Mission to the Pony Planet

by ersmiller


08 Fluttershy: “The Bird and the—Oh my.” AKA “1,353 words of Fluttershy talking to a bird, and then other stuff.”

06:43 AM

"WAIT! LITTLE BIRDIE, WAIT!" Before Applejack and Rarity could stop her, Fluttershy had launched herself out the window after the Ectopistes migratorius almost as fast as Rainbow Dash had earlier.

"”Fluttershy!”" her friends called to her from back inside the palace of Friendship but she was already too far away to hear them. Not that she would have taken notice for she was too focused on her task.

Must find extinct birdie! Must. Preserve. Species!

Sadly, the bird had already flown out of visual range, even for her new pegasus eyes, so Fluttershy had little choice but to keep flying straight in the direction she had seen him leave. Straight out and slightly up.

She flew over thatched rooves, little hills, a pond, and into a thinly wooded area along the edge of the town.

“Little birdie!” she called, looking around. She saw nests as she flew past them but with the Ectopistes migratorius having been extinct for more than one hundred years, she only knew what the birds themselves looked like through pictures, and had no knowledge of their nests. All she could do was try to find one that she couldn’t identify.

“Amareican robin. Western bluebird. Red squirrel. Bank swallow. Baltimare oriole. Pygmy owl. Mexicolt violetear. Wait, what?”

Fluttershy turned her head back toward the nests she had just passed. Those birds don’t all nest in the same types of woods, or even the same countries. This world really is magical!

She smiled brightly for just a moment at that thought before she noticed just how fast she was flying. “Eep! Um. Oh, oh, oh my goodness!” She returned her head to look forward just in time for a tree to teach her that, like Rainbow Dash, she had yet to learn how to brake.

Ohmygoodne—oof!“

Some trees have more fluffy greenery on them than others. Luckily, Fluttershy’s flight path had taken her into one of the more cushy examples.

Fluttershy took a moment to steady herself and her breathing before attempting to stand. She was still working up to it when a tweet came up behind her.

“Ah! Little birdie?”

Coo!

Relieved, but still draped over a tree branch, Fluttershy turned her head to track him and smiled. “I found you! Well, I guess you found me. Again.”

The little bird landed on a branch just in front of Fluttershy and looked her over in concern.

Coo oo?

“Yes, I’m alright. You’re so kind for asking. I was actually out looking for you.”

Coo?

“Yes you,” Fluttershy giggled when the bird pointed a wing at himself.

Coo

The bird let his wing down with a slight blush.

“I was just so surprised to see an Ectopistes migratorius that I had to talk to you again.”

Co-o-oo-oo od-co-o-do-o-os?

“A passenger pigeon.”

Fluttershy was treated with an adorable head tilt from the little bird.

Coo-o?

“Oh no," Fluttershy said with a little wave of her hoof, careful to not slip off the tree branch. "I’m not saying you’re public transportation.”

Oo?

“It’s the name of your species.”

Ood-oo?

“No, I’m not sure who decided that exactly.”

Coo-ooo-codle!

The bird stood up tall and puffed out his chest.

“Oh. Well ‘pigeonous amazingous’ does sound more impressive. I’m not sure it’s proper Latin though.”

Ooo?

“Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

Oo oo?

“All I could do is write a letter to the government.”

Coo Coo

“That’s a matter of opinion.”

The bird shrugged.

“Not saying it will do anything, but it wouldn't be the first time I wrote a letter for one of my little friends.” Fluttershy looked around with a blush, her ears flopping down. “Much less scary than using the phone.”

Oo?

“A phone? Oh, a phone is a …, uh, never mind. I wanted to ask you something important, little birdie.”

The little bird adjusted his stance, leaning slightly to one side, and gestured with a wing.

Oo-coo-co

“Oh! Robert. Sorry.”

Cooo coo

Fluttershy pulled her head back in surprise and rushed to cover her mistake. “Ah! Yes, we, uh, have known each other for years. Of course I haven’t forgotten your name.”

Coo!

Robert crossed his wings over his chest.

“No, no! You definitely don’t just look like all the other pigeons. I can tell you apart easily.”

