It was like any other autumn day in Ponyville: sunny and uneventful, if a little warm for the late autumn. Everyone was attending their own business giving little regard for the dangers posed by Discordia, Equus’ chaotic military country. An airship landed just outside the small town; a standard commercial airship meant for carrying people with no special abilities like cargo winches or canons or any of that. Its passengers unloaded and found who they were trying to meet or went to some other place on the airfield. Two passengers, however, were completely new. They had never ridden an airship before, they had never been to Ponyville, and hadn’t been in Equestria for a very long time. Their names were Meer Reisend and Ozean Reisender; both were young men from Germaney trying to distance themselves from Discordia’s borders. They were tall for a Germane; one was about six feet with brown hair, bleached in spots seemingly by the sunlight; the other was slightly taller and had blonde hair with streaks of brown. They each had a single suitcase, filled strictly with clothes and the money he had from selling their houses. Completely lost in the world and disoriented, they decided the best idea would be to get some food first.
They ventured through Ponyville until stumbling onto a sweetshop: the Sugarcube Corner. They went inside and ordered a strudel pastry and a bethmӓnchen, much like what they was accustomed to in Germaney. On the first bite, however, Ozean could tell the chef had never set foot in Germaney before. It didn’t bother Meer too badly; the chef herself seemed overly hyper and held her head way in the clouds anyway, so he expected it. They took the pastries and left the shop, searching for an inn or someplace that they could stay until they got their bearings. Much to their dismay, there were no inns in Ponyville, and it was getting late. Spotting a small cottage near the forest, they decided that would be their best option: Meer was somewhat reclusive anyway, and he could feel some eyes staring at him, sizing him up as an outsider; Ozean didn’t care so much.
They approached the cottage, looking at it closely. It was a quaint place: moss or grass was growing on the roof, not because it was unkempt, but as an aesthetic. Ozean followed Meer and they could smell the scent of animals: not manure, but their fur, indicating whoever owned this place was probably a vet of some sort. Meer knocked on the door and waited a few moments. A young girl, about twenty five at the oldest opened the door. She was only chest-high on Meer and had long, flowing pink hair and teal eyes. She wore a yellow sweater and brown pants, and held a small white rabbit in her hands, and her face was halfway hidden behind the door.
“H-hello?” she asked.
Immediately Meer could tell she was a shy one, perhaps just as reclusive as he was. “Hi,” he said, “We’re new here, and I see there aren’t really any inns in town. Would it be alright if we rented a space here for a night or two?” Even though he was from Germaney, his accent was surprisingly dull, almost nonexistent.
“Oh, uhh,” the girl began.
Meer quickly sized her up and concluded since she had a soft spot for animals, he might be able to use it to his advantage. He was younger than her, that much he could tell, and if he made himself seem helpless enough, she would certainly allow their stay. “You see,” he began, “we just moved here from Germaney, trying to get away from Discordia, and we have no place to go tonight, and we’ve heard Equestrian nights can get really cold.”
“Oh, they certainly can,” the girl replied, “The animals always come here where it’s warm during the night, but I’m sure they won’t mind two extra visitors.”
“Aw, yeah,” Meer thought to himself as he fist-bumped with Ozean. They made sure to keep that motion hidden from the girl. “Easy,” he thought although he did feel somewhat bad about manipulating her. “Well we have some money we can pay you for the space, and there’s one thing you might want to know. We used to work the night-shift as guards at the…palace in Flankfurt, so we’ll probably be awake at night and asleep during the day, if that’s not a big inconvenience.”
“Oh, none at all,” the girl said letting Meer and Ozean in, “This means you can help take care of the nocturnal animals, how wonderful!” she sighed heavily but happily, “And I can finally get some sleep. Oh, I’m Fluttershy, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. I’m Meer Reisend,” Meer replied.
“And I’m Ozean Reisender,” Ozean replied.
“It’s getting late,” Fluttershy said, “I better make you a list of all the things the nocturnal animals like.”
“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Ozean stopped her, “Germane and Equestrian writings are very different, so you could just tell me and I’ll write it down.”
“Really?” Fluttershy asked surprised, “I thought Germane and Equestrian used identical symbols?”
“Er...nope,” Meer said, “It’s like trying to read a foreign language…er…you get the idea.”
“Yes, I understand,” Fluttershy laughed. Meer found her laugh adorable as her voice was so soft and gentle. Ozean found her very attractive, as he did with most other Equestrian girls; and he rated Fluttershy a straight ten.
“Anyway, what did you want us to do?” he asked her. Neither had any quarrels with being put to work; they were taking up part of her house for a night or two, so they should do some kind of chore.
“Oh, well the fireflies’ water needs to be checked; the mice need some more food, that’s in the kitchen; the catfish need to be counted; and just keep an eye on the chickens since their pen is damaged,” Fluttershy said very quickly then added quietly, “That is…uhh…if you don’t mind.”
“So water the fireflies, feed the mice, count the catfish and watch the chickens?” Ozean repeated for clarity.
“That’s right,” Fluttershy said then yawned, “Well I’m going to bed; I haven’t slept well in a long time. Thank you!” With that she was off, up the stairs and gone.
“Well, it seems some don’t care much for human company,” Meer remarked to Ozean as they walked outside.
“What do you mean?” Ozean asked him in their language. Both were fluent in Equestrian, but they preferred their language.
“Well look at all these animals,” Meer said, “Plus she lives way out of town.” He pointed to the lights about a half mile away.
The sun had set, giving a faint glow beyond the horizon. The fireflies were active already, as they were in Meer’s home and he found their water feeder. It was about two thirds full; plenty of water for such small bugs. Next he went to the creak nearby the cottage with a torch and his pencil and paper. He stuck the torch in the river banks and counted the fish as they approached the light. “Thirteen,” he thought to himself, “I’ll just make thirteen tick marks; I doubt she could read my numbers. Next is to…feed the mice, Ozean’s got that.” He placed the ticked paper in his pocket and went to the kitchen to meet with his friend and leave the ticked paper on the countertop.
It was extremely old fashioned: a fireplace with a few pots and pans along with a cupboard of bird, mice, dog, cat, and other foods, and a mantle. Ozean had grabbed the mice food and went back outside where he put about two cups of food into the container; he expected it would be plenty, but Fluttershy didn’t tell him how much to put in, anyway. He walked into the kitchen without a sound, a habit he had developed at home along with Meer, and out of respect for his temporary land lord’s sleeping.
“Now to check on the chickens,” he thought. Without a sound, he went outside and found his way to the chicken coup where he met up with Meer. Indeed it was in need of repair, the fence at least, and it appeared there was a small hole and chicken tracks.
“Well, damn,” Meer said as he pointed out the tracks leading into the forest, “Wouldn’t be very responsible to just allow that chicken to get eaten by whatever’s living in that forest.”
“Nope,” Ozean agreed. He went inside and found his bag. He opened it and pulled a few things out, a baton and other items.
“I’m sure there’s nothing in that forest,” Meer said as he grabbed his things as well, “But it’s best to be safe,” he held his baton close. It was a sturdy thing: made of metal instead of wood and about ten pounds so it could crush the attacker’s skull with enough force, even if Meer never had to use it like that. They went back outside and followed the tracks into the forest after placing plywood over the fence hole. After about five minutes of walking, Ozean suggested they split up to find the chicken faster. Meer agreed and continued until found the chicken poking its head out of a bush, and went up to it. When the chicken turned around and emerged from the bush, he found it wasn’t a chicken, but a cockatrice.