SlenderQuill Official Story

I had made plans to meet Silver Quill just near Fluttershy's cottage in Ponyville. It had been a while since I'd seen him and, despite it being a bit out of my way, I agreed to meet him there. I wasn't certain as to why he wanted to meet me in that particular part of town but I arrived early enough that I was able to get some cider from Sweet Apple Acres. It was this exact cider that I was drinking as I waited, sitting awkwardly on a bench. I gazed upward, watching the pegasi move the clouds away from the sun, which shone on my face. The sudden burst of light burned my retinas and I accidentally knocked off my glasses in an attempt to shield my eyes; not that it helped any as I was already seeing spots. I rubbed my fore leg against my eyes for a moment before I carefully put it down.

In front of me was an extended claw that held my glasses and beyond that was a blurred mash of white, yellow, and varying degrees of brown. I took the glasses and put them back on the bridge of my muzzle. I got a clear view of Silver and thanked him for returning my glasses.

"You shouldn't stare at the sun," he warned, with a light chuckle.

"I wasn't staring at the sun, I was staring at the sun, the pegasi just happened to move the clouds and the sun just so happened to be behind the cloud I was staring at." I downed the rest of my cider and belched proudly. "So what exactly are we doing today?"

"I don't know yet, Fluttershy requested me."

I groaned. "We're going to see Fluttershy?! Why did it have to be Fluttershy?"

"I know you don't like her but-"

"Ah, don't worry about it. I only met the filly once but first impressions can be a bitch, can't they?" I resigned. Of course, that's what I get for letting him pick what we're going to do today, I thought bitterly.

I followed Silver to the front door of Fluttershy's cottage and picked at the ground while he knocked. It wasn't long before the pastel yellow pegasus opened her door, sending out a loud flurry of animal noises along with it. I winced in annoyance and took a couple of steps back.

"Silver!" she said excitedly, or as excitedly as Fluttershy can say something.

When she took notice of me, she went right into "shy mode"; she became closer to the ground, her voice got quite, her forelock covered half her face, and she squeaked. I groaned loudly and motioned to the chicken coop before trotting over to chat with the chickens. I had a particularly lovely conversation with a brown chicken about the complexities of egg fertilization. Of course, chickens can't actually talk so I was basically talking to myself - still, it was quite an intelligent conversation.

"Having fun?" Silver asked, appearing suddenly behind me.

"Yup, that is one smart chicken."

He laughed. "That sounds like something I might say."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "So what did Fluttershy want?"

"There's been a line of mysterious disappearances among local fillies and colts and Princess Twilight thinks there is some creature in the Everfree that is taking them."

"She wanted Fluttershy to go see and deal with whatever creature is behind the disappearances?"

He nodded. "Yes, but she's too scared to leave the cottage."

"Fluttershy, scared?" I let out a fake chuckle. "Big shock there. So why are we doing it if it's so dangerous?"

"The creature only takes fillies and colts, so we should be fine."

"'Should' being the operative word." I sighed as we approached the edge of the forest. "Well, it's an adventure."