//------------------------------//
// S9 E18: She Talks to Angel (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 16 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy knew there would be problems even after she had opened Sweet Feather Sanctuary, achieving her dream of having a place for all animals big and small alike to live in peace and be cared for. Not all animals got along with each other, after all.

The animal loving pegasus was thus convinced that this latest dispuste she'd had to resolve wasn't anything to worry about. Her sanctuary was running smoothly, even considering she had to split time between it and her duties at the School of Friendship. Still, she decided it best not to make any assumptions, and so she was hosting an impromptu meeting among her sanctuary's current occupants. This included a baby elephant, and a green scaled python with lighter green spots on its body.

The python let out a long hiss and stuck out its tongue as Fluttershy looked it firmly in the eyes. "Oh, is that so?" She asked in a tone of voice that gave no indication as to whether she was scolding the python, or lending support to it. "You say it was just an accident? You were just hungry and you mistook her for food?"

The python hissed again.

Fluttershy sighed. "Funny, that's not what Muriel says," She gestured a hoof to a baby elephant that had several bite marks on its body, a particularly large one of which was currently bandaged over. "She says you clearly lunged at her and tried to wrap yourself around her. When that didn't work, you started trying to sink your fangs into her in the hopes your venom would weaken her."

The baby elephant let out a blast from its trunk, apparently in support of that statement.

The pegasus mare sighed again. "Antoine, we've been over this. Just because predator and prey live together at my sanctuary, it doesn't you get to prey on other animals when you're hungry. I provide you with all your nutritional needs, I know you can't help it: It's what you have to do to survive. But the other animals here want to live in peace just as much as you do. Isn't that right, Angel?" She turned to where she expected to see her pet bunny, only to find that he wasn't there. "Angel?"

Suddenly, there was a crash! Fluttershy spun around in time to see several chairs that had been occupied by various other animals had been tipped over. And the source of the disturbance quickly revealed itself as who should poke up from the rubble but Angel himself?

The animal loving pegasus trotted over and scooped Angel up, glaring at him. "Angel, what was that for? I'm busy at the moment! We've talked about this."

Angel just stomped his feet down and started chattering loudly in protest.

"I am listening to you," Fluttershy insisted without raising her tone of voice. "I know you think you're helping me, but if you really wanna help me you won't bother me while I'm tending to disputes with the animals in my sanctuary," She set the bunny down and instructed. "I promise, I'll feed you in a minute. But for now, I really need to get this argument between Antoine and Muriel resolved before it gets out of control."

Angel just frowned and stomped away, clearly upset but unwilling and unable to do anything about it.

"He's been so fussy lately. I wish I knew what was bothering him," Fluttershy thought to herself. "He's never been this demanding about talking to me. I tend to him every day, don't I?" But she couldn't dwell on the subject, right now she had other issues she needed to take care of. Turning back to Antoine, she told the python. "Now you apologize to Muriel for bitting her. And if you do, I promise Muriel will never try to swat you with her trunk again."

Antoine seemed to obey the instructions more or less, and Muriel let out a happy blast from her trumpet in reply.

Fluttershy clapped her hooves. "Very good! Now both of you run along. Feel free to attend our next predator/prey support group meeting. And don't forget," She cautioned them both. "I'm having some of my students come over because they wanted to volunteer. So I want you and the rest of the animals in the sanctuary to be on your best behavior. If you behave, I have some special treats that Pinkie Pie made that I'll share with you." Then she watched as the python and the baby elephant went their separate ways.

Just then, there came an audible sneeze from a nearby tree! And in a flash of magic, the tree turned into a very familiar draconequus. "Oops!" It sincerely apologized, adopting the most guilty look imaginable.

"Discord?" Fluttershy blinked in surprise. "Were you here this whole time and I never noticed?"

Discord nodded. "Yes. And if not for that unfortunately timed sneeze, you would've kept on noticing," Then he looked around the sanctuary. "Ah, so this is that 'dream come true' you were talking about. Nice place, really. Nothing could be more chaotic than having predator and prey live alongside each other."

The animal loving pegasus shook her head from side to side. "It's not like that at all, Discord. They don't interact directly. They each have their own part of the sanctuary. I really don't know how Antoine ended up in the prey section, or why he went after Muriel like that. Even if he was hungry, I would think he'd know better than to try to take on a baby elephant."

"Don't you have any way of keeping an eye on this place when you're not around?" Discord questioned. "You surely don't trust the animals to be honest with you about everything they do."

Fluttershy replied. "I try my best to keep an eye on things. And when I can't be there, I always try to have somepony watch over the place," Then she sighed. "I really should see about getting more help, though. Between the sanctuary, the school and taking care of Angel, I can barely keep up."

The chaos maker then questioned. "Speaking of Angel, how is it you know what he's trying to tell you? I know you talk to animals, I do too. But that doesn't mean I know what they're saying or what they're trying to say."

The pegasus mare confessed. "I just have that certain skill that comes from being a good listener. It's a magic that's all my own," And she then added. "It's funny you should mention Angel, though. Lately, he's become more and more fussy and demanding. Nothing I do seems to make him happy, but he won't ever tell me why."

