Fluttershy's Nature Show, Season Two

"So, thestrals live in big communities. They spend a lot of time underground or in the air. They're actually very accomplished flyers, and are even pretty good diggers. Look down at their claws."

The camera pans down to the thestrals' claws. At their right, the claws were thinner, longer, sharper. On the left, they were shorter and wider.

"They use their right claws to cut through dirt and rocks, and their left to scoop it out of the way," explains Fluttershy. "This back and forth makes it really easy to move through mountains."

"Wouldn't in be just as easy to make their homes in hills?" asks Pinkie.

"For individual homes, maybe," smirked Fluttershy. "Maybe this will be easier to explain if we go inside?"

They head to the entrance to the cave and see that there are hundreds of thestrals all living here together. It's not even dark, because the sunlight reflects off of the jewels in the walls and illuminates the whole cave. It drops down a fair distance once inside, with a lot of small chambers and also a fair few large ones carved into the walls. The larger ones seem to be communal areas where every thestral is welcome.

"Thestrals are big believers in genealogy. Families stay together for a long time, building outward from within. It's not unlikely that every thestral here has a common ancestor."

"Ew!"

Fluttershy looks back at Pinkie. "What's wrong?"

"That means that they're doing... Well, you know..."

Fluttershy shrugs. "What?"

"That thing that families aren't supposed to do?"

Fluttershy takes a deep breath. "Yes. That's common in the animal kingdom. Well, not common, per se, but not very rare. In this case, they don't really have a lot of choice in the matter. This is the only Thestral crag on the continent. They'd have to cross the ocean to find a partner who shares no familial connection. Besides, they're far enough away to not be as big of a problem as you might think. Second cousin is good enough. Third is better. And since there's space enough for them to make it all the way to twelfth cousin, they're pretty diverse."

"That's still kind of gross..."

"Maybe. But that's how it works with thestrals, and it's working fine for them."

"What if it was you and your brother?" pokes Pinkie. "Still okay?"

"No," scoffs Fluttershy. "Zephyr's awful, first of all. Second, not even in thestral groupings is a brother-sister relationship common. That's way too close. Think of it more like... You and Big Mac."

"Nope. That study was inconclusive. We're not officially related, because the records don't go back far enough. Besides, Big Mac is awesome."

"We all know that Big Mac is objectively better than Zephyr Breeze. Not even a contest. Hang out with them for two minutes each, and you'll know which one is better by a longshot."

A trill from Thurston brings the attention back to the reason for the video. "Right. We'll cut all of that out. So, anyway, Let's go see what their private chambers look like. You know, where they sleep?"

Fluttershy climbs up on Thurston's back and holds on tight as he leaps over the side and dives down several levels, coming to a rest outside of one of the small chambers mere seconds later.

"Wowee, that was fast! Whoa!"

Pinkie is jostled as Veronica's head appears between her legs and tosses her back. She's only just able to grab ahold before the thestral she's on takes flight, landing next to Thurston as Fluttershy climbs off.

"Woohoo! What a surprise!" giggles Pinkie. "I love surprises!"

"And I like gentle thestrals that land softly," smiles Fluttershy, reaching up and kissing Thurston on the beak. "So, let's see his room, shall we?"

The camera turns to show the inside of the chamber, and it's very cozy. There's even a raised section with straw, which he lies down on like a bed. There's also another section, just off to the side, which is also slightly raised and has hay, but is more disheveled. Not in such a way that it was torn up, but in that someone stopped taking care of it. It's smaller, too.

"What's with the unkempt bed over here?" asks Pinkie.

"That's a nest," answers Fluttershy. "When a thestral chooses their mate, they make a nest for the egg to be laid in. It is here that the chick will hatch, and grow into an adolescent. The nest looking like this means one of two things. Either Thurston has lost his mate somehow, along with their egg, or more likely, he was not approved of by his potential mate."

"Is that more common?"

"It's more likely that a thestral will say "no" than die, yeah."

Thurston lays his head down, pretty much confirming the claim that he was denied. "It's okay, though," smiles Fluttershy, sitting next to him and rubbing his neck. "Thestrals don't mate for life. Rather, not always. Some do, sure, and that's the ideal, but most only mate for a long time. They can split up and find new mates as they need to. They just have to find a willing party."

"That's it!" squeaks Pinkie. "We'll throw him a party! A single thestral party! That way, he can find himself a mate!"

Pinkie drops the camera to the floor and, judging by the sound of her voice going down in volume, flies off on the back of her thestral mount to one of the communal areas.

"You really should consider going," urges Fluttershy. "Even if it is in poor taste, she means well. She genuinely would be happy to help you find the bird for you."

Thurston sighs and crows sadly, curling his beak to rest on Fluttershy's thigh.

"If I may ask, what happened?"

He trills a little bit, then places his left claw over his face.

"Well, she probably thought it would be too rough on her. That's a lot to--"

She's cut off by a squawk that stops her in her tracks. After a silent pause, the sad trilling comes back.

"Well, I... I certainly didn't consider that. I know it's not a popular opinion, but... I may be able to help you out with that. You know, just to calm you down..."