Twilight was only passing by the library on her way to Fluttershy's cottage when she spotted Fluttershy flying towards her. She knew immediately that something was wrong as she spotted the look on Fluttershy's face. Her eyes were puffy and she looked disheveled in a way that alarmed Twilight. She took off so quickly that Spike could only just cling to her mane while Owlowiscious found himself waking up in free fall and only just managed to avoid a rough landing by flapping fiercely.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy called before Twilight had even reached here. "You must come! Please! I need your help!"
"Of course! What can I do?"
But Fluttershy already spun around and flew back in the direction of her cottage from where she had come. She had never shared Rainbow Dash's enthusiasm for flying and had never become even nearly as accomplished at it, but now she was flying as fast as she could, making it very difficult for Twilight to keep up and similarly difficult for Spike to cling on to Twilight's mane. During the flight a terrible thought came up in Twilight's mind. Fluttershy looked heartbroken and disheveled. Had she perhaps become the next victim of the attacker? Fluttershy landed in front of her cottage and looked back at Twilight with a kind of pleading impatience.
Twilight tripped and almost fell when she landed.
"Fluttershy, for the love of Celestia, what happened? What is wrong? How can I help?"
Fluttershy gave Twilight a look so desperate it could have made a stone statue cry.
"My feathered friends! My birds, so many of them are... not well. And one of them... she must have been attacked. I tried everything I could, but I think she is..."
Her mouth began to tremble and she didn't have to say it for Twilight to understand. Spike leaped from her back, unmistakably relieved to be on the ground again. Moments later Owlowiscious landed on his head.
"Your magic...", Fluttershy sobbed, "...you must help her, Twilight!"
Twilight nodded, but at the same time she felt like an icy cold hand was closing around her heart and squeezing. She didn't know all that much about healing magic and was certain that Fluttershy knew infinitely more about how to care for sick animals. By the sound of it the life of one of her feathered friends was at stake and if she failed to live up to her hopes, Twilight knew this would be infinitely more difficult to bear than any failed test.
Fluttershy led the way to her backyard where an unlikely scene presented itself. There were plenty of birds there, which was far from unusual in Fluttershy's backyard, but there wasn't the usual melody of chirping and twittering, except for occasional tweets that sounded almost like warning calls. It didn't take any expertise on animals to realize that these birds were distraught, nervous and scared. Even Fluttershy's bunny Angel, usually never shy to assert himself, seemed utterly lost and overtaxed amidst the flocks of birds. They thronged together as if in fear of being attacked but not knowing where to flee.
"What's happening?" Twilight asked aghast.
"I don't know", Fluttershy sobbed. "First there were just a few birds who seemed to have a bad day. But when I got home yesterday there were so many of them. And this morning there were even more. They are terrified, Twilight! But I don't know what is doing this to them. And then there is..." Fluttershy sniffed. She had arrived at a wooden table in her backyard. On it, she had arranged a nest of twigs, cloth, and cushions and in this nest lay a bird whom Twilight had seen before. She gasped. It was the barn owl, the very same she had seen Owlowiscious attack the previous evening.
Twilight immediately cast her head around to Spike, but Owlowiscous sat on his head, visibly concerned by the situation but clearly not out for any aggression.
"She came here this morning", Fluttershy snivelled. "She was bleeding and ruffled and very weak. I did everything I could, but she is getting ever weaker!"
Twilight stepped beside the table. The barn owl didn't seem to notice her, in fact, Twilight wasn't sure if she was awake, even though her eyes were half-open. Her plumage was heaving and lowering only a little as the bird was breathing shallowly. There were broken and ruffled feathers, much like there had been on Owlowiscious after the fight the previous evening. Twilight saw that Fluttershy had bandaged some spots while a few minor scratches had been cleaned but lay uncovered.
Twilight was thinking frantically about everything she had ever heard or read about injuries, birds, injured birds and any magic that might help here.
"Did she eat and drink anything since she came here?" Twilight asked.
"Very, very little", Fluttershy sobbed, nodding at a little bowl of water and another with some morsels which stood right beside the nest on the table.
"The other birds...", Twilight asked, "...have any of them been injured like the owl?"
Fluttershy shook her head. "But they are scared and terrified!"
Twilight took a deep breath and her horn flashed for a moment. Several of the minor cuts closed and looked like they had been healing for several days already. Fluttershy gave Twilight a very thankful look, but Twilight knew that any gratitude or relief was utterly premature. She had only mended the minor cuts because it was the only thing she knew about, but this owl was not in her poor shape because of this kind of scratches, which were probably a part of nightly life for such a bird of prey.
