tree.
“Well howdy there sis!” Applebloom yelled.
“Applebloom! Where have you been? You’ve been gone a whole day and night! And who’s this?”
“Weeeeeeeell, its a bit of a long story. Ah was just out wanderin’ in the Everfree forest ta see what everpony was so worried about when a cockatrice found me... again. But then this here gentlecolt came along and rescued me. We was just about to have us some grub”
“Applebloom, what are we gonna do with you? You just never learn do you?” She turned to Flutterbreeze. ‘Well thank you kindly for savin’ this here little sister of mine. She’s always getting intah trouble. I’m Applejack.”
“I’m Flutterbreeze, nice to meet you.”
“Howdy do, Flutterbreeze, but what were y’all in the forest anyways?”
“I’m a mailpony, so I was just delivering mail... to...”
“Zecora!” Applebloom interrupted. “We went over ta her place after he found me.”
Applejack thought a moment, “I reckon that makes sense. Anyways, Ah’ve got ta keep apple bucking but y’all help yourself ta whatever grub suits yer fancy.”
Applebloom and Flutterbreeze kept walking, and she said “Ah’m not a very good cook, but there’s always apples and applejuice.”
“That would be fine, anything to help fill the bottomless pit in my stomach.”
At the farmhouse, Flutterbreeze met Applebloom’s big brother, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith. They then went out the her clubhouse to eat and discuss the rest of the mission.