//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: All of a Fluttershy // by Impossible Numbers //------------------------------// All of a Fluttershy ________________________________________ When Applejack discovers that a thief has been stealing her prized apples, she looks for help in capturing the culprit. Fluttershy is eager to step in, but she's been acting very oddly of late... ________________________________________ It was a gloriously sunny day on Sweet Apple Acres, which just goes to show what a pegasus can do when somepony gets her out of bed on time and makes sure she does her weather duties for a change. The sun shone sweetly on the swollen red apples, casting on them a sheen that would make even the finest rubies at the Carousel Boutique green with envy. Balanced on top of a shaky ladder, hind hooves locked around the topmost rungs, and front hooves held poised with the care and attention only a practised pony could pull off, Big Macintosh wiped the last apple on the tree and gave the polished surface a quick inspection. "Eeyup," he said to his reflection, flashing his eyebrows. "BIG MACINTOSH!" The ladder clattered to the ground. Big Macintosh landed heavily on top of it. The cloth slapped over his eyes, followed by the pail and its contents. "BIIIG MACINTOSH!" A gallop of hooves announced the arrival of a second pony, smaller than Big Macintosh but apparently in far more distress. He lifted up the pail and shook his mane, sending the cloth flying, as the second pony skidded to a halt next to him. "Yer – yer gotta come see this! It's horrible! Ah was apple-buckin' and a-collectin' in the south field, like Ah said Ah would. An' Ah was just headin' down the middle aisle to do a bit o' buckin' on the prize Golden Delicious tree, yer know, our pride an' joy? The one Apple Bloom worked so hard ter grow? Her fav'rite tree?" She began rearing up in distress. "The firs' one she ever watered, when she was jus' a li'l newborn filly?" Big Macintosh looked at her impassively. "Eeyup," he said. "Well, somethin' horrible's happened to it. It's against nature, Ah tell yer. Nopony should ever have to endure that…" "Maybe it'll help some if Ah came an' actually saw what's wrong," Big Macintosh said, coming up onto his hooves. Applejack nodded, and led him through the orchard. Finally, they arrived at the Golden Delicious tree Applejack had mentioned. There were no apples in its branches. "Ah ain't bucked it yet," Applejack said. "An' you know what that means?" Big Macintosh made a noise that's hard to describe if you're not a pony, but it largely indicated sudden outrage. "Somepony's been a-thievin'," he said, "in our orchard." "An' it gets worse. It ain't no pony what took them apples." When he gave her a sceptical eyebrow, she walked forwards and, as gently as she could, tapped the bark with the tip of her hoof. There was a heavy thump, and the entire tree collapsed into a pile of dead dust. They coughed and spluttered until the last motes had settled, and then gazed in horror at the ruins. "Don't tell Apple Bloom," said Applejack. ________________________________________ Things were heating up on the cloud city of Cloudsdale. A lone pair of wings zoomed out of the city and through the skies, leaving a white-hot contrail behind each wingtip. A while later, three smaller shapes shot after it. The middle one left a rainbow streak in its wake. The owner of the first pair of wings, which were larger and more bat-like, peered over its shoulder. It licked its lips and bared its pointed teeth. The three pegasi behind it strained to go faster. Their quarry returned its horned head to position and strained to outdo them – they were rapidly catching up to it. "ALRIGHT," shouted the middle one, while her rainbow-streaming mane flapped around her flattened ears, "PINCER!" The other two dived down, leaving her to shoot upwards. The wyvern watched them out of the corner of its eye, while it adjusted slightly so that it veered a smidgen to the left. Two streaks, one of beige, one of grey, shot upwards at the precise moment it folded in its wings. Both shot past either side of it, and as the third pony shot downwards, it gave a flap and dodged backwards out of reach. Rainbow Dash just missed the forked tail. She didn't miss the chuckle. It zoomed ahead. All three pegasi resumed their positions. "TWISTER!" They began circling around a central point, spacing themselves out into a corkscrew formation and accelerating as they did so. A while later, the