Twin Oddities

Fluttershy was currently in her small cottage, located on the outskirts of Ponyville as the Pegasus gathered her saddlebag, getting ready to head to the marketplace so she could buy more food for her animals. While humming a soft tune to herself, she suddenly heard the sound of the door being open, causing her ears to lower as she went silent and turned to see who had opened the door.

“Oh...it’s just you Angel.” She said before letting out a sigh of relief. She noticed that her pet bunny seemed to be tugging on her long pink mane after approaching her, quickly pointing towards the door. A look of confusion struck Fluttershy.
“Is something wrong?” She asked in a concerned tone. “Did somepony fall into a well?”

Angel shook his head with a slightly annoyed look on his face before he motioned for her to follow him outside. Deciding that the market could wait, she followed her rabbit outside, wondering what he wanted to show her or where he was taking her. Her eyes widened slightly once she noticed that he was leading her towards the Everfree forest. She started to remember the various journeys and adventures she and her friends had taken, from defeating Nightmare Moon to stopping the forest from growing out of control. It made her think about how far she had grown from the shy mare she was long ago who couldn’t even say her own name in front of a stranger.

Her trip down memory lane was quickly interrupted as her hoof crushed a branch, causing it to crack as she let out a surprised and short yell at the sound. Angel quickly halted to a stop as the rabbit looked over at her, before he looked over in the distance as if he heard or noticed something. Fluttershy was about to ask her pet what he had seen before an unfamiliar and loud voice spoke from somewhere.

“Who’s there?!”

Fluttershy looked over in the direction of the voice before she heard a more soft spoken and nervous one speak afterwards.

“We...We won’t hurt you or anything, I-I promise.”

The pegasus and the bunny looked at each other for a moment before the two made their way towards the voices. Her cyan eyes widened once she saw the two bipedal figures, who didn’t look exactly like anything she had seen before. The first figure seemed to be taller and goat or ram-like in appearance, with brown fur and four orange eyes that stared at Fluttershy distrustfully before looking at the shorter figure that stood behind his stretched out draconic wings. The second one appeared to be similar to a deer, and somehow had a pair of antlers despite being a girl. Her forearms and long tail, which was currently curled around one of her legs, were covered with sky blue scales that were starting to shift into a pale green with white patterns. Unlike the other figure that stood next to her, she had a single wing on the right side of her back that seemed to be covered with ebony black feathers.

The lizard-crow-deer chimera approached Fluttershy as she took a step back, unsure what she was going to say or do to her.

“I-It’s okay,” She quickly reassured the pegasus in a quiet voice that was filled with nervousness. “My br-brother Apollo and I won’t harm you…”

Apollo, who Fluttershy guessed was the name of the ram hybrid, nodded his head in agreement as he watched the three of them in silence. The yellow pegasus mumbled something under her breath before Angel nudged her a bit, almost as if he wanted her to speak up.

“Oh, um...I’m glad you two don’t want to hurt us,” She quickly spoke. “I’m Fluttershy, and this is my pet Angel.”

“As my sister Artemis said earlier, I’m Apollo.” The ram hybrid grinned, his gaze from earlier starting to soften.

“Artemis and Apollo…” She repeated, a soft smile appearing on her face. “Those are very nice names. By the way, are you possibly from the Badlands?”

“The what?” The two hybrids asked in unison, confused expressions appearing on their faces before Apollo spoke for himself and his sister.

“I don’t know what kind of place is named Badlands, but the two of us definitely aren’t from around here,” He began. “One moment we’re somewhere else, and the next, both of us are in this weird forest and talking to a—“

“I-I think she gets your point.” Artemis adjusted the crescent moon necklace around her neck as she went silent after she spoke, her tail swaying behind her as Apollo sighed quietly.

“Anyways...Fluttershy, where exactly are we?”

“This is the Everfree Forest,” Fluttershy answered. “My cottage is actually nearby, if you two want to go there...But first, I probably should take you two to Ponyville to see my friend Twilight. I think she’ll work on finding a way to get you two back home once I explain everything to her.”

“I don’t mind if you take us to your friend,” Apollo replied as his sister nodded in agreement. “Besides, I think this place is getting creepier the longer we stay in here.”

“Angel, please go back to the cottage and make sure none of the other animals try to escape.” The pink-maned pegasus spoke to the rabbit. He raised a brow before letting out a sigh and quickly heading back towards her cottage.

The two hybrids started to follow Fluttershy as she led them out of the forest and the trio made their way towards Ponyville. Once they arrived, they saw the small town that was filled with various ponies going throughout their day.

Fluttershy seemed to notice that a few ponies stopped to stare at Artemis and Apollo with curious looks as the group made their way through Ponyville, along with a few creeped out or disgusted ones mixed in. She suddenly halted to a stop as the two hybrids stood still, noticing that some kind of crowd formed around them as ponies looked at the strange creatures and whispered about them among themselves.

“What are those things?”

“I’ve never seen a creature like that before!”

“Do you think those two are Draconequui?”

“Look at how...freaky they look.”

“Um...Flutter-Fluttershy?” Artemis asked quietly, her ears lowering slightly as her scales changed into a pure white color while her eyes glanced around. “Why is everyone staring at us?”