The New Moon Rises

by Kit Wolfkat

Lesson 8: A Rabbit, Some Birds and a Tree

Lesson 8: A Rabbit, some Birds and a Tree.

“How much longer do we have to walk to get to this Flutter von Shy, Twilight?” Spike whined, his short legs dragging along the dirt road. Twilight sighed, looking down at her companion with a mixture of impatience and concern as he struggled to keep up with her brisk pace.

“We’ll get there when we get there Spike. Just a few more metres to go.” Twilight responded quickly, much to his ongoing displeasure.

As they walked along the road, they passed the Everfree Restricted Checkpoint,with two guards covering the gated entrance toward the forest. A long line of chain fences stretched along the perimeter of the forest, making sure no unwanted visitors attempted to enter the forest. The two guards had their rifles at the ready, eyeing Spike and Twilight as they passed.

Spike took a quick glance at the checkpoint before turning to Twilight, “Twilight, important question.” he said nervously.

Twilight’s eyes flickered towards Spike, “What’s on your mind, Spike?” she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“I’m kinda hungry.”

Twilight’s face fell into a look of annoyance before she facehoofed herself in frustration, “Okay Spike,” she said, turning to face him with an annoyed expression. “There are three things wrong with that statement.”

Before Spike could get another word in, Twilight continued. “A, we’re almost reaching our destination and we have no time to turn back. B, we didn’t bring any food with us so your question doesn’t make any sense. And C, you wasted all of my money on snacks you bought at the market after we left the Stallion Hall. And you quickly finished them all before we even set a hoof on the outskirts.”

Spike rolled his eyes and huffed before walking away from her quickly, “Jeez if you wanna be that naggy, maybe I’ll head back into town without you.” he said in a bit of defiance, hoping that-

“Big mistake, you’re staying with me mister.” Twilight said firmly, encapsulating Spike in magical glow and lifting him off the ground.

Spike let out a yelp of surprise as he was lifted off the ground by Twilight’s magic. He wriggled around, trying to break free, but it was no use. Twilight’s grip was too strong.

“Twilight, let me go!” Spike shouted in protest and in embarrassment.

Twilight ignored him and continued walking, with Spike being carried in her magical glow. Spike sighed in defeat as he realised there was no way he could escape her magic.

He placed his claws behind his head as she laid in the glow of Twilight’s magic.

At least I’m not walking anymore.

---

Ten minutes later

Twilight stood in front of a small cottage. Its roof was covered in grass and multiple burrows and birdhouses surrounded its front porch. There was even a tiny burrow under the dirt bridge. Twilight looked at the house in intrepid curiosity, everywhere she looked there seemed to be even more birdhouses and burrows.

“Wow, I’m guessing that this von Shy really likes birds and rabbits.” Spike said, still encapsulated in the magical glow.

Twilight nodded, “It seems so,” she said, letting go of Spike from her snare. Spike fell onto the ground with a thud and rubbed his sore arms, grumbling under his breath.

“The least you could do is to put me down gently,”

“What was that?” Twilight said as she turned around.

“Nothing!” Spike shook his head awkwardly, “Uh, in the meantime let’s go meet this Fluttershy I mean Flutter von Shy.”

Twilight only gave Spike a suspicious glance before turning back to the cottage. She took a deep breath before walking towards the door, with Spike following closely behind her.

Twilight knocked on the door and waited for a response. Silence gave in for a few seconds, nothing. Twilight knocked again on the door, still nothing.

Where is this Flutter von Shy? I thought she would be a bit more proactive during her job.

“Hey Twilight, did you hear that?” Spike said.

Twilight turned to Spike, “Hear what?” she asked, confused.

“Listen!” he said, perking up his ear and leaning to the right of the house, as if he was hearing something. Twilight was about to ask what he was hearing when she heard it - a soft harmonic melody on the right, beyond the hedge of bushes.

Spike and Twilight looked at each other for a moment, before making their way towards the source of the music. As they got closer, the melody became clearer and more beautiful, as if they were in an opera house on a Saturday night.

Finally as they emerged from the hedge, they saw a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane parted on her right. She had three butterflies on her flank as her cutie mark. The pegasus looked like she was conducting a pair of birds on a tree to sing while a tiny rabbit was sitting on a rock beside her.

“Am I seeing what I’m seeing, or am I blind?” Spike said in awe.

“Well, you were blind in love earlier so-”

“Shut up Twilight.” Spike replied bluntly, turning back to the scene in front of him. “She’s kinda talented don’t you think?”

Twilight nodded in agreement, “I guess she is. Why don’t we approach her?” she said as she started to walk towards the pegasus leaving Spike at the bushes. But just as she was about to approach and ask her, the pegasus rose and flew next to a blue jay, whispering something to it.