If she could help it, Twilight didn't want to remove the carefully applied bandages which Fluttershy had undoubtedly put on with the uttermost care and skill.
"Fluttershy, how deep are the injuries under the bandages?" Twilight asked.
"Deep! I'm sure they must hurt the poor thing."
"I'm sure they do, but what I mean is, do you think that they are... life-threatening for this owl?"
Fluttershy was looking rather distressed.
"Please, Fluttershy, I must know to decide what to do to help our feathered friend here!"
"I... I do not think the cuts would be life-threatening. They must hurt a lot, but I have seen birds with even worse injuries who were never... like this."
Fluttershy pointed at the owl whose state gave good reason to fear for her life.
Twilight carefully approached the owl and scanned her closely, but she didn't detect any curse or spell of any sort that might have explained the owl's suffering.
She brushed through her mane with one hoof, frantically trying to think of something to do, but she had no idea at all what could be the cause for the suffering of the owl that wasn't caused by the injuries or any kind of magic that she could find.
"I don't know who attacked her...", Fluttershy wailed.
"Owlowiscious did", Twilight said flatly.
Fluttershy goggled at her as if she was certain she had misheard.
"Last night he attacked an owl at the library. I don't know why and when I tried to get them apart, they flew away before I could stop them. I went after them of course and Owlowiscious returned a bit ruffled and confused, but otherwise okay. I don't know why he did it and I'm not sure if he knew."
"That was this bird?" Spike asked, pointing at the owl on the table. The motion directed the attention of Owlowiscious on Spike's head to the owl on the table, while so far he had appeared absorbed with the observation of the other birds. With a short leap and a single flap of wings, Owlowiscious landed on the table beside the fading owl.
"Owlowiscious, no!" Twilight called and was about to drag her pet owl away with a spell, while Fluttershy uttered a little yelp. Owlowiscious however didn't attack but approached his conspecific cautiously, uttering some quiet hoots and nudging her gently. There was not a sign that would have suggested that just the previous evening these two owls had fought at talon and beak point.
"What is he doing?" Spike whispered as if he feared his voice might scare away every bird around if he spoke up.
"He is... caring", Fluttershy said.
Indeed the scene reminded a lot of what it would have looked like had a pony in sickbed been cared for by a friend or relative. Owlowiscious hoots sounded like cooing noises as he nudged the barn owl and removed a few fragments of broken feathers from her plumage while carefully avoiding to touch any of the bandages or bruises which Twilight's spell had closed. The constant quiet hooting sounded almost like a song and Owlowiscious only stopped when he picked up a little morsel from the bowl beside the nest and fed it to the barn owl. The barn owl did accept the morsel while Owlowiscious continued to coo and made ever effort to coddle up his fellow owl.
"Twilight...", Spike said with a most skeptical voice, "...you're seriously saying Owlowiscious attacked this owl last night?"
"He did. I saw it. I don't understand that either."
The effect of Owlowiscioius' caring and caressing was as distinct as it was immediate. The barn owl opened her eyes completely and these black eyes were getting a lot more focused. She was breathing deeper and more regular now and even raised her head a little and span it as far as no bird other than an owl could have, first to the one, then to the other side as if trying to orient herself. She still looked very weak, she still had an air of despair and suffering about her, but as she took a little drink from the water-bowl Fluttershy had placed next to the one with the morsels, there was nothing left of the impression of impending death that had been looming just moments before. The barn owl uttered a weak hoot in response to Owlowiscious who did not budge from her side.
"Thanks!" Fluttershy sobbed, burying her face into Twilight's mane and drawing her into a hug.
"I didn't do anything", Twilight said while returning the hug, patting Fluttershy's back gently with one of her wings and trying to understand what had happened. "It was Owlowiscious."
"Thanks to him, thanks to you, thanks to everyone!" Fluttershy said, her voice still shaking, but her puffy eyes now giving a look of unrestrained relief. Twilight herself felt like she had been relieved of a very heavy burden and her knees felt weak. What if Owlowiscious hadn't been with them? What if the owl hadn't experienced this almost miraculous improvement under the care of Owlowiscious? What if the hope and confidence that Fluttershy had put in her had been in vain?
In vain were these thoughts, to be sure, but Twilight couldn't keep them out of her mind while she still held Fluttershy.
After several more minutes and after Fluttershy had taken another close look at the owl that convinced her she was not in immediate danger anymore, Fluttershy invited Twilight and Spike into her cottage where she boiled tea. All the windows were open and almost all of the birds immediately flew inside as Fluttershy left the backyard while Owlowiscious stayed outside with the barn owl.