Discord proposed. "Have you ever thought about maybe seeing things from his point of view?"

"I wish I could, but that's impossible," Fluttershy said with an unhappy sigh. "I wish we could better understand each other like we used to. Then maybe he could help me around this sanctuary and my cottage," She shook her head. "But I can't deal with that right now. I have to get the sanctuary ready for when the students come by. Plus, Dr. Fauna's bringing over an animal that she needs my help with."

Discord watched as his best friend strolled slowly away. And in the back of his mind he started wondering if there wasn't some way he could get pony and pet to truly understand each other again. Little did he suspect that that was exactly what he was going to end up doing, albeit without meaning to do so.



By the time Fluttershy got back to the front of her sanctuary, Dr. Fauna had already showed up withh a small pet carrier. Inside it rested the animal she had brought: A small red gecko with orange stripes across its back. She quickly explained what the problem was. "Zecora found this little guy and brought him to my office. But I thought he might do better at the sanctuary. He has a rather unique problem, and I was hoping you might know something I don't."

Fluttershy was about to ask, but soon got the answer she wanted when she heard the gecko burp. A puff of black smoke escaped his mouth when he did so, causing Angel (who had been nearby) to cough and sputter as his eyes watered.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?" Dr. Fauna asked in a hopeful tone of voice.

The animal loving pegasus mare shook her head and gave a firm reply. "Ooh, I certainly haven't, I'm afraid. The Everfree Forest seems to be full of creatures no one's ever heard of before, me included."

Dr. Fauna sighed as she set the carrier down and opened the hatch to let the gecko out. "I thought maybe we could take a look at his diet. And since I'm here anyway, I might as well give all the animals a check-up," When Angel gave her a look she insisted. "Not you, Angel. You had your check-up last week, remember?" She then trotted off to do just that, carrying a bag of her medical supplies in one hoof.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, watched as the red scaled gecko tried to help itself to a piece of lettuce. She quickly snatched it away and told the gecko in no uncertain terms. "If we really want to know what's going on, we need to make sure the problem isn't your food. I'll need to carefully monitor what you've been eating, so you'll just have to wait until later."

The gecko groaned, but seemed to obey as it crawled back into its carrier.

Dr. Fauna, meanwhile, had stumbled across a rather large scroll nailed to a tree in the sanctuary. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was for, especially not once she took a glance at it. "Oh, goodness, Fluttershy. Is this the list of what you do every day?" She asked the pegasus. "How do you ever find time for anything else?"

The pegasus pony proclaimed in reply. "Well, that's why I have some of my students volunteering out here today. I also put a few help wanted ads in the Equestria Society for Rare Creatures' magazine. No replies yet, but I'm hoping I'll hear back from some possible candidates soon."

"And what about that other friend of yours?" Dr. Fauna questioned. "What's his name again? Discord?"

Fluttershy could only shake her head. "He just comes and goes whenever he feels like it. He wouldn't wanna be tied down to anything. And I need help that I know I can rely on in a pinch."

Dr. Fauna simply replied. "Well, I sure hope your students know what they're getting into. You're pretty much the one who keeps this whole place running. Why, without you, this place would probably be a zoo," She chuckled a bit at her unintentional rhyme. "Oh, goodness, Zecora must be rubbing off on me."

Just then, Angel came bouncing over and immediately tugged on Fluttershy's tail, clearly trying to get her attention.

"What is it now, Angel? I'm busy!" The pegasus mare with pretty pink bangs grumbled. "I don't have time to give you treats, and your tail fluffing isn't for another hour. You know I'm busy, you know I have a lot of chores to do," She pointed to the list nailed to the tree. "So please tell me this is important!"

Angel began to chitter loudly and profusely.

Fluttershy translated. "Listen to you for once? Just what exactly is that supposed to mean?! I'm listening now, aren't I?!"

Angel just went on chittering, clearly upset about something if his body language was any indication.

"You wanna help?" Fluttershy guessed, apparently deciphering Angel's ranting statement. "Well, you can 'help' me by not pestering me when I've got other animals to tend to. I promise, once the students get here and I've showed them what to do, I'll have more time to spend doing whatever you wanna do. But until then, you'll just have to be patient. It's not my fault the sanctuary keeps me busy."

The little bunny could only roll his eyes, then he stomped his feet and scampered off again in protest.

The animal loving pegasus sighed as she fiddled with her bangs. "Oh, I need more help than I realized. I just have so much to do that only I can do."

"Would it help if I came by more often?" Dr. Fauna proposed. "I've been to this place so many times for check-ups, I think I'm starting to get the layout memorized."

Fluttershy just sighed further. "I can't ask you to take time out from your job to come help me with mine. I'll manage, somehow," Then she glanced up at the sky. "I wish I knew what was keeping those students. They should've been here by now. Just my luck they'd get lost."

Dr. Fauna simply replied. "Well, in the meantime, I suppose I should remind you of some important things concerning some of my patients here. Clementine the giraffe is still getting over her neck injury, so I'd recommend massaging it for a couple of days. And of course, Scout the flamingo needs to keep shifting his weight so he doesn't hurt his legs."