wyvern decided to peek. A spiralling multicoloured whirlwind was closing in like a gigantic drill behind its tail. The wyvern humphed, then gagged and coughed and, with perfect precision, regurgitated an anvil at them before it did a 90 and shot straight down. "INCOMING!" The whirlwind shifted aside and they just missed the heavy metal, but continued forwards on their twister's own momentum. It was a while before they spotted the wyvern, diving down towards the Everfree Forest. Curving gracefully out of its dive, the wyvern zoomed through a long clearing between the trees. It laughed as it went between two rows of trees, even taking time to admire the scenery. "HAILSTORM!" Streaks of grey, beige and rainbow zipped from the trees right and left. Squawks met those that nearly took the now rapidly-dodging beast out of the air. It gave a brief burst of speed. "Ooh, he's good," Rainbow Dash said, aligning herself behind it as before. She vanished in a burst of colour. The other two went for a straight pursuit. ________________________________________ On the edge of the forest, surrounded by animal pens and homely trees and custom-made little houses, a little thatched cottage stood quiet and alone. The door opened gently and a small yellow pony peeked out to greet the warm sun. She glanced around with an expectant smile, half of her face obscured by a long pink mane that seemed to curve apologetically in case it got too close to the ground. "Oh, Angel Bunny," she sighed, as a small white rabbit hopped out of the cottage, carrying one of her books and a pair of sunglasses. "It looks like it's just the two of us again today. No one's come to visit me for so long." Fluttershy disappeared back inside and came out with a small watering can held up in her mouth, but as she was trotting over to the flowerbeds, she heard a growing sound coming from the forest, and stopped. A wyvern soared overhead, its turbulence snatching at her hair as it passed. A few seconds later, two streaks of colour zoomed after it. She stared after them in alarm, taking in the scene. ________________________________________ The last trees finally gave way to open field, and out from between the trunks zoomed first the wyvern and then the other two ponies. Up ahead loomed the town of Ponyville. The wyvern made a beeline for it, but as it did so, it ever so carefully lowered its tail tip towards the ground feet below. One of the ponies streaming behind did a double-take and shot upwards. The other continued cheerfully on until a spray of churned mud started splattering her in the face. She managed several feet of this punishment before a regurgitated pie from the wyvern sent her crashing into an explosion of bog water. She was left sitting forlornly and somewhat boggle-eyed amid the wreck of the swamp. She licked the brown stuff off her nose, smacked her lips thoughtfully, and beamed. Snickering, the wyvern cruised smugly on, swiping over the bridge and its little brook before a splashing sound made it look down, and a ball of furious wings cannoned into its chest. Both pegasus and wyvern tumbled in mid-air before the rainbow streak shot out of the ball and the wyvern smashed and skidded along the main road, headfirst into the Ponyville square fountain. "But not good enough," Rainbow Dash finished, landing with aplomb alongside it. The triumphant conclusion was ruined by its tail splashing water into her face. The wyvern lost no time in scrambling to both feet and fleeing. Rainbow Dash spat. "Oh, so that's the way you want to play, huh? Well two can play that game, but only one of us can win and it won't be you!" When the beige pegasus zoomed past her, she galloped after it. Over walls, through pony windows (causing one or two screams) and out the other side, over rooftops and down chimneys, bursting out of front doors just as their owners were about to come in, the wyvern hurried with its curious half-hop, half-gallop, wings tucked in as it zigzagged between crowds of alarmed and astonished ponies, pursued closely by the two pegasi until with a squeal it leapt over a high brick wall and crouched down the other side to duck a barrage of bricks. It looked back. There was a pony-shaped hole in the wall, occupied by one very stunned beige pony. The wyvern snorted at it with contempt, and ran on. It had just turned the corner of the alleyway when four hooves slammed into the ground right in front of it and it stopped dead. "Finally," Rainbow Dash said. "I've got you. I tried being reasonable with you, but you force me to take extreme measures." She reached sideways and pulled in something pink. "Sick 'em, boy!" The wyvern blinked. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie," said the pink pony. "I'm an attack dog! See? Grrrr! RRRah! RRRRAAHH RRRRAHH!" The pink pony stared at the wyvern for a very long time. It rolled its green eyes. Then it regurgitated a balloon at her. "COOOOL!" she shrieked. "I love balloons! WHEEE!" She leapt up and grabbed the rising balloon by the string. They watched her rise above the rooftops with astonishment. Then, the wyvern smirked at Rainbow Dash and blew a raspberry before fleeing. "Shoot! Oh no you don't!" Hooves pounded after it. There was a pop overhead, then a while later a "wheee" and a thump somewhere behind her. Rainbow Dash was closing in. Nothing could stop her, nothing could – "I-i-i-inco-o-o-o-ommmmmi-i-i-i-i-i-ing!" shouted Pinkie Pie, her tail twitching. Dash looked up. It is pretty difficult to make being set upon by a falling bucket-load of regurgitated custard look awesome, but Dash tried, for many days after the retelling, to do so, initially by not mentioning it and later by rewriting the ending so that the contents were at least a little less embarrassing. The wyvern wiped its mouth, looking back, and chuckled, then looked forwards and put on an extra spurt of speed. The end of the alleyway was approaching. A pegasus pony appeared, standing in its way. Two eyes pinned the wyvern with a highly concentrated Stare. By the time Rainbow Dash had pulled her head out of the bucket, gasping and wincing, there was a thump of a body falling onto the floor. Occasionally, a wing twitched. Fluttershy trotted over to it and reared onto her hind legs, hooves on hips, one eye raised, and tapping her rear hoof impatiently. The wyvern gave her the worried grin of a monster trying to pretend that this had all been a ghastly mistake, and of course nothing suspicious was afoot, or ahoof, whatsoever. There was some retching. A birthday cake landed on the street before her, slightly covered in drool. It said: "Happ Birthda Ditz Doo." Yet the questioning eyebrow refused to move. A little more retching produced a small pony, his conjuror's hat now crumpled and a goofy grin playing on his buck-toothed face, and a pack of cards next to him. The pegasus showed more white in the now far-too-painfully wide questioning eye. Sweat was starting to condense on the beast's scaly flanks. Eventually it regurgitated a buffet table, heavily laden with baked goods, a pile of streamers, several party hats, a donkey's tail with a pin in it, several gift-wrapped presents, a trampoline, a dartboard, several banners, and a pogo stick. Fluttershy shook her head disappointedly. At least the wyvern had the grace to look dejected, but to its surprise the pegasus held out something papery in its hoof. The wyvern took it and opened it. It was a birthday card. Its dejected look blossomed and little hearts popped over its head. It gave Fluttershy one of the scaliest hugs she must ever have received and licked her cheek, to which she simply giggled and smiled approvingly. It cheerfully picked up all the items in its wings, staggered under their weight, and began the long trek back to Cloudsdale, like it had been meaning to do from the start, honestly it had. Pinkie Pie hopped after it, goggling at the party goods. Fluttershy's beaming smile at the philanthropy of all monsters everywhere turned to a look of concern when she saw Dash groaning and clutching her head in her hooves. ________________________________________ She was no longer groaning and clutching her head when they found her a bed in the Ponyville town hospital an hour later, but it was hard to say that her arm-crossed sulkiness was much better as a replacement. Fluttershy and the white pony nurse let the screen fall back. "She's going to be alright, isn't she?" said Fluttershy. "Not for several days yet. That was a nasty knock on the head she took, going at such speeds. I'm afraid it's rest and relaxation for her until she gets better." They slipped through the screen around her bed. "I'll die in here!" Rainbow Dash moaned, cradling her bandaged head in her hooves. "Death by boredom, and a total lack of non-boring things to do." "Oh, that's not true," said Fluttershy kindly. "There's Old Chess King in the next bed along from you. He's interesting to talk to." There was a beeping noise from the next bed along, followed by a flatline. The nurse