Twilight was looking out of the window and at the birds there. Her mind was working frantically.
"Hello, anypony there?" Spike waved one arm in front of her eyes and by the looks she got from both Spike and Fluttershy, it was clear she had missed something they said.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"Uhm... I was just asking if you wanted milk or sugar or honey in your tea, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked with an apologetic look. Twilight wondered how often she had been asking without her realizing it before Spike had taken the more direct approach to gain her attention, an approach Fluttershy probably wouldn't have taken for a much longer time.
"Just the tea. Thank you, Fluttershy."
"Gee Twilight, what are you thinking about?"
"The birds...", Twilight mumbled, half in response to Spike's question, half to herself.
"Fluttershy, did any of the other birds care for the owl like Owlowiscious did?"
"Oh no...", Fluttershy said while she put a cup of tea in front of Twilight and another one in front of Spike, "...other birds avoid owls or sometimes even chase them away. None of them got anywhere near the owl."
"The other birds, Fluttershy! The other birds who came to you, how did they get better?"
Fluttershy looked surprised at the urgency of the question.
"I... I think most of them just needed a hug", Fluttershy said. "Some comfort and being with their friends and families."
"Like the bird you had when I came here yesterday?" Spike asked.
Fluttershy nodded and suddenly twitched. Spike's question had reminded her of something.
"Twilight, how was the hearing? Did they release Frank?"
Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "No, they didn't."
Fluttershy looked taken aback. "No? But how could they? I mean—"
"The birds, Fluttershy, do they all seem the same or was it just some of them having a bad day?"
"Uhm... some seemed very, very sad. But not all of them were like that. Most of the birds who came here since yesterday evening are terrified rather than just scared. I think they want to tell me something, but I don't really understand what they mean."
"What they mean?" Twilight asked. "What are they saying?"
Fluttershy sighed. "It does not really work like that. Most of what the birds are saying cannot be translated like it was a pony language. They often use intonations or images that I don't understand completely either."
"Anything Fluttershy", Twilight pleaded. "Anything you understand?"
"Uhm... now I am really not sure. It also doesn't make any sense and I could be utterly wrong and they may just be saying something that I have never heard before so I don't understand—"
"Please Fluttershy!"
"Uh, okay. It sounds a bit like they were saying something like 'some of us are not one of us at some passing of everything'—"
"Some passing of everything?" Spike asked confused, earning himself an angry look from Twilight.
"I think that may mean something like 'life' or 'time'", Fluttershy said. "But I'm not really sure."
"What else do they say?" Twilight asked.
"The rest is really much more difficult it could be 'dark shifting, sky floating eats but not what is to eat, starves chirps'."
Twilight continued to look at Fluttershy expectantly.
"That's all they say, Twilight, but they say it over and over again." Fluttershy said.
"Starves chirps?" Spike asked. "How can you starve a chirp?"
"Chirp is something birds say all the time. I think they use it for many different things", Fluttershy said. "I think it can mean, sun, song, cheer, clear blue sky, happiness, love, goodness... almost everything birds like can be described with 'chirp', but they always know what exactly they mean and perhaps I interpreted it all utterly wrong."
Twilight was gnawing her lower lip.
"Twilight, what happened at the hearing? How could they not release Frank?"
"It must be the same attacker!" Twilight shouted, ignoring Fluttershy's question.
"Twilight? What do you mean?" Spike asked.
"The birds appear sad and hopeless! So did Mr. Rich! So did Miss Cheerilee! And Frank too didn't seem to feel well and..."
Suddenly Twilight stopped in mid-sentence, seemed to remember something and gave Fluttershy a look that made her fall back from her a few steps.
"Twilight?"
"Fluttershy, do you remember everything that happened since you left us yesterday?"
"Uh... yes, I think so?"
"Are you certain? This is really important! Is there any moment you don't remember?"
Fluttershy thought carefully but shook her head. "No, Twilight. I remember everything."
"Did you dream last night?"
"Yes, I think so. But why are you asking this?"
Twilight sighed with relief. "I was worried, Fluttershy. You were so upset that I thought if perhaps you too had been attacked by the same one who attacked Mr. Rich, Miss Cheerilee and possibly Frank."
"Frank was attacked?" Fluttershy asked shocked.
"I'm not quite certain, but Princess Luna visited me in my dream last night and said that there was something very unusual about his dream and Frank seemed somewhat downcast this morning. Not as much as Mr. Rich or, from what Applejack told me, Miss Cheerilee, but still."
