Applejack: Stare Master Extraordinaire

Chapters

The Stare?
A Tickle in the Throat
Magic [v.t]
A Little Probl(em)
Rest in Pieces

The Stare?

An orange earth pony trotted leisurely across the lush green fields surrounding Ponyville. Applejack had been told--ordered, as a matter of fact--by Granmy Smith to take the day off, and after some vehement protests, she had finally given in. Actually, no, that didn't sound quite right. She grimaced as she searched for a better word.

Agreed, she eventually thought with a satisfied smile. Yes, Applejack had agreed to take a break from applebucking for the day. One. Day. She reminded herself with a firm nod.

Her attitude soon reverted back to its former state: lost. What was she supposed to do now? She hadn't planned out anything for a day off, and she knew her friends had their own schedules to follow as well.

Great, now I'm turning into Twilight, she thought, rolling her eyes. As she weaved around a small cluster of trees, she came into view of a small cottage in the distance. Recognizing it immediately, she grinned as she finally settled on something with which to pass the time. Well hay, why not? I'm sure Fluttershy'd appreciate some sentient company for once. She hastened her trot and was soon crossing the small bridge and trekking the path that led to the lone pegasus' humble abode.

A few succinct knocks on the door were followed by a long period of silence. Applejack moved to look through the window, but before she could leave the doorstep, a quiet creak stopped her in her tracks. Applejack smiled at the small sliver of a face peering out at her through the slightly-open door of the cottage. "Howdy, Fluttershy!"

"Oh, um, hello Applejack," Fluttershy replied, opening the door enough so that her entire form was visible. "How are you today?"

"Not too bad." Applejack dipped her head as Fluttershy moved out of the doorway and motioned her inside. "How about you? What're y'all up to?"

"I was feeding the birds when you knocked." Applejack followed her gaze to the open bird cage, where several birds peeked out and chirped merrily at them. "Did you need help with something?"

"Nah, just thought I'd drop by for a visit. Ah got the day off," she half-grumbled.

Fluttershy nodded, a warm smile growing on her face. "Would you like some tea?"

"Thank ya kindly," Applejack answered, tipping her hat. She watched the pegasus disappear into the kitchen, and after a moment's pause she turned to observe the noisy birds chowing down on their meal. Moving closer, she felt a tingly happiness upon seeing several chicks scattering seeds practically everywhere that wasn't into their own mouths.

"Adorable little critters, ain't they?" She quietly asked herself. She watched a few seconds longer, then scanned the rest of the birds in the cage until her eyes came to rest on one that was perched upon a small (and fake, if Applejack were to guess) tree branch protruding from the center of the small area.

The bird was of average size, was not particularly loud, and had a very moderately-colored plumage. All in all, it wasn't much to look at--no more special than any other creature--and Applejack was stumped on why she was suddenly so drawn to it. Just as that thought firmly planted itself in her mind, the bird turned its head toward her and stared into her eyes, and her thoughts withered into nothing.

For a long time, Applejack couldn't move. Her vision tunneled, though barely noticeably, and her ears slowly splayed back under her hat. The bird's small black eyes flashed, bored into her soul, an image of her own stunned demeanor reflected back in them. A sudden twinge in the joints of her forehooves sent a searing heat racing down her spine, and her muzzle scrunched slightly as she bit back a yelp. The pair remained like this for nearly a minute until the sharp whistle of a tea kettle pierced the veil of concentration, and the farmpony let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The bird blinked.

And then it fell.

Time seemed to slow down as the limp body tumbled through the air, feathers fluttering wildly until it hit the floor of the cage with a mighty crash.

Everything stopped. Applejack couldn't blink, breathe, or close her mouth, which had inadvertently dropped wide open, though exactly when she couldn't remember. Her heartbeat rang dully in her ears, what felt like seconds stretching out between each rhythmic pulse. She briefly wondered if time had frozen, but after slowly trailing her eyes along the rest of the cage, she realized that all noise in the room had ceased, as Fluttershy's other animals appeared equally shocked. The entire atmosphere seemed to scream out, What in Celestia's name just happened?

Applejack's knees wobbled as the flow of time rushed past her once again, resuming its regular pace. She hesitantly leaned forward into the cage and nosed the mysterious bird onto its back; its chest no longer rose and fell. Applejack, now thoroughly mortified, leaned back and fell onto her rump with a hard thud.

What in the hay...? She drew in a shuddering breath, not daring to look at the deathly still body resting mere feet away. Was this my fault? What even happened? Animals don't just die, not like that. Especially not Fluttershy's.

That was the second time her heart nearly stopped. Oh Celestia. How was she going to tell Fluttershy that one of her animals had just died? Would she blame Applejack for it? No, she wouldn't, Applejack concluded, though that didn't make the thought of Fluttershy mourning the loss of one of her animals any less depressing. She shook her head to dispell the image from her mind.

The sound of clinking dishware and soft hoofsteps made Applejack sit bolt upright, her eyes shrinking to small dots. Now her heart actually did stop.

Looking around frantically, Applejack looked for some sort of an escape option, fire alarm, or panic button; Fluttershy's cottage contained none of these, however, and as said pegasus' shadow appeared in the entry to the kitchen, Applejack made up her mind.

"Applejack?" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow as her friend turned sharply, a small gasp reaching her sensitive yellow ears. "Oh, are you admiring the birds?" The pegasus set down the tray holding the pair of teacups and approached with a large smile. "They're just so cute, aren't they?"

"Heh... they, uh... they sure are!" Applejack nodded vigorously, stopping short when her hat nearly flew off her head. She quickly straightened it and put on a very noticeably-forced grin.

Fluttershy didn't notice.

"That one's named Jerry," Fluttershy said proudly, pointing to one of the birds, then moved her hoof to another. "That's Tom. Over there is Ben, and that's Darth Vad--wait, where's Chewy?"

Oh, horseapples. Applejack licked her lips. "Ch-Chewy?" She inquired meekly; she didn't like where this was going, not one bit.

"It's short for Chewbacca," Fluttershy told her absently, turning her head left and right. "He was here just a moment ago, and--" She gasped. "Did he fly away? Oh, I leave the cage open one time, and this happens..." Fluttershy began searching every nook and cranny of the cottage, and all the while Applejack sat, her neck threatening to break out in a cold sweat.

Having no luck, it was only a matter of time before Fluttershy grew increasingly panicky. "Applejack, have you seen him?" Fluttershy gazed at her pleadingly, her eyes welling up with tears, and Applejack's heart wrenched as she visibly winced.

