Twilight's hoof rapped on the front door of Fluttershy's cottage. The day outside was beautiful - birds singing, sun shining, a gentle breeze coming out of the east. If Twilight had to leave her castle, this was the day for it.
So when Fluttershy answered the door and staunchly did not step outside (and in fact, blocked the door as best she could with her leggy body) it seemed a little odd.
Still, Twilight smiled brightly. "Hi there Fluttershy!" Her magic pulled out the book from her saddlebag: Tragic Finale's Lost Species of Equestria: A Chronicle of Extinction. "I've got the book you requested!"
Another warning sign was the haunted, panicked look on Fluttershy's face. "Oh. Um. Well." Her eyes darted around rapidly. "I thought Spike was going to deliver it."
"He was," Twilight admitted, "But it was such a nice day out I thought I could get some fresh air and–" She paused as a portly flightless bird waddled past behind Fluttershy. It took a second to identify the relevant parts of the taxonomy - though the peculiar hooked beak and long, curved neck were kind of a give-away - before the alicorn's attention went back to the pegasus. "Is that a dodo in your house?"
Fluttershy's wing snapped up, blocking further view into her cottage. "No!" Her answer was too quick, too frightened. "Why Twilight, that's, um, I mean it's–"
"Is that a dodo in your house," Twilight repeated, and it wasn't a question this time.
"...yes," came the meek admission.
"Why– wait, no, how do you have a dodo in your house."
Fluttershy slowly lowered her wing. "Would you believe time travel?"
Twilight stopped dead. "Wait, so this isn't Discord's fault?"
"Oh no," Fluttershy confirmed. "He had nothing to do with this. You see, Spike gave me this scroll–"
Now Twilight's wings popped up. "How did Spike have that scroll? I thought Rainbow Dash had it!"
Instantly, Fluttershy's expression brightened. "Oh, so we are sharing it around? I wasn't sure when Spike said it was my turn, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity!"
"No, we aren't sharing it around! Time travel is dangerous, and I've been trying to get the scroll back ever since…" Twilight's voice trailed away as a thought pushed through her frustration. "Fluttershy. How many dodos do you have in there?"
That question, Fluttershy answered quickly and honestly. "Around six dozen. I needed at least that many to establish a viable base population. More would have been better, but, um, they're kind of hard to wrangle." She scuffed her hoof on the floor. "And I only have so much room."
For a moment, Twilight almost praised Fluttershy for paying attention to the science of it. And then she connected a few more dots - like to the book that she had brought. "New question. Fluttershy, how many previously extinct species do you currently have in your cottage?" She almost immediately modified the question. "And on the grounds around here?"
Shame forced Fluttershy to look away. "Um. Ten-ish?" It was an obvious hedge. "Or so?"
Twilight opened her mouth to press the subject, but was interrupted by a loud bellowing cry. She froze, which is good - if she had moved, she almost certainly would have been run over by the herd of spiny-backed ponysauruses that came jogging around the cottage and through the front yard.
Fluttershy cheerfully waved a wing to them. "Have a good run, Reginald!" She turned her attention back to Twilight. "His name isn't really Reginald, but it's as close as I can get. Their dialect is so archaic!" She giggled.
Twilight did not. In fact, she was downright unamused. "You brought back the dinosaurs."
"Um." Fluttershy's eyes flickered between the alicorn and the herd of dinos. "Kind of? Only the one species for now?"
A headache blossomed behind Twilight's eyes and she rubbed her forehead to try and ward it off for a little while longer. "Give me the scroll, Fluttershy. Please. Before this gets worse."
Panic galloped into the pegasus' eyes again. "I, ah, can't? I was busy trying to get all the new critters settled, and he asked if he could borrow it, so I–"
Fear was Twilight's new expression as she realized who 'he' have to have been. "Oh no."