All of a Fluttershy

by Impossible Numbers

Chapter 2

All of a Fluttershy

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When Applejack discovers that a thief has been stealing her prized apples, she looks for help in capturing the culprit. Fluttershy is eager to step in, but she's been acting very oddly of late...

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All the snakes had curled up on Fluttershy's pink sofa, which was one strong reason why Applejack wasn't sitting on it.

Applejack was on edge anyway. This was the interior of Fluttershy's thatched cottage, and it was usually sprawling with all kinds of chew toys and feeding bowls and other animal bric-a-brac. It wasn't usually clean and sparkling to perfection. This was the sort of high-polish, keen-eyed, pick-every-bit-of-lint-off-the-floor cleanliness that signalled a mind with too much time on its hooves.

Fluttershy was sitting up to the coffee table on a cushion placed over the floorboards, filling up cups from the teapot and passing them along. At least she'd ditched the inspector garb now. Applejack remained standing.

"Now pay attention, Mr. Slide-belly," Fluttershy said gently to the crimson snake, which was sipping tea out of the china cup it had wrapped its tail around. "My friend Applejack doesn't want to bother you. She just wishes to know if you snuck into her orchard last night, ate all the apples on her prized tree, and turned the rest of it into dust. Don't you, Applejack?" One snake signalled for the sugar tongs.

"We are wastin' mah time here. Ah ain't gonna talk to no snake."

"But they're surely not all bad. I've known my pretties since they hatched out of their eggs, and they've been nothing but scaly angels all their lives."

All the snakes put their heads together and little haloes flashed briefly above each one. It didn't encourage Applejack to come any closer to the table. Fluttershy picked up a plate of cookies and offered them to Applejack behind her, to which she shook her head, and made a brave attempt at a smile.

"Fluttershy, when are yer gonna git it into yer head? Yer might as well lock 'em all up now and make sure yer do it properly this time, so's they don't sneak out after dark. Problem solved."

"Applejack, that's an awful thing to say," said Fluttershy, giggling nervously. "What's wrong, Applejack? Are you not feeling comfortable?"

There was a twitch in the left eyelid. Applejack began to feel the hairs stand up on her flank.

"It's nothin' that don't concern no pony, but Ah'm gonna step outside jus' the same…"

Alarm bells rang in Fluttershy's head. She's leaving?

"All these creepy-crawlies and scaly thingies. This place is givin' me the heebie-jeebies." Applejack reached for the cottage door, but to her surprise found Fluttershy suddenly blocking the way.

"Oh no, you can't just go," she said, sweat spitting from the crown of her head. "I haven't introduced you to Mr. Greenscales. Please, let me make you some herbal tea. That would be the kind thing to do for my friend."

"Fluttershy, you're a very hospitable pony an' all, but all Ah wanna do is go outside fer a bit."

Fluttershy trembled and her ears seemed to seethe, but that sound was only the kettle in the kitchen.

"No you don't!" she said firmly. "You want to come and stay here and relax on my sofa. We could talk about the weather. Or the lack of it. Or the lack of talk about the weather."

A trumpet call seemed to sound in each pony's mind. Frowns solidified on both faces.

They butted heads, trying to push each other back, locked in a deadly glaring match.

"Fluttershy, Ah sensed there was somethin' wrong as soon as Ah stepped into this place. What's goin' on?"

"Nothing! It's just that I haven't introduced you to Cutesy Green Tree yet."

"You crazy pony. What d'you think Ah'm gonna do? Run away when yer not lookin'?"

Fluttershy's eyes flashed wide.

"How could you, AJ! If you'd just give Cutesy Green Tree a chance…"

"Ah tol' you, no. And now y'are wastin' my time. Ah need that apple-thief caught lickety split, an' you ain't helpin' me, not one cotton-pickin' bit."

Fluttershy had been boiling faster and faster with each word; long after the kettle had given out, the sound of her seething ears was still climbing. Then with a whistle, steam erupted from them.

She leapt up with her wings thrashing furiously, causing Applejack to fall forwards, and screamed in a voice that would've made dogs clutch their ears in pain.

