Fluttershy was running a little bit late. She had rescued a lost group of ducklings and reunited them with their mother. Back home, it was time to take care of her recovering serpent, Sammy. Fluttershy rushed over to the refrigerator and took out a brown paper bag with Sammy's name on it. Inside of it was a dead mouse. Fluttershy almost forgot that Sammy liked to have her toy around with his food or else he didn't want to eat it since he could be picky like that. She tied a string to the mouse's tail and walked into the living room with the dead mouse being dragged across the floor. She had to tip toe past several animals because her house was getting over populated and cluttered.
"Sammy! Mommy has your treat!" Fluttershy found the serpent. His head was sticking out from under the couch and his body could not be seen. Fluttershy tossed the dead mouse in front of him and wiggled the string attached to its tail. "Come and get it before it gets away, Sammy!" She tapped her hoof on the floor rapidly as she jerked the string around. "Oh no! It's getting away, Sammy. You better catch it before it's too late!"
Sammy turned his head away. His little eyes spoke of regret.
"Sammy? Aren't you going to eat?"
Sammy slid all the way under the couch hoping that Fluttershy would take that as a no.
"Well, if you're not going to eat, then I know a very hungry pregnant mommy who wants to eat their dinner", Fluttershy said as she walked back into the kitchen and put the dead mouse back into the bag. She then took some cheese out and came back into the living room. "Fiona!" Fluttershy called out. She waited a moment for the mouse to come out of the hole in the wall, but she did not come. Fluttershy knocked on the wall and called out again, but there was no answer. She turned back to where Sammy was under the couch. "Sammy, have you seen Fiona? She's not in her home right now. Oh, I hope she didn't run away or get lost." Fluttershy had a rather horrifying thought and asked, "Sammy, why are you hiding? Please come out and show yourself."
Sammy stuck his forked tongue out, sensing the air and then slowly crawled his way into plain sight.
What Fluttershy saw horrified her. There, she saw that Sammy had a small bulge in his belly.
Fluttershy felt great sadness and anger at the same time. She knew that Sammy had wanted to eat her by his behavior whenever Fiona was around. "Why did you eat Fiona!?" Fluttershy demanded to know.
The serpent stared up at her with his beady little eyes and stuck his forked tongue out as he communicated with her.
"Sammy, No! I don't care how tempting she was to eat. She was pregnant and was supposed to give birth soon! I told you that I was coming home earlier today to feed you! Do you want to go out and live on your own so you can catch your own wild mice? I don't think you would survive with your special needs. I do not allow my critters to eat other critters that I am caring for and you know this rule!"
Sammy looked down at the floor with shame. He knew he had screwed up big time no matter how delicious Fiona appeared to him. He looked back up for a second and apologized
"Well, I just can't trust you anymore, Sammy. You knew Fiona was special and yet you ate her anyway. I just don't know what I'm going to do with you."
Sammy slid back under the couch full of shame and regret that he hurt his master's feelings greatly.
Fluttershy stared at the little hole in the wall and wept for the loss of her special friend she was taking care of and for all those unborn babies she was carrying. She was deeply hurt and needed some time away from her cottage, but she knew that she couldn't stay out too long. She had other animals to feed and take care of, but right now she needed to get away and find a place of comfort, however, she could not trust Sammy to be alone by himself after what he did.
Fluttershy got out a small cage and opened it. "Sammy, in!" she commanded.
Sammy absolutely hated being in a cage, but he knew that he deserved way worse. He obediently slithered into the cage and Fluttershy latched it shut.
"Now, you think about what you have done and I'll be back later," she said as she placed the cage on a table. Fluttershy walked quickly to the door and headed out. She had no idea where she was going, she just kept walking and following the trails that her mind felt she should go down. Fluttershy kept walking until she found herself at the end of the trail she chose. It was raining lightly and Ponyville was expecting storms all throughout the week. She listened to the pitter-patter sound of raindrops against the earth and her hooves were all muddy from the puddles that were scattered about the ground. She ended up right in front of Sweet Apple Acres and she could see Big Macintosh carrying heavy supplies into a small shack nearby. Fluttershy looked down at the ground and began talking to herself. "Oh, I really want to go talk to Big Macintosh, but he looks so busy and kind of grumpy and I'd feel so wrong for intruding on his property without his permission. Fluttershy felt the urge to turn back and go home but she was very hurt and she was not doing a very good job when it came to keeping in touch with Big Mac. Fluttershy gulped and walked onto the farm towards the little shack that Big Macintosh went into. She said a silent prayer hoping that he wouldn't be angry that she came without warning while he was working. Fluttershy made it to the shack and peeked inside. There she saw Big Macintosh leaning over in one of the corners of the shack. This was the place that Granny Smith used to have open as a bar, but now it was being used as a tool shed. Fluttershy stared nervously at the red stallion for a while and then inched her way closely behind him. She hesitated again as if she still was not sure if she should be bothering him. Fluttershy took a deep breath and said as softly as she could, "Excuse me."
Big Macintosh nearly jumped out of his fur coat and quickly turned around, startled and afraid. "My Goodness!" He calmed down, taking several deep breaths when he realized it was Fluttershy.
"I'm so, so sorry, Big Mac. Was I, uh, too loud?"
"I just didn't expect anypony to be in here. The last pony that startled me that badly was Pinkie Pie. I swear, I just don't understand how there can be nothin' 'round me and all of the sudden she's poppin' out of trees and barrels."
