You never knew what was going to happen in a place like Equestria.
Ponies (and to a minor extent dragons) woke up every day not knowing what that particular day may bring, and anything was possible. A market vendor might show up for work one day to find that his stall had been turned into a replica made out of pudding, or a pony might show up to a best friends house to find out that the friend in question had been turned into an antelope. Every day was a new adventure, and for the most part, all adventures were welcomed.
Of all the normal every day events that occurred in Ponyville, many seemed, at first, not so normal. At least to an outsider, anyway. One such example was the endless bounding back and forth of a bright pink mare, who seemingly never once ran out of energy. The mare in question bounded past several other ponies at breakneck speeds, all of whom saw fit to look up from what they were doing. And all, in turn, received a warm greeting.
"Hi, Cannonshot! Hi, Cherry Springs! Hi, Waffle Iron!" This last bit wasn't directed at any pony in particular, but at an actual metal waffle iron, for fear that it would feel left out.
"Where are you going in such a rush, Pinkie?" A young stallion asked.
"To Fluttershy's house!" She called, barely slowing down. "She said she needed my help, and a true true friend always helps a friend in need!" With that she was gone around the corner, leaving the stallion puzzled as to why her words sounded so familiar. Must have been a dream or something.
Pinkie hurried up the long path to the cottage, and knocked twice before letting herself in. Perks of being a friend, after all.
"Flutterbutt!" She sang. "I'm here, whatcha need?" She was always more than happy to help a friend who needed her, even though sometimes they couldn't always return the favor. It simply wasn't something she expected them to do anymore, although she fully believed that an act of kindness in itself was its own reward.
Speaking of such, relief had flooded over the face of the Element of Kindness, as a desperate plea for help during a necessary last minute outing.
"Oh, thank you," Fluttershy gushed again, rushing about her cottage to throw various small items into a suitcase. None of the items seemed to make all that much sense in terms of consistency, ranging from a rubber chicken to a wine glass to a small scale model of a farm.
"Are you sure you need all these things?" Pinkie asked. She wasn't normally one to question things that didn't make sense, but in the case of Fluttershy, it was unexpected.
"Oh, yes," the pegasus squeaked. "I received a scroll only this morning that a rare laughing hyena has stopped laughing, and I have to go to the Canterlot Zoo to try and cheer it up," she explained. "Most of my animals are already cared for in short term situations like this, but I can't account for all of them, and I absolutely need your help. You were so good at foalsitting that one time, and you've been such a good friend in the past, I knew I could count on you."
"Oh, I do love your animals!" Pinkie said. "What do you need help with today? A seal? A lion? A tiger? A bear?"
"Oh my," Fluttershy squeaked. "No, nothing like that. I wouldn't put one of my friends in charge of something so dangerous. No, I just need you to watch my tarantula."
All at once, Pinkie's bright and cheerful world absolutely shattered, and she felt her mane go through several levels of deflation.
"What."
"My tarantula. Her name is Ida." The pegasus was completely casual about this, as if she had no idea that was keeping a minion of death in her house. Pinkie suddenly suspected that there was perhaps a reason everypony else had turned down Fluttershy's request.
Pinkie's voice cracked. She would have preferred the lion. "Oh, Fluttershy, I don't know if I can-"
"And I'm just so grateful that you said you could help, I don't know what I would have done otherwise. You were my last hope, and I'm just so happy you were available. Honest."
Well, crap. Pinkie forced a smile. "Of course," she said.
"Wonderful," Fluttershy said, moving over to push a cage forward. It was covered with a cloth, and Pinkie saw no reason to remove said cloth.
"This is Ida, and she's very sweet, she just needs a lot of attention and doesn't like being left alone. She feeds herself, but she gets very upset when I'm away."
"She feeds herself?" Pinkie asked. "As in... she gets out?" She really didn't like the sound of that. But at the very least was grateful that she didn't have to feed it.
"Well of course she gets out, silly. But you have to let her out, and watch her very closely. I don't want anything to happen to her."
Pinkie opened her mouth to say something, but Fluttershy gasped and cut her off.
"But I'm..."
"Oh, I'm going to miss my train, you'll do really well, Pinkie, I know you will!" And picking up her suitcase, she raced out the door. Fluttershy really was in a hurry, and in moments had left poor Pinkie behind.
"...Afraid of spiders..." Pinkie finished, finding herself now alone with the demonspawn Fluttershy had put under her care.
There was absolutely no way that this was going to end well.