"You want me to help you catch an apple-thief, do you? I'll catch you an apple-thief!" she shrieked, and she zoomed past Applejack, unknowingly breaking the all-time Equestria record, set by Rainbow Dash, of fastest acceleration from a stationary position. She seized one of her alarmed snakes in her hooves, pulled him off the sofa (the other snakes dived for cover under the coffee table) and screamed: "It was you, wasn't it, Mr. Boa Constrictor! Just admit it! We have the evidence! We can rebuild your cage with double locks! Triple locks! Do you have anything to say in your defence?"

"Fluttershy, Ah really don't think…" said Applejack, picking herself up.

Fluttershy hissed at the boa in a frenzy of spit. It looked like it wanted to crawl out of its own head.

"Why Fluttershy! Of all the things, ah never would'a thought –"

"Oh no! It's OK. I'm using SNAKE LANGUAGE!" Fluttershy hissed some more, making the boa constrictor whimper. Her left eye began to twitch more violently.

Applejack braced her legs.

"Now, look, Fluttershy, Ah ain't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, an' all, but if I didn't know better, Ah'd say…"

The full screaming rage of an unleashed Stare swung round in a blaze of exploding scattered china cups and pieces of a shattered and overturned table.

Applejack tackled her in midair, sending Mr. Boa Constrictor flying, and pinned her down to the ground. Fluttershy instantly began wriggling under her hooves.

"Ah ain't seen you like this since yer flipped out at the Grand Gallopin' Gala," Applejack said up to her face. "An' that weren't a pretty scene neither. Ah din't wanna have ter do this, sugarcube, but Granny Smith taught me how to do it to unruly foals, an' Ah bet my time in Manehattan could only have improved mah technique." She cleared her throat.

Applejack sang:

"When you're prancin' through the darkness,

"Hold your horse head up high,

"Fer Celestia's joy will shine down upon you.

"An' don't be afraid of the mare in the moon,

"Ah'll be there, hoof on heart, to guide you through…"

She continued singing in an astonishingly lovely voice. Soon, Fluttershy's squirming, which had intensified just as the song began, became less heartfelt, and she soon settled. It was a long while, following the flows and contours of her voice, before Applejack finally came to a close.

Fluttershy stared up at her in awe.

"I know that song," she said in a hush.

"Every pony under Celestia's kingdom knows that song. All the grannies know it and sing it to their foals to remind 'em we're at peace. Granny Smith, Granny Pie, and Granny D…"

"Granny Flutter?" Fluttershy said suddenly. Tears were welling up in her eyes and, somehow, choking her voice too.

Applejack stepped off Fluttershy, who just lay on the carpet and rolled to one side, covering her eyes with her hoof. Applejack had never heard Fluttershy talk about her time in Cloudsdale, which had once been her home before she'd discovered the delights of the ground and moved to the cottage. She'd definitely never heard Fluttershy talk about her Granny, not even to Rainbow Dash who'd known Fluttershy the longest, but the apple farmer had been around enough relatives to know when it was best to back off. She sat by Fluttershy's side and waited patiently for the filly to let it come out of her system.

Fluttershy's squeaky sobbing gushed out onto the carpet. She hung her head, an impressive feat for a pony lying partly on her back.

"Oh Applejack," she said, and Applejack's ears pricked up attentively, "I've been alone in this cottage for so long. I thought that it was the end of our beautiful friendship, that you and the others didn't think I was… interesting enough anymore."

"Whatever gave yer that idea?" Applejack said, lowering her head next to Fluttershy's.

"Rainbow Dash said ponies didn't ask me to do favours for them, because I wasn't interesting like she was. She also said I wasn't a dash on a rain patch, though I'm not sure I remembered that right."

"Rainbow Dash thinks anythin' that's not Rainbow Dash isn't interestin'," Applejack said in an annoyed voice. "We love yer fer bein' who y'are; jus' a sweet, innocent little pony who's always kind to everypony else who ever meets her."

Fluttershy picked herself up. She looked dejectedly at the ground.

"I let my fear get to me. I'm so sorry," she squeaked, her eyes trying to keep back more tears. "It's like that awful, awful dream all over again."

"Oh, sugarcube," Applejack said in a voice layered with feeling. "Yer coulda jus' called for a friendly visit. Yer didn't have ter stay cooped up in this place, waitin' fer us to come to you for a favour."

She gave a meaningful look around the squeaky-clean interior of the cottage.

"Will you get mad if I say sorry again?" Fluttershy asked, wiping her eyes.

