Split Hares

by Palm Palette

Chapter 4

Fluttershy did not sleep well. Nightmares plagued her sleep where she felt like she was trapped in a glass jar and slowly suffocating. Eventually, she did get some rest, maybe, possibly; she wasn't really sure. All she knew is that she awoke to one of the most unpleasant sensations she'd ever felt. It felt like somepony had pinched her, hard. It wasn't just in one spot. Her whole flank was on fire.

“Aaaaaaaaa!” She shot up screaming and flapped her covers off. Yellow feathers fluttered to the floor. Her pain subsided as quickly as it had come. She panted in short breaths, then hopped out of bed and pulled open the blinds. The sun was already up. She'd missed the rooster's crow.

“Oh, no. I'm going to be late for breakfast.” Fluttershy turned to leave. Her mind was filled with the unhappy faces of the animals who'd be waiting for her.

Something caught her eye.

Fluttershy twisted her neck and lifted her wings to inspect her flank. It was smooth, like glass. It was shiny in an odd way. She touched a hoof against it, and it rippled briefly before the illusion vanished. Her fur was just fur. It wasn't shiny at all.

“That was weird. I must be seeing things, but... why would I see something like that?”

She shook her head and put her hoof back down. She didn't have time to worry about that. Her gut twisted with apprehension as she walked towards the living room. Each step filled her with dread. Her animals would be so upset and disappointed in her, and she had no idea how to placate them. With a heavy heart, she pushed open the door. The sight that awaited her wasn't what she expected.

“Oh, hey, there, Flutterhshy. I'm glad to see that you're finally up. Check it out: I made pancakes.” Spike pointed at a steaming pile of flapjacks on the table. Their aroma wafted into the air and filled the room. It was divine. Her tummy gurgled. She was very hungry.

“Thank you, Spike. Those smell delicious.” Before she sat down, though, Fluttershy looked around the room. There were animals around, but they weren't looking for food. Spike must have fed them already. Some, she noticed, had too much food, while a few others frowned at the tiny rations they'd gotten. Overall, Spike had done a pretty good job, but she did spot two squirrels arguing with some chickadees over a pile of spilled birdseed. She picked one of the squirrels up by his tail and dropped him on a nearby pile of acorns. The other she tossed to a rattlesnake.

Smiling to herself, she sat down and enjoyed her pancakes. Perhaps life wasn't so bad after all. Spike had even straightened out her rug again.

“You're welcome, m'lady. I always aim to please.” Spike bowed.

Fluttershy giggled. He usually only said such things to Rarity. Spike must really be in a good mood today or–

That's when she noticed the front door. The deadbolt had been sheared off and the door hung loose, swaying on its one remaining hinge. It broke and fell on the floor while she watched it.

Spike blushed and rubbed at the spines on the back of his head. “Er, sorry about your door. It was stuck and I may have pushed it just a teensy bit too hard.”

Fluttershy felt a tic under her left eye. “It's okay, Spike. I'm not mad.” –Spike gave her an odd look– “I'll stop by the hardware store and ask somepony to fix it while I'm out today. Um, I assume that Twilight will want to see me at the library, right?”

Spike nodded.

“Well, then, I'd best be off. Thanks for the pancakes again. Those were amazing.” Fluttershy hopped off her chair and walked towards the exit. Unfortunately, the rug bunched up again when she landed on it and it caught on her left hind leg. She fell over.

“Why, you!” Fluttershy's eyes narrowed and she snarled. The rage she felt surprised her. Without further warning, she grabbed the bunched-up rug in her teeth. It tasted like feet.

***

About an hour later, Fluttershy knocked on Twilight's door.

“Come in!”

She pushed the door open and stopped to rub her eyes. The room was dimly-lit and she had to pause to let her eyes adjust after she shut door behind her. All of the windows and blinds were closed. The only illumination came from a single lantern hung high in the room and a few dribbling candles around Twilight's reading bench. Speaking of which, she had her back turned and her nose was firmly planted in the book she was reading. A quill hung in the air next to her, ready to spring into action whenever she decided to take notes, which was often.