"Erm... n-no?" She stammered out, her eyes darting all around the room, looking anywhere and everywhere that wasn't at the soon-to-be-heartbroken pegasus. In any normal situation, her lie would have been easily discovered, but Fluttershy merely assumed that she too was looking for the "lost" bird.

"Ohh..." Fluttershy hummed anxiously, fidgeting as she glanced at her equally-nervous friend. After a short moment of indecision, the shy pony's eyes hardened in determination. "Um, Applejack, I'm very sorry, but tea will have to wait! I must find Chewy as soon as possible!"

Applejack nearly collapsed to the floor, though in dread or relief, she couldn't tell. "Oh, yeah, no worries! Ah'll just, uh..." She began edging closer to the front door, reaching out desperately for the knob that would release her from this madness. "Um... s-start lookin'."

Fluttershy gasped, leaping and gliding across the room to wrap her in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you so much, Applejack!"

Applejack cringed shamefully. Yuck. Coming from Fluttershy of all ponies, the unknowingly undeserved gratitude left a bitter taste in her mouth. Momentarily ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she shrugged and forced yet another smile. "Heh, heheh... no problem." With a quick tip of the hat in farewell, she slipped out the door and raced away from the cottage.

Nearly a mile away from the cottage, Applejack skidded to a stop. Tearing her hat off, she dumped the frail body of the late Chewy to the ground. She stared blankly at the seemingly young and healthy pigeon, stripped of his vitality with no apparent reason or method.

Tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, Applejack threw back her head and screamed.

A Tickle in the Throat

As Applejack wandered aimlessly away from the scene of the crime, she scanned the surrounding areas with a blank gaze. What do I do now? Maybe I'd better just bury the lil' guy... She rolled her dull eyes up to look at the brim of her hat, sighing deeply. She plucked the makeshift casket from her head and carefully rolled the bird onto the grass, staring at it for a long time. I dunno... That just don't seem right.

The mare stood in silence, finally snapping to attention as a shadow flickered over her. The sound of quickly fluttering wings announced the arrival of a certain cyan pegasus who swooped into a landing and trotted closer. "Hey, AJ, what's shakin'?" Rainbow wore a shrinking smirk as she curiously observed Applejack's somber demeanor. "Something wrong?"

"I..." Applejack dropped her eyes to stare at the ground, hesitantly scooping up Chewy's small body and holding it under the pegasus' nose. "I killed one of Fluttershy's birds." Confusion flickered across Rainbow's face and she leaned back warily. After mulling over the situation for awhile, she looked into Applejack's awaiting eyes.

"You do realize you're dead, right?"

Applejack sighed. "Could ya try, I dunno, helpin'?"

"How? What am I supposed to do, Rainboom this bird back to life?"

"...Can y'all do that?"

Rainbow facehooved. "No!" She paused, a smile appearing on her face. "But that'd be totally awesome if I could." Zombie birds would definitely fall into the realm of 'cool', she decided. Applejack's cough brought her back on track, and she shook her head. "Sorry. Does Flutters know?"

Applejack's ears stuck to the sides of her head. "Naw, I can't tell 'er... at least, not like this. It'd break the poor girl's heart."

"Chewwwyyyyy!" Applejack jerked as the high-pitched call passed her ears, and she and Rainbow immediately shared a horrified glance.

"Fluttershy's comin'!"

You think? Rainbow would have rolled her eyes had they not been looking every which way in fear. "Quick, hide the bird!"

Applejack looked around frantically. "W-Where?!" Where was her hat? Wasn't there anyplace to hide a small dead body around here?

"I dunno, but hurry--"

"Girls!"

Rainbow was cut off by a familiar terrified voice. Their time was up, and Applejack took the first opening in sight. In a flash, she yanked Rainbow closer and crammed the body into the mare's open mouth, then clamped her muzzle shut with both hooves. She quickly whirled around and grinned widely, one leg slung over Rainbow's shoulders as she held the other over her mouth.

"Howdy, Fluttershy!" Rainbow squirmed against her side, and Applejack hastily quieted her with an elbow in the back.

"Have you seen Chewy yet?"

Dangit, Fluttershy, stop lookin' at me with them hopeful eyes o' yours... Applejack cleared her throat, praying that her smile hadn't faltered. "Nnnnope! Sorry, no luck just yet!"

Rainbow's mind began to drift from the conversation as questions popped into her mind. Why had Applejack killed Chewy? It couldn't have been on purpose... could it? Nah, Applejack loves animals, she reminded herself. How had it happened? The bird hadn't appeared to have been mangled in any way. Maybe she'd sat on him and smothered him? With that big flank of hers, I wouldn't be surprised.

What about their current predicament? She was sure they'd be found out. I mean, how long could one hold a bird in their mouth without being noticed or expected to talk? Plus, Applejack was practically incapable of lying. And should she really be holding a bird in her mouth anyway, let alone a dead one whose cause of death very well may have been her best friend's plot? She shuddered. I'm definitely not getting paid enough for this.

"Rainbow Dash?" Her ears pricked up and she refocused her eyes on Fluttershy, who was staring at her expectantly. "Have you seen Chewy? My bird?"

Oh no. Rainbow's eyes wandered over to Applejack, watching as the color visibly drained from her face. She squeaked as her head was rapidly shaken back and forth by the farmpony's hoof.

Fluttershy deflated slightly. "Oh..." Looking between the other two mares, one of her eyebrows crept higher. "Is everything alright? Rainbow, are you okay?"

"Course she is!" Applejack interjected loudly. "Why wouldn't she be?"

"...What's going on?" Fluttershy noticed a thin trail of sweat running down Applejack's cheek, and her pupils were a bit dilated. Maybe she's not feeling well...

"N-Nothin'!" Oh Luna, if she kept up this façade any longer, her face would surely freeze that way. Applejack had never believed that old saying, but the muscles in her jaw were starting to say otherwise.

"Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow's wings trembled and she cowered under the gazes of her two friends. She could feel a lump making its way into her throat, and she swallowed nervously.

...forgetting she still had a bird in her mouth.

Applejack stared, open-mouthed, as a small bulge slid down Rainbow's neck until it reached her stomach and disappeared. She looked up at Rainbow, whose own frantic expression likely matched her own. No. She didn't.

Rainbow brought a hoof to her mouth to stifle a small burp, and her eye twitched. She coughed out a feather, and all three ponies watched its agonizingly slow descent to the ground.

She did.

Fluttershy stared at the feather, blinking slowly. "Is that--"

"NOPE!" An orange hoof shot forward and stomped down on the small plume, and Fluttershy traced her gaze up the leg to her friend's face. Applejack painted a smile on her face, subtly dragging the feather underneath her.

