The front door to the Golden Oaks Library opened a with a creak and Fluttershy peeked inside. "Um, you wanted to see me?"
"Indeed," said Twilight, opening the door fully. "I've found something that I thought might interest you."
Fluttershy stepped across the wooden floor, eying the large blackboard that had been placed nearby. On it were numbers, words, and a whole lot of math. "What did you find?" Fluttershy inquired quietly.
"Well," Twilight started, "I was thinking about the all the drama at Sweet Apple Acres about the vampire fruit bats, and how defensive you were whenever anypony said anything bad about them."
Fluttershy started to look worried. "Um, is this about the plans for the sanctuary?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, that's another issue entirely. Mostly financial. This is in regards to Rarity's description of the bats as 'icky,' and your denial of such." Twilight tapped a hoof to the blackboard. "Well, I looked into it, and as you can see, my calculations indicate that vampire fruit bats actually are icky."
Fluttershy stared at the blackboard. "Um, what?"
Twilight lowered her hoof. "Not only that, but I sent my findings to scientists in Canterlot, Vanhoover, and Fillydelphia. They all agree with my results."
"B-but...."
"And I sent out surveys across Equestria." Twilight picked up a clipboard in her magic. "Subjects were shown a photo of a vampire fruit bat and their first reaction was recorded. Every single pony tested gave the same result. They all said, and I quote, 'eww.'"
Fluttershy huffed. "They just don't—"
"Therefore," Twilight cut in again, "I can conclude with near-absolute certainty that vampire fruit bats are, in fact, icky." She put down her clipboard and smiled at Fluttershy, who just stood there and stared at the equation on the blackboard.
"I can't... I don't... I...." Fluttershy read the equation over and over, but it never changed. She looked down at the results on the clipboard, flipping through page after page, but every reaction was exactly the same. "It doesn't make any sense! How can it be?"
"Sorry, Fluttershy, but it's true." Twilight put a hoof across her friend's back reassuringly. "They're icky."
Fluttershy dropped the clipboard and backed away. "I... I-I think I need to lie down. Th-thank you, Twilight."
"Oh, it's no problem," Twilight replied, putting her clipboard away.
Fluttershy turned and trotted back out onto the street, her mind a cluttered mess. Could it really be true? Could vampire fruit bats really be icky? Twilight had done the work, and it was nigh-impossible for Fluttershy to deny what the results conveyed. Was she just crazy? Had she always been crazy? She just didn't know anymore.
And what about other animals? If vampire fruit bats were icky, did that mean that other animals were icky too, and Fluttershy just couldn't see it?
Before she knew it, Fluttershy was back at her cottage. She took a good, long look around at all the homes she'd built for her animal friends, and smiled sweetly. Twilight must have been wrong. Everypony else must be crazy, not Fluttershy. Why, just look at all the beauty to be found just in Fluttershy's back yard.
Like the chickens in their coop! Chickens were just adorable, what with their pointy beaks, beady little eyes, floppy bits of skin hanging from their faces....
Oh, dear. They were a bit on the ugly side, weren't they? But they produced eggs, and eggs aren't icky, right? Although, now that Fluttershy thought about it, the process of egg-laying wasn't all that glamorous. In fact, the eggs came out of the same hole that....
Fluttershy gasped in horror, backing out of the chicken coop. "That is icky!" she shouted in alarm. She stopped as she felt something wiggle against her hoof. It was an earthworm. Worms eat dirt. Worms are slimy. Worms are... worms are icky!
Her breaths grew rapid and short as she shuddered and shuffled away from the worm. She hopped up onto the little outdoor table she kept around. Fluttershy turned to face her cottage as the leaves atop her home rustled and a ferret popped out to greet her. Fluttershy's breathing steadied as she looked at the furry little creature. It wasn't icky at all. Sure, it smelled funny, but a lot of creatures do. She reached out and patted the ferret on the head, feeling much better already.
A leaf was pushed out of place as another creature slid into sight. The slug crawled out onto a twig, waving its little eyestalks around. Fluttershy's smile grew uneasy at the sight of the icky slug, and she turned back to the ferret for comfort. She gasped as the ferret grabbed up the slug and viciously tore into it, chewing it up and shredding it in a matter of seconds. Fluttershy screamed as loud as her tiny lungs would allow, and dove into her house.
Fluttershy was hyperventilating with her back pressed against the door, eyes shut tightly, when the smell hit her. She opened her eyes slowly, her stomach turning at the sight of her home's interior. Animals were everywhere, eating, fighting, defecating, and generally being utterly icky. The room began to spin around Fluttershy as something touched her hoof. She looked down at the stray cat batting at her, and it held up a dead bird that it must have caught.
Fluttershy vomited on the cat, stumbled sideways a few steps, and passed out on the floor.