Fluttershy carefully stepped into the room. While most of the books had managed to find their way back onto the shelves, there were still a few loose piles lying around.

“Hoo,” said Owlowiscious.

“It's me, Fluttershy.” She looked up at the owl who was sitting on his perch. He rustled his wings and shut his eyes, going back to sleep.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing up so late?” Twilight asked. Twilight turned around to face Fluttershy, but the lighting was too dim to see her face very well, especially with the candles behind her.

Fluttershy stepped over to a window and pulled the blinds open, flooding the room with daylight.

“Ack.” Twilight threw a foreleg in front of her face and winced. When the light didn't go away, she gradually lowered her hoof. She looked terrible. Her mane was unkempt, and she had bags under her eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly. The wheels in her mind turned, but they were dulled from lack of sleep and had trouble finding traction. “Oh! I guess I stayed up all night. Heh-heh.” Twilight blew out the candles and opened the rest of the blinds with her magic. “So did Spike make those pancakes like I asked him to?”

Fluttershy opted not to comment on Twilight's appearance. In truth, she was pretty frazzled herself. “Yes, Spike did make pancakes. They were very good. He also fed the animals this morning so I didn't have to.”

“What, really?” Twilight rubber her eyes, she blinked, and broke into a smile. “Bravo, Spike! You get an extra gold star on your ice cream tonight!”

'Gold star' was the name of a gemstone, right? Fluttershy watched with mild curiosity as Twilight rummaged in a drawer. She pulled out a sheet of stickers and hopped off towards the freezer humming and grinning like a hyena.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, too softly.

The freezer door opened and shut and Twilight walked back into the room sans stickers. “He'll be so surprised!”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Yes, he will be. So, Twilight–”

“Oh! You want to hear what I've learned, right?” Fluttershy probably would have nodded if Twilight had given her the chance to. Twilight levitated a stack of books and flipped the top one open. “Check it out: these thirty-seven volumes of medical literature have an entire paragraph on gray eyes! As it turns out, they're caused by magic depletion. Other symptoms include nausea, drowsiness, headaches, vertigo, lethargy, fainting spells, swelling, itchiness, widespread rash, and death. Pretty neat, huh?”

“Death!?”

“Huh?” Twilight looked at the book again. “Oh, whoops, I had the bookmark in the wrong spot. I was reading off the symptoms for grave rot. Heh-heh. Gray eyes does have a similar list, but without the physical symptoms, and, uh, without the death too.”

Fluttershy relaxed, but she raised a hoof in concern. “Please tell me you didn't stay up all night just for that.”

“What? Oh no, not at all.” Twilight dropped those books on the floor and walked back to her reading stand. She pulled her saddlebags off the wall and dropped the book she'd been perusing into them. “That was the only reference guide I could find on the Snakefog Forest. We'll need to be as prepared as possible if we're going in there after Linky.”

“What? Right now? Don't you want to sleep first?”

Twilight shook her head. “No time. Tell Spike to ask the others to prepare for a long trip. We might be gone for days.”

“D-days? Um, I'm actually quite tired myself and–”

“Fluttershy, even without your cutie mark you're still the best animal expert around. The book's aggravatingly loose on details, but it is very clear that a wide variety of powerful beasts live there. I doubt we'd get very far without you.”

“A-are there any dragons?” Fluttershy trembled.

“Er, no, actually. It says they don't like the humidity from all the fog.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy put her hoof back down and frowned. “I'm still not sure I can do it. Animals just don't respond to me like they used to. I-I...” Fluttershy started to tear up again.

“Easy there, Fluttershy.” Twilight put her forelegs on Fluttershy's shoulders. “I know this will be difficult for you, but this is still our best chance at getting your cutie mark back.”

“My cutie mark...!” Fluttershy stomped her hoof on the ground and snorted. “You can count on me!”