"I'll add it to the list, when I find the time," Fluttershy promised, before hearing the sound of crashing and of various animals crying out about how something had disturbed their peace and quiet. "Better go see what that's all about." She decided, and took off as fast as she could to investigate.





As it turned out, several habitats for the animals at the sanctuary had been crudely and abruptly ranscaked. And Angel was right there, stomping his feet impatiently.

"Angel! I can't believe you!" Fluttershy growled at the bunny! "You didn't have to make a mess of the sanctuary just because I'm not paying attention to you!"

But at that moment, Discord appeared in a poof of magic. And he sniffled a bit, before blowing his nose. "Oh, it wasn't Angel's fault, really. That was my fault," He then willingly admitted. "I'm not sure what it is, but lately my magic kind of seems to be on the fritz. Sometimes it works perfectly, and other times... well, you can see for yourself."

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin. "That's weird. Your magic was working just fine leading up to the Summer Sun Celebration, and immediately after it. That's also around the time Angel started getting more fussy, as if something was bothering him. But he just won't tell me what it is."

The chaos maker pondered. "Perhaps you two need to see what it's like to be one another, maybe if you could see things the way Angel is seeing them you'd know what it is that's got him so upset."

The animal loving pegasus protested. "I can't do that, not now, not today! I've got too much to do! Angel should know that," And she lamented. "I wish he could understand just how important all the things I do around here are. He seems to think he knows, but he really doesn't. And there isn't much he could do to help me even if he did."

"I see," Discord commented while stroking his goat beard. "Well, what if I..." But then he trailed off as the whiskers on his nose began to twitch. "Hu... hu..."

"What? Is something wrong?" Fluttershy questioned the draconequus. "Oh, you're not sick, are you? Can you even get sick?"

Discord didn't answer, he just shut his eyes as the twitch on his nose grew stronger. And then, without warning, he let out a mighty "ACHOO!" The noise echoed everywhere, it was even loud enough to generate a small shockwave!

As it just so happened, the sneeze contained a bit of magic. Magic that affected Fluttershy and Angel due to them being within close range of the sudden blast. Once things had settled down, both quickly realized that something was not right! Both were looking frantically at themselves, discovering that their bodies felt "different" for lack of a better term.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, hang on, hold up!" Fluttershy suddenly spoke up in a rather weird, deep pitched voice. "What just happened?! Am I a pony? Why am I a pony?!"

Angel, for his part, just let out a very high pitched scream!

Fluttershy blinked her eyes and pondered, still talking in that deep voice. "Question. Did we switch bodies?" She asked while looking at Angel, who seemed to nod back at her.

Angel, for his part, just glared at Discord while pulling back his ears and chittering loudly.

"Oops! Sorry!" Discord sincerely apologized. "I did not mean for this to happen!" He quickly prepared to snap his talons. "Hold on, let me just turn you back to normal" He snapped his talons, but nothing happened. He snapped again, and still nothing happened. "Uh-oh, this might be a problem."

Fluttershy spun around and gazed up at the chaos maker. "What do you mean?! Are we stuck like this?!"

The draconequus hastily insisted. "No! A...at least... I don't think so. But," He gulped and made himself really small as he admitted. "My magic doesn't seem to doing what I want it to do to you. I can't change you back. You'll just have to... get used to being in each others bodies for a while. But it should wear off eventually," Hesitantly he added. "I hope." And then he turned himself back to his normal size.

"Fluttershy" just smirked while gazing down at "Angel". "Well, looks like the tables have turned. Now I'm the one in charge. And you, you're practically helpless. Maybe now you wish you'd have spent more time listening to me."

"Angel" just squeaked and made a series of gestures with his mouth. "Fluttershy" seemed to understand what was being said. "What's that? How are you gonna do your chores now?!  Really? That's what you're worried about? You obviously have much bigger problems than that."

"Angel" only protested, glaring up at "Fluttershy". And "Fluttershy" only snapped back. "Well too bad, I don't like it either but it looks like we're stuck like this for now! And guess what? I don't have to listen to you anymore, now I can talk to anypony I want. Nopony will ever know that I'm you and you're me, know what I'm saying?"

But "Angel" just yanked hard on "Fluttershy's" tail, forcing the pegasus to look down at him.

"Fluttershy" rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Hey, I'm supposed to be the demanding one, not the other way around! I'm bigger than you, so I can do whatever I want! You can't make me do anything!"

"Angel" only replied by turning around, directing his gaze towards the Everfree Forest off in the distance.

Discord gulped. "What? You think Zecora might know how to fix this? You're not seriously thinking of going in there, are you? In your small stature," He snapped his talons, producing a perfect puppet of the white coated bunny. "Why, one wrong step and," He dropped the puppet on the ground and made it disappear. "...Well, you know about animals. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you."

And "Fluttershy" giggled at the bunny's idea. "You really don't know what it's like being a bunny. There's no way you'll make it to Zecora's. And don't forget, that's my body. If you let anything happen to it, you're gonna be in so much trouble when we switch back!"

"Angel" was not deterred in the slightest, he just maintained a serious look in his eyes.

