//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Welcome to Ponyville, Squirrel // Story: Dead Squirrel in Equestria // by OGBlitz14 //------------------------------// Everyone around the site, couldn't believe what they were seeing. They were seeing a Squirrel that was showing its brain, but how could it be possible to have a skull open and your slimy mind exposed? It doesn't make sense. Many thoughts were running through Twilight's mind and in a panic, she yelled: "WHAT IN CELESTIA!!!?" The Ponies, Fillies, and Draconequus weren't phased by her panicked scream right by their ears, since they still had their eyes locked on the Squirrel. "A-ah feel the same way, Twahlight." Applejack muttered to Twilight, while trying to process what she was seeing and she was still trying to wake up Rarity from her unconscious nap. "I-It looks a little... creepy." Rainbow Dash admitted as she felt a lump go down her throat, struggling to finish her sentence. "Well it's a little chaotic, but it's more of a scare than chaos." Discord muttered casually with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah, it sure is spooky." Pinkie said in her usual energetic and bubbly voice. In fact, it seemed that she didn't seem fazed by the rodent showing its own brain. She happily bounced toward the Squirrel, but Scootaloo got in front of her to stop her proceeding to the Squirrel. "Pinkie, be careful of that Squirrel." Scootaloo informed while keeping her eyes on the rodent. "It's a Zombie and will try to bi-" She stopped when she realized that Pinkie wasn't behind her when she laid her eyes on where she thought she was. She moved her attention to the rodent and she spotted Pinkie next to the Squirrel and instantly, she had a worried expression. "Wowie, this is some nice make-up." She was bouncing around the Squirrel in a circle and was inspecting the Zombie rodent. "Whoever designed this Squirrel as a Zombie, sure loves to prank Ponies with some serious make-up effects." "Pinkie's right." Rainbow exclaimed, wiping the uneasy expression off her face and replacing it with a confident one. She flew to the Squirrel who looked awkward about the Pony floating in front of him. "There's no such thing as a... Zombie Squirrel. I mean, it's obvious that somepony is pulling a huge prank on Ponies and the prank master herself." "Yeah and look at this fake, but well made brain. It's so freakyyyyy." Said Pinkie as she was eyeing the rodent's brain. Rainbow flew even closer to the Squirrel and put a hoof on its brain. "Yeah, it's just a fake... brain." Rainbow affirmed with a confident look, but there was a small fraction of doubt on her face and voice. "I-I mean this is just obviously... a... I mean it's... it's..." Doubt was slowly taking over her confidence when she couldn't think of an explanation about the Squirrel's brain being fake. She snapped our of her trance when she felt something touch her hoof. She laid her eyes on the touch and it turned out it was the Squirrel who put his his Squirrelly paws on it. The Squirrel pushed her hoof off its brain and surprisingly, he succeeded even though he was small. While Rainbow was surprised by his strength, she was going to be more shocked on what the Squirrel was going to next. "Hey, don't touch my brain." Rainbow had a thunderstruck expression on her face instantly when she saw Squirrel's mouth move and heard a voice come out. Everypony and Draconequus were shocked as well, except the Cutie Mark Crusaders who didn't look fazed at all. As fast as lighting, Rainbow flew back from the Squirrel and stopped by Applejack and Rarity who was still in her unconscious nap. "I-i-it t-talked." Rainbow said, struggling to get her words out. Pinkie appeared behind Rainbow like she teleported from her previous spot, but nopony seemed perplexed about it, since it was Pinkie being Pinkie and they were focused on the talking Squirrel. "Now I understand why Fluttershy likes talking to animals." Said Pinkie with her usual voice, even though she was surprised a few seconds ago. "This is so-" "CONFUSING!!!" Twilight interrupted with a confused shout. Her eyes were the size of tiny periods. Her brows were raised and she even had her left lower eyelid twitch a little when she still had her eyes on the Squirrel. She looked like she just came out from a loony bin. Everypony, Draconequus, and the brain showing Squirrel all had their attention on her. "It makes no sense that this Squirrel here, is walking or has its... mind showing and treats it as if nothing is wrong with it! And how in Celestia's name does it talk in our