"Not at all. How about we shake and make up, Apple family way?" She extended her hoof. Fluttershy took it, and they shook.

To Fluttershy's surprise, Applejack yanked her closer and caught her in an affectionate embrace with both forelegs, holding her tightly.

The snakes on the sofa blubbered and wiped each others' eyes with hankies as they watched.

They all noticed that the lighting seemed remarkably dimmer. When the two ponies went to the window, they saw that the sun was approaching the horizon.

"Oh no," Fluttershy said. "It'll be night time soon. The thief might come back again this night. I'd better set up a stakeout if I'm going to catch him."

"No hurry. Hey, why doncha come and have somethin' ter eat with us?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose."

"No imposition at all. We'd love ter have you round as our guest. Tonight's Granny Smith's Apple Pie night. It's a secret recipe. Nopony knows it 'cept Granny Smith an' me. You don't never want to miss that."

"It sounds great. But who'll look after all my little animals while I'm gone?"

"No sweat, Fluttershy. Ah know the perfect pony."
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"So y'all sayin' Miss Fluttershy wishes fer me to take custody o' her animals while she's away from her home?" Big Macintosh asked, chewing a piece of hay. Fluttershy giggled.

"He called me Miss Fluttershy," she whispered to Applejack, who nudged her in the ribs.

"You'll have ter excuse her, Big Macintosh, she's jus' a li'l excited about tonight. You think you can handle it, big brother?"
"Eeyup. Ah'm always ready to help out a neighbour in need."

"OK," said Fluttershy, handing him a list she'd just picked up in her mouth, which she now put on the sideboard to the right of him, "it's really very easy. Here's a list of all the animals and what they eat. Make sure they all go to bed on time. Oh, and if any of them start misbehaving, I find giving them the Stare always works."

"Ur, what's this here stare y'all keep on talkin' about?"

"Like this." She demonstrated to him.

After a while, she and Applejack found him outside the cottage in a nearby tree, wide-eyed and quivering. A quick buck of the tree trunk from Applejack and he thudded back to earth. He shook his head.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, Big Macintosh." Fluttershy hovered over him.

"Ah don't know what was more horrifyin'," he managed to say; "that, or having to wear one of Granny Smith's girdles fer a bet. It's a mighty close one."

Applejack was trying to stifle bursts of laughter. Big Macintosh glared at her, but said nothing.

"Well," she said, still holding them back, "Ah think we'd best be goin'. See y'all later, Big Macintosh."

"Thank you ever so much," Fluttershy said. They left him be.

Still standing under the tree, Big Macintosh watched them go, chewing his piece of hay thoughtfully. Then he looked at a nearby boulder. There was a frog on top of it. He chewed some more.

Finally, he mustered up all his rage and violent instincts and concentrated it all into as fierce a stare as he could manage.

The frog blinked at him. He blinked back.

"Eenope," said the frog.

Big Macintosh hung his head and sighed.
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"Now, who wants the firs' slice of the firs' Granny Smith Apple Pie of the night?"

The tray was placed lovingly in the middle of the table. Apple Bloom and Applejack, seated on one side of the table, drooled at the sight of the steaming crust on top. Granny Smith laughed at them in a cackling voice.

"Ain't she a beauty?" she said. She nudged Fluttershy, who was caught by surprise and flinched. "We been bakin' 'em since we set up the farm a thousan' years ago. The recipe's been passed down from mother ter daughter. Well, with one 'r two li'l changes here and there. Yer see, the firs' bit had ter be changed when we ran out of treacle, an' then they had ter change the middle bit, 'cos it weren't kind ter the chickens. An' then we had ter change the end 'cos the last of the old apples that were needed fer it got chopped down, an' there weren' no more left, see?"

"So it's not quite the same recipe anymore?" Fluttershy asked.

"It is in spirit, an' that's all Ah care about."

"Wanna swice?" Apple Bloom said, holding up a knife between her teeth.

"Apple Bloom! Gimme that!" Applejack said, snatching it from her.

"Uh, Applejack?" Fluttershy leaned forwards so that she could whisper, and Applejack leaned forwards too. "When you said tonight's Apple Smith's Granny Pie night…"

"Gwa'ie schish ah-oh high high," Applejack corrected.

"Um, yes, well, when you said that, I, uh, thought that meant, um, just you, Apple Bloom, and um, Granny Smith?"

