Fluttershy's Nature Show

by Kiernan

Rating: mature
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Porn, Fetish, Comedy, Non-consensual, Fluttershy, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Anthro
Length: 40018

Fluttershy hosts a nature show where things routinely go wrong.

Fluttershy and Twilight think it would be a good idea to host a nature show to teach all the little colts and fillies about the wonder and magic of the animal kingdom. Fluttershy, being very knowledgeable on animals, agrees to host the show while Twilight films it.

However, things don't always go according to plan.

Contains: Beastiality, and lots of it. Also, some group sex of that variety. Also be on the lookout for watersports.

Published 2021-12-07 07:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-01-23 07:00:04 UTC

Episode Two: Horses, Part One

"Now this is more like it." As the screen flickers to life, Fluttershy is walking through a barn door. "Think about it, Twilight. Wouldn't it be easier to start off teaching the kids something they can more easily work with?"

"A bit disappointing for those who wanted to dive in, but I guess we can start off in easy mode. So, what do we have here?"

Fluttershy throws the door open. "Horses."

As the camera pans across the barn, not a single horse is able to be seen. "Where are they?"

"I... I don't know," answers Fluttershy, walking into the frame. "They're supposed to be here."

"They're down at the pasture," says a male voice. The camera quickly pans and zooms to a stallion in a flannel shirt. "It gives them a bit of time to run around. It was on your recommendation, Fluttershy."

The camera turns back to Fluttershy, whose face was suddenly pushed into realization. "Right, sorry. I didn't know that was today. Come on, Twilight, let's go down to the pasture and see."

The camera stays on for the entirety of the brief jog, totaling about five minutes of a shaky image and the only sound being their footfalls. This was clearly unedited footage, straight from the camera itself, and Twilight was obviously an amateur cinematographer at best.

After a long segment of nothing happening, they finally reach the pasture and see the horses. Some of the horses are frolicking, running back and forth or making wide circles, others are just grazing, and others still are just lying in the sun, simply enjoying the time outside.

"These are the horses," smiles Fluttershy, gesturing to them. "Let's go look closer, shall we?" Fluttershy opens the gate and walks into the pasture, with Twilight close in tow. "Horses are magnificent creatures. Strong, fast, and energy efficient, they're a great starting look into the world of animal care."

She approaches one of the stallions just lying on the grass. "This is a shire horse. The first thing you'll notice is his size. He's really big." The camera pans up and down his body, showing off his massive build. "He's one of the biggest breeds of horse, and he eats a lot. Fortunately, his diet is not particularly difficult to meet, consisting of generally fruits, vegetables, grains and hay." She reaches into her pack and pulls out a carrot. With very little coaxing, he begins to munch on it.

"Shires are workhorses," she continues, "or were, back when we used to use horses to power pretty much everything. They were often selected for their raw power, being able to pull a plow with exceptional ease, but as we've moved further and further away from using horsepower, which, as a side note, is exactly where the word horsepower comes from, the shires have fallen from grace, in favour of other horses."

Fluttershy gestures out to one of the horses running in circles. "A lot of horse owners now are looking for competition horses such as the appaloosa or the thoroughbred. These are the kinds you might expect to see in shows, rodeos, races and competitions. For those purposes, the shire is not as suited. He's not a fast-paced athlete, but a strong, hard-working breed, who will take good care of you if you take good care of him."

The camera pans back to Fluttershy, who is gently rubbing the shire's shoulders. "Fortunately, it's really easy to take care of these guys. First, you want to gain their trust. This can take some time, but after awhile, a good carrot is all it takes to show that you're not there to cause any harm. They will learn to trust you if you make an effort. It's just like making friends, except you can't talk as much."

Fluttershy moves her hands up the shire's neck. "Now, you can use this technique on just about any horse, not just your shires. I'm just using him as an example because it's convenient. But any horse would be glad of this. First, we brush out their mane. They have hooves, not hands, so they can't really do this themselves. Now, it may be that you don't need to brush out their mane, but if you do, long, easy strokes are the way to go. You don't want to accidentally yank out a wad of their mane; that would hurt. Be gentle and kind."

As she says this, she demonstrates how to do this with a soft bristle brush that she'd pulled from her bag. His mane was very clean and free of tangles, as he'd been brushed recently, but he certainly didn't mind the attention or the brushing.

"Now, if your horse's mane is too long, and they routinely push it out of their face because it's distracting, you can give them a trim. I wouldn't recommend doing this if you're not that close with them yet, but if you want to help them without risking cutting them accidentally, you can braid their mane. Most horses are pretty okay with braids. You may want to take them out twice a week and redo them, though, just to make sure they don't knot up. As an added bonus, you can weave little flowers into them, but if you do, you have to replace them every day. No horse wants dead, rotting flowers in their mane.

"Now for the coat. You can brush it just like the mane. The big difference is that, rather than looking for tangles to brush out, you're looking for matte sections to shine. You're trying to remove the dirt. That's a lot easier when he's standing up, but for now, we'll just focus on what we can reach. You want to start behind the head, so you don't end up accidentally scraping his eye. Go down on his neck in smooth, even strokes, keeping a gentle but firm pressure on the brush. Slowly work your way back to the flank and down. Starting at the bottom and moving up means that everything you cleaned prior will be covered in dust and loose hair, and then you have to go over it again. He just wants to be clean and fed."

"Hang on," says Twilight, moving the camera around a bit. "I have to replace the reel. These cameras don't really capture a lot of footage before the film goes de--" The sound cuts out with a few small pops, and the video quickly follows suit as the reel comes to an end.

Episode Three: Horses, Part Two

When the new reel is properly loaded into the projector, the screen lights up, and Fluttershy seems to already be talking. A few seconds later, the audio syncs up. "--ig boy. It's good that he's nice, because this would be quite an ordeal if he was wild."

"Okay, I think this things wor-- no, hang on." The camera shakes violently a few times, as if Twilight was smacking it to make it work right. "There we go, all sorted. Whenever you're ready."

Fluttershy leans forward and hugs the shire's neck. "Are you ready, big guy?" The horse nods, earning himself a kiss from Fluttershy. "I think he'll let me ride him, now." In one smooth motion, Fluttershy drapes her leg over his back. Even though there is no riding equipment, she easily stays on as the horse picks himself up off the ground.

"Now, I would recommend against riding bareback, especially without experience. A saddle is more secure for you, and more comfortable for him, but this is a really short trip, just over to those trees, and he's strong enough to support my light frame without too much discomfort." With a soft pat, he starts a slow walk over to the shade trees about ten metres away. "You really want to be careful, because horses are big. Even the small ones are big, and if you aren't careful, they ca--"

Without warning, The shire stands up on his hind legs and kicks at the air, turning around and running the opposite direction. Twilight chases after it, but it's much faster than her. Thankfully, it doesn't run very far, and before long, he tosses Fluttershy off his back, sending her into the wooden fence, where a beam keeps her pinned in place as the shire runs off in another direction.

"Are you alright?" asks Twilight, as she finally reaches the fence. "What happened?"

"He saw a snake, I think," groans Fluttershy. "A lot of horses are scared of snakes. It's a common fear for them, and one I know he has. It was just a little garter snake, completely harmless, but it's hard to be afraid and rational at the same time. Help me out of here, would you?"

Twilight sets the camera down on its tripod, keeping it secured in place as she steps into view, trying to lift the wooden beam off of Fluttershy. It was fairly stuck. Not heavy, but wedged in place, and unwilling to move as the two posts on either side clamp it down. Fluttershy couldn't squeeze out, nor could Twilight lift it. Even a rubberizing spell from Twilight didn't help to squeeze her out.

"It won't budge," concludes Twilight after a few attempts. "Wait here, I'll go find help."

As soon as Twilight is out of earshot, Fluttershy groans. "Sure, I'll wait right here. I won't move from this spot." True to what Twilight had said, she'd forgotten that there was a mic hidden in her mane. "I suppose it's not her fault," she sighs, using her foot to scratch the back of her leg. "She'll be back soon."

After a minute of not much happening, a new stallion trots up to her and gives her backside a sniff, pushing her skirt slightly aside as he nuzzles her hips.

"Oh, you've come to comfort me?" asks Fluttershy, turning her head to look at him. "How gentlemanly of you." Soon, another stallion approaches, and then another, looking and sniffing at her. While she was fond of animals, she still was a bit uncomfortable with being the center of attention. "Could one of you maybe try to help me?"

As if in response to her question, one of the stallions snags her panties between his teeth, pulls them off in a few quick motions, then run off, presumably to show the other stallions his find.

"Hey!" she shouts, kicking her legs. "Come back here! I need those!"

As soon as she stops moving, the camera has a pretty clear view of her genitals, but more importantly, the stallions could see and smell everything. Just as she was starting to wind down, one of them, a shiny black Friesian with a curly mane, jumps up onto the fence beam and mounts her, his already flared tip probing her for an opening.

"No, down boy!" calls Fluttershy, to no response, closing her thighs around the monstrous cock that had slid between her legs. "You won't fit!"

As she was shouting, she was unaware of the other stallion, an Appaloosa, leaping over the lowered fence and looking at her until he was right in front of her. As he, too, mounts the fence beam, Fluttershy seems to bee relieved that the posts were keeping the beam in place, as she might otherwise be crushed by the combined weight of two horses on top of her. What she was not glad of was to see a cock right in her face.

She grabs it just behind the head with her left hand and covers the tip with her right, trying to push it away. Something must have made his underside wet, though, because her hands are slipping all over the place, which only makes him harder. Soon, he begins to thrust, his tip slipping free of her hands and glancing off her face.

With all of her focus directed forward, her thigh grip had faltered, and the Friesian had broken free. With one good push, he was inside of her pussy, stretching her wide open as he went. Fluttershy was glad that Twilight had at least partially rubberized her, as she really didn't want to be torn open. She still felt herself struggling to accommodate his length and girth, though, causing her to take great pains.

As he begins to thrust, she can't help but gasp and whimper, leaving her jaw hanging wide open. Having to constantly shift her attention to the more problematic stallion had left her unable to protect herself from the one that was on the other side, and the Appaloosa decided to take her open mouth as an invitation, slipping down her throat with great ease. The mic is no longer picking up words, but rather a guttural moaning, a wet slurping, and a muffled slapping. As if by magic, the camera seemed to zoom into the Friesian's balls, swinging in the motion, slapping hard against Fluttershy's clitoris as some sort of glistening fluid begins to run down her leg.

Episode Four: Horses, Part Three

This episode begins right where the last one left off, with Fluttershy being drilled from both ends by horses, sucking and jerking off a zealous appaloosa while an equally pushy Friesian mounts her from behind. While it seemed clear in the last episode that she was against the idea, the cut removes her change of heart, and she seems to have accepted her fate, moaning and pushing her legs apart to allow for better access.

Two other stallions approach, standing by the fence and watching, seemingly waiting for their turn. The first is the thoroughbred that ran off with her panties. He still has them, but they're now draped over his ear. The other is the shire that tossed her and left her in this predicament in the first place. The camera zooms in on their cocks, which are fully extended and ready for use as they watch the mating display in front of them.

The camera zooms out again as the Friesian whinnies, humping Fluttershy a bit faster as his testicles tense up. Just before he cums, he pulls out and shoves his cock between her thighs, painting her underside white in several long, ropey bursts. He's clearly been pent up for awhile, based on the sheer volume, but he soon stops, letting his shaft retreat into his sheath as he turns and strolls gently away.

The appaloosa doesn't last much longer, either. He's less vocal about it, opting instead for a more forceful and quick set of thrusts. He, too, pulls out, and rubs his shaft against Fluttershy's shoulder and cheek as she gasps for breath, coughing and wheezing as he fires his load all over her back, letting his seed wash all over her.

"Why are you being so mean?" she whimpers as he leaps back over the fence, showing off for the camera her drool dripping from his balls. "I thought you all liked me. Why would you do this to me?"

Despite Fluttershy's tear-streaked face, the shire mounts her next, rubbing his massive meat rod between her arse cheeks. "Please, no more," Fluttershy begs, pressing her buttocks together to try to push him away. It just made him harder and caused his tip to flare up. That instantly spelled bad news as he pressed his girth all the way in with a single thrust. Fluttershy certainly wasn't lying earlier when she said that the shire could plow with incredible strength and power.

Unlike the frenetic and indefatigable dives that the show horses had made, the shire is slow to pull away and quick to push in, causing Fluttershy to cry out with every thrust. Every time his dick slams into her rubberized arsehole, she is jolted forward, being pushed further and further with every clap their hips make on contact.

Fortunately, the shire has a very short fuse, blowing his load deep into her colon as he pushes his hips ever forward. Just as his balls are beginning to run empty, Fluttershy slips from between the fence beams, sliding down the hill.

As the thoroughbred and shire come down the bank to sniff her out, she looks into the shire's eyes, and realizes what had happened. "You felt bad about throwing me, and came back to unstick me." The shire nods. "And your friends were just trying to lubricate me so I could slip out easier." The shire nods again. "I owe you all an extra carrot tomorrow," she exclaims joyfully. "And thank you for bringing back my panties."

As Fluttershy comes back into view, she is completely covered in mud, and wobbling a bit. Whether her unsteady state comes from her recent misadventure or because she is still a bit rubberized, she doesn't know, nor does she care. Her shire friend is at her left side, providing support to help her stay steady, effectively ruining his freshly cleaned coat with mud. The thoroughbred does the same on her right side. After the three of them go back over the fence and into the pasture, the Friesian comes back with her bag, where she quickly stuffs her panties, with all of the mud that had come off her hand.

"You're out?" comes Twilight's voice as the camera is picked up again. "And you're caked in mud."

"The horses helped me," answers Fluttershy, leaving out the finer details. "But when I came out of the fence, I landed in the mud. They helped pull me out of that, too."

"Oh," comes Twilight's response. "I was just going to cut the beam to pull you out. Glad you found an alternative."

Fluttershy reaches up and gently pets the stallions' necks. "It's just what I was saying about them earlier. If you take good care of them, they'll take good care of you. I've been helping to look after them for quite awhile, and seeing me in need, they jumped to my aid. Such lovely gentlemen." She leans over and kisses the shire, leaving a muddy mark on his face.

"So, should we try to make our way back over to the tree?" asks Twilight. "The snake's probably gone by now."

"Yeah, but I think I'll take a different horse this time." Once more, Fluttershy climbs up on a horse bareback, though she is much more bare this time. She is so bare during this that the camera happens to capture her gape as her leg goes over his back. This is much easier to see because the thoroughbred is much shorter than the shire.

The entire cavalcade makes their way over to the shady tree as Fluttershy wipes some of the mud off of her body. The layer of semen that had been sprayed all over her clothes provides a slick surface to make this much easier than it would have been if it was just mud, dirt and grass. She almost looks presentable when they arrive, and she climbs off her steed, only to be surrounded by the rest of them. "Are we rolling?"

"Yep."

"So, as you can see, horses are really very nice, they can be fun to play with, and they will come up with ways to pull their friends out of dangerous situations. They're very loving and kind, if a bit playful. It's very easy to keep them happy and healthy, to keep them clean and fed, and to become someone that they see as part of their family. Truly, they are magnificent creatures with a wealth of love to give, if only you are willing to give yours in turn."

Episode Five: Aralezner, Part One

It is unclear at first if the camera is working, as the screen seems to be a staticky white image. "Are you sure this is the right place?!" comes Twilight's voice, but despite the fact that her tone and inflection denote shouting, she can barely be heard over the white noise. "I can barely see anything!"

"I'm positive!" comes Fluttershy's response. "We're definitely in the right place, but I have my doubts as to whether or not we'll see them coming in this weather!"

"Perhaps we should wait it out!" called Twilight. "Find a place to stop for the evening and start again when the weather softens up!"

The screen is still a staticky white image thrumming with white noise, which may indicate that something's wrong with the reel.

"Fluttershy!"

"Okay! Let's take refuge in that cave!"

A minute or so later, the screen clears up, and the white noise quiets down. The screen clearing up coincides directly with Twilight's hand running across it. After the lens finds its new focus, the camera shows a stony cave with a large pile of snow at the entrance. The cave isn't particularly big, but it is out of the roaring wind of the blizzard outside.

Fluttershy is wearing a puffy pair of pants and snow boots, as well as a thick winter coat. Her hair is clinging together, as if it were a bunch of icicles. It even clinks when they knock against each other. As she takes off her scarf, it's clear what parts of her face were suffering from exposure by the shift in colour.

"The weather wasn't supposed to change," she said, finding a rock to sit on. She takes off her gloves to find that some frostbite has set in, turning her fingers a light blue. She pushes them together and starts breathing on them to warm them. "It was supposed to be a bright, sunny day until sunset."

"Those hands look dreadful," comments Twilight. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be okay," answers Fluttershy, though she doesn't seem too sure. "I dressed for cold, but not blizzard conditions."

As Twilight's hands come into the corners of the frame, They have almost no damage. She had thicker gloves, though. She reaches into her pack and tosses a little orange packet to her. "Heat your hands up slowly with this," she says, picking up the camera. "Remind me again what kind of creature we're looking for?"

"An aralez," says Fluttershy, careful about how she warms herself. "They look like big dogs with wings, and they have special powers. They only exist on this mountain, and nowhere else."

Twilight moves the camera onto a tripod and starts pulling out the camping stove she'd brought with them in case they needed to stay overnight. It wasn't quite night, but it was a good time to pull it out, as a hot meal would be a very good idea in a blizzard. "What do they eat?"

"I actually don't know," answers Fluttershy. "I haven't ever seen one eat before, so that'll be new information for us both if we can find out. It's not as though this mountain has any foliage that you can't find on the next, but the aralezner won't go over there for some reason. I can't guess as to why."

"Maybe aralezes eat meat?" suggests Twilight.

Fluttershy shakes her head. "With the exception of aralezner, all of the surrounding mountains have the same array and concentration of both flora and fauna."

Twilight turns around. "You keep saying aralezner, and earlier, you said aralez."

"Aralezner is the plural form," Fluttershy informs.

"I didn't know that."

Fluttershy shrugs. "Their existence isn't common knowledge, so it's totally reasonable for you to be missing information. But that's why we're doing this, right? To spread knowledge and information?"

Twilight smiles and nods as she lights the stove. The camera continues to roll as the fire builds up a bit to a more stable state, then moves slightly when Twilight bumps into it grabbing the food out of her bag for cooking. "So tell me more about the aralezner," she says, starting to work on dinner. "What do you know about them?"

"I've seen two of them," answers Fluttershy, looking down at her hands with growing discomfort. "They're magnificent to see and super friendly, if a bit protective of their territory. I don't even know what their magical power is supposed to do, but..." She trails off as she looks at her hands again. "I'm really scared now, Twilight."

Twilight, now content to let dinner cook, walks over and sits down next to Fluttershy, taking her hand. The frostbite is really starting to set in, and Fluttershy can't stop shaking, whether from the cold, fear, or a combination of both. "You really need to warm up, Fluttershy," Twilight urges, bringing over a blanket. "Come, sit closer to the fire before you suffer nerve damage and lose all feeling in your fingers."

Wrapped in a blanket with tears welling in her eyes, Fluttershy extends her arms out toward the stove. She's whimpering something that the mic can't pick up, but it's fairly easy to guess. Her hands don't improve by the time dinner is cooked, indicating that there may be permanent damage to them.

By the time they finish eating, the mood has soured, and the conversation has stopped. The wind is howling outside at the cave entrance. Twilight's camping stove is still going, illuminating the area and keeping their location relatively warm, though a lot of the heat is escaping out of the cave mouth. Wordlessly, they roll out their sleeping bags, very well insulated, and curl up for the night with Fluttershy crying herself to sleep. Twilight settles down shortly after, forgetting to turn the camera off, but is shown to hang two trail cameras on the cave walls before she retires for the night, set to record if they catch any sign of motion.

A few hours after they fall asleep, the storm dies out, then the fire in the stove shortly after that. The sky has cleared up, and the full moon blasts a column of blue light into the cave, illuminating the mares' sleeping bags.

Just then, Fluttershy rolls over. The zipper in her sleeping bag pulls apart, venting her pocket of warm air, and exposing herself to the cold air filling the cave. To make matters even worse, a dark shadow approaches the cave entrance just as the camera runs out of film.

Episode Six: Aralezner, Part Two

The feed switches to the trail camera set up in the cave. There is no audio for this section. Fluttershy is still splayed out, her sleeping bag wide open and her clothing slipping away. The shadow at the cave entrance shifts, and is soon revealed to be a big, fluffy Saint Bernard. He sees Twilight sleeping in her sleeping bag, then turns to Fluttershy. He sniffs her a few times, then turns and runs out of the cave, leaving her in her current state. The camera shuts off after thirty seconds without movement.

The camera comes back on an undisclosed amount of time later as two Saint Bernards come into the cave. They immediately turn their attention toward Fluttershy, moving their faces all around her. One starts tugging off her coat, while the other works to unzip her sleeping bag the rest of the way. The one that is taking off her coat manages to pull her shirt and bra along with it. The one undoing her sleeping bag starts working on her pants, tearing those off, as well.

Once stripped, they take a moment to inspect her now nude body. The feed from the trail camera indicates that the frostbite was far worse than either Fluttershy or Twilight had imagined, as her feet have already begun to turn dark. She needs medical attention right away, but there's no way for her to seek it.

