Without a second thought, Fluttershy scooped up the two animals and ran as fast as she could away from the strange monster behind them. She noticed an open window nearby and propelled herself through it and came to rest in a tall tree. With the branches shielding her from view she finally paused to take a breath. She set the two animals on the branch in front of her and looked at them carefully, checking for injuries. They were both staring at her with very odd expressions, like they'd never seen a pegasus before or something.
"What the heck... it flies. What's going on?" the cat demanded angrily.
The poor thing was delirious. It must still have had some residual mental scarring from being held captive by that thing with the flat face. She scooped the tomcat up in her arms and began stroking him. "Shh... It's alright. We're safe now. It can't get you anymore." Fluttershy tried to sound brave for him, but the tips of her wings were quivering. The cat struggled for a moment and then its face relaxed, its body going limp. Eyes half-lidded, the cat began to purr. "There. That's better," she said as she continued to stroke him. She looked down at the rat, who was watching the cat with a flummoxed expression. "Are you alright little one? That thing didn't hurt you did it?" she asked him.
The rodent blinked and looked up at her. "I-I'm sorry... Miss... I don't understand. What 'thing'?"
"That weird thing with the flat, hairless face!" Fluttershy shuddered. "I've never seen a creature like it before." Just then, she heard that loud voice again. Peering out through the leaves, she saw the creature wandering around below. "Oh, no..." She clutched the cat tighter to her chest and pressed herself up against the tree's bark.
A soft touch on her foreleg made her look down at the rat. She noticed for the first time that he had purple eyes. It was very odd, but they did make him look quite lovely. "Miss, Honda-san means you no harm. If you'd just take the time to talk to her, I'm sure you'll see how kind she is."
"B-but..." Fluttershy slumped, sliding down along the tree trunk. "I'm scared..." she whispered.
The rat climbed up onto the top of her head and patted her reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'll be here to help you."
Fluttershy thought about it for a moment. She smiled. "Alright," she said, "Hold on tight, little one." She felt the rodent take hold of her mane, and she pushed the branches concealing them aside. Gliding down to the ground, she came to a stop a few feet away from the hondasan. Despite the rat's reassurances, the pegasus was still shaking; she kept her wings limber, ready to fly off at any second.
"There you all are. I was so worried. I'm glad you're alright," the hondasan said with a wide smile. The smile faded away and the creature looked so sad that Fluttershy found herself desperately wanting to comfort it. "I'm sorry I scared you."
The rat hopped down from the pony's head and stood beside her. "It seems there was a bit of a misunderstanding. Apparently our flying friend has never seen a human before. She's really nervous about meeting you. Maybe you should start over with introductions."
The being's smile returned full force. "Of course. My name is Tohru Honda. It's a pleasure to meet you. I apologize for earlier." The thing—human, Fluttershy corrected herself—bent over in the middle until her top half was parallel with the ground.
"I'm...umm... Fluttershy," the pegasus mumbled hiding in her mane.
"It's nice to meet you, Fluttershy," the rat said pleasantly. "I'm Yuki Soma." He looked at the zoned-out cat with an annoyed expression. "That stupid cat is Kyo. Don't let his temper scare you."
Fluttershy smiled at the cat in her arms. "Oh no, you shouldn't call him names like that. He seems very nice."
The rat smirked. "Yes... unusually so. It's a nice change."
Fluttershy looked over at Tohru. She was still bent in half. "I'm sorry... but is she alright? If you don't mind my asking."
Yuki nodded. "Honda-san likes to be polite." He turned to the human and called, "Honda-san?"
She stood up straight and smiled. "Oh, right! It's nice to meet you, Flutter-chan."
The pegasus wrinkled her forehead. Humans seemed to like odd nicknames even more than Pinkie Pie. Oh well. At least she seemed nice. She sure smiled a lot. Fluttershy wondered if, like her energetic pony friend, Tohru hopped around everywhere she went. "H-Hello, Miss Tohru. I'm sorry for running off like that. It was really rude of me. Please forgive me."
"Don't worry. I shouldn't have sneaked up on you like that," Tohru said.
"Yes, but I still should have shown more gratitude for you taking care of me..."
"It was my pleasure, really."
"But—"
Yuki interrupted their exchange of apologies. "I don't think anyone is to blame here. It was all a misunderstanding."
Fluttershy smiled at him. "I suppose so... Thank you for helping m—"
"POOF!" A cloud of colored smoke enveloped them.
The pegasus squeaked and jumped backwards while trying to hide her face with her wings. She ended up dropping the tomcat in the process. Peering through her pinions as the smoke cleared, her heart nearly exploded. Her dear little rodent friend was gone, and another human had appeared out of nowhere. Fluttershy's body seized up, she gave a frightened bleat, and fainted dead away.
Fluttershy's eyes opened slowly. Looking around, she was struck with a strong sense of déjà vu. She was lying in the same position she had fled from shortly before. This time Miss Honda was standing at a more respectable distance. She wasn't alone. Two more humans were standing next to her. One had a grey mane and was watching her with a mildly sheepish expression. The other one had an orange mane and was standing as far from the bed as possible while avoiding eye contact. Pulling the blanket up over her snout, Fluttershy peered cautiously at the newcomers.
"Oh good, you're awake. I was worried about you," Tohru said with a gentle smile.
Fluttershy lowered the covers enough to offer her own small smile in return. "I'm sorry. I must be feeling a little off. I had the oddest dream about disappearing rats..."
