Fluttershy swung open her cottage door and inhaled the fresh morning air. There had been a heavy evening downpour the night before, and already the air was growing muggy as the sun began to rise.
She flapped her wings and got to work, opening every shutter and window on her cottage, as well as her back door. With a cloud shortage from Cloudsdale, today was forecasted to be the hottest day of the summer – and as such, Fluttershy needed to prepare for the animals.
Inside, several basins of fresh, cool water were already set out on tables and on the floor. Some had large chunks of ice floating in them that helped fill her cottage with a refreshing mist of coolness. Animals that needed shade and water would find her home an oasis.
After she finished opening her place up, she touched down on her front step and surveyed the yard before her. The rain had left several puddles from where the creek in front of her house had spilled out a little. In one of the bigger puddles, something caught Fluttershy’s eye, and she trotted over to investigate.
“Well, hello there,” she said, a warm smile spreading across her muzzle as she leaned closer to the puddle.
Past her faint, yellow reflection was a creature vaguely like a salamander, but Fluttershy had never seen a salamander like this before. It was entirely pale pink, its skin nearly translucent. Its tail was vertically flat, almost like a fish’s, and its head was shorter and rounder than that of a salamander’s. Six hairy frills protruded from its neck, three on either side. It smiled up at her with round, blue eyes.
“My, I’ve never met anything quite like you. Please, wait here a moment,” Fluttershy said, before quickly flapping into her house.
She flew to her bookshelf, scanning the spines of her zoological books with a speed Twilight would’ve been impressed with. Finally, she found a book on exotic amphibians and plucked it from the shelf.
Surprisingly, she found the pink newcomer towards the front of the book. “’Ax… Axo… Axol… Axolotl.’ What an interesting name. ‘Often known as the ‘Tenochtitlan Walking Fish,’ this amphibious creature can be found in and around the Tenochtitlan Basin.’” Fluttershy blinked in surprise, glancing out her front door.
She set the book down and flew out to check on the creature – which was still in its puddle, unperturbed.
“It’s very nice to meet you, little axolotl,” she said. “But you’re an awfully long way from home.” She looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun, before turning back to the axolotl. “I heard it’s going to get very hot today. Would you like to come inside and rest where it’s cooler?”
Fluttershy beamed when the axolotl slowly looked up at her and nodded once. Without a further word, she disappeared back into her cottage. She came out a moment latter, a glass casserole dish in hoof full of fresh water.
She gently set a hoof into the puddle, and beamed when the axolotl crawled onto it. Quickly and carefully, she transferred it into the casserole dish, and brought her new friend inside.
Angel hopped up onto the table, his nose twitching as he examined the unusual newcomer. The axolotl just smiled up at the little bunny. Or it could have been the few rocks Fluttershy had placed in its shallow tank to “liven it up.”
“Angel,” Fluttershy said, her voice both stern and soothing. “Please don’t bother the axolotl. I’ll talk to Twilight tomorrow and see if we can get it back to its natural habitat.” She filled a basin of water as a group of squirrels greedily drank from it.
Angel chittered something and plopped down, front legs crossed as he often did when fuming or pouting. He wasn’t very keen on having Fluttershy’s home—his home—subject to so many intruders. They brought unnecessary noise with them, and today especially, they brought in unwelcome heat.
Still, something drew him to the newcomer. It hadn’t said anything since it had arrived, though he didn’t think it would – since when did fish talk? It just sat in its tank, still as could be with that smile on its face.
Fluttershy trotted over with an earthworm in hoof and placed it in the axolotl’s tank. “According to my book, you like insects and small fish, so I hope this will do until we can get you home,” she said.
The axolotl finally moved and like a vacuum, sucked half the worm in in one gulp. Angel stuck out his tongue in disgust as it munched the worm down in gulp-like movements. Then, Angel’s stomach began to rumble—out of hunger, rather than disgust—and he cast a pleading look to Fluttershy, complete with water eyes and drooped ears. He hadn’t had this third breakfast yet.
“In a minute, Angel,” Fluttershy gently chided, petting his head. “I have to refill the sparrow’s birdbath.”
Angel grumbled again, sulking as Fluttershy flew upstairs with a pitcher of water.
“Even the new guy got something to eat…” he thought internally, frowning down at the axolotl.
To his surprise, the axolotl had turned its upper body and was looking up at him with that smile. And those blue eyes that Angel found himself getting lost in as he went slack-jawed...
Fluttershy fluttered downstairs, but paused when she heard a crunch. She looked over to see Angel munching on a carrot happily, propped up against the axolotl’s tank. She smiled softly and shook her head.
