Ponies go missing... A strange wind... Does this have anything to do with the creature Fluttershy found in the Everfree Forest? Can Fluttershy save Ponyville before it's too late?
After finding a strange creature in the Everfree Forest that Fluttershy nicknames, Quinn, strange things start to happen in Ponyville. Ponies begin to go missing one after the other, their unconscious bodies left as the only evidence. Many citizens of Ponyville blame it on the dark and mysterious wind that has been flowing through the town. Is it the wind's fault? Is it the creature Fluttershy brought home? Or is it something else?
It was a bright cloudless day in Ponyville. At least for a while... Fluttershy was outside measuring her garden lines. She was having Applejack deliver her some mulch and she needed to know how much she needed. "Just a little more." She said to herself as she was focusing hard on making sure the measurements were exactly correct. She picked up a stick off the ground to stick into the ground so she knew where the line to her garden ended. She did the same to the other two corners until she encountered a problem. She was short a stick. "Oh no." She whispered to herself. She normally spoke quietly but she was even more quieter at that moment. She peered over her shoulder at what was behind her.
The Everfree Forest.
Her cottage resided near the opening of The Everfree Forest and even though Fluttershy knew there were some horrible creatures that lived in there, she still loved the location of her cottage and refused to move. Though when it came to times like this when she needed to get resources from the forest, she strongly disliked her living location. But she needed to do what she needed to do. She needed a stick for her garden. Without something as simple as that, Applejack wouldn't know where to pour the mulch and everything would be ruined. Fluttershy shuddered at the thought.
So without bringing her saddlebag, she started walking toward the opening of the horrible forest. As she was walking, she made a silent pray to Celestia. "Please Celestia, don't let me run into anything dangerous in here..."
Not even five minutes into the forest and Fluttershy was already shrieking and galloping as fast as she could. "I just need one stick!" Sweat droplets started dripping down her forehead as she looked around as hard as she could for a simple twig. She was basically out of breath but continued to run as fast as she could. To her, her eyes felt like mini scanners scanning across the forest floor. There has GOT to be a little twig in here somewhere...
Suddenly she heard a little crack of a twig that was not from her hooves. She froze in shock, her eyes growing wider as time went on. Her breathing slowed and she felt slightly dizzy. As every second ticked away, she felt weaker and weaker. Frightening thoughts went through her head and were completely eating at her sane self. Who was that? WHAT was that? What's going to happen? Before she was able to crack, she heard another snap and passed out cold on the ground.
----
Fluttershy felt herself slowly regaining control of her body. She slowly awoke from her slumber and lifted her eyelids slowly. "W-where I am?" She asked herself as she slowly sat up. She blinked a few times and stared around the area. It took her brain some time to process where she was and why she was there but she got it. "Hm. I must have passed out or something." She was a little confused as to why but let that confusion pass. She regained strength in her legs and tried to sit up but collapsed to the ground with a thud. Her breathing went slow to huge puffs again as she remained perfectly still. A furry little creature was sniffing her legs curiously. She watched its every move in case it tried something. It took a few more sniffs and then noticed her watching it. It went still and stared at her with its big, wide, blue eyes. Fluttershy studied the curious creature some more. To her, it looked like no other creature she had seen before. It was the size of an animal that could fit in her hooves and it had little round ears that were currently outstretched. Fluttershy examined its light brown fur closer and discovered that the creature had no legs! Just little arms that had mini paws. It was sitting on its tail.
Fluttershy finally gathered enough courage to speak to the animal. "Um. Hello there." She said sweetly. The animal's ears twitched as it stared into her eyes with its wide eyes. Fluttershy took this as a safe route. "Are you lost?" She asked it. It jumped on its tail and made a little squeak sound. A smile grew on its face which transferred onto Fluttershy's face. "Well you're in luck!" She exclaimed in her soft voice. "You can come home with me if you want and then we can try to find where you're supposed to be." She looked at the animal. "Sound good?"
It jumped on its tail again and repeated the noise.
Fluttershy grinned and flapped her wings. She scooped the animal in her hooves and flew off to her cottage, completely forgetting about getting that stick for her garden.
----
When they got there, Fluttershy made a bed for the creature using a little abandoned nest and a blanket. She gently put the creature inside it and watched until it snuggled in its new bed and fell asleep. She clapped her hooves together and quietly stared down at her hard work. Such a cute little animal. She thought to herself. I don't know what animal it is but I have to stop calling it animal. She nodded subconsciously. I'll name it. I'll name it Quinn.
Suddenly a large boom of thunder entered the sky and echoed through Fluttershy's ears causing her to jump from the startle. She trotted over to the closest window and peered out. Rain started coming down as fast as rain could come down. As it was trickling down the window, she thought, it's so lucky that we made it here when we did. She let out a gentle and silent little yawn and then giggled. "I can't believe I'm already beat." She looked around her cottage in search of a clock.
"I wonder what time it is."
She walked towards her room and studied the clock. It was eight. She yawned again and giggled for a second time. "I can't believe it's that early and I'm tired. I best be getting to bed then." She took another look outside at the rain and shrugged. "It's raining anyway. Not much to do inside." She brushed her teeth for two minutes like Colgate said, said goodnight to all of her pets, including Quinn, and then snuggled into bed.
----
That morning, Fluttershy awoke with a large stretch and a yawn. The sun was shining in through her window and it looked like it was going to be a wonderful day.
