Techorse Short Stories

by Spirals95

#37 - Natural Frenemies

Author's Note:

In this story:

When two pets of Fluttershy's friends don't get along, can she solve the ancient rivalry between their kinds and make them the best of friends?

Natural Frenemies

Techorse series: #37

By Spirals95

The residents of Ponyville enjoyed taking their pets outside for exercise and fresh air frequently, letting their cats out to roam around, or taking their dogs for a nice long walk. But Techorse, being the owner of a tree squirrel, simply let his pet perch itself wherever it pleased on him, its favorite places being on top of his head or on the back of his mechanical saddle. Wingnut, the young and energetic rodent he was, grabbed tightly on to his master's messy brown hair, holding on as the inventor walked down the main street through Ponyville. Many of the other residents were giving him weird looks, and a few fillies pointed and snickered, but he didn't care. He loved owning a more exotic pet, and was letting it get a chance to explore the town instead of hanging out in the trees outside of his home.

Techorse said back to his pet, "It's a nice day for a walk, isn't it?"

A happy chatter from his rodent let him know that he was having a good time outdoors. As they turned the corner and walked down the main street of Ponyville, they saw that a roasted peanut vendor had set up shop on one of the street corners, and the smell of the cooking nuts attracted the attention of the squirrel, who leapt off of his master's back and started to walk in front of him. Techorse could also smell the cinnamon and salted varieties of the roasted snack, and decided it'd be nice to share a paper cone of the treats with his pet.

"Oh, want some peanuts?" asked Techorse, looking down at the rodent, who was standing on its hind legs, "They smell great!"

Wingnut happily nodded, and Techorse walked up to the metal cart, peanuts of various kinds filling the glass boxes on top of it. They got in line behind a pair of unicorn mares, and the earth pony running his cart started to fill a red and white striped paper cone with the cinnamon flavor for his first customer.

While they were waiting their turn in line, Applejack entered the town square, escorted by her dog Winona. The collie enjoyed being off her leash, but stayed close to her lifelong friend as the two walked down the cobblestone road together. A few ponies waved hello to Applejack, who smiled and tipped her hat back at them in response. They were out on a walk to the hardware store to get some more nails for the apple barrels, but Applejack was soon stopped by a peagasus pony with a cookbook in her saddlebags.

"Hey Applejack!" said the white-coated peagsus with a brown mane, "Can I speak to you for a second? I have an apple pie recipe I want to try and need to order the right kind of apples for it."

"Sure! Let me see," she answered before accepting the cookbook from the other pony.

Winona sat down on her hind legs and panted softly, dealing with the heat of the warm day. While Applejack wasn't looking, however, the dog spotted Techorse and his squirrel at the nut cart. Something inside her mind changed suddenly, and she whined, gaining the concerned attention of Applejack, who looked up from the cookbook and gave her pup a startled look.

"Winona, what's wrong?" she asked, "See somethin' girl?"

Wingnut spotted the canine a couple of meters from him, and decided that he was going to "introduce himself", by teasing Winona. He stuck his tongue out at the dog, and wiggled his tail in a provocative manner. This made Winona very upset, and she started to growl before taking off into the middle of the road, running on all four legs. Wingnut looked up from the peanut vendor's cart for a moment to see the dog barreling towards him. With a cry, he ran away, Winona hot on his heels.

Techorse and Applejack both galloped after their pets as they turned a corner and raced down an alleyway. When they emerged on the other side of the two colonial homes, they saw Winona propped up against one of the trees on the other side of the buildings, barking and pointing her nose at Wingnut, who was trapped on the lowest branch. The two owners stopped at the base of the tree, and gave the other ponies looking at the two animals a sheepish look before confronting each other.

"Winona, stop barking!" said Applejack, "Ya chased that varmint off, now let him be!"

Techorse was appalled that Applejack called his pet a bad name and said, "Applejack, that 'varmint' is my pet squirrel, Wingnut!"

"Oh," said Applejack, her ears falling back in embarrassment, "whoops, sorry Techie."

Still not satisfied, Techorse wanted an apology and pointed at the squirrel in the tree with his front leg, "If he hadn't of seen her, she'd have eaten him right there!"

"She wasn't gonna eat him!" complained Applejack, "She's a good girl."

"I've always known your dog to be friendly too, but maybe you should consider a leash so she doesn't chase after other animals," suggested Techorse.