"She's quite the big bang," Fluttershy assured.
Big Macintosh shook his head quickly trying to forget about the oddness of Pinkie Pie and focused back on Fluttershy. "Um, pardon me, but what are ya doin' out here anyway? I thought ya had a ton of animal critter friends that needed to be taken care of. It's kind of really muddy out there with all this rain and Princess Celestia sent out warnings about the weather."
"Well, why exactly are you working in this poor weather, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked.
"Because there's always work to be done 'round the farm, especially now that we're down a pony."
"Down a pony?" Fluttershy asked.
"E-yup! Granny Smith found out that ya'll ain't goin' to the supposedly right kind of church, so she kicked A.J. off the farm fer good until she comes back to Mass."
"Oh, dear!" Fluttershy said. "Where did she go? Maybe I can find her and take her into my cottage since she did rebuild it after all. I just hardly have any room with all of my sick critter friends."
Big Macintosh shrugged. "I have no idea, but I'm thinkin' bout leavin' the farm as well and findin' new work, but I just don't know where to go. I never thought Granny Smith would ever do such a thing. Talk about unity in Christ."
"Fluttershy looked at the floor with sadness. "Well, maybe I can help you out on the farm. I'm sure I can sacrifice some time away from my animal friends."
Big Macintosh shook his head no. "Nope. I reckon ya don't understand how strong A.J. is. I appreciate the offer, but I don't need to see ya with a broken back. However, there is one thing ya could definitely help me with."
"What would that be?" the timid mare asked.
"Follow me." Big Macintosh said as he grabbed the bucket and proceeded to the back of the room.
Fluttershy nervously followed Big Macintosh while taking notice of the bar stand where she had first met Applejack. Some nasty memories came back to her, but she knew Applejack was a great friend and was not like that anymore. Flutterhy's ears perked up when Big Macintosh stopped and she heard the tiniest of little cries nearby.
Big Macintosh got low and moved a shovel aside to reveal a cluster of baby mice laying in a neatly made nest of hay. "I don't know what to do with them."
Fluttershy gasped and got down low near them. "Oh, my goodness! I think these are..." The animal expert studied each mouse carefully and then finished her sentence. "Why, these are Fiona's babies!"
"Excuse me?" Big Mac asked.
"Fiona was a weak mouse that I was taking care of. She came to me because she felt that she couldn't survive much longer in the Everfree forest. She often told me that she was afraid and was planning to have her babies somewhere else since there wasn't enough room in my cottage and she was very afraid of my snake, Sammy." Fluttershy continued to study the mice for a moment then continued. "I just can't believe that she'd travel all the way here just to have her babies. I guess she felt that this was a safe place and she knew that well....I talked about how safe I felt around you and how much I liked to come visit you. I guess she wanted to make sure that her babies had a place where they would be one hundred percent safe from any danger that may be lurking around."
Big Macintosh looked at the bucket he had brought over and then looked back at the mice. "So, what do you want to do with them?"
"Well, we keep them here safe and sound and..." Fluttershy was interrupted by Big Mac.
"Fluttershy, you do know that these are rodents and us farmers kind of consider them to be pests."
"They aren't pests at all," Fluttershy assured him. "They are just helpless babies and I think Fiona helped us find a new way to bond together."
"How is that so?" Big Mac asked.
"We're going to keep them here and perhaps we can shelter and feed them until they're big and strong enough to go out on their own."
Big Macintosh was rather unsure about this idea, but when he saw the joy and excitement in Fluttershy's eyes, he couldn't help but agree. "Okay, Fluttershy. We can keep them here. I just don't know how I can help you with this."
"Oh, don't worry, I'll do all the work. I just want you to stop by when I come over so you can watch them grow and spend some time with me."
That thought was incredibly sweet in Big Mac's mind. Between their very busy schedules and how hard both of them worked, it was very arduous for them to keep in touch, let alone date. At least this gave them a new chance to get together, even if it was for a short amount of time since now they were one hard working pony short on the farm.
Fluttershy looked into Big Mac's eyes and smiled. She was so happy that he was so understanding about all of this. Her emotions were giving her rather crazy ideas that she'd never thought she'd ever try to do, but she licked her lips and leaned in forward to kiss him.
Big Macintosh's heart raced as she drew near. He'd never thought this moment would happen considering how shy she was.
Right before they were going to kiss a loud voice shouted into the shed. It was Granny Smith. "Big Macintosh! Get yer flank out here and help me fix this busted water chute. That dern storm broke it again!"
The loud voice startled Fluttershy. She pulled back and let out an "Eeep!"
"Big Macintosh?" Granny Smith called out. "What was that high pitched sound?"
"I think I stepped on a mouse, Granny," Big Macintosh said. "I'm comin'." Big Mac turned to Fluttershy and sighed. "I'm sorry, but I must go. Ya can stay here and make these lil' critters comfy while I go help Granny. Just try not to be seen. The last thing she needs to know is that I'm with a mare from the wrong denomination."
Fluttershy nodded her head Okay. She was going to gather some materials to make a blanket to keep them warm in this cold tool shed.
It hasn't even been a few days without Applejack and Big Macintosh was already sick of this. He grumbled some words of disapproval and left Fluttershy alone to take care of the baby mice. He had the feeling that either Applejack would come back or things would break out into a war zone.