language?!" She stated as she looked like her mind might explode, literally. Before it might actually burst, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put a hoof on her head to calm her down. "Discord, please tell me that this is just one of your chaotic pranks." She muttered to Discord in a pleading tone. "As much as I love to see you worked up from my chaos, Twilight, this unfortunately isn't one of my doings." He informed her with a curious look eyed on the Squirrel. "But... but this doesn't make sense. This can't be a simple wild Squirrel, so it has to be... no, it needs to be a new species or... something else that isn't a Squirrel, but what?" "It's a Zombie." Apple Bloom answered Twilight's questionable muttering. Twilight snapped out of her thoughtful mutters and looked at Apple Bloom with confused, but mostly shocked expression. 'A Zombie? No, it couldn't be. It's physically impossible for a creature to exist. It... just... makes... no sense.' Twilight thought. "A Zombie?" Rainbow asked. "Yes, it is a Zombie." Answered Scootaloo. "Wait, how do you know it is a Zombie, squirt?" "Because, it told us when we stopped it from attacking us." Rainbow had a small glare form on her face and she looked at the Squirrel. Why would this Squirrel attack her biggest fan? Before she can scold the Squirrel, he talked first before she could. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. I didn't attack you, you attacked me." Squirrel bickered. "Yeah because you were attacking and scaring Ponyville." Scootaloo argued back. "Wait a secon', that rodent is the beast that is scarin' Ponyville?" Asked Applejack. "He sure is, sis." Replied Apple Bloom. 'Of course.' Thought Twilight in fathom. She had forgotten that a monster was lurking around Ponyville because once she saw the Squirrel, she had almost lost it, thinking about the logical possibilities that the Squirrel was defying. Such as talking in her language and surviving with its brain showing from its skull. The Squirrel speaking in their language was a major discovery, but its mind exposed mind was a repulsive sight, but also a fascinating wonder in her mind. 'This Squirrel here really is a Zombie, but how can it be? It talks, listens, and responds back like any normal Pony, meaning it still has to be in a conscience state, so it can't be a Zombie. But what could it be? I don't know, but that can wait... for now. Right now, I should resolve this situation.' Suddenly, a weak groan was heard that caught Twilight's attention. She turned her head to the right and saw that the groaning was coming from Rarity. She finally opened her eyes and woken up from seeing the Squirrel. Sweetie Belle noticed the groans as well and rushed to Rarity. "Rarity, you're awake." She exclaimed. "Oh, hey Sweetie Belle. Sorry if I passed out." Rarity said as she let out her remaining groans before she fully recovered her consciousness. "I was imagining a horrid creature, it was..." She shivered at the thought of the creature she saw. "Sorry, I'm just still appalled on what I imagined. Oh, how silly of me." Sweetie Belle had a unsure expression. Applejack who was next to Rarity as well, also had a face of uneasiness. "Uhh... Rarity, ah'm afraid that the varmin' ya saw, was real." Applejack said. Rarity's face dropped and she had tiny dots for eyes. "Come again?" "Yeah, look." Applejack pointed a hoof at a direction as she replied. Rarity batted her eyes toward the direction of where the hoof pointed. When she laid her attention on what she hoped she wouldn't see, her face became an expression of shock. It was like she had one strand of her hair sticking out of her organized mane. "I-i-it i-is..." She tried to make more words come out, but she trailed off when it felt like thunder struck her. "Yep, it is real." Sweetie Belle said with a look on the Squirrel. "But how!?" Asked Rarity. "A creature like this can't be... it can't be..." "Real? I know, it's confusing for me as well." Twilight said as she saw that Rarity couldn't get the word out. "And be careful, it's a dangerous Zombie." Assured Sweetie Belle. "A Zombie?" Gasped Rarity. "Yep and it is the monster that is attacking Ponyvillie." Said Rainbow. The Squirrel seemed ticked off by that accusation "Hey, I didn't attack anyone!" "I-i-it talked!" Rarity gasped again, flabbergasted about the new information she learned about the Squirrel. "Yep and he's responsible for the panic going around." Rainbow said with a little bit of anger in her tone "Again, I didn't hurt anyone!" The Squirrel snapped back. "Says the rodent who Foalnapped Fluttershy." Growled Scootaloo. Everypony had mixed expressions at that sentence. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all had glares at the Squirrel, thinking that Squirrel Foalnapped Fluttershy. Rarity had a horrified expression, thinking that the Squirrel has did terrible things to her shy friend, just thinking about it made her worried for her. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie had their eyebrows raised from that accusation. They felt like that accusation was probably true, but that raised many questions, such as how did the Squirrel capture Fluttershy? If it is a Zombie, why did it capture and not try to eat Fluttershy. Well that was mostly Twilight's mindset, while that idea was in Pinkie's mind for a few seconds, it quickly changed into a mindset of surprise party ideas for the Zombie Squirrel. Discord had his bear paw on his muzzle to prevent his chuckles from escaping his mouth. However, after a few seconds, his chuckling turned into full laughter that everypony heard, even though his bear paw was still on his muzzle and mouth. He eventually removed his bear hand from his muzzle and put both of his mismatched hands on each mismatched knee. His body was bending and was laughing his head off, literally. His head was detached from his body and was floating in the same spot that his chuckles began. Everypony had their attention on him and felt uneasy, a little shocked, and confusing on why Discord was laughing. They didn't know why Discord was laughing, since he was a close friend to Fluttershy. Twilight and her friends expected him to threaten the Squirrel when he heard that the Squirrel Foalnapped Fluttershy. They knew that Discord had a side of anger, if he found out that she was taken. They remember the Grand Gala incident where Discord got so angry with Tree Hugger for being close friends to Fluttershy, he threatened to sent her to a different dimension. And they also heard about how he acted when Fluttershy was captured, during a rescue mission with Starlight, Trixie, and Thorax. "Uhm, Discord? Why are you laughing." Questioned Twilight with a expression of mixed emotions of shock, confusion, and uneasiness. "I thought you would be... mad that the Squirrel Foalnapped Fluttershy." Discord's laughing was finally calming down after a full minute of laughter passed and his body stopped slouching. When it stood up straight, his body got its hands off its knees and connected to his head when its neck touched to the bottom of his head. "Oh Twilight." Chuckled Discord. "It's ridiculous, even for you, to believe that a small rodent like this... can Foalnap Fluttershy. I mean, how can a measly Squirrel possibly capture my dear, Fluttershy?" "But we heard her scream from her cottage." Scootaloo countered. "An' that Squirrel was near there." Apple Bloom added. "Possibly true, but if I had to guess what happened-" Discord snapped his talon fingers and had a detective hat on his head, a detective pipe in his mouth, and a magnifying glass in his bear hand that he was peeping through. "-I would say that Fluttershy was at her cottage, enjoying her day after talking to her lovely friends and her very best friend, the chaos lord himself. When all of a sudden, she heard noises coming from all her animals and checked it out. However, when she saw what the chaos was outside, she saw the Zombie rodent and screamed on what she saw and galloped from away from it." He snapped his talon fingers again, but this time, his hat, pipe, and magnifying glass disappeared. "But your guesses are as good as mine." Twilight an eyebrow raised from his conclusion. "That's... actually not a bad conclusion, Discord." Twilight said, a little stunned by what Discord had drawn. "Thanks, Twilight." Discord confidently accepted her compliment. "I still don't trust this rodent." Rainbow said with a tone of suspicion. "I mean, look at him." She pointed her front right hoof at the Squirrel. "Hey!" The Squirrel said, offended by Rainbow's suspicion. "You do have a point there, Rainbow Dash." Discord agreed. "But like I said before, I don't believe that this Squirrel did anything to Fluttershy. Not to offend you-" He snapped his talon fingers and disappeared, but reappeared behind the Squirrel, looking over him. The Squirrel noticed Discord looking over him and he was stunned on the magic he saw happen. "-my Squirrely friend, but you look weak, puny, and small to do anything to Fluttershy. In fact, if I knew her well, which I obviously do, I believe she would try to take you to a hospital because she believed that you're an animal in pain