Applejack rolled her eyes and said, "I've never needed to put Winona on a leash and I ain't starting anytime soon. Dogs chase squirrels Tech, maybe you shouldn't be taking him out here where something could nab him!"

The inventor argued, "That's not fair, Wingnut has spent all of winter hibernating in a tree outside my home, and I can't keep him cooped up inside all year too!"

Tempers began to flare between the two pet owners, while Winona started to circle the tree like a shark, knowing the pesky squirrel would have to come down eventually. While the two ponies fought about the state of their pets, Fluttershy entered with her shopping bag full of supplies for her animals back home, and noticed the plight of her friends. She also spotted Winona sitting in front of the tree and staring at the squirrel, and frowned knowing the natural conflict taking place. Even if that wasn't solveable, the fight between her friends likely was, so she approached Applejack gently and tried to speak up.

"Um, excuse me," she said softly, "can I speak to you guys?"

Techorse and Applejack stopped bickering and turned their heads to look at Fluttershy.

"Oh, yes. Sorry Fluttershy," said Techorse, "Winona wasn't on a leash, and she just chased Wingnut up a tree."

"Oh, my... that is bad," agreed Fluttershy, nodding and giving a pitiful look towards the squirrel.

"Well Techie here didn't keep an eye on his pet either!" complained Applejack, "He was just sittin' out in the open, and then he had the guts to tease Winona! I saw him teasin' her."

"That's bad too," admitted Fluttershy, "it's a shame when animals can't get along."

Applejack smiled and answered, "Hey! Maybe you can settle this, sugarcube!"

"ME?" gasped Fluttershy, knowing what was coming next.

"Yeah!" answered Techorse happily, "You're so great with animals, that all you have to do is get Winona and Wingnut to be friends instead!"

Fluttershy's heart sank, as she knew she'd be asked this if she tried to help her friends. She had thought a long time ago about the conflicting types of pets her friends had, but had hoped she would never be asked to solve a dispute like this.

"I can't," she answered meekly, lowering her head and frowning.

"What?" asked Applejack, "Fluttershy, you can get dragons to stop throwin' a fit, and you're telling me ya can't make our pets get along?"

Fluttershy sighed and answered, "A dog and a squirrel being friends has never been done before. I could use my stare to make them stop fighting, but I can't help them be friends."

"A squirrel and a dog can't be friends? Ever?" asked Techorse, visibly unhappy, "Wow, that's terrible."

Applejack and Techorse looked at each other, and then back at their pets, who were still growling and making noises at each other.

"Well, I guess this means we'll have to work something out," groaned Applejack, "maybe I'll walk Winona every other day and you can take the others."

Fluttershy looked at the two animals, clearly angry at each other, and sighed. She had learned early on as a caretaker for animals that there was an eternal struggle between dogs and squirrels that had gone on since the dawn of time. To make them friends would be near impossible, if not totally, and she was afraid of disappointing Techorse and Applejack by failing to have them get along. Eventually though, she made up her mind and decided to take on the task.

"I guess, if you don't mind," she said softly, "I could take them back to my house, and try to have them become friends."

"But you said it's impossible," reminded Applejack, "and I believe ya."

"Well, I didn't really say impossible, I said it hasn't been done before," she admitted, "but I hate to see animals fighting, so I'm going to try."

Fluttershy approached Winona, and addressed her, "Excuse me, but I want you two to sit here and say you're sorry to each other. Winona, apologize for chasing Wingnut."

The squirrel cautiously descended in a spiral fashion down the tree, and sat next to the dog, who both looked at each other and turned their noses towards the sky in contempt.

"Wingnut, you need to apologize too, for teasing Winona," said Fluttershy, "you're both going to learn how to be nice to each other from now on, ok?"

Each of the pets wanted to disobey Fluttershy, but they could see in the pony's light blue eyes that she wasn't afraid of using her terrifying stare, and they reluctantly cooperated just to avoid the discomfort of that. Winona licked Wingnut's head in a quick puppy-kiss, and the squirrel gave her front left leg a casual hug.

"All right, now let's go back to my home, I've got treats and some games we can play together!" said Fluttershy cutely, closing her eyes and smiling.

The two animals followed behind Fluttershy's long pink tail, making faces at each other mockingly as they walked off for her cottage.