***

Back at her cottage, Fluttershy sent Spike off on his errands before rummaging through her room to gather her camping supplies. She packed her tent, a lantern, and enough dried food for a week. If they stayed longer, she'd have to forage (she'd probably forage anyway). Looking over the items in her saddlebags, she felt certain that she was forgetting something. She always felt that way about camping trips.

An angry thumping brought her out of her daze. Angel Bunny pointed at his food bowl containing a plain lettuce salad and tuned up his nose.

“Oh, good morning Angel, I see you're finally up.” Fluttershy fastened the clasps on her saddlebags and patted him on the head.

Angel deadpanned and kicked his salad all over the bare, rugless floor.

“Hmm? Is something wrong?” Fluttershy frowned.

Angel waved his paws at the spilled salad, and Fluttershy looked past that at the open door.

“You want to go with me? I'm sorry, Angel, but it's much too dangerous out there for a little bunny like you.” She reached down to scoop him up for a hug. His eyes popped open, but he didn't protest. “There, there, Angel. I know you'll miss me, but I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” She sniffled. “S-so be a good boy and behave for Spike and Apple Bloom while I'm gone, okay?”

Angel Bunny squirmed and she let him go. He stomped up and down on the spilled salad.

“Oh dear, I guess it was a little wilted from sitting out all morning. Let me fix you a fresh salad.”

Humming softly, the yellow pegasus picked up Angel's bowl and carried it to the kitchen. He watched from the floor and drooled in anticipation as she diced up vegetables on the hardwood counter.

“You know, Angel, even though we can't talk to each other, it still feels like we have a special connection.” Fluttershy paused in her task to lean down and bump noses with him. He flopped over backwards and scratched his head. “I guess we don't really need to talk, do we? We've been living together so long I can guess what you want without being told.”

Fluttershy resumed dicing veggies, and scooped the pieces into the bowl. Angel sat back up and awaited its delivery with wide eyes and a string of drool dangling from his mouth.

Fluttershy twisted around with the bowl in her hooves. She held it above him, just out of reach and sighed. She looked down into his eyes. Angel was poised to hop up and grab the bowl, but he saw something shocking in her eyes. For a brief moment, she had a predatory glare. He froze.

“It'd be nice if there was some way to carry you around with me wherever I went, but I guess that's a little silly, isn't it?”

Fluttershy set the bowl next to him and rubbed her eyes. He sat there in a daze while she walked off. He shook himself and happily opened his mouth to devour–

It was another plain salad.

Three slices of cucumber were the only decorations. Scowling, he kicked the bowl over and hopped around on the furniture until he found a way onto the counter. With much effort, he dragged out a cookbook and kicked the cover open. He kept kicking the pages until he spotted something he liked. He slapped his paws on the image of an eggplant and cantaloupe fruit salad with strawberries and watermelon wedges. His efforts were wasted on thin air. Fluttershy was already outside, spreading her wings.

Angel yanked on his ears and thew a hissy-fit when she flew off.

***

The others were already waiting at the library when Fluttershy arrived.

“Oh good, we're all here. Come on, everypony! Let's head out and get that cutie mark back!” Twilight took the lead and marched off. Everypony else stood there and didn't move.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash flew over and tapped on her shoulder. Twilight stopped and looked up. “You're going north. The Snakefog Forest is in the other direction.”

“Oh? Oh!” Twilight bowed her head and blushed sheepishly as she walked back to the group.

“Yer silly, Twilight.” Pinkie giggled.

“Are you sure you're up for this?” Applejack asked. “Ya look awfully tired, Twilight.”

“What? No. I-I mean, yes. I mean, of course.” Twilight shook her head. “Look, I'll be okay after we've been walking for a while. Once the blood is flowing, I'll have no trouble staying alert.”

“If you say so.” Applejack frowned, but made no further comment.

After that less-than-encouraging false start, Twilight pointed herself in the right direction and they walked off as a group.