Twilight stood back behind her in even more confusion.

Wait, is she talking to a bird? This town is getting even weirder now. I can’t waste more time on this.

Twilight, deciding to quickly introduce herself and get to the point, cleared her throat and spoke up. “Excuse me, miss?”

The pegasus yelped before falling flat down onto the grass. Twilight looked at the downed pegasus as she quickly got up, shyly hiding her face behind her wings. She turned to her right and saw the rabbit looking suspiciously at her, much to her uneasiness and fear, taking a few steps away whilst still on topic.

She turned to look at the pegasus with a simple question, “Uh hey, is your name Flutter von Shy?” she asked with an uneasy smile.

Twilight watched as the pegasus nodded shyly, and couldn’t help but notice how she seemed to retreat even further behind her wings. It was as if she was afraid to make eye contact.

“That’s uh great,” Twilight continued, trying to break the awkward silence. “And that was a very good performance you made with birds. I never knew you could train them to sing like that.”

Again, she didn’t respond. Twilight was starting to feel frustrated.

Feeling a bit awkward, Twilight cleared her throat and tried to break the silence. “Uh.. Right I guess everything’s settled here?” she asked for the final time, but there was still no response from Fluttershy.

Twilight sighed and turned her back towards the hedge, and rolled her eyes as she felt a bit annoyed but also quite relieved that this particular one is even faster to deal with.

Well that was easier than I thought.

“So that’s it then?” Spike said as he walked towards Twilight, smiling as he did.

“Yeah I guess that’s- aagh!” Twilight exclaimed before getting pushed away by the pegasus.

Fluttershy was staring at Spike with wide eyes, completely ignoring Twilight. “Oh my goodness, it’s a baby dragon!” she shouted out, “You’re so cute and cuddly, and it talks too!”

Spike smirked at the bombardment of compliments, clearly enjoying the attention. “Well well well, looks like someone is more appreciative of my looks than my own caretaker.”

Twilight groaned before picking herself up from the ground, “Which you lack,” she muttered under her breath, before turning back to Fluttershy. “In any case Ms Von Shy, I-”

But before they could make a move, Fluttershy interrupted them once again, turning her attention back to Spike. “My name is Fluttershy. What’s your name?” she said to the baby dragon, completely ignoring Twilight. Spike smiled, “Name’s Spike, amazing assistant and handsome scales to boot.”

“One of those is a lie.” Twilight said blankly. Fluttershy turned to the unicorn with a bit of apologetic face, “I’m sorry, most of everyone here just calls me Fluttershy, not uh… my full name.” she said softly, her voice almost whispering.

“Uh right,” Twilight said before turning to Spike, “Come on Spike. We need to find the last one.” However Fluttershy interrupted her as she looked at Spike, “And what do you do little dragon,what do you usually talk about?” she asked him.

Spike grinned widely, “Well, sort of everything usually! I do a bit of writing for Twilight, a bit of fetching, a bit of organising, a bit of cooking..” he trailed off as he continued to list the various things he could do, at the expense of Twilight’s patience.

Twilight groaned in silent frustration, “Spike, can we please get on with our duties?” she said in an increasingly rising and desperate tone.

Spike nodded quickly, sensing the urgency in Twilight’s voice. “Right, right. Sorry about that Miss Fluttershy,” he said apologetically. Fluttershy nodded slowly, nervous at Twilight’s tone. “N-no problem,” Fluttershy stuttered, looking down at her hooves.

Twilight sighed before turning back towards the place they came from, “Come on Spike.” she said, gesturing to him to hop on her back. Spike nodded, climbing on as they set off for their final task.

Fluttershy watched them as they left, leaving a trail of leaves in their steps. She turned back to her birds with a soft but otherwise calming smile, “Well, I hope she didn’t scare you all too much.”

“And what about you, Ange-” she turned to her right to the rock where her bunny rabbit was sitting but he wasn’t there. Fluttershy’s eyes went wide and she flew above her house and looked left and right around her.

“A-a-Angel?”

---

“So we can scratch Von Shy off our checklist,” Twilight said as she looked at the last name of the list. “The next one is Pinkie Pie, one problem. I do not know where she is.”

They walked from Fluttershy’s house until reaching the centre of Ponyville. Spike looked at his caretaker in a thoughtful expression, “Maybe if we ask somebeing about her?” he suggested to her.

Twilight quickly waved off Spike’s suggestion, “I’d rather take my chances with finding her on my own, besides I can’t rely on this town to provide every little information it has.” she said.

Spike looked at Twilight with a quizzical expression, “What about Winters? He’s been here for some time and he probably knows her.”