"Do ya think maybe Fluttershy's bein' too nice?" asked Applejack, "First time around she sounded sure our pets couldn't get along."

"I guess we're going to find out," answered Techorse with a little doubt, "in the meantime, want to go shopping?"

"Sure! Best to take our minds off of it for a while," she said, nodding.

The two friends left for the market downtown, placing their faith in Fluttershy to find a way for their pets to stop their conflict.

---

Fluttershy took the two feuding animals to her cottage home, crossing the bridge over the narrow stream in front of her house. Winona and Wingnut had been making noises at each other the whole way, but had obediently followed Fluttershy without a total fight. The pegasus sighed as she fished her house key from under the welcome mat, and opened the cottage door for the two pets, who were still glaring at each other as they walked inside.

Once the two had gotten situated on the couch in the tiny living room, Fluttershy went to her bedroom and started to rummage through her nightstand drawers. Her pink tail swished around as she dug through the nightstand and her closet, until she opened up one of the cabinets and discovered what she was look for. Fluttershy reached into the lower drawer with her head and pulled out a small red book with gold lettering in her mouth.

The small volume read on the front, "The Eternal Struggle of Canis and Sciuridae."

Fluttershy flapped her wings gently and hovered onto the top of the green covers of her bed, and rested herself gently. She then began to read the book, describing the age-old rivalry between squirrels and dogs.

"Ever since I learned how much I loved animals, I'd always hoped to solve the one conflict nopony else has!" she thought ambitiously, "But there's a good reason it hasn't been solved yet. Oh, I hope Applejack and Techorse won't be too disappointed if I can't do it!"

Fluttershy continued to turn the pages describing the constant conflict between the two types of animals. On each page were illustrations of the squirrels causing trouble, and subsequently getting chased off by the dogs, terrifying the creatures. No matter what point of Equestrian history Fluttershy looked at, the cycle continued on.

While Fluttershy was busy searching the pages of her textbook, Winona and Wingnut were sitting downstairs on the sofa staring at each other angrily. They had plans to make the other one pay for earlier, Winona wanted to get the squirrel back for his teasing, and Wingnut wanted revenge for being chased up a tree.

Their anger was momentarily forgotten, however, when Fluttershy came back down the stairs into the living room with a gift for each of them. She had a brand new tennis ball nestled in her right wing, and a small bag of peanuts in the other.

Fluttershy reached the bottom of the stairs and pitched the tennis ball with her wing, which Winona jumped for, jaws wide open. The collie caught the ball in her mouth, and ran up to Fluttershy with her tail wagging at full force.

The pegasus smiled and leaned down to Winona, asking her, “Winona, I'll be happy to throw the ball again, but first, you need to take these peanuts to Wingnut. Can you please do that for me?”

Winona dropped the ball in disbelief and whined, giving Fluttershy a look of utter horror. There was no way she was ever going to do a favor for a squirrel!

“Oh, please?” begged Fluttershy, “Applejack would love it so much if you could just be a little nice to Wingnut.”

The dog's ears drooped as she realized how much Applejack wanted her to at least try to get along with Techorse's pet, and with great reluctance, she took the red and white paper bag of peanuts and brought them to Wingnut. The brown tree squirrel cautiously removed the bag from the dog's mouth, praying she wouldn't grab his head a moment later. He then opened the paper with his small paws and prepared to crack open the first nut when he heard a gentle cough from Fluttershy.

“Um, Wingnut, before you eat your snacks, maybe you could be nice and roll the ball for Winona?” she asked, giving him a warm look.

Wingnut was a little less cautious than Winona, and jumped down on the floor, scampering quickly to the tennis ball. He got behind the yellow sphere, and looked over it carefully, sniffing it once.

“Go on,” said Fluttershy with her best encouraging voice.

The squirrel curled his tail up, and, using it like a golf club, whacked the ball as hard as he could. It rolled into the kitchen, and Winona took after it, her urge to play making her go off in pursuit of the toy. When she returned, she dropped the tennis ball back on the wooden floor in front of the squirrel, and he rolled it again for her. The two were now smiling and making more cheerful noises, having fun playing a nice game together.

“See, isn't everything better when we can all get along?” asked Fluttershy, closing her eyes.

Wingnut rolled his eyes, and shook his head, but Fluttershy smiled knowing she was starting to make progress. Even if she couldn't get all dogs and squirrels to get along, she could at least get her friends' pets to cooperate and leave it at that. For now, it was probably safe to leave the animals alone to play with the tennis ball while she went to do some other chores.

