With a contented sigh, Fluttershy went through the door, back into her own cozy little cottage. It had been a long, hard day spent with her friends. She liked them, she really did, but being in social situations always sapped her energy, leaving her feeling drained when she finally found an excuse to go. And yet, she didn't want to completely reject such things ... she just needed her alone time afterward.
Her cottage was where she could rejuvenate herself, recharge. All her animals were there, and even though she had to take care of all of them, they somehow seemed to demand less of her than any ponies. She felt more comfortable around them, as if she could finally be herself, not having to put on a personable act.
She slowly made her rounds, feeding, petting, cajoling, chastising ... whichever each critter needed. Of course, there, crouched in the corner with her legs huddled in around her, was Fluttershy's newest house guest.
Petunia was a marvelous creature, astoundingly huge – the size of a pony – and for all her shy aloofness, a very sweet little thing. She was covered in a fine bristle of little brown hairs and had the cutest little beady black eyes.
...And oh yes, Petunia was an enormous tarantula – the biggest Fluttershy had ever seen, by far.
The first time her friends had seen Petunia, they'd been certain that she was a monster invading from the Everfree Forest, but Fluttershy had soon put a stop to that. Sure, Petunia had come from Everfree, and sure she looked monstrous ... but she had a heart – or the arachnoid equivalent of a heart – of pure gold.
“Hi, Petunia. Eat any good flies lately?”
The spider unfurled her legs a little and clicked her mandibles together. She had a few feathers stuck in the bristles around her mouth. Wasn't that sweet? She'd taken the time to help preen a bird or two! Petunia was finally opening up and getting to know the other animals. They all still huddled in fear of the giant spider, but Fluttershy was sure they'd come around eventually.
Petunia's little black eyes glinted.
Such a magnificent and fascinating creature! Fluttershy sat down on the couch near the corner, hoping to coax Petunia out of her sulk. The spider retreated further into the corner, molding herself into its shape as best she could – which was pretty impressive. She'd made herself little more than a big ball of bristles and legs wedged in there.
“Oh don't be frightened, Petunia.” Fluttershy patted the couch next to her. “Why don't you come and sit with me?”
The spider stirred, at at her first motion, all the other critters in the room scattered, leaving just the two of them alone. Startled by the sudden motion, Petunia returned to her corner as well.
“It's okay. They'll get used to you and come around eventually. Don't be scared.” Fluttershy patted the couch cushion again.
Long minutes passed, but eventually Petunia stirred again. Her legs made strange dry creaky rustling noises as she unfurled again, this time edging halfway up the wall to raise her eyes above the level of the couch's edge.
Fluttershy gave her best charming smile. “There you are. Aren't you beautiful?”
Petunia stayed there, sideways against the wall, for a long while, staring. It was incredible how far the spider's many legs could reach up the wall. She wasn't even as high as she could go, and her legs already stretched beyond the top of the window frame.
Still smiling, Fluttershy just watched the spider watch her back. No one else seemed to trust Petunia, not even the other critters – especially not the other critters – but something about the giant spider had always made Fluttershy feel comfortable, at ease ... even from the very first time she'd seen her. It was undefinable, but they shared some connection deeper than words, deeper than thoughts ... maybe even deeper than emotions could feel, but there was definitely something there. “Here girl,” she said to the spider, “come on and sit with me. We're good friends – you can trust me.”
Petunia jerked forward a little, up to the edge of the couch in one sudden burst of speed. Then she sat still again, looking, assessing the situation.
Fluttershy watched the glittering of her many eyes. Other ponies told her that even such a big spider could only have a cold, primitive and calculating mind, that she was a menace to anything smaller than her. But surely, those ponies had never looked closely at Petunia's eyes. They had such an intelligence, such a distant, hidden warmth inside their depths.
Petunia scuttled onto the couch, right next to Fluttershy, then froze again.
She was so close now, Fluttershy would be able to feel her warmth if she had any. Still, though, there was something different, some feeling in the air that would tell her even with her eyes closed and ears plugged, that a giant spider was right next to her.
Petunia hadn't moved again. She was still facing directly toward Fluttershy, not sitting properly on the couch, but Fluttershy would take what she could get. She loved to see the big spider opening up like this, even though everypony said she never would. If only they could see her now, her outer and inner mandibles – armed with impressive fangs – curling through the air, smelling and probing to decide if it was safe.
Fluttershy smiled and leaned closer to her newest friend ... just as Petunia moved forward as well. Neither had been expecting the other to move. They froze where they stopped, and Fluttershy noticed with utter shock that her lips were touching Petunia's outer mandibles! Had they ... kissed? She jumped back, and the spider did as well.
Petunia didn't stop until she was all the way back, huddled in her corner, while Fluttershy touched where the spines had poked her muzzle, blushing furiously. Some traitorous little voice inside her told her that she'd enjoyed that – even that she'd planned for that to happen, which was of course ridiculous. She blushed harder and looked at Petunia huddled in her corner. What had the spider thought of that little exchange? Did she enjoy it? It was ... difficult to tell. Spiders were always hard to read.
But Fluttershy liked to imagine that Petunia enjoyed it as well.
Author's Note
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