//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Secrets and Soup // Story: Superneightural: Flutterbat's Return // by wildfirewolf123 //------------------------------// Fluttershy yawned as she awoke. She was, for some reason, in one of the apple orchards at Sweet Apple Acres. The west one, to be precise. Ow. My head hurts, she thought, rubbing her head with her hoof. When she retracted her hoof it was stained with a dark crimson liquid. Blood? Am I. . . . bleeding? The yellow Pegasus walked over to a nearby puddle and ogled herself. Her head had quite a big bump on it, but was not bleeding. It was, however, covered in a sticky red substance. Fluttershy smelled her hoof that she had dabbed her forehead with. It smells like blood. She shook this off. She would have all the time that she needed to go to the Ponyville General Hospital later on in the day. She opened her wings and flew over the west orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, admiring the trees, their lovely autumn colours dancing in the early morning light. Once she arrived overhead of the red farmhouse, Fluttershy descended and landed delicately on a small door carpet that read If it doesn't have apples in it, we don't sell it! Fluttershy giggled at this, though she did not quite know why. She had just been feeling very giggly lately for no particular reason. "Alright Granny, I can do 'at for ya! Jus' let me hitch up the new cart!" The voice had a subtle female country twang to it. "Them new carts ain't good for nothin'," an older voice argued. "Well," the first voice responded, "things need to get done 'round here and I'm the only one 'at can do 'em, Granny!" This voice belonged to an orange farm pony that exited the farm house right then and accidentally bumped into Fluttershy. Both ponies stumbled then looked up at each other. Applejack bent down to pick up her old and tattered cowpony hat, tipping it to the greyish-gold Pegasus pony before whom she stood. "Sorry, sugar cube," Applejack chuckled."I was just on my way into town to deliver the monthly supply to the Cakes down a' Sugar Cube Corner. I didn't mean to knock ya down like that! I'm just in a bit of a hurry is all." The orange farm pony paused. "Sorry again for knockin' ya down, Flu'rshy," Applejack tipped her hat once more to Fluttershy before heading into the large red barn, where Fluttershy followed her. The orange pony stood in the doorway of the barn, her mouth gaping. Fluttershy came up behind her to see the inside of the barn in a complete wreckage. The dozens of barrels and bushels of apples, that were normally stacked neatly with apples piled to the brim within them, were on the floor of the barn, completely emptied. Fluttershy's mouth then gaped nearly as wide as Applejack's. "What happened to your barn?" Fluttershy whispered to her friend. "I. . . . Well, I don't know," Applejack replied sullenly, walking into the barn. She began to lift the barrels upright. "Apple Bloom did say she saw a fruit bat last night. 'Said it was a li'l on the larger side, but I just thought it was nothin'," the farmpony admitted to Fluttershy. "She said it was dusty yellow colour, which I think is quite unus'al for a fruit bat." Applejack glanced at her as of asking her opinion and the yellow Pegasus only shrugged in response. "She said that the bat looked like ya and I sent her to her room." *** By the time the two friends finished restocking the now empty barrels, the sun was already going down. When Fluttershy put the last barrel on top of the small barrel pyramid Applejack called up to her. "Would ya like t' join us f'r dinner, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked her. Fluttershy responded with a small grateful nod of her head. The Earth pony and the Pegasus trotted into the tall red farmhouse. "Granny! Imma get dinner started, okay?" There was no response. "Well, okay," Applejack chuckled. The elderly mare was probably just having a nap. Applejack started to get a pot from one of the green cupboards when she asked Fluttershy,"it happened again, didn't it?" Fluttershy's eyes widened as she realized that her friend had known all along that she had been the fruit bat the young filly had seen. "Yes," Fluttershy whispered quietly, ashamed. Her friend gazed at her sympathetically. "I'm that there are lots of supernatural ponies in town," the orange Earth pony reassured her. Applejack had gotten some leftover carrot soup from the refrigerator and had began hearing it on the stove. "But," Fluttershy asked,"how do you know?" Applejack blushed at this topic. "I, uh, I just assume that if you can be a vampony then surely other ponies can be other things, y' know what I mean?" Fluttershy just sighed. "Meet me on the edge of the Everfree Forest an hour after the moon rises, okay?" "Okay," Fluttershy replied.