“Ok now, I'm going to go upstairs again and work on some little sweaters for the ferrets!” Fluttershy said, “Play nicely with Winona!”

The pegasus turned around and headed back up the wooden stairs of her home, leaving the two alone to play. During the most recent toss of the ball, it knocked over the broom that Fluttershy had left leaning on the entrance to the kitchen. The loud thwack on the ground attracted the attention of Angel, who was trying to sneak into the cookie jar in the kitchen to steal the leftover oatmeal raisin. It wasn't because he was necessarily hungry, but because he was bored, and eating tended to alleviate that boredom. Angel winced at the noise, and turned around to find Winona carrying the ball out in her mouth.

Annoyed, Angel jumped down from the counter and hopped up to the kitchen door, where he saw the squirrel and the dog playing with the tennis ball. The rabbit couldn't believe his small eyes that the two were getting along, as he'd always known the two types of creatures to fight like crazy.

Now here was a chance for some entertainment! An evil little plan formed in Angel's mind to make the two stop playing with the ball, and instead get into some mischief to keep him entertained. A good old fashioned squirrel and dog rivalry is just what he needed to make his day fun again.

Hopping as fast as he could, the little white bunny moved over to the two animals playing, and grabbed the tennis ball himself, kicking it clear into the kitchen far beyond what Wingnut had before. Winona dashed after the ball, her tongue hanging out comically. While she was retrieving the ball, Angel threw his front paw around the brown squirrel left in the room, and communicated to him a funny joke they could play on Winona. The squirrel seemed to refuse at first, but Angel convinced him that a harmless little joke was surely not the fighting Fluttershy wanted them to avoid. Angel told Wingnut his plan for the joke, and the squirrel nodded. While he was looking at the kitchen waiting for Winona to return, Angel put his paws together and gave a diabolical smirk in anticipation of the prank.

When the dog had returned, Angel nuzzled his head into the dog's left front leg, and the collie rolled over onto her back in appreciation. While angel gave her well-deserved belly rubs, making her back leg thump on the floor, Wingnut ran into the kitchen to prepare the trap. When he was done, he signaled Angel, and the rabbit stopped scratching Winona's tummy.

The dog sat up and gave a happy bark before licking Angel's face. He wiped off the saliva in disgust, and then feigned excitement as he pointed at something in the kitchen, offering Winona a drink of water. The two wandered over into the cooking area, kept well-clean except for a few dishes in the sink, and Angel hopped up onto the sink top to get Winona a dish of water.

At this point, the dog spotted a tempting dog biscuit in the middle of the floor in front of Fluttershy's kitchen table. Unable to resist the goodie, she jumped onto the bone-shaped treat and snapped it up. Wingnut had been watching from atop an old cabinet filled with Fluttershy's dishes, and next to him, a large cardboard box that had been emptied most likely by Fluttershy. The squirrel quickly shoved the box from off the top of the cabinet, and down it fell, right over top of Winona, who gave a canine yelp and started running around trying to get the box off of top of her.

Angel had a riotous laugh with Wingnut as the box scooted around the kitchen, bumping into chairs, counters, and the stove itself before finally tipping over. The rabbit immediately shut his mouth to avoid getting caught, and Winona failed to notice. She growled at Angel, but the rabbit simply pointed out that the squirrel was the culprit. Wingnut was so busy laughing and rolling around that he didn't notice the dog running up to the cabinet, who bashed into it. Being safely out of reach, the squirrel continued to laugh, and Winona was left at the bottom barking her full head off at the squirrel.

The white rabbit jumped off the counter and yanked on the dog's golden-tagged collar, shaking his head in pity. He made it clear through a clever lie to Winona that Wingnut had played a nasty trick on her all on his own, and the best solution was to get back at him. Whispering something to her, Winona nodded and thanked Angel for his advice.

The two animals left Wingnut laughing in the kitchen and headed out back of the tree home to go to the garden, where Angel retrieved an empty mason jar meant for some nearby honeybees to fill. The bees had received fresh clover flowers planted by Fluttershy earlier, and occasionally the productive insects would show gratitude by filling a mason jar with their surplus honey and presenting it to the pegasus. But this jar was still empty, and it would serve as the perfect way to get back at Wingnut, as Angel pointed out.