"Fluttershy" only replied with indifference. "Well, good luck with that, buddy. Trust me, you'll need it," Then she sniffed the air. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I smell some carrots with my name on them."

But before the pegasus could go anywhere, her tail was again yanked on by "Angel" who proceeded to stomp his paws down in protest. "What? What do you want from me now?" The pegasus inquired, and soon found out from the bunny. "Oh, you want me to finish your chores? Well, what if I don't wanna?" She replied in a scoffing, indifferent tone of voice. "Why should I listen to you when you wouldn't listen to me?"

In response, "Angel" narrowed his eyes and harshly glared up at the pegasus. The pegasus pony found herself frozen in her tracks by the gaze. She knew at once what it was. "What? 'The Stare'?! You can still do that?! That is so unfair!" She then sighed and said to "Angel". "Okay, fine, I'll do your silly chores! Just make sure you bring my body back in one piece."

Satisfied with the response, the white coated bunny hopped away and set off for the entrance.

Discord gulped and swallowed hard as he turned to "Fluttershy". "Well, I'd better make sure nothing bad happens to her. You... just hold down the fort here and try not to make a mess of things. And remember, you're Fluttershy now. No one can know about this. We don't need ponies to panic!" Then he chased after "Angel" while hollering. "Hey, wait for me, Fluttershy! I mean Angel! I mean..." He groaned. "Oh, you know who I'm talking to you! Please, think about this!" And soon, he was out of sight.

The body swapped pegasus just sighed and groaned, realizing the predicament "she" was in. "I always knew that guy was trouble. But does Fluttershy ever listen to me about him: Nooooooo."





"Fluttershy" returned to the front of the sanctuary in time to be greeted by an earth pony filly wearing a headgear exactly the same as the one depicted on her flanks as a cutie mark. Accompanying her was a pink feathered bird like creature, an olive green coated bug like creature, and a yak with pink bows in its hair. "Fluttershy" looked at them with the most bewildered look, as if she didn't recognize them at all.

The headgear wearing filly was the first one of the bunch to speak up. "Hey, why are you looking at us like that, Fluttershy? You remember, it's me, Diamond Tiara," She pointed a hoof to the other creatures. "And these are some of the students from the school: Silverstream, Ocellus and Yona. Twilight sent me to get them and bring them here," She then sheepishly blushed. "We kind of got a little lost, though."

Ocellus whimpered and stepped back as she apologized. "It's not my fault. So many buildings in town look the same, it's hard to know which way you're supposed to go."

Silverstream just proclaimed. "But we're here now, and we're ready to help. You said we'd get extra credit for our kindness classes if we did. So, what do you want us to do? What can we help you with?"

Yona nodded. "Yeah! Yona want to help all creatures! Yaks best at helping creatures in need!"

"Fluttershy" blinked slowly, thinking in silence for a moment. "Oh... oh!" She exclaimed and then hastily insisted. "Er... give me a moment I... forgot you were coming over today," She apologized. "Sorry, I've just been very busy as you can see," Then the pegasus asked. "Now, where's that stupid list of chores Flutttershy... I mean I always have?"

Diamond Tiara eyed the pegasus pony with suspicion. "Are you feeling okay, Fluttershy? You're acting like you don't even know yourself. Did you hit your head or something?"

Ocellus then gasped! "Or what if you're Chrysalis trying to trick us again?! You've always been bad at acting!"

But "Fluttershy" threw up her hooves and insisted! "Oh no no no! It's me, Fluttershy, alright!" And she hastily rambled on while speaking in a rather deep tone of voice. "You know: I talk to animals, I'm best friends with Discord..."

Diamond breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it is you. Oh thank goodness. Don't scare us like that," Then she asked. "Uh, why are you talking funny?"

"Fluttershy" coughed into a hoof. "Sorry, bit of a cold. Can't help it. Nothing for you to worry about. Now, have any of you see my list of chores? I know it's here somewhere."

Silverstream pointed a claw to a nearby tree. "Uh, I think it's over there. It looks like you've got something hanging from that tree."

"Fluttershy" fixed her gaze upon the list nailed to the tree just a short ways away. She strolled over to it, all the while appearing to groan. "Oh, yeah. There's my good old list of chores that I will absolutely not rush through," She nervously laughed. "I... I knew it was there all along. I was just... testing you guys," She went over and inspected the list. "You don't need any further instructions from me. Just go look around the sanctuary and help any critters that need to be helped. I'll check on you... if I find the time."

"O...kay then," Diamond blinked but nevertheless obeyed as she turned to the hippogriff, changeling and yak. "Best if we all split up and check different parts of the sanctuary."

Yona nodded. "Yona ready to help!" And with that, the pony and the three other creatures all went off to different parts of the sanctuary to see if there was anything they could do to help.

"Fluttershy" breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the four helpers split off. "That was too close," She wiped the sweat from her brows, then turned her attention back to the list. "Alright, let's see here:" She began reading aloud various responsibilities that needed to be done. "Check Muriel's trunk," She turned around and gazed off to her left, noticing the baby elephant with her trunk having just inhaled a set of keys on a ring. "Eh, seems fine to me. As long as we don't need those keys. If we do, I'm sure Muriel will cough 'em up," Then she read further. "Massage Clementine's neck... er save that one for later, once I get used to the wings. Get Scout to switch legs," She looked off into the distance, spoting the flamingo who was currently dozing. "Probably best not to wake him. Seems easy so far."