gasped, and threw back the screen. They all looked across at the grey pony. "I said no animals in here!" said the nurse. The bedside bat closed its mouth, stopping the flatline noise. It looked sheepish, and flew away down the corridor. As it passed them by, Rainbow Dash waved sadly after it. The nurse folded her arms. "What?" said Dash. "Without him, the awesome content in this room goes from ten point six to one point five three. On a five point scale." "You can't make that move," Old Chess King said into the pillow. "Pawnies only go one square at a time. One square at a time." He snored. "I've got to get out of this madhouse," Rainbow Dash said. "These wings were meant for flying!" "Is there anything I can do?" Fluttershy put her hooves together on the side of Dash's bed. "Perhaps I could help cover your job for you while you're gone?" "Pff. You? No offence intended, but I need someone who can float like a butterfly, sting like a bee to do my job. You just float." "Aw, please, Rainbow Dash? It's been such a long time since I've helped another pony, and I really like helping." "I'm sorry, but face it, Fluttershy: for my job, you couldn't do half the stuff that makes my thing interesting. Like Pinkie Pie could. Why do you think we get asked to do the most work? Besides, you're not a patch on the Dash catch. You can't even look at a cloud without fainting." "Oh, please, Dash. Can't I do anything for you?" Dash pondered for a moment. "Yeah, could you fluff up my pillow? The nurses don't have the gentle hooves for the job." The nurse scowled at her, but Fluttershy's face fell. Morosely, she fluffed up Dash's pillow. "Ah, yeah, that's the ticket," said Rainbow Dash. She sank deeper into the bed. Beside her, Fluttershy looked like a kicked dog. Rainbow Dash noticed, and growled an annoyed growl. "Oh, alright. If anyone calls after me, just take a message." "And you want me to help them if they ask for help?" "No, just take a message. Write it down somewhere. And maybe send it to me, so I know what I'm doing when I come out. Oh, and perhaps tell them I'm not available. They'll understand." Fluttershy's ears drooped. ________________________________________ Big Macintosh stared with drooping ears over the remains of the young tree, then turned his back on his sister to overlook the rest of Sweet Apple Acres. "Apple thieves will chase a thing till they think they've chased it enough. Then they quit. Same way when they run. But it seems like they never learn there's such a thing as a pony that'll just keep comin' on. So we'll find 'em in the end, Ah promise you. We'll find 'em. Just as sure as a turnin' of the earth." "Whoa, Big Macintosh! Settle down there, buckaroo!" Applejack poked him in the ribs, and he looked around. "This is clearly one crafty critter if he can git past us. An' y'all know what Ah say?" "Eeyup. Set a thief ter catch a thief." "Whut, are you crazy? We don't want two thieves runnin' aroun' here! Naw, I mean, maybe we could ask someone fer help in catchin' this here varmint. We could call in one o' them pet control ponies. An animal-catcher." "If you can find one. Ah never heard of no pony around here whose job is to catch animals." "Aw, Big Macintosh, you have ter think laterally. Don't you worry. Ah know the perfect pony fer the job. She's fearless, she's as stubborn as a mule with a cartload of empires, an' she lives right close ter the farm. Ah guarantee you'll be im-per-ressed." ________________________________________ "I just have to be more interesting. Dash said she gets all the favours all the time. So I just have to be more interesting, like her. And like Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy trotted up to the front door of the Sweet Apple Acres household. She pawed the ground nervously. She reached for the doorbell, paused, muttered some hasty self-encouragement to herself, then walked forwards and pressed the doorbell with her hoof. There was a loud noise. When Big Macintosh answered the door, he found her cowering under the welcome mat. He looked down on her in complete confusion, and then looked over his shoulder back into the house. "AJ, I think she's arrived." Applejack peeked over his shoulder. "Aw hayseed, Ah din't mean Fluttershy. Ah was talkin' about Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy looked up in surprise. "Oh, didn't she tell you? I should have told you. I am so, so sorry, Applejack. Rainbow Dash is in Ponyville hospital. So she asked me to take any messages for her while