She hopped out of bed and fed her animals in a pile like every morning. Everything was normal except for Quinn. He wasn't charging through the pile to slurp up breakfast like the others. He was sitting up in his bed, watching the animals and Fluttershy. "Come here Quinn!" Fluttershy called while giving him full eye contact. "It's breakfast time!" He still didn't move and by that, Fluttershy was alarmed. She flew over to her little animal friend with a bowl of food. She placed it down in front of him. He sniffed it and then bounced around the room. He didn't seem to be interested in the food which worried Fluttershy. Was he sick? "Um. It's okay. Maybe you're not hungry now." She shrugged and then went over to clean up the mess her other pets left for her. Since it was a beautiful day, Fluttershy decided to go hang around her friends. Maybe Quinn wasn't completely comfortable with the cottage yet. She thought it would be best to leave him home so he could get used to the cottage. Maybe then he'd eat like the others. Fluttershy headed into the middle of Ponyville to see what was going on. She couldn't get Quinn off her mind. She really hoped he was okay. Something clicked in her mind. Go read up to see what type of creature he is! She skipped off to Twilight's library with pure joy in her steps. She knocked gently on Twilight's door and within seconds Twilight answered.
"Oh hey Fluttershy! What brings you here?"
Fluttershy was shaking with excitement. She couldn't wait to see what type of wondrous creature Quinn was. "I picked up an animal from the Everfree forest yesterday and I wanted to see if you had any books on him." She replied. Twilight gave her a nervous look. "Is he safe?"
"Of course he's safe! He's one of the most cutest animals I have ever seen!" Fluttershy gushed and gushed about Quinn and Twilight knew she wouldn't stop. So she invited Fluttershy in.
"I know exactly what type of book you need." Twilight replied. She lifted a few books from the shelves using her magic from her horn. She levitated the books over to a table where she gently dropped them on. "These books will help you."
"Thanks Twilight." Fluttershy smiled and began scanning through the books. She flipped through one book without finding any animal that looked like Quinn. She skimmed through another book without luck before asking Twilight for assistance. "Um, these books don't have the animal I'm looking for." She picked up another book and began skimming through it.
"Well what does it look like? I could maybe help find it." Twilight said and began searching through one of the books on the table using the magic from her horn.
Fluttershy pondered for a moment before answering. "He's small. So small he could fit in your hooves." She thought some more. "He's light brown, has huge wide eyes, no legs which is weird, but he bounces on this huge tail of his. That's how he gets around." Without responding Twilight went through the remaining books without luck. "That's odd." She turned to Fluttershy. "These books don't list a creature like that."
Disappointed Fluttershy stood up from the table. "That's okay Twilight. Thanks for helping. Maybe you could come by the cottage for a while and see him." She smiled a small smile which Twilight returned. "Sure thing Fluttershy! Just as soon as I'm done practicing this spell." She levitated a book and showed Fluttershy the page. "It's so that I can make things grow larger than they can grow to."
"That sounds sweet!" Fluttershy replied before heading out the door. "I'll see you later!" She trotted out the door. Hm that's odd that Twilight's books didn't contain anything about Quinn. Oh well. Maybe Pinkie or Rainbow Dash would like to see him. With that thought in mind, she headed to Sugarcube Corner.
----
When Fluttershy arrived at Sugarcube Corner, she didn't even need to knock. The door flew open along with a bunch of noise. An awful green stinky cloud flowed out the door as soon as it was open.
Fluttershy poked her head in and saw the Cakes scrambling around the shop. Diapers, cloths, baby powder, and toys were flying this way and that around the room. Fluttershy did manage to catch a glimpse of Pinkie Pie's pink mane throughout the hazardous mess.
"Pinkie Pie?" She called out softly. She poked her head out to avoid getting hit in the face by a stuffed bear.
"Pinkie?" She tried again. This time, she got a mouthful of baby powder. Coughing and spitting out the powder she managed to get in her mouth, she tried one final time but this time, raised her voice.
"Pinkie Pie!"
Within seconds the pink pony bounced out of the bakery and hopped on the spot. Her mane was tussled and covered in white splotches. "Yes Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy forgot about what just happened and filled with excitement, remembering Quinn. She spoke fast. "I found this new creature in the Everfree Forest and Twilight doesn't know what it is and neither do her books but I thought you would like to come over and see him because I named him Quinn and I do think he's just the sweetest thing ever so do you wanna see him?" She stopped for a big large breath. Pinkie Pie just stared at her blankly.
Fluttershy tried again. "Want to come by my cottage to see Quinn?"
Pinkie titled her head. "Quinn? Whos Quinn? It sounds like a pony's name I know. Is it a pony?"
Fluttershy shook her head no and looked grimly at Pinkie. "No. He's some fluffy woodland creature. He's so cute."
Pinkie Pie bounced in the air. "Lets go see him! Wait!" Pinkie Pie dashed into Sugarcube Corner and then dashed out in a blink of an eye. "Can't forget this baby!" She held out a camera in her hoof. Fluttershy smiled. "Take lots of good pictures of him please. I want to track his growth."
Pinkie Pie nodded and started bouncing towards the cottage. "I'll take thousands of pictures! Then maybe some of the other animals..ooh and some of you and me! Eeeek this is going to be so fun!"
----
When they arrived, Fluttershy unlocked the cottage door and slowly opened it, expecting to be greeted by Quinn. Instead she was greeted by something else...
Chaos.
Animals were running amuck, food was being thrown everywhere, furniture was being knocked over, and piles of dust were floating through the air. Fluttershy's eyes traced the room to see the cause of it. She spied Angel Bunny chasing Quinn underneath the couches. Fluttershy was astounded! Angel Bunny never tried to hurt any of the other animals living at the cottage. She trotted over towards the fight. It looked like she was about to yell in anger but instead returned to her gentle self. "Angel! Please stop scaring Quinn!"