Co oo?

“Yes, of course. Because, uh, you’re so much more … handsome than the other pigeons. All the other birds, really!”

Robert stood taller and suavely preened a tail feather.

“That’s right. Strut that thang!” Fluttershy giggled.

Immediately stopping, Robert gave Fluttershy a lopsided look.

“Was that weird? That was weird. Sorry.”

Coo

Robert nodded.

“Oh, right! I came after you because you’re an Ectopistes migratorius and—“

Coo-ooo-codle!

“Sorry. A ‘pigeonous amazingous,’ and, well, you’ve been extinct for more than a hundred years, so—“

Robert lifted a wing and sniffed under it.

Coo oo-coo?

“Oh, no, no. You smell fine!”

Coo-odle!

“Sorry! I know you’re not that old!”

Oo-coo!

“Yes, it’s quite clear you’re in your prime. Young, strong. I already said handsome.”

Ooo oo!

Fluttershy blushed and cleared her throat. “… Yes, and, I’m sure you are quite, um, virile.”

Robert nodded smugly.

“What I meant was that there just aren’t any of you around anymore back home.

Coo?

“Oh, I realize there’s plenty of you here in Canterville—“

Coo do-oo-le?

“ ‘Ponyville’? Oh that’s adorable!”

Robert leaned in closer and tilted his head, looking Fluttershy over again noting the twigs and leaves in her mane and fur.

Coo?

“Oh I feel fine.”

Coo

“Well …,” she passed a hoof through her mane, knocking a few twigs and a patch of leaves free, “I suppose I did just crash pretty hard.”

Co!

She cringed sheepishly. “And, I did have that panic attack. But I feel alright now.”

Oo?

“I’m sure,” Fluttershy nodded, returning to a smile. “And it's pretty relaxing up here on this branch. I bet it would be nice being a tree. Anyway, by ‘back home’ I meant where I grew up. There aren’t any, um, ‘pigeonous amazingouses’ there anymore.”

Coo oo dou-dle

Fluttershy leaned forward, her jaw lowering with a slight gasp. “There are no trees in Cloudsdale? Anywhere?”

Coo oodo

“It’s made of clouds?” her eyes widened and she looked up, remembering that house-shaped clouds she saw earlier. “The whole town?”

Oodo oodle

City? And it’s just pegasi there?”

Ooo-oo coo doo?

“Yes, I’m sure I’m okay.”

Robert pat the front of his head with a wing.

Coo!

“No, I haven’t hit my head. But you’re right. Not having any trees would make it difficult for many species of birds to nest there. But I wasn’t talking about Cloudsdale.”

Coo?

“Yes, well, I did grow up in Cloudsdale, but what I meant was. Um …,” Fluttershy’s eyes flicked. “Uh, let’s say, my ancestral home?”

Oo?

“Um, pretty far away. In a way.”

Co

“Yeah, so I was going to ask if you would be interested in maybe moving there and I could breed you.”

Robert hopped back in surprise and tweeted more loudly.

COO! OODLE OO-COO?!

Fluttershy’s yellow fur gained a bright red tint. “WHAT?! No, no, no! Not with me! W-with, other Ecto-to-p-pis—passenger pigeons!”

Robert's eyes hardened and he pointed an accusing wing at Fluttershy.

COO! COODLE!

“YOUR PIMP?!” Fluttershy’s voice squeaked. “NO, NO, NO! I wouldn’t—“

OODLE!

“No, no! I’m not saying you’re that kind of bird!”

COODLE-COO OODLE!

“You’re married!?”

OOO-ODLE!

“Three chicks?!”

COOO!

“I was her midwife?”

COO-O!

“You named one after me?”

Coo-oo

“An egg on the way?”

COO-COODLE!

“Oh, yes, yes. Of course I remember your wedding!”

COODLE!

“I was a bridesmaid?”

OO!

“Even a dress?”

COO-OO-OO!

“Angel Bunny officiated? He’s ordained?”

OODLE COOO!

“No, no, I’m not saying you’re not committed to your wife!”

Coo oddle

“Yes, you love her very much.”