Fluttershy shook her head. "But... ohh, never mind, I have to go! Bye girls!" She took off towards Sweet Apple Acres, glancing over her shoulder for a moment. "Please tell me if you see him!"

"Will do," Applejack called. Damn it.

"Take care!" Rainbow added weakly. The pair watched until the last trace of a pink tail vanished into the trees before Applejack rounded on her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Why did you swallow, Dash?!" Rainbow whimpered as she was shaken around roughly. "You just ate a dead bird, I hope ya realize that!"

"I-I-I was nervous! She put me on the spot--"

"I don't give a flyin' feather if you were nervous!" Applejack leaned forward and pressed her nose against Rainbow's, glaring straight into her eyes. "Get. The bird. Out."

Rainbow blinked. "W-What?"

"Cough it up, right now!" Applejack jabbed her in the chest with a hoof.

"B-But... I can't just barf on command, what the hay?" Rainbow backed away, putting a few steps between herself and her friend. "Jeez. That's just gross, too. No way."

"Ugh." Applejack rubbed her face with a hoof. "C'mon, we're goin' to the library. I'm sure Twi's got a way to get that little feller outta there."

Rainbow raised a hoof. "Erm, shouldn't we be getting as few ponies involved in this as possible?"

"You seem to be forgetting the fact that ya just consumed bird meat."

"Oh. Right," she moaned, her face pale. The two set off en route to Ponyville, and Rainbow soon tried to lighten the tension in the air. "Well, Fluttershy'll never look in here, right? Heh, he-heh..." She chuckled awkwardly, lapsing into silence at the receiving end of Applejack's deadpan glare. "Sorry. Let's go."

Magic [v.t]

Twilight Sparkle was having an infuriatingly ordinary day.

This was the first time she could remember being bored out of her mind in... well, ever. Even studying had lost its appeal in the sudden bout of depression, or whatever this funk could be called. She attempted to kill some time by reading a good work of fiction, but she ended up skimming the pages without taking in any of the story.

Sighing, she slammed the book shut, closely followed by her head connecting with said book's cover.

"Why am I so bored?!" She had reorganized the entire library--twice--yet she still couldn't locate anything that captured her attention for more than a few measly minutes. Where was the variety, the deviation from blandness and discovery of the new? Sometimes, thought Twilight Sparkle, being the most intelligent and well-read pony in the area really sucked.

An urgent knocking on the front door snapped her out of her daze, her weary curiosity piqued. "Please," she mumbled, plodding downstairs to greet this visitor, "give me something to do. Anything." She swung the door open to reveal two of her best friends: Applejack appeared somewhat anxious, whereas Rainbow Dash was unusually pale and disconcerted as she pushed past the librarian and sat silently on the floor. "Um, hey girls, what's up?"

Applejack threw an exhausted glance at the blue pegasus before answering simply, "Rainbow swallowed one of Fluttershy's birds, an' we need ya to get it out."

Okay, perhaps not *anything*...

"Well?" Twilight shook her head, taking in the farmpony's expectant demeanor.

"Uh... run that by me again?" Twilight requested, flicking her ears, and Applejack sighed impatiently.

"Bird in tummy." She pointed to Rainbow, who cringed and held a hoof to her queasy stomach. "Please magic it out."

"'Magic' is not a verb," Twilight retorted. When she received nothing more than an uncaring glare, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay..." She reached her magical influence towards the shivering blue pony next to her, surrounding her belly with a pale lavender glow.

"H-hehe, that t-tickles-s!" Rainbow bit her lip, barely holding out against the sensation until the glow finally disappeared; with a short flash of light, Chewy's sopping wet body appeared on the floor in front of her, and she yelped in surprise, scrambling backwards to rest against a bookcase. "Eeewww," she whined, sticking her tongue out.

"You think you have it bad?" Twilight groaned. "I'm the one who's going to have to clean up a bunch of drool and stomach acids from the floor."

"Excuse me," Applejack chimed in sweetly, "y'all think we could get back to dealin' with the real problem?!" Twilight blinked, taking in the situation for the first time since the two had arrived. Her eyes settled on the unmoving bird a few feet away, and her breath caught in her throat as the implications of such a scene finally came to her.

"Oh... oh no." Poor Fluttershy...

"'Oh no' is right." Applejack nodded, her expression softening into one of hopelessness. "So, d'ya think ya might have a spell for... I dunno, bringin' this lil' fella back to life?"

Her heart sank when the alicorn shook her head. "No, I'm sorry... That's well beyond the capabilities of any mage."

"Please, Twi?" Applejack fixed her with a pleading expression, and she smiled inwardly as she saw her friend's resolution falter. "Can't ya at least... just try?"

"I... w--I mean..." She sighed, waving a hoof in defeat. "Okay, but no promises." Her horn alight with a soft glow, she leaned down to the ground, paused a moment, and lightly tapped the old bird's beak with the tip of her horn. She straightened up, noticing with some disappointment that the poor pigeon hadn't yet moved as she anticipated.

"Did... did it work?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Didn't seem to." Twilight carefully nudged Chewy in the side with no response. Shrugging, she gently lifted one of his limp wings and tugged upward, intending to hoist him into the air.

Instead, to all three ponies' horror, the wing promptly tore off at the shoulder.

Rainbow threw up immediately.

Applejack let out an uncharacteristically girly screech and pointed a shaking hoof at the sight. "Th-t-the wing, i-i-it just, c-came off! Fix it, Twilight, fix it!"

"I'm trying!" Twilight wailed, repeatedly pressing the wing back into place, only for it to fall right off and flutter uselessly to the ground. "Uh, ehh, erm, here!" She ran and snatched a small safety pin from the desk in the corner of the room. Soon the wing was pinned back onto its owner, oddly reminiscient of a badge of honor.

"There!" She smiled, holding her work out for inspection. She met Applejack's blank stare and quickly found her own satisfaction waning. "L-lemme try again." Once again, the alicorn's horn lit in a soft glow, this time a darker shade of indigo. She touched the tip to Chewy's chest, then stood back at attention, awaiting some kind of response.

After a tense silence, marred only by Rainbow's hacking cough in the background, Chewy's eyes fluttered open, and Applejack gasped in awe. Chewy was alive! Fluttershy wouldn't hate her, and she wasn't a murderer with cockatrice-like powers!

"Twilight, you did it!" Applejack cried joyfully, hugging the purple pony tightly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, than--"

HISSS!

Applejack and Twilight froze in their embrace, peering at the newly-revived Chewy's interesting new set of fangs and forked tongue, which he flicked angrily at them. He opened his beak-jaw to emit another hiss but was cut off when--

"AAH!" Applejack lashed out with a hoof and stomped heavily on the mutant bird-snake... thing. Repeatedly. Eventually, Twilight stopped her by lightly gripping her hoof in a magic hold, tugging the quivering mare away from the flattened ball of feathers plastered to the floor.