One of the dogs flips her onto her stomach and props up her butt. It's only now that she wakes up, and realizes that there are two intruders watching her, and moving her around without permission. She struggles to push herself up, barely managing to come up to her hands and knees before she's mounted by the one that rolled her over, pushing his shaft into her, though the current camera angle leaves which hole he enters ambiguous, and open to interpretation.

She opens her mouth and says something, but the trail cameras don't pick up any sound, so it's not definitive what she says, and the angle makes it difficult to read her lips. Whatever she said, it doesn't stop the dog from humping her, nor does it wake Twilight. What it does seem to do is coax the other dog to come around to her front side and mount her in the opposite direction. This time, there's no ambiguation; his dick is firmly in her mouth.

Fluttershy's frostbitten hands press against the cold ground, as her vain attempt to crawl away moved her from her sleeping bag and onto the rocks. It's all she can do to hold herself up while the dogs have their way with her. Her breasts swing back and forth as they settle into a rhythm, moving Fluttershy's body ever so slightly.

Suddenly, the screen switches to a different viewpoint. Twilight had set up multiple cameras, and a different one is now detecting more movement. That is to say, it falls from the wall, and slides across the floor to underneath Fluttershy, giving a close-up shot of the dog's cock.

First and foremost, it is no longer ambiguous as to where she was being penetrated. His bright red dick is snugly inside her grey, damaged pussy. The tip isn't in view because it's staying inside of her, but the shaft is bulbous and thick, and seemingly both hard and soft at the same time. It spreads her lips with every thrust, but also seems to compress down. But the shaft is certainly not the most interesting thing in frame. At the base, there is a collection of three large bulbs, as if something had taken the insides out, tied them in a large knot, and shoved it back into the skin. It's more than twice as wide as the shaft, and only growing wider as time goes on.

A canine foot comes into view for a split second as the camera view changes again, sliding under Fluttershy's body, with her areolas turning blue, up to between her hands. A good view of her neck bulge is in the center of the frame, indicating an impressive length that was unable to be inferred from the dog behind her. This one has a smaller knot, though it's still growing. It's hard to see his balls through all of the thick fur, but with a few bits of saliva from her mouth managing to mat the fur, sticking it together and making it easier to see, it's rather obvious that he has some juicy, low- hanging fruit. Another kick a moment later overturns the camera, giving a far less impressive view of the rocks.

The camera switches back to the original viewpoint, showing something amazing. The dogs in the frame are not your typical Saint Bernards, as they had seemed. As they continue to pump into Fluttershy, they raise their wings up behind them for added stability. Being large creatures, the wings are massive, and every little movement of the feathers can be expected to push the air around them, presumably making it even colder, but with no easy way to indicate that, it can only be guessed.

After a few more minutes, the aralez behind her pushes a bit harder, and judging by the shock on Fluttershy's face, the knot at the base of his penis has slipped into her vagina. A moment later, as he is dismounting, the other aralez locks himself in her mouth, his knot visibly pushing her jaw open. He, too, dismounts, brushing Fluttershy's mane back and forth with every wag of his tail.

Surprisingly, she doesn't seem to be struggling. Rather, she seems to relax, even going so far as to reach up and gently pet his thick, soft fur. This indicates that she is okay with the situation, and she may very well be, as her greyed-out skin seems to become more vibrant, especially around her core.

Eventually, the aralezner manage to pull themselves out of her. She gives them each a kiss on the nose, and they lick her all over, from her face, to her hands, and even her feet. When they finish, it's pretty clear that she's been cured of her frostbite. She slides back into her clothing, now cleaned by their tongues, and returns to her sleeping bag, talking silently at them as she does. Once she's lying down, they lie down next to her, and make sure she remains toasty warm all throughout the rest of the night, with their big, fluffy bodies providing her with extra heat, especially their heads and wings, which are draped over her, as if protecting her from the bitter cold.

Episode Seven: Aralezner, Part Three

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.

Episode Eight: Kangaroos, Part One

The camera clicks on as the pair make their way underneath a a large sign over a gate. "Didgeri's Kangaroo and Wallaby Farm," it reads in big dark letters. Sure enough, a quick scan of the horizon shows that dozens, perhaps even hundreds of kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos are running around the place, moving about the tall grasses and resting under shade trees.

"How do you know this guy, again?" asks Twilight, looking around again. The only buildings nearby are the ones on the farm, and her tone indicates that she feels a bit uneasy about that.

"He's Ditsy's cousin," answers Fluttershy, keeping her back to the camera. "But you'd be shocked to know that they're almost nothing alike. They don't look similar in the slightest, they have different temperaments, different interests, different jobs; the only thing they share is ancestry. He came to visit the Canterlot gardens once, to see to an injured Wallaroo. I was also investigating this injured critter, and we ended up swapping contact information."

"And he just lives out here, away from anypony else. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

Fluttershy turns around, disappointment rather clearly written all over her face. "I live out away from Ponyville. Applejack runs a farm out away from Ponyville. Didgeri Doo might live further from the beaten path, but that doesn't make him a bad person. I'm surprised at you."

Twilight sighs behind the camera. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just a little creeped out, personally. Maybe it's unfounded, just a gut feeling."

With a nod of approval, Fluttershy continues down the long driveway. As this is a pretty big farm, the best place to put the buildings, whether silos, sheds, barns or residences, is pretty close to the center so that one could move freely around the outside. This means that there is a long track right up the middle of the property going from the front gate up to the farmhouse. It's a brisk five-minute walk as they make their way up to the center.

On arrival, the camera falls on a very tall, very dark stallion in a red plaid shirt carrying a large bag on his shoulder. It's hard to tell if he's dark brown, dark red or dark blue, due to the lighting changing every time he's in a different frame, but he's very dark in colouration. "Fluttashai?" he calls out when he sees her, dropping his bag on a handcart. "Its been so long. How ya goin'?"

"I've been well," Fluttershy answers, giving him a small, platonic hug. "We're here to film that nature show I told you about."

"Yea, youa lettah said somethin' about that. I don't completely understand, but my biggest concern is for my kangaroos. I'm pretty shua that they'll be safe in youa hands, but I'd like to heah it outright."

Fluttershy nods. "Didgeri, you have my word. I will not knowingly or intentionally cause any harm to any of your kangaroos. I would never. The whole point of this is to bring the wonders of the animal kingdom to the common colt and filly, and make them care more for the critters around them."

Didgeri Doo smiles. "Tha's good." He picks up the yoke on the hand cart and begins pulling it out into the fields. "Now, If theya's anathing you'd like ta know, I'd be willing to help you out. I'm an open book. Ask me anathing."

"Why kangaroos?" asks Twilight. "There's lots of animals in the world. What drew you to raising kangaroos?"

"Wallabies, actually," corrects Didgeri. "The kangaroos ah actually just more profitable to raise, but wallabies ah what I set my focus on. Theya just so cute."

"Aren't they?" smiles Fluttershy. "Can you tell me about their eating habits?"

"It's actually pretty easy. Since they'a herbivorous, all I have ta do is make shua that theya's enough foliage fo' them ta eat. Honestly, keepin' up with theya watah is way moa difficult, and still not all that 'ard."

"How difficult is it to handle their water?"

"I have a pond off to the south, and as long as I keep it full and clean, no problem. Lots of plumbing going inta that, but simple as just flip a switch when she's too low and flip it again when she's all well and good."

"That's it?" asks Twilight. "I thought there was more to it."

Didgeri shakes his head. "Nope. Real low maintenance, at least when it comes ta feedin' and waterin'. It's theya personalities that cause the most trouble."

"Their personalities?"

"Roos, at least. The males can be a little aggressive towahds each other. You evah see two roos up on their tails, kickin' each othah with theya back legs? Theya's a reason they do that. And that's all on the males, the females don't do that, and that's a good thing. Don't wanna hurt the li'l joeys, aftah all."

"What's the reason?" asks Twilight.

Having reached their destination near the edge of the pond, Didgeri sets down the cart, opens a bag, and pulls out a large rotary device and a small pail. "Theya tryna' rip each othah's nahds off," he said finally.

"But they always seemed to be aiming too high for that," says Twilight quizzically. "Are their... reproductive organs really that high up?"

"Just the nahds," nods Didgeri. "The penis is right where you would expect."

"Let's change the subject," says Fluttershy in a pushy tone, having been silent for a bit. "This is a show for kids, remember? We should probably not focus on how they are conceived."

"I disagree," objects Didgeri. "I think it best that all the little ones learn all there is ta learn about caring for creatures, and the shape of theya body and how to make moa of them is an important part of that. But, since you insist, let's talk about theya food again."

"Well, not again," adds Twilight. "If you have something more to say about it, I'll listen to that."

"Well, that's what I was drivin' at," winks Didgeri, waving at the device. "Every so often, when the grass goes very thin, I like to load this thing up with grass startah and walk it around the thin patches. It's a strong mix that provides a lot of fibah for them. Good fo' theya colons."

Just as Twilight starts following Didgeri off to watch the spread of the seed starter, a few kangaroos begin to approach Fluttershy. They're mostly just curious, but seem friendly enough. "You two go ahead," she says. "I'll stick around here and build up a rapport with these fellas."

"Suit yourself," shrugs Twilight, setting down some of her equipment on the handcart.

Episode Nine: Kangaroos, Part Two

The backup camera turns on to show a kangaroo digging through the bags Twilight had left on the cart. It sniffs around for a bit before Fluttershy ushers it away. "No, no," she says, gently coaxing it away. "Leave that stuff alone. We didn't bring any food for you today." It's rather clear that she doesn't realize that the camera has been turned on, as she just lets it keep going.

As Twilight and Didgeri are off having their own conversation, Fluttershy is alone with a handful of kangaroos. They mostly hop around on their hind legs and sniff at her, though a few of them do use their front legs for stability. Fluttershy is very careful to let them sniff her before actually petting them.

A mother kangaroo hops into frame, with the little joey poking his head and front paws out of her pouch. She hops around for a bit near Fluttershy, until she's comfortable enough to let him come out and meet the new creature in their environment. He hops right up to her for neck pets.

"Hey there, little guy," she smiles, kneeling down to reach him. "You're a cutie. Did you come out just to say hi to me?"

As two large male kangaroos came face to face near the camera, the joey senses what is about to happen and jumps back into the pouch. His mom hops a few metres away for safety as the males hop up on their tails and start kicking each other in the gut. The camera seems to confirm what Didgeri had said earlier, as the claws on their back feet seem to be long and pointy, and their blows are directed at what seems to be a scrotum, but it seems to be higher on their body than it should be.

"Hey!" shouts Fluttershy, coming closer and trying to push them apart, only to be swatted away by stray kicks. She doesn't stop trying, though, until she's successfully managed to push them apart. As she separates them, the camera catches a glimpse of her heaving breasts through her torn shirt and destroyed bra. "That's enough! I don't want to see you two fighting any more! Whatever your differences are, I'm sure there's a nicer way of resolving the issue."

The two males growl and grunt at each other aggressively and almost come to blows again, but Fluttershy continues to push them apart.

"I'm sorry you both feel that way, but you can't kick each other just because you're mad! Find another solution!"

There's a long pause where neither male makes a move or sound, just staring at each other. The smaller one flops his head to the side and clicks his tongue a few times, then the larger one nods.

"See? A much better solution. Sharing is much more friendly. No more fighting, only sharing."

Just behind their scrotums, their penises start to peek out. They're red and curve upward, ending in a long, pointy tip. They hop off camera and circle around the cart, a movement that seems unnecessary, as in the next moment, they're in the same general location, just a few steps back from where they were. The big one acts first, jumping on Fluttershy's back and knocking her down onto her hands and knees.

"Hey!" she shouts. "That's not nice! don't take your frustrations out on me!"

His forepaws are exceptionally dexterous, more than one might expect. He has no problems with shifting her blue and white striped panties aside, and probably could have taken them off if he really wanted to. But Fluttershy couldn't focus on that, as the smaller male has popped up in front of her, and is rubbing his testicles on her forehead while the tip of his penis wipes her clamped-shut lips with premature ejaculate, but she isn't letting him in. That is, until the big one penetrates her. With a sharp gasp, her mouth is open wide enough to accept his shaft.

Her hair is caught in his claws, and she can't pull herself free because of it. The big one behind her is so sturdy that she doesn't have the raw strength to push him away. Every time she tries, she just ends up being filled even deeper. She seems to be holding onto hope for something, perhaps that he would realize that she only had one vagina, rather than the three that a female kangaroo had, and think that odd enough to move on. But from his continuing to hump her, it is clear that he either doesn't notice or doesn't care, or perhaps some combination of the two.

The camera moves as another kangaroo starts messing with Twilight's stuff again. It checks out the sky, then the grass, and then is picked up by the joey from earlier, who looks it over. He hops it over to his mother, sideways, then gives a good view inside her pouch as he sticks his head in for a bit of light nursing from her nipples. This doesn't last long, as the sharp corners of the camera probably hurt her, and it's removed from her pouch to land beneath Fluttershy, looking up at her.

Her breasts flop with every thrust, unprotected by the hole in her shirt. She had promised not to harm any of the kangaroos intentionally, so biting was out of the question, and she couldn't push the smaller male away with the one hand not holding her up, so she was caught between a cock and a hard place. Thankfully for her, they didn't last particularly long, and pushed into her as deep as they could before letting her go and hopping off together.

"That was unpleasant," sighs Fluttershy. "But at least they're not fighting anymore, and they're not hurt." She readjusts her panties, which are apparently very absorbent, and stands up. She looks around, and leaves the frame. After recording the sky for a bit, she picks up the camera. "Thank goodness this thing isn't recording," she says as her tits swing back and forth with every step. "I'd really hate it if word of this started spreading."

She puts the camera back on the cart with the rest of Twilight's stuff, restoring the original camera angle. She then moves back over to where she had been, where other kangaroos have gathered now that the fight's over. There are even a few other joeys that approach her. She manages to hug one as the camera runs out of film.

Episode Ten: Kangaroos, Part Three

"--ings are so finnicky, sometimes."

As the camera comes back on, the focus is very blurry. It's hard to see for a few seconds, then everything comes back into view. Most of the walking around has already been done, and the seed spreader is now empty and being wheeled back to where they left Fluttershy.

"Didja fix it?" asks Didgeri.

"I think so," answers Twilight. "I'll have to go back and cut out that part of the camera reel that was destroyed, which means we'll have to come back and record it again some other time. Then again, I guess we really didn't have much that was said, it was just walking around scattering seeds."

"Not exactly the most en'ertainin' thing fo' youa viewah's ta watch, is it?"

"I suppose not. Worst case scenario, I put in a different shot of how it all works, with a voiceover giving a description of what's being planted."

"You can do that?"

"I'm pretty sure."

The two make their way back to the cart. There's no view of Fluttershy until they come really close, as she's kneeling down on the other side of it. The camera catches her long before she realizes that she's being recorded. Twilight is too shocked at what she sees to make a move, so there's a long uninterrupted shot of Fluttershy's almost fully exposed breasts.

"Ya broke up a fight between two males, didn' ya?" laughs Didgeri, unbuttoning his shirt as he comes into frame. Realizing that she's not longer alone, Fluttershy reaches up and covers her chest, blushing and nodding, unable to make eye contact. "I told ya they could be pretty aggressive. Ya hurt?" He offers her his shirt, which he's now taken off completely.

"I'll be fine," she says, trying in vain to cover both large breasts with one arm as she takes the shirt.

"You shua? Theya's a first aid kit back at the 'ouse. Theya claws can cut right through ya. You shua youa alright?"

Fluttershy turns away from him and takes off her torn shirt. In respect for her privacy, Didgeri turns around so as not to watch her change, though Twilight zooms in on her torso to look for any damages, perhaps reasoning that this footage will be cut. There is no physical damage, but neither that shirt nor the bra beneath are capable of being salvaged.

"I'll be fine, Didgeri," Fluttershy says, buttoning up the shirt. "My clothes took the brunt of the damage. I'm not hurt, and I'm not even that mad, because they actually did stop fighting after our talk. Hopped off together without so much as a scuffle."

"That's excellent," smiles Didgeri. "I usually can't convince 'em to stop fightin', much less to buggah off peaceably. That's a real talent you have."

"Thanks. You can turn around now."

Fluttershy pulls her mane out of the shirt collar. The shirt is way too large for her, with the tails dipping below the hemline on her skirt. The collar, while fully buttoned, leaves so much of a gap in front of her neck that you can almost see the beginning of her cleavage. The sleeves had to be rolled up just so her hands could come out.

"Are you ready to do the next scene?" asks Twilight, finally free of her shock. "If you want to come back another day, we have reason to do that. A malfunction caused the camera to eat the film in my last reel, and we lost about fifteen minutes of footage, plus the next ten minutes cleaning it all out so we could start rolling again."

"I think we'll be fine," answers Fluttershy. "We can cut in a section of the tape that says why I needed to change shirts. We can do that, right?"

"Absolutely. I'll put it there in editing."

Fluttershy returns to the mob of kangaroos that had gathered by the water's edge and sits down. She is soon surrounded by the joeys whose ears she'd been rubbing prior to Twilight and Didgeri coming back. Some are a bit too big to return to the pouch, but still children, others are still needing to nurse, and must return to their pouch to do so, but they all gather around her for more neck rubs.

"We're rolling," says Twilight. "Anytime you're ready."

Fluttershy looks at the camera. "Unlike the last few species we looked at, the kangaroo is not an endangered species. The purpose of this show is not to show you all that our lifestyle is harmful to the creatures we share the planet with, but rather to generate more care and affection for our furry little friends."

She picked one up and stood it on her lap, gently stroking its coat. "A great many things can be learned from critters of all shapes and sizes, even the more strange-looking ones like these. We need to understand them not because they're disappearing, but because we don't want them to disappear. We want these little cuties to stay with us for as long as possible. We don't want to see them wiped out forever. We want them to stick around, and raise awareness."

The little joey hopped out of her lap, into the lap of his mother, just his front half disappearing into her pouch. "We're very lucky today to be able to to tell you that, at the time of this recording, our host for the afternoon owns and operates a kangaroo farm, which you are allowed to come and visit. If you live in the midwest section of Equestria, I encourage you so come on down to Didgeri Doo's Kangaroo and Wallaby Farm and see these beautiful creatures for yourself. There's a lot we couldn't cover in this video series, and part of that can be solved with a visit. Didgeri will be happy to answer all of your kangaroo and wallaby-related questions, providing that the information is known to him, of course."

"And cut," comes Twilight's voice. "You're doing very well, Fluttershy. I'm surprised that you're consistently pushing through your lines correctly on the first take."

"Thanks. I took some words of inspiration from Rarity. She reminded me that this is for little kids, and not very many grown-up ponies are actually going to see this. It really calmed my nerves."

"Hang on," interjected Didgeri. "Twilight told me earlier that this wa--"

The picture and sound die out, completely obscuring what was to come next.

Episode Eleven: Bugs, Part One

The camera clicks on with a good view of Fluttershy's face. She's wearing a green fibrous robe held on with twisted ropes that have been cut and frayed at the ends. She's also standing in a really weird-looking place, with big, light green trees around her. "Is it on? Can you see me?" She asks. Without any kind of answer, she retracts her hands from the camera. "Oh, good. I was afraid I'd messed something up. And you said the camera could hear both of us?" There's another pause. "I remember. The red wire. So, are we ready?" Her face shows some concern, followed by understanding. "I see. I'll wait, then."

Fluttershy turns and walks away from the camera. There's barely any back to her outfit, it's just a quickly thrown-together cloak of decency from some kind of fibres hastily woven together. As there is no back, it's obvious that she isn't wearing a bra underneath. Her skirt is made in such a way that there are slits along her thighs, but they're also pleated to keep them from kicking up. The dress looked stiff and starchy.

She sits down on a large boulder and rubs her hands together, waiting for something to happen. As she sits there, the background comes more into focus, and the trees start to look really weird. One, which she had presumably cut down, is leaning over in a stack of sheets, shaved down into little strips, and parts of it are woven into cloth and rope, which she had presumably used to make her clothing. There is a little flint knife nearby, which, while she may have made it, she had almost definitely used it.

"Did that do anything?" asks Spike.

There's a brief pause, then Twilight speaks up. "I think so. Can you still hear me, Fluttershy?"

"Loud and clear," she answers. "Ready now?"

"Ready."

Fluttershy hops up and moves in front of the camera. "You can move on your own, right?"

The camera tilts right, then left, then returns to the center. It then moves up and down. It finishes by moving forward and backward. "Full remote camera control," confirms Twilight. "Love the dress, by the way. I was afraid we'd have to wrap you in electrical tape, or something."

"That won't be necessary," smiles Fluttershy. She smooths out the front of her dress and takes a deep breath. "Today, the critters we have come to look at are neither endangered nor exotic, but something you can easily find in your own backyard. As evidence of that, we're actually in Canterlot right now. Twilight's parents have graciously offered us their backyard for this, and we offer them our heartfelt thanks.

"Now, you may be looking around and saying, 'This doesn't look like my backyard.' It probably does, you just have to know how to look at it properly." She places her hand against a thin-looking tree, and lightly pushes. It shakes a bit. "This is a clover." She pulls herself up the stalk a bit, until it sags down to show the white flower petal caldera on top. "You've probably seen thousands in your yard, so you can believe that the creatures you see today are probably just outside your house, or at least in a nearby park."

As she lets the clover swing back up, the camera follows it. The canopy of the forest they're in is covered in cloverleaves, with shoots of grass rising up above it.