OODLE!

“Of course you’d never cheat!”

DO!

“I’m so sorry! This got so very out of hand!”

Coo?

“Hoof?”

Coo?

“Talon?”

Coo

Although confusion had taken some of the bite out of Robert's tweeting, placing his wings on his hips gave a clear message. Fluttershy took a deep breath before continuing. “I very much apologize to you and your family, and congratulations on the new egg!”

Co-oo!

“A week ago? Well, I’m, um, happy to hear about it … again?”

Robert tapped his claw on his tree branch.

Coo oo?

“No, I’m sure I’m not getting you mixed up with another pigeon.”

Robert looked down and his tone turned depressed.

Ooo Oo

“No, I don’t like Raymond more.”

Oo-oo Oo

“Aw, I’m sure everybody loves you too.”

Fluttershy smiled when Robert peeked up at her.

Co-ooo?

“Of course I mean it.”

Cooo

“Help you collect worms?”

Coo!

Fluttershy looked down at her forehooves and grimaced, thinking of how birds typically transport worms without the use of fingers.

“Um. How about later in the week? I have something I need to do—ah!” Fluttershy snapped her head back and put a hoof to her forehead. “That’s right! You don’t happen to know where Princess Twilight is do you?”

Robert eyed Fluttershy suspiciously.

“We were actually looking for her when I had my panic attack.”

Coo?

“Yes, and then I saw you and thought I could do some good for my worl—uh, ancestral home if I could repopulate your species there. And, well, I’d need breeding pairs for that. Ah! But you’re married and with four chicks already! That’s great! If you’d all migrate there and we get another family too, then, when your chicks are old enough we can mate them with ….”

Fluttershy paused when she noticed Robert’s jaw hanging in surprise.

COOO COODOODLE OO COOD DOOCO!

The tirade caused Fluttershy to duck sharply back, her breath catching in her throat. Such language!

“No, wait! I’m not suggesting your daughters are—“

A simple gesture cut her off. Robert had his wing held up curled almost into a fist-like ball with one center feather standing up straight.

He paused there a moment, letting it sink in, and then flew off.

Fluttershy simply lay there stunned.

“An extinct pigeon just flipped me the bird.”

*** *** ***

06:58 AM

A moment later, still reeling from that train wreck of a conversation, Fluttershy remained lying there on the branch that had stopped her unplanned flight unaware that she had been slowly slipping backward since pulling back from Robert’s tirade. Once enough of her body slipped down the side of the branch for her to notice the drag, she scrambled for purchase with her forelegs but soon found herself falling from the tree.

Her life passed before her eyes and it was only from the final scenes that she remembered she now had wings.

FOOPFF

No sooner had she opened her wings than she found herself resting on her back on the softest, albeit chilly, bedding she had ever felt.

She looked below her and saw wispy curls of white fluff.

“I’m … in a cloud?”

She played her hooves within what, to her mind, should have just been frozen water vapor and found that thin strands gave and broke away easily but thicker clumps gave some resistance despite not really appearing fully solid. The cloud extended upward a few feet—hooves?—on all sides, likely dented by her landing.

She carefully rolled over, stood, and looked up to see trees, including the one she had fallen from, extending high above her.

“Why is there a cloud so low? And how—”

“So it can water my petunias,” came a dull voice beside her.

“Eep!” Fluttershy startled away from the voice, though she made poor progress due to a decidedly reduced amount of friction on lumpy terrain that wouldn’t stay completely still. When her hooves slipped she flailed to keep herself upright succeeding only in digging down through the center of the cloud. As the cloud expanded from her actions she had to spread out her hooves to keep from falling through a newly created hole in the center as she slipped deeper inside.

“EEK! That’s cold!” she shouted when a bit of cloud got a little too personal.

“Well it is a left over snow cloud from the winter—they’re very cheap this time of year—I planned on letting it warm up before using it but ….”

The sudden cold touch had caused Fluttershy to flinch up, drawing her four legs in close. The joints of her hind legs caught and trapped in some cloud material while her upper half slipped and fell completely through the hole. Now facing straight down at a snow-covered ground only inches below her, Fluttershy was able to peek to the side to see a rather old-looking donkey.

