Fluttershy's Nature Show

The regular handheld camera takes over again with a lot of shaking around. It doesn't take long for the audio to come back, as this one is capable of syncing with the microphones. "--ieve that we actually found them!" exclaims Twilight excitedly as the camera settles its movement on the two aralezner sitting on either side of Fluttershy. "This is amazing!"

"Well, technically, they found us," corrects Fluttershy. "They came in the middle of the night and warmed me up."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I figured out what their magic does, too." Fluttershy lifts her hands, pushing them up in front of the camera. "Last night, I was sure that I would never be able to feel anything with my hands again. But something about the aralez' bodily fluid excretions, in this case saliva, managed to heal the damage and stop it coming back right away. After they came in and licked my hands, I felt fine."

"That's so amazing, Fluttershy!" Twilight is unable to hold the camera still, zooming in on Fluttershy's fingers. Despite the fact that they still look sticky and shiny, they are back to their normal colour, and have a full, unhindered range of motion.

Fluttershy reaches into her bag and pulls out a brush, first smoothing out her own mane and following that up with brushing one aralez while rubbing the belly of the other. "So, do you want to find out what they eat?" she asked, turning to the camera.

"You bet!"

Fluttershy nods to her bag, which has different kinds of food in it, from a variety of vegetables and meats to home-crafted things, such as dog biscuits made of peanut butter and oat flour. Twilight reaches in and pulls out her first guess, the biscuits. She offers one to the aralez being brushed, and he devours it without a second thought, licking his lips and turning his attention directly to her. He is drooling by the time that she pulls out a second one, but this goes to the other aralez before he can nab it.

"Okay, so they both like your dog biscuits, so that's a good result. What do you think next?"

Fluttershy thinks on that for a moment as she continues brushing their coats. "Maybe try out the apples?"

Twilight reaches back into the bag and pulls out some apple slices out of it. When she offers these, the aralez sniffs it for a bit, unsure of exactly what it is. He licks it, sniffs it again, then takes it from her hand to eat it. The moment the first crunch is heard, he's enraptured by the taste, and the other aralez is not content to just have his belly rubbed. If food is being distributed, he would like some, too. He's much more accepting of the apple, if still a bit curious.

"I think I felt something when he licked my hand," says Twilight, filming that hand. "My hands weren't damaged by frostbite, so I don't need the healing powers, but still, I can feel that there's a new temperature gradient in my hand. The fingers he drooled on are super warm, Like I just dug them into the sand on a tropical beach. But, you know, without the crabs. The others are cold."

"That's exactly how I felt," nods Fluttershy. "When they were licking my hands, other parts of me felt colder, but that's because my hands were warming up. And then they stayed by my side all night just to make sure I didn't need an extra dose." She leans over and kisses one, then stares into the camera. "That's why it's important to care for them. Aralezner are very rare creatures, who call this mountain their home. This space needs to be preserved for them so that they can continue to live here, because they can't go anywhere else. Their kind can't live anywhere else, as far as anyone knows, and until the Aralezner can live somewhere else, we cannot push our way up here. Visitors from time to time are okay, but we don't want to drive them off the mountain."

"Especially since they have healing properties," adds Twilight. "Healing properties that we don't yet fully understand. If we create a mutually beneficial relationship with them, we could all live so much longer, and be in good health way later into our years. Just think of all the lives that could be saved by protecting the aralezner. We need to live in harmony with them if we want any of the benefits that come with that."

Fluttershy nods. As the aralezner turn back to face her, Twilight puts the camera down and pulls two strips of meat out of Fluttershy's bag. "We've come this far on testing out their digestive systems. Let's see how they li--"

She finds herself unable to finish her sentence as the aralezner both let out loud barks and pounce on her, hungrily devouring the meat. The camera is knocked over in the scuffle, but it clearly shows their tails wagging wildly, clearly enjoying themselves. Fluttershy pulls her out, brushing her off.

"Well, it seems that they're omnivorous," chuckles Fluttershy. "They're like dogs in so many ways, it's not unheard of for this to also be true."

"I suppose that I might have expected that."

Twilight and Fluttershy spend a few minutes having some fun with the aralezner, from giving them snacks to rubbing their bellies to brushing out their coats. The aralezner seem to be happy to have the mares as company, running around the small cave, their tails wagging and their wings flapping every so often. After awhile, they even go outside to do some flying around. From a distance, they might be mistaken for eagles with large bodies and strange colouration.

When the afternoon rolls around, Twilight and Fluttershy decide that they have enough footage, and the camera turns off while they pack up their belongings. It turns back on an indeterminate amount of time later, looking back at Fluttershy rubbing their necks.

"So, they accompanied us down the mountain," Twilight explains, "but stopped right here at the tree line. They refuse to come even further than this, so there must be something below here that keeps them up on their mountain. We don't know what it is, whether it's the temperature gradient or the air pressure or what, but they won't follow us anymore. You can see Fluttershy back there saying her farewell, and promising to come back to see them again. We'll definitely be back someday, whether for a follow-up or just for a visit." The film ends there.