Rainbow, finally over her coughing fit, observed the no-longer-alive-again bird grimly. "Smooth," she muttered at last, sending Applejack an amused grin.

"Shut up."

"Oooo-kay, question time," Twilight chirped, pressing her forehooves together. "Let's get started, shall we? Question one: Why did Rainbow Dash eat a bird?"

"Well, Miss Cowpony over here decided to force-feed me the evidence to hide the fact that she killed one of Fluttershy's little buddies."

"Ah did not!" Applejack shrieked indignantly. "You weren't supposed to gulp it down like a timberwolf, clouds-for-brains!"

"Question two!" Twilight cut off any further bickering with the sharp interjection. "Why did you kill one of Fluttershy's birds?! Are you mad?"

Applejack gritted her teeth, glaring daggers at the equally-peeved pegasus across from her. "Gettin' there."

"Applejack, please--"

"Oh, it was an accident, fer Celestia's sake! Of course it was an accident, ya don't actually think I'd murder one o' those innocent animals, do ya?!"

"Of course not--"

"Well, that's that." Applejack shut her eyes and crossed her forelegs over her chest, nodding firmly.

Twilight sighed. "Yes, that's all well and good. But how? How'd you manage to... do it?"

The farmpony shrugged, gazing at the unruly mass of feathers on the floor. "Ah dunno... one minute we're just starin' at each other, an' I start feelin' kinda strange and dizzy and such... the next thing ah know, splat--he's layin' there on the ground, dead as a doornail."

"Wait. 'Strange and dizzy'?" Twilight narrowed her eyes. "How so?"

Applejack shrugged again. "He was just kinda... captivatin', I guess. Like I couldn't look away." When Twilight opened her mouth to question further, she held out a hoof to stop her. "It was nothin' really. Just kind of a starin' contest, ah suppose."

"Stare..." Twilight repeated the word, her eyes widening. "Could... could one of Fluttershy's animals have picked up the Stare from her? Possibly learned how to use it?"

"Or maybe Applejack is the one who has a new, but way cooler, deadlier version of the Stare! She's like... the Stare Master, Junior!" Rainbow rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "No, that doesn't sound right. The Stare Mare? No, rhyming names are too easy to make fun of..." After a moment of thought, she jabbed a hoof in the air, smiling widely. "The Stare Maestro! Yeah! Or would it be Maestress?" She looked at Twilight, raising an eyebrow. "Twilight, is it 'maestro' or 'mae--" Her voice died out when she noticed the disbelieving looks from her friends, and she blinked rapidly. "What?"

Twilight shook her head in agitation. "But--but this doesn't make any sense! Why would one of Fluttershy's birds just...?" She trailed off, looking to Applejack with a pleading expression.

"Ah've been askin' myself that question all mornin', Twi..." Applejack sighed. "Ah ain't got the faintest idea, either."

A long silence stretched out among the three friends, and eventually Rainbow was the one to break it. "So... what now?"

Twilight made eye contact with Applejack, searching her face for any inclination as to what she might do next. "I think you need to tell Fluttershy."

Applejack's muscles seized up, and she sucked in a sharp breath. "No! Ah can't! No way, no how! I can't do that, not..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "...not to Fluttershy!"

"She needs to know, Applejack." Somewhere deep down, Applejack knew she was right. After all, Fluttershy wasn't stupid; eventually she'd come to the conclusion that Chewy was gone. That didn't mean she'd ever stop searching for him, though. Fluttershy wasn't the type to give up on her friends. She was no Rainbow Dash, of course, but there was no question that that mare's rescue mission could continue indefinitely, and her hopes could be crushed, little by little, into dust.

She couldn't let that happen. Not to a friend.

"I'll think about it," she answered truthfully. Twilight nodded, turning to walk to the kitchen.

"Would you two like to stay for lunch?"

"Sure, I'm starved," Rainbow moaned, clutching her growling belly with a grimace. Applejack chuckled as the pegasus joined her host at the table, and started scraping the squished form of Chewy the Were-Bird off the floor.

"Nah, thanks for the offer, but ah've gotta get on with this whole Chewy issue."

"Good luck," Twilight called. "I know you'll do the right thing, even if I don't even know what it is."

"Thanks." Applejack tipped her hat to the two mares in sequence. "Twi, Dash."

Rainbow waved her away with a hoof. "Later." The farmpony smirked and trotted out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

"So, how'd it taste?" Twilight looked to Rainbow eagerly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Huh?"

"The bird, silly!" Twilight laughed, ignoring the shocked expression Rainbow wore. "I've always been interested in trying it, but it's such a controversial issue these days!"

"T-T-Twilight, what're you talking about?!" Rainbow edged away from her in the chair, her mouth struggling to form words. "I--you..."

"Kidding!"

A Little Probl(em)

Leaving the treehouse behind her, Applejack walked tiredly down the streets of Ponyville, thinking about what had transpired over the course of only a few hours. Apparently I've gained some kind of alien-like power to kill birds with my laser vision... She shook her head, feeling the feathered corpse under her hat slide around precariously. Dash is definitely not a carnivore, and Twi is probably gonna end up causing some kinda zombie apocalypse someday. Her eyes narrowed, and she blew a strand of hair out of her face, her forehead creased with irritation. What a rotten day.

Her thoughts then returned to the conversation she'd had just before her departure from the library. I should tell her, shouldn't I? She frowned, considering her other options; there weren't many. She could either tell Fluttershy and risk losing her as a friend, and possibly gain an enemy in the form of one very angry yellow veterinarian... or don't tell her, and risk losing the very same friend to hopeless depression and obsessive searching for something nonexistent. The lie Applejack would hold on her conscience wouldn't help matters, either.

She didn't even need to wonder about the magnitude of Fluttershy's inevitable sorrow, and her ears drooped, along with her tail, which dragged along the road behind her. Poor mare's gonna be devastated... But she can't be kept in limbo forever. She stopped walking and ran a hoof down her face, sighing deeply. I've got to do it. She'll understand it was an accident.

A vision of Fluttershy bearing down on her with malice, a massive chainsaw churning wildly in her grasp, made her shudder. I hope.

Sooner would be more preferable than later, she supposed. Hiding it would only end up in her conscience getting the better of her, and she'd have spilled the secret after some period of time anyway. Better to get it over with now than to do so after her friend had already wasted a large chunk of her life all for nothing. Putting it off would only result in Fluttershy feeling betrayed and Applejack herself feeling almost just as miserable.