“Mr. … Cranky Doodle?” she asked. The voice had sounded familiar.

“Just call me Cranky,” he said with a practiced frown.

“Are you sure? That seems a bit disrespectful.”

“It’s my name, Fluttershy. One of life’s downers.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway,” Cranky Doodle Donkey continued, “I was going to let it warm up before having the cloud courier come back to kick-start it. But it seems that won’t be happening now.”

Confused, Fluttershy looked around and saw that the ground was only snowy directly under the cloud she was trapped in. The rest looked to be either bright green grass or freshly planted garden dirt. “Did I do that?”

“Yep, when you landed,” Cranky mumbled.

“Oh my goodness. I’m very sorry, um, Cranky.”

"Better than you going splat. Something happen to your wings?” Cranky's voice kept ever steady and grumbling.

“Oh, no. I just was surprised. I wasn’t expecting to fall out of that tree. My mind was on other things.”

“I heard.”

“You … heard?" Fluttershy gulped, her face slowly gaining a blush, "Me and Robert?”

“Yep.”

“The, the whole thing?”

“Came out when I heard the crash. Thought I’d have to chase off the neighbors’ foals again," Cranky flicked his tail in the general direction of a distant house.  One with a small playground.

“Um, um, I can explain.”

“No worries, Fluttershy,” Cranky assured her, walking back to his cabin. “We all have our … ‘hobbies’. Maybe you can join Matilda and me some time.”

Still upside down in the cloud, Fluttershy turned a bright red, but not due to gravity.

“Oh, my," she considered. "Cranky and Matilda's classes are going to be weird for now on.”

*** *** ***

07:07 AM

Too embarrassed to ask Cranky about Twilight, Fluttershy had waited till he was back inside his cabin to extract herself from the remainder of the snow cloud. Once standing, and with the snow cleaned off of her, she wasn’t sure what to do with the remaining cloud and just left it hovering like thick fog and trotted back toward the center of town.

She hoped Cranky would be able to save the garden. Petunias were Matilda’s favorite flower. At least they were for Canterlot High’s Matilda.

She did manage to move the cloud to let the sun shine on the accidental snowfall. She smiled to herself, thinking she actually just pushed a cloud, as if it were solid, with a hoof. Her own hoof! Attached to her own fur-covered leg!

Afterward, she decided to head back for the palace and try to talk, and apologize greatly, to her friends for rushing off while they were still working on the plan.

She could easily see the top of the palace over the little hills and buildings in the town, but she had a ways to go. So she unfolded her wings; now that she knew how to use them.

In theory, this should have worked.

“Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. Oh my goodness!”

Flying high, over the buildings, was too scary.

“Oof!

“Ack!”

Flying low produced too many obstacles, including the buildings. Yes, she could fly. Yes, she could turn. She could even fly in a straight line fairly quickly now. But her turning, and stopping, abilities still were far less graceful than her walk.

Having managed to cover a fair distance toward the palace anyway, she came to ground just on the outer edge of the marketplace almost teaching herself to land safely.

Almost.

Fluttershy took a moment to catch her breath, and brush herself off again, then trotted the rest of the way.

She never noticed the mint green unicorn stalking her through the deep grass.

After a few minutes, came across several ponies who looked like they might be counterparts of people she knew in her world and considered talking to them, but shied away when unable to do so one-on-one. Groups of shoppers being too quick to wander around too close. So she continued on, taking in the sights as she went.

Farmers’ market. Clothing store, ah, I’ll have to tell Rarity about that. Hospital. Flowers. Oh there’s the clock tower! Oh and … “Quills and Sofas” … that’s an odd combination.

A commotion near that oddly-named shop brought her attention to a pile of sofas, one with a hole in the back. The hole seemed roughly pony-sized.

Several times she tried to call to a pony on the edge of the crowd to ask what was going on but never got her voice loud enough to be heard.

And thus, Fluttershy found herself back at the closed front doors of the palace of friendship wondering if it was appropriate to knock or just enter unannounced.

