Flutterspry

Chapter One

By Vanquished!

It had been a lovely autumn so far in the humble town of Ponyville, where leaves of many reds, yellows, oranges, and browns were scattered around the ground and the scent of freshly fallen pinecones hovered in the air. The leaves of the Everfree were stripped of their once ominous, foreboding look and took on a warmer one instead. The trees swayed ever so gently in the wind, their leaves snapping off of their branches — and just as they always have been doing — fluttered off in the wind to fly off to another place and recycle back into the Equestrian soil.

The leaves from the trees of the Everfree swirled around from gusts and slapped on the windows of Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy watched it from inside with some of the windows open, letting the pleasantly cool autumn air rush into the building carrying some of their leaves with them. She smiled ever so gently. It was beautiful, the autumn Everfree. She hadn’t seen nor felt a nicer and more homely thing here before.

Somepony cleared their throat, “Uh, Fluttershy? Yoohoo?”

She gasped a bit and looked to her guest, “Oh, I’m sorry. W-what were you saying?” The pony she’d been talking to tilted her head and continued to speak.

“What I was saying is that your animals are doing very well! No worries, Fluttershy, we have it all under control,” The pony waved her hoof at Fluttershy. “They've just started to prepare for the winter, gathering their food and such.”

Fluttershy shined with relief and happiness. She said softly, “Thank you, Twilight, I couldn't ask for more! It can be a hassle caring for them myself, sometimes…”

“No problem. Me and the girls will keep an eye on the animals, and once they’re all ready to go, we’ll let them on their way,” Twilight said. The purple mare trotted to the door, grabbing the knob. “I gotta get back to help the others now. Who knows when the animals will be ready, but we’ll be back whenever they are.”

“Thanks again, Twilight,” she giggled. “I’ll see you soon!” Twilight smiled once again and headed out, up the hill and out into the Everfree.

Fluttershy silently smiled to herself. She decided to go out herself; she could use the fresh warm air of the outdoors and some time to finish planting the flower buds. She slowly made her way to the back door and opened it, and the sound of falling, brushing leaves and squeaking immediately came to her ears. But… squeaking? She squinted her eyes and looked around for the source of noise, finally spotting something in the distance in the field behind her home.

It was a creature of some sorts, with two legs below it and long narrower arms from its sides. The creature’s skin was dark brown like chocolate, and its body was clad top to bottom in ragged blue jeans, black boots, brown leather gloves, and a matching chestnut colored hoodie. The hoodie had some sort of marking on it: a gray sphere with a distinctive green X embedded within it, and unusual looking gray and green letters under it. The creature did not look at Fluttershy but instead spun around in… a chair? A plain looking swivel chair. The creature spun around quickly in circles on its big office swivel chair. Fluttershy tilted her head in curiosity. Who, or what, was this thing? What was the symbol on its clothing, and what did the strange letters under it mean?  And why was spinning in a chair in the middle of a field?

She thought deeply about whether or not to approach the creature, she had never seen anything like it before. It certainly looked masculine in its appearance. But she continued thinking, her hooves tapping on the concrete stairs as she began her descent. She could approach the gyrating creature; she could turn back and tell the others about it; or she could just ignore it and let it go about its business.

Fluttershy thought, and she thought, and she thought...