The farmpony realized then that she had unconsciously steered herself toward Sugarcube Corner, and her ears perked up. Of course, she thought with a smile, Pinkie'd be great at helping Fluttershy feel better! Her hat secured in place, she trotted into the building. At the very least, she could try to stop her from killing me.

"Hay, Pinkie!" She called. Said pony wasn't in her usual spot behind the counter, and Applejack craned her neck to peek through the doorway into the kitchen. "You here?"

"Yeppers peppers!" Came the singsong reply. "Come on in, AJ!"

"Ah already did," she said with a smirk. She heard Pinkie make a small noise of confusion, before a flour-covered face appeared from around the doorframe.

"Good one!" Pinkie smiled, though Applejack detected an unusual hint of sarcasm in her tone. "I meant in here, though."

"Ahh, gotcha." Applejack followed her back into the kitchen, picking her way around a few sticky patches on the floor, while Pinkie resumed mixing a large bowl of what appeared to be pie filling. She took a deep breath, gingerly withdrawing Chewy's ragged remains from atop her head. "Listen, Pinks, I've got a little probl--"

"OOH, thanks!" In a flash, her hoof was left empty, and Pinkie tossed the feathery bundle into the bowl, not even bothering to take a good look at it. "Some probl is just what this batter needed! You read my mind, AJ!" Pinkie gasped, whirling around to stare at her friend--that is, if she really was her friend! "Who are you?! Are you a mind-reader?" She asked suspiciously. "What am I thinking about right now, huh? Are you planning to steal my super-secret-cherry-apple-probl-pie recipe? Are ya? Huh?"

Applejack took no notice of the accusations, nor of the pink face pressed against hers; instead, her eyes were locked on the mixing bowl, where the last of the 'probl' had just sunk under the surface of the batter. Her mouth hung open, and she stood stiffly, not even acknowledging Pinkie's presence.

Pinkie giggled then, booping her on the nose with a hoof. "Ah, I'm just playing around, Jackaroo!" The pink mare bounced back over to the countertop, resuming her whisking of the contents in the bowl. After a moment, she sniffed the mixture lightly, grinning widely as the sugary scent met her nostrils. "Mm-mm! This one's gonna be good!" The substance was dumped into a waiting pie crust, which Pinkie gathered up on her back and began walking over to the oven. "So, what was it you needed, AJ?"

Applejack's eyes followed the pie's trip to the oven, and she tried to scream out for the baker to stop, but all that came out was a quiet stutter. "Buh..." The pie slid into the oven, and she reached out for it as the door closed. "D-duhh..." Pinkie set the oven to 400 degrees and turned around to observe Applejack's twitching face with an amused snort.

"Geez, relax, cowgirl," she said, wrapping a hoof around the orange mare's quivering shoulders, "it'll only take 40 minutes, and then you can have some, okay?" A ringing bell caught her attention, and she trotted out of the kitchen to attend to the customer. "Be right back!"

Applejack shook her head, taking a shaky step towards the oven. "Ch... Chewy," she whimpered weakly, her voice cracking. "But... Oh hay, this is ridiculous!" She rushed closer and yanked the door open, quickly pulling the pie tin out and slamming it on the countertop. She dug her hoof into the pie, feeling around until a tough, fuzzy object met her hoof, and pulled it out.

It was Chewy's head.

Applejack had never screamed so loudly in her life.

She heard hoofsteps rushing back towards the kitchen, and she quickly fumbled around with the pie, pulling out a wing, foot, and a torso with one wing and one foot. Oh Celestia, why me?

A gasp met her ears, and she spun around, holding the bits and pieces of Chewy behind her back. "Applejack, shame on you!" Pinkie scolded. Sweat trickled down Applejack's face as the baker approached her and nudged her aside to look down woefully at the shredded pie. She clucked her tongue disdainfully, and Applejack forced a sheepish grin onto her face.

"Eh-heh, yeah, ah jus' couldn't help mahself..." She glanced hurriedly behind herself, storing the now-scattered bird remains in her stetson. When she returned her gaze to Pinkie, her heart jumped into her throat; Pinkie had plucked a feather from the pie and was analyzing it with confusion. Uh oh...

"Wow, I guess I must have used the wrong kind of eggs," she suggested with a shrug, and Applejack sighed quietly in relief. Pinkie then dumped the pie into the trash, and Applejack felt a newfound wave of worry, checking the contents of her hat. Oh boy, I hope I got all of 'im outta there...

Before she could confirm that 100% of Chewy was in her hat--well, actually, she'd have settled for at least 80%--Pinkie fixed her with a disappointed glare. "Now I have to make a whole 'nother pie, Applejack!" She pouted, causing Applejack to roll her eyes.

"Fine, ah'll pay ya for the pie, Pinks..."

Pinkie waved her statement off with a hoof. "Nah, I'm not mad, or anything. Don't worry about that."

Applejack smiled at her, which Pinkie soon matched with a wide grin of her own. "Phew! For a second there, I was afraid I was gonna lose two friends today..."

"What?!" Pinkie yelled, her eyes shrinking to tiny dots. Applejack shoved a hoof in her own mouth, squeezing her eyes shut. Aw horseapples, here we go...

"Applejack, who did you lose as a friend?! Did you have a fight? Did they die?" Pinkie's eyes widened even further, and Applejack feared they might pop out of her head. "Did you kill them?" Pinkie whispered, taking a step back.

Spitting her hoof out, she wiped it off on her chest and shook her head vigorously. "No, ah didn't kill anyone--" She cut off suddenly, her eyes darting around rapidly, looking everywhere but at her pink friend. Oops. Strike two.

"You... you're lying." Pinkie watched her behavior with a fearful gaze. "Oh my gosh..."

"No, wait, ah didn't--!" Applejack took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. "I didn't kill anypony." The other mare watched her carefully, nodding after a moment.

"Okay, good." Pinkie wiped her forehead, laughing nervously. "For a second there, I thought you... ehehe... naahhh," She laughed, pushing the silly thought out of her mind. Applejack, killing somepony? No way!

"Well, now that that's settled--"

"But still, what happened?!" Applejack cringed. I was hoping she'd forget I said that...

"Um, well, it's not important..."

"'Not important?' Losing a friend is a very important matter!" Pinkie insisted, looking at her with the scornful gaze of a mother. "What would Twilight say? She's like, friendship incarnate or something!"

Applejack chuckled, remembering the unicorn's earlier hopeless attempts to resurrect Chewy, and rested a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't fret, Pinkie, nothin's happened yet. I'm sure it'll all work out."