Angel didn't listen and instead chased Quinn to the other side of the cottage towards where Pinkie Pie was standing. Pinkie Pie jumped in the air to avoid the fast mob and thought it was a game, as Pinkie Pie always did in these situations. As soon as they passed Pinkie, she continued jumping. She giggled, "That was fun! Do that again!"
Fluttershy didn't bother telling Pinkie Pie that it wasn't a game. In fact, she forgot all about Pinkie. All of her focus was on Angel and Quinn. She tried again, this time, in full frantic mode. "Angel! Please! Stop that right now!" Her naturally soft voice didn't stop Angel. He looked determined. Fluttershy winced in terror as she knew she couldn't do anything. She shut her eyes after she heard a crash coming from upstairs. Angel was chasing Quinn all over the house with full speed.
Quinn suddenly appeared down the stairs in slow mode. Fluttershy sighed in relief. She flew over towards him and scooped him up in her hooves and rubbed her cheek against his. "I'm so glad you're alright! I'm terribly sorry Angel was behaving in such a bad manner!" She looked at Quinn and his facial expression looked like her forgave her.
She set him down and filled his food dish. The rest of the animals that hid during the scuffle started to come out to munch on Quinn's dish. They all knew he wouldn't finish the pile of food anyway. Fluttershy hovered in the air and watched Quinn look down at the food pile and smell it. Quinn moved around to another angle of the dish and smelt the top of the pile. He turned his head, neither in disgust nor horror and sat down while the other animals' predictions were right. The animals tackled the dish and gobbled down the rest of the dish in five seconds. They all left the bowl alone with not even a single crumb left in the bottom. Fluttershy sighed. "It's okay Quinn. Maybe you'll be hungry in awhile. Perhaps Angel scared your hunger away." She tried to convince herself that that is the reason for Quinn's low hunger but deep down, she didn't feel so certain. She was worried about Quinn. No animal she had ever taken care of had this low interest to eat. Was Quinn sick? No, he looked okay. She shrugged it off to avoid worrying herself sick but she couldn't dismiss the feeling of worry that filled her body. Maybe he'll eat tonight...
----
Fluttershy finished the rest of her shopping and daily errands. She hadn't been home to her cottage to check up on it and quite frankly, she didn't want to see the outcome of the Angel-Quinn scuffle. Her cottage was sure to have turned upside down.
She sat down in the middle of Ponyville and went through her saddle bag. The sun was shining and therefore, the sand was quite warm on her bottom. She flew up in mid-shock and glanced around the town for somewhere to sit peacefully. She suddenly spotted Rarity walking towards a cherry stand. Completely forgetting about double checking she had everything she needed, she fluttered over towards Rarity. "Four cherries please." Rarity held out her hoof, expecting to receive the cherries with no huff. Of course, in Ponyville, that never happened. "Seven bits." The store pony gave her an angry look while responding with a grunt and snappy tone.
Rarity's facial expression turned to a gasped look. She knew that seven bits was obviously a ripoff. She then pulled out her flirty card and tried her hand at wooing the store pony.
"Why." She paused and played with the curl in her mane. "In all of Equestria would you ever charge a pony, such as myself, that many bits? Don't you know in order for me to look this fabulous I need the bits to purchase many beauty salon products?" She eyed the pony before continuing. "You know in all my-" She was interrupted by the rather impatient pony. "Five bits if you leave right now."
Rarity smiled. Her tactic didn't go exactly how she had planned but she managed to save two bits which was good in her book. She didn't want the smelly old store ponies getting her bits for nothing. No sir.
"Thank you very much." She used her horn to use her levitating spell to put the cherries in her saddle bag. She gave a gentle wave to the stallion before heading off and bumping into Fluttershy.
"Oof!" She brushed herself off. "Hello dear Fluttershy. What are you up to today?" She asked.
Fluttershy smiled widely at Rarity. "I'm getting ingredients for a special meal for Quinn." Rarity tilted her head in confusion. "Quinn?"
"Oh yes. He's a new animal I'm taking care of. He's an angel." Fluttershy grinned loud and proud at how amazing Quinn was. "Him and Angel had a little fall out earlier today so I'm going to make him a special dish. He doesn't eat much at the cottage so maybe what I'm serving him isn't something he likes." She explained and Rarity nodded her head. "A fall out did you say? My heavens. Did you check to see if Angel was alright?"
Fluttershy paused to think. Rarity brought up a good point that Fluttershy hadn't thought of. She hadn't seen Angel since the brawl. Only Quinn who came down the stairs. Angel didn't even appear. A feeling of worry went through her veins and made her shudder. She really hoped Angel wasn't hurt.
"I didn't. I better go see if he's alright!" Fluttershy jumped in the air and flapped her wings to get height. She peered down at Rarity and waved. "Oh thank you Rarity! I'll see you soon!" She flew off towards her cottage in a rush to check on her rabbit.
Fluttershy unlocked her door to the cottage and cringed, preparing for another brawl in the room. She slowly opened the door and peeked her little head in. Before she knew it, she ended up with a pillow in the face. It took her a few seconds to regain her sanity but she finally got to that state and peered inside. To her dismay, Angel and Quinn were having another brawl. Angel was chasing Quinn again but more different than last time, he was was throwing objects at him. Quinn had good dodging skills though. He just stood there and dodged everything Angel was whipping at him.
Fluttershy was in pure shock. "Angel!" She trotted inside and stood in between them. Her pulse rate went up. She never stood in the middle of a fight before. While her insides shook, she was determined to make this feud stop.
