//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders - Earning Your Keep 
// by DMDash71 
//------------------------------//

	The three fillies stood together, peering at the entrance of the rabbit burrow that bored into the hillside.  Apple Bloom looked over at Fluttershy with an uncertain expression.  “Um…should we knock?”
“No, silly,” Fluttershy laughed.  “Just introduce yourself, like you would to anypony else.”  The pegasus paced over to the burrow and leaned down.  “Hello bunnies, it’s me, Fluttershy.  I’m just checking up on you to see if you need anything.”
A small nose came into view, wriggling rapidly.
“Oh, it’s okay,” Fluttershy said.  “These are friends of mine, and they’re helping out.  You can come out.”
A few seconds passed, and then a small grey rabbit hopped out of the hole.  He took another long look at the Crusaders, then seemed to shrug.  Leaning back into the hole, he waved a paw, and four other rabbits came hopping out, lining up next to him and looking at Fluttershy expectantly.
“Oh, how very good of you!  It’s time for your checkup, isn’t it?” she exclaimed.  “Just let me get my things.”
“We’ll get them for you, Fluttershy!”  Sweetie Belle trotted over next to the older pony slowly, trying not to alarm the rabbits.  “Just tell us what you need.”
Apple Bloom nodded rapidly in agreement.  “Yup, we’re ready to go, just say the word!”
“Okay…”  The sunyellow pegasus paused for a moment.  “Hmm.  Okay…would you get me the depressor?”
Sweetie Belle snapped to attention.  “Depressor!”
“Depressor!” Apple Bloom echoed.
Fishing about in the wagon where Fluttershy had placed her bag of supplies, Scootaloo retrieved the pony-sized tongue depressor.  She looked at it and then looked at the little bunnies that sat patiently in a row.  “You’re kidding, right?”
Apple Bloom cleared her throat and gave her friend a stare.
“Ohhkayyy….” The pegasus filly shrugged and handed it over.  “Depressor.”
Apple Bloom passed it down the line.  They all watched as Fluttershy examined it for a moment, and then held it up next to the smallest bunny in line.
“Oh, you know, I think you’ve grown a bit since last week.”  Fluttershy smiled.  “You’re getting to be a big bunny, aren’t you?”  The tiny rabbit preened at the attention, and then settled down as the pegasus moved on to her next subject.  The next bunny was just a bit taller, and wouldn’t quite meet her gaze.
“Oh, look who’s shy.  Come on now, stand up straight and let’s see if you’ve grown any…oh!  Oh my,” Fluttershy exclaimed, peering at the rabbit more closely.  “No wonder you’re all crouched down, just look at your paw.”  She patted her tiny patient gently.  “Don’t worry, we’ll get you fixed up in no time.”
The three fillies watched with rapt attention as the pegasus bound up the small scratch, passing Fluttershy the various items as she called for them.  Sweetie Belle leaned close, careful not to get in the way, as she studied the neat bandage that Fluttershy was creating from what seemed a random hodgepodge of stuff.  “Wow, you’re really good at this.  How did you learn how to do that?”
Fluttershy blushed, a small rosette of color appearing briefly under the fur on her cheeks.  “Oh, it’s just a few things I learned when I was your age, back when I was in flight school.  All of the little pegasi were bumping into things when they were learning how to fly, and I…well.”  The color in her cheeks rose a bit higher.  “I bumped into a lot of things before I got it right.”  She busied herself over the rabbit’s paw again, wrapping it carefully.  “I help out at the vet, too, and they teach me all sorts of things when they have time.”
Apple Bloom looked around the field they stood in, taking note of the numerous rabbit burrows.  “And you take care of all the bunnies ‘round here?”
“Oh yes.  Them, and the birdies, when they hurt their wings, and the field mice.”  Fluttershy smiled.  “I think there’s even a grumpy old porcupine around here somewhere that I help out.  He has really bad knees.”
Scootaloo’s eyes crossed at the thought of that one.  “Yikes.  That sounds like a lot of work.”
“Yes, it is.”  Fluttershy finished tying off the last of the bandage and gave the little rabbit a pat on the head.  “There you go, good as new.  Try and stay off of it for a couple of days though, otherwise I’ll have to put a new one on.  And then you’ll have to stay in bed until it heals.”  She arched an eyebrow and peered closely at the young bunny.  “You don’t want that, do you?”
Sweetie Belle giggled as the rabbit shook his head rapidly.  “Yeah, you sure don’t want The Stare.”  Her friends nodded in agreement.
“Oh, I don’t think it would come to that,” Fluttershy said quickly, an alarmed look on her face.  “The bunnies are pretty good about listening to me.”
Apple Bloom glanced over the bag of medical paraphernalia as Fluttershy began examining the next rabbit in line.  “Gee, this is a lot of stuff.  How’d ya get all of it?”  Her brow furrowed in thought for a moment.  “I mean, the bunnies and all don’t pay you, do they?”
The pegasus laughed softly.  “Oh, no, of course not.  I make a little money at the vet when I help out, and I actually get a lot of business from ponies who have pets that need a little training, or somepony who needs a sitter for their pet while they’re out of town.”  She peered at the rabbit in front of her again and clapped her forehooves together.  “Oh, look who’s got a new tooth!  You’re such a big bunny now!”
Apple Bloom shook her head.  “An’ you spend it on wild animals?  How come?”
Fluttershy gave the rabbit a small slice of carrot to munch on and straightened.  “I like doing it because it makes me feel happy inside.  When a little animal’s hurt or needs help, and I make it all better for them and see them walking or hopping around again like they used to, it’s just the best feeling in the world to me, better than money or jewels or...”  She offered the fillies a small, embarrassed smile.  “I’m probably not explaining it very well; nopony ever really asked me about it before.”
“Awww, that’s so sweet!”  Sweetie Belle’s eyes were wide and glistening with emotion.  “I wish I could be like that.”  She frowned slightly.  “Animals always run away from me, though.”
Fluttershy smiled at her and patted the filly gently on the cheek.  “Well, you can practice at it while you’re with me.  Why don’t you all spread out and go visit the other burrows while I’m finishing up here?”  She waved a foreleg at the other holes that dotted the small, grassy field.  “See if you can introduce yourselves and get to know all my little friends.”
“Yeah, let’s go!”  Apple Bloom surveyed the area for a moment.  “Scootaloo, you check that side, I’ll grab the center.  Sweetie Belle, you check out those over there by that ol’ elm tree.”
“Okydoke!”  The three separated, and Sweetie Belle trotted over to a rough-edged burrow that lay between a couple of the tree’s gnarly roots.  Peering carefully into the hole, she noticed an odd smell coming from it, and could hear low breathing coming from inside.
“Wow, that doesn’t smell healthy.”  She wrinkled her nose and waved a foreleg in the air.  “Hello in there, Mr. Bunny.  Are you sick?”
There was no response from the burrow.
“Hello?  Please don’t be afraid.”  The dim light that seeped down into the hole was reflected back at her by a pair of red-rimmed eyes.  Somebody was home, that was for sure.  “I’m here to help.  My name’s Sweetie Belle, and I’m a…um…paramedic!”  She smiled hopefully, but still got no response.
Wow, he sure must be awful scared.    She sat down in front of the hole with a worried expression.  Holding eye contact with the burrow’s owner, she kept her voice low and began to sing.