A bird feeder sat on a branch of a nearby oak tree, and Angel knew there was nothing more that squirrels liked than to steal birdseed from a feeder. It was a red plastic implement, shaped like a cute little house, with a large bar in front for the birds to land on. Fluttershy had made it clear to the squirrels she took care of not to steal, and they obeyed, but Wingnut was unaware of the rule. Winona set the jar up right underneath of the bird feeder, and Angel used a little butter he had stolen from the kitchen to grease the bar where the birds sat. A cardinal was enlisted by Winona to sit on the perch and test it out, and sure enough, the bar was quite slippery on his claws, although he could sit by tightening his grip, there was no way Wingnut would be able to hold on.

Winona and Angel thanked the bird before hiding behind the tree, waiting for their squirrel victim to come by. When he did leave the house to come looking for them, he spotted the red feeder filled with food, and saw the cardinal eating his fill of the black sunflower seeds. The bird looked down at the squirrel, and gave a happy chirp before flying away. Believing he was invited to eat as well, since the bird seemed friendly enough, Wingnut ran up to the base of the oak tree and started to climb, ascended to the lowest branch where the feeder hung from. He wandered over to the red house, and dropped onto the bar, expecting to grab the seeds he was hungry for.

Immediately his paw slipped on the butter, and down he fell, straight into the mason jar. It tipped over, and the metal latch closed, swinging the glass lid over top of him and sealing him inside. Winona emerged from behind the oak, and crouched in front of the glass jar, as if to laugh at the squirrel trapped inside. She had her revenge, but the squirrel was quite angry about being trapped, and using his paws, opened the jar. He leapt out of the glass prison onto Winona's head, and bit the collie in the left ear. She barked in surprise, and ran around the back yard, gaining the looks of Fluttershy's other animals, including a small brown hedgehog, who raised his head up to look at the fight. He shook his head at the stupid argument, and looked at Angel, who was rolling around on the ground laughing hysterically.

Fluttershy had heard the commotion, and galloped outside, two small pink wool sweaters in her mouth. She gave the tiny garments to the ferrets watching the fight, and they eagerly put them on to help deal with the cold.

“What is going on here?” she demanded, “Are you two fighting again?”

Winona an Wingnut stopped wrestling on the grass and realized they were in deep trouble. The dog took the squirrel by the back of his neck in her mouth, and dropped him to the ground gently. Both had a look of guilt, and gave Fluttershy big eyes. The light yellow pegasus was very disappointed with them, although it was obvious she seemed a little disappointed in herself for not watching them closer.

“I thought you two were being nice to each other, but here you are being mean,” she said sadly while looking at them, “oh, the book is right. A squirrel and a dog can't really be friends. What will I tell Applejack and Techorse?”

Now, the other animals had seen Angel do his terrible deeds for his own entertainment, and they planned on tattling on the bad bunny in order to point out that Winona and Wingnut had both been fooled by the brat, but the rabbit quickly caught on. He looked around nervously at the angry faces on the ferrets, mice, and hedgehogs, as well as a bird or two, and hopped off towards the Everfree forest to hide out until things had cooled off. Now that he was gone, it would be impossible for the animal buddies to prove that Winona and Wingnut had been tricked, and they simply gathered around Fluttershy to comfort her.

The pegasus was nearly about to burst into tears, “I just don't know what to do!”

Winona walked up to Fluttershy, guilt in her eyes, and licked Fluttershy's face in hopes it would help her feel better. Wingnut also moved up to the pony and gave her a big hug on the leg as well. The peagsus glumly walked back inside with them, and put them in separate rooms for the remainder of the day. The two sat in effective time out, miserable about what they had done, but also, a little upset, knowing that Angel had tricked them into doing what they did.

---

The afternoon started to drag on, with Fluttershy moping about over her perceived failure. But after a few hours of self-pity and shame, Fluttershy got a bit hungry and realized she had missed lunch. She went into her kitchen, where she had left Winona in a basket made into a dog bed, and got out some carrots to make lunch for Angel. That's when she noticed that he was missing from his usual spot on the kitchen table, and she looked around for him.

“Angel!” she called out, “I'm making lunch now! Where'd you go?”

