//------------------------------//
// A Somewhat Typical Morning 
// Story: Innocence Lost 
// by Granite 
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*COCKADOODLEDOO!*

Fluttershy snapped awake, squealing and throwing her sheets up towards the roof. She trembled for a bit until the bedsheet came floating back down on top of her. She squealed again as it covers her, stumbling onto the floor. The mass of sheets shudders for a bit until the pitter patter of small feet is heard. Then heard stomping right in front of her. She blew her bangs aside to see a tapping, white paw.

Angel Bunny was already fed up not even fifty seconds after waking up. Fluttershy pulled the blanket aside with a few clumsy yet somehow adorable tugs and stood up. Then the loud noise from the backyard rang again and she dove under the bed, her luminous teal eyes looking out. Angel hopped towards her, squeaking and chattering about something in the language only she could understand. She pulled herself out of the bed frame and talked in her soft, quiet voice. "The...new rooster? What new rooster?" Angel huffed and squeaked again. "The Mayor's rooster? Oh...h...how did I forget something like that?"

Angel squeaks became shrill and she seemed to be taken aback. "Angel Gilligan Bunny! There's no need for such language." He stopped in mid-squeak and she put on her sweet smile but with a rather uncertain tone in her voice. "I'm sorry...I've just been a bit...under the weather lately...I guess." 

He stood there, unamused and she rapidly switched topics. "Would you like me to make you that special salad for breakfast? The one with the cherry?" Angel seems to take the bait and hops downstairs although still not smiling. No matter, he rarely smiled at all. 

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She had been forgetful lately, and it was bugging her. She wasn't the type to miss deadlines and such. She slowly paced around the room a few times, trying to think. She hadn't had any head injuries lately. No potions either. She stopped walking, facing the mirror on her dresser. She walked up to it and stared at her own face, trying to find a difference that wasn't there. She took a few minutes to brush her mane back to its long, flowing state. She knew she was over thinking this. Then again her insecurity made her over think a lot of things. Almost everything in fact. She stopped brushing her hair and smiled at her reflection. "Goodness. I'm over-thinking me over-thinking things." She giggles at the concept. 

Soon enough the animals started to wake up and it got too noisy, so she gwent downstairs and fed the different groups. The squirrels and mice were fed the nuts and the birds pecked at seeds. The bear picked at some berries as she puts together Angles special salad, relieved that she had cherries. Last time that didn't work out so well. She pushed the salad gently towards the other side of the counter where Angel dug in greedily.    

She went to the back door and pushed it open. Her backyard is lit by a rising sun, drenching it a brilliant orange hue. She sighed at the natural beauty. She normally didn't wake up early enough to see the sun rise, but it always seemed to captivate and warm her. Well...the sun was warm either way. She picked up the sack of chicken feed near the door and walked to the pen. Most of the hens were asleep, except for a few and the rooster, who sat on the fence and jerked his head back and forth in precise, calculated movements. She smiled at him and spread the seeds in the pen. She hummed a little tune as the chickens started to peck at it. The rooster also hopped down and joins in. 

After a few minutes she entered the pen, to which the hens ignored. She stood right behind the rooster, knowing that he was watching her. She had to return him to Mayor Mare, but first she had to pick him up, which meant dealing with that unusual spike jutting from his ankle. Most ponies didn't know that about roosters. They all had a big spike, called a spur if you wanted to get technical. Sometimes it gets so long you actually have to file it down. She was aware that it could give a nasty kick. 

She stood there for a bit, then with a surprising amount of vigor she shoved her hooves under his wings. He flapped and cawed, his legs flailing about. She covered his eyes with a cloth mask that she kept in the pen. With her hooves under his wings, flying away was eliminated. His legs kicked the air in front of him. The cloth was strategic with birds. With their eyes covered and not seeing the potential attacker, or petsitter in this case, they startto calm down. Within a few minutes he is calm, even though his little lungs were still heaving fast. She frowned a bit. This was something she never liked doing. She knew that he wasn't hers and was also absolutely terrified, but in this case she didn't really have another option. 

She was gentle with him, bringing him out of the pen and to the shed where she kept her crates of various sizes. He flapped his wings weakly as she put him in a crate with a cage door. Seeing that she was in the home stretch in terms of the spur, she got a bit hasty putting him in. The rooster started to freak again as the confined space takes effect. He lashed out kicking again, catching Fluttershy's left foreleg. She yelped in surprise and pain when the spur nicks her. The rooster tried to scramble away with the cloth still over his head, but she pushed him in, lightly now and aware of her mistake. She talked to him now, a little hint of pain in her voice being suppressed. "Come on now little guy. We just have to put you in here until I can get you back to mommy."

A few minutes and the rooster is stored away safely, now breathing normal and fluffed up in an attempt to look bigger. Fluttershy was in the kitchen. Her scratch wound turned out to be worse than she thought, and was bleeding too much. She slowly wrapped it up in gauze. She usually made a big deal about injuries, mostly because some of her animal friends wouldn't turn a blind eye to meat. The bear and weasels could lose control when the smell of blood wafts through the air. That never happened of course, not yet at least, but it was hardwired in instinct, and she understood the pull. She took a few minutes to dress it properly with pressure and the other standards.

She glanced at the clock, noting it was still early enough. Mayor Mare had a very busy schedule, and it was best to see her before she got to the Town Hall. Fluttershy didn't ask about her job, or really talk to her that much. Of course the head pony knew her well enough, as she did everypony in town. But she assumed she had much to do. She took the crate handle in her mouth and walked to the door with a slight limp.  She said something to the animals, but the words were muffled by the handle. She opened it and walks out slowly, not bothering to lock the door. Angel would do it on the other side.