“Um … hello?” she called softly through the doors. “Anybody in there? … Pinkie? Girls?”

No reply.

“Hello,” she tried louder and walked up to knock on the door. “It’s, um, Fluttershy.”

“Hi, Fluttershy!”

“Eep!” Fluttershy turned quickly as the voice had come from behind her and greeted the earth pony mare she found there, noting a very familiar set of colors, mane style, and sign. “Um. Oh! Miss Cheerilee?”

“Sorry if I startled you. And you know you can just call me Cheerilee, right?” The teacher smiled brightly, possibly slightly more than necessary at the end.

“Oh, of course, sorry.”

“No, no, it’s alright, Cheerilee waved her off. "But, why are you standing out here? Is Rainbow Dash pulling pranks again?”

“What? Oh, no. But I wasn’t sure if I could just walk right in.”

“Why wouldn’t you? The lower floors are always open to the public.”

“Oh? Oh. Yes, of course," Fluttershy gave the teacher a smile that she couldn't help but make awkward.

“And you don’t really count as just ‘the public’ here. Don’t you have keys to the private areas?”

“Um, yes. But, they are … at home?”

“Alright, but the front doors should be open.” Cheerilee pressed forward on one door and it opened easily. “I’m going to the library to check out a few books since I’ll be having a few extra vacation days.”

“Oh, you are?”

Fluttershy followed her across the Foyer and through a side door which began closing behind them.

“Yes, since Twilight started Spring break a few days early for her Friendship School I decided to do the same for the town school so all our students can play with all their friends from either school.” Cheerilee led the way past a receptionist's desk and bookcase-filled hallway.

“Oh that was nice of you.”

“Thank you. Of course that means all the students in both schools will have a little unexpected homework to be turned in once vacation ends. But I just kept thinking that if it’s a friendship school, it would be silly keeping them from the friends they’ve made with the town students. Even if my students are younger than most of them.”

“Oh, yes. That does make sense. Um, Do you know why Twilight closed her school early?”

Cheerilee stopped to turn toward Fluttershy. “No. But don’t you? You’re much closer to her than I am, and one of the teachers there.”

“I’m a teacher?!”

“Yes? For the kindness class. Are you feeling okay?”

“I teach kindness?” Fluttershy's jaw dropped.

“You’re voted ‘Teacher of the Month’ almost every month. Your students even take extra pictures of you each month. Last I saw you have almost thirty photos on the hall of fame. The school hasn't been open nearly that long.”

“I, what. Really? I hope they don't use a camera with a bright flash.”

Cheerilee paused, her head tilted in confusion a moment before stepping forward and placing a pastern on Fluttershy’s forehead. Taken aback, Fluttershy stepped back and ducked slightly.

“Sorry,” Cheerilee apologized and held back, “Teacher’s habits. Are you alright?”

Blushing, Fluttershy stuttered in reply, “Oh, um, yes. I’m fine. Little bit of an off day is all.”

“Is that why you came back early?” Cheerilee asked.

“ ‘Back early’?”

“Yes. You all got on a train yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

Cheerilee frowned, moving forward to check Fluttershy’s temperature again. “You do feel a little warm.”

“Oh! Um. Yes, maybe I’ll … take a nap after I … feed my animals? Which is why I came back early?” Fluttershy smiled over-warmly, eyes going a bit too wide.

“I thought Dr. Fauna was going to help out. It’s why her clinic’s hours are reduced this week.”

“Dr. Fauna? Oh, yes. Dr. Fauna is helping out, but I wanted to help her to help me out. Because it would be helpful to help both of us, um, help us both.” Fluttershy’s smile increased in size.

“You’re getting warmer,” Cheerilee informed her, still checking Fluttershy’s forehead.

“Oh?” Fluttershy laughed awkwardly.

“I think you’re going to need that nap.”

“Yes! Right away!” Fluttershy turned and galloped for the door they had come through, leaving Cheerilee with her foreleg still in the air, but stopped and turned upon stepping into the foyer. “Um, Miss Cheerilee. Strange question—if you don’t mind. Um …, where do I live?”