"Dinnerai tehru?" Having cut a slice and guided it onto a plate, Applejack put down the knife and pushed the plate towards Fluttershy with her hoof. "It's a traditional Apple family get together."

"Y-yes. B-but I didn't think you'd invite the whole Apple family."

Behind her, the immense crowd of ponies cheered as another pie came out of the oven. One of the ponies was pressed up close to the back of Fluttershy's chair, and as he reared up to cheer, her stomach was squeezed against the tabletop.

"Sorry about that," Applejack said, her ears drooping. "It's always a big squeeze in here, and one extra makes it a bit difficult." She tried a grin, then looked over Fluttershy's shoulder. "Hey, Braeburn!"

"Applejack! Cousin!" The golden pony put down a plate to Fluttershy's right and another pony pulled up a chair for him. "Good ter see y'all agin! You wouldn't believe how our apple orchard's gettin' along! A new buffalo tribe jus' moved in west of Appleloosa, so me and Little Strongheart, we struck up a deal with them too, and, by Celestia, business is practically boomin' now!"

"Hoo doggies, Braeburn! Maybe one day, y'all be nearly as big as Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe."

"Well, you ain't seen it! Apples, apples, everywhere! We sure are livin' up ter our name now! Hi there," Braeburn said, noticing Fluttershy for the first time. "Applejack, how could you not introduce us! I din't know we had guests. Nice you could make it for Granny Smith's Apple Pie night!" He extended a hoof. Fluttershy, somewhat shyly, took it. "Ah recollect who y'are now. You helped bring us Bloomberg. Shutterfly, isn't it?"

"Fl-Fluttershy."

"Oh. Beg pardon, ma'am." He tipped his hat to her, which made her blush.

"Fluttershy's helpin' me out with a little infestation problem," Applejack said, leaning forwards conspiratorially. Braeburn, somewhat confused, leaned forwards as well. Applejack gave a meaningful look at Apple Bloom, who looked sulky now.

"Ah know what y'all gonna talk about," Apple Bloom said.

"We had ter tell her in the end what happened to her tree," Applejack whispered, ignoring her. "There's a snake a-thievin' apples from the orchard."

To Fluttershy's surprise, Braeburn's eyes widened. The last time they'd done that, he'd received some exceptionally bad news.

"You mean they're…" he said, "they're… scrumpin'?" A whinny escaped from Braeburn. Applejack put a hoof in his mouth.

"I heard that!" Apple Bloom shouted.

"Keep your ears out, li'l sister! These ain't words you're s'posed to hear! Fluttershy's gonna go out and catch it tonight."

They both looked at Fluttershy. She nodded her head in agreement. When Braeburn looked back at Applejack, she gave him a confirmatory nod. He gaped at Fluttershy.

"Ah," he said, weakly, "Ah am so sorry. Ah didn't realise. Excuse me." He got down from the table. Fluttershy gave Applejack a look of concern.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Braeburn was flitting through the crowd, whispering, first into one pony's ear, then another's, each one looking horrified at his words.
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It was late at night. Fluttershy was standing like a sentinel outside the barn, overlooking the orchard.

She heard a clop of hooves, and Braeburn was standing next to her.

"Braeburn? What are you doing here?" she said, completely surprised.

"Well, heavens to Betsy, I couldn't leave a young filly out on her own, a-huntin' that thing all by herself. Tain't the way we Apples like to leave it. Naw, I'm here to lend a hoof."

"And me."

"And me."

Two more Apple ponies stepped out from the barn, and took their places either side of Braeburn. They certainly held a strong family resemblance to Big Macintosh.

"What? N-No! This isn't right."

"It's OK. It's not just us three. There's more a-comin'."

More ponies streamed out of the barn. Soon, it seemed the whole Apple family had gathered behind Braeburn, all with the same uniform look of grim determination. Some of them carried pitchforks. Fluttershy checked each face, but Applejack, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith weren't there.

"You don't understand," she said, while her ears drooped. "I'm good with animals; it's what I earned my cutie mark for. Applejack trusted me to do this. I can handle snakes."

"Don't worry, Miss Fluttershy, we're not sendin' you back into the stable or anythin' like that," Braeburn said. "But where we come from, snakes and nasty crawlin' things ain't the prettiest of critters, and we sure don't want anythin' bad happenin' to you. We'll scatter around and search every acre. With the whole family behind us, we'll catch that varmint in no time."

