Fluttershy's Nature Show

"--n't believe that happened," sighs Fluttershy, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm glad we had a good recording, but I would have liked it to last longer."

"It's back on," confirms Twilight. "We're live again."

"So, the deer scattered and ran off in all kinds of different directions," explains Fluttershy. "Twilight's camera locked up at the... What was it?"

"The reel spindle."

"Right. The reel spindle locked up and started making this loud clicking sound, which spooked the deer and caused them all to scatter and run off. For context, the sound of clicking is the noise that the males make when fighting. I guess the females thought there was going to be a fight and ran off so as not to be injured, and the males were concerned that they may have encroached on a stronger male's territory. That means we'll have to find them again, but it was a pleasure to see them all together for a short time, at least."

Picking up her bag, Fluttershy begins a trek into the swamp, with Twilight following after her. The ground quickly becomes muddy and thick, the trees begin to twist and contort right away, with vines wrapping around the branches leading every which way, and the girls breathing becomes heavier as the moisture causes the air to be more dense.

"So, while we're walking, let's go over a few more facts about the water deer," says Fluttershy, turning to face the camera for a few seconds before returning her attention to the path she's taking. "In a lot of species of deer, particularly those that grow large antlers, osteoporosis is common, because there's not enough phosphate and calcium in their diets to support strong bone growth, which is a real shame, considering the fact that they have to grow new bones every year. However, they have a particular trick that they use to supplement their diets with the pieces necessary to construct these bones, though a process called osteophagy. They chew on the bones of other animals so that their own skeleton can support its own weight. Even so, a good shake in the winter is enough to break off the antlers, so the bones aren't particularly powerful.

"I bring this up, but water deer don't actually do this. They don't particularly need to, as they don't grow the big antlers. Their tusks are smaller and more compact, meaning they don't need as much nutrition to support their growth, and are less susceptible to broken bones than other species. It's actually a boon that a lot of deer species don't try for."

"Aren't the antlers of other species used for defense?" asks Twilight. "Isn't it safer to have a weapon to defend yourself and your young and not need it than to need it and not have it?"

"Normally, yes, but not in this case. When threatened by other animals, deer will run away, as they're both quick and agile, and escaping will do a much better job of prolonging their lives than fighting. This is true in almost all cases. The main fighting done with antlers is over the right to mate, which is also the point of the tusks here. Bigger antlers with more points means a better chance of defending your territory from weaker males with smaller antlers, thus giving you more of a right to mate. Replace antlers with tusks, and you see how the water deer fit into this."

"So it's just for mating?"

"Pretty much, yeah. There are other uses for them, but that's the primary goal of growing antlers and tusks. There's also another type of deer tha--"

With a shriek, Fluttershy suddenly sinks down into the mud much further than expected. What had been ankle-deep at worst suddenly slipped into knee-deep, and it had taken her down in one step. Worse, the sudden lack of balance causes her to fall forward, onto her hands and knees. In the thick mud, as strong as quicksand, she is up to her hips and almost her shoulders, and no matter how she pulls and struggles, she's stuck.

"Are you alright?" asks Twilight, taking a few cautious steps forward to not end up stuck herself.

"I think I've twisted my ankle," grunts Fluttershy. "And I can't move."

Twilight sets down the camera against a tree. "Just hang on a minute. I'm going to go find a vine strong enough to pull you out of there."

"Please hurry."

For the next minute or so, Fluttershy sits there, unable to do much. She focuses on trying to move her right arm in such a way that it might pull free, but she only succeeds at moving about three or four centimetres. Worse, when she rests, it sinks back into the mire a bit before she realizes that she can't let it.

She doesn't sink in much more than she had initially, indicating that the pool is not that deep, just around knee-deep. If she hadn't fallen over, it would have been little issue to pull her leg out, at worst losing a shoe in the process. however, with all four of her limbs stuck, she didn't have a lot of ability to remove herself from the mud.

Shortly after, a water deer walks right up to the camera and sniffs it. It's the male with the torn ear from earlier, with the same shoulder scab. As he looks right into the lens, it is clear what makes him what is considered to be a weak male. One of his tusks is missing, and the other is broken. The parts of his body that he shows to females to make him seem desirable are horribly mangled.

He turns his attention to Fluttershy, seeing her stuck in the mud. Being no stranger to the swamp mud, he steps down into it, slowly approaching her and giving her a sniff.

"Hello," smiles Fluttershy weakly, her voice cracking as she's on the verge of tears. "Did you come to keep me company?"

The deer responds by rubbing his hoof up against her shoulder, and by taking a small amount of her mane into his mouth, then quickly dropping it. He sniffs her again, and, deciding that she smells better now, begins walking around her, inspecting her, as if trying to find the easiest way to remove her from the mud, taking regular stops to rub his hoof up against her, pushing and prodding to find out how far her limbs can move.