Just then, however, there came the sound of hissing and rattling in the distance. "Fluttershy" was certain she knew what that meant. "Antoine's at it again, huh? Well, unlike Fluttershy, I'm not gonna go easy on him. She lets him get away with far too much."

The pegasus pony soon approached the python, and bent her head down to glare at him. "Well, well, well," She smirked. "Aren't you just the little trouble maker?"

The python hissed and stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah yeah, you're hungry. You're always hungry, you know that?" "Fluttershy" scolded him. "Sorry, mister, no more free rides. You can starve for all I care. That special treat you were promised? You can forget it. Just go find something to eat that won't cause any problems for me. And remember, no eating guests!" She watched the python slink slowly away, all the while she could heard his stomach grumble. Oh well, if it would teach him to behave, she didn't care. "I don't see what's so hard about this job. Fluttershy is such a whiner." She remarked as she strolled off to go look over the list once more, just to be sure she wasn't forgetting anything.





"Angel", meanwhile, had been working his way through the Everfree Forest all alone, determined to reach Zecora's hut and enlist the zebra enchanthress' help (assuming Zecora would be able to understand the bunny, who was actually a pony trapped in the bunny's body).

Despite the fact that he had technically wandered into and out of the forest several times before, "Angel" found that this time things were not as easy. Obstacles that would've been cleared no problem for a pony were a huge hurdle to overcome for a bunny. Massive logs, fallen treen branches, giant footprints, you name it. Yeah, maybe they were only big to a bunny. But when you were a bunny yourself, that was the problem.

Still, somehow, "Angel" struggled on as best he could. He had to reach Zecora's, he just had to!

Discord wasn't too far behind, but from the heavy panting he was making it was clear that he was already feeling exhausted. "How am I supposed to keep up with you if you keep running ahead before I can catch you?" He complained. "I can't just teleport and leave you all by yourself. Do you have to do everything by yourself? Maybe if you learned to let others help you a little more often, you wouldn't find yourself in these messes?"

"Angel" turned and looked at Discord, chittering and impatiently stomping his paws.

The witty spirit sighed. Of course the bunny would be stubborn, the pony trapped inside the bunny's body wanted to return to their original pony body. "Look, can we just turn back?" He insisted as he turned into a massive sign pointing in the direction from which he'd come. "I said this would all wear off eventually. Isn't it better to just wait it out? If you're not back to normal by tomorrow, then we can see Zecora."

But "Angel" would not be persuaded to abandon his quest. The bunny just looked at Discord with pleading eyes.

The draconequus frowned. "Oh, you always have to do this. You always make me feel guilty if I don't help you out," He let out a deep, drawn out sigh. "Well, I guess this is kind of my fault. But can we at least stick together until we make it back to your sanctuary? Let me do the hard work, you just rest." And he scooped the bunny into his paws.

"Angel" tried to argue, but eventually was persuaded to let Discord carry him through the forest.

Discord's frown slowly became replaced by a smile. "Okay, that's better. It's much easier when we cooperate," Then he snapped his talons, producing a map. "Now let's see: Just how far are we from Zecora's anyway?" He turned the map in every direction, his eyes scanning it to try to make sense of it. "Oh, why does this forest have to be so thick and dense? Everything looks the same from here. How does anypony ever find their way around this place? I liked it better when you ponies stayed out of this forest completely," Then he made the map disappear. "Well, never mind. Let's just keep going forward. I'm sure we'll bump into Zecora eventually."

"Angel" reluctantly agreed.

As Discord snapped his talons and made a small pouch appear for him to place the bunny inside of for safe keeping, he began to think to himself. "I hope Angel's having better luck than Fluttershy and I are. This is not how I wanted to spend my day."





"Fluttershy" was scrolling down the list, halfheartedly reading every chore that had been written down. "Did that," She muttered as she kept scrolling, holding the list in one hoof. "I'll do that later... that's already taken care of..." One hastily added chore caught her attention. "Monitor Zecora's gecko until bedtime?" She grumbled under her breath. "Really? I have to do that? He hasn't been coughing smoke since he was dropped off here, probably just something he ate," But she still decided. "Oh, whatever, might as well get it over with," Then an idea came to her. "In fact, why don't I do bedtime now?"

The pegasus strolled over to the red scaled gecko and asked it immediately. "All right, dude. How about we do bedtime now? You good with that?"

The gecko just replied with a series of soft chirps.

"Fluttershy" nodded in agreement. "Yeah, eating always makes me tired, too. Which reminds me," She sniffed the air and licked her lips as a delicious scent reach her nostrils. "There's some carrot extract with my name on it. Fluttershy says it's for emergencies, and I'd say this is an emergency alright. I get cranky if I don't keep my bully full," She then turned back to the gecko. "Okay! Let's get you fed and off to dreamland! Now where did Fluttershy put those lettuce leafs you were munching on earlier?"