with that freaky eerie lobe peeking out." He poked the Squirrel's exposed brain a few times, which snapped the Squirrel out of its shock from seeing Discord teleport behind him. Even though he was stunned from seeing Discord behind him, he listened to what he was saying. "That's exactly what I'm saying." Said Squirrel in agreence. "She kidnapped me, or Foalnapped me?... Whatever. The point is that she took me and I escaped from her. Now everybody, for some god damn reason, thinks I captured her. Glad you believe that I didn't do anything bad to her, Fr-" He stopped talking because he realized that he didn't know Discord's name. "Wait, uhhh... what's your name actually?" He asked. "Oh, how truly rude of me." Discord said to himself as he snapped with his white tail tuft, which made him disappear from behind the Squirrel, but appeared in front of him, a few inches away. He bent over to shake hands with the small rodent, in which he held out his unsimilar hands and grabbed a single left hand from him. Squirrel mentally jumped from this sudden hand shake, but calmed down as he introduced himself. "My name is Discord. The reformed chaos lord himself and may I ask, who you are?" They continued to shake hands. "Oh, well I'm Dead Squirrel or for short, you can call me Squirrel or Joe, but I prefer Squirrel." The Squirrel greeted. After they eventually stopped shaking hands, Discord stood up to his full height. "Well Squirrel, you are certainly the most chaotic guest in Ponyville. Well, not as Chaotic as me, but still chaotic." Discord said with a self-absorbed tone, look, and smile. "Huh, well I kinda didn't mean to cause chaos in this 'Ponyville' town." Squirrel said, thinking about the town name that sounded stupid to him, but he mentally shrugged it off his head. "But then again, I guess I can't blame them. I mean, if I saw an animal with its brain exposed, I guess I would also be a little scared. Anyways Discord, wha- wait?" He paused, as he realized something. "Yes? Is something wrong? Discord asked with an eyebrow raised. "Your name is Discord?" Squirrel did a double take as he asked. "Why yes, didn't I just say I was?" "Yeah, I know, it's just that I have something at my place that has the name 'Discord' as well." "Oh, that Discord." Discord had a deadpan expression when he realized what Squirrel was saying. "Yeah, I know about the app. It's weird that they named it after the chaos lord himself, but what can you do to stop it from spreading dimension wide when every creep is using it to 'talk' to... children." He continued, but shivered a little bit. 'Disgusting.' He thought. Squirrel's eye widened in surprise that it felt like he got a wake up slap. "Wait, how do you know about the app, Discord?" Squirrel asked in shock. "Well, as much as I would love to answer your questions-" He snapped his talon fingers and disappeared from Squirrel's vision, but he realized he was behind him when he felt something wrap around his arms and basically his body, due to his small size. He turned his head a bit, to see Discord have his hands around him and he was lifted off the ground, a few feet. "-I feel like you should also answer their questions." Squirrel turned his head forward and saw the five Ponies looking at him with mixed expressions. "Oh right." He muttered quietly. Discord bent down and let go of Squirrel after he placed him on the ground. There was a few seconds of silence before Squirrel said something. "So... umm, how's it going?" He asked awkwardly with a sheepish smile and a little wave with his left hand. Pinkie being Pinkie, suddenly dashed toward Squirrel so fast, it could rival Rainbow's speed. Everypony's manes and tails flew wildly at the fierce wind that Pinkie made from her sudden dash. However, she stopped in front of Squirrel with a smile taking over most of her face. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! Oooh, what's your favorite type of cake!? Wait, wait, let me guess, it's brain cake! Well... we don't have any brain cakes, but do you take gummy cakes!? I don't know how to make them, but I made a cake with my pet Alligator, Gummy!" She said with her usual bubbly energy. Squirrel was left with a perplexed expression, since he wasn't prepared for those questions to be dumped on him. However, Pinkie continued to talk and she was talking so fast, it was hard to decipher what she was saying at the moment. "Youshouldmeetwithhimyouwouldgetalongaslongasneitherofyouattempttobiteeachoth-" Pinkie felt something close her lips and looked at them and saw that her mouth had a zipper tightening her mouth