The camera pans back down to Fluttershy. "Right now, thanks to a spell from Twilight, I'm roughly the size of a cricket. However, I've been given a few extra protections, as well, as this tiny world can be a little bit dangerous when you're this small."

A low rumbling comes from off to the left, and Fluttershy points to it. "Look, look!" she urges, as the camera turns. A ladybug makes its way across the ground, its legs clicking and creaking as it moves. It stops to look at Fluttershy and the camera, then continues on its way, not feeling endangered.

"So that was a seven-spotted Ladybird Beetle," grins Fluttershy excitedly. "They can be found all over the place. The adults, everyone knows well, though they sometimes have trouble telling the difference with the different types."

"Do you have a favourite?"

"I think the Steelblue Ladybug is the cutest. They're super shiny with lots of armour. Very beautiful to look at, and not just because you can see yourself in their shells, which you totally can. But they look almost nothing like what most of us think of when someone says 'ladybug,' though, so they're often misclassified as being just a random beetle."

Fluttershy leads them further into the grass. "For those of you wondering at home, Twilight isn't down here with me, but upstairs in her old bedroom, monitoring me remotely with a mobile camera. She's perfectly safe."

"I'm here, too," interjects Spike. "Just helping out."

"Also, the reason the grass is so tall is because of today," adds Twilight. "I asked my parents not to mow the lawn until we were done, so as not to cause unnecessary harm to the wildlife just before we came in."

"I think we might want to cut that part out during editing," scowls Fluttershy. "It's good that we don't show the bugs being eviscerated, but can we just not talk about it, either? Kind of a gruesome image you're putting into the kids' heads."

There is a scuttling sound that had been drowned out by Fluttershy's voice, quiet as it had been, but now it's clear as day. Fluttershy turns and moves closer, and there's a line of ants moving back and forth in a small, shallow chasm.

"Are those carpenter ants?!" shouts Twilight. "Those are dangerous to my parents' house!"

"Calm down," instructed Fluttershy. "I'm pretty sure these aren't carpenter ants, but just to be sure, let's see where this line is going." She waves for the camera to follow her and makes her way down the line, following the trail until it reaches a location with matted down grass. What's holding it down is half of an oatmeal cookie, which the ants are slowly tearing apart.

"Just as I thought," nods Fluttershy. "If these were carpenter ants, they would be unable to resist digging into your deck. Instead, they move right past it for the oatmeal cookie. You see? Completely harmless sugar ants. You can tell by the head shape."

Episode Twelve: Bugs, Part Two

The camera holds on a shot of the ants tearing apart the cookie bits for quite awhile, until the cookie is small enough to carry off, which takes several ants to do. A few more keep approaching the area, but with the cookie gone, Fluttershy follows the ants back to their hill. It's a slow enough walk that Fluttershy can easily keep up. When they arrive, The cookie needs to be broken down just to fit in the hole.

Fluttershy turns to the camera. "Now, I'm too large to fit into their hole to go down there and explore, but that would be an amazing experience. At the other end, it would be downright terrifying for the ants, as I don't have their scent."

As she says this, an ant approaches and starts poking her with his antennae. He clicks his mandibles a few times, then lets out a tiny hiss. Two other ants approach as he does and start poking her, as well.

"So, ants communicate mostly by scent," she explains, keeping her arms out of the way. "Right now, they're unsure whether I'm a threat, food, or nothing of consequence. Let's hope it's the latter."

After a few more moments of ants sniffing at her, a few dull thuds can be heard. As they approach, they become louder, almost turning into booms as they come closer. Turning their antennae toward the new sound, the ants immediately scurry off back to their anthill, finding a safe place to hide from whatever is approaching. However, as Fluttershy is too large, she cannot take refuge with them. Instead, she finds a very wide blade of grass to hide behind.

The grass parts, and an insanely large black and yellow spider comes into view. Twilight yelps and moves away from the microphone. "What is that?!" she shouts from across the room.

"That is an argiope," explains Fluttershy, holding the earpiece slightly away from her ear. "It's the common garden spider. Not so dangerous to us ponies, but at my current size, It can be very deadly. Which is why you kids should not try this at home."

The spider passes right over the anthill and right by Fluttershy, seeming to either not see her or not care. As it moves away, Fluttershy waves for the camera to follow her, and she chases after the orb weaver. Though they never come particularly close to it again, Twilight repeatedly voices her concerns about following it, and how doing so is a bad idea, and that she doesn't like it.

"Would you calm down, Twilight?" says Fluttershy to the camera after a lot of whining. "You're safe in your bedroom. I'm the one actually down here. Clearly, I'm the one who should be freaking out, if anyone."

"BEHIND YOU!!" shouts Twilight, as the orb weaver sees her and approaches quickly. As the spider is about to bite, a second spider tackles it. Fluttershy grabs the camera out of the air and runs, not looking back as the winner of the fight would most certainly be after her next. She runs for a good two minutes, diving into a small hole that the spiders couldn't fit down, even if they could follow her.

"Can you still hear me, Twilight?"

"She left," answers Spike. "When that second spider came in. I thought it was pretty cool, seeing them battle it out for those few seconds. Remind me to have Twilight keep a copy of that for me. What was that other spider, by the way?"

"I don't know," answers Fluttershy. "In my rush, I didn't take the time to identify it. I just know that orb weaver was hungry, and I was on the menu. Like I said, they're usually harmless, but when you're this small, you tend to be a bit more fragile. Do you know where she went?"

"Probably somewhere comfortable. I would suggest her bedroom, but since that's where she just ran from, I'd say either a bathroom, the kitchen, or the study. You know how much she loves to study."

Fluttershy nods. "Can you go find her, please? I promise, no more spiders until I'm normal sized."

"I'll see what I can do. Keep your headset on, you'll hear us when we return."

"Thanks, Spike."

As the sound of a door closing rings out in the recording, Fluttershy climbs out of the hole, dragging the camera with her. It had a magical property that made it float wherever you left it, unless the controller for the camera acted on it. Basically, it was a floating tripod, or a drone. She carries it back to the clover clearing she'd started in, and sets it right where it had started. As she is alone, she lets out a sigh, and shakes her head.

A moment later, a grasshopper lands nearby. Its antennae are broken, and one of its front legs is missing. "You poor thing," coos Fluttershy, kneeling down next to it. It bats at her with its broken antennae, then flings its body around until it's up on her back, almost pinning her to the ground. As she rolls onto her back to try to push it off, a second one shows up, batting the other with its antennae, but sometimes hitting Fluttershy. This gives him the wrong scent, as his signals are slightly confused.

The two start fighting with each other over Fluttershy. They swing around the clearing, slamming into each other as they fight. Their kicks, being exceptionally powerful, are accentuated by the spines on their legs. While one might expect the one missing his leg to be at a disadvantage, they seemed to be about evenly matched.

They fought for a good three minutes. Fluttershy is unable to talk them down, as they are moving around her so fast that she can't sneak in as much as an "Excuse me." When they finally do stop, they just sit there, staring at each other just on the edge of the frame, breathing through their spiracles.

"Don't you start again," she warns. "This is very rude behaviour, fighting with each other and ignoring my objections. There's plenty of food for both of you all over the place, so what are you two even fighting over?"

The injured one clicks his jaws together a few times. They both take a few cautious steps toward each other, only for Fluttershy to plant herself right in the middle.

"That is enough. We're going to find a way to work out your differences. If you refuse, I know where to find a hungry spider this time of day." While her threat was empty, they didn't need to know that. Anything she could use to keep them safe was fair game.

Episode Fourteen: Manticore, Part One

The camera clicks on, with Fluttershy holding it at arm's length from her body. She quickly flips it around, then returns it to her face.

"My cameramare, Twilight, is out today. Princess Celestia called her up to Canterlot on an urgent matter that I wasn't privy to, and I didn't want to pry. Instead of cancelling today's recording, I'm going to be doing the raw footage myself. Today's an easy one, anyway. We're just going to see a big, fluffy kitty cat."

She turns the camera around to show her path. "This species lives in a lot of different places, but the one we're going to see today lives in a cave in the Everfree forest. I've met him before, as has Twilight. That was the weekend when all three of us met for the first time, along with a bunch of our other friends. The rest of you might recall that as the summer sun celebration where Nightmare Moon's return caused the dawn to come late. However, that's a story for another time, and not important right now."

It's dark, being late into the evening, and her handheld lantern only provides so much light, causing the trees to be kind of spooky. Still, Fluttershy continues on, seemingly sure in her pathing. It's a fair few minutes before she seems to find what she's looking for.

"Now, before I go in there, there's something I should say. Just because I can face down a manticore with no repercussions does not mean you should try this on your own. It's not safe for everypony, and those of us who can tame the souls of wild manticores have gone through extensive training. I don't want to hear about any of you going out and being bitten or worse because you tried to copy something you saw on television. Always operate with your own safety, and the safety of your colleagues, in mind."

She walks into the cave, as it's lit by her lantern. She rounds a few bends, and finds the manticore curled up in the main chamber. "Hello?"

The manticore raises his head, his eyes locked on Fluttershy. As she sets down her lantern, his legs shift position, but his eyes don't shift from her. As she's still holding the camera, the recording gives the impression that he's staring directly into her soul, as well as the souls of anypony watching the recording back.

In the next moment, he pounces, knocking the camera out of her hands and onto the ground. After it stops rolling, it's on its side, looking on as Fluttershy is pinned to the cave floor. The manticore drools over her from its razor-sharp teeth, growling at her.

And then it starts licking her. She chuckles as his keratinous tongue brushes out her mane, causing it to flop over. "It's nice to see you, too," she laughs. "Let me up, would you?"

As the manticore retracts, she sits up, flips the camera upright, makes sure it's still recording, and places it in an area where it can see everything. She then reaches into her bag and pulls out a beef bone with a bit of dried meat still on it.

"Manticores, like most cats, are carnivorous. That means they eat meat. They are capable of digesting plant matter, but they are incapable of tasting it. That means that the only way they can have a satisfying meal is to eat meat."

The manticore takes the bone from her hand and begins gnawing on it, sometimes licking its paws as bits come off the bone and land on its fur.

Fluttershy approaches and begins petting his mane. "They're very fluffy and warm, and if you ever have the opportunity to snuggle with one safely, I cannot recommend it enough. Manticore manes make magnificent blankets, and their paws can be super soft and snuggly. They tend to be a bit playful, even more so when they're young. This one's an adult.

"The manticore has a strange social structure. The females tend to stay in one place in large groups called prides. When the males come of age, they are either removed from their families or pitted against their father in combat for the right to take his place. The latter almost always results in the death of the younger male, whether by the claws of his father or by the females rejecting him as their patriarch.

"Those that leave often join up with other disenfranchised males in groups known as coalitions. This grants them safe passage over the plains, as traveling in a group makes you less prone to attack. It also means that the weak ones that don't know how to hunt are still fed.

"This one didn't join a coalition, but went off on his own. It's not as safe, but he's no pushover. He can take care of himself, and if any female manticore wants him, they would be very lucky to have him." She leans in and gives him a hug. He is audibly purring, his bright red scorpion tail flicking lightly behind him.

"Now, I want to again stress just how dangerous it is to approach a manticore without training. Even with training, it can be a lethal affair. This is not true of all manticores, but in this case, the tail is capable of full-body muscular paralysis. That means that a sting from him could stop your heart if you're not careful. That said, I carry with me an antivenom that can stop the effects if an accident occurs. Let that be a lesson in safety: Even though I'm one hundred percent sure that he won't harm me in the slightest, I still have an antivenom. He could have a sudden panic attack and sting me accidentally. Not his fault, but having a safety net around will save your life.

"Now, it's too dark to do anything outside, so I'm going to leave off here for now. In the morning, I'll show you how good they are at flying, how fast they can run, and how to milk their venom, which is a critical component of the antivenom. While I have been warning you of how dangerous they can be, It is important that you understand just how helpful they can be, as well."

She rubs her hands over his furry chest, gives him a soft kiss on his hairy cheek, and walks over to the camera. A loud click is heard as she presses a button and the screen goes dark.

Episode Fifteen: Manticore, Part Two

The camera clicks on again right away. The splice symbol flashes in the top left corner a few times to show that the footage has been shifted over to the next reel.

"There we go," smiles Fluttershy, shifting back on her haunches and letting out a sigh. "Even knowing there aren't going to be many viewers, it's still a bit unnerving to be on camera so much. At least it's off now."

The manticore pushes his head under her arm and rests his chin on her thigh. He softly purrs as she runs her fingers through the thick fur of his mane. He's already ripped all of the scraps of meat from the bone she brought him, and is content to rub his body up against her.

She chuckles. "And because the camera's off, and not recording us anymore, we can snuggle a bit closer." As she wraps her arms around his neck, she traces her fingers along his muscles, kissing the back of his head and rubbing her face against his neck. "Your mane has darkened significantly," she chuckles. "It makes you look stronger, and more distinguished. And feeling your forelegs, I'd say you're definitely stronger than last we met."

The manticore lifts his head, licking her face again. However, rather than the excited, quick licking he'd done previously, these are slow, loving, and run from her neck up to her cheek. She scratches his neck as he does, moaning softly. After a few of these, she tilts her head to the side, taking his tongue into her mouth, closing her eyes and reveling in the feeling.

As she separates from him, she removes her shirt and bra, leaning back against the cave wall. He starts licking her abdomen, moving up to her chest, being careful to not stick her nipples with the barbs on his tongue. She keeps him going with reassuring scratches behind his ears. After a few licks, he presses his forehead against hers. She responds by slipping out of her skirt and panties, tossing them aside with her other clothing.

She's about to turn over and assume the position, but he stops her from leaning up with his paw, dropping his head down between her knees. The camera doesn't have a good angle between her legs, as her thigh is in the way, but the audio seems to indicate that he's eating her out, both from the light slurping sounds and from her soft moans as she bites down on her fingers to quiet herself.

She lets out a gasp of pleasure, and a moment later, the manticore raises his head. Some kind of liquid drips from his lips and chin. Fluttershy leans forward and slurps up the drippings with a few licks and kisses. "Such a good boy," she smiles, rubbing his neck. "Who's my pretty kitty?"

He licks her face again, and she rolls over, presenting to him her fanny. She spreads her legs and arches her back, to be in a more familiar position for him. He doesn't need to be told what to do next. As he takes in her scent, his cock slips from its sheathe. It's fairly short for his body size, but rather large for a manticore. It has a large selection of fleshy barbs, each filled with cartilage and tipped with a keratinous spike. This setup allows the spikes to retract, as a muscle would do to a bone, but, being cartilaginous, they are flexible enough to not become stuck, as doing so could be dangerous, both to him and his mate, as it could easily result in a tear.

She shudders as his spiky dick slides into her vagina, her face turning bright red with a big, goofy grin. Her entire front half goes limp and drags along the cave floor as he pulls his hips away from hers, presumably scratching her inside itches. As he's not the longest she's had on the show, he makes very shallow thrusts.

As he has to readjust his footing to stay upright, he ends up moving into a position where the camera can see their genitals better. Though he seemed small from the side, the rear view shows that he is, in fact, quite girthy. He also has a very large pair of testicles, wrapped tightly in a tiny scrotum that doesn't swing at all. The barbs look to be even larger from this angle, and with every exit, the camera can see just how far apart they push Fluttershy's labia, stretching them out as far as they can go before the barb pops out, flinging tiny droplets of her arousal out behind her.

After several minutes of listening to Fluttershy in ecstacy, she pushes herself up and pulls her body away form him, turning around and staring face first down the length of his throbbing cock. He's whining lightly, but certain that she'll take good care of him. To his delight, she wraps her mouth around his shaft, taking the entire thing into her mouth and rubbing his balls with her hands until he fires off a few lashings of liquid love into her luscious lips.

As she pulls away from his hips, she makes sure to suck him clean and dry, and catches what is still dripping off his tip with her tongue. "Such a good kitty," she says, kissing the tip of his scabbard as his spiked rod slips away. As his leg moves out of the way, it shows a puddle that she's left between her knees from rubbing herself while fellating him.

The two separate, and the manticore lies down on his side, one of his front paws raised. After she dries herself with a towel from her bag, she curls up against his chest, and he wraps his paws around her, almost completely covering her in his fur. Her face is still exposed, and is subjected to a few more licks from him as a result.

she reaches out, pulls the lantern over, and extinguishes it. There's a bit of moonlight shining in, but for the most part, it only shows the outlines.

"I was serious about what I said earlier," yawns Fluttershy. "Any female manticore out there would be lucky to have a mate like you around. Big and strong, yet gentle and caring. And of course, you're super warm and cuddly. I can't remember the last time a stallion made me feel this good after cumming in my mouth. You're a real keeper. Good night, Fluffy." After a few minutes of silence, there comes a half-hour section that's nothing but snoring before the reel runs out of film.

Episode Sixteen: Manticore, Part Three

When the camera clicks back on, Fluttershy is fully dressed with her hair brushed and with no manticore fur anywhere on her. All evidence of her night with the manticore has been erased, save for the reel of video tape. After checking all of the settings on the camera, Fluttershy turns it on herself.

"Hey, everyone," she smiles. "I promised that the second reel would be the manticore flying and playing and stuff, but it seems to have already been filled. That's really more of a behind-the-scenes thing, but that's okay. I've replaced the reel, so we can continue on."

She turns the camera around and points it up to the sky. There flies the manticore with his tiny wings, flipping and diving through the air as she records him.

"Manticores are spectacular creatures. I really love their manes. This one in particular has a very dark mane, which is very highly valued by the females. He's also big and strong, which again makes him the pick of the litter for manticores. That said, even the weaker ones are beautiful. Actually, hang on."

She puts the camera down and whistles loudly. The manticore turns and flies down to her. She grabs the camera and climbs onto his back. As he takes off, she clings to his mane with one hand and holds the camera in the other. The recording takes them up above the trees, showing a bird's eye view of the world. They don't stay in the Everfree forest, either. They show a view of Ponyville, Whinnyapolis, and finish their fun with a view of Canterlot.

A long and entertaining flight later, they land back in the Everfree forest. As Fluttershy rubs his mane, she kisses his forehead. "Who's my big, fluffy kitty?" He purrs proudly, rubbing his face against her. It's a very sweet scene, and it's clear that the two care very deeply for each other, which would only be new information if you hadn't seen the second reel.

After a few more minutes, Fluttershy says goodbye. She makes her way out of the woods with the camera still on. It's possible that she doesn't know that it's still on, but she makes her way effectively through the woods. It's easier to see everything in the daylight, except for the timber wolves that manage to sneak up on her.

Fluttershy is surrounded by the hungry timber wolves, and is backed up against a cliff. "I don't have anything I can give you here," she whimpers, trying to placate them, "but if you'll let me go back home, I'm sure I can find something for you to snack on."

The wolves growl and take a few steps closer, sap dripping from their teeth. They clearly aren't listening to her, and are instead focusing on the free meal that seems incapable of running away. She tries to move, but at every turn, she's cut off. She's utterly trapped here.

As the lead timber wolf pounces on her, he's knocked out of the air. The manticore roars as he comes into the frame. His mighty tackle shatters the wolf's body, and he turns his attention to the others.

They all leap on him at once, attempting to take him down, as he poses a greater threat than Fluttershy, who has not moved, and is presumably just sitting on the ground, as the camera is shaking and her whimpering yelps with every hit confirm that she's still there, unable to join in the fight, and unable to stop the timber wolves.

As she had promised previously, the manticore was no pushover, and manages to take out enough of the timber wolves with his sharp claws, powerful jaws and poisonous tail. By the end of the fairly short but frenetic fight, what few wolves aren't in pieces scattered around the clearing are either running or limping away.

The manticore turns back to Fluttershy, limping over to her and licking her face. In tears, she throws her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you're okay," she sobs, dropping the camera to the ground. She's on her knees, though unharmed. The fighting had gone by so quickly that the camera had missed a few injuries on his end, that the more stable shot is now picking up.

When she pulls away, he presents to her his paw, which has a large, jagged timber wolf tooth sticking out of it. "Just like old times," she chuckles, wiping a tear from her cheek. She puts her hand against his paw, grabs the tooth firmly in her hand, and with a good yank, pulls it out.

She picks up Twilight's camera, and with the manticore at her side, the two make their way to the edge of the forest, near to where Fluttershy's house is. As she steps out of the forest, she turns around. The manticore is not moving from the trees.

"Come on," urges Fluttershy. "I can help you with those wounds. I have a first aid kit at my house."

The manticore shakes his head and begins licking his wounds right there at the edge of the trees. He isn't going to her place for first aid, but rather staying behind.

"You know, there's a fine line between being being strong and brave, and reckless and foolhardy. You're really badly hurt, and it's my fault. At least let me clean your wounds so you don't contract some kind of infection. I promise, nothing invasive."

The manticore raises himself up on his hind legs, extends his claws, puffs out his wings and chest, and roars as loud as he can. Birds fly away, small critters dash to the tallest grass they can hide in, and Fluttershy seems unperturbed.

"I understand that you're very proud, of both yourself and your accomplishments. You've certainly made a reputation in the forest, and you are a credit to your kind. You're the toughest, strongest, most powerful manticore I've ever heard of, let alone seen. But timber wolf bites are still venomous. No matter how thick your skin is, once it's entered your bloodstream, you're fucked. I'm not asking you to lower yourself so I can help you, I'm asking you to let me help you so you don't have to lower yourself. Please, Fluffy. Let me help you. I want my big, strong manticore to stick around. Will you let me heal him?"