"Pardon me, miss. I'm afraid that wasn't a dream," a familiar voice cut in. It sounded like her new rat friend, but it was coming out of the mouth of one of the humans.
Fluttershy's eyes widened. She squeaked and hid under the covers, the sound of her own panting filling her ears. Something touched her on the back. It was very gentle and hesitant. Peering out from her hideaway, she looked into a pair of purple eyes. Those eyes... it was so odd to be looking up at them now, when a short time before their roles had been reversed. She gasped. "Y-yuki?"
He nodded.
"B-but how?"
The figure sighed. "It's a long story."
Fluttershy sat up, holding the blanket around her like a shawl. "I would like to hear it... if you don't mind telling me that is."
"I guess it's time you learned about the Soma family curse..."
The yellow pegasus stared down into the cup of tea she had clasped in her hooves as she processed what Yuki had told her. "I see. It makes sense," she said.
"What about it makes sense?" Kyo grumbled. When she glanced at him he froze and edged away from her again, leaving her wondering what she had done to upset him.
"Well, Twilight always says that magic can work in mysterious ways."
"Magic?" Tohru asked. She froze in the middle of offering tea to Yuki.
Fluttershy frowned. "Of course. How else do you think the clouds move, the plants grow, or the sun stays in the sky?" she asked matter of factly.
Yuki took the cup from Tohru and put it down on the table in front of him. "Miss, those things move on their own. It's been scientifically proven."
Fluttershy blinked. "Wait... are you." The mare started hyperventilating. "A-are you telling me this whole place is like the Everfree?"
The young man frowned. "Maybe?"
The pony shut her eyes and curled into a ball. "This has to be a dream..." she muttered. She felt something rubbing her shoulders. Tohru smiled down at her and petted her much in the same way she did for her own animals. It was very surreal. She straightened up and sighed, trying to hide the shaking in her limbs. Any normal pony would tell immediately that something was off, but the humans didn't seem to be adept at reading equine body language. "I'm sorry for troubling you so much. It's just a shock to me. Magic takes care of everything where I'm from."
Tohru's eyes sparkled. "Really? Like what?" As Fluttershy told the young girl about how Equestria worked, her smile grew wider and wider. The girl clapped her hands excitedly. "Wow! Walking on clouds and casting magic spells... it sounds so exciting!"
"It's scary sometimes. There are a lot of dangerous things out there. Like in the Everfree Forest. There are cockatrices, changelings, hydras, and... " Fluttershy shuddered, "d-dragons."
Yuki hummed thoughtfully. "It's no wonder you were frightened by it then. To think there's a world out there where all those mythical tales are true." The boy smiled. "I can see now why a person turning into an animal doesn't surprise you all that much."
"Well, it does sound a bit inconvenient, but I thought you were very cute." Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh dear, I'm sorry." The pony internally berated herself for having a big mouth.
"It's alright. I don't mind the complement," Yuki replied. His cheeks were slightly red.
"Ugh... I'm tired of this," Kyo said as he got to his feet and left the room.
"Oh, Kyo! Don't go too far. Dinner's in an hour!" Tohru called after him.
He waved absently. "Yeah. I'm just going to the roof." The orange-haired boy shut the sliding door behind him.
After a minute, Tohru got to her feet and began clearing away the empty teacups. "Well, I better get dinner started," she said. She looked at Fluttershy. "Do you like miso soup?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know what that is," the pony responded.
Tohru grinned. "Well then, I hope you don't mind trying something new."
"Honda-san," Yuki called as she headed towards the kitchen. He walked over and whispered something in her ear.
The girl's eyes widened and she gasped. "Oh! I hadn't thought of that. I guess that changes the menu a little." Nodding to Fluttershy, Tohru left the room.
For a while the room's two remaining occupants sat in silence. After a few minutes, Yuki cleared his throat. "So, how are you doing?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for taking care of me. I'm sorry to be a bother." Fluttershy glanced towards the sliding door. "I just... never mind."
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's nothing, don't worry." The pegasus looked at the table, running her hoof across the wood.
"You can tell me," Yuki said gently. "I did promise to help, remember?"
"Well... I was just wondering why Kyo seemed so mad at me." When she noticed the boy's puzzled expression, she continued. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked such a question. It was rude of me."
"No, it's alright. You just surprised me. That stupid cat has no manners." Yuki frowned, but his expression softened when he noticed the concerned look the pony was giving him. "I don't think he's really angry. I think you surprised him earlier." He smirked. "It surprised me too. I didn't think there was anything in the world that could calm that hot-head down so quickly."
"Well, taking care of animals is my special talent," she replied humbly.
"Special talent?" Yuki asked.
"Sure, everypony has one. Just look at my cutie mark." Fluttershy pointed to the trio of butterflies on her flank.
Yuki rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I thought that was a tattoo of some kind."
The pegasus blushed. "Oh Celestia, no! I'm... not that kind of mare."
He smiled at her. "I didn't think you were."
She smiled back at him. "Thank you. I'm glad that I ended up with such nice people."
The sliding door slammed open and a loud, unknown voice filled the room. "I'M HOME!"
Fluttershy's wings buzzed and she slammed into the ceiling. Instead of returning to the floor she chose to continue clinging there, shivering in fear, wings flapping to hold her aloft.
"Way to go, Shigure, you scared her," Yuki said flatly.