shut. "Now Pinkie, I know you're curious about our chaotic guest, but you should remember to give him a chance to answer your questions." Discord informed her as he unzipped her mouth zipper. "Okie dokie lokie." Comprehended Pinkie as her mouth zipper disappeared after Discord snapped his fingers. The Mane 6 (minus Fluttershy and Pinkie) and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were observing the interaction that Squirrel was having and they had jumbled thoughts. "He hasn't tried to bite anypony yet, but I'm suspicious of him." Scootaloo muttered to the rest of the Crusaders. "Ah can say the same." Agreed Apple Bloom. "Me too." Sweetie Belle also agreed. While the Crusaders were talking to themselves, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity were having their own conversation. "He's interestin' for a... zombie rodent." Applejack muttered to Twilight. "Yeah, he's a weird Squirrel and is definitely planning something." Rainbow said, hearing the conversation Applejack was starting. Rainbow had a skeptical glare and tone. "I see what you mean, darling." Rarity said to Rainbow. "But what if this... Squirrel is a real kind gentle Po- rodent and not a horrid liar?" Rainbow was about to respond, but closed her mouth when she realized, she didn't know what to say. After a few seconds of trying to think of a plan, she finally responded. "Well... we could just... uhhh..." "You don't know what to do, do ya?" Applejack said with a deadpan expression and a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I don't know." She admitted with a flat tone. "Well I have an idea on how we should approach this." Twilight stated, which made the other three ponies huddle closer to her, interested in hearing her out. "We be nice and friendly like our usual selves, but keep an eye on the Squirrel. Applejack?" Applejack nodded and understood what she meant. "Ah know what ya mean, Twahlight." The Element of Honesty said with an understood tone. Twilight took a deep breath on what was going to come. "Alright, let's do this." She and the other 3 Ponies walked and was approaching the Squirrel who was dealing with Pinkie's and Discord's antics. The Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed that the 4 Elements of Harmony were getting closer to the Squirrel. "They're approachin' the Squirrel." Apple Bloom pointed out. "They must be curious about him." Sweetie Belle reckoned. "We should check it out as well." Scootaloo said. "Ah agree." Agreed Apple Bloom as she nodded her head. "Me too." Sweetie Belle also agreed and nodded her head. The Cutie Mark Crusaders started walking toward Squirrel and was behind Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash a few feet behind him. They were about to learn about their squirrely guest a whole lot more. "Wait, did you just make a zipper appear on her mouth?" Squirrel asked in a little bit of astonishment. "Why yes, my rodent friend." Discord affirmed. "And about you teleporting and summoning other stuff, how did you do that?" "Well you see, I am a lord of chaos. Therefore-" He stopped his statement as he snapped his talon fingers and disappeared. Squirrel quickly found out where he went when he felt himself being lifted from the ground by his arms. He turned his head and looked behind him and saw Discord holding him by his arms, Titanic style. "-I create chaos." "Yeah, you should check out the chaos that Dizzy make." Said Pinkie with a more energetic tone. "He can make cotton candy clouds, chocolate rain, and cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate rain!" She licked around her lips, imagining the sweet vision in her head. "Well, Pinkie has said it better than me, so I'm sure you get the idea of chaos magic, right?" Discord said as he placed Squirrel on the ground. Squirrel was a bit perplexed, amazed, and confused for a few seconds. After a few seconds of silence, he finally gave an answer to Discord. "So... you have... chaos magic?" "Correct." "Like actual magic? The one where you can actually float shit, but not the ones that are staged?" "Something like that, but correct." "Woah, that's actually amazing. What can you do with your magic?" "Well, I can do absolutely anything." "Wait a minute, did you say anything?" "Anything." "Anything?" "Yes, anything." "Anything?" "Anything." "Anything?" "I'll get you and it'll look like a bloody accident." Pinkie interrupted with an annoyed and angry look and tone as she appeared in front of Squirrel's face, almost like she teleported to him. She also had a pie knife in her right hoof. Squirrel was thrown off by