“Silly bunny,” she giggled to herself as she went to check on the other animals. “I’m glad he was able to find a carrot, though.”
Pinkie Pie peeked into Fluttershy’s cottage, a grin spreading across her muzzle as she saw Fluttershy setting out more ice. “Heeey, Flutterbutter,” she cooed, bouncing over with a familiar baby alligator chomped onto her tail.
Fluttershy giggled as Pinkie caught her in a close, nuzzling hug. “Hello, Pinkie. And hello Gummy.” She flashed the alligator a smile before kissing Pinkie on the forehead.
“I just came by to see how you were doing,” Pinkie said once she released her marefriend, before adding with a musical tone. “And I brought your favorite.” She produced two thermoses from her mane.
“Oh? Some peach tea and lemonade?” Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie nodded. “Only the best for you,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “I’ll go get it mixed up in the kitchen so you can have some iced peach half-and-half.”
“Thank you, Pinkie. Some iced half-and-half sounds lovely on a hot day like this,” Fluttershy replied.
With a final smooch to Fluttershy’s cheek, Pinkie bounced into the kitchen. Fluttershy blushed and giggled.
“Oh!” she called after Pinkie. “Mind the little pink creature in there! It’s an axolotl – I had to move it in there after some birds thought its tank was another birdbath.”
Pinkie was already peering into the glass casserole dish on the counter next to the sink. “Ooh,” she sounded out. “You look just like me! It’s very nice to meet you, even if you can’t understand me.”
She swung around her tail and gently plucked Gummy off the end of it. “This here is Gummy. He’s a baby alligator, and he likes water too!” She set Gummy next to the axolotl’s tank as she went to find a spare pitcher. “I’m sure you two will be fast friends.”
As Pinkie rummaged through the cupboards, Gummy turned to the axolotl. He slowly blinked one eyelid, then the other. The axolotl turned to him with its cheerful smile, getting close to the edge of its tank and staring into Gummy’s wall-eyed eyeballs with its own blue ones…
“Found it!” Pinkie chimed, bouncing over to the sink. She looked over to Gummy and blinked in surprise.
Gummy was wearing a small, wide-brimmed straw hat, tied around his chin with a polka dot ribbon. He seemed rather content with it, though to anyone but Pinkie it was hard to tell.
“Cool hat, Gummy! Where’d ya get it?” Pinkie asked. She giggled as she went to the freezer, grabbed some ice, and filled the pitcher with it.
As she reproduced and then emptied both thermoses into the pitcher, Pinkie kept sneaking glances at the axolotl. Her Pinkie Sense was trying to say… something to her, but she couldn’t understand it.
Plucking a wooden spoon from a nearby drawer, Pinkie began to stir the sweet mixture. One final glance at the axolotl, however, lingered, as she found the creature staring up at her. Blue eyes met in a stare, and Pinkie’s stirring slowed…
“All done!” Pinkie chimed a second later, bouncing out of the kitchen with the pitcher. Both she and Gummy, once again fastened to her tail, were wearing matching sun hats. “That axolotl is really cool!”
“It is rather unique,” Fluttershy said with a nod from the couch. She smiled gratefully at Pinkie as she trotted over with a glass, and handed it to Fluttershy. She filled it and set the pitcher on the coffee table. “But it is a long way from home. I plan on asking Twilight to help me relocate it tomorrow.”
Pinkie nodded, then looked around the cottage. “So where’s Discord? I thought he’d be helping you cool this place down,” she asked.
“He was, but he told me this morning he needed to go help look for some cosmic deity,” Fluttershy said. “I’m not entirely sure how you lose one of… those, but he was insistent.”
Pinkie hummed. “Huh. Well, I have to head back to Sugarcube Corner. We have a huge order of ice cream cakes that need to get done.” She leaned up and smooched Fluttershy on the tip of her muzzle, making her blush and giggle.
“Um… wouldn’t you like to stay a while?” Fluttershy asked, averting her eyes. “It’s awfully hot out there.”
Pinkie smirked before bouncing onto the couch and up against Fluttershy. “Well, I guess those ice cream cakes can wait a few minutes,” she said. She buried her muzzle into Fluttershy’s pale pink mane and sighed contently. “Where’d you find that axolotl anyway?”
“He was outside this morning when I woke up,” Fluttershy replied softly, resting her chin in Pinkie’s curly mane. She draped one wing over Pinkie and pulled her close. “I didn’t want the sun to get to him so I brought him inside.”
“That’s my Flutterbutter,” Pinkie murmured with a giggle.