Don’t you worry, little guy
I’m only just a friend
We’ll do our best, my friends and I
On that you can depend.

Don’t you fret, we’ll fix you up
I know how bad you feel
My friends and I have just the stuff
Come out and you’ll be healed.

Her heart jumped as the eyes blinked and began to move forward slowly.  Sweetie Belle kept herself motionless, closing her eyes and continuing to hum softly.  She heard a low, snuffling sound and felt whiskers tickling her forelock.  A wide grin spread over her face as she opened her eyes and looked over her first patient.
“Whoa….um.  You’re…you’re not…oh wow, you’re really hurt!”  Reaching out and giving her subject a reassuring pat on the head, the little filly turned and looked in the direction of the others.  “Hey Fluttershy, come over here!  This guy’s leg’s all messed up!”
The yellow pegasus glanced in Sweetie Belle’s direction with a look of mild concern, her expression abruptly changing to dismay.  “Oh!  Oh…my!”  Sweetie Belle sat with one forehoof patting the head of Grumpy Joe, the meanest, most contrary skunk Fluttershy had ever met.  “Sweetie, be careful.  That’s….that’s not a bunny,” she offered weakly.
“I know.  He’s really hurt, though, he can barely walk.”  The filly continued to stroke the skunk’s head gently, humming at him for a moment.  “Can you help him?”
“I’ll try,” Fluttershy said.  She walked carefully toward Joe, stopping for a moment when the skunk shot her a warning glare.  He soon subsided, though, and seemed to relax as Sweetie Belle kept talking and humming to him in a low voice.  Pausing for several seconds between paces, the pegasus eventually made her way to the side of her new patient and began examining him warily.  “Oh dear, you’re right.  I don’t think this is something I can do here.  We’ll have to bring him back with us.”
“Scootaloo, go get the wagon, quick!”  Sweetie Belle continued to sing under her breath as Scootaloo hurried back to where they had left the wagon and scooter parked.  Apple Bloom stood back at a careful distance, her expression full of amazement as she watched her friend swaying slowly over the wounded skunk like a mother crooning a lullaby to her child.
“Wow,” the red-haired filly said.  “Sweetie, you sure got a way with animals.  Maybe you’ll get an animal helpin’ cutie mark!  Or maybe a medicine one, like the nurses an’ doctors get!”
Sweetie Belle blinked and glanced at her flank quickly, but it returned the same bare, empty answer it usually did.  “No,” she replied sadly.  “Still nothing.”  She glanced up at Fluttershy with a plaintative look as Scootaloo coasted up next to them with the wagon.  “Did I do something wrong?”
Fluttershy took a long look at the gruff old skunk that was practically curled up in the lap of the filly that sat next to him.  Shaking her head, the pegasus smiled and leaned over to nuzzle Sweetie Belle’s forelock.  “Not at all, little one.  Not at all.”