Angel halted his throwing but lunged forward at Quinn, this time striking him and sending him flying out the open window. Fluttershy felt like she could pass out from the amount of violence she was not used to seeing. Angel paused all movements and stood in his place for a while to catch his breath.
Fluttershy was speechless. All she could get out was, "Angel..."
----
Angel and Fluttershy hadn't spoken for the rest of the day. Night had fallen and they still hadn't spoken to each other. Fluttershy was still recovering from the amount of violence and horror she had just witnessed late that afternoon. Quinn still hadn't come back home and that made Fluttershy feel even more sick to her stomach.
Fluttershy stared out the window and watched the droplets roll down the pane. It had just started raining lightly mere minutes ago and Fluttershy hoped Quinn was under some leaves or something to keep himself dry.
BOOM!
"Eeeep!" Fluttershy's reflexes tightened and sent her into the air with a light screech. She had to be quiet, for it was late and the animals were all sleeping. A fit of worry went to her stomach once again for the fifth time tonight as she thought about Quinn perhaps being scared of the thunderstorm. She suddenly felt a burst of courage rush through her veins as she stood up and stood tall. She was going out to the Everfree Forest to look for Quinn. She knew that that's where he would go. That's where she had found him after all.
She knew she was going to get drenched so she didn't bother putting on any extreme gear because the wet gear would only drag her down. The only thing she did was write a little note telling the animals where she was incase one of them woke up from their slumber and was looking for her.
Once finished with that, she stormed outside to be welcomed by an instant wet mane. The rain had gotten heavier and was pelting Fluttershy's face. She didn't like the feeling of the sharp raindrops so she hurried into Everfree Forest to be sheltered by the trees.
Fluttershy ignored how dangerous it was to be out in the Everfree Forest at night and continued to walk through the path. Fluttershy's random burst of courage was in fact random as with each crack she heard, her hoovesteps became slower and softer. She didn't like this at all. In fact, she was tempted to just turn around and head home. She was cold, wet, soggy, and frightened. States Fluttershy never wanted to experience.
Crack...
An "eep!" emitted from Fluttershy's throat as she cowered close to the ground. She didn't know what that sound was or where it came from or more importantly, what made it. She covered her eyes with her hooves fro a brief moment until she couldn't hear the sound again. She slowly slid her hooves across her eyes to shed some light to them again. She slowly lifted her eyelids. The rain was at its hardest which made Fluttershy squint in order to see slightly. At this point, the trees didn't shelter Fluttershy that much. She stood up and peered around the forest.
CRACK!
An ear splitting noise shook Fluttershy's insides as she felt something heavy hit her head. The pain was too much for her to handle and it vibrated through her skull. Her body felt weak and her brain was too shaken up to control the rest of her limbs. She collapsed immediately with a soft thud on the forest floor. Her vision became even more blurry than the rain caused and with that, her world turned cold.
----
Ouch...
Why does my head hurt so much?...
Am I awake?...
Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and let them clear properly. The first face she saw was Quinn's as he stared down at her limp body. As soon as their eyes met, he emitted a tiny chirp sound. It was a sound of joy.
Fluttershy looked around and tried to move her neck to see where she was. A voice stopped her movements. "Don't move." Fluttershy recognized that voice. It was Twilight's.
Fluttershy then saw Twilight standing in front of her with her horn lit up. She became a little nervous. "Twilight...w-what are you doing here?" Fluttershy couldn't remember how she got back home. She didn't even know why Quinn was home. They were both in the forest, right?
"You were passed out in the Everfree Forest." Twilight explained. "Zecora found you and brought you home. She told me to stay with you until you awoke." She studied Fluttershy's body and gently patted the bandage on her head. Fluttershy yelped as she felt the pressure sink into her wound. "Ah!"
Twilight immediately pulled back her hoof with a guilty look on her face. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I didn't mean to go too hard." Fluttershy gave Twilight a sympetic look. "It's okay Twilight. Thank you so much for looking after me. I think I'm okay now." She tried to sit up but ended up requiring help from Twilight. A few minutes later, she managed to sit up. She looked around her cottage with a look of horror. "W-What happened in here!?"
She saw Twilight bite her lip which made Fluttershy's head sink low. "W-What?"
Twilight appeared to be debating with herself whether or not to tell Fluttershy. Fluttershy was losing it and just wanted to know what exactly happened to her. "You know you can tell me. I won't be mad."
Twilight sighed. "I hate to tell you this..." She stopped and that made Fluttershy's eyes start to water. "Hate to tell me what?"
Twilight looked like she too was about to tear up. "I can only show you what happened." Fluttershy nodded slowly and started to shake. She walked over with Twilight to the corner of the kitchen table. There was a blanket with a lump underneath it. Twilight held the corner of the blanket but didn't lift it. She looked at Fluttershy with complete sadness in her eyes that Fluttershy didn't like the look of.
"I'm so sorry."
Twilight lifted up the blanket to release a little clump of fluff and previously chewed up flesh. Fluttershy nearly fainted at the sight but managed to keep awake. She studied the pile closer and then gasped in horror when she found out what the pile was. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight no matter how much it would haunt her later.
"Zecora found him this morning like that. She didn't know what had happened to him. The cottage was a mess but she called me over to help clean it up." Twilight saw the tears start to leak down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry..." She pulled Fluttershy into a hug which broke her. Fluttershy began to weep loudly over the death of her dearest friend, Angel.
She suddenly remembered how they last talked. They had a fight over Quinn.
"We d-didn't make up..." Fluttershy wept into Twilight's shoulder. Twilight rubbed her hooves through Fluttershy's mane gently. "What do you mean?"