the sudden tone from Pinkie and he had a scared look on his face. "What?" He asked in a high pitched voice. Pinkie's look and tone instantly changed into her usual happy look and tone. "Sorry, it was a reference, I couldn't help myself." She said as she shoved the pie knife into her mane. Squirrel was now confused and was questioning: 'WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE TALKING ABOUT!?' Discord noticed his confused expression and decided to act. "Don't worry about it. Pinkie gets chaotic sometimes, even for me." He assured Squirrel. "Ok..." Squirrel said, still thrown off, but shook it off. "Well I like your magic, I didn't even know that shit existed." "Well, now you know, also I suggest that you tone down on the language. We don't want little Foals spewing those naughty words, do we?" "Ok, I guess I should. Wait, but I still have to ask, how do you know about the app, Disco-" "Hey!" Squirrel was interrupted by a familiar raspy voice behind him. He turned around and saw the four Ponies that he had honestly forgotten were still around. They were approaching him and stopped a few inches away from him. Rainbow, who was closer to him, had a slight glare locked on to him. It looked like she was going to talk, but Applejack beat her to it. "Howdy, pardner." Greeted Applejack as she inched a little closer to Squirrel. Unlike Rainbow, she had a friendly tone and expression right now. "Umm... hi?" He said awkwardly, not knowing what to do next, he asked a question, well actually, he tried to. "So... how's it going... uhh... I don't know your name." "Oh, well my name is Applejack, sugarcube." "Uh huh." Since Applejack was introducing herself, Twilight decided to introduce herself as well. "I'm Twilight Sparkle." She introduced herself as she saw Squirrel look at her with an awkward look. 'It looks like it, or he rather, is a little awkward about the situation he's in.' She thought observingly. She then had curiosity fill her thoughts when whe laid her attention on Squirrel's brain and was amazed. 'Fascinating, the brain doesn't look like it's loose from it's skull. There must be something more to this Squirrel. I need to do some tests and find out. I need to find out.' While Twilight was lost in her own world, Rarity introduced herself. "I'm Rarity and darling, might I say, you seem to have a questionable fashion choice." She said in a friendly tone. "Huh? Oh, are you... talking about my bandana?" He asked. "Yes and I understand that you're a walking... *Gulp* c-corpse, but if you're going to act like a civilized one, you need the proper attire for it. Might I make you one?" "While I appreciate the offer, I think I might have to pass on that." Rarity pouted a little bit and before she could let out a huff, Rainbow decided to introduce herself. "And finally, but not least, the fastest flier in Equestria and in the Wonderbolts: Rainbow Dash." Rainbow confidently introduced, even though she had a glare on him earlier, but now she had her self confidence take over. "Uh huh, so question: What's the Wonderbolts?" Squirrel asked. Rainbow's confident look dropped and was shifted into a glare. "Have you been living under a rock?! The Wonderbolts are the most amazing and awesome team of fliers Equestria has ever seen!" "Ok, ok. Sorry for asking." Squirrel said in a sarcastic tone. "And I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie introduced herself. "Pinkie, I thought you already introduced yourself?" Rainbow said. "I did, I just thought it would be fun to introduce myself again." Rainbow groaned at Pinkie's antics. After Pinkie's second introduction, Squirrel noticed in the corner of his eye, a few familiar Fillies watching him, so he turned his full attention to them. He noticed that they were narrowing their eyes on him. Once they saw Squirrel stare at them, their eyes widened and they didn't know what to do for a second, but Apple Bloom decided to make a move first. "Umm... hi, again." Apple Bloom greeted with a sheepish smile and awkward tone. "Hi." Squirrel said reluctantly as he remembered that the Fillies tried to capture him. "So... what's your guys' names?" Apple Bloom's awkwardness was washed over with enthusiasm as she introduced herself. "Well I'm Apple Bloom." Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle also had their awkwardness replaced with enthusiasm because they also introduced themselves without a beat. "I'm Scootaloo." Scootaloo said. "And I'm Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle said. "And we're the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!" Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom all yelled with enthusiasm. Squirrel covered his only ear from all the enthusiastic yelling and gritted his teeth. "Jesus!" He said to himself. After the Cutie Mark Crusaders stopped yelling, he stopped covering his ear. "Ok, next time, tone down the introduction." "Oh, sorry." Apple Bloom apologized. "It's fine." Squirrel said as he got the idea to introduce himself to the other Ponies since they introduced themselves properly. After he cleared his throat, he said: "Well if you guys haven't heard my name yet, it's Squirrel. You can call me Dead Squirrel or Joe if you want, but if you don't wanna, just call me Squirrel." "Well it's nice to meet you Squirrel." Said Twilight in a friendly tone, however that quickly changed into a questioning tone when she asked a question. "But I have to ask, why did you scare the Ponies in Ponyville?" "Well I'm sure my exposed brain isn't the reason why they ran away from me." Squirrel said in a sarcastic tone, which made Twilight form a slight glare from the attitude in his comment. "But yeah, once they saw me, they got the fu-" He had almost forgotten that there were little Fillies around, so he quickly changed the word he was about to say. "-fun out of there." "Ok." Twilight looked at Applejack and she also stared back at her. Applejack did a little nod, like she signaled that he was clear of a crime. "So why is your name Joe?" Rainbow asked suddenly. "What?" Squirrel said confusingly. "Your name Joe. Why can we call you Joe?" Squirrel sweated a little when he realized he didn't have the answer ready. Sure, he could just simply say that he was a human who got turned into a Squirrel, but he believed that it would lead to more questions for the Ponies ask and they would eventually think he's making stuff up. He's also pretty sure that they don't know what the fuck humans are and if they did find out, they would hate them, since they do "things" to Ponies in his world. After a few seconds, he finally had an answer ready. "W-well I like having a cool... nickname?" Element of Honesty or not, everypony could tell that there was doubt in his voice. "Hol' on sugarcube, why are ya lyin'?" Applejack asked with a bit of suspicion. "Yeah, what are you hiding?" Rainbow asked with a scolding tone as she made accusations toward Squirrel. "Are you planning to eat our brains with our guard down!? Or are you planning to spread a Zombie infection throughout Equestria!?" "What!? No, no. I don't plan to do any of those things." He assured. "Then darling, why are you lying about a simple question about your name?" Rarity asked. "Well you see..." "Twilight! Girls!" Twilight, her friends, and Squirrel all heard a familiar shy voice yell out. Twilight turned around and saw Fluttershy walking toward her with a worried look. Fluttershy stopped a few inches in front of her. "Fluttershy? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy paused for a second as she tried to get the courage to speak her words while washing the thoughts of her friends thinking she is crazy out. "Oh, well... after I went back to my cottage to tend to my animals, I-I found this Squirrel and it was... terrifying. His... brain was showing and I tried to take it to the hospital, but it... ran away. Oh Twilight, I know it sounds crazy, but I need you to help me find him." Twilight's eyes widened when Fluttershy mentioned the Squirrel and would've had curious thoughts in her head, if it wasn't for the fact that she saw Fluttershy's expression become more saddened, so she reassured her. "Well actually, we found the Squirrel." Fluttershy's face instantly became a happy one. "Wait, really?" "Yeah, we did." Twilight was pulled into a hug from Fluttershy's front hooves and for a shy Mare, she had the strength of a Bear, even Harry wouldn't compare to her Bearhug. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Twilight smiled, even though she was in a bone crushing hug. "No problem, Fluttershy. Also, can you stop hugging me so hard? You're crushing my back." Fluttershy stopped hugging Twilight due to embarrassment taking over her. "Oh my, I'm sorry." "It's alright, Fluttershy." Twilight smiled in reassurement. After Fluttershy recovered from her embarrassment, she had one question to ask. "So where's the Squirrel?" "Oh well, i-" "It's right here." Rainbow interrupted as she moved to the side from where she was previously. After she moved out of the way, Squirrel saw Fluttershy and had small dotted eyes when she the buttery Pony. "Oh fuck." Squirrel muttered to himself, completely forgetting there were Fillies around. Fluttershy had a relieved expression when she galloped toward Squirrel and stopped in front of him. Before he can say anything to her, she lowered her head and nuzzled her face on his right face cheek and put her left front hoof behind his head to nuzzle him properly. "Thank Celestia, you're okay." She said happily, but was changed into a calm, but small scolding voice. "Please don't run away like that." Squirrel was just seeing a buttery coat molest his eye and couldn't escape it with Fluttershy's hoof pressed on the back of his head. 