Applejack was getting to be a mite concerned.

It was midafternoon, and she'd found Fluttershy in an earthy hollow between the roots of one of her biggest apple trees, sleeping peacefully. Now, that would've been just odd by itself, but this was the third day in a row that AJ had found Fluttershy there. That pushed things right out of odd and into downright peculiar.

She looked... well, she looked mighty adorable, truth be told. She was curled up in a little ball, chin on her hooves, mane over her eyes, tail over her nose, and a faint smile on her lips. Applejack hated to wake her, but the tree needed care and watering, after all the ruckus with the fruit bats—ole Johannes here had been right in the thick of things, just steps from where they'd accidentally turned Fluttershy into a fruit vampire. And... really, Fluttershy needed to nap in her own bed. Bad enough having a pegasus in the trees all the time, let alone under 'em.

She nudged the yellow pony, who only curled up tighter. Applejack sighed, and nudged harder.

Fluttershy's head lurched up, and for just a moment, Applejack could have sworn her friend was glaring at her with red in her eyes. But no, no... that was silly. On looking again, the farmer only saw Fluttershy squinting at the sunlight and blinking owlishly at her.

“Shy,” she began, “This is gettin' to be downright peculiar.”

“Oh, um, I'm sorry.” Fluttershy seemed to wilt, “It's just, I haven't been able to sleep the last few nights, and it's just... so nice, and cozy right here. I feel like nothing could ever hurt me while I'm sleeping here. It feels like... like this is my home more than my cottage is.”

She paused again. Applejack was staring at her, her brow creased in puzzlement. It seemed to Fluttershy like a good time to apologize again, so she did, while staring at the ground at her hooves.

Finally, Applejack sighed. “Shy, I gotta water and prune and dig weeds and everything around these trees. You know darn well it don't suit anything bigger than a mouse to burrow here.” Fluttershy did know—she'd had to mediate several disputes between Applejack and some larger burrowers who had tried to make their homes in the orchard. She shrank, and nudged (it was far too gentle to be called a kick) the ground with her hoof.

“Oh, hay, Shy. Don't look like that, it jest ain't gonna work! Ah mean, ah'd dig your burrow out and cart it to your cottage if you wanted, but y'jest can't keep sleepin here!”

Fluttershy looked abruptly up at Applejack. “Really?!” She blinked, then dipped her head again, “That, um, sounds very nice, actually...”

Applejack stared for a little while, then left to get the cart.

Author's Note

Prompt #558: In a hole in the ground, there lived a pony.