"No! Wait!" Fluttershy called after them, as the whole family stampeded away. Soon they were lost among the orchard trees. She hurried after them.

A door opened behind her.

"Fluttershy?" said a sleepy pony. "What's goin' on ou' here?"
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The Apple family spread out, with groups splitting up into pairs and pairs splitting up into lone patrols. They rustled through the undergrowth, looking left and right, brandishing their pitchforks at shadows. A few held torches as well.

One pony named Apple Fritter ventured near the Golden Delicious trees, and gasped. There was a hole in the fence. Two planks had been snapped in half, and lay scattered on the grass where something had forced its way through.

From the row of bushes to her right, something watched her as she yelled out to anypony nearby what she'd found. It sniffed, and its muscles tightened like crushed leather.

With a flick, the pony's left hoof was seized and she was dragged backwards with a yelp.
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A while later, elsewhere, Apple Bumpkin stuck close to the bushes, prodding them with the business end of her pitchfork. A few leaves fell onto her head. When she looked up, she found herself suddenly pulled up into the branches. Her scream was muffled. The pitchfork fell out.

Red Gala nearby was tripped, then simply vanished.

Caramel Apple heard the muffled scream and came galloping over. She found only the dropped pitchfork. Golden Delicious came over to see as well. They looked at each other, suddenly anxious, which was made worse by a shuffle nearby. They both looked around, in opposite directions from each other. One gave a gasp of surprise. The other looked back, only to find that he was alone. Something snared him in turn.

Now screams were erupting out every few seconds as ponies kept vanishing left and right in the bushes. Slowly, the intruder made its way from the south of the orchard to the north, leaving behind it little trace of the ponies but a lot of trembling bushes. Ponies were snatched, tripped, dragged kicking and hollering into the shadows, blindfolded, pulled out of sight, yanked up into trees and simply vanishing before any other pony could rush to their rescue.

"Come out, come out, wherever y'are!" Braeburn shouted, hearing the last cry from somewhere to his left. There was a gasp cut short to his left, and a cry of help to his right. He turned around. Both the ponies that had been flanking him had suddenly vanished.

"Quit hidin' and runnin', you yellow-bellied, lily-livered, weak-kneed, pigeon-hearted snake! Show yer face!" He shouted even louder, picking up and swiping his pitchfork in the middle of an open area of the orchard. Bushes rustled behind him. He turned angrily, in time to see a tall, thin shadow rise up from below. The pitchfork dropped from his gaping jaw. He watched its ascent with horrified fascination.

"That…" he said. "That… is one… big… snake. W-well… at l-least Ah got y-yellow-b-b-bellied right."

Two yellow eyes opened. Braeburn's scream was the loudest yet.
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Fluttershy heard the scream. Already she was galloping as fast as her legs could go, through the rows and rows of apple trees.

"How could I have let them do this? I should have been kinder, but firmer. Maybe I should have… no, that's going too far, Fluttershy. How could you even think such a horrible thing? They don't deserve that kind of horrible punishment. Shouting at them, indeed."

She fumbled into a canter, then into a trot, then a slow walk, then a stop. Nothing could be heard now. The screams seemed to have died away. There was now utter silence.

"Get a hold of yourself," she said, angrily hitting herself on the nose. "This is no time to panic."

Bushes rustled behind her. She leapt a foot in the air and cowered. The rustlings continued. When they didn't finish, she peeped out from under her hooves and stared over her shoulder. She could hear a slight whimpering. As she got up and took a step closer, it sounded more like a pony.

"Hello?" she said, rising on her wings and gliding over. "Is somepony there? It's me, Fluttershy. It's OK. I won't hurt you." She placed her hooves gingerly on the bush in case something happened. It seemed all clear. She parted the bush. "There's nothing to be –"

The gasp she let out was pure instinct. It was a pony, for sure, curled up into a tight foetal position and trembling and gibbering with the utmost terror. That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the look on the pony's face.

It was twisted up in complete and utter fear, as if every muscle in the head was trying to stretch itself free. The eyes were unnaturally wide, and the pupils were fully concentrated with so much emotion they were weeping and bloodshot. The eyes had also been bleached of all colour.