Pinkie still looked unsure, but she relented and returned a small smile. "Well, okay. But if I can help someway, just lemme know!"

"Will do." Applejack carefully dipped her head into her stetson, straightening up slowly so as to keep Chewy's remains hidden underneath it. "Well, I think I'd better be goin', then. Thanks for the chat, Pinks."

"No problemo, Ay-Jay-mo!" Pinkie bounced towards the counter, missing the odd look that crossed Applejack's face as she repeated the strange farewell in her mind. With a shrug, Applejack tipped her hat and made her way out of the building. Well, so much for the moral support. I guess I'll just have to be as comforting and such as I can, and hope Flutters isn't the type of pony to shoot the messenger. She gulped and raised a trembling hoof to her neck. Or horribly maim, starve, and torture the messenger to insanity and subsequent death.

She gazed at Fluttershy's house in the distance, her breath quickening as shivers racked her body. Ah dunno how, but that cute, sweet, timid lil' mare is one darn terrifying pony. Celestia, help me. One deep breath later... Well, several deep breaths later, she finally set out on the last leg of her journey: slowly but surely, she inched her way towards the quaint cottage and her impending doom.

Rest in Pieces

Rest in Pieces (revised)

Applejack hardly noticed Rainbow Dash's arrival until the pegasus was right beside her, flying along at a pace that matched her own leisurely trot. "So, what's the sitch?"

Without diverting her gaze from the cottage ahead, she replied dully, "I'm tellin' her about Chewy, hopefully without havin' ta show her the body." Or what's left of it, at least.

Rainbow nodded. "Good idea. Ol' Chewy wasn't in too good of shape last I saw him."

"...Right."

"Listen, AJ, you need to be kinda... delicate." Rainbow ignored the farmer's deadpan glare and continued. "Seriously, Flutters cares for her animals, like, a lot. As much as she cares for us, even." Rainbow shivered. "Imagine telling Fluttershy that one of us had died."

Applejack did imagine it, and it wasn't pretty. "Okay, I see yer point," she muttered, her ears lowering slightly.

"Just think of a way to break the news without killing her, hey?"

"I'm more worried about her killing me."

"Naw, I've known Fluttershy for years," Rainbow insisted, waving a forehoof dismissively. "She's not the type to kill anypony."

"Even for this?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Are ya sure?"

Rainbow paused, thinking about it a bit more. She frowned after a moment, rubbing her forehooves together. "I'm reasonably sure."

Applejack, now sans one blue pegasus, raised her hoof to knock on Fluttershy's door for the second time that day. Okay, she reminded herself, tell her, then apologize, then hug or whatever, and then leave and find somethin' to do with these bird pieces. She blanched, her hoof smacking back down on the stone porch. What a thing to say... Chewy, wherever you are now, ah hope you're gettin' a real good laugh outta this. She finally lifted her hoof again, this time with much more effort, and knocked quietly.

In less than a second, the door was flung open and Applejack was dragged inside, a yellow pegasus immediately barraging her with panicked questions.

"Did you find him? Is he safe? Where is he? Can--" Applejack gently held a hoof over her mouth, silencing her.

"Look, Fluttershy, we..." She gulped. "We gotta talk."

"Oh..." Fluttershy looked disappointed and more than a little put-out at the sudden change of subject, but remained attentive nonetheless.

"I... found Chewy." Applejack cringed at the pegasus's delighted squeal.

"You did?!" Fluttershy nearly tackled her before she noticed Applejack's somber demeanor. "What's wrong?"

"Y'see, I actually kinda knew where he was... the whole time." She could already sense Fluttershy's confusion and inevitable question, so she explained further. "The truth is, uh... oh, geez, I really didn't wanna have to tell ya this..." Fluttershy's eyes were filled with a sudden trace of fear, as if she knew exactly what the orange pony was about to say next. Applejack put a consoling hoof on her shoulder. "...He... He died, sugarcube."

Fluttershy's eyes filled with tears, and Applejack had to look away. "W-w-what...?"

"I'm real sorry, Fluttershy..." She shook her head and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry like you wouldn't believe."

"H-how?" Came a soft whimper from beside her. "How did he die?"

"Fluttershy... I..." Although the incident had been quite the strange one, and even though she knew she wasn't truly at fault (at least, she hoped she wasn't), she still felt some responsibility for Chewy's fate. "It was my fault," she admitted firmly, meeting her friend's gaze.

A hint of betrayal crept onto Fluttershy's face at these words; Applejack felt stung. Fluttershy was neither a pony to betray her friends nor be betrayed by them, and this conversation could easily escalate out of control if the farmpony didn't control it carefully. "Wha... What do you mean, it was your fault?" Fluttershy demanded, her voice rising.

"Listen, I'm not entirely sure myself how it happened, but..." Fluttershy appeared even more dissatisfied with this remark, and Applejack rushed to climb out of this hole she'd slowly dug herself into. "But, Fluttershy, it was an accident!"

She was getting desperate as Fluttershy took a tiny step backwards in shock. "Y-You... You actually did...?"

"Fluttershy, I didn't mean to do it!" Applejack pleaded, grabbing the mare's shoulders. "I swear! You gotta believe me!" Fluttershy was still hesitant, sniffling softly. "Please!"

A slow nod made her nearly scream in relief. "Okay," she sobbed, "I-I believe you."

"Thank you," Applejack whispered, squeezing her shoulder softly. She took a few slow breaths, allowing Fluttershy to wipe her eyes. "It means a lot to me, Shy."

"You're welcome." Fluttershy brushed her mane out of her eyes, revealing the wet redness clouding them. "S-so, what happened, exactly?"

"Well, I really don't know..." Applejack rubbed the back of her head, frowning at the floor. "I was just standin' there, lookin' at him, and he was lookin' at me... and then for some reason, he just... went."

"Went... where?"

Applejack shuffled her hooves awkwardly. "Ehm... to the big birdhouse in the sky?" She offered, and the pegasus winced.

"Oh, yes, right... there." A long pause followed, and before long, she finally murmured, "Thank you for telling me, Applejack."

"S'only right that I do."

The cottage lapsed into an awkward silence, one which Applejack quickly found immensely uncomfortable. I guess that's that...

"Well," Fluttershy's timid voice cut through the silence, as well as her thoughts. She wrung her hooves together, trying to word her question delicately. "D-do you... have... him?"

Aw, rats.

"Ehh... well, I--uhh..."

"Please, Applejack. I have to see Chewbacca... one last time." Applejack could respect the mare's dedication and loyalty, as well as her desire for closure... but this was a special case. A very special case. She was fairly certain that the pegasus she knew wouldn't be able to handle seeing the results of a day's worth of her carrying around a dead body. Especially not after what Pinkie's whisk had done... or rather, undone.