she's gone." "Well, then, where's Granny Smith? We sent her out to find 'er." "Hold yer horses, Ah've jus' got back!" shouted a wizened old pony from behind Fluttershy. She'd just come through the front gate and, with her creaking joints, was now ambling like a broken musical box up to the front door and past all three of them. "And Ah tell yer, Ah'm pooped. If anypony needs me, I'll be upstairs, hittin' the hay!" They watched her go. The wings on Fluttershy's back fluttered nervously. "Why don't yer come inside, Miss, um," Big Macintosh began, but then faltered. "Fluttershy." "Well, come on in, Miss Fluttershy. Make yerself at home." But as she walked through the door, Applejack extended a hoof. She pointed to Fluttershy's hair. The welcome mat was still on top. Fluttershy blushed. Behind her, Angel Bunny was just walking up to the first step when he found himself smothered by a thrown welcome mat, and the door was shut in his face. ________________________________________ "Oh, hello, Mister Rooster. How are you today?" "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" was the reply. "Really? That good? Well, a COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO to you, too, good friend." The other two ponies watched Fluttershy in fascination. "You thinkin' whut Ah'm thinkin'?" Applejack said to her brother, who was seated next to her on a stool. "Eeyup. She does a mighty fine rooster impression. Ah honestly couldn't tell 'em apart." "No, Big Macintosh. Ah'm thinking her ways with animals could still be useful." "Well, why don't we ask her if she can help?" At this, Fluttershy turned around and her forelegs got down from the sink. The rooster, taking this as his cue to end their conversation, bowed to her and fluttered off the windowsill and out the window. "Did you say you needed my help? I don't want to be presumptuous, but I must have misheard. I thought you wanted Rainbow Dash. I did get the message right, didn't I? I'd hate to think I was mistaken." "We do need some help," said Applejack. "There's a thief a-comin' into our orchard and stealing our apples." "An' killin' off the poor apple trees into the bargain." "But why do you need my help?" Fluttershy sat down at the table next to Applejack. It was a wonderfully cosy kitchen, she thought, probably because of the timber design. The stool was nice and cosy, too. "We need you 'cos the thief is an animal," said Applejack. "And you're good with animals. It sure as heck ain't no ponies. It got past all the traps we set around the orchard." "Traps?" "Yeah. Bear traps, cat traps, rat traps, bat traps, pressure pads, revolving blades, arrows in the wall, swinging nets, pitfalls, spitfalls, falling cages, bottomless pits, spikes, trapdoors, dykes, Winona, hot tabasco sauce, and a carrot under a box wedged open by a stick. Oh, and Granny Smith's used horseshoes nailed to the barn door." Both she and Big Macintosh shivered at this last item. "Isn't that a little… harsh?" Fluttershy said. "To an Apple pony, losin' apples to thieves is as serious a crime as you can imagine," said Big Macintosh. "It means that much to you?" "Eeyup," said Big Macintosh. "And you want…" Fluttershy began to turn pink. Delight seemed to leap out of her eyes. "You want m-my help?" "Eey –" "Hold up there, Big Macintosh. Since we're gonna hire her at all, we might as well do the hirin' properly. With this newfangled paperwork thing they keep usin' these days. Twilight tol' me about it," she added to Fluttershy, with a wink. The larger pony sighed. He got up, walked over to a drawer and pulled it out gently with his teeth. Applejack watched cheerfully as a clipboard and a pencil were both dumped with as little ceremony onto the table as her brother felt they deserved. Nobody spoke until Applejack had laid out the clipboard neatly in front of her and placed the pencil on top of it. Then she placed her hoof over the lot and pushed it in front of Big Macintosh. "Big Macintosh, scribe." "Ah don't really think –" "Yer not paid ter think, brother, yer paid ter scribe, so start scribin'." Big Macintosh gave Fluttershy a resigned look and picked up the pencil with his teeth. While he scratched out some words, Applejack announced herself to be job interview pony and announced Fluttershy to be job applicant, though it sounded like "job apple cant." Oh no, Fluttershy thought, they might not want me to help after all. Maybe Dash was right. Maybe I'm just not interesting enough, or a catch on the Rainbow patch. "Well, now, Miss