Fluttershy could barely speak through the tears and her shaky voice. The insides of her nose were clogged her throat and caused her to choke. "W-We had an argument and...and...an-" She broke out and started to shout through her fast falling tears. "I never told him I was sorry!" She wept even harder into Twilight's fur which made Twilight's tears start to fall slightly. She hugged her friend even tighter and reassured her. "I'm sure he knows how much he means to you. Best friends have fights. But they always know that deep down, it's because they really care about each other."
Fluttershy couldn't get ahold of herself enough to answer Twilight so she just continued to hold Twilight tightly and empty out her sorrows for her best friend, Angel.
----
Fluttershy had spent the full day in bed with the bandage still wrapped around her head. She was still at loss with the news about Angel but she had no more tears or energy left to cry so she laid in bed, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression on her face. Quinn tried several times to visit her, as well as the other animals but Fluttershy told them nicely that she didn't want visitors. She needed to be alone to be left with her thoughts.
She couldn't bare to see Angel in the state he was in. He didn't look like himself at all and if she didn't know what he looked like, she wouldn't have been able to see that that pile of chewed up flesh was him. She got Applejack to burry him properly around the back of the cottage where they held a proper funeral for him. Fluttershy wrote down all of the information on his tombstone using one of Twilight's quills. The writing was squiggly though since Fluttershy couldn't hold still enough from her tears and shakily weak hooves but it turned out well. Fluttershy knew that Angel liked it. After she settled down a little and after the funeral was over, Fluttershy had a time alone with Angel and apologized to him. She spilled her feelings out and was one hundred percent honest with him. She felt a little warmness fill her heart at that moment which made her smile. That must be him. She thought. That must be him...forgiving me...
Fluttershy smiled at the ceiling as she relived that warm feeling. It was a weak smile, but a smile no less. She stood up and decided that Angel wouldn't want her to lie in bed sad all day. So not wanting to disappoint him, she stood up and went to her bathroom. She looked in the mirror at her bandage and ignoring what Twilight said about keeping it on, she slowly began to unwrap it. She did it slowly, being careful not to hurt the wound. Finally the last piece was removed and she studied the wound carefully. It was red and had a bit of dried blood on it but it wasn't what Fluttershy had expected at all. She expected it to be a lot larger. She washed it gently with some warm water in her sink, cringing at times when it stung. After a few minutes of gentle rinsing, most of the blood was gone and it looked much cleaner and less painful, even though it still was painful at times. She studied it in the mirror again and it was only two marks that looked like scratches. The scratches were only a hoof long each and as thin as a strand of a horse's mane. Fluttershy couldn't believe it. She then thought that they must be deep because of the large amounts of pain that was emitting from them.
She shrugged it off and let her mane go over top of the scratches. She still wondered what had fallen and hit her head but she tried not to hurt her brain while trying to remember.
She walked down the stairs of her cottage to see all of her animals standing around the bottom of the staircase. Fluttershy gave them each a soft smile, one at a time. "I'm okay guys. Thank you for caring about me."
It was already getting close to dinner time and Fluttershy didn't want to have stayed inside all day. So she trotted outside, waving goodbye to her animals and peered at the setting sun. She made a special trip to the backyard to say goodbye to Angel as well before she headed into Ponyville to perhaps purchase something to treat herself with.
----
"Well howdy there Fluttershy!" Applejack was ironically in Ponyville at the same time as Fluttershy. Both of them apparently wanted grass sandwiches.
Fluttershy sat down on one of the benches beside a table. She kept her back to the sun so she could warm her body up. The ground was still quite wet from the rain that night and it was making her hooves cold. "Hi Applejack. Thanks for helping out with Angel today. Angel, the animals, Quinn, and I all appreciate it very much."
Applejack smiled. "It was mah pleasure, Sugarcube. Still, ah am so sorry for yer loss." She grabbed a bunch of napkins from the condiments table and sat them down gently in the middle of the table Fluttershy was sitting at. "May ah do the honours of treating you?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Okay. Thank you. It's very kind of you, you know." She handed Applejack three bits. "But please, here's some bits to help pay."
Applejack took the bits without any fuss. She knew Fluttershy wouldn't take them back no matter how much she begged. She walked up to the counter of the little outside food cart and turned her head to Fluttershy. "One grass sandwich good?"
Fluttershy nodded.
Having received the answer, Applejack turned back to the pony serving the food and exchanged the bits for the sandwiches. Applejack order a special flower for Fluttershy. She knew that she loved Daisies. Applejack just enjoyed plain grass sandwiches.
Applejack carefully balanced the tray in her mouth and gently slid it across the table until it reached the middle. Fluttershy and Applejack both helped themselves to the sandwiches. Fluttershy had only taken three bits into the sandwich and was already full. She looked down at the bitten sandwich in confusion. How could this be? I was starving before coming here...
She tried her hardest to eat more but then was forced to stop or else she would be sick. Applejack was a tad concerned for her sake. "You okay there, Sugarcube?"
Fluttershy nodded. "I'm just full."
Applejack titled her head as she stared at the half eaten sandwich. "Full? You have hardly taken a bite."
Fluttershy shrugged. "I don't know why but I have a feeling of fullness." She didn't quite understand it and understood Applejack's confusion. "But don't worry about it. I'll just wrap it in some napkins for later."
As she stood up, a light wind blew past her and caused her mane to flow away from her face. Applejack then noticed the scars on her head. "Whoa nelly!" She grabbed Fluttershy's left hoof and pulled her close to allow her to study the cuts. "When did this happen?"
Fluttershy shrugged. "I was in the Everfree Forest looking for Quinn and something fell from above and hit me in the head. I don't know what it was because it knocked me out shortly after it hit me."
