I knocked on the door impatiently. Ditzy had long since left her spot under my arm and was on my right side, shuffling in an antsy manner. I didn't know what had her so twisted but for me, it was the animals. Surrounding Fluttershy's little cottage, animals of all kinds— chickens, squirrels, bunnies, flamingoes— all frolicked about.

Well, they would've been frolicking had they not had their attention set on me. The chickens, though, they were really getting to me; their beady eyes were quite disturbing. Chickens, flighty creatures as they are, were bothering me.

Rowan, I beg of you, what's-his-name pleaded, Do us all a favor and open the door. I honestly wanted to do just as much, but I felt it would be rude. So I took an alternative course of action.

"Fluttershy, open your blasted door!" I shouted up towards the second story window with a bit more ferocity than necessary.

Twilight, who had been patiently standing to my left like a good little filly, grabbed my hand with her glow stuff and pulled it away from the door.

"Rowan, please," she began and I was already weary of her tone. "There's no need to be so rough with the door. She'll come down in her own time and if she doesn't, we can always come back later."

"Well, I don't see you knocking and you're the one who brought me here," I smirked at her, satisfied with my own response.

"Maybe she's sleeping?" Twilight and I turned towards towards Ditzy who had stopped her shuffling. "I heard from Pinkie about the night you all had, so maybe she's tired?"

At least one of us has a modicum of intelligence, I thought to myself. I was, however, delighted to see that my earlier confusion at the activity of the town was not unfounded.

I raised my hand to knock again but this time the door opened before my fist connected. I gazed into the doorway, expecting to find a sign of our quarry, only to find nothing. Aside from a cluttered home, chock-full of almost anything relating to animals— including animals. For a second, I considered stepping inside but a tap on my foot drew my attention. I looked down to see a rabbit. A rabbit that somehow looked irritated.

We all stood in silence— aside from Ditzy, who was already digging through her saddlebags.

"Um. Hello?" I looked at Twilight as if she were an idiot.

It's a rabbit, for Pete's sake! That brief thought was kept brief because the shadow in the back of my head deemed it necessary to interject. [color=265daf]First, it's a bunny. Second, it did open the door and seems to be listening to Twilight.

"We're here for Flu—" I pushed Twilight to the side. An action that was followed by a thump. I couldn't be bothered to look.

I cleared my throat. "My associate here,"— I gestured to Ditzy— "has come across a pressing issue. She was informed by... Who told you to send this?"

Ditzy wasn't fazed by the sudden address. "Ponyville Mail Service, mister!" I smiled. She managed to fit into the role perfectly.

"Yes. My associate was notified by Ponyville Mail Service that a letter needed to be relayed to one 'Miss Fluttershy'." Ditzy handed me the letter, accompanied by a salute. Cute. I continued. "If you could give her this letter, we'd be grateful."

The bunny, who up until then had been watching with a facsimile of a confused expression, slowly took the letter from me before hopping back into the cottage. The door closed behind it. Surprised that worked.

Twilight chose this moment to pick herself up off the ground, groaning and rubbing her head with a hoof. "Rowan was that really necessary? You pushed me into the fence!"

Turning to Twilight, I opened my mouth to give some open-ended question as a response but was interrupted by the cottage door coming ajar. Quite slowly. My head swiveled back towards the cottage. Fluttershy stood in the doorway, her mane in what was probably the neatest bedhead I'd ever seen.

She looked at me first— reasonable, given my size— however she did not speak to me first. She instead gave me a small smile, likely to show she acknowledged me, before making to greet the others.

"Hello, Ditzy. Hel—" She let out a gasp. "— Twilight, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. No need to worry, Fluttershy." She briefly glared at me. Unfortunately, Fluttershy saw that and turned her gaze to me. We stared at each other, briefly, before she turned to Ditzy.

"Thank you for bringing me that letter, Ditzy," she said, likely choosing to ignore me for the moment.

Ditzy let out a nervous giggle. Or perhaps it was embarrassment. "It was no trouble, Fluttershy. I should get going, but it was nice seeing you again. And it was nice meeting two as well." I gave her a quick thumbs up before she flew off.

As I watched her soar, I could very clearly feel someone's gaze boring into my spine. I refused to turn around and only took some steps away from the door so I could collect the fallen pancakes while ignoring the shards of ceramic(porcelain?). It was a quick task so when I turned back to Twilight and Fluttershy, their expressions showed no signs of impatience. Twilight, of course, still looked peeved.