Fluttershy had once heard Twilight say that the eyes were the windows to a pony's soul. If so, then this soul had been broken into, and whatever had done the breaking had vandalised the contents until nothing was left but pure terror.

The pony had literally been petrified with fear.

Fluttershy's scream filled the entire orchard. Her wings locked up, and she collapsed onto the ground. A second later she rolled back onto her hooves. Then she heard a shuffle, and looked round.

Something was coiled around a nearby apple tree, a recently-plucked apple held between its jaws. It began to unwind, disappearing into the shadows of the bush directly below it, until it was out of sight. The tree crumpled into dust.

Fluttershy knew it was still there. She heard a small swallowing sound as whatever it was swallowed the apple whole.

Then its head began to rise from the bushes, illuminated by the starry sky behind it. It had its back to her, and seemed to be hunched over as if the huge fangs prickling from its mouth were too heavy to lift. Slowly, laboriously, all fifteen feet of its tail began to uncoil and spill out in front of her. Her lips trembled.

"Large crown on the head… cobra's hood… zig-zag pattern on the back…" A tail rattled. "Rattlesnake's tail rattle…"

It rose almost to the low moon. Then its hiss rent like a strike of razors, scissors and knives through her ears, commanding her knees to quiver and almost making her kneel.

"You're… you're a B-B-B… B…"

Two yellow orbs glowed on its face; its eyes had opened. It swung its head round and she immediately covered her face.

"B-B-B-BASILISK!"

She heard it slither towards her, and instinct took over. She whinnied, spun on her back hooves and fled back up the aisle of trees. She left her screams for the Basilisk to follow.

After crashing through a bush, down another aisle, and between two trunks, eyes still tightly clenched, she tripped on an exposed root and tumbled, rolling into another pony. A dust cloud smothered them.

When it cleared, Fluttershy and the other pony opened their eyes and were sitting face-to-face, panting at each other.

"Fluttershy?" It was Applejack. In desperation, Fluttershy grabbed her shoulders and pulled her so that they were nearly eye-to-eye.

"Applejack! Run back to the house and don't come out. It's a B-B-B…"

"Fluttershy, what in tarnation is goin' on? The whole Apple family up and skedaddled in the middle of the night. I heard 'em clip-clopping past my bedroom door."

"They were trying to catch the snake, but they all went into the orchard and I told them not to do so, but they didn't listen, and so I came in after them, and…"

"Calm down, sugarcube. All of them? Ah can't find a single one o' 'em anywhere."

"Because the Basilisk found them first!"

"A basa-what, now?"

The Basilisk rasped somewhere nearby. Hearing the slither of its huge body made Fluttershy's heart leap up to her mouth. When Applejack tried to look over her shoulder, she pulled her head down so that they were eye-to-eye again.

"No! Whatever you do, don't look it in the eyes! It's not like the cockatrice. It's worse! Every stare is deadly, and I mean really, really deadly."

"Ah gotta stop it somehow."

"Applejack," Fluttershy spoke as firmly as she could, keeping all fear out of her voice. "Run to the house and lock all the doors and windows, close every curtain, and no matter what you hear, don't look back." Fluttershy gulped and galloped towards the sound, ignoring Applejack's protests from behind.

It turned and hissed as Fluttershy strode up to it and stood beneath its head, wings displayed. She wondered how effective her Stare was going to be with her eyes closed.

"What right do you have coming in here, stealing my friend's apples which she worked so hard to grow? You should be ashamed of yourself, a big healthy snake like you picking on poor defenceless ponies. How would you like it if we came stealing all your food and scaring you out of your wits? Only big mean cowards do that, and you're not a big mean coward, are you?"

The Basilisk chuckled, and for once a twinge of doubt crept into Fluttershy's thoughts.

"I'm warning you!" she said with extra vigour. "I've tamed the manticore, the dragon, the cockatrice and the wyvern. I've defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, and I persuaded Rainbow Dash to adopt a tortoise for a pet. So you listen to me right now!"

It squeezed, and the coils it had been silently curling around her legs closed in tight, trapping her with a cry of surprise. As she struggled, it tightened its grip and continued to slowly encircle her, laying down loop after loop of coils. She very nearly peeped.