A look of seriousness swept across Applejack's face at the mention of Quinn's name. "Now listen here Fluttershy. Don'tcha think Quinn is a little...odd?"
Fluttershy didn't quite know how to respond to that. Quinn was fine in her opinion. Sure his eating patterns were weird but that didn't make him odd. She shook her head no and Applejack sighed. "Ah guess Ah am just overreacting. Ya know, ah still think you should keep a close eye on him. He did come from the Everfree Forest after all."
Fluttershy accepted what Applejack had just said and she gave her head a cute little nod. "Oh I will Applejack. His eating patterns are a little strange but I'm going to work on that meal for him. Maybe what I'm serving him isn't something he likes to eat."
Applejack just nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Alright Fluttershy. Just...be careful ya hear? Ah don't want anythang else happenin' to ya."
Fluttershy smiled. Applejack was so caring. She did notice that she was beginning to cast a far shadow on the table. That meant it was getting dark and Fluttershy needed to head home to the animals.
"Well, I better get heading home to feed the animals. I'll talk to you later Applejack!" She waved, quickly wrapped up the leftovers of her sandwich in some napkins and soared off to her cottage.
Fluttershy made it to her cottage before nightfall. The animals all greeted her with pure passion, even Quinn.
She pulled out the food dishes for her animal friends and filled them up with her top notch animal food, only to have to bowl empty again in ten seconds. She scooped up Quinn in her arms and placed him on the counter to watch her prepare his dish. He actually looked interested in eating this time.
"Now Quinn." Fluttershy started, "this will be your dinner, okay?" She paused to watch him nod his head. A burst of excitement filled her body. He actually looked hungry this time.
She slowly prepared his meal. A nice crisp salad that contained carrots, celery, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Fluttershy was quite proud when she was done. She placed the dish on the floor with a big grin plastered on her face. "There! Dig in!"
She watched Quinn hop off the counter, sit in front of the dish, sniff the food and then look up at her. She continued to smile. "Dig in!"
He sniffed it again and then hopped off. Fluttershy's face drooped. Even her best meal wasn't good enough for him to eat. She quickly shook the thought away. Maybe he doesn't like salad either. But... what DOES he like then?
Fluttershy shrugged it off and tried not to worry about it. Yet, she couldn't help but worry over it. Quinn hadn't eaten anything since he arrived at the cottage. May he was ill and she just didn't notice the signs. Unless...
Fluttershy smiled widely and breathed out a sigh of relief. Maybe he has been eating but it was at times where I wasn't watching. She still wasn't sure but she didn't think further about it that night. She let out a tiny yawn, which in Fluttershy's standards was huge. She blinked away the water that formed in her eyes after the yawn and decided to go to sleep early. She had been staying up quite late compared to normal and she decided that she wanted to get back on track with her sleeping routine.
----
Fluttershy fluttered her eyes open as she felt her face warm up from the sun blazing through the window. She sighed and smiled. Today was going to be wonderful and she was going to just relax today.
She trotted over to the mirror in her bathroom and observed her wound. It seemed to be healing quite a bit. She took off the bandage and tossed it in the garbage bin. She smiled to herself in the mirror but squinted as the sun's rays reflected off the mirror and into her eyes. It was definitely a bright and sunny day today in Ponyville.
After feeding the animals breakfast and having Quinn not eat his as usual, Fluttershy headed out the door. She examined the door while her heartbeat increased. The door was wide open and had the corner split apart. The missing piece was nowhere to be found. Fluttershy shrieked and ran back inside her cottage.
"Animals! All of you please come here so I can make sure all of you are here!" She counted all of her animals carefully and almost passed out from the suspense. She even counted twice to make sure she didn't miscount. After finding out that all over her animals were there, safe and sound, she let out the large breath she had been holding the whole time. "Thank goodness..."
She then looked around the cottage. The place seemed perfectly neat and tidy. Fluttershy didn't know what happened to the door. Perhaps there was a wicked storm last night that she slept through. After all, she did go to sleep earlier than usual. She nodded, "that must be it." She then trotted outside with confidence. The sun was shining and she wasn't about to let her worries ruin this beautiful day.
----
"Everypony stay back!"
Huh? Fluttershy tried stretching out her neck to see what the crowd of ponies were up to. They were all crowding around in a circle near the fountain in Ponyville. Fluttershy flapped her wings slowly to hover herself above the crowd. Nurse Redheart was around as well as the Mayor and they were all telling all of the ponies to stay back. But, stay back from what?
Fluttershy landed on the ground again and tapped the pony's shoulder in front of her. "Um excuse me, so sorry to bother you but, what's going on?" The pony turned around with tears in her eyes. "A little filly was killed last night!" Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! Who was it?" The mare took a moment to respond and whiped her eyes. "The filly was an earth pony and had a red mane that was tied with a big bow." At the mention of the bow, Fluttershy gasped and flew up passed the crowd to land right in between the cloth that were obviously hiding the body and Nurse Redheart. Applejack was there in pure tears, holding onto Twilight. Fluttershy's heart sunk at the sight. Apple Bloom was no longer living. But who would do such a thing? To kill a little innocent filly like that...
Twilight waved over for Fluttershy to come over. She could smell the blood seeping through the cloth and wouldn't dare see that state Apple Bloom was in.