The two settled together, comfortable and cozy like the axolotl in its dish. Fluttershy was so comfortable she shrugged off asking Pinkie about her sun hat – after all, that was just how her Pinkie worked.
Fluttershy was reading a magazine on the couch as evening fell. With the air cooling, animal traffic had diminished, so she had closed up shop for the night. The last glass of peach half-and-half sat on the table next to her, along with her new axolotl friend.
“Don’t worry, little friend,” Fluttershy said, smiling at the creature. “I’ll talk to Twilight tomorrow and we’ll get you back where you belong. Would you like another snack?”
The creature simply shook its head before situating itself comfortably on a flat, rounded rock. Fluttershy beamed, and returned to her magazine.
She jumped slightly when there was a loud snap and a panting draconequus suddenly appeared on the couch beside her. Discord produced an electric fan in his paw and beat it back and forth to fan his face.
“Discord! Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, setting down her magazine.
“Quite, but I’m afraid for the future of the multiverse,” Discord replied with a sigh. He snapped away the fan and huffed. “We looked all over for it and we still couldn’t find it. And if we don’t find it… ooh boy, are a lot of people going to be in trouble.”
Fluttershy tilted her head up at him. “What exactly was it that you lost? You just called it a ‘cosmic entity’ before you left.”
“Well, it’s a little difficult to explain on a mortal level,” Discord began, his eyes glancing down at the axolotl’s container. He looked away, before his eyes jumped back to the creature and Discord, in turn, jumped off the couch.
Fluttershy looked at him bewildered. His eyes were as big as—and now resembled—saucers, and he was shaking all over. His entire form blanched white as if he literally had a can of white paint dumped over him.
“Discord! What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, jumping off the couch herself. She looked between the axolotl and her friend quickly.
“Do you not see it?” Discord spluttered, gesturing wildly at the axolotl.
Fluttershy looked at the axolotl. It sat peacefully in its shallow tank, albeit looking up at the draconequus now. She frowned and turned back to Discord.
“No?”
“Well look again!”
And Fluttershy did.
And there was no more cottage. No more Equestria. She and Discord floated side-by-side in a blue and purple void. Cotton-candy pink clouds and sparkling silver glints drifted around them. An endless space of sky and starstuff.
And there, before them, was the axolotl, now bigger than a mountain. It was still smiling, its little red tongue poking out in a blep.
“Greetings,” came a voice that sounded like a whale song from the ether, emanating from the axolotl. “Here. Allow me to make you comfortable.”
A pair of bean bag chairs materialized from the clouds and slipped under Discord and Fluttershy. Discord crossed his arms, grumbling, while Fluttershy looked on confused.
“Seeing as it is only fair that I have brought you before me,” the axolotl mused. “I will offer you one question apiece.”
Discord slipped out of the chair, fuming. “Axolotl, where have you been?” he demanded. “We were scouring the multiverse looking for you!”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she put two and two together, quickly looking at the giant axolotl. She was starting to think the axolotl had been a lot farther from home than she had first thought.
“I have spent today in a puddle, and then in a glass casserole dish filled with water at Fluttershy’s cottage,” The Axolotl replied. “It was very cozy.”
“What?!” Discord spluttered, turning to Fluttershy. Though it wasn’t imposing as he might’ve been—considering she was his friend—his look demanded answers.
“I didn’t know, honest,” Fluttershy said, holding up her hooves.
“All this time… and I went through a dozen black holes for nothing!” Discord collapsed into his bean bag chair, exasperated, literally deflating.
Fluttershy turned to the axolotl. “Um… Axolotl, if I may ask—” She glanced at Discord, who gave her a flat thumbs up. “—why did you spend today at my cottage?”
The Axolotl smile seemed to widen. “Even cosmic entities need their days off, and I could think of nowhere more relaxing than in your care. You are a being of utter kindness, Fluttershy, and I enjoyed spending the day with you and your friends.”
Fluttershy blushed, looking away. “Well… um, thank you,” she muttered.
“Now, allow me to send you both home,” The Axolotl said, blue eyes glowing. “Take care.”
And then the world went white.
Fluttershy blinked, looking around. She found herself back on her couch, next to Discord, as if nothing had happened. And according to her memories, nothing had happened – save for Discord returning.
“Is everything alright, Discord?” she asked.
The draconequus looked down at her, then sank against the couch with a sighing laugh.
“Everything’s just peachy, Fluttershy. Just do me a favor and never change,” he replied, smiling.
Fluttershy blinked in confusion before shrugging. She reached out and grabbed her glass of peach half-and-half and took a sip.
Glancing over at the pitcher, she was surprised to see it was full once again.