Twilight gave a short and haughty laugh, “Hahaha! Are you kidding me, Spike? I highly doubt he could figure out his own schematics, let alone being useful!” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“Just a suggestion.” Spike replied as he rolled his eyes. He looked in front as they reached the library after a few minutes of walking. “Wait, why are we at the library?” he asked, dropping himself down from Twilight’s back.

Twilight smiled slightly as she stood outside the door, “Well I’m gonna find that Star Swirl’s Unabridged Magical Theorem of Space and Field Volume I book right in this library, while at it, probably find a Green Pages copy here too.”

“Are you serious?” Spike said in disbelief. “And I thought I was delusional.”

“You still are Spike, anyhow lets-”

“WAIT!” a shout called out behind them. Twilight and Spike turned around to see Fluttershy flying towards them in a panicked expression. Her wings flapped frantically as she came to a stop, her chest heaving with deep breaths. Her eyes were wide with fear, but as she caught her breath, her expression slowly shifted to one of embarrassment and timidity.

“I mean uh, wait.” she said in a soft voice, her wings covering her face as she blushed.

“Right,” Twilight said cautiously, her brows rising. “So, what do you want?” she asked.

“I-I-I want muh- my bunny back.”Fluttershy tried to answer but her voice was too soft for anyone to even hear.

Is this mare serious, or just wasting my time?

Twilight groaned loudly, “Look Miss Von Shy, I don’t have time for your worries right now. I got a lot of on my plate and I-”

“TWILIGHT, LOOK! ON YOUR HEAD!” Spike shouted out, pointing his claw towards Twilight’s mane. Twilight turned to look at the window of the library where she can see her reflection since the room is dark enough.

It was a rabbit, on her mane. Where its tiny little feet could’ve trample her if it were to bring its millions of friends. Where its tiny but sharp teeth could easily bite her wherever it wants. Where it’s dangerous and uncontrollable instincts could easily overwhelm her, causing her to lose control and lose her mind and-

“GET IT AWAY FROM ME!” Twilight shouted out in fear, picking the rabbit up with her magic and chucking it from her head. The rabbit flew through the air and landed on the ground with a soft thud, rubbing its rear side with its tiny paws.

Fluttershy gasped and her eyes widened as she quickly flew over to Angel and picked him up with her hooves. “Oh my goodness, Angel. Are you okay? Let me take a look at you,” she cooed, examining him closely for any signs of injury.

“What is your damn problem!?” Twilight shouted towards the pegasus, her tone mixed with fear and anger. “Don’t you realise that rabbits are one of the most rabid and disgusting animals?!”

Fluttershy recoiled at Twilight’s harsh words, her ears drooping in sadness. “I-I-I-I.” she stuttered, trying to conjure a word but Twilight’s angering presence is making it extremely difficult. “I-I’m so-so-sorry.” she finished, tears almost appearing in her eyes.

But Twilight wasn’t finished with her outburst, “You! Get you and your rabbit out of my face!” she yelled, her voice succumbing into anger. Fluttershy finally cried, her tears dripped with sadness as she flew and carried Angel away from them both.

Spike, who saw the whole situation unfold, sighed and walked over to Twilight and placed his claw on her back. “Hey, are you alright Twi?” he asked in a concerned tone.

Twilight took a deep breath, her lungs almost giving out as if she smoked a pack of cigarettes. “No, I’m not alright.” she said in a bit of fear but also relieved. “I.. Really hate rabbits.”

“Touche,” he said in agreement. He glanced at the spot where the pegasus was, before turning back to Twilight. “You know, you should maybe not yell at her? I think I saw her cry.” Spike said in a soft tone.

Twilight shook her head and turned back towards the library door. “Whatever, let’s just get inside of this library and quickly finish this.” she said in dismissal. Spike nodded, though he didn’t say anything as he looked at her in concern.

Twilight pulled out a key and placed it in the keyhole, turning it as it made clicking noises. She pushed the door open, revealing an extremely dark room.

“Great, now I have to find the lights.” she said as she entered the library with Spike at her side. “Spike help me find the light swi-”

But before she could finish her sentence, the lights suddenly opened. Streamers and confetti fell from the ceiling, and a large crowd of beings were in the library, almost circling them, as they wore a large smile.

“SURPRISE!” they shouted in unison, with a familiar pink mare in front as she led the charge.

Twilight and Spike stood in silence at the scene before them for a few seconds before Twilight finally spoke. “Spike?”

“Yeah?”

“Call the carriage company after this, I’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.”

Comments

[i_am_the_jam]

Spike didn't see Angel on Twilight's head all this time?

[ARandomLonelyDude]

Twilight is a bitch. There is no changing my mind.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

I want a flying moving cart to fall unto Twilight's fat head for what she did here!😡

Guess the Elements of Harmony will say *nope* to this bit**!