"Twilight, please tell me of the hearing... if you don't mind."
Twilight gave a summary of the hearing and its results while her mind was again focused on what she had learned here at Fluttershy's place. From her summary of the hearing and the tasks given to the others, Twilight returned back to the topic of the birds.
"Their behavior seems so similar to that of Mr. Rich and Miss Cheerilee. They seemed really depressed, but care, concern, comforting from the ones they love, friends and family seem to be the most helpful remedy!"
"But isn't that always helping, Twilight, no matter why someone feels bad?"
Twilight nodded: "You are right there of course; but the owl was really... well you saw her. This was not just the usual effect of comforting. She might have..."
Fluttershy nodded.
"But Twilight, Fluttershy said that most of the birds who arrived since yesterday appeared scared rather than depressed", Spike pointed out.
"Yes, but most ponies too are worried after the attacks that happened. They are not in panic, but a few more such attacks and... anyway. I really don't think this is a coincidence! And somehow this must also be the explanation for what happened yesterday night. Owlowiscious would never just attack and injure a fellow owl!"
Spike nodded in agreement.
Twilight started to walk around Fluttershy's table in circles at a rapid pace while Fluttershy almost clung to the teapot she was still holding. Twilight's restlessness was making her rather nervous.
"Something's missing! Something is still missing!" Twilight said to herself, but talking so loud that Spike and Fluttershy understood her clearly.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm certain the attacker of Mr. Rich and Miss Cheerilee also attacked the birds. But I don't know why. Maybe even the attack on Mr. Rich was not so much about the money after all. It all seems so chaotic...", Twilight coughed suddenly, quickly levitated the tea cup to herself and emptied it completely. "I still don't know who is behind this... but I think we got enough to put into a letter to Princess Celestia and one to Princess Luna. Maybe we will hear even more from Zecora when we get back to the library. Spike, come along!"
Twilight stepped towards the door at a determined pace and levitated the hesitant Spike onto her back as she walked.
"Uh... Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, noticing suddenly that her focus on the case had let her almost forget about Fluttershy.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I just got some ideas and maybe we can still find the attacker before they bring Frank to Canterlot."
"Did you get an epiphany?" Fluttershy asked.
"An epiphany?" Twilight asked surprised, not because she was unfamiliar with the word but because she hadn't expected it from Fluttershy.
"Or epicfunny if Pinkie got it right."
"Not yet... something is still missing. But Fluttershy, the attacker is still about and I already told the others that nopony should stay alone for too long. Would you come with me to the library?"
"I can't do that, Twilight! My feathered friends need me now and the other animals too. I must stay here with them."
Twilight nodded very slowly. Soft-spoken as Fluttershy was, Twilight was certain that nothing she could say would convince her to leave her animals behind in this situation.
"Just please be very careful, Fluttershy! I still don't know why the attacker attacks whom he attacks. You should perhaps close the windows. I'm a worried to leave you here all alone—"
Fluttershy laughed suddenly. It was a bright and clear laughter which even Twilight had rarely ever heard from her unassertive friend. Fluttershy quickly fell silent again, but she was smiling as she said: "But Twilight, how could I be alone?"
She spread out her wings as if she wanted to embrace all the birds and other animals now crowded in the cottage. "Perhaps I am the least alone of us all... I think."
Twilight was not quite sure what to make of this, but she just nodded.
"I'll leave Owlowiscious here with you. It is probably the best for the injured owl. But if there is anything wrong, please send him to me immediately!"
Fluttershy nodded.
"Twilight?" Spike lowered his voice a little. "Weren't you going to ask Fluttershy something else?"
"No, Spike", Twilight said firmly.
The dragon gave her a surprised look.
"I meant about—"
Twilight silenced him by shaking her head while Fluttershy looked at them confused.
"See you, Fluttershy!"
"Goodbye. Thank you for everything."
Twilight left Fluttershy's cottage and headed back towards the library.
"...Discord?" Spike finished his question as they crossed the bridge over the brook in front of Fluttershy's cottage.
Twilight shook her head again. "He could probably do all this and if it was all about what we had before we got here, I wouldn't put it beyond him. But attacking Fluttershy's birds, almost killing one of them. I don't think that is the kind of cruelty he would get a laugh from and also...", Twilight sighed, "...I may not be able to really understand that friendship between Fluttershy and Discord yet. But something tells me he would not do anything so certain to break this friendship. I still don't know who this attacker is, but after what I have seen here, I'm quite sure it is not Discord."