Shepherd rubbed the back of his neck. Two hours later, and Fluttershy was still refusing to answer the door. Behind it, he could hear the sound of muffled sobbing, and he had noticed a very hairy, decidedly ursine face staring out the window at him.
He had sheepishly waved at it.
It had not waved back.
He would have liked to say that it had smiled at him, but he was fairly sure that a bear showing its teeth was not a friendly gesture even in this world.
"Man... This stinks..."
"I'll say!"
He jumped. "What the—!"
Beside him, a slender Unicorn mare wearing a press hat and levitating a notepad and pen with a mint-green field stood, casting a critical eye over him.
Shepherd blinked. "Uh...hi?"
The dun mare smiled broadly, tipping her hat in greeting. "Hello, yourself! Scoop's the name, Juicy Scoop, ace reporter for the Canterlot Chronicle!"
"Nice...to meet you, Ms. Scoop. I'm—"
"Please, call me Scoop. Went by Juicy for a while, but after the fifth restraining order, I started going by Scoop." She shook her head, replacing her hat on her yellow mane. "Stallions. Never can think past the ol' mating season."
Scoop brightened up immediately. "And I know who you are, Mr. Shepherd! Famous talking pet monkey of Twilight Sparkle!"
He grit his teeth a bit at that. "I'm not—"
"So tell me," the reporter said, licking the tip of her pen. "Is it true that you married your motorcycle?"