But the gecko simply eyed some stray leafs down on the ground nearby that looked tempting. So it slowly strolled over and helped itself to them, happily chomping away. When it was finished, it burped and a small puff of smoke escaped.

"Fluttershy" wasn't worried. "Just drink some water before bed, you'll be alright," And then she set the list down. "Okay, I took care of everything on the list. Now it's time to help myself to some carrot extract. I've earned it!"

Following her nose, the pegasus pony let the scent of the carrot extract guide her through the sanctuary. Eventually, it led her to a door in front of a large cave. Even with all the caves in the sanctuary, it stood out in bold detail. There was just one problem, when she tried the door knob with a hoof it wouldn't budge. It was locked.

"Oh come on!" "Fluttershy" groaned and started jiggling the knob, hoping that would solve the problem. It didn't.

Just then, who should come running up to "Fluttershy" but Diamond Tiara herself? Her eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates, and it seemed like she had come running in a state of near panic! "Oh... thank... goodness..." She panted, then paused to catch her breath. "You've gotta come quickly! It's really bad!"

"What is it?" "Fluttershy" impatiently grumbled. "Can't this wait?"

Diamond shook her head from side to side. "No, it can't! It's Antoine, he bit Muriel, really badly! Muriel's spooked!"

The animal loving pegasus nearly jumped in surprise! "He did what?!"

"Your students are trying to restrain her, but we need your help right away!" Diamond pleaded! "You have snake bite antidote, right?! Right?!"

"I'm sure I do... somewhere," "Fluttershy" replied, and got an idea. "In fact, why don't you go look for it while I... er... help the students?" And she rushed away without another word!





By the time "Fluttershy" found Muriel, the baby elephant was madly thrashing about and swaying her trunk from side to side! She had left a trail of destruction and devestation in her wake, the sanctuary was a mess!

Silverstream, Ocellus and Yona were all doing their best to try to calm the rampaging baby elephant down. But it was clear from the marks across their bodies that they hadn't been having much luck.

Yona was digging into the ground with her back hooves, while her front hooves tried to grab hold of Muriel's back legs (just above which was a clearly visible gash wound indicating where Antoine had sank his fangs). "Yona say it time to stop!" She pleaded, grunting and groaning with all her might. Yet it seemed even her natural yak strength was no match for that of a panic stricken elephant.

"Hey, come on now!" Silverstream tried to call to the elephant. "Fluttershy will be here soon, she'll get you fixed up! Why don't you cool down with a nice drink of water? There's some water over there!" She gestured a paw to a nearby stream. "Come on, you must be thirsty after all this running around. And, maybe water will clear up that blockage in your trunk."

Ocellus was flying alongside Silverstream, dodging trunk swipes as best she could. "Oh, I wish I knew how to speak elephant so I could tell her to calm down." She lamented aloud.

"Yona try, Yona can speak to animals now!" Yona insisted, then took a deep breath and made the best impression of an elephant she could muster up on short notice.

Alas, it did nothing to calm Muriel down or make the baby elephant stop. It seemed like she was going to keep on going until she collapsed from exhaustion, or the venom weakened her to the point where she would have no strength left at all.

Just as "Fluttershy" arrived on the scene, who should show up but Dr. Fauna? She looked like she had been to Tartarus and back, given her frazzled mane and torn jacket. "Fluttershy, what is going on?!" She demanded of the animal loving pegasus. "Look at what's happening to your sanctuary! I thought things were under control!"

The pegasus looked around, seeing that the entire sanctuary was in a state of unrest! Animals were running loose, roaring, hissing and making a cacophony of near deafening noise! The gecko's smoke filled belches had turned into firey burps that had set various small patches of grass alight! Clementine the giraffe coughed and groaned as she couldn't move her neck an inch without experiencing pain. And Scout the flamingo was sobbing while holding one of his legs as it made a sick cracking sound.

Dr. Fauna furiously demanded! "How could you let this happen?! You did all the chores on your list!"

"Fluttershy" shrugged her hooves. "Well, yeah, technically I did. But technically it's not my list."

"What?! What are you talking about?!" Ocellus blinked as she flew over to "Fluttershy". "You've been acting strange all day! What's gotten into you?! This isn't like you at all!"

"Fluttershy" only replied. "You wouldn't understand. Trust me, you don't want to know what's really going on," And then she questioned. "Why's everycreature getting on my case all of a sudden? Do you want my help or not?"

"Just please, get Muriel to stop running wild!" Silverstream protested! "And hurry up with the antidote! I don't think Muriel can fight off the venom for much longer!"

Just then, there came a flash of light. And then, appearing before the group of frazzled, frustrated and confused creatures was none other than Discord. In a pouch on his front, he held a very worn and battered looking "Angel". "Oh, thank goodness. I don't think you could've lasted another minute in that forest," And he set "Angel" down. As he did so, his eyes beheld the state the sanctuary was in. "Wow!" He exclaimed as his eyes actually popped out of his head, and he quickly popped them back in. "Now this is chaos! And for once, I didn't have to do anything."