"No," she told herself. "I must keep my eyes shut. I must keep my eyes shut. I must keep my eyes shut!" She groaned with the effort of trying to keep them shut, despite all the unpleasant noises around her. Her eyes were now so tightly crushed they were leaking tears, not noticing the small form running up behind the snake.

"Get away from her, yer big varmint!"

As the Basilisk hissed in Fluttershy's face, trying to force her to peep, something clanged on top of its head. Its eyes looked slightly out of focus. With a snarl, it turned to face the business end of the pitchfork, the other end of which was clamped between two sets of teeth. Applejack remembered to close her eyes just in time.

"That's fer mah family, you varmint! An' this one's fer our tree!"

To Fluttershy's surprise, the snake uncoiled itself and she fell onto her back. She dared a peek, and an electric shock seemed to surge through her body when she saw the Basilisk's tail crack like a whip.

"Applejack! Drop the pitchfork! It's going after you because you're carrying a weapon! Drop it!"

She chewed her lip. What did she know about Basilisks? What were their weaknesses?

Applejack swung the pitchfork, but the thrashing tail ducked and snatched up one of her back legs and pulled up so hard she fell onto her chin. She covered her eyes and tried to kick it off. Coils forced themselves around her front hooves and raised her into the air, while more twisted round her body and squeezed her so tightly that her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She held them closed for as long as she could, until she couldn't take it anymore.

The serpent opened its eyes too. Applejack stared. In each one was a flaming iris, and as she stared, terrible whisperings filled her ears. The colour drained from her eyes. She screamed in terror and the Basilisk uncoiled itself, leaving her to fall and collapse onto the ground in a nervous quivering wreck. The pitchfork rolled aside.

The Basilisk snorted down at her before it eyed the delicious apple trees with slobbering jaws.

Fluttershy rushed between them. She pawed the ground, and snorted. The Basilisk blinked incredulously, then gave its most enraged hiss yet. Applejack whimpered as the Basilisk zoomed like a torpedo past her. Even the fangs of the snake, when it bared them, made an ominous sliding sound, like sabres being unsheathed. Its rapid slithering gathered up to a point, preparing to spring. Fluttershy opened her mouth and inhaled as deeply and laboriously as possible. There was a rush of air on both sides.

Then she yelled, in a perfect and lung-busting imitation; "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!"

The slithering was replaced by skid marks. There was an "eep", then a thump. There were no further noises. She opened her eyes.

Right in front of her was the curled up form of the Basilisk. Its whole body was trembling in fright. The yellow glow in its eyes had shut down and died. Its stare now had no effect.

Fluttershy walked past it and over to Applejack, who was likewise still trembling with overwhelming fear and curled up in the leaves. She leaned close to Applejack's ear and closed her eyes.

"When you're prancing through the darkness,

"Hold your horse head up high,

"For Celestia's joy will shine down upon you.

"And don't be afraid of the mare in the moon,

"I'll be there, hoof on heart, to guide you through…"

As Fluttershy sang, her friend's quivering ceased, and now Applejack's stare was more relaxed, and her eyes were colourful again. She began blinking, and then her tensed legs settled onto the grass. When the song was coming to an end, Applejack shook the last vestiges of anxiety out of her head and looked up at two beams of light, which resolved themselves into two eyes.

"And you'll never face the darkness alone," Fluttershy finished.

"Fluttershy," Applejack managed to say. "That song… How… how did you know that would work?"

"The only way I could defeat the fear was with comfort and kindness."

Applejack got back onto her hooves. She was gazing at the Basilisk, then at her friend, in utter amazement.

"Cock a doodle doo?" she said. Fluttershy nodded.

"Basilisks are only frightened of one thing: roosters."

"Whaaaaat?"

"The cry of the rooster is terrifying to them. I read about it in Bestiary: How to Best the Beasties."

"Yer gotta be pullin' mah leg. It's frightened o' a little ol' cock-a-doodle? Well, if that ain't the silliest thing Ah ever did hear." A grin blossomed on the freckled filly's face, and she hopped over to the Basilisk and leaned in close towards the shaking head.

"Brk brk brk BRK!"

It pulled its crowned head into its coils like a turtle into its shell, and continued trembling.

"Well. Ah don't know what to say. Ah can't thank you enough. Yer saved mah orchard! Now c'mon!" Applejack said, galloping off to the nearest quivering pony. "We gotta go help the rest of the family. Braeburn and the others still need us!"

