Fluttershy's Nature Show, Season Two

"Are you sure this is the best place to spot them?" asks Twilight, zooming in on a sea of blue. "I'm not seeing any."

"Well, actually, no." The camera turns to Fluttershy, who is cranking a winch. After a moment, she looks to the camera. "What?"

"You said we were coming out here to film them. If this isn't the best place, then why did we come all the way out here?"

Fluttershy points over the starboard bow and the camera follows, revealing a shore several kilometres away. "Over there is the north shore, where the females live." The camera turns around and looks off the port side. Just a dozen or so metres away is another shore. "The males live on this side. So, if we want to see both, this is where they come together."

"Wouldn't we have just as much luck on the other shore?"

Fluttershy shakes her head. "They always come to the south shores. Never the north."

"Why?"

"Oh, it'll be obvious when you see them."

"So, that's why we're here on the south side..."

"Well, it's safer, too. The females can be pretty aggressive. The males are far more benevolent."

"How so?"

"Well, the females have been known to eat anyone that can't answer their riddles, whereas the males will just turn you away."

"Riddles?" The camera starts shaking as Twilight's voice rises in pitch, as if she's suddenly very excited.

"I thought you might like that... Oh, look!"

The camera turns and zooms in. Something that looks like a lion with a human head is on the edge of the shore, its face down near the water. As it rises and a few drops run down its chin, the camera zooms in to show that its nose is missing, replaced with a large scar.

"That's a male sphinx. They usually have noses, but I guess this one's seen some fighting."

He stares at the boat as it approaches, having locked eyes with the camera.

"Are you sure it's the females that are aggressive?" asks Twilight. "He looks quite intent on jumping to the boat..."

"Of course I'm sure. The males are herbivorous."

A screech from above draws the attention of the camera upwards to another human-headed lion, this one with wings.

"That's a female sphinx," confirms Fluttershy. "Now you can see why the south shore is where the two sides meet."

"So, the males can neither fly nor swim?"

"Oh, they can swim. But the shores are several kilometres away from each other. It's not an easy swim. It can be a fast flight, though. Just a couple of minutes."

As Fluttershy says this, the female sphinx turns and starts diving toward the boat. The camera starts shaking. "Didn't you say that the females eat things like us?"

"They do, yes," answers Fluttershy. "That's why I brought you along."

"What?!"

"Because you're good at riddles."

"And you expect me to--"

Twilight does not finish her sentence as everything starts shaking. Even when she stabilises the camera against the mast, the horizon sways back and forth between being flat and listing to the port side. Then another impact is heard as the boat shifts and shakes once more, this time in the opposite direction.

When the deck finally settles, the camera swings around to show that both the male and female sphinx are on the deck. The female begins to step forward, but the male puts his paw on her breast. Oddly, the sphinx's breasts are located nearer her shoulders, protruding from just below her clavicle. And rather than the normal breasts that point downward, these point forward.

"That is my prey," hisses the female.

"That is unfinished prey," hisses the male back. "Let them cook..."

"They talk..." Twilight says breathlessly.

"Of course they do," answers Fluttershy. "I told you, they like riddles."

"Yeah, but you also said that mouse liked long stories, and all it did was squeak!"

"The prey talks to other prey, does it?" murrs the female, licking her sharp teeth.

"We are doing a nature show," proclaims Fluttershy. "We're here to show the majesty, the cunning, and the strength of the mighty sphinx. We ask you, with the utmost respect, for your blessing in this quest, that we may show others the grandeur of your kind."

The male steps forward. "This one is intriguing. I shall begin this challenge. Answer me these riddles three, and I shall spare your life."

"I'm hungry!" growls the female, turning to Twilight. "If you wish to stay alive, you will solve these riddles five!"

"Wait your turn!" snaps the male, once more smacking the female to keep her back. "I will start this off." He steps forward, and Fluttershy steps into frame to join him. "It calls the sun to cross the sky each morning. Each night, it sees its matrons to bed. It is the only chicken that does not lay any eggs. What is it?"

Twilight scoffs. "I'll have you know that I studied chickens, and I believe you will find that all of the different varieties of chickens lay eggs."

"It's a riddle, Twilight," assures Fluttershy. "There's going to be some wordplay. It's all about thinking outside of the box." She sighs. "Now, I have raised a lot of chickens in my day, and even some things that look like chickens, but aren't. Every hen that I've seen, save for those that were too young or too old, have been laying eggs rapidly. That's just how chickens are. The fact that you said "matrons" makes me think young, but there's only one type of chicken that calls for the sun to cross the sky." She takes a deep breath. "You are describing a rooster."

He scoffs. "All chickens roost."

"She means a male chicken," interjects Twilight. "Male chickens are called roosters."

"Are they, now? We had always used another name for them..."

"Oh, right," nods Fluttershy. "What I meant to say was "cock." You're describing a cock."

"Indeed so," nods the male. "Number two: Silently, it walks in the black of night, searching for its prey. Wingless, they live in the trees. Hunters, they are, and solitary, and yet, they are taken into homes to be used as pets, offering nothing but companionship. What are they?"

"It's a dog, isn't it?" whispers Twilight. "They were wolves, once, and they offer companionship now."

Fluttershy shakes her head. "Pussycats."

"That is correct," answers the male. "Indeed, you and your kind have always had a fascination with small pussies."

"Last one," affirms Fluttershy.

"Long and slender, spewing fluid from its mouth. Sometimes with a hood, or with a broad head. Men run from it, women faint before it, and it always manages to worm its way into a tight hole. And when its tip begins to vibrate, the sound turns all but the bravest away."

Fluttershy just scoffs. "Easy. It's a snake."