"Discord, what is going on?!" Dr. Fauna demanded! "Fluttershy's acting strange, and now Angel looks like he's about to collapse from exhaustion! And you're saying that none of this is your doing?"

Discord snapped his talons, revealing him standing on a wooden stand as he raised a paw and insisted. "I tell you, I'm innocent. I'm telling you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

"Angel" just let out a whimper.

Silverstream blinked in confusion. "Uh, what's he saying, Fluttershy?"

But Yona insisted. "Yona can translate, kind of. Something different about Angel," She listened as "Angel" tried to convey what had happened to him and to Fluttershy. Yona translated as best she could. "Angel say that he not Angel? That Fluttershy and he switch bodies by accident?"

Diamond (who had just emerged on the scene a short time later) rolled her eyes. "You expect us to believe that? That makes way too much sense."

Ocellus just groaned as she protested. "What does it matter? We just need to figure out how to make things right," And then she looked over to Mauriel, seeing the baby elephant's knees give way as she fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Quick!" She shouted! "Give me the antidote!"

But Diamond Tiara gulped. "I don't have it! I looked everywhere in the cottage and couldn't find it! I don't know where else it could be, I was hoping Fluttershy could tell me!"

Discord groaned, losing what patience he had. "Oh, for goodness sake! Do I have to do everything around here?!" He snapped his talons and disappeared, then he reappeared a short time later holding a large vial and a syringe. "Here, this is the antidote. Now hurry up and give it to Muriel before it's too late!"

"I got it!" Silverstream insisted as she frantically flapped her wings, snatched up the vial and then flew over to Mauriel. Looking the baby elephant all over, she tried to find a good place to make the injection. A task made hard by her trembling paws. Eventually, she gritted her teeth. "Let this work!" And she thrusted the syringe hard into one of Muriel's legs.





For a moment, there was silence. And then, slowly but surely, Muriel rose back to her legs and let out a happy cry! The injection had worked just in time!

"Okay, we've got that problem taken care of," Tiara commented as she breathed a small sigh of relief. "Now we just need to take care of everything else."

Silverstream gave a quick salute. "I'll take care of the fires!" She rushed away while clutching her Pearl of Transformation necklace tightly.

"Yona will clean up wreackage and get animals back to where they belong," Yona vowed. "Yak hope all animals listen to her and that she understand them like she understand Angel."

Dr. Fauna, meanwhile, was tending to "Angel" as she watched Yona depart. "Angel needs a jar of concentrated carrot extract! Stat!" She cried out! "Anyone know where it is?!"

Diamond gulped. "I think it's back at the storage cave."

Ocellus then gasped as a realization struck her! "And we can't open it without the keys! Where are the keys?!"

"Fluttershy" whimpered and looked guilty. "I think I know where they are." She pointed a hoof to Muriel, whose trunk had an obvious key shaped bulge to it.

"Don't look at me!" Ocellus protested as all eyes fell on her. "No way am I shrinking down and flying up that trunk! That's just gross!" She shuddered at the image of doing such a thing. "There's gotta be another way!"

"Maybe we could scare the keys out of her?" Discord proposed. "I could probably turn into Antoine and give Muriel a good squeeze."

But the headgear wearing filly got an idea. "I bet I know how we can get the keys out," Turning to Discord, she asked him. "Can you poof back to the kitchen?"

"What for?" The spirit questioned. "And I don't know if I like taking orders from you."

Tiara adopted a knowing smirk as she pointed out. "Fluttershy's right over there you know. I'm sure she would say you should listen to me. Just go to the kitchen and get some pepper."

The witty chaos maker reluctantly agreed. "Fine, just this once. But only for Fluttershy's sake. I've been doing far more helping today than I'm used to doing," He quickly disappeared with a snap of his talons, and returned shortly with a shaker full of pepper. "Here's your pepper. Hope you know what you're doing with it."

Diamond Tiara grinned. "Oh, I do," She took the shaker and gave it to Ocellus. "Just get close to Muriel, and give the shaker a good shake. The pepper should do the rest."

Ocellus obeyed, grabbing the shaker and then buzzing her wings as she flew towards the baby elephant with the keys. When she got close enough, she shook up the shaker, watching as some of its contents spilled out into the air. Most of it ended up in the trunk of Muriel. Muriel stopped in her tracks a second later, her eyes began to water as she adopted the most unusual look on her face.

Diamond screamed! "She's gonna blow! Hit the deck!" And she dropped to the ground, covering her head with her hooves!

Muriel stood up on her back legs and raised her trunk high into the air as she let out a great sneeze! The sneeze was powerful enough to eject the keys on their keyring from her trunk, sending it flying high into the air!

Ocellus quickly grabbed the keys! "Got it!" She shouted and flew back to Diamond, Dr. Fauna, Discord and "Angel".

Dr. Fauna immediately took the keys. "I'll get the carrot juice! I just hope I'm not too late." And she raced away to retrieve the jar she knew Fluttershy kept in case of emergencies.





The carrot juice extract worked just like Dr. Fauna hoped it would. "Angel" was revived and restored to full health in a heartbeat. The little bunny's eyes soon fluttered open.