Their trip along the road went smoothly once Twilight stopped trying to walk and read at the same time, that is. Fluttershy felt really bad for her, but at the same time, she felt glad too. She didn't like to see her friend suffer; that wasn't it. She was just touched that her friend was willing to go to such lengths for her, even though said lengths weren't really sensible.

Despite hiking instead of flying, their trip down the road seemed to go by faster than her solo trip yesterday. Nopony was really in the mood to talk much; the only subjects they breached were her cutie mark and the forest, and the first upset Fluttershy, while the second encouraged Twilight to try reading and walking again. Mostly, they stayed silent.

Fluttershy's ears perked up. Something large was rummaging in the woods up ahead. She flew above the trees to get a better look and spotted the remains of a wagon around the bend. Rainbow Dash wasn't kidding when she said it was wrecked. It was rolled over and wrapped around a tree. How Linky had managed to do that, Fluttershy had no idea. Torn strips of fabric and broken boards led up to the crash site. One of the wheels was snapped in half and another was missing completely. The large animal she'd heard was Snappy Scoop, who was salvaging his possessions.

Rainbow Dash joined Fluttershy in the air and flew down to greet him. “Snappy! You're looking much better today.”

Snappy backed out of the wreckage and waved at her. His saddlebags were already bulging and he had his signature camera around his neck. The camera itself looked fine, but the extendable frame holding it was broken on one side. “Oh, hi there, Rainbow Dash. Thanks again for the lift yesterday. I don't know how long Id've been out if it weren't for you.”

“Yeah, that was pretty awesome of me.”

The rest of her friends caught up to them on the ground. Rarity stepped in front of Rainbow Dash. “What she means is, it was nothing. Any pony would do the same to help out.”

Dash shorted. “Well, I guess” –she smiled again– “but you have to admit I did it super fast.”

Rarity rolled her eyes.

Snappy shrugged. “I'll take your word for it, but I was unconscious at the time.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “You look awfully chipper for somepony who's stuff just got destroyed.”

His smile faded. His mane was actually disheveled and there were signs of wetness on his cheeks. Fluttershy felt bad; he'd just been putting on a happy face for them and she'd called him out on it.

“Well, I guess if you live in Ponyville long enough, you get used to such things, right?” Snappy glanced at his flank. “And besides, a lot of ponies are really interested in hearing about this cutie mark snatcher. It's not often that I get to be part of the story that I'm reporting on. Say—could one of you help me with something? I need to take a picture of my cutie mark and my tripod's broken.”

“Sure!” Pinkie Pie borrowed his camera and hopped back to frame the photo against the split and battered frame of his wagon.

“Um, if you don't mind my asking, your cutie mark was returned. Why do you want a picture of it?” Fluttershy asked.

“It's proof of my involvement. When she returned it, she didn't put it back as it was. It's facing the wrong way.” He pointed at it after Pinkie finished taking the photos and gave his camera back. “Thanks, Pinkie.”

“No problem!”

“As you can see, my cutie mark is a camera; it's facing forwards, towards my head, but it used face back.”

Fluttershy's jaw hung low. “She can change them too? D-does it even work like it used to? Is it broken?”

“I'm pretty sure it's the same.” Snappy frowned and held his camera in front of him. He looked through the view finder and took a picture of a cloud. “It behaves like it did before, I guess. It's certainly a far cry better than when it was missing. I never should have followed that anonymous tip, but I guess, in a way, it paid off.”

“What was that like? When it was missing?” Fluttershy knew exactly what that was like, but wanted to hear it from somepony else too.

“Terrible.” Snappy snorted. “Every time I went to take a picture, I'd get a splitting headache and there'd be something wrong with the photo: out of focus, tilted, too much to one side, you name it; if a picture could go wrong, it did. I never even knew my cutie mark was gone until Linky, disguised as Photo Finish, mentioned something about gray eyes. I went to look in a mirror and that's when I noticed it was missing. To my horror, that's when I also realized that the camera Linky was holding looked exactly like my cutie mark.”