I cleared my throat. "So," I began, load held carefully in my palms. "who wants pancakes?"

Twilight and Fluttershy watched with a strange sort of curiosity as Rowan sat cross-legged on Fluttershy's living room floor, scarfing down pancakes. That is to say, Twilight watched with curiosity while Fluttershy watched the grimacing man with increasing worry as he constantly went into coughing fits.

She and Twilight sat on a couch directly in front of Rowan, each drinking their own cup of tea. She had offered him tea beforehoof but, after what seemed to be silent communication between her two guests, Rowan had refused.

She couldn't make heads or tails of that.

To her left, Twilight let out a sigh— hopefully, one of contentment.

"Thank you for the tea, Fluttershy." The aforementioned Pegasus smiled.

"It's no tro—" Fluttershy was interrupted by Rowan's coughs. She gave him a small smile before asking, "Are you sure you don't want any tea, Rowan?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," he replied. He moved to tear off another piece of his pancakes but stopped and swished his tongue around the inside of his mouth before continuing on. This time he didn't choke. "Tea is basically hot water with a flavor and I'm really ready to lose my taste buds 'cause I was feeling kind of thirsty."

Fluttershy's smile faltered a bit but she continued. "Do you want some water then?"

"You're a persistent one, aren't you?" Her smile became a bit more nervous. He chuckled before continuing, "Sure sure, I'll have some water; give me some of that life-giving liquid." At that, she let out a relieved sigh before setting her teacup on the coffee table and making her way to the kitchen.

Standing on her hind legs, Fluttershy opened up a cabinet only to see it was rather empty. She frowned before giving herself a silent reprimand. Why had she planned on giving him a teacup when he'd asked for water? She settled back on all four hooves before moving to the cabinet under her sink where she kept the glasses.

She pulled a glass from the cabinet and held it in her hoof in silent contemplation. She wasn't exactly prepared to serve guests water. She had plenty of juices in her refrigerator and she did have fresh water on hoof but that was set aside for her animal friends...

Tap water then?

She decided that would do and made to turn on the faucet but froze when she heard Rowan speak up from her living room.

"So what's eating you, Sparkler? You look upset," she heard him start casually.

Twilight replied in a not-so-pleased tone, "I'm upset because you pushed me into Fluttershy's fence!" Fluttershy let out a gasp, dropping the glass she was holding in her mouth. Quickly, she grabbed at it with her hooves and managed to not fumble it. She let out a relieved sigh before setting the glass on the counter and perking her ears to listen. There was a large part of her that was reluctant to eavesdrop but her curiosity won out.

"Aw come on, Sparkler. I thought we were friends." Fluttershy didn't know Rowan very well— or at all, for that matter— but she had the vaguest feeling he was smiling.

"I don't think friends do things like that to each other," Twilight replied solemnly.

Rowan snorted. "I wouldn't know; it's not as if I remember much."

Fluttershy let out a gasp that was echoed by Twilight a moment later.

"You're an amenisac?" Twilight practically hissed.

Fluttershy didn't catch Rowan's response, as concerned as she was. In a worry-fueled rush, she grabbed the glass in one hoof and turned on the faucet with the other. The glass couldn't fill fast enough but she was satisfied— and sure Rowan would be satisfied— she took the glass in both forehooves before flying into the living room.

Rowan's head snapped to her before she even crossed the threshold. It seemed he'd taken his hood off while she'd been getting his water.

Wasting no time she floated over to Rowan and hoofed the glass over to him. Rowan took it from her outstretched hooves and gave her a smile along with a 'Thank you'.

Fluttershy nodded shyly before touching down on the floor, her gaze turned downward. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Rowan, I know we've only just met but I want you to feel welcome here. If you ever need something or ever feel you need somepony to talk to, please don't hesitate to come here. I'll um... I'll try my best to help."

Fluttershy could feel Twilight's gaze on her but did her best to ignore it. Slowly she looked up to meet Rowan's eyes and through his curtain of blonde, she could see them.

His teal reptilian eyes.

She responded in the only way she knew too. He had the eyes, those nightmarishly sharp teeth, and— if she looked real closely— his hair swayed in a nonexistent breeze.

Fluttershy screamed.

Author's Note

Yeah... The wait? Sorry about that. I hope that this was at least somewhat enjoyable.
I've made, like, three blogs listing off excuses for why this wasn't faster.
And I know it's a short chapter but you ought'a be grateful I managed to get this much out.