"You're awake! Oh, thank goodness!" "Fluttershy" exclaimed with relief! "For a moment there, I wasn't sure you'd ever wake up again."

"Angel" replied by chattering and whimpering, visibly frightened if the look on his face was any indication.

"Fluttershy" was quick to translate. "You actually tried to go all the way to Zecora's and back all by yourself? I can't believe you survived!"

Discord remarked. "Well, it was all thanks to me. If I hadn't you wouldn't have..." But then he clamped a paw over his mouth, refusing to say more.

All eyes fell upon the draconequus as Dr. Fauna took the liberty of asking. "What, Discord? I don't buy for a second that all this weirdness isn't somehow connected to you. Fluttershy's told me you like to cause trouble."

"Why does everypony keep saying that?" Discord humphed as he spoke through his clamped mouth. "I don't intentionally cause chaos anymore. I'm a good guy now!"

Diamond eyed the chaos maker with skepticism. "You sure have a funny way of showing it."

The witty spirit simply replied. "Oh, hush. You're gonna ruin the bonding moment these two are having." He gestured over to "Angel" and "Fluttershy" as the two were continuing to talk to each other.

"Fluttershy" was now apologizing to "Angel". "I thought I was helping, but I see now that your work is far more important than I realized. The animals here are crazy! No wonder you don't have time to listen to me. You certainly need help, more help than I can give you."

"Angel" replied by making a series of gestures and then coughing.

"Fluttershy" simply retorted. "My life is hard? No, your life is hard!" And when "Angel" protested, she just protested back. "You never appreciated me? No! I never appreciated you! But I do now!"

"Angel" seemed to calm down and adopt a rather guilty look in his eyes.

"Fluttershy" just responded by picking up the bunny and cradling him in her arms. "You're sorry? I'm sorry, too! If we ever get back to normal, I promise I'll never bother you again. Now come here, you little bunny who's a pony who's a bunny!"

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash and a whir of magic! It faded a moment later, and pony and bunny seemed to be looking at themselves with the most bewildered expressions.

When Fluttershy finally spoke up again, her voice no longer had that deep tone she'd been using for quite some time. "Oh, my goodness! I'm back! I'm a pony again!"

Discord, for his part, breathed a much needed sigh of relief as he unclamped his paw from his mouth. "See? Like I said, it wore off. There was no need to be so dramatic."

"So it was you!" Ocellus realized with a gasp!

Yona blinked in surprise and confusion. "Angel was Fluttershy and Fluttershy was Angel? Yak confused."

The wacky draconequus simply confessed. "It wasn't on purpose, or anything. My magic just got a little bit... out of control, that's all. Happens to the best of us, right?"

Dr. Fauna could only blink her eyes and remark. "I thought there was something off about Fluttershy, but I couldn't put my hoof on it," Then she told him. "Please, the next time something like this happens, don't keep it a secret from us."

Discord nodded quite slowly. "Believe me, if something like this does happen again, which it won't by the way, you'll be the first to know," Then he looked to Fluttershy. "By the way, did you find out what it was that was making Angel so fussy? What it was he was trying to bring to your attention?"

Fluttershy was confused for a moment. "Huh?" Then it dawned on her. "Oh, now that you mention it, I think I did. I was so focused on trying to be a bunny and not a pony that I almost didn't notice it. But I could definitely sense there was an... imbalance of some sort. Like there was something off. I couldn't sense it as a pony though, and even as a bunny it was so faint I could barely detect it," She looked to Angel and told the bunny. "I'm sorry I didn't take the time to listen to you sooner. I definitely need to step up the process of finding volunteers for the sanctuary so that it doesn't have to come to this again."

Dr. Fauna just stood up. "Well, that's nice and everything. But what about that smoke belching gecko? I told Zecora you'd figure out what was going on with it."

"Oh, you mean this little guy here?" Silverstream asked as she presented the red scaled lizard. "I think Fluttershy mentioned them in one of her classes." And seconds after she spoke, the lizard belched out a tiny flame that thankfully didn't catch anything on fire.

The vet smiled as the realization dawned on her! "Oh, of course! Now I see! He isn't a gecko. He's a fire lizard," And she sheepishly confessed. "I forgot that before they get their flame, it's hard to tell them apart." And she gave off a nervous laugh.

"Well then, it looks like my work here is done," Discord insisted while flashing a content smile. Then he snapped his talons, making several large travel bags appear. "Now, if nocreature needs me, I think I'll just be going."

Fluttershy looked to the draconequus with concern. "Going where, Discord? Are you going on a trip?"

Discord explained. "If there really is a magical imbalance, it's probably what caused my powers to malfunction the way they did. I'm going to get to the bottom of it, although I'm sure it's nothing. At least, nothing any of you need to worry about," To Fluttershy he then added. "Don't tell Twilight about this. No need to add more to her plate ahead of her coronation. But I'll be back in time for the after party, so save me a seat." Then, after making a portal appear from out of thin air, he stepped through it and disappeared.

The animal loving pegasus watched her friend disappear, a concerned look forming on her face in the process. "Please be careful, Discord." She said softly, and ultimately to herself.