Winona knew the rabbit hadn't come back yet for fear of being ratted out by the other animals for his naughty deeds. She got up from the bed, shaking away her guilt over her prank on Wingnut, and went over to the door that led to the backyard from the kitchen. Scratching at the door, she managed to get Fluttershy to let her out, and quickly grabbed the tennis ball left by the door on her way out. Running around to the front of the house with the ball in her mouth, she gave it a quick toss, and the ball struck the round glass window on the second “floor” of the tree cottage. Wingnut appeared at the window, and looked down at the dog, who barked once and scratched at the ground.

Obeying the cue, Wingnut pushed the window open and ran down the branches of the tree in a spiral pattern, running up to the dog. Her plan was for them to go into the Everfree forest and retrieve Angel. Since he hadn't returned in several hours, he may have gotten lost, and surely Fluttershy would begin to worry if he didn't return for his lunch. Winona suggested they work together to get the mischievous rabbit back, and perhaps then he'd confess to making them fight.

Wingnut shook his fluffy brown tail and sighed, before nodding and sticking his paw out. Thanks to Applejack teaching Winona some tricks, she knew how to shake, and paw met paw as they agreed to work as a team! The squirrel crawled up her leg onto her back, and then she started walking towards the entrance of the foreboding forest. As they left, a large but gentle figure watched them from his resting place atop a bed of pine needles near the entrance.

It was Harry, the massive grizzly bear that frequented Fluttershy's home, intimidating to anyone who didn't know him, but a softy when it really came down to it. The bear knew the two other animals meant well, but would likely run into trouble, and stood up on his hind legs from his bed, yawning and scratching his back with a massive claw before going back to all fours. He started his way back to Fluttershy's house, having been told about Angel's misdeeds from the other animals. Like them, Harry knew Angel was hiding to avoid punishment, making telling on him pointless, but now he planned on letting Fluttershy know, just in case they needed to go after Winona and Wingnut. The bear was very well aware of the perils deep in the forest.

---

Angel had gotten himself lost, hopelessly lost. He thought about hiding in his usual spot, a hole underneath a rotting tree root near the entrance of the forest, but he was nearly spotted by the twin ferrets, and so had to go deeper into the woods to avoid danger. The original plan in that case was to find Zecora's house and hide in her tree's branches, but he hadn't found her home, and the twisting trees overhead were all starting to look alike. Grumpily he crossed his arms and tapped his foot, standing out in the open dirt floor, looking around and trying to figure out where to go before it got dark. Eventually he picked a direction and started hopping that way, and came to a stream, blocking further progress as he wasn't too good of a swimmer. The rapidly moving brook didn't seem to have a way around it, its bank dotted with gray stones of various sizes.

Not believing his luck at all, Angel turned around to go back the way he came. Before he could make it a step further, however, he froze, and his ears sank in terror. On a nearby rock, basking in the sun that was poking through the dark canopy, was a six foot long viper. The large, green snake with red spots all down its back hadn't seen the rabbit yet, and was still sleeping in the sunlight. Carefully, Angel stepped forward, keeping his eyes on the snake to know whether or not to run. Unfortunately, he didn't watch where he was going, and stepped on a fresh young twig, which snapped under his weight.

The serpent awoke suddenly, it's yellow eyes with slitted pupils opening, and it spotted him immediately. Angel tried to hop away, but the snake immediately sprang for him, its entire body unfolding, and it looped around the rabbit. It opened its mouth, dark red on the inside, and its four fangs dripped with the nastiest venom possible. With its coils around Angel, it wouldn't even need to squeeze to win itself a meal.

But Angel was far smarter than the snake was, and pulled his front legs in simultaneously while jumping upwards. The serpent pulled back a bit in surprise, and Angel flipped in the air, kicking his foe in the face with his hind legs. He then landed on the ground near the snake and hopped off, soon pursued by the hungry viper.

It opened its mouth, and took aim for Angel, striking while slithering after him. Once he was out of range of his coils, the snake opened its jaws a little less widely, and with a cracking sound, its two sets of fangs detached and shot out like a pair of tiny darts. Angel rolled to dodge them, and they impacted on a nearby tree, leaking disgusting light green venom onto the petrified oak. The rabbit, believing the foolish reptile to have wasted his teeth, turned around and stuck his tongue out at the toothless snake. It hissed in an almost evil laugh, and with a squishing sound, four fresh fangs replaced the missing ones.