'God damn it, when will this Horse fuck off?' He thought in annoyance. Fluttershy stopped nuzzling Squirrel as she realized that he still had his brain exposed. "Oh my, I forgot, we need to get you to a hospital, fast." She said in a panicked tone as she was about to pick up Squirrel. However, Squirrel saw what she was going to do and before she could shift her hooves to pick him up properly, he pinched a hoof that was gripped on his left side of his torso. She winced and let out a little yelp, which made her stop trying to scoop up Squirrel. Squirrel then ran away from her and stopped when he was way farther from Fluttershy. He looked at her with a disapproving look as he turned around to look at her. "No, I'm not going to some hospital, where they are going to do some freaky operations to my brain, no way." He disagreed with a disapproving tone. After Fluttershy recovered from Squirrel's pinch attack, she responded back. "B-but you look hurt and your brain is exposed and you might..." She couldn't even get the words out of her throat as her eyes became like a puppy's eyes pleading and she also made some whimpering noises. Squirrel just rolled his eyes in annoyance and crossed his arms in annoyance. "Look, I'm fine, it's just my natural appearance." Fluttershy was about to deflect his argument, but Applejack stepped in, since she saw Fluttershy's teary expression. "Fluttershy, the rodent is tellin' the truth... somewhat." Applejack muttered that last part to herself, since she felt Squirrel telling somewhat of the truth, however she wanted to focus on Fluttershy's concerns before she questioned Squirrel about his "natural" appearance. Fluttershy looked at Applejack with a face of uncertainty and looked back at Squirrel. "B-but... but..." "Trust me, sugarcube, he's alright." "But how?" "Because he's a Zombie." Rainbow added. "A... a... Zombie?" Fluttershy questioned in a panicked tone and expression. "Yup, I'm a Zombie that knows what he's doing, so yeah, I'm not injured." Squirrel replied. Fluttershy had a little relief that Squirrel was okay, not hurt, and not a bad Zombie, but she now had questions that needed answers and Twilight also felt the same. "Anyways, I still have more questions to ask." Twilight said to Squirrel. "Ok, so ho-" "Darling." Rarity interrupted Twilight's question, which caught her attention toward Rarity. "Uhh, yes Rarity?" "As much as I want to question that Squirrel dear, I feel like we should go to a more appropriate place than the middle of town." "Oh, right. Well then, I think we should go the castle." "Wait, what about Ponyville?" Applejack asked. "What do you mean, Applejack?" "Ah mean, somepony has to calm down Ponyville about the monster." "Oh, you're right." "So what do we do, darling?" Rarity asked Twilight. Twilight thought for a few seconds until she got the answer. "Ok, you girls head to the castle and take the threat with you, I'll calm down Ponyville that the threat is secured and isn't dangerous." "I have a name you know!" Squirrel criticized. "Ok, sugarcube we're on it." Applejack agreed to Twilight's plan, completely ignoring Squirrel, who had a deadpan expression. "You can count on us Twily." Pinkie said. Fluttershy lightly hovered toward Discord. "Umm... Discord?" She said in her usual shy and low voice. "Yes, my dear Fluttershy?" Discord asked. "You wouldn't mind if you... umm... teleported us to the castle... wouldn't you?" Discord chuckled at the cute shyness that Fluttershy showed. "Not at all." He positioned his lion fingers to snap. "Wait, wait, I don't know how I fe-" Squirrel didn't finish his sentence when Discord's fingers snapped and made him, Squirrel, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the Mane 6 (minus Twilight.) Once Twilight saw them disappear, she sighed. "Oh Celestia, this is going to take a while to explain." She said to herself as she turned around and saw the empty ghost town that Ponyville became. "I just hope there isn't more chaos like this." Oh boy, was she wrong. Very. Wrong.