“And that's when you tried to get it back?” Fluttershy asked.

“That's when I fainted.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy pawed at the ground. She scooped up a piece of torn fabric from the canopy of the wagon.

“No offense, but what are we waiting on?” Applejack pointed at the dense underbrush. “Ah thought we were going in there after her.”

“Hold your harness, Applejack.” Twilight walked around the crash site, examining it as she went. “I don't like the looks of this; I don't like them at all.”

“Ya think some big monster did that?” Applejack asked.

“No. I think Linky did this by herself.” Twilight narrowed her eyes and frowned. “The more I hear about it, the more I'm convinced she'd had this whole thing planned out well in advance. The disguise, the way she lured in Snappy, and now this fake crash scene must have taken a lot of planning and effort.”

“Wait a minute, how do ya know it's fake?” Applejack also walked around the debris and inspected it. “It looks awfully real to me.”

“Well, I don't, really, not for certain, but there are a few things that seem off. First of all, the debris trail makes it look like the wagon was dragged, not tossed or thrown. A monster dragging the wagon wouldn't stop to wrap it around a tree. Secondly, if Snappy Scoop had been inside the wagon when it crashed, he'd be covered in cuts and bruises. He doesn't have a mark on him.”

“But he was inside the wagon when I found him,” Rainbow Dash said.

Snappy Scoop made notes on Twilight's observations and took pictures of the crash scene to record the evidence. His camera flashed in the background while Twilight spoke.

“That settles it, then.” Twilight nodded to herself. “This was a lot of effort and planning to throw ponies off her trail, but I'm not sure any of it was needed. If she hadn't stopped to do any of these things and just galloped away, nopony would have even caught up to her in the first place.”

“I would have caught up with her.” Rainbow Dash snorted. Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Well, if I'd gotten lucky and flown the right way, that is.”

“So are you saying that Linky didn't know what she was doing?” Rarity asked.

“In a way. All of this subterfuge did help to throw us off in the heat of the moment, but it also left a trail for us to follow once we put things together. Plus, every added complication was just one more thing that could have gone wrong for her. It's too amateurish for professional work, and it reeks of lacking experience.”

Twilight yawned, then shook her head. “Ugh, tired. Anyway, we'll have to be very careful when we catch up to her. I've read that amateur criminals tend to over-think things and can get very desperate when their plans fall apart. We already know that she can remove cutie marks; we don't know what else she might be capable of.”

At the mention of cutie mark removal, every other pony except Fluttershy shuddered. She frowned and lifted a wing to inspect her blank flank. It was as bare as it was yesterday, and it wouldn't get fixed just by standing around and chatting. “Um, if we're done talking, let's go. I'd like to get my cutie mark back.”

Snappy Scoop turned his camera on her. Fluttershy winced at the flashes of light. “Wait a minute, you're the pony whose cutie mark was stolen? I have so many questions about that. What was it like? Why did she do it? How does it make you feel not to have it back yet? What will you do if you never get it back?”

“Um, well, I—eep.” Fluttershy curled up into a ball and whimpered.

“I... see.” Snappy scribbled in his notebook.

Twigs snapped as Twilight stepped into the forest. She parted the dense underbrush with her magic. Her other friends filed into the opening, but Fluttershy and Snappy remained behind. Fluttershy sucked on her hoof like a foal while Snappy barraged her with questions. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on, you two. We don't have all day.”

Fluttershy got up and darted into the forest. Snappy hesitated. “Wait, you're actually going in there? Isn't that place full of monsters?”

“Yes, and one of those monsters has Fluttershy's cutie mark.”

“Er... I'm more a celebrity journalist than an adventuring type, so... good luck! And thanks for your help again. I really appreciate it.” He waved.

Twilight smiled. “You're welcome, and take care.” With that, she followed her friends into the forest and let the underbrush close behind her.

Comments

[xxXFluttershyXx]

When did all these chapters come out? I'm sure they were not here this morning. Eh. Love the story, even if I have only read 4 chapters so far!