Angel gave a high pitched wail and turned, running away from the monster. It followed him, continuing to volley sets of fangs at the rabbit, knowing even a scratch would leave him paralyzed. Without a way to find Fluttershy's home again, his chances of survival were very slim.

---

Winona and Wingnut had found Angel's rabbit tracks several hundred yards away, the collie sniffing them with her nose to the ground as they followed the trail deeper into the forest. It was then that they heard the high pitched squealing, and spotted Angel being chased by the red spotted serpent. Winona put herself into a full run, bearing down on the reptile, with the squirrel on her back barely hanging on for dear life.

Angel had found himself trapped between a set of roots in a petrified tree, and held his back to it as the big snake arched itself over him. He looked in terror at the eyes of the beast, and hoped that he wouldn't feel much when it came down on him. But as the snake went to take the rabbit whole, he was interrupted by Winona's loud growling. Turning its head, it watched in surprise as the collie ran full force into him, knocking him out of the way and sending him sprawling across the dirt floor of the forest. Wingnut jumped off of Winona's back, and landed on the snake's head, before planting his strong front teeth into the start of its body.

A loud screech came from the snake, which writhed and struggled to get the tree squirrel out of its skin. Winona pulled Angel out of the roots while the distraction was taking place, and the rabbit gave her a sad look of guilt for what he had done, and slight appreciation for the rescue. The serpent managed to through off the squirrel at this point, and he landed on his back. It opened its jaws, bearing its fangs again, and prepared to shoot them right into the helpless rodent.

Winona decided she'd had enough of the viper, and hopped over to its tail, grabbing it in her jaws. Then, she began to spin around, picking up the six foot long snake with all her might, and let go with her teeth, sending the creature flying into the tree he'd previously had Angel pinned on. Now it was enraged, and began to shoot its launch-able fangs all over the place. The terrified animals ran for cover, and barely made it behind a rotting log before it was perforated with teeth. Each of them soon realized some of the venom had managed to splash on their coats, even though the teeth never hit them directly. They began to feel really tired, and knew they wouldn't be able to move soon.

Now that it had them all trapped, the viper gave a reptilian cackle and went up to the creatures, having not quite reloaded its next shot. The three pets huddled together, the snake having shown its true power, terrifying them into submission. Having never had a dog or squirrel for dinner before, the snake especially looked forward to devouring Angel's new friends. It coiled around the three paralyzed animals, and waited for them to lock up.

“Hey!” shouted a familiar voice, “You let them go right now!”

The serpent turned around, and hissed loudly at Fluttershy. She stood defiantly in front of serpent, having come alone into the woods, and she scraped a hoof on the ground. It was obvious to her that the serpent had no plans on listening to her, but she wanted to give it a chance.

“If you don't leave my friends alone, there's going to be some consequences, mister!” she said.

The snake let go of the three pets, who were now lying motionless on the ground from muscle paralysis. He slithered up to Fluttershy, a cheeky look on his face as he flicked his forked tongue. Clearly the Equestrian had underestimated him, and now she was in for a nasty surprise. He stopped within just a foot of the pegasus, and opened his jaws slightly. Fluttershy looked around and knew exactly what kind of snake he was from his red spots, and also saw all the teeth on the log, before returning her eyes to the miscreant.

“Go ahead, I'm feeling lucky!” she said, warning him one last time.

Winona, Angel, and Wingnut watched, wondering if Fluttershy was also going to be paralyzed. They closed their eyes, and watched as the snake flicked its head to load up another set of teeth.

Click.

The sound, which didn't even phase Fluttershy, seemed to startle the snake. It didn't have another set of teeth in its mouth to launch.

“Uh oh, it looks like someone is out of teeth!” said Fluttershy, “Now will you stop?”

The snake stood startled at the lack of ammo, but it shook its head, and venom dripped from the open holes. It intended to poison Fluttershy anyways via contact, and lunged for the mare.

Fluttershy stood firm, and gave the serpent her trademark stare, causing him to stop in front of the mare, making heavy eye contact. Anger burned in his yellow eyes, and he struggled to push through the scary gaze, but Fluttershy's intimidation was stronger, and after a couple of long moments of the two staring at each other, the snake cried out, and hung its head in defeat. It wanted to crawl away now and save its dignity, but the pegasus wasn't quite finished with him yet.