Fluttershy galloped after her, as the first beams of dawn crept slowly over the horizon.
________________________________________
The last of the petrified Apple ponies were shaking themselves off as Fluttershy stood over them, helping them up. Behind her, the whole caravan of Apple ponies were carrying saddle bags out of the house and hitting the road. Granny Smith, Applejack, and Apple Bloom were standing outside the door, watching them go, saying their goodbyes to each passing relative.

A hoof tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder.

"Er, excuse me, Miss Fluttershy?"

It was Braeburn. Oddly, he'd taken his hat off and was laying it over his chest.

"Ah'm mighty sorry for not trustin' you earlier, Miss Fluttershy. It seems you would have done fine if we'd only let you get on with the job. No hard feelings?" He extended a hoof.

"No hard feelings," she said, taking his proffered hoof with her own. They shook.

"Thank you ever so much for being so understanding, Miss Fluttershy." He replaced his hat. "Ah hope you'll come visit next year for the next Apple family get-together. The next one's in Appleloosa. You could be an honorary Apple pony."

"Now, that's a mighty fine compliment," said Applejack, coming to join them. "If Ah do say so mahself."

"Well, goodbye now." Braeburn tipped his hat and cantered past them to join the caravan. "See y'all next year. An' thanks for the souvenir! It'll make a great decoration for the buffalo wigwams."

With his teeth, he picked up a stick, around the end of which the Basilisk was wrapped, still quivering and petrified. Then he cantered down the hill to catch up with his kin.

"Take good care of him," shouted Fluttershy after him.

Once the last of the Apples had hit the road, Applejack turned to Fluttershy.

"I think we should write a letter to Princess Celestia about this. Apple Bloom?" There was a blur.

"Reh-hee, sish," said Apple Bloom, holding a pencil between her teeth. She placed a hoof on the paper in front of her, holding it down.

"Ah'll dictate," said Applejack, but Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh?"

"I think I've learned an important lesson today, Applejack."

"Really? Well, if you say so."

Fluttershy cleared her throat.

"Dearest Princess Celestia, I learned that my friends respect me for being me, and not somepony else. You should cherish the goodness you have, and not try to change that just because one pony thinks you're not interesting. And above all, you should come out and trust your friends, and respect the goodness that they have, too."

"Yer got all that, sis?"

"Shur dih," said Apple Bloom.

"Who wants some pie fer breakfast?" shouted Granny Smith from the kitchen window. "There's still some left over that hasn't got tooth marks or drool all over it."

"May I?" Fluttershy asked nervously. Applejack winked at her.

"Sure, but you'll have ter get there before me! Yeehaw!"

Fluttershy giggled and the two of them galloped towards the front door.

"Wait fer me! Applejack!" Apple Bloom shouted. Applejack went back to pick her up and carried her into the house.
________________________________________
And down at Fluttershy's cottage, a blue pony had just arrived and was knocking on her front door.

"Hello? Fluttershy? Are you in there? I can't believe it. I set you a simple task. Just take all the messages, I said. You don't have to do anything, just take the messages, and do nothing. Write them down. Do nothing and write them down. I can't even trust you to do that for one lousy day." She grumbled, and resumed knocking. "It's just lucky this sick pony got better sooner."

The door swung open, Big Macintosh rushed into view and delivered what he finally thought was the Stare.

Rainbow Dash screamed.

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh reared up on his hind legs and beamed. "Ah've been practising that all night, and Ah finally got it."

He turned back into the cottage to celebrate, closing the door behind him, leaving Rainbow Dash quivering in the tree branches above.

Comments

[Impossible Numbers]

Comment 5: I will do that: I'm already managing my other stories to try and keep the pace flowing without readers getting lost in all the details. I've also added a bit more detail to one of the scenes in this one because, after rereading it, I felt it went a little too quickly.

Comment 6: I've just done what you recommended - I split up the text, which is why there are two chapters now (sorry to anyone else for any confusion about what chapter 2 could possibly be) rather than keep it as one long one. I must admit that it's a lot easier on the eyes now - long texts are just intimidating. Glad you liked the story anyway. pinkiepie:smile

[UseFistNotMouth]

Ah yes I really liked this story.
Other than RD being a little too much of an insufferable twat, I found everything quite enjoyable.