A Pony a Day

by OfTheIronwilled

Eggs (1/31/2017)

Little Miss Chicken chirped and crooned, gently nuzzling against Fluttershy while the mare tenderly patted her chicks. The tiny birds, itty-bitty bits of yellow fluff that hopped and strutted around most of the time, were being so well behaved today. They didn't try to get out of the pen once, and instead hung around their momma's side like good little chicks. Oh, and now the dears were being so very cute, snuggling their fuzzy wuzzy mini heads up against Fluttershy -- she wondered if maybe they thought she was a chicken, since her fur was yellow and soft, and their eyesight wasn't too good yet. The thought made her giggle.

One of them gave her a playful little nip, and after giving it a teasing pat on its little footsies, she went back to counting. She had to count the new chicks and make sure they were accounted for, count all the hens so she knew the darlings weren't being scared off by the mischievous fox babies she'd seen playing around, count all the roosters to make sure they were there and calm (they could get pretty ornery sometimes. Not that Fluttershy blamed them. It must be so tough and stressful being a chicken...). Oh! And she also had to count--

With a gasp and a paranoid twitch of her hoof, she jerked her head around. But... oh, she shouldn't have worried. They were still right where she left them, kept covered up so the chickens couldn't get at them.

She sighed, something that she couldn't tell if it was happy or not. It felt more bitter than anything. She wasn't complaining though -- of course not! She just wished that she wouldn't have to do this in secret... that if she told her friends... th-- that she was a good friend and didn't keep such terrible secrets, and that they wouldn't be so scared and angry at her for what she was doing...

Not that she didn't understand! After the dreadful wedding day, she completely did, but...

She sighed again. In the corner, a wiggling group of hard-shell capsules glowed green. It painted the inside of the coop a sickly apple color, one that the shadows killed off before it could reach the outside.

She couldn't just leave them when they hadn't been integrated into the hive yet. The poor dears would be so lost!

No, she'd just have to stick to her plan, n-no matter how secretive and rude it was to her friends. It would only be for a little while anyway, right? Just for a bit, and then the little grubs would hatch (and they would be so adorable and squishy!), and then she would shed her disguise -- just for a little while! -- and return them, and then she could come back. No harm done.

And then she'd only have one huge lie to keep up with.

With another sigh, Fluttershy just kept counting.