“Now, you'd better not go around poisoning folks ever again!” demanded Fluttershy, continuing to drill into his soul with her eyes, “You'd better be nice to the other animals in the forest, or else!”

The serpent backed away slowly, hoping it could leave, but Fluttershy took a few steps forward. It had only followed its natural instincts to try and feed on vermin, and now was facing a rather harsh berating for it.

“Listen, if you see a big, silver snake out there in the woods, his name is Junior,” she said, remembering her old friend, “he can teach you how to fish for something to eat. Promise me if you come back, it's because you want to be friends, ok?”

The serpent nodded, and with a squishing noise, a fresh set of teeth finally managed to emerge in the sockets. It crawled away, looking back only once before disappearing into the treeline.

“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy, walking over to the three pets, “that was a Red Dart Viper. It's poison from its missile teeth freezes you up. But don't worry, Zecora has an easy cure for it!”

---

Fluttershy brought the pets to the zebra, who happily made the antidote for them, and sent them back on their way home again. Once they had all settled down into the living room, Fluttershy made them all a nice warm drink in a few saucers, and set out some snacks for them to enjoy. She was extremely happy to see Winona and Wingnut sitting happily together, the squirrel scratching Winona behind her ears as she panted gently.

“I guess you two really could be friends after all!” marveled Fluttershy, “After the way you helped save Angel, there's no way you'd still want to fight, right?”

Angel hopped up to the three, definitely ashamed of his actions that day. He scuffed the floor with his rear leg, and Fluttershy smiled gently.

“Oh Angel, you were a really bad boy today, but it's not me you have to ask for forgiveness,” she said, “you almost made it so Winona and Wingnut couldn't be friends. You should say you're sorry to them.”

The rabbit nodded and moved over to the dog and squirrel, giving them a self-disgusted look. Winona gave him a puppy kiss, and Wingnut ran over and gave him a mammal to mammal hug. All was forgiven!

---

“Well, how do you think Fluttershy did?” asked Techorse as he and Applejack approached the cottage home later that evening.

“To tell ya the truth Techie, I'm not sure at all,” she answered, “but hey, maybe at least she got 'em to stop fighting. Then we can walk our pets anytime we need to!”

Techorse knocked on the front door of the home with his front hoof, and the door opened. Fluttershy stepped out, shortly followed by the two pets and Angel, which, to Techorse and Applejack's surprise, were happy and smiling.

“How'd it go?” asked Techorse, “Did you solve the eternal struggle between dog and squirrel?”

“Well... no,” admitted Fluttershy, blushing and looking down, “but these two went through quite a bit today, and they've learned how to be friends!”

Applejack looked at the two pets and said, “Ahm not so sure!”

To prove it was true, Wingnut ran back inside and retrieved the tennis ball, before throwing it for Winona, who ran and brought the ball back to Applejack. Her mouth fell open slightly at the silly sight, and Techorse burst into laughter.

Applejack tipped her hat and said, “Well I'll be, a squirrel playin' fetch with a dog! Now I've seen everything!”

“Hey! Let's go get something to eat at the pets-friendly restaurant down town!” suggested Techorse, still holding back more laughter, “We should celebrate.”

Fluttershy nodded and addressed the animals, “That sounds wonderful! I'm sure you three would like that wouldn't you?”

Angel hopped out of the front doorway and together with Wingnut, they climbed onto Winona's back, and the dog started to carry them off towards the town.

“I changed my mind!” exclaimed Applejack, grinning, “NOW I've seen everything!”

The ponies shared a laugh together and then followed their pets on their way back into town. Perhaps the eternal struggle between dogs and squirrels could never truly be resolved. But for the pets of Ponyville, it was always possible for different creatures to be the best of friends!

Comments

[Mix-up]

You have a fun story to read, it is a shame that it doesn't have much attention at it has at the moment despite all the work it has gone through for so many years. maybe the problem is that you haven't publish it in enough groups to get the extra attention.

[Spirals95]

6804755

That could very well be the problem! Have any suggestions for groups I could add this to?

[Mix-up]

6807968
hope this help a little
Technology VS. Magic

Human in Equestria

The Good HiE List

Transformations

Humans turned ???

Ponification

Library of Humanity

Pony-humans

Human In Equestria https://www.fimfiction.net/group/312/human-in-equestria

Transformed (nsfw)

Human in to...

[Spirals95]

6809431

Some of those might help with the first book. Thanks!