"Oh thank goodness you're here Fluttershy!" Twilight started. She started leading Applejack over to Fluttershy's shoulder. "Take Applejack for me okay? I need to speak with the Mayor." Fluttershy simply nodded and held Applejack close. "It's okay Applejack. I'm sure she's-"
"That ain't what ah wanna hear right now!" Applejack blurted out. Fluttershy fell quiet and rubbed her back. She knew how Applejack felt. She hadn't want anyone speaking like that to her either when Angel had...passed. Apple Bloom is her only sister. It must be simply awful... She, herself, started to tear up at the thought. Applejack couldn't do anything but hold onto Fluttershy for her dear life and cry hysterically into her shoulder. Fluttershy just stood there with her tear streamed face and tried to sooth Applejack with her calming motives. Though, nothing was working.
Suddenly Fluttershy heard the Mayor's voice. "Please listen up everypony!"
The audience silenced down and focused their attention to the Mayor. Once she got all of the ponies' attention, she began her speech.
"By now you all know about the death of little Apple Bloom." She began. At the mention of her little sister's name, Applejack wept harder. The Mayor noticed but continued regardless. "But judging by the way she had passed away, Princess Celestia has been notified about something dangerous running around loose around Ponyville. We simply cannot be having that happen." The crowd gasped. "So, the new curfew is eleven o'clock. All ponies must be indoors before that time. This is to insure that nopony gets hurt."
Applejack lifted up her tear stained red face and started to scream at the Mayor. "That won't solve nothin'! Apple Bloom's curfew was eight o'clock and she was always in on time! That good for nothin' pony broke down the barn's door and took Apple Bloom from her bed! How is stayin' in gunna help? It ain't gunna help!" Fluttershy tried to settle Applejack down but she was on a rage path and wasn't about to let her guard down. The Mayor knew what a stressful and sad time this was for Applejack so she didn't give her a hard time. "I understand your concern. However I do believe that setting a proper curfew will help. On that note, all doors shall be locked as well. The Princess will have Royal Guards making sure this rule is followed. Keep in mind, it's not a punishment but merely for all of your safety." Applejack had heard enough and didn't lower her tone. "That pony broke down the door! Lockin' it ain't gunna help nothin'! All they gotta do is buck it down and they can do whatever it is they please!"
Fluttershy rubbed Applejack's back and whispered in her ear. "Shhhh...it's okay Applejack. We'll catch Angel and Apple Bloom's bad pony."
"Now all of you please enjoy the rest of the day and be in the house by eleven o'clock. Thank you." The Mayor walked away from the scene to let Nurse Redheart take care of Apple Bloom's body.
Twilight trotted over towards Fluttershy and Applejack with Zecora. "Girls! Put these on!" She tossed them both a strange looking necklace. Fluttershy studied it in her hooves. She saw the scary face on it and threw it away from her. "I can't wear that!" Twilight titled her head in confusion and picked the necklace back up. "But you have to wear it Fluttershy. Zecora said it will protect us from whatever dangerous creature is out there. It has a special medicine in it that the creature doesn't like."
"So it wasn't some darn pony?" Applejack asked. She had taken a few breathers and had just calmed down for the time being. However, tears kept filling her eyes up. "Just some worthless creature?" At the word of 'creature,' Applejack pointed at Fluttershy. "Ah swear to Celestia, if it was that dang Quinn of yours, ah will have him bucking apples for the rest of the year!"
Fluttershy looked scared. Quinn wouldn't do anything wrong. "Quinn has never done anything wrong! When Angel was attacking him, he never fought back. Not even once! He's innocent!"
"Ah simply do not believe that!" Applejack countered. Fluttershy felt trapped in a corner but to her safety, Twilight interrupted. "We can't go blaming innocent ponies, or creatures in this case. We have to wait it out. But it's okay Applejack, we'll find out who or what is doing this. But we cannot jump to conclusions."
Applejack sighed. "Ah am sorry Fluttershy. Ah am just not takin' this well."
Fluttershy smiled sweetly at Applejack. She knew it wasn't her fault. She was upset at Angel's death as well.
---- Night had fallen and Fluttershy couldn't get Apple Bloom's death off her mind. She had spent the day at Sugarcube Corner ordering out a special cake for Applejack. She had picked the biggest one they made and made sure it was her favourite flavour. Chocolate.
The rest of the day went by really slow otherwise. Fluttershy had gone inside before the new curfew and fed her animals. Quinn still wasn't interested in the meal she had served. After what Applejack had said about Quinn, Fluttershy became quite worried about him. She sat on the couch and watched him bounce on his tail while he watched the other animals play. It seemed as if the other animals didn't include him in their games. Fluttershy fluttered over to the animals. "Why don't you let Quinn play too?" The other animals seemed to put on fake smiles and nodded their heads, inviting Quinn over to the games. Fluttershy thought nothing of their odd behaviour and smiled at her work. Quinn didn't move though and continued to stare at the animals. Fluttershy gently nudged him. "Go play with them!" He looked completely uninterested and bounced off in a different direction.
That's really weird..why won't he play? Fluttershy tried to get him to play but he wouldn't no matter what she did. He just looked like he wanted to spend this time alone. Fluttershy respected that and stopped bugging him, even though she was still highly concerned. She tried to shake it off. He's probably just shy...like me.
Her coocoo clock started coocooing which meant it was time to sleep. Fluttershy fluttered all over the room and tucked all of her animals in. Quinn wasn't anywhere to be found. She searched for him all over the place and hoped he didn't go outside. She wanted to check but wasn't able to because of the curfew. She shrugged and sadly went upstairs to her bed. She opened her door to see Quinn sitting on her bed. He bounced on it gently and smiled at her.
"Quinn! What are you doing here?" She was super surprised to see him there. He merely bounced and smiled again but this time, let out a little squeak which to Fluttershy, sounded like a squeak of joy. She smiled as the warmth filled her heart. She sat down on the bed next to him and rubbed her hoof over his little soft head. "Applejack was wrong about you." She started. "You really are the cutest creature."