Fluttershy," Applejack said, and Fluttershy hid her blush behind a curtain of hair from her mane, "what'r yer qualifations, er, qualica, quafa – uh, what're yer good at?" "Oh, that's easy. Singing, caring for animals, talking to animals, and singing." "Yer said singin' twice." "I really like singing." Fluttershy beamed like a proud puppy. "Well, it seems clear to me y'are the pony fer the job. If y'all can find out what's been picking at mah apple trees before sundown today, Ah'll be mighty grateful." Fluttershy took off from the stool and began hovering over their heads in joy. "Oh thank you, thank you so much! I'll get right on it," said Fluttershy, saluting. They think I'm interesting. Like Pinkie Pie, she thought. Now what would Pinkie Pie do if she were here? Idea! She zipped out of the room, reappearing moments later on the ground. To Applejack's amazement, she was now wearing a trench coat, a fedora, and was pressing a magnifying glass up against her eye. "Inspector Fluttershy! Here to, uh, help?" She tried a weak grin, slightly embarrassed. Applejack spluttered in confusion. "Inspector? Fluttershy, mah apples are in tip-top shape. Ah jus' need someone who can gather clues and look at 'em and find out who's been stealin' 'em, is all." "Don't worry. I'll have all the answers before sundown, Applejack. It won't be easy. But that's why I'm going to fail where others succeeded! I mean, where others failed… I mean… You'll see. I won't let you down." With that, she cantered past Applejack, then paused, looked down at her hooves, and tried a hop or two. She saw their expressions, and decided against it for the rest of the way. Angel Bunny hopped after her, holding a pencil and notebook. "What in the world?" Applejack said, once they were both gone. She looked at Big Macintosh, and at the clipboard. "You can stop scribin' now." He put the pencil down. "Can't yer at least let me finish mah picture?" ________________________________________ Outside, the pony and the bunny were now under the apple trees, examining the remains of what a few hours ago had been a proud bearer of fruit. "We can't let Applejack down," she was saying to herself. "We have to take it seriously. Oh, but I need to be more interesting, too." Angel Bunny gave her a puzzled look. She coughed theatrically. "You know my methods, Angel Bunny," Fluttershy said, striking a pose which she probably would have described as "inspectorly." "Now use them." Angel Bunny rolled his eyes. Then he let his ears flop over his eye, and pretended to clop over a patch of leaves like a pony. At the sight of a falling leaf, he leapt up in pantomime fright and fell onto his back, legs stiff in the air. Then he shot up, and pretended to be cradling some leaves in his hands, trying to hold back great tears and stifling a sob. Then he leapt up onto Fluttershy's snout, walked right up to her eyes, gave her an angry look, and then pretended to be mouthing off at her. He hopped down. He folded his arms and summarised his case with a contemptuous look. Fluttershy sighed. "Not those methods," she mumbled. He raised a hand, waving it to prompt her. She looked at him apologetically. "Sorry, Angel Bunny. I mean, um, could you, please, help me find some clues?" When he responded by kicking her leg, she moved back, revealing the shred of skin she'd been standing on. Up came the magnifying glass, until Angel Bunny snatched it off her and threw it aside. Instead, he picked up the bit of skin and waved it under her nose. "What's that, Angel Bunny? You want to know what I can make of it?" Angel sighed and nodded, as if communicating with Fluttershy was something akin to rolling a boulder up a hill, or to holding up the world. Fluttershy looked quizzically at the bit of skin, then leaned forwards and gave it a sniff. "Let's see. Um, it's scaly, and um, it's been shed, and um…" Angel Bunny yawned, loudly and intrusively and – here's the key word – deliberately. Fluttershy began to sweat, and she took another sniff. "OK, uh, it's about thirteen hours old. Um, the animal it belonged to… um… it's at least fifteen feet long and two feet at its widest; weighs about five hundred pounds; hasn't washed recently; is covered with the smell of apples – Pink Lady, I think." She paused to give it a lick. "No, Golden Delicious. Has atrocious bad breath; sleeps in a wet cave – I smelled a whiff of guano, so it must be a bat cave, with a hint of grassland dew, so it possibly entered near Sweet Apple Acres' south field; has an