At a cottage that stood at the edge of the border to the Everfree Forest, a pink maned yellow Pegasus named Fluttershy, was humming a pleasant tune to herself, merrily enjoying her daily morning routine which consisted of feeding all of the animals that lived in and around her house. She had just gotten to the rabbits when she noticed that one particular rabbit was not at his usual spot.
“Have any of you seen Angel Bunny”? She asked the other rabbits that she was feeding.
Many of them shook their heads or shrugged as they nonchalantly munched on their own carrots. The kind mare flew over to the small house where Angel Bunny slept, wanting to make sure she hadn’t overlooked anything. Upon looking inside, she saw that her little friend was not there. This began to seriously worry Fluttershy.
“Oh Angel, where could you be”??? She asked with tears creeping out from the corners of her eyes.
Meanwhile, the unicorn formally known as the human wizard Newt Scamander, traipsed across the macabre landscape of the Everfree Forest. With his new friend, the little white rabbit he had met earlier, perched on his back, Newt navigated through the treacherous forest, all the while listening to the directions the bunny gave him.
“Wait so, was it a left at the fork tree or a right”? Newt asked the rabbit.
Angel Bunny lightly smacked his forehead as he tried to explain the way out of the forest to Newt once more. Having been known to understand animals better than his fellow wizards back at Hogwarts, Newt nodded his head as he listened to the small rabbit.
“Alright, think I got it now, and by the way, there’s really no need for that kind of language”, Newt said.
Angel Bunny blew a raspberry at Newt in reply.
“Lovely”, Newt replied curtly.
The young wizard kept walking, with the little rabbit in tow, until he came to a small clearing where a little cottage stood before him. As he looked around, he saw that there were thousands upon thousands of animals, ranging from rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, and all kinds of birds. Newt was rather impressed at this cornucopia of animal life.
“So this is where you live, yeah”? He asked, turning to Angel.
The little rabbit nodded his head as he hopped towards the cottage.
“Well, very lively place, I’ll give you that”, Newt said, smiling as he looked around.
As Newt and Angel Bunny approached the front door of the cottage, the auburn maned unicorn reached out and rapped his hoof against the door. Upon pulling back, he looked down at his hoof.
“Hmm, feels a bit weird doing that with a hoof and not a fist”, he said to himself, “But I’m sure I’ll get used to it real soon”.
What Newt didn’t notice was that as the front door opened, a big stack of flyers was rapidly heading right towards him. That is, until….
“Eeep”!
“Ooof”!
THUD!
They collided. Both the unicorn wizard and the owner of the flyers found themselves on the ground, with some of the flyers floating down like fresh autumn leaves.
“Ohhh, bugger”, Newt groaned rubbing his head. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry”! shouted a voice.
Out of the corner of his eye, Newt saw a pink maned yellow Pegasus with a depiction of three butterflies on her flank. He was a bit surprised as she rushed over to him and looked him over.
“You’re not hurt, are you”?? She asked worriedly. “No, no, no, I’m quite alright, thanks”, Newt said with a chuckle.
As she looked over him, she noticed something peeking out of his lapel. Pickett, curious about the mare in question, slowly peeked out of his hiding place on Newt’s coat. Being a lover of animals, and fascinated by whatever new ones she encountered, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile.
“Oh my goodness”! She softly exclaimed, “Who’s this little guy”??? “Hmm? Oh! This is Pickett, he’s my Bowtruckle”, Newt said. “I’ve never seen, or even heard of, a Bowtruckle before”, the yellow mare said while in awe of the new creature, “He’s so CUTE”.
The little sentient plant giggled out of embarrassment, while Newt chuckled as the pink maned Pegasus fawned over his creature.
“Do you want some help with those flyers, Miss”? He asked, remembering the scattered pieces of paper that lay around them. “Oh! Umm, yes please, I mean, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you”, Fluttershy said nervously. “No trouble at all, I’d be happy to help”, Newt replied.
The yellow Pegasus smiled as she and Newt began to gather all the fallen flyers. After they had gathered them all up, both ponies stacked them up in a neat pile.
“Well, that was certainly the most productive thing I’ve done since arriving here”, Newt said, dusting his hoofs, “Must do that more often”. “Oh, are you new here”? The yellow mare asked. “……Yeah, you could say that”, Newt said nervously, “Oh! Where are my manners?? I never got your name”.
Still rather timid at heart, it was still hard for Fluttershy to introduce herself sometimes.
“Ummm, I’m Fluttershy”, She said softly. “Pardon”? Newt said, unable to her here. “My name is Fluttershy”, She repeated in a much lower tone as she slowly backed away. “Come again”? Newt asked, STILL unable to hear her. “…….I’m Fluttershy”, She squeaked, turning away.
With wide eyes, Newt scratched the back of his head. The situation had taken a turn for the surreal. Luckily, being able to hear the yellow Pegasus since he was so small, Pickett climbed Newt’s coat all the way up to his ear and whispered what he had heard.
“Oh! You’re name is Fluttershy”, Newt said in realization, “Rather unusual name but, I kind of like it”. “You can understand what he says when he talks to you”?? Fluttershy asked, motioning over at Pickett. “Oh it’s easy to understand, as long as you’re willing to listen”, Newt said, glancing over at his little green friend, “Now allow me to introduce myself. I am Newton Artemis Fido Scamander”.
The young wizard bowed slightly at Fluttershy, who in turned giggled at his formal greeting.
“But you can call me Newt”, He said, straightening back up. “Well, Newt, it was very nice to make your acquaintance but I’m terribly busy”, Fluttershy said nervously, “I have to get all these flyers up. My bunny is lost you see and, umm, I don’t know where to find him”. “Oh you mean that bunny right there”?? Newt asked, pointing ahead of her.
Fluttershy looked over to where Newt was pointing to and saw Angel Bunny sitting down on the ground, happily munching on a carrot. The yellow Pegasus quickly flew over and scooped him up in a big hug.
“Oh ANGEL!!!! I was so worried!!! I thought something terrible had happened to you”!!!! She exclaimed through tear stained eyes. “Yeah, he found me in the forest and brought me here”, Newt said happily, “I’d would’ve been bloody well lost out there”. “I’m SO glad you brought him back safely”!! Fluttershy said gratefully as she turned around and flew at Newt, enveloping him in a hug, “Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU”!!!
Fluttershy could feel her heart race as she hugged Newt. As she released him, she turned away, not wanting him to see her face which had turned a shade of bright pink.
“No trouble at all”, Newt replied earnestly, scratching the back of his head. “Ummm….I’d like to invite you in but”, Fluttershy said turning around, “I don’t have that much to offer. That is of course, unless you’d like some tea”? “The local equines of this world drink tea? Well, at least there’s one thing we have in common”, Newt thought to himself, “Alrighty, I’ll have some tea, shoot the breeze, and perhaps find out more about this world I’m in”. “Mr. Scamander? Mr. Scamander”??? Fluttershy said softly, trying to get the stallion’s attention.
Newt suddenly realized he had become lost in thought. He lightly shook himself free from his thoughts and turned his attention back to the mare in front of him.
“Yes, lovely that. Love tea”, Newt replied quickly, “Uhhh, what say you show me where I’ll be sitting”?
As the orange maned unicorn flashed her a smile, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel that something was particularly off about him. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being normal and 10 being Pinkie Pie, he was at about a 7. Regardless of that, however, she kindly showed him inside the cottage, and as Newt took off his blue coat, after waiting for Pickett to climb off it, and placed it on the rack conveniently located close to the doorway inside, he felt strangely at home, surrounded by all the animals that inhabited the inner dwellings of the cottage.