"Sugarcube, I really don't--"

"Applejack." She flinched at that; Fluttershy's stern voice was a clear indicator that her protective nature would be soon to kick in, and the farmpony knew that she did not want to be on the receiving end of The Stare.

"Yer not gonna like it," she sighed, finally giving in as Fluttershy's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Okay, okay. Just... brace yourself."

"It..." Fluttershy relaxed, scuffing the floor with her hoof. Applejack was just trying to look out for her feelings, after all. Perhaps she was being a little too demanding. "I-I'll be okay, Applejack. I've had this sort of thing happen before." She wiped her eyes once more, calling to mind several previous memories of private funerals for her dearest and most loyal friends. She had never been rendered incapable of caring for their remains, though, and she wouldn't allow herself to be now. What kind of caretaker would she be if she didn't take care of her animals when they themselves no longer could?

Sparing her one last worried glance, Applejack carefully removed her hat and dumped the disembodied pieces of Chewy into her friend's outstretched hooves, plucking a few stray feathers from the inside of her hat for good measure. Fluttershy merely gaped, her eyes transfixed on the body parts falling one-by-one into her care. Applejack watched her for a reaction, noticing after a few seconds that she was no longer breathing.

"Fluttershy?" She whispered gently, stepping closer. The pegasus didn't respond, her stunned gaze never flickering from her curled hooves. "Are ya gonna be okay?"

She vaguely came to notice a faint, high pitched shriek that emanated from Fluttershy's slightly-opened mouth, and she bowed her head in sympathy. "Fluttershy, I'm so sorry..."

The shrieking gradually loudened into a shrill wail, and Fluttershy's muzzle tinted an odd shade of green.

"Uhm..." Applejack cautiously laid a hoof on the mare's shoulder. "Girl, you... don't look so good."

Fluttershy gave a small spasm as her eyes rolled back in her head, and her legs gave out from under her, sending her limp body crashing to the floor.

Applejack was at her side in an instant, shaking her frantically. "Fluttershy! Shy, wake up! Answer me, sugar!" She patted the yellow pony's pale cheeks a few times, but Fluttershy never showed any signs of regaining consciousness. With an exhausted groan, Applejack plunked down on her rear and waited, suddenly feeling strangely exposed. It was almost as if there were dozens of ponies observing her, analyzing her every move...

She jerked her head to the side, catching the suspicious gazes of several of the resident animals. Looking around, she realized that practically every animal in the house was staring straight at her, and she felt an uneasy flutter in her stomach.

"Uhm..." The farmer forced what she hoped was a friendly smile onto her face and weakly waved a hoof in greeting. "Howdy?"

Six ponies gathered in a small enclosed field some distance behind Fluttershy's cottage, surrounded on all sides by a small crowd of animals. In front of them was mounted a modest tombstone with a tiny, precisely engraved inscription:

Chewbacca

In loving memory

Applejack tore her guilty gaze from the grave and looked at Fluttershy; the pegasus seemed to inch away from her, not meeting her eyes. She had been avoiding her ever since she came to and remembered the confession Applejack had hit her with. It had been days, and the farmer was beginning to worry that she would never truly be forgiven. Letting out a small sigh, she resumed staring hollowly at the reminder of that devilish little bird that had somehow caused all this madness.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight exchanged an unnerved glance, feeling wholly unwelcome in the heavy atmosphere. What right had they to be here after defiling the corpse of honor? They nodded awkwardly to each other, lowering their eyes to the ground.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood at the edges of the small huddle. While Pinkie appeared genuinely sympathetic, Rarity could not bring herself to say the same. The unfamiliar attention from the dozens of depressed animals seemed to leech the life out of her, and her eyes darted around the clearing constantly. If Fluttershy hadn't expressly asked her to stay, she would have had no objections to fleeing the scene and avoiding the band of woodland creatures entirely.

The area was silent, save for the faint calls of some grieving birds perched in the trees around them. Rainbow fidgeted, her hooves making a whisper as they ruffled the grass. She groaned absently, immediately being shushed by Twilight, and took a few deep breaths.

After what felt like an eternity, a soft voice spoke, just barely reaching the ears of those located on the outside of the tight circle. "Chewy, you were a wonderful bird and we'll all miss you." Fluttershy silently stepped forward and rested her muzzle on top of the stone, tears dripping off her face and soaking it a darker grey. "We love you and we hope you... e-enjoy yourself... up t-there." Her friends found themselves bowing their heads as she squeezed the stone tighter, and she soon let go and backed away. Rarity wrapped a leg around the mare's shoulders as she was led away from the grave, the small procession trailing behind.

Once they arrived back at the cottage, Fluttershy sat down on the couch, not saying a word. Applejack sat beside her, almost afraid to even try making her feel better. She looked fragile.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, noting the small twitch of an ear she received in response. "Ah dunno how many times I've got to say it, but ah'll keep right on sayin' it until you forgive me. I'm not about to let you drop this friendship in the dust just 'cause of some freak accident, understand?"

"I forgave you," Fluttershy reminded her. "I'm just sad."

"Ya've been avoidin' me like the plague, girl..." Applejack studied her own hooves, wearing a downtrodden expression on her face. "Ya won't even look at me anymore..."

Fluttershy carefully slid her eyes to the side, taking in just how depressed her friend had become. She scolded herself, feeling her hooves shake. She wasn't supposed to make her friends sad! She was supposed to be kind and understanding, not hold their mistakes over their heads! Applejack probably felt worse than she did right now, and she didn't wish that burden on anypony. Especially not Applejack.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, scooting a little closer to the orange pony. "I shouldn't have been so cold to you. I-I've just been thinking a lot... well, overthinking is more like it, actually."

"Ya don't have to apologize to me. I'm the one who caused this whole mess, ain't I?"

"No." Fluttershy patted her on the back of the neck, feeling her relax under her reassuring touch. "It was something else, and whatever it was wasn't your fault."

Applejack looked about ready to cry, and she pulled the brim of her hat over her eyes. "T-Thanks, Fluttershy," she murmured thickly.

She noticed a lavender hoof under the leather covering her face and lifted her hat to find Twilight standing in front of them. "Twi," she acknowledged the alicorn with a nod.

Twilight didn't respond for a moment, staring Applejack in the eyes long enough to make her feel extremely uncomfortable. "There's still something bothering me," she muttered at last. "Why did this happen? How did you suddenly gain the power to kill birds just by staring at them?"

Applejack sighed. "We've been over this, Twilight, I don't know--"

"I know that," Twilight interrupted, rubbing her face. "It still doesn't satisfy my curiosity, though."