With much reluctance, the manticore lowers his head and walks to Fluttershy's side. They continue on, making it as far as her back porch before the battery for the camera dies.

Episode Seventeen: The Other Manticore, Part One

Author's Note

After an upset comment, a fight with a friend, and a threatening e-mail, I've decided that it would be best to put in a warning here about this section of the story.

The Other Manticore refers to the manticore from the condensed mythology of NSP lore. If you have no knowledge of NSP, or wish no knowledge of NSP, I advise that you skip over this chapter, as well as the next two, as you will not enjoy them.

I had tried to make the jokes in such a way that you didn't necessarily need the source material to find it funny, but this was evidently untrue.

Click here to skip this section and move on to the next part.

Episode Seventeen: The Other Manticore, Part One

"I can't believe you agreed to meet and talk to a dragon, face to face!" squeals Twilight, turning the camera to Fluttershy. "This is so awesome!"

"I can't believe you talked me into this," groans Fluttershy. "This is the worst."

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," smiles Twilight. "I'll be right next to you every step of the way, and this dragon has promised not to do anything harmful or frightening. You'll be perfectly safe."

"You say that, but I'm still unsure." She turns and looks out the train window, watching as the scenery flies by outside. "After all, he's still a dragon, and he's still big and mean with razor-sharp teeth and claws and breathes fire. There is no guarantee of safety, no matter how much you promise."

As the train moves into a tunnel, everything goes dark, not just outside the cars, but inside, as well. The lamps on the walls don't flicker and expire, but rather just black out all at once. The voices of the ponies on the train swell, and then fall silent. For a moment, all that can be heard is the rumble of the train wheels going over the track.

Just as suddenly as it had gone dark, the lights come back on, and the camera sits lopsided on the train seat, still recording. However, everypony seems to have abandoned the train car. Everypony except Fluttershy, who looks around, not sure where anyone is.

"Hello?" she calls out. "Is anypony else here?" She stands up and moves across the aisle. "Twilight?"

She moves out of frame as the scenery in the window begins to slow down. It doesn't quite come to a stop, but it does slow to a crawl. Fluttershy comes back into frame, sitting down and rubbing her hands together uncomfortably. Noticing the camera, she adjusts it to be upright.

"So, I'm all alone again. Twilight, the other passengers, and the rest of the train have all disappeared. The scenery outside doesn't look familiar, either. While I am glad to not be facing down a dragon, I'm not sure that this situation is better. I'm in an unknown place, though a sign outside seems to indicate..."

Shaking her head, she grabs the camera and points it out the window. A large white stone sign in front of a large brick building reads: "New Jersey High School, New Jersey City, New Jersey." A smaller sign beneath it has a message for the students and staff. "Sextant: An instrument with a graduated arc of 60° and a sighting mechanism, used for measuring the angular distances between objects and especially for taking altitudes in navigation. Also, a tant used for sex."

"As you can see, it's not anywhere particularly familiar to me. I've never heard of New Jersey. I didn't even know there was an original Jersey for this one to be new. But, as a favour to Twilight, I will record as much of this as I can for when we reunite. I'm sure she wants me to give her an accurate reading of these events. Twilight, this is for you."

As the engineless train car rolls to a stop, Fluttershy steps off, making sure to turn around and make sure that the footage includes a shot of the front and back of the car to prove that the rest of the train was indeed gone. There are roads everywhere, winding every which way, but nopony seems to be around as she wanders to the east, looking for signs of life, but finding none. She walks in a generally straight line, wanting to make sure she can return to the train car for her own protection.

After a few blocks, the buildings give way to a beach. Despite the emptiness of the town, there is a living being here on the sand. Two, in fact. A man on a jet-black stallion is riding along the delicate sand dunes toward her. He is shirtless, and the wind is blowing through his luxurious jew-fro. As they come closer, the stallion turns out to be a ninja, his eyes wide open and unblinking, flipping her off as he runs.

"Ninja Brian, look," says the afroed rider, "A survivor. And a maiden, at that. Are you hurt, fair damsel?"

"No," answers Fluttershy. "Should I be?"

"You must be careful," exclaims the rider, dismounting the ninja, who is now staring intently at the camera. "There's a manticore lurking about."

"I've dealt with manticores before," informs Fluttershy. "They can be very loving if you know how to approach them."

The ninja slaps his rider so hard that a skin-tight shirt forms over his chest, sky blue with a red star inside of a white circle. "You said it, Ninja Brian." He turns to Fluttershy and takes her hand, kissing it. "I am Sir Daniel Sexbang, well-endowed dragon slayer and purloiner of the musical arts." The ninja slaps him again. "Purveyor, excuse me."

Fluttershy lets him kiss her hand. "My name is Flu--"

"An excellent idea, Brian!" shouts Danny. "Let's go back to my place, where she's sure to be safe. She can wait in the brunch room."

"Actually, I should probably stay near the train car that brought me here."

"Are you sure?" asks Danny. "It's nothing fancy. It's just over there."

The camera follows the direction in which he gestured, straight up in the air. A giant mansion is orbiting around the planet, with large glowing letters that say "Danny's Parents' House."

"I think I'll stay down here with the manticore," nods Fluttershy. "He can't be all that bad, can he?"

Danny shrugs. "Suit yourself." He hops back onto Brian's shoulders. "But be warned: The manticore is dangerous. If his eyes of flame don't consume you, his teeth of steel will." Ninja Brian pulls a large metal placard out of his pants with one hand and gives it to Danny, who struggles to hold it before giving it to Fluttershy. It has the footprint of a grizzly bear embossed on it. "If you see this footprint on the ground, just let out a bloodcurdling scream, and we shall come to your rescue."

Fluttershy takes it. It's very heavy, judging by her struggling with the camera. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

"We may have been too late for everyone else, but we're sure to make it all the way to you. Hyah!"

With Danny still on his shoulders, Ninja Brian jumps into the air and lands on a previously unseen horse, who in turn jumps on a motorcycle and rides off along the beach. Fluttershy drops the placard into the sand and turns the camera to her face.

"That was weird."

Episode Eighteen: The Other Manticore, Part Two

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Episode Nineteen: The Other Manticore, Part Three

The camera clicks on as the so-named manticore enters his lair, which has a hand-written placard next to the wooden door that serves as the entrance. There's also a blue wooden sign near the door. "Elevation: 90,000,000,150,000,100 ft or whatever," it reads in big white letters.

The manticore walks into his lair, tossing Fluttershy's unconscious body onto a convenient nearby bed. With a delicate touch he hadn't displayed before, he takes off her bra and stuffs it down his pants without removing her shirt, then slips off her panties, placing them gingerly on the shelf between two trophies, bringing the camera over to view them properly. The one he's placed them closer to lists him as the winner for the 2010 NYC Penis Competition, whereas the other congratulates him on winning the 2011 Fake Trophy Competition.

He pulls the camera away from the trophies and sets it down next to the grand piano, which he starts playing beautifully. He hisses a few times as he plays it, not necessarily singing, but neither is he off-key. His teeth glisten in the evening light, reflecting the sunset around the room like a disco ball.

After a few minutes, he stops, moves the camera to the nightstand, facing both the bed and the door, sits down next to Fluttershy, grabs a plastic spoon and chocolate pudding cup from the nightstand drawer, and opens it. He stares into the camera and eats spoonful after spoonful, his mouth sometimes refusing to release the spoon, but always giving it up in the end before the spoon can break.

As he's finishing, Fluttershy wakes up. "Where am I?" she asks. "What are you--"

She is shushed by the manticore placing a finger to her lips. A moment later, that same finger slips through to her tongue. She doesn't resist, but she looks absolutely mortified. She knows that fighting back at this point is useless. She doesn't know where she is, and is isolated with a creature far more powerful than she is.

Suddenly, the door snaps in half and Danny comes in on the back of a bearded hunk in a white unicorn outfit. It's not Ninja Brian this time, but someone else entirely. Dan is fully kitted out this time in a black leather jacket and jeans, with a spiked gauntlet. He even grew a goatee just for this. "Unhand her, manticore!" shouts Danny, charging forward with a sabre.

The manticore runs at him, claws swiping furiously. As they connect with Dan's sword, sparks fly around the room, setting the building ablaze. Dan manages to block the manticore's blows, but the beast is slashing too fast to allow him to strike.

Suddenly, one of the manticore's strikes manages to slip through Danny's defenses, knocking him over. The manticore stands over him, about to deliver the final blow, but stops mid-swing to let out a pained cry as Ninja Brian stabs the dead body of a man in a dragon suit through the manticore's back.

"God damn, Brian!" shouts Danny, standing up. "You killed them all!"

"All?" asks Fluttershy, curled up on the bed.

"There was also an army of awesome karate bears guarding the door," explains Dan, approaching her. "Are you hurt?"

Fluttershy shakes her head, then cocks it to the side. "Wait, weren't your legs broken?"

Dan laughs. "Ha ha HA, ha HA! I already cured all diseases last week."

Fluttershy just looked more confused. "Broken bones aren't a disease, but an injury."

"That's a good point, my darling. What is your name, by the way?" A loud snap is heard as a piano string breaks. "Oh, yeah, I forgot the house was on fire. Oops. Come, mount my Barrycorn. But not in, like, a sexual way, more like riding him cowgirl style. But not the sexual position, just climb on top of him and grab his horn. But not like jerking him off, more like wrap your legs around his waist and hold on for dear life. But not in a carnal way, more like use your lips to form a seal around his throbbing--"

A wall collapses behind him.

"Actually, let's continue this conversation outside."

Fluttershy grabs the camera and leaves the building as fast as she can, leaving her bra and panties behind in the blaze. Dan also runs outside, stopping next to the Barrycorn. Despite the fact that he'd been behind them, Ninja Brian is already outside, glaring at them as the building collapses behind them.

"Tits!" shouts Danny. "Fuck yeah!" As he turns and sees Fluttershy upset, he quickly changes his tone. "I mean... No..."

Fluttershy readjusts her skirt, the breeze threatening to blow it up and expose her. "Can one of you take me back to where the manticore attacked me?" she asks. "I think I need to go home now."

"Of course," says Danny. "Take my Barrycorn."

The Barrycorn takes one final sip from his coffee mug, sets it down on a table, and drops down to his hands and knees. Due to his size, Fluttershy is reluctant to sit on his back, slowly and gently placing more and more weight on him so as not to hurt him by accident. It takes a minute or two, but she eventually has her full weight on his back.

With her now riding the Barrycorn, Dan jumps on Ninja Brian's back. "To the bottom of the mountain!" He shouts, only for Ninja Brian to throw him off his shoulders. The Barrycorn takes to the sky on a rainbow road, keeping pace as Dan tumbles down the cliff, vocalizing every hit as he falls. Fluttershy records the whole thing with the camera, unable to actually do anything until he reaches the bottom of the mountain.

Of course, when he does reach the bottom of the mountain, he stops. Just as Fluttershy is directing the Barrycorn to turn around, Ninja Brian runs up and kicks him. Dan picks himself up off the ground and turns to face the guy who threw him off the cliff. "Eat a dick, Brian. Eat a whole bag of dicks."

Reasoning that she can find her way back on her own, she just holds onto the Barrycorn until he lands at the tunnel entrance. She slides off his back and he stands up, moving to another table and picking up another mug of coffee. She thanks him with a kiss on the cheek and sets off down the tunnel, hoping that it will lead her back to Equestria.

There is no visual input as the world goes dark again, the only indication of the tape still running being the sound of the gravel under Fluttershy's feet as she runs. After a few minutes, there is a light, and as it comes closer, she finds that it's Twilight with a flashlight.

"Fluttershy!" she calls out, running to embrace her. "Where in Equestria have you been for the last two weeks!? I was worried sick!"

"You're not going to believe this," answered Fluttershy. "I barely believe it myself. But I recorded everything I could. Just wait until yo--"

The screen goes dark again, not because Twilight's flashlight went out, but because the tape has reached the end of the reel, and was unable to record any further.

Episode Twenty: Cervids, Part One

The camera clicks on and the screen shows an open field of grass. Two sets of footsteps sound as the girls pass through the field. The grass is very tall, as when the camera swings to the right, it hides most of Fluttershy's thighs behind the golden waves.

"This is quite a ways out from where we normally go," comments Twilight. "Would you care to tell the good colts and fillies at home where we are and why?"

"We've left our home continent," explains Fluttershy. "We're on the complete opposite side of the world, not necessarily because we needed to be, as there are wildlife preserves a bit closer that have these creatures, but because this is their primal home. This is where the creatures we're looking for originally came from. This is their natural environment."

"And just what are we looking for today?"

"It's called a water deer."

The camera scans the horizon slowly, looking for any sign of deer as the wind ripples through the grass. "I don't see any deer. Not even so much as a pair of antlers. Are you sure we're in the right place?"

Fluttershy points to the wall of trees almost a kilometre away. "Not too far from that tree line is a drop in elevation, which used to be a river valley delta. The river was diverted by an earthquake, but with some hard work, we were able to keep the wetlands partially intact."

"What do you mean, partially intact?"

"Well, it's hard to redirect the flow of a river, but it was a necessity in this case. The town we just came from was flooded by the river. It's important that they exist in harmony with nature, so they put in the effort to redirect the river. It doesn't do well to have dried out farms and flooded towns, but a town that is navigable on foot and farmland that has fresh water make things much nicer for everyone involved, including the wildlife, especially those that eat the wild plants in the swampy valley."

"And these deer are part of that wildlife?"

"That's right. They're just one part of it, but they are part of it nonetheless."

By the end of this conversation, they're much closer to the trees, and as they walk over the final ridge before the swampy basin, a whole herd of deer rapidly approaches them from behind. Fluttershy manages to grab Twilight just in time and pull her down. It takes a few seconds for Twilight to turn the camera to show the deer majestically leaping over the top of them, but it's quite a spectacle.

When the last of them are finished with their leaps, Twilight and Fluttershy stand up to view the herd. There are about twenty of them in the area.

"That's weird," comments Twilight. "I thought there were more."

"It's possible that some of them took a few leaps over us just for the fun of it," dismissed Fluttershy. "More importantly, look at how many there are. This is an incredible gathering!"

"Incredible? Didn't we see a herd last week in the eighties, and you said that was small?"

"For red deer, yeah, eighty is a small herd. For water deer, a dozen is huge. This size of herd is monumental, and it's possible that a herd this size has never happened before, or will ever again. I'm glad we're preserving a record of this, because I guarantee that no biologist in the world would believe this happened without proof."

Twilight scanned the herd with the camera, making sure to record all of them. "I don't see any males. Unless they just molted their antlers for winter, It looks like all does."

"These are actually one of a few types of deer that has no antlers."

"How do you tell the bucks from the does?"

"Aside from the obvious method? It's a little hard to pick up on camera from this far out. You see that one with the torn-up ear?" The camera zooms in on one that has a long gash in its ear, tugging at a tree branch. "That's a buck, and he seems to have recently lost a fight with another buck. That scab on his shoulder looks fresh. You are right in that these are mostly does, though."

"Again, how can you tell?"

"Look at their mouths."

The camera records some fast movement as Twilight overcorrects due to it being zoomed in so much, but eventually finds focus on a second male. This one is sporting a scar on his cheek, rather than his ear, but more importantly, his head is turned to the side, so the camera can see his mouth. A long, sabre-like fang protrudes from his lips and down past his chin.

"That's uh... That's one big tooth."

"That's what water deer are known for. The males have really long tusks, almost vampiric in nature. Despite this, they're not carnivorous, like the fanged elks that hunt in the Lifewood. The tusks are almost exclusively used for fighting, which mostly takes place between the males. It's rare that the females fight, outside of the defense of their young."

As the camera zooms back out, it is revealed that the girls, primarily Fluttershy, had continued toward the herd while talking, as they are now much closer. Fluttershy reaches her hand out to a doe, who sniffs in her general direction, slowly approaching. This doe is not accompanied by a fawn, while the few that are hold their children back out of caution. With some trepidation, the doe eats the dried mango Fluttershy offers, and lets her pet its nose.

"It's common knowledge that deer are timid creatures, and will run from literally anything. That's not necessarily true, but also not necessarily false, either. They are timid, but a lot of bucks from a lot of different species are very aggressive, including this species. The bucks can be super territorial. The caveat here, I'm pretty sure, is that these bucks are losing territorial fights, and that means that they're unable to hold onto a place long enough to mark it as their own. A sad state of affairs, but I'm not really sure if all of that's true. It's only an educated guess."

The does slowly approach Fluttershy, and each of them is given a dried piece of fruit for their efforts. Fluttershy pets their necks in earnest affection for them, even being permitted to pet the fawns. She smiles at this interaction, turns to the camera, and it clicks off suddenly and without warning.

Episode Twenty-One: Cervids, Part Two

"--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.

Episode Twenty-Two: Cervids, Part Three

The reel switches automatically and begins recording a few seconds after the last one ended. The biggest difference is that the buck has moved to the other side of Fluttershy and is now moving back in front of her.

"You're feeling particularly fidgety today. I'm the one that's stuck, remember?"

As Fluttershy chuckles at her own joke, the buck rears up on his hind legs, then brings his hooves back down behind Fluttershy's armpits, his barrel resting over her head and shoulders. He stands there for a moment, then grabs tightly to her chest and pushes his hips against her face. Slowly, his bright red conical penis worms its way across her nose. She pulls away from him as best she can, but after a thrust lands it up in her nose, she contorts her head and lets it rub against her cheek, instead.

"You do know that I'm trying to pull myself out of the mud, not sink further down into it, right? Why are you pushing me further into the muck?"

The deer grunts something illegible in response and thrusts a few more times, his cock sliding into her mouth after a few attempts. His grip around her shoulders tightens, his back legs drift a bit further apart, and his thrusts run deep, if a bit slow at first. They soon pick up speed. From beneath Fluttershy's chin, the camera can see his testicles swinging back and forth, just skirting the mud and slapping it against the underside of her neck.

Fluttershy can only call out in the form of moans and grunts, unable to move her tongue and unwilling to close her teeth. She resigns herself shortly, and just lets it happen. After a few more minutes, she's bobbing her head against him, helping him to plumb her deepest reaches.

All of a sudden, his thrusts become frenetic and shallow, his sheathe pressed firmly against Fluttershy's lips. After a few quick bursts, he pushes as deep as he possibly can. His testicles clench and throb, and Fluttershy lets out some satisfied moans, accompanied by an intermittent gulp.

Her moans quickly turn to surprised gasps, as the subtle movements of her arms, accompanied by his pulling up on her shoulders, has brought her arms more than halfway out without her having realized it, and with another powerful push from his hips, her front half is free of the mud, leaving only her legs still caught. With her partially freed, he dismounts her, and starts sniffing around her waist as she flings what mud she can from her hands, trying not to splatter him with it.

With her hands marginally clean, she kisses his cheek when he comes close. "Thank you for pulling me partway out of the mud," she smiles, gently rubbing his neck. "You're very kind to have helped me."

"I'm back!" calls Twilight from off camera. "I couldn't find a vine that was long enough, so I tied a few together."

"That's a smart move," nods Fluttershy. "They'll probably be a bit stronger that way, too."

"They'd be even stronger if I weaved them, but I don't want to be here all night. They'll probably hold. Actually, since your hands are free, this is going to be a lot easier." Twilight wraps the middle of the vine rope around a tree, and tosses both ends to Fluttershy. "Tie these together around your chest as tight as you can."

Wrapping the ends of the vine under her armpits, she ties them over the top of her breasts. She makes sure the vines are taut and her knot tight. Twilight pushes a branch into the loop, pushing the two sides apart right up to Fluttershy's back. She pushes another branch through the loop and begins to twist, tightening the vines and forcibly pulling Fluttershy back onto her feet. The buck also helps, digging against the mud and clearing a path for the air to replace the mud that Fluttershy's legs are pulling up with them. The inability to form a vacuum makes it much easier to pull her legs out, and the branch pushing the loop apart near Fluttershy's shoulders keeps the twisting vines from crushing her ribs.

Within a minute of starting, Fluttershy's legs are pulled free of the deep mud. She lays in the shallow mud, her body covered in the brown and red muck. "I knew I'd lose a shoe in there," she laments. Sure enough, her left foot is bare. It's possible, even probable, that the only reason her right shoe is still on is because of the swelling of her right ankle. It seems as though she was right about the twisted ankle.

"That ankle looks pretty bad," observes Twilight. "Do you think you can walk back to town on it, or should I seek help first?"

The buck lies down next to Fluttershy, offering to carry her out. "I think, with his help, I can make it out of the trees at least."

With a nod, Twilight gathers her things from where she left them, including the camera. When she returns her attention to Fluttershy, she's already stood up, her right arm draped over the deer for balance. She is not riding on his back, as one would a horse, but being halfway supported by his shoulders. It is not her intent to harm him, even if he would likely forgive her, and even if he had offered to let her ride on his back.

It's slow going back through the swamp as Fluttershy hops along. Twilight stays right behind her every step of the way, ready to step in if Fluttershy suddenly needs more help. The buck holds his head high, proud of his achievements today, though he might have stood a bit prouder if she had taken his offer. Still, he seemed happy just to help.