Her smile got wider as he cuddled up next to her. She let out a small giggle and reached for her lamp. She pulled the string down which turned off the lamp. She got down into bed while her eyes adjusted to the darkness which had filled the room and pulled the covers over her. She felt Quinn snuggle in nice and close to her. She pulled the covers over his little body too and felt him shiver as the warmth filled his body. She smiled and whispered in his ear. "Goodnight Quinn." She slowly lowered her eyes and swept away to dreamland.
---- Fluttershy looked around where she was. It was dark all around her and she simply could not tell up from down. She moved her four hooves. She was on ground at least. She squeaked out a little, "hello?" With a snap of a whip, a little glow appeared. Fluttershy squinted her eyes to do her best to try to see what it was.
She tried again. "Hello?"
She received no answer again and her heart rate increased when she saw two glowing dots in the middle of the darkness instead of one. They started off as the colour of her lawn but then they slowly started to turn a bright red colour. Fluttershy started to panic as they began to move towards her.
She slowly started to back up. "W-What's going on? Where am I?" The glows didn't answer her and continued coming at her. Tears filled her eyes. She didn't like what was going on. As soon as the first tear escaped her eye she heard a sound. It was a deep and creepy sound.
"Aw."
She stopped and wiped her eyes. "Who s-said that?"
Before she knew it, the darkness lifted a tad. Just enough for her to tell she was in someone's house. It was a dark room with a dark wood finish on the walls and the furniture. A tall grandfather clock stood touching the roof as it ticked away.
"Why would you like to know who this is?"
Fluttershy scanned her eyes around the room for some pony but she couldn't see anyone there. "Please come out."
A light evil sounding chuckle filled the room. Out of the shadows, a figure came out and sat in front of her. Shock filled Fluttershy's body as she recognized who it was. "Quinn!"
Quinn nodded. "Hello dear Fluttershy." To Fluttershy's confusion, his mouth didn't move but yet, she could hear his voice.
"Y-Your mouth." She started. "Isn't moving when you talk."
Quinn smiled at her and a voice followed. "That's because I can't talk. I'm communicating with you through your mind." Following Fluttershy's confused expression he added, "so only you can hear me."
Fluttershy was still a little confused. "But-" Quinn cut her off and rolled his eyes yet keeping his mouth still, muttered, "you ponies aren't very intelligent."
Fluttershy frowned at that comment. "That's mean."
Quinn merely shrugged and did a little bounce on his tail. "I would explain more to you but I believe that it isn't worth it. You ponies simply don't have the brain capacity to comprehend anything I could tell you."
Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears again. She couldn't believe Quinn was speaking so rudely to her.
"Please, could we not waste our time with pointless waterworks?" At Quinn's question, Fluttershy cleared her eyes and tried her best to focus. Quinn smirked. "Very well."
He hopped a bit away from her and hopped onto the nearby desk that was against the wall beside the grandfather clock and looked at her at her eye level. "Your friends are going to die." He started. With that, Fluttershy's warm heart increased its beat. "One by one, they'll be brutally slaughtered. Screaming for mercy, they will. You know what the best part is?" He grinned at the crying Fluttershy before continuing. "There isn't anything you can do to stop it from happening. In fact, you'll be ripped apart with them. I'll make-"
"Stop!" Fluttershy choked out through her tear covered face. She tried to say something else but her stuffed nose stopped her from speaking.
Quinn smirked again. "You know what Fluttershy? I like you. So I'll help you. At eleven o'clock tomorrow night, I'd be on the lookout. You won't like what that hour will contain of."
Fluttershy's eyes were red from crying but she couldn't stop rubbing her puffy eye lids. "Why are you doing this? I t-thought we were f-f-frien..." She trailed off and went into a bawling fit. Quinn just looked at her and hopped back off the desk. "Friends? Oh boy."
He hopped over towards her. "Listen kid, we are friends. As your friend, I am giving you this warning. Listen to it well and take my advice." He cleared his throat before speaking once more. "Keep a close eye on your friends. Don't let them out of your sight."
Fluttershy took a breath and looked at him with her tear stained face. "But how can I watch them all at the same time?"
Quinn disregarded her question. "Eleven o'clock tomorrow night is the time I command you to watch your back. If you don't, say goodbye to your friends and hello to another gravestone in your backyard." At the mention of the word 'grave,' Fluttershy cried even harder. "A-Angel..."
"Yes, Angel." Quinn nodded. "You didn't watch him. You left him and now look where he ended up. Same will happen to your friends...and even you."
Fluttershy felt dizzy like she wanted to pass out. Her body began to sway and her world slowed down completely. She collapsed on the wooden floor when Quinn's voice haunted her ears before she blacked out. "Watch yourself Fluttershy. Or say goodbye to your friends...and yourself...I'll make sure of it."
Fluttershy woke up with a scream and sat up in her bed. Her cold sweat was plastered all over her face. Her heartbeat was amazingly fast and she couldn't stop panting.
She looked around for Quinn but he was still sleeping in the same position he had fell asleep in. She silently sighed in relief. She didn't want to wake him. She got up from her bed slowly and trotted to her bathroom. She slowly shut the door and ran some cold water over her face to wake her up and calm her down as her heart rate didn't slow down one bit. Her wound on her forehead caught her eye. She moved her mane away and noticed that the mark hadn't gone down so she put some cream on it to try to fade it. She sighed to herself as the cold water slowly started to calm her shaken nerves. She stood there and waited for her breathing to slow.
