//------------------------------//
// Prompt #401: Food 
// Story: Ponywatching 
// by ThunderTempest 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy, like most ponies, was afraid of the Everfree Forest. However, Fluttershy, unlike most ponies, regularly made trips inside the wild forest. Almost nopony knew what these trips were for.

Fluttershy crept around a twisted and gnarled tree, slipped under an outstretched branch, and hopped across a small stream. Overhead, the dense canopy rustled with the sounds of wildlife. Birds screeched out from time to time, and the noise of the forest was occasionally punctuated with the sound of something large, angry and with far too many sharp teeth and claws for Fluttershy’s taste. So she kept her steps soft, her voice quiet and her body as small as possible.

It wasn’t until she reached a small clearing with a pond that she relaxed even a little. As she crossed the tree-line, she straightened up, looking around the clearing, and sighed. She always hated coming here, but she knew that she had to. For scattered around the clearing were a number of traps, designed to catch animals. Small, cute, fluffy animals, mostly.

And unfortunately for Fluttershy, today they were mostly full. Each snare held a bunny, who had only come here for food and water. As Fluttershy neared the nearest trap, the bunny began squealing, but its cries for freedom fell on deaf ears.

“I’m sorry, little friend,” whimpered Fluttershy, before placing a hoof on the bunny’s head. With a quick burst of pressure, she snapped its neck, killing it. Fluttershy moved around the clearing, first killing anything that had been caught by the traps, then removing the corpse, and re-setting the snares. It was only after all this work was done did Fluttershy exit the clearing.

The trek back to her forest-edge cottage was a little more fraught with danger. After all, Fluttershy now had to make the trip with a load of bunnies on her back. Fortunately, Fluttershy knew the forest well enough, and managed to make it back without much incident.

Once she had arrived at her cottage, she went straight to the back yard, where her bear friend was resting. He couldn’t hunt by himself right now, thanks to a broken leg, so Fluttershy was taking care of him. And that also included feeding him. Fluttershy wasn’t fond of when she had to host carnivores, but she understood that some animals fed on others. That was just the way the world worked. It seemed cruel to think that she was only killing the bunnies so that she could feed her other friend, but there was really no other way.

So, while her bear friend was sick, it was her job to go and get meat for him. She tried to make it as painless as possible for the poor little bunnies, but sometimes they suffered in the traps before she could get there. She had seen some with broken legs, and a few had even attempted to escape by chewing on themselves.

But the only way that her bear friend would get better was with plenty of food. So to be kind to one friend, she had to be a little cruel to others. And after the bear was better, she would go and apologise to all of the bunny families.

Fluttershy sometimes hated her ability to understand animals.