“So, Fluttershy! How did you fare with your time spent with Anon?”

Fluttershy flinched at the suddenness of Twilight's question. She wasn't exactly prepared to tell her tale of Anon's company. Her cheeks grew a gentle shade of pink as she began.

“Well..."

***

Knock, knock, knock!

Fluttershy’s ears perked up at the sudden sound of knocking on her cottage door. She was just in the middle of having her afternoon tea with the company of a badger couple. She set her cup down gently, excused herself to her animal friends, and made her way to the door.

Mr Badger gave an irritated sigh. “I say, why is it every time we settle for a lovely spot of tea, there’s always a spot of bother to go with it? We were just about to embark on a riveting discussion about the ethical implications of acorn hoarding!”

“Ah, yes,” Mrs Badger replied. “How utterly inconvenient for our dear hostess. It’s probably her mentally challenged friend again. Bless her soul, Miss Fluttershy is so patient with her.”

“Are you speaking of the crazy pink one or the rainbow-maned one?” Mr Badger asked, dipping a cookie into his tea. “I for one, truly dislike the rainbow mare. I find her to be as sharp as a bag of wet oats. Not to mention she's too full of her own hot air."

“Harold! You know Miss Fluttershy wouldn’t appreciate you speaking ill of her friends like that!” Mrs. Badger