"Maybe..." Fluttershy tried quietly, prompting the two mares to look at her. "Maybe it was something else?"

"What else could it have been? Was he unhealthy?"

"Well, no..." Fluttershy clicked her hooves together. "But... Maybe it actually wasn't Applejack who caused it. I don't think it was her fault."

"Well, you're right about that; no matter what, Applejack isn't at fault here." Twilight nodded in agreement. "It was a terrible accident, and that's a fact."

"Oh, of course," Fluttershy replied. "I mean, my Stare just kind of showed up out of the blue, and I have no idea why my anger caused me to, um, get it. But, well... maybe it wasn't the Stare at all?" She looked at Twilight beseechingly, almost pleading for her to alleviate Applejack's guilt. "Maybe Applejack had nothing to do with it?"

Applejack turned to look at Twilight, her ears perking up hopefully. The alicorn rubbed her chin, considering the supernatural forces that had, until this point, been the only reasonable cause for a young bird's untimely death. "True, it is kind of odd to gain this sort of ability without any sort of trigger," she conceded. "Well, I suppose there are other equally-ridiculous possibilities. Perhaps... Fluttershy, being so adept with animals, I know you'd have recognized any type of known disease Chewy could have picked up." Fluttershy nodded. "Is it possible that he could have contracted some unknown fatal disease? Could its symptoms have been hidden to the point it was undetectable?"

Fluttershy's ears twitched at the unnerving thought. "Well, yes, it's possible..."

Twilight's eyes widened excitedly, and she pressed on with this newfound route to a solution. "Perhaps it discreetly weakened his cardiovascular system, leaving him susceptible to other, more dangerous events. And the sight of Applejack, a stranger, may have been just the thing to startle his abnormally weakened heart into a cardiac arrest!"

The other ponies wore disbelieving expressions, and she calmed herself down with a light blush on her cheeks. "Um, sorry. Got a little carried away. But still, that could have been it!"

Fluttershy slowly nodded. "Yes, that could have been it. It's a bit of a long shot..." She looked at Applejack, who was still going over the idea in her head. "...but I like that explanation better than the one that makes Applejack feel like a monster."

"But ah am, don't ya see?" Applejack shouted, shaking her head angrily. "Even if what Twi says is right, ah still get made out as the one who came in an' scared him to death!"

"Anypony who isn't Fluttershy would have scared him to death," Twilight corrected her. "If you hadn't shown up, somepony else would have come to visit Fluttershy and the same thing would have happened. You're no more to blame than any of them."

"Fine, that's all well and good," Applejack snapped, "but how d'ya explain what happened to me, huh? I got all stiff, and I couldn't breathe, and..." She gulped, replaying the event in her mind's eye. "And he was just starin' at me with those beady lil' eyes."

Fluttershy looked at her in surprise. "You didn't tell me all that!"

"It was creepy." The farmpony shivered.

"Chewy dressed up as a cockatrice for Nightmare Night two years ago!" Fluttershy gasped. "He became quite good at it. He was probably so frightened that he accidentally used the cockatrice-Stare on you!"

Applejack made a face. "Then why wasn't I turned to stone, an' all that?"

"Applejack, you silly pony," Fluttershy giggled. "He's not actually a cockatrice. He can't do that."

After a long moment, Applejack shook her head. "You're just makin' this up to make me feel better. I still think it was me who killed Chewy with the Stare, even if I didn't mean to."

"You don't know that," Twilight quickly interrupted. "In my honest opinion, the new disease truly is much more probable than what we've been thinking about your 'Stare'. From the start, we've been basing our opinions on an event that very well may have been a coincidence, and I'm willing to believe that that's exactly what your perceived role in this was: a coincidence."

Seeing Applejack was still unconvinced, she sighed in annoyance. She really had to get Applejack to lose the chip on her shoulder. "If you really had the power to kill birds with the Stare, why is it only just coming up now? And why only birds? Why only Chewy? Surely you've looked at least one other bird in the eyes since then."

Applejack lowered her eyes to the ground, nodding reluctantly. She had, as a matter of fact, met eyes with another bird at the funeral. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, save for the bird's wings twitching uneasily as it quickly looked away.

"You weren't sucked into its hypnotic gaze?"

"Nope."

"No difficulty breathing? No other odd physiological reactions?"

"Nope."

"And the bird didn't die, did it?"

"Nope."

"Well, there you go." Twilight placed a hoof on Applejack's face and raised the farmpony's skeptical gaze to meet her own. "Look, the thing is, we'll never truly know what happened. Chewy couldn't have told us, even if he was still alive, and the whole thing happened out of nowhere. But this is about the most plausible explanation we're going to get, and I think we'll all feel better if we accept it, rather than allowing you to blame yourself for an even more unlikely possibility."

"But it's still ridiculous!" Applejack yelled, throwing her hooves into the air. "And it ain't makin' me feel any better."

"As ridiculous as you suddenly gaining the power to kill one specific bird by shooting death rays out of your eyes?"

"...Well, maybe a little better." Twilight smirked, and Applejack finally broke out in a grin. "Eh, you're probably right. Thanks, Twi."

"Hi, girls," Pinkie Pie said, sounding a bit less cheerful than was usual. She plopped down on the other side of Fluttershy, giving the pegasus a tight hug. "I'm really sorry about Chewy, Fluttershy."

"It's alright, Pinkie," Fluttershy replied, a small smile appearing on her muzzle. "He's in a better place now." Her smile quickly fell, however, and Pinkie nudged her with an elbow.

"Well, I made you something to cheer you up!" She reached behind her and revealed a small box, holding it out before Fluttershy. Applejack peeked over her shoulder curiously, the alluring scent from whatever was inside quickly expanding throughout the room. The farmpony licked her lips, eyeing the box hungrily.

"What'd ya make, Pinks? Sure does smell good." Pinkie grinned and popped open the top, revealing a piping-hot pastry with layers of crusts on top that were browned in such a fashion that they perfectly emulated the shape of a bird. Applejack felt her stomach lurch, remembering her recent visit to Sugarcube Corner and the pie Pinkie had almost made.

"Oh my, that looks wonderful, Pinkie!" Fluttershy beamed. "Thank you so much!"

Well, at least she's lookin' a tad better, Applejack reasoned.

"Awesome, I just knew you'd love it!" Pinkie looked past her at Applejack. "How 'bout you, AJ? Want some pie? It's apple!" She sang, wiggling the box tantalizingly under her nose.

"Heheh, nah," Applejack chuckled nervously and leaned away, much to both ponies' surprise. "Ah seem to have lost my appetite."