As it had only taken a few minutes to reach the muddy section, it takes less than an hour to reach the edge of the forest. Despite this being as far as Fluttershy had planned to be assisted, the buck's pride will not let him abandon her here. There's still a fair distance to town, and even when she lets go of him to try hobbling on her own, he stays by her side, just in case she falls over or needs aid. He doesn't hold back until the group is well within half a kilometre of town. By then, several citizens are rushing out to them to see what kind of damage she's sustained to garner such a limp. As they run to them, he turns tail and runs off, the camera shutting down with his bounding frame disappearing among the tall grass.

Episode Twenty-Three: Timber Wolves, Part One

"Remind me what we're looking for this time?"

Twilight stumbles through the Everfree Forest, following closely behind Fluttershy. It's the middle of the day, meaning bright sunlight shines down on them, only to be muted by the canopy.

"Zecora told me yesterday that she saw an injured ursa minor out here. Just because they're big and terrifying does not mean that they don't deserve all of the care and healing that they need. That's why I brought so many bandages with me."

"I remember my last dealing with the ursa minor," nods Twilight. "That was quite some time ago, and quite a task at the time. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Fluttershy turns around. "As long as we don't upset him, we should be fine. So, don't wake him if he's sleeping, don't shout at him, don't say anything offensive, stuff like that. The less we do to harm our relationship with him, the easier it will be to help him, and a happy ursa is an ursa that doesn't need to be calmed. Happy ursas don't destroy towns. So let's make a happy ursa; a healthy ursa who recognizes that ponies are good to keep around."

"I was aware," admits Twilight. "I just wanted to make sure that those thoughts were recorded on camera. It helps set up the audience expectation."

Fluttershy moves around a bush, holding the branches back for Twilight. As she passes, a loud creaking noise rings out, followed by several cracks, a few snaps, and a boom that dissipates in three waves of muted rustlings.

"What was that?" asks Twilight worriedly, waving the camera around. "Was that the ursa?"

"I think it might have been," smiles Fluttershy. "That's the sound of a tree falling, which means there's a strong possibility that the ursa is nearby. They sometimes knock over trees on accident."

A low growl follows her statement. It's quickly echoed throughout the trees.

Fluttershy's smile immediately fades. "That, on the other hand, is not an ursa. We need to leave. Now."

Moving away from the sound of the tree, the growling turns to barking as the girls run back the way they came. "I thought the timber wolves' hunting season was over?!" cries Twilight. "They're not supposed to come back until mid spring!"

"They see their trees as sacred icons!" informs Fluttershy. "If a tree falls in their woods, they can fly into a rage without the need to hunt! Keep running!"

The camera can't keep a steady image as they run wildly through the uneven ground. Flashes of a clearing are sometimes visible, but before they can reach it, Twilight lets out a gasp, followed by a grunt. The camera goes flying and comes to rest pointing back at her.

"Twilight!" Fluttershy calls out, turning back and rushing to her cameramare's aid. "Come on," she says, wrapping her arm around her. "You're not meeting your end here!"

Just as she's coming back to her feet, a timber wolf bursts from a bush behind them, tackling Fluttershy and pinning her to the ground. Another one follows shortly, pressing Twilight down against the mossy root that tripped her. Four more quickly surround them, barking and growling to each other, and at the mares.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," wheezes Twilight. "This is my fault. If I hadn't tripped, yo--"

"No," interrupted Fluttershy. "This isn't your fault, and it's not my fault. It's not even the timber wolves' or the ursa's faults. It's just a thing that happened as part of nature." She closes her eyes as the timber wolf pinning her down lowers his snout to her neck and opens his jaws. Just as she's taking a deep breath...

"Wroulf!!"

The timber wolves fall silent and turn their heads back the way they'd come from. A large, yet very thin timber wolf, papered with curly white birch bark and adorned with a shaggy mane of orange and brown leaves steps forward, approaching the girls. He stops by Twilight first, sniffing her. With his sharp, jagged teeth, as well as assistance from another wolf, he absolutely destroys her clothes, ripping them to shreds despite her protests, until she's completely nude. Grabbing her wrist, he turns her over as the wolf that had pinned her lets him, then returns to his position of holding her down. With one final sniff, he barks a command, and the timber wolves near her grab her by the wrists and drag her back into the woods, in the direction they had come from. Twilight whimpers in fear, her last look at the camera being one of shock and confusion.

The maned timber wolf then turns his attention to Fluttershy. As he sniffs her face, his yellow-green eyes light up. He looks up at the sky and lets out a long, low howl, and what few remain join in. This goes on for a minute or two, then stops suddenly. He takes another deep sniff of her, this time focusing on her neck. He snaps at the one pinning her down, who takes a step back, but continues to hold her in place. She, too, is stripped, in the same manner that Twilight was, but this time exclusively by the smaller wolves, as the big one is licking her neck. With her body bare, a pair of lesser timber wolves drag her off, in the same direction as Twilight. Rather than the trademark fear that Fluttershy is known for, her face is stoic, accepting her fate of returning to the nature she so adored in life. For this, she is not afraid.

The maned timber wolf digs his nose through the discarded clothing, seemingly satisfied after a very short look. He then tears apart Twilight's backpack, apparently looking for something, but not finding what he wants, as he soon discards the bag and its contents. He then tears apart Fluttershy's bag, scattering the bandages everywhere, along with the ointment. He shakes his head and scowls.

This is when he sees the camera. He walks over to it, sniffs it a bit, and picks it up by the handle and carries it back with him. He is, however, holding it backwards, meaning that the recording only manages to see what is between his legs. It's not much to look at, being a bunch of twigs that have pulled together to form a set of ribs and an underbelly, but the viewer can see the fluffy moss of his tail dripping down between his ankles.

Episode Twenty-Four: Timber Wolves, Part Two

The scene resumes as the birch wolf sets the camera on the ground, accidentally clicking one of the buttons. It shows a clearing, with a large pack of timber wolves surrounding the girls, who are clad only in their socks, shoes, and a layer of mud. Their wrists are still being held by the timber wolves that brought them there, and they have been made to kneel before the trunk of the fallen oak.

The oak log is a strange sight to see, not because it has fallen, but because it has an eerie, blue-green glow to it. A chunk of its bark has been torn off and made into a mask, which hovers above the stump, staring down at them with an unmoving face.

"Don't be scared, Twilight," says Fluttershy, trying to console her. "Think rational thoughts. Timber Wolves are vicious. If they wanted us dead, we'd not have made it this far. They need us for something. We may yet make it out of this alive, just don't panic."

Twilight nods as the line of wolves on the far side of the clearing parts, and two more maned timber wolves come in. One is made of spruce, with a dark brown body and deep green mane made up of needles. The other is light brown, with a mane of notched leaves. A handful of red mulberries hang down under his mane, the bursting of which has dyed his chest and shoulders bright red. They approach the birch wolf and, after some deliberation, the three of them move over to look at the camera. They sniff it all over, taste it, and then return to the trunk.

As they climb atop the fallen tree, the surrounding pack all sits down at once, leaving the only standing parties as the three maned timber wolves and the ones holding Twilight and Fluttershy in place.

The trial begins with the spruce wolf barking and growling. When he finishes, the mulberry one takes his role, and finally, the birch wolf barks a few times directly at the girls. Silence falls as the wolves await their response.

Twilight swallows hard and turns to her expert. "Fluttershy?"

In response to Twilight's decision, the oaken mask sucks up the glow of the fallen tree, five gaseous tendrils sprouting from its edges and writhing around. The mask floats over to Fluttershy, binding to her face as the tendrils force their way into her ears, nostrils and mouth, worming their way in until the mask sits firmly on Fluttershy's face. Her eyes glow with the blue-green sheen of the oak tree, and her body is soon engulfed in its light.

Once her body goes limp, the wolves holding her release her. She slowly sits back up, looks down, and removes her shoes and socks. Once fully grounded, she smiles. "That's much better." Her voice is echoed with a series of growls and snarls. The birch wolf barks back at her. "Yes," she answers. "It is as you say; we are ready."

"Fluttershy, what's going on?" pleads Twilight. "Are you okay?"

"We are bound to the spirit of the glade," responds Fluttershy. "We are not the one called 'Fluttershy,' but rather an amalgamate of her and the tree. It is now that we are together that we may begin. Please, be silent. If she cares for you at all, she will do what she can to protect you."

Twilight nods and remains silent and still. The maned wolves take turns barking and growling, snarling and howling. Whether at each other, or at Fluttershy, it doesn't sound particularly pleasant. This goes on for quite some time, until the glade falls silent again, and all attention turns to Fluttershy, who stands up.

"Part of what you say is indeed quite true," she roars. "However, in jumping to conclusions, you have made a few fatal errors that have caused you great shame in the eyes of your progenitors. While it is true that pony development has reduced your hunting grounds, and while it is true that these ones smell of the great slayers, a deep probe into this one's mind has shown us the face of the great grandmatron's thief. She has shown us her relations with those of the forest, and her unwillingness to harm our kind. She has even gone so far as to show us that she has taken part in efforts to regrow the forest; not just here, but in other places, as well." She turns to face Twilight. "As for her compatriot, she considers her to be harmless and well-meaning, if sometimes misguided."

Twilight's jaw drops. She says nothing, but her face is filled with confusion, with just a hint of hurt. The maned wolves continue their unintelligible conversation, ending with the spruce one growling and snapping at Fluttershy.

"No."

He growls and snaps again.

"Not at all."

The mulberry one barks.

Fluttershy is silent for a moment. "It is to preserve their memories for a longer period of time, and to allow them to share their memories with others."

The wolves seem to grow angry at the idea.

"We disagree. It seems that sharing these memories has the intention of keeping other ponies from encroaching on our home. Whether or not it will remains to be seen. However, we believe that it is important that memories in our favour be put on full display."

The maned wolves discuss amongst themselves what to do next, then turn to Fluttershy.

"No. Both ponies are to be set free. Both are to be given passage out of the forest, and their box of memories must be sent with them. My host is adamant about no further harm coming to them."

The birch wolf barks at her.

"Then let it be paid in fresh blood, given willingly from this body. New blood, not to be spilled in splashes, but to be rained down, covering the path and breathing new life into the forest. We will give you her blood."

"No, you can't!" cries Twilight. "Don't hurt Fluttershy!" She fights against her bondage, but Fluttershy places her hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"Calm yourself!" she barks. "There is harm that must be done, but the pony will survive. She will be released at the end of our ritual, with no lasting physical damage."

With a tearful nod of acceptance, Twilight drops her gaze to the ground.

The maned wolves discuss briefly the plan, then howl into the sky, joined quickly by all of the others, barring the ones holding Twilight in place. Fluttershy howls along with them, her pony voice not vocalizing in the process. Once the call is finished, the trees around the glade begin to glow, each with a different colour. Some are red, some are blue, others are purple, but they all glow briefly, until one in particular, a willow with a pale lavender glow, refuses to go out. It begins to grow more powerful right as the reel ends.

Episode Twenty-Five: Timber Wolves, Part Three

When the camera turns back on, it's just before dusk, with the natural light dying out. However, the glade is not completely dark, with mild glows emanating from every tree and timber wolf that moved about. It's very dim, but the camera manages to pick up every bit of movement.

The camera moves up into the tree branches, wrapped in the fronds of a willow mask. As it finds its place, Twilight is seen still kneeling next to the tree, but rather than being held by two timber wolves, her wrists, neck, and thighs are held in place by more willow fronds that have sprung out of the ground. She is not in danger of being harmed, so long as she continues to sit on the ground and not cause trouble.

Fluttershy, still wearing the mask, sits down on the fallen oak, her feet pointing back toward Twilight. The camera is located behind her, viewing Twilight's face. "You are sure you want to watch?" she asks, the snarls and barks still tied into her voice.

Twilight nods. "I'm sure. Fluttershy was there for me; I'd be a really shitty friend if I wasn't there for her."

"Suit yourself."

As the last light of day fades, the timber wolves all begin howling again. Fluttershy scoots forward and lies back, leaving her hips only barely supported as her back seeks a more comfortable position. Twilight turns her head partially away as Fluttershy's knees open up.

The birch wolf approaches Fluttershy, moves between her legs, and thrusts his cock deep into her in a single push. As he begins to hump her in full view of Twilight, Fluttershy lets out a loud, resounding "Yes! Breed me! Give me your young!"

Twilight does not seem to be pleased with this, as she's certain that Fluttershy would not agree to be impregnated by creatures that she has, in the past, indicated a fair degree of fear towards. She makes a note to herself to look into this further if ever given the chance.

It's not particularly long before the birch wolf finishes inside of her, and quickly dismounts. Twilight lets out a sigh. "Glad that's over," she says. "Now, it's time to--"

She's cut off as the mulberry wolf takes the place that the birch had just left. Fluttershy says nothing this time, as she is busying herself eating the fresh mulberries out of his mane as he fucks her. She is still a pony, after all. A pony that skipped dinner, to boot.

When he finishes, her chest and shoulders are just as red as his, smeared with berry juice. As expected, the spruce wolf is next. Being the largest of the three, Fluttershy is very vocal about how large he is, commanding him to fill her with his seed, which he does. By the end of it, Twilight is upset.

"Great. We've done the three big guys. Can we go now?"

"Of course not," smiles Fluttershy. Trees such as myself can have hundreds of mates. We've only just begun."

As a lesser timber wolf mounts Fluttershy, the tape cuts out and resumes an unspecified amount of time later, just as one is finishing. The camera has moved closer, and has changed its angle to see Fluttershy's gaping pussy.

At some juncture that the camera had not recorded, three timber wolves had fought over their place in line, and had torn themselves apart, rejoining the line as an exceptionally large one, and he now approached. He did not need to mount her in the traditional way, as the others had, but instead needed to crouch down, as he towered over her.

Twilight had to look away as the red wooden cock stretched Fluttershy's gape even wider. She did experience some pain, calling out "Too big!!" Thankfully, she was so tight around him that he didn't make it more than halfway in before blowing his load, with such force that the pressure through Fluttershy's vagina caused some to squirt out.

As timber wolves have no external testicles, this sloppy cumshot blew right between his legs, splattering Twilight right in the face, cementing her right eye shut temporarily. "It went up my nose!" she eventually managed to gag out.

As the big wolf joins the others who have already taken their turn, Fluttershy dismounts to log, makes her way over to Twilight, and licks the wolf cum from her face. Her tongue is longer, wider, and flatter than usual, and she quickly swallows it before returning to the log to be mounted once more.

The tape cuts again to much later in the night, as the last timber wolf in line is mounting her. The morning sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon, giving everything a spectacular golden glow. The wet splats of wood on soaked flesh ring out as Fluttershy is railed for the last time this day.

When the timber wolf is done, Twilight huffs. "That's all of them. The ritual is over. Release us, as you promised."

Fluttershy picks herself up as best she can. She's been accepting loads all night, and has been rubbed raw. She has a few splinters in her thighs, and a vaginal opening so wide that she could be fisted hard with the only issue being the soreness from the chafing. She slides down to the ground, unable to stand, and looks at Twilight.

"The ritual is not over. There is one step left. When that is done, the two of you will be returned to the edge of the forest."

"Then do it," demands Twilight. "Finish the ritual and be done with it. I want my friend back!"

Fluttershy smiles, opens her mouth wide, sticks out her tongue, and holds her hands open in a spout shape. One by one, in the same order they had had their way with her, the timber wolves walk up to Fluttershy, lift their legs, and piss on her face.

Twilight is clearly upset by this. "How is this part of the ritual?!"

Fluttershy stops the line and wipes her chin. "It's not enough to plant a seed. In order to make it grow into a great tree, it must be watered." With no other words, she resumes drinking as the wolves deposit their fluids into and onto her, coating her completely and washing off all of the mud and cum, save for that which pools beneath her.

This is a much faster process, as up to two can piss on her at the same time. By the time she's done, she swallows what's left and stands up with the help of the birch wolf. She'd accepted so much fluid into her body, the equivalent volume of one hundred and fifty testicles, added to the volume of seventy-five bladders, minus what had already come back out.

As she stands up, two saplings have grown out of the ground during her downtime; one growing up her arse, with the other up her cunt. As she drapes herself over the birch wolf, some cum spills out, already having a few green sprouts forming.

"The forest will live on. With the sacrifice of your friend, our numbers shall rise." As the mask falls off, Fluttershy immediately passes out. Twilight is released, given the camera, and after turning it on herself, she stops the reel.

Episode Twenty-Six: Phoenixes, Part One

Fluttershy smiles at the camera. On her left shoulder sits Peewee, preening his wing, while on her right sits Philomena. A feather from each is lovingly placed in her mane.

"There was a time when I knew nothing of phoenixes," she explains. "In my first experience with one, Philomena here," she indicates the bird on her shoulder, "decided that she was going to play a prank on me. Worse yet, she somehow convinced Princess Celestia to conspire with her, so I never really figured out what was going on. They had to outright tell me afterward, when I was broken down in tears, thinking I was going to be banished from Equestria and thrown in a dungeon in whatever place I was banished to. While it was horrifying for me, it was partially my fault.

"That said, phoenixes aren't just melodramatic pranksters." She turns to Peewee. "This little guy was given a stay of execution right before he was hatched. His nest was attacked by dragons, and all of his brothers and sisters flew off with their parents, unable to find his egg and assuming that he'd been slain. He was, as you can see, not dead, but rather just missing. He'd been taken by the dragons, but one of them stepped forward to say that he didn't deserve to die, taking him home and hatching him there. I'm leaving out a lot of details, but it's not unheard of to have long histories with phoenixes if you've spent any time with them. They live for a very, very long time, and have a wide range of personalities."

She raises her arm just in time for another phoenix to land on it, rather than letting it try to push Peewee off her shoulder. "To demonstrate my point, this is Paradiso." Paradiso spreads his wings, blocking the view of the other two. "He's a bit of a show-off, and can't stand not being the center of attention. He really likes to hog the spotlight, something that is actually pretty common among phoenixes because of their mating display. Well, really, this is true of a lot of birds, but phoenixes tend to take it all a step further by actually providing their own spotlight to bask in."

A phoenix wrangler comes into frame briefly to retrieve Paradiso and pull him out of the camera's line of focus. He screeches and flashes the wrangler with bright light, but refrains from going full blaze and biting. As he is taken off-camera, it is revealed that Philomena has flown off with his display.

"So, an interesting thing about birds in general is that they're monogamous. Now, this isn't wholly true, as there are a great many species who are not, but they only make up about a tenth of all species. It's no surprise then, that when a male such as Paradiso approaches a spoken-for female such as Philomena, she displays her disinterest by flying away. As Peewee is also in a relationship, he feels no need to display his own show to compete with Paradiso, and wouldn't, save for if some other male phoenix were making a move to steal his mate."

She reaches up to gently run her fingers along his back feathers, eliciting a soft cooing from him. He ruffles his feathers a bit, and turns to rub his beak against her temple. After a few minutes of this, she smiles and nods, and he flies off to a large branch where his mate is waiting. She then turns back to the wrangler and nods to him, and Paradiso takes his place atop her head.

"So, this is, again, Paradiso. He was introduced a bit earlier than intended, but now we actually want to talk about his mating display." In response, Paradiso opens his wings, revealing a glittering display of white, yellow and orange feathers on the underside. As they continue to his wingtips, they turn red, and then are tipped with blue ends. They shimmer and shine in the light that he emits, and he emits a lot of light, flashing at the camera.

"I can't really blame him for showing off, as he does have a beautiful mantle, and he really shines brightly. He's a spectacular specimen. So why hasn't he found a mate yet? Well, there are multiple reasons why a female might deny him, and there are a few females that are not yet spoken for, so he still has a chance, but let's go down the list of reasons that a male may be left alone.

"First, a male would be left alone if he is already spoken for. This is not the case for Paradiso, but it's worth mentioning. This usually is the reason a male would be alone after the end result of his female being unable to recover from an illness, and dying off completely. The male, being unable to find his mate, will often not put on a display, but it has been seen, very rarely, that a widow and widower can find comfort in each other without actually mating. They'll share a nest, but as I said, this is very rare behaviour.

"Next, a female may reject a male for being too small, too weak, or not being colourful enough. Paradiso is big and strong, and very brightly coloured. In contrast, Peewee is fairly small, and yet he has a mate. He is colourful, but not as colourful as Paradiso. So we know that's not the reason for him being alone.

"There's also a courtship ritual where the male brings gifts of food to the prospective female, and accepting his gift demonstrates an idea of reciprocity, where the male shows that, while he may not be the best, he is capable, and worth a shot. If a male does this for a female who is taken, she will reject it by tossing it out, but if she's single and rejects it, she'll just ignore it. This is how Peewee found his mate; not through a superior body, but through a superior will and dedication.

"This is the most likely reason, in my opinion, why Paradiso has yet to find a mate. He has not tried this method, though I have suggested it a good many times. While in display, he seems to be the pick of the litter, it's possible that his regal display has inflated his ego, to the point where his boastfulness is a turn-off. This can easily be fixed with a display of humility, which can be made up by closing his wings and bringing food."

At the suggestion that he lower himself, Paradiso closes his wings, leans forward, and pecks Fluttershy thrice in the middle of her forehead before flying off in a huff.

"He is not amenable to this change," she frowns, rubbing her forehead.

Episode Twenty-Seven: Phoenixes, Part Two

The camera pans around the environment, finally showing the location. Fluttershy is in a garden, with a series of brick half-walls all throughout and big, strong trees that were oft a fair distance from each other.