itchy left shoulder, possibly reptile rash; lives alone; clearly hasn't seen enough sunlight; likes sugary food; has an aching third bone in its spine; doesn't seem to have heard of moisturiser; and at a guess it's entire body is a light emerald green with a dash of darker hue around its flanks." She gave Angel a winning smile. He did not return it. He did, however, throw the notebook at her, which bounced off her forehead. After shaking it off, she blushed at his meaningful scowl. He tapped his foot impatiently. "And… it's… also a snake." He slapped his face in relieved annoyance and wiped downwards. "Angel, we did it! We found out everything we can about the apple thief, and we have so much to tell Applejack! She'll be so pleased!" ________________________________________ "A SNAKE?" Applejack slipped and fell off her stool in the kitchen. Fluttershy and Angel, both further along the table from her, exchanged glances, though in this case Fluttershy's was both disappointed at this reception, and worried. "Well, paint my pastern paisley pink!" Applejack said, picking herself up. "Of all the orchards in all o' the lands of all o' Equestria, why d'it have to come into mine? This is not good, not good a-t'all." "Huh?" said Fluttershy, while Angel hopped off the tabletop to raid the cupboards. "Aw, c'mon, Fluttershy, you know how this goes. The farmer and the snake." A sidelong glance told her that Fluttershy was still lost. She got up on her hind hooves. "Faarmer. Snaake. Faarmer. Snaake." Another sidelong glance. Another blank stare. Applejack sighed, this time pointing vigorously at her own chest. "Farmer, hint hint." She made a motion to indicate something long. "Snake, hint hint." Fluttershy's stare of incomprehension could have won prizes. Applejack fell back on her hooves. "Yer don't know that story, do yer?" "It's not a grown-up's story, is it?" Fluttershy looked anxious. "Well, I wouldn't tell it ter Apple Bloom. It's the story we Apple farmers know. It was a long an' hard winter on the Sweet Apple Acres farm, a long time ago, when ol' Jonagold had it. He was out a-roughin' and a-toughin' it in the snow, when one day… he found an' old snake, freezin' ter death in the grass. So he took pity on it, and brought it inside this here house, and gave it a nice refreshin' drink of special Brown Snout's apple juice. Then he left that there snake in front of the fire, while he went upstairs ter sleep. Remember, he's got kin in this same house. The nex' mornin', at the crowin' of the rooster, he got up specially to make some apple pie fer his guest, he went downstairs ter the barn, an' you know what he found?" The room seemed to grow darker. Fluttershy's wings began to quiver. When she noticed, she forced them to keep still. It seemed to work. "A-a-and th-then wh-what?" she asked, and then blushed because her teeth were chattering. Applejack eyed her suspiciously, which made her knees chatter as well. "Ah'll tell yer what he found. He found… all the apples were missin'! That thievin' snake, he'd made off with them in crates, been pilin' 'em up all night on Jonagold's ol' delivery van, an' then he drove them away, jus' as Jonagold came rushin' round the barn ter stop 'im! The res' o' the family was devastated! We ain't never trusted no snakes nor creepin' crawlin' things never, not since!" Applejack raised her nose in the air in disgust at the memory. Fluttershy's wings drooped. "And then what happened?" she asked. Eventually, Applejack's spluttering became coherent. "What happened? What d'yer mean, what happened? He stole them apples, Fluttershy! It was the biggest apple heist ever in pony history!" "But I don't understand," Fluttershy said. "Maybe it wasn't what it looked like. Maybe… uh… maybe the snake was just trying to feed his family, back home?" "You don't have a bad bone in yer body, do yer? But there's some folks th't do, and then there's some folks who got nothin' but bad bones in 'em. Niceness is jus' wasted on 'em." Despite herself, Fluttershy was starting to feel annoyed at her friend's behaviour. She swallowed it down. "Well, if snakes are involved, then it might be one of mine. I keep lots of snake friends at home." "Yuck. The words 'snakes' and 'friends' should never meet in the same sentence, unless you also add a 'not', a 'never', a 'no way no how' and a 'nuh uh' in there, too." "Oh no, Applejack. You're going to love them." She grinned. It was a little wider than usual. ________________________________________ To be continued...