"So, this is a phoenix sanctuary," explains Fluttershy from off camera. "The reason they keep the trees separated by large gaps and walls is in case of fire, which can sometimes happen. The phoenix molting cycle ends with the bird bursting into flame, turning into a pile of ashes, and bursting from those ashes with a new coat of feathers. This takes place every few years of their adulthood, every few months during adolescence, and every few weeks as a baby.

"I want to stress that this is actually a molting process, as some older references will claim that the phoenix dies during this. This is not so. They may look sickly and frail, and likewise act as if they're dying, and may even feel like it. However, when they finally do burst into flames, they come back with their memories fully intact and their friends and family all recognize them easily. It's neither their death, nor is it a sickness. It's just a stressful moment in their lives.

"Now, they may sometimes emerge smaller, or with a different body shape, but this is not the end of the world. Molting induces a lot of stress, which can lead to overeating or loss of appetite. It should wear off after a short time, so don't be too upset if your favourite phoenix looks a little different after a molt. In fact, the best way to counteract them changing so drastically is to provide them a low-stress environment at the first sign of molting. Of course, if your phoenix has anxiety, this can be much more difficult, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try."

The camera returns to Fluttershy and is promptly removed from its tripod.

"Now, we have a special treat for you. Phoenixes don't often permit anything close to their nests, even going so far as to drive off dragons if they come too close. I wish I had that kind of bravery. Regardless, we're going to show you something that, until now, precious few have been permitted to see. We're going to look inside of a phoenix nest, and perhaps see a few eggs."

Fluttershy walked up to a tree, took a branch in her hand, and began climbing. "Now, normally, if you come this close to a phoenix nest, you'd be presently subjected to a flurry of talons, beaks, fire and excessive screeching. What makes me and the stallion with the camera different is that we have the express permission of this particular phoenix family to look and record what we see. Don't try this if there's a phoenix nest where you live, unless you have the express consent of the phoenixes that call that nest their home."

She moves up to a branch that is just above and to the side of the nest, holding tight to it. The camera goes up a different branch, so as to capture both her and the nest in the shot. The phoenixes look a bit wary, but honour their agreement to not attack for this indiscretion. The male even hops out of the nest to paint a clearer view, while staying close by. The female, however, is being very protective of her eggs, and stays over the top of them.

"So, normal birds will make small nests that are primarily temporary, just for laying eggs and raising their young until flight becomes possible. Then they leave it behind and fly off until such time that they are to mate again and have more eggs, at which point they can return to their nest if it's still intact, but this usually results in building a new nest.

"Phoenixes have a really long life cycle, though, and typically stick with one nest for awhile, unless it's threatened. If threatened, a phoenix will relocate if possible, but eggs and flightless chicks may be left behind in the escape. It's a lot more common that they'll put up a fight, though, similar to how you might react if somepony came into your home without permission. Do keep that in mind; that this is their home.

"Now, because phoenixes tend to keep their nests for longer, they typically build them wider and stronger. They're one of several birds that will use clay in the formation of their nests, which does help to keep them from accidental ignition. They do need a sturdy place to site the nest because of this, as due to the size and material, it's often quite heavy. It also means that they need to have bigger sticks to support the extra weight."

Slowly, the female phoenix began to lift her body, spreading her wings to protect her babies if she had to. Slowly, the eggs came into view, with their fiery red and orange hues. Some had yellow on them, as well, but they were mostly red.

"One more thing about phoenix eggs is that they have particularly hard shells. The babies inside need to push even harder to be born, but this extra push is what makes them so aggressive when protecting their families. It basically forces them to either be strong or not hatch. A bit brutal, but it means that only the strong will make it.

"Now, before we climb back down and finish up, let's talk about their diets. Phoenixes, much like other raptors, primarily eat meat. Adults will often do their own hunting, whether alone or in pairs, but after laying eggs, the mother will keep the eggs warm while the father hunts. After hatching, the roles switch, and the mother hunts while the father keeps the chicks safe. It's an interesting family dynamic that you don't see in many spe--"

Without so much as a creak, the branch Fluttershy is holding onto snaps, and she falls out of frame. The phoenix parents panic at the sudden change, and for a few seconds, the male claws at the stallion holding the camera while the female tries to blind him with light. This lasts all of ten seconds before they calm themselves enough to realize they aren't under attack.

The camera drops down to Fluttershy as a male voice behind the camera calls out. "Are you okay, Ms. Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy looks up at him. "I'm okay, I think. It wasn't a long fall."

Episode Twenty-Nine: Cephalopods, Part One

The display begins as nothing more than blue. "Is it working?" asks Fluttershy. "Are you sure it's not broken? You're staring at that display very intensely."

"I'm not sure," answers Twilight, "It's just giving me a blue screen."

"Let's look at the instructions again." Fluttershy slides into frame and starts glaring intensely at the camera. She's wearing a skin-tight rubberized blue shirt.

"Oh, no, it's working now. I guess it doesn't have that much range. Move out a bit, let's see what the effective range is before we go filming anything."

Fluttershy turns and bobs away from the camera. When her full form comes into frame, the lower half of her body is gone, replaced with a fish tail. She is a mermare.

"That's far enough," calls Twilight. "I don't think this thing can hear us underwater, as sound works a bit different down here. We might want to edit over this later."

"Okay," nods Fluttershy, swimming closer. "But, just to make sure we don't forget anything, I'm going to tell you about what's going on. It'll also be safer for you."

"Okay, just make sure it's loud enough that I can hear it."

Fluttershy nods. "Are we ready to begin, then?"

"Yep."

Fluttershy clears her throat. "Let's start by looking at the coral down here."

Fluttershy swims down, waving her arm over a secluded section of coral, decorated with a wide assortment of colourful growths and creatures , some of which were disguising themselves as plants, others of different species were hiding in little cavities that they'd made, or stolen from other creatures. There were even a few hiding in the sand. That, or the sand was winking at them.

"This is a really small reef," explains Fluttershy. "You can see how diverse the life is here, even with the diminished size. There are huge reefs all over the place, with even more diverse ranges of life. I actually picked this spot deliberately because the sharks around here are really small."

"Sharks?" Twilight sounds kind of nervous. "There are sharks around here?"

"Yes, I pointed one out on the way down here. You said it was pretty."

"I thought that was a fish."

"It was."

"I mean, I didn't know it was a shark. I thought it was a non-shark fish."

"Nope. Shark."

"Fine, just, next time, tell me if there's something that wants to eat me."

"I would have told you that, regardless," shrugs Fluttershy.

"You didn't tell me about the shark."

"I did, though. And he wasn't going to eat you; you're bigger than he is. He didn't even seem to be hungry. I didn't consider him to be a threat."

Twilight lets out a sigh. "Okay, can you tell me whether or not anything is hazardous, or even marginally hazardous?"

Fluttershy nods. "I'll do better than that. I'll point out other sharks. There's actually a dogfish that just swam behind that rock."

"Dogfish?"

"A variety of shark."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Only if you look like food. We don't, so we should be fine. Worst comes to worst, he'll come up and nibble, but it's not something that's going to do any lasting damage. Besides, we have a big first aid kit up on the boat. We'll be fine."

The camera moves across the stones that make up the foundation of the reef, examining the plant life and the multitudes of fish swimming among the mosses and weeds.

"Ah, now here's a danger of the deep," says Fluttershy, pointing to a small fish covered in spines. "This is spiked hermit. They have these large spines on their dorsal and pectoral fins, as well as scutes running down to their tail. Their barbs do not have a venom, per se, but they do release on contact microscopic spikes that will ruin you for awhile. If you were to bite down on one of these while it was still alive, you would have a horrible bruising in your mouth, your throat would itch for weeks, and you'd find it very unpleasant to eat anything. Do not touch it."

Twilight waves the camera around. "Are there more around?"

"I don't think so. They tend to be very solitary, until mating season rolls around, and this one's too young."

"How can you tell?"

"It's black and white. It's colour will come in when it's old enough to breed."

"Is it still poisonous when it's an adult?"

"It's not poisonous now. It just has super abrasive skin. They're not even venomous, they just leave a rash, followed by bruising, which may, in turn, lead to death if it's in a particularly necessary area."

"I've never really been a big fan of poison as a defense mechanism. All the biting and clawing..."

"That's venom. Though I'm not a big fan of poison, either. The defense of killing your opponent after you've already been digested is kind of late. That said, there are larger fish with tougher digestive tracts that are more than capable of eating a spiked hermit. Even some non-fish, like this nudibranch."

Fluttershy swims a little closer to the coral, prompting a panicked retreat from a group of polychaetes back into their tubes. They were about to retreat, anyway, as a large sea slug slides along the rocks a few seconds later.

"Some forms of aeolid nudibranchs are capable of sealing off the tiny spikes, to be used for their own protection from their own predators. As a general rule, I would recommend you don't touch them, either. This one probably doesn't have the spikes from a hermit, but it may have other venomous barbs from other venomous species around here. Just as a warning."

"Is there anything that is safe to touch?"

Fluttershy nods as a dark, striped fish approaches. She holds out her hand, pressing it against his nose as he approaches, swimming around in circles around her as he looks over her, trying to figure out what she is.

"Wow. You certainly made for a quick rapport with him."

"He's just curious, and mostly harmless. No poison, no venom, no sharp fins, and he looks happy and healthy."

"He's cute, too," smiles Twilight. "Do you know what he is?"

Fluttershy looks up and smiles. "He's that dogfish I told you about. The shark?"

Episode Thirty: Cephalopods, Part Two

The camera moves around the reef a bit more, with Twilight confusing sea worms for sea snakes, and Fluttershy correcting her. A few more sharks come around to swim near Fluttershy and be rubbed. None of them seem to be aggressive or even very hungry, but Twilight moves further away with each new one that shows up with an uncomfortable groan.

"Aren't they just cute little things, Twilight?" giggles Fluttershy, surrounded by sharks. "And so very playful, too."

"Yes, very cute..."

"Can the camera even pick them up from way back there?"

"Yeah."

The statement is true, as about twenty sharks are in frame. Twilight moves back a little more, and an approaching dogfish brushes up against her. Immediately, she shouts and swims away from it, propelling her into the cluster that's surrounded Fluttershy. With yet another shriek, she swims quickly up to the surface, dropping the camera.

Fluttershy sighs. "Don't go too far, guys, I'm just going to go have a word with her."

The screen reverts to just being blue as Fluttershy swims away and the sharks turn their attention to something else. After about a minute, Fluttershy's mic picks up her voice. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. Can we go to another reef? One with less sharks around?"

"Most reefs will have sharks, Twilight. Bigger sharks, more aggressive ones, and I thought you'd feel better with the nicer ones. I didn't want to put you right alongside a hammerhead, or a great white. A little bitty dogfish that won't hurt you seemed way more amenable."

Twilight sighs. "Look, I just need a moment to recover. I'll be back down in a minute, just, give me some time, okay?"

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Fluttershy swims back into view, digging the camera out of the sand where it had fallen and finding a good spot where it would be easily seen when Twilight did come back down. She tries to point it to where the sharks are before swimming back over to them.

"I'm sorry, little sharky friends. I don't want to sound mean or unhappy, but can I ask a few of you to swim somewhere else? It's nothing personal, but my friend is not so happy to be spending the day with so many of you, and I think a smaller group would be easier for her. If it makes you feel any better, she's going to be a few more minutes, so you can continue to swim around me for a bit longer."

The sharks stay close to Fluttershy, though some of them do meander away to avoid starting another incident. Fluttershy spends the next few minutes rubbing down the sharks along their backs and sides, giggling and smiling as they frolic about her.

"Is there something you need, sirs?" Twilight's voice comes through loud and clear in the recording, but she doesn't seem to be down here yet, and Fluttershy doesn't react to it. A few muffled voices answer her, but it's unclear exactly what they say. "I'm also here for a research project. I was just down there a moment ago."

Suddenly, the sharks scatter as a loud rushing noise that seems to come from everywhere. Fluttershy swims forward to grab the camera and try to record whatever's happening, but as soon as she picks it up, she's wrapped up in a large net. She tries to move her way out of it, but she doesn't make much progress. She doesn't have a knife, either, so there's nothing she can use to cut her way out.

"That may very well be," says Twilight, "but we have the express written permission of Princess Celestia. Right here, in plain Equestrian." The voices sound very angry. "Give that back!" There's a bit of a scuffle, ending with two heavy bangs and Twilight yelling "The coast guard will be hearing about this!"

A few seconds later, the net begins to move, dragging Fluttershy and the camera along with it. She tries to free herself, but only ends up even more entangled as the reef disappears.

After several minutes of being unable to do anything, Fluttershy and the net come to a stop again. Slowly, she begins to once again attempt to free herself, but just as she manages to be free her right arm, the net comes up, then drops back down, dragging her along with it. As she is being dropped, a very large octopus ends up in the path of the net, and despite her call for it to move out of the way, it ends up stuck in the net with her.

I guess we're stuck in here together," sighs Fluttershy. "I'm sorry it's come to this, but I don't have a way out."

The octopus reaches his tentacles through the holes in the netting, managing to pull apart the knot that secured the net to the line as they were being pulled up. The sudden detachment meant that, rather than being rapidly brought to the surface by the winch on the boat, they are dropping with the weights at the edges of the net.

After a long drop, the net comes to rest on the seafloor, next to a pile of rocks. Fluttershy outstretches her arms and tail as much as she can to keep from landing too hard on the octopus. She didn't want to hurt him by accident, but it makes her landing a bit harder as a result. She lets out a yelp of pain as the heavy ropes of the net strike her hard across the back like a hammer.

Immediately, the octopus begins to slide his tentacles through the netting, a bit confused by the multitude of holes, but with a quick helping hand from Fluttershy, he manages to squeeze his entire body through a tiny hole, freeing himself.

"I know you're under no obligation to help me," begs Fluttershy, "but do you think you could go find my friend, Twilight, and bring her over to help me out of this?"

The octopus says nothing, but begins to wrap his tentacles all around Fluttershy's body, squeezing her breasts and explores her body, his tentacles rummaging through her mane. He has no intention of finding or telling Twilight anything. Instead, he makes it a point to caress her body, his suction cups telling him everything he wants to know about her.

"Fluttershy?" calls Twilight, her voice scratchy and a bit staticky at this distance. "We need to be on our way. There were some poachers masquerading as researchers up top. The captain chased them off, but we should come back and try again tomorrow. Fluttershy?"

Episode Thirty-One: Cephalopods, Part Three

Fluttershy wriggles and grunts as the tentacles wrap around her body and tug on her skin. The octopus moves his head up near her shoulders and his tentacles follow along, pulling up her shirt and letting her breasts pop out as a result. immediately, his suction cups find her nipples and and squeeze around them, with his other tentacles exploring everything from her navel to her neck.

"I know you're frustrated and all, but could you please be a bit more careful? Those are really sensitive. Doubly so because the water's cold."

The octopus responds by moving down her body, down near her mid-back. He's no longer caressing her neck, but with some of his tentacles free, he moves down to grab her hips. The tentacle that was exploring her navel plunges into it as far as it can go. While that isn't very far, the twisted bundle of nerves inside cause her body to twist and contort, rocking about in the sand as she loses her ability to control herself. This doesn't last long, but ends with a bout of laughter and smiling.

"That wasn't very nice!" she gasps. "Tickling a mare when she can't fight back is bad form!"

The octopus does not continue probing her navel, but stays where he is for a few more minutes before moving down to her lower back. He stops focusing so much on her breasts and navel, as he has a new hole to focus on. Immediately after finding her cloacal vent, three tentacles shoot into the cavity and begin writhing around inside of her, causing her to squirm quite a bit. The only things keeping her from throwing him off are his intense grip and the fact that her arms are still locked in the entanglement brought on by the net.

Fluttershy cries out in a mix of discomfort and pleasure, her movements only serving to drive her deeper into the trap, until finally, she can no longer move her tail. The octopus has won, and she soon forgets about the discomfort, letting him finish with what he's doing.

After a few moments of soft, shuddering moans from her giving in to the pleasure, he extracts every single tentacle and moves down one last time. His tentacles wrap around her dorsal fin, which is oddly located back behind her pelvis. She's glad of his waning interest in the more sensitive parts of her body, but there is a new problem. The poachers that had lost their net are coming down to find it, and they're armed with tridents.

Just as Fluttershy is beginning to panic, the octopus slides up her body, digs two tentacles into her mouth, and pulls her back. The ropes that make up the net snap, as if they'd been chewed through by something with a sharp beak. Her shoulders slip free first, then her head, and her arms are soon to follow, with the rest of her body quickly sliding out now that she had some amount of freedom.

She grabs the camera, just in time as the octopus squirts ink over their location, throwing up as much sand as it can to cover their escape. He doesn't let go of Fluttershy, coaxing her along as she swims after him. He brings her to a small reef, then releases her, swimming off in the opposite direction for a bit, then disappearing. Fluttershy watches and records as the divers go after him, thinking that he must have kept going. Instead, he had camouflaged himself partially, and buried the bulk of his body in the sand, letting the divers think he was a patch of seaweed.

As soon as they're gone, he rockets back to Fluttershy, running a tentacle along her back. She gently strokes his mantle, and quietly whispers. "I'm sorry for being so difficult. I would have held still for a bit if you'd told me what your plan was, but I fully understand that your beak was busy."

The octopus latches onto a rock and vents a jet of water upward.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Craig. I'm Fluttershy." She adjusts her shirt so that it covers her breasts again as another, smaller jet shoots up. "Sorry, Kraken. I have a bit of water in my ears; I misheard you."

She turns the camera back to the poachers, who have given up the search and are swimming back to the surface. She lets out a sigh of relief as they disappear. "At least they're gone."

Kraken makes a few small noises, the first few of which Fluttershy doesn't react to, but about halfway through, she turns around.

"Really? All the time?" Kraken nods and keeps jetting. "What are they after?" Kraken jets even more, vibrating his siphon in the process, but this time using his tentacles as makeshift hands to explain. "That's horrible. I can't believe they'd do such a thing. Don't they know that the blue-eyed panther shark is an endangered species?" She sighs. "I'll do what I can topside. You and I are going to work together to rid this shelf of their poaching. You just keep untying their nets and cutting holes in them and so forth, and I'll go topside and see about removing them from the sea permanently." Kraken spits out a small noise. "I have my ways. Trust me."

After a few moments of rest and asking for directions, Fluttershy swims back to the bit of reef where she'd left Twilight, swimming back up to the boat and finding the area surrounded by sharks. She surfaces and climbs onto the deck, where Twilight is wearing a bandage on her arm. "What happened?"

"Poachers," answers Twilight. "They told me they were researchers, and demanded that I leave because I was scaring the fish. I told them we had a permit, and then one of them dropped the ball." She holds up a nasty-looking harpoon. "The captain scared them off, but not before I took a shot in the arm. I came down to find you, but there were just so many sharks, I couldn't just wait down there with an open wound."

"They're hunting an endangered species," confirms Fluttershy. "We have to report them right away. Captain, can you take us to the nearest Coast Guard station?"

"I was just waiting for you to come back aboard," comes a deep voice. "We're all safe now, so let's be underway." As the engines roar to life, the camera is lowered to the deck and shut off.

Episode Thirty-Two: Elephants, Part One

Twilight and Fluttershy walk across the open plain, the tall grass waving in front of them. "Tell me again why I need to wear this pendant?" Fluttershy fiddles with a choker around her neck.

"It's to protect you," answers Twilight. "We're going after elephants today. Normally, if they step on you, that's the end. This has an enchantment that will stretch you out if you're crushed. If they step on you with that, you would flatten, then quickly return to form with their next step."

"Wouldn't this be a spell a lot of soldiers use if it's so useful?"

"Good against war hammers and mauls, but swords and spears are way more common. This enchantment doesn't protect you from those. It's very niche."

"If you say so."

"Hey, I'm wearing one, too. It's an additional layer of protection. I'm only trying to keep you safe, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nods in acceptance. "I've just never needed one of these before, that's all."

"And hopefully, you won't need it this time, either. Death by elephant isn't as common these days as it used to be, but it can still happen."

"Oh, come on, Twilight. The only way ponies die by elephant in this day and age is by having elephants trample their crops. Nopony is stepped on."

"What about that murder in the circus last year?"

"Not his fault. Ponies were throwing things at him and he fell over. And that was ruled a manslaughter."

"If he was so innocent, then why didn't we go see him, instead of coming all the way out here?"

"Because I don't like to see animals in chains and cages."

A trumpeting draws their attention as a small herd of elephants walks out from behind a cluster of trees, sinking about ankle-deep into the river. The largest one leads, missing his right tusk, where a large scar runs back near his ear.

"There they are," smiles Fluttershy. "Do let me know if they come too close." She turns to face the camera, standing between it and the elephants, but offset enough to let them be the focus of the shot. "Today, we'll be discussing elephants. They are the largest of the non-magical, non-flying land animals. While, yes, there are creatures that can grow to be larger than elephants in extraordinary circumstances, they either have the aid of magic, or the ability to fly. Sometimes both, like dragons."

The lead elephant comes closer, stopping off to pluck some fruit out of a tree. He and the rest of the herd watch, but stay back a bit, focusing on their grazing.

"As you just saw, elephants are more than capable of picking things out of trees with their trunk. Usually, this is relegated simply to fruit, but sometimes, if a monkey as harassing them, they can grab a stick, or even the monkey itself. That said, they are more likely to eat lower to the ground things; grasses and shrubs and the like. They do end up eating out of the trees when available, but they have a very wide dietary range.

"Much like a lot of really large creatures in the area, they have a symbiotic relationship with several species of bird. It's mostly facultative, as not all elephants have parasites latching onto them, but when they do, the birds of the area are very happy to aid in their cleaning. The birds have a free meal and a short ride, and the elephant is free of at least some parasites. You usually don't see this in circuses or parades because domesticated elephants tend to have veterinarians remove their parasites, or sometimes just prevent them altogether.

"Elephants have a few natural predators, but their excessive strength and size, coupled with their propensity to travel in herds, means that it's rare that a predator can take them down. A healthy adult elephant pitted against three healthy adult lions is still decent odds for the elephant winning the fight. It's usually the sick ones, the calves, and the injured that end up as food, especially when alone. Only then are they susceptible to lions, hyenas, crocodiles and all manner of other things."

As she speaks, the herd begins to approach, and Twilight signals for Fluttershy to turn around. The lead approaches first to look over her, nudging her shoulders with his trunk. She gently strokes his trunk to show that she means him and his herd no harm, and that she's friendly. He decides to trust her for now, leaning down to see her better. She responds by scratching him under his ears.

"Generally speaking, elephants are very gentle creatures, with a big focus on their family. They have simple group structures modeled after a gerontocracy, mixed with shared bloodlines. Basically, the oldest leads, and finding a mate can supplement herds, only to have them break apart when they become too big. Those broken pieces can then join other herds, which may then break apart again to join other herds. It can actually be super detrimental if the herds become too big, because they can eat an entire valley out in days, leaving the place barren. It's more beneficial to have them in smaller groups that just roam and migrate."

"You mentioned earlier that elephants can sometimes trample crops?"

"Yes, but there's a new development happening that helps to undercut this. A fair few farmers have started putting up beehives in the middle of their fields. Elephants are terrified of bees, and will not stay in an area if there are too many bees present. Bees are also good for pollinating the crops and also produce honey, which gives them a new product to sell. It's not as good for the elephants, though. Their safe environments are being cleared away for farmland, and that's caused them to become endangered. If we're not careful where we put our farms, we could be removed of all three remaining species of elephant. In a few years, unless we do something, the only place you'll be able to see an elephant is in captivity."

Twilight takes a tentative step back. "I didn't know it was quite so bad as that."

Fluttershy lowers her head. "I'm exaggerating a bit. It might not happen in our lifetime, but two hundred years from now, they may all be either extinct or exclusively bred in captivity. Not exactly a happy thought, but that's why we need to act fast. By which, I actually mean we should slow down, hold back our expansion a bit longer. We should spend some time outdoors, becoming more in tune with the world around us before it all ends up completely destroyed."

Episode Thirty-Three: Elephants, Part Two

With their trust now gained, Fluttershy is petting the trunks of several elephants, reveling in their gentleness. The leader kneels down at one point, and Fluttershy takes the opportunity to climb up onto his shoulders and directs Twilight to do the same with a different elephant. Together, they ride toward the river.

"Do you understand my position now, Twilight," smiles Fluttershy. "We don't have to worry about being stepped on or sat on. They don't just do that for the fun of it."

"Yeah, I'll admit that the added protection has so far been unnecessary, but you'll have to forgive me if I tell you that you should leave it on. They may not intend to cause any harm, but accidents can still happen."

Fluttershy rolls her eyes. "Fine. But I'm telling you, this was a lot of rubberizing for no payoff."

"Duly noted."

They make it to the river, where the elephants fill up their trunks with water to shower themselves in the spray. Twilight puts up a shield at the last second to protect herself and the camera, but Fluttershy ends up soaked. She turns around as Twilight giggles.

"That was very petty of you."

"I didn't have that much time to react," reasons Twilight. "I had to protect the camera. It's not waterproof."

"Yeah, I understand, but it still feels like you did that on purpose. Especially when you laugh like that."

Twilight takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Here, let me help you with that." She sets the camera down on the elephants back and reaches into her pack, pulling out a pair of hand towels and a rain hat. She is preparing to toss them, but Fluttershy stops her, nudging her elephants ears with her feet to bring them closer.

"It's a lot easier to reach if we have less distance to cover," smiles Fluttershy, leaning over and taking the care package. She dries herself off partially with the hand towels, but as they are only hand towels, she can only do so much. When she's dry enough, she puts on the hat. "Are we still rolling?" Twilight nods and picks up the camera, just in time to need to put up a magical barrier to protect them both from another spray.

"So, you might be wondering why elephants spray themselves down with water from their nose. It's commonly indicated that this is how they clean themselves. While this isn't exactly wrong, it's neither the only reason nor the most important reason. While they do end up washing away dirt and endless surface parasites, that's really just a side effect. A boon, to be sure, but really just an added benefit. The real reason they do this should be obvious to anypony who lives in the area. Temperatures around here, while often mild, can be on the warmer side. Twenty degrees is nice, but in temperatures that reach up to thirty-five degrees, you would want something to cool you down, and a spray of cold water is just the sort of refreshment you need to keep you happy and healthy. Another reason is to moisten their epidermis, as even elephants need to exfoliate. Some nice, rough tree bark will finish the job.

"Elephants have another reason for needing to stay near the water, that being how much they drink. Elephants, being very large, need to drink a lot of water. Similar to camels, they can go a fair amount of time between big drinks, but to a lesser degree. While camels can drink enough to go for days, Elephants are more along the lines of having a long drink at dawn and not having to drink again until dusk. They're crepuscular, meaning they're most active in the early morning, and at twilight."

"What?"

"Early in the morning, they rise, and are active for a short time. They're less active during the day, and they come out again around twilight."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I say. They see twilight roll around, and they become more active."

"I don't come around very often."

Fluttershy sighs and rubs her face. "Not you, Twilight, I mean the vesperian hour. Dusk, twilight, evening, sunset and all the other names that are used interchangeably for the end of the day."

There is a pause as Twilight considers Fluttershy's words. "Oh."

Fluttershy smirks. "It's okay. We can cut that part out, right? We'll fix it in editing. Isn't that what you tell me whe--"

Their interaction is interrupted by a roar. Fluttershy and the other elephants turn to look, and a moment later, with a loud trumpeting from the leader, the whole herd turns and runs as fast as they can in the opposite direction, with Fluttershy clinging to her steed for dear life.

"I thought you said that elephants were no pushovers?!" calls Twilight, barely hanging on. "And that their predators were only after those that were weak and alone?!"

"There's an exception to every rule!" responds Fluttershy. "They have good reason to fear this one!"

Twilight steadies the camera and turns it around. Following them is an adult dragon, flying toward them with claws extended and ready to claim its meal.

"Hold on tight!" calls Fluttershy. "I'm going to try to shake him!"

Twilight turns the camera toward Fluttershy and the lead elephant. With a quick nudge, Fluttershy turns the herd just in time for the dragon's claws to miss Twilight's ride. Twilight cries out in fear, as she narrowly avoids being made into a dragon's snack.

"We have to lose him!" shouts Fluttershy, turning the herd further away from the dragon's path. "Or we'll be studying the dragon's digestive system from the inside!"

As the dragon loops around to try again, Fluttershy turns the leader one more time, causing all of them to disappear into the trees. The dragon was so focused on his prey that the sudden onslaught of tree branches to his face, neck and shoulders comes as a surprise and knocks him out of the chase.

Twilight records this, but her facing backwards while riding on the back of an elephant does not prepare her for a tree branch that knocks her and the camera off. The strap for the camera is caught on the tusk of the elephant behind her, but she is left clinging to the outstretched branch as the elephants stampede away without her.

Episode Thirty-Four: Elephants, Part Three

With a fair amount of coaxing, the herd finally manages to calm down and cease their stampede. They're all gathered in an open spot in the forest. Certainly, a dragon could reach them here, but it would need to find them and slink through the canopy. Even then, the herd would have the better odds in this thicker terrain. They are safe for now.

Fluttershy slides off the leader's back and makes her way over to the camera, slowly removing it from the tusk of the elephant that caught it. As she stabilizes it in her hands, the thicket is shown to be a bit dark. It's late afternoon, or perhaps early evening, and the canopy casts shade down onto the area. While it is mostly open, it's not really a clearing, as there are plenty of trees to fill up the top.

"Twilight?" calls Fluttershy, looking back the way they came. There's plenty of footprints from the elephants to mark the return path, meaning Twilight can just follow them here. "Then I didn't imagine it. She must have fallen off on the way here." There's a mild trumpeting behind her. She turns to face the lead elephant, who's placed his trunk on her shoulder. "I have to go find her. That dragon's still out there."

The leader waves his trunk, and the elephant Twilight was riding on approaches. The two make noises at each other for a minute or so, and then the leader turns and walks away, leaving Fluttershy alone with the smaller bull.

"I guess we're going to go look for her, then," smiles Fluttershy. With a nod from the elephant, the two begin walking back along the path they took to reach this point.

A few minutes in, Fluttershy decides to strike up a conversation. "How do you feel about your herd?"

The elephant responds with a series of noises that only Fluttershy could understand.

"Well, keep your chin up. Only ten months left. Congratulations, by the way. I hope they come out healthy."

The elephant makes a few grunts.

"No, I'm not. I may not know much about you personally, but that doesn't mean that I can't genuinely hope for your well-being, or at least the well-being of your unborn child. I wish goodwill to every creature."

The elephant trumpets skeptically.

"Okay, yes, I will admit, I just deprived that dragon of a meal. He was about to carry you off to feast on your flesh, and then I turned the herd another way. I can't exactly claim to care for all creatures, and then deny carnivores the right to rip herbivores limb from limb to feed their own offspring. There is a moral and logistical grey area, but I don't think it's fair to say I don't give a damn abou--"

She's interrupted by the roar the dragon overhead. She dives into a bush, dropping the camera as she leaps. It comes to rest against a tree. The elephant comes to stand over the top of her to hide from the dragon among the thicket, but in his haste, he steps on her.

Thankfully, she's still wearing the choker that Twilight insisted she wear, so she's not injured. As Twilight had promised, she is elastic and stretchy, with mushed parts of her face and her hands popping out between his toes. She is still able to look around and blink her eyes, but only her upper lip is available for speech, meaning there isn't much she can say.

However, behind the elephant's foot, Fluttershy is able to move, and in trying to gain the elephant's attention, she ends up rubbing her legs against his. The warmth of her body pressing against his underside calms him, enough that his penis begins to slide out of its sheathe. It immediately finds a moist spot and presses in. Her panties slip out of the way and he quickly buries his whole shaft in her cunt, stretching her beyond a reasonable bulge.

The dragon doesn't make another sound as the elephant begins to hump Fluttershy, who's unable to move but her hips and legs, and with no context as to where to move them, coupled with her lack of willingness to hurt him by kicking him in the testicles, means that she stays mostly still. She does move a little bit and wiggle around, showing the camera that the elephant is, though smaller than the leader, still pretty big where it counts. If Fluttershy was not under the protection of the choker, his girth would have split her pelvis in half, and mangled what was left of her body. She would also be dead.

After a few minutes, Twilight's voice can be heard calling out for Fluttershy periodically, drawing closer. Right after the second call is heard, the elephant cums, expanding Fluttershy's bulge by a wide margin. Only after his balls are emptied does he realize that he's on top of her, and takes a few steps away as his cock disappears back inside of his sheathe. Fluttershy springs back to form and squeezes her stomach, spraying out a torrent of elephant semen and brushing the mud off of her shirt.

As she picks up the camera, she brings her hand up to her throat and rolls the choker around between her fingers. She nods just as Twilight's voice rings out again. "Twilight?!"

"Over here!" calls Twilight back. "Follow the sound of my voice!"

Fluttershy rushes off toward the sound of Twilight's voice, and shortly after starting, she finds Twilight right on the elephant's path, waving a flashlight in the dim light of the wooded area. "There you are," says Fluttershy, running up to her. "Are you hurt?"

"Not really," smiles Twilight, shaking her head. "Thankfully, wearing that charm around my neck means that the impact with the tree branch didn't break my ribs, and the subsequent fall didn't break my legs. It hurt, sure, but I'm not injured. No need for a hospital visit. What about you?"

Fluttershy sighs. "I owe you an apology, Twilight. The enchantment came in handy for me, too. I was actually stepped on at one point."

The elephant trumpets behind her.

"He says he's sorry."

Episode Thirty-Five: Species Unknown, Part One

There is no sound for the first several shots. They're also exclusively black and white, and a little bit blurry. However, what can be seen in the blurriness are creatures unlike all of the others in the area. They're bipedal, and seem to have long, crooked legs and thin, segmented tails. Any details on their face are obscured by the angles of the camera.

The first shot is three of them walking through a grassy section of the woods just outside of a lakeside beach. The second has three more, or possibly the same three, harassing a cow late at night. The third depicts just one, gnawing on the wooden pillar on a farmhouse porch, bolting and showing its wings as the pillar snaps and drops part of the roof. The fourth and final shows two of them walking past, as one bends down and picks up a stick, before they both disappear into the trees.

"You're going to attach those to the beginning in editing, right?" says Fluttershy as the feed switches over to a shot of her walking toward a farmhouse. There is a pasture of cows just over her shoulder.

"That's right," smiles Twilight. "Why don't you tell the camera what's going on?"

Fluttershy turns to the camera. "Is it on?"

"It is now."

Fluttershy points to the farmhouse. "The farmer that lives here and raises these cows has recently been plagued by attacks from an unknown source. At first, he thought it was a bunch of teenagers taking drugs and targeting him because he lives alone out here. He called the guards, but with no proof, they couldn't arrest the kids, especially since he couldn't identify which ones did it. I mean, good on the guards for not arresting all of the local kids to find out who the culprits are, but that doesn't really help the cows.

"However, they did tell him to put up some small trail cameras to record different parts of his property. He bought two dozen fairly cheap ones, as he has a lot of land and not a lot of extra money. What he found in the recordings were not drunk or high children, but something that is obviously some kind of creature. After showing the guards, they agreed to patrol around the boundary of his property, but after a few of them came back with stories of falling unconscious suddenly and waking up hours later with bite marks, they called a biologist.

"So with all that we know, we can tell that whatever this is, it's most active at night. We have night-vision goggles to see what's happening in the dark, and we plan to stay out here tonight to capture some better footage. The more we know, the more effective we can be in bringing one in for study. Let me reiterate; we're not out here to trap it or stop it, we're here to figure out the best way to do so without causing it any harm."

"It's really exciting for me, too," adds Twilight. "The biologist couldn't identify the creature, meaning we may be looking at the discovery of our lifetime. A brand-new species, never before seen by pony kind! That's spectacular! We'll probably be on the team of ponies that name it because of this."

"More importantly," adds Fluttershy, "we are the first to find out what kind of care these creatures need, and how to keep them safe and happy. This is imperative, and may lead to us not having to catch one in the first place, if we can drum up a volunteer to come willingly. The less violent we can be, the better."

"Oh, of course. I have no desire to cause them any amount of harm. But we can't just let them keep terrorizing the cows, either."

"Right. We need to be careful, but decisive. Hopefully, no creatures will be harmed in the making of this documentary."

She reaches up and rings the doorbell. The farmhouse is small and cozy, with a simple, comforting design. That said, it's certainly showing a fair amount of age. The paint is chipping off in spots, a few of the deck boards for the porch are warped and beginning to come apart, and of course, the beam that had been chewed through was sistered to a single 100mm x 100mm unpainted timber with a handful of steel bolts. It wasn't a pretty fix, but it did help hold the roof up and kept the splintered crack above from becoming much worse.

After waiting for not very long, a rather portly man walked around the side of the house. He's wearing a blue flannel shirt, carpenter pants, and big black boots. He was sporting a shoulder-length haircut and a trimmed beard. "Y'all the gals with the geologist to catch that critter?"

"Biologist," corrects Twilight. "Geologist are the ones that study rocks."

"Right, sorry. You'll have to forgive my ignorance. I didn't pay much mind to the finer details in school. Results-oriented thinkin', ya understand." He reached into his back pocket and wiped some oil from his hands on a rag. "I was just out in the barn. Dang lathe is busted."

"Well, we just wanted to let you know that we're here to collect more information. We want to help solve this problem for you." Twilight wiggles the camera a bit. "If you can tell us where they've been most active, we'd like to set ourselves up there and see what kind of information we can extrapolate from that."

"I don't know what extrapolate means, but they seem to be focused mostly in a general 'that way' direction." He waves his arm, indicating a fairly wide section near a large cluster of trees. "I wish I could be more accreate for ya, but if I knew where they come from, I'd have probably already sent y'all a body to look at. More than one, even. However, since all they done is scare the cows and eat my house, I'm willin' ta make a deal. They stop botherin' us, and I won't harm a hair on their little green heads."

Fluttershy cocks her head to the side. "They're green?"

"Found out this mornin'. Anyway, y'all said you was bringin' a tent?"

Episode Thirty-Six: Species Unknown, Part Two

The camera pans around the tent, showing how spacious it is. Fluttershy is squatting next to a camping stove, stirring a large pan of sizzling vegetables with a wooden spatula. It seems to be mostly zucchini and peppers, and is quite vocal about it's doneness.

"Just in time," smiles Fluttershy, removing the pan from the heat. "How is everything holding up?"

"Well, the cows have all been ushered into the next pasture for the night," says Twilight, moving to a chair and sitting down. "That'll hopefully keep them safer than having them right where we're expecting these new creatures to show up."

"Are you sure we can expect them to approach us?" asks Fluttershy, dividing up the contents of the pan into two wooden bowls. "I mean, if there's a new tent and no cows, what if they think it's too scary and they don't approach?"

"I put out some old wood, as they've been shown to eat that, and a sign that says 'creatures welcome.' If you can think of anything else that might invite them to this exact spot, I'd love to hear it."

"Well, that's just it. It's very inviting, but I have to wonder if it is perhaps too inviting?"

"What do you mean?"

Fluttershy sits down and gives Twilight her bowl and a pair of chopsticks. "I mean, if you were terrorizing a town somehow, and all of a sudden there's a line of books going down the street, leading you to a brand-new building that was hastily constructed, with a sign out front that says 'free knowledge,' what would you think?"

Twilight pauses for a moment. "I'd wonder whether or not it's a trap."

"Exactly. It's a bit unnerving, but we definitely shouldn't do any more, lest it be too obvious that we're trying to draw them over here. I mean, we are, but we don't need to actively tell them that."

"I suppose not." Twilight sets the camera aside and takes the bowl, eating the coarsely-chopped fruits with gusto. She makes it a few bites in before her face begins to turn red, and she starts fanning herself. With a forced swallow, she turns to Fluttershy. "Those are really spicy peppers!"

Fluttershy nods. "I picked them specifically to keep us on our toes all night. They're absolutely packed with electrolytes, and we're going to need those. Plus, it's a kick in the teeth, so take an extra bite if you feel yourself beginning to doze off." She reaches into her bag and pulls out a pint jar of pickled peppers and a fork. "I have more if you want them."

"NO!! I mean, no thank you. I think this is enough to keep me awake for a time." Twilight continues to eat, but regularly pushes the peppers aside. Even with only eating the zucchini, she's still sweating by the end, and has to drink a lot of water.

Fluttershy, on the other hand, is powering through the peppers with little issue. While she does shudder and shake with every swallow, she's keeping them down quite well. Despite the warmth of their tent, she finishes her food and releases a sigh that seems to distort the air around her with heat. She leans back in her chair and rubs her stomach. "Good stuff."

"Yeah, it's certainly tasty," agrees Twilight. "What parts of my tongue aren't burnt are very pleased."

"Oh, come on. There was more sweet in those than there was spicy."

"Still a lot of spicy."

Fluttershy sighs, and the image almost indicates steam venting out of her nose. "Fine. I'll let you recover while I take the first watch. You can help yourself to some peanut butter, too. That should stop the burning." She pulls out a jar of peanut butter and gives it to Twilight, along with a spoon, before picking up the camera and exiting the tent.

The image is dark for a few seconds, then suddenly goes green and brightens up as the night-vision mode is enabled. The moon shines incredibly brightly as the camera turns around to the trees. Sure enough, there's a sign, but with everything just being a different shade of green, it's hard to read. Fluttershy makes her way toward the trees, grunting and shaking the camera every time she stubs a toe on one of the pieces of wood that Twilight left out as bait.

After about a minute, the camera picks up an image of one of the creatures, hanging upside-down on a tree branch. Much like the hummingbird in torpor, its back feet are wrapped tightly around the branch, with the tail drooping down between its legs, ending near its face.

Speaking of its face, it's now clearly visible. The skull structure seems to be three large plates, between which are two wide compound eyes that extend over the top of its head. Beneath that is a set of four mandibles, with jagged, craggy teeth. They are clearly capable of independent movement, as they do exactly that as it sits there, watching from above. Finally, at the bottom if its face is a large, jointed labium with a plate that exactly matches the contouring of the bottom of its lower mandibles.

The camera moves away from it, which is odd considering that it wasn't ever in the center of the frame, as if Fluttershy hadn't seen it.

"I really hope this isn't just some hoax," worries Fluttershy. "I doubt Twilight would prank me, but if she did, she'd absolutely be able to do it this way. Exceptionally elaborate, deftly intricate, and she probably has enough editing knowledge by now to make that creature and put it to film." She shudders, shaking the camera. "But then, how did she convince the cows? It's probably not a prank. Twilight wouldn't do that." She sounds unsure, as if she's trying to convince herself.

The snap of a twig causes her to turn around. There's nothing in her line of sight, but she backs away, regardless. She moves the camera from side to side, hoping it would pick up something, but she doesn't see anything. The buzzing of wings, loud as a lawnmower whizzes behind her, and she turns again, beginning to whimper. She takes a few steps back, and with a snapping hiss, she squeaks and drops the camera, which falls to the ground. A few seconds later, she falls in front of it, a bite mark on her neck and her eyes glazing over.

In the next moment, the creature is on all six of its legs, running its antennae all over her face and chest, sniffing at her body. As if it smells something it likes, it picks her up and carries her off. Another picks up the camera and follows along.

Episode Thirty-Seven: Species Unknown, Part Three

The night vision is shut off, and the video turns dark, leaving only the audio of grunting and clicking as the creatures carry Fluttershy and the camera to their haven. After a few minutes of nonsense, the camera begins to pick up some lights. They don't come from a flashlight, or a candle, or even the moon, but rather the bioluminescent chemicals swirling beneath the translucent carapaces of the creatures. This light only lasts for a second, but the few of them that there are flash often enough and at odd intervals, giving the area a constant light, though not at a constant angle, giving everything a shimmering quality.

Fluttershy is flopped to the ground, letting out a shallow grunt. She seems to be unharmed, barring the bite on her neck and her lackadaisical malaise. She just stares blankly at the camera as the chitinous creatures congregate and cavort over their captive's countenance, clicking and clacking as they converse and confer the course of their conundrum, culminating in consensus. They roll Fluttershy onto her back, and out come the antennae, sniffing at her as the first one had. One that went sniffing between her legs suddenly snaps, waving wildly as it tries desperately to remove Fluttershy's panties from its face. It takes two others helping, but they manage to chew a big enough hole to remove them.

They gather around, totalling six, with two of them about twenty centimetres taller than the others. Those two also have wider tails than the four shorter ones. Their light is a different colour, as well. While the smaller ones have a muted lime green glow, the larger ones glow with the colour more akin to a yellow green.

The smallest goes first, lowering his body over the top of hers. A slit between two of his thorax plates widens, and a firm prong slips out, dripping lightly from its pointed tip as it emerges. While the bodies of the creatures appear green, the prong is blue-green, growing darker as the gradient approaches the tip.

The barb swiftly slides into her vagina, but her face gives no reaction. Her eyes blink slowly, but she shows no emotion other that a sort of weary fatigue. His back legs are very powerful, holding most of his body aloft as he pumps into her repeatedly, not even bothering to use his front legs for balance. Before too long, he pulls away, a thick white substance dripping from his prick as he moves aside. Another immediately takes his place, with no massive change in the format.

The third one is not one of the creatures from the visible group, but rather, the one holding the camera. He records every millimetre of his cock disappearing into Fluttershy's gooey pussy, quickly plowing his shaft into her, and firing off spurt after spurt of semen into her. With this third load, her waist begins to swell up as she fills.

Finally, it's the last male's turn, and as he is the biggest of the small ones, Fluttershy's expression does change when he slips in. She bites down on her lip, and her face begins to turn pink as a few breathy moans escape her lips. He doesn't last particularly long, but after he cums, he inspects the hole and clicks his mandibles excitedly.

It is now time for the biggest of the creatures to come over and have their fun. The larger of the two squats down between Fluttershy's legs, the last of the smaller ones twisting and squatting over Fluttershy's face and spreading her legs. Slowly, the big one turns away from Fluttershy and flags its tail. From the tip, four prongs slide out, and a blue-green tube, more cylindrical than the others slides out between them. It lines its tail up with Fluttershy's dripping cunt, and with some added help from the last user, slides it in a few centimetres.

A moment passes with no movement, and then a bulbous blob of some description slides down the inside of its tail to the tip, eliciting a groan from Fluttershy as the lump slips into her. Another follows a moment later, then a third, and a fourth. Fluttershy's belly bulge begins to expand as more and more knobs slip into her, and she begins to move her arms, only as far as her breasts. She squeezes her mammaries as whatever substance is coming from the creature's tail fills her womb, moaning out in what pleasure she can still feel.

Fourteen lumps later, the creature removes its tail. The final creature takes its place, with the tail ready to go, but orbs already moving into position. Before it can slip into Fluttershy, one of the orbs slips out, and is revealed to be an egg, flopping to the ground. Its soft shell doesn't break, but it goes unnoticed by the creatures, or at least uncared for, as the ovipositor slides into Fluttershy's pussy to lay its eggs. Ten more are deposited into the cum-filled hole, giving Fluttershy the appearance of a pregnant woman. To be fair, there are little unborn creatures inside of her, with two dozen eggs swimming in a sea of sperm.

"Fluttershy?!" comes Twilight's voice. "Where are you?! Fluttershy?!"

The creatures all turn around, seeing Twilight approaching with a flashlight. They begin to buzz angrily, but then something upsets their antennae, and they make the same panicked sounds as the one who found himself trapped in Fluttershy's panties. They turn and fly off, the loud roar of their wings fading into nothingness as their body lights disappear among the trees.

Twilight is in frame in the next few seconds, kneeling next to Fluttershy. "Shit. I knew I should have followed her; damn it." She sighs and turns to the camera, going over to where it fell to the ground. On her way to pick it up, she sees and inspects the discarded egg, then looks back to Fluttershy as the realization dawns on her. "Well, well, well, Fluttershy. I know I said I wanted to at least try to bring one back with us, but a whole bunch of baby ones that we can raise from birth and track their progress and intellect? You really do go above and beyond when it comes to biology, don't you?"

Fluttershy says nothing, just lying on the ground with the remnants of her unconscious use.

"Come on," says Twilight, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "You'd kill me if I harmed those creatures inside of you. Let's not leave them out in the cold." As she starts dragging Fluttershy's unconscious body back to the tent, she picks up the camera and turns it off.

Author's Note

This is the end of the show for now. I may update it if I find another batch of episodes, or perhaps I'll find enough to release a second season. But as it stands now, there are no more tapes.

Episode One: Pilot

The screen clicks on, and an image of Fluttershy's back comes into view as the tape player finds the audio track. "--solutely sure about this?" asks Fluttershy, slowly pushing her way through the foliage. She's not dressed for jungle exploration, opting for a white tee and a short green skirt. She does at least have sneakers with long crew-cut socks, and she carries a large backpack with edibles and equipment. "I mean, sure, I love animals, but I think that as soon as you turn the camera on, I'll freeze up. I'm not a performer by any sense"

"Just relax," comes Twilight's voice from off-camera. "You won't even notice the camera. That's the whole point of me wearing this ridiculous suit. I look like a bush or a lump of grass, to ensure that the animals don't see me, so it'll be harder for you to see me, too. The microphone is in your mane, and you won't even remember it's there at the end of the day. Just pretend you're talking to me."

Fluttershy shivers. "Remind me again why we're doing this?"

"We want everypony to know more about the creatures that live in their world so as to better live in harmony. What better way of telling them than to show them how important and wonderful they are? It also appeals to me because it's a great study into the field of zoology and cryptozoology. Think of the amazing discoveries we could make, and the massive help we can provide for these creatures with an army of young fans ready to aid you at every turn. We can make the world of Equestria better for everyone by simply spreading knowledge around."

Fluttershy sighs. "You're right, Twilight. I'm sorry for being so finnicky. I'm just really nervous."

"I know," answers Twilight. "That's why I put a swatch of electrical tape over the camera's light. You won't even know when I start the recording. That should add to your peace of mind."

"It... kind of does."

With one final push, Fluttershy and the cameramare, presumed Twilight, step out of the undergrowth and out into an open field. Lots of dry grasses spring out of the ground all over the place, and a few critters dart around the stalks, making big waves as they scurry around.

"This is the reason we're making the show," confirms Twilight. "It's for all of them. Isn't that worth the discomfort of being on camera, just to keep them safe?"

Fluttershy is tearing up at the sight. She nods and smiles. "It's all for them. Okay, let's do this."

A loud roar brings both of their attentions to the sky, where a very large dragon suddenly flies overhead, casting a dark shadow over the field. The camera zooms in and focuses on it, watching as is circles around three times, then lands somewhat nearby. If it turned, it would likely see them, if it hadn't already, but instead, it sits back on its haunches and begins picking at its front claws.

"Have you ever seen anything like that, Fluttershy?" asks Twilight. There is no response. "Fluttershy?" Again, no response. The camera pulls away from the dragon and starts scanning around for the little yellow mare, until it finally finds her clinging to a tree branch in the woods they'd come from. There's a bit of shaking as the whole scene turned sideways, implying that the camera had been laid down on its side. Twilight comes into view in a ghillie suit. If she weren't moving around and standing upright, you'd hardly be able to tell where she was. She moves over to the tree where Fluttershy is cowering. "Right, I forgot you were afraid of dragons."

Fluttershy nods, but doesn't try to move other than that. "I'm p-p-perfectly happy here until that d-dragon leaves," she mutters, being picked up by the mic in her hair.

"You know," lectures Twilight, "this presents a very interesting opportunity. Finding a dragon to report on for science is an amazingly rare instance. With very little information in books about them, we could be the world's foremost experts in the subfield of dragons. We mustn't let this opportunity go to waste."

"Thank you, but no thank you."

"I can't report on it; I know very little about dragons. You know way more than I do."

Fluttershy vehemently shakes her head.

"The reason most ponies are afraid of dragons, or any animal for that matter, is because they don't understand them, or know nothing about them. How you feel right now is how most ponies feel about lions and tigers and bears. Oh, my, just think of what our show could do to eliminate those fears! You'd be a hero to so many colts and fillies!"

"I don't want to be a hero to them! I want to be a hero to the chipmunks and squirrels and birds! Not to the dragons!"

"Oh, come on!" grumbles Twilight. "Can't you see that there is a clear parallel between your fear of dragons and other ponies' fears of other animals? We can break down that fear with understanding!"

After a few moments, Fluttershy climbs down from the tree, and reluctantly makes her way out into the field as Twilight retrieves her camera. "D-dragons are--"

She is immediately cut of as the dragon lets out another roar and takes off, kicking up a big cloud of dust and blowing a strong gust of wind their way. With a few powerful flaps, the beast is up in the air, and with one final roar to relay its dominance, it flies off into the distance.

"Well, that was a disappointment," groans Twilight. "If we could have collected that data, we could have had our first episode, no matter how poor, go absolutely viral just by having new information about how dragons work."

"Thank goodness. I was afraid that I'd really have to list off everything I knew about dragons."

"We could still do that," says Twilight, bringing a hurt grimace to Fluttershy's face, "But it's not as good without an example. We'd really want you to really be up close and personal wi--"

"No! I outright refuse!"

"But Fluttershy, we nee--"

"This is as close as I'm comfortable being to a dragon! If you want me to be close enough to touch our subject, pick something else!"

Twilight sighs from behind the camera. "Okay, fine. We'll pick another creature. It's not like we have nothing to choose from." As the camera pans across the plains, the screen goes dark and the sound cuts out. The recording has stopped.

Episode Thirteen: Bugs, Part Three

The grasshoppers move closer, growling and snapping their mandibles. Fluttershy stands her ground, keeping in the middle of them as they step up closer. When they're close enough that she can touch both of their heads, their temperaments change, and they both seem to calm down.

"That's better," sighs Fluttershy. "No more fighting with each other, and no one has to go see the spiders. Now, then what are we go-- GAH!!"

As the injured grasshopper swings its mighty leg, it knocks Fluttershy to the ground, on her back. Her skirt slides up her body, showing that she had not made a pair of panties, just as she hadn't made a bra, a mistake that she is now regretting, as the reduced tension on her front covering allows her breasts to flop out of their light covering. She doesn't have much time to recover, as the injured male has climbed up on top of her and is jamming his penis into her vagina.

Just as Fluttershy is about to cry out, she hears in her earpiece the sound of a door opening and closing. "Thank Celestia you're here, Twilight. I need you to-- Ah!" The grasshopper begins to pump his penis in and out of her in quick, shallow movements. "Please?"

"So, this is why Twilight's been out filming," comes a deep, mellow voice. "I should have known that her whole 'nature show' excuse was bullshit. It's just an excuse to film a bunch of weird pornos with animals."

"Shi--" Fluttershy gulps. "Shi--"

"And now she's calling out her own name during sex? Really weird. Kinda hot, though." There is, in the recording, the squeak of a chair, followed by the jingle of a belt buckle being undone.

"Shinin--" Fluttershy's mouth is quickly filled by the other male grasshopper, stopping her from calling out again.

"Oh," comes the intruder's chuckle. "She was calling out my name. No wonder Twilight didn't want me seeing this until she was done." After the snap of a button and low growl of a zipper being undone, there's a rustling of cloth, and the slapping of flesh against flesh. "I'll have to pay Fluttershy a visit one of these days."

Fluttershy is unable to voice any further concern, as she is currently being pinned down by two grasshoppers. While they are kind of heavy, the real problem is their incredibly powerful legs, which keep her feet and wrists flush with the ground, mashing them into the dirt. The most she can do is squirm, and let out little objections that sound just like moans.

She's not the only one moaning into the audio recorder, either, as Shining Armor is now all lotioned up and rubbing himself to the display on the screen. "You like that, you slut?" he smiles, accidentally activating the camera controls and zooming in. "I bet you like having animals inside of you. Those hot, dirt-covered cocks just wrecking your tight pussy. What I wouldn't give to have those lips wrapped around my own dick, squeezing down on it."

His words strike a chord with Fluttershy. She clenches her legs together, trying to squeeze the grasshopper cock out of her, but he only slows down, pushing harder to go deeper. With a click of his mandibles, the one in her mouth does the same, before she can even attempt to drive him out with her tongue.

"Yeah, suck that cock as deep as it will go," moans Shining, speeding up. "Show the camera that you can take it all the way to the balls. Sniff his junk and breathe in the smell of his taint. You like that, you filthy whore?"

The camera drifts lazily to the side, finding a spectacular view of Fluttershy's breasts, being lightly squeezed by the wandering legs of the grasshoppers. Being larger in size and quite heavy, not having any support made them flop to her sides, where they would jiggle back and forth with every movement. She lets out a squeak as one of his feet pinches her exposed nipple.

"Sweet Celestia, her boobs are bigger than Cadance's were when she was pregnant." Shining's breathing was becoming more laboured and heavier, and his moans were increasing in volume. "Rub those breasts against your master's cock, and let him cum in your mouth. Ah!"

Just as Fluttershy is listening to the sound of Shining Armor cumming in his sister's chair, her mouth is filled with the sticky white liquid that she had come to know so well after starting this project. She was not impressed, merely disappointed. The other one soon came in her pussy, and let go of her legs, moving up to her abdomen, pushing her pussy lips open for the camera to see.

"Well, that was fun," chuckled Shining as the chair squeaked and cloth rustled. "I'll have to go see Fluttershy this weekend. Show her the dick she wants so bad." As his belt buckle jingled, the door opened and closed in the recording area.

Fluttershy, knowing the mating ritual of the grasshopper, digs her legs into the ground, just until they're buried. "I'm laying my eggs right away," she sighs, squeezing out what she can. "Oh, yes, sooo many eggs. You're going to be a father alright. Both of you."

Proud of themselves, the grasshoppers fly away and Fluttershy digs herself out of the hole and cleans herself off, readjusting her dress just as the door opens again.

"I found her," said Spike. "She was in Shining's room. She wouldn't budge until he came in."

"I have some good news, too," adds Twilight. I've just found somepony that wants to buy a copy of our nature show. I'm not even done with editing the first episode, and we already have a buyer. Isn't that great?"

Fluttershy scowled at the camera. "It's Shining Armor, Isn't it?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"Just a hunch. Twilight, you probably shouldn't go--"

"I know, I know, he was just trying to placate me; to calm my nerves and bring me back to work, but he's always been very supportive, and having him on our side is a massive boon for us."

"That's great but--"

"And, he also wants to see some of our other friends be a bit more involved with the show. Doesn't that sound like such a great idea?"

"Twilight, I don't thi--"

"And of course, that means we're going to be able to do so much more! This is perfect!"

Fluttershy slumps over. "Yeah. Perfect. Just the best. Can you come make me normal-sized again?"

Episode Twenty-Eight: Phoenixes, Part Three

The stallion with the camera climbs down the tree and secures it to the tripod from earlier, pointing it toward Fluttershy. She's pinned down under the fallen tree branch, mostly just her arms. Her legs are hooked over the half-wall, with a smaller branch keeping them in place.

"Let's free your arms first, they're the most troublesome." The stallion slips his arms under the tree branch and tries to lift. The branch barely budges, too heavy for him to move on his own. "Do you think you'll be alright while I go find something to lift this branch off?"

"I'll probably be fine," answers Fluttershy. "I don't think I'm injured. Please hurry back, though."

Fluttershy sighs in relief as she waits. Her skirt had fallen with her, exposing her panties, but he hadn't mentioned it, perhaps having not even noticed.

A lone phoenix flies up and lands on her breasts. He has a dark colouration, almost maroon, but his yellow highlights appear almost golden. As he resettles his talons on her breasts, he looks down on her face with what appears to be a scowl.

"Hello, Inferno," greets Fluttershy. "Your brother just flew off in a huff. Could you go find him for me, please?"

Inferno spreads his wings, but does not fly off.

"Yes, you're very pretty. Can you please go find your brother?"

Inferno turns around, flaps his tail at her, and hops up to her groin, turning back to face her.

"Go on, go find your brother."

With a sharp talon, Inferno pulls aside Fluttershy's panties, exposing her pussy to the open air. Gently lowering himself onto her, he glowers and lets out a low trill. His eyes burn with a fiery intensity as his feathers begin to ruffle.

He lets out some squawks as Fluttershy winces in pain. "Look, if you're going to do that, can you at least be more aware of your talons? You're scratching me an awful lot, and it really hurts."

Inferno squawks irately and lets out a flash from his wings, causing Fluttershy to wince as the light hurts her eyes. "That hurts!" she manages to call out.

He nestles there for a few more minutes before standing up. His claws are digging into Fluttershy's thighs, which are lightly singed and bright red. A small amount of white-grey fluid drips up her skirt from between her legs.

Suddenly, Inferno raises his wings and starts flashing as Paradiso lands on Fluttershy's leg, leaving his wings outstretched and flashing, screeching at Inferno.

The two burst into flame, flying around over the top of Fluttershy, a flurry of wings and talons, accompanied by screeching and flashing.

As the fight rages on, Fluttershy struggles against the branch holding her legs against the wall. She doesn't succeed in freeing more than her right leg, but she does manage to slide her panties back into position just as the stallion is coming back with a ratchet strap. He runs up to them, tosses the straps to the side, dips behind the camera, and returns with thick leather gloves, which he uses to pull the two birds apart. Inferno is still screeching and biting, Paradiso is burning and flashing, and the stallion is unable to assist Fluttershy with both of his hands full. "Are you alright?" he asks, shouting to be heard over the birds.

"A bit licked by burns and talons, but I'll survive. I'll let you sort that out before turning your attention back to me."

"Well, that's just it, Ms. Fluttershy, I don't see any way for this to resolve peacefully. I can't hold them apart forever, especially not alone."

Fluttershy sighs. "Why did Twilight have to fall ill this week?"

As she's beginning to wonder how long she'll be stuck there, Peewee flies up and lands on the branch pinning her arms down. After a quick look over the situation, he begins picking away at the hard bark of the tree, cutting away at it with his sharp beak and burning the hard parts to soften them. After a minute, his mate joins in, and before too long, the branch snaps in half, making it small enough for Fluttershy to push away on her own while Peewee helps to free her other leg.

As soon as she's up, she checks her arms and legs for damage. Other than the punctures and burns from Inferno, she's mostly unharmed. There is a small bump on her head, and Peewee's mate tries to soothe it with warmth, but this only seems to make it worse. "I know you're trying to help," smiles Fluttershy, gently moving her away, "but I think I need an ice pack for that. Thank you for freeing me, though."

Now quit from the fallen branch, Fluttershy grabs another leather glove and takes Paradiso by the leg, separating him from Inferno enough for the two of them to calm down. The stallion carries Inferno off to tend to what wounds he has, while Fluttershy waits by the camera with Paradiso.

"Why did you have to go and throw a fit like that?" she asks, looking him right in the eyes. "All I wanted from you was to pick apart the tree branch that had me stuck, not to end up in a fight with your brother that ended in you both being injured. Why did you do that?"

Paradiso simply extends his other leg; the one he had not been fighting with. From it, he tosses a dead rat onto Fluttershy's chest. She picks it out, sits down on the log, and sets it aside. "Paradiso, while I appreciate your effort, as well as your newfound humility, I'm not going to be your mate." He squawks angrily in response. "No, I'm not picking your brother over you. I'm just not ready to settle down in a nest for the rest of my life. Besides, your cloaca is not compatible with my vagina. Our anatomical structure is so vastly different that we cannot have proper intercourse, let alone create offspring. If you were to have me as a mate, You'd have me for the next fifty years, and then spend the majority of your life alone. Ponies like me don't have a five-hundred year lifespan like you do. You need to find a nice phoenix girl to give that rat to. Or perhaps a different rat, after you're all patched up."

Paradiso huffs and turns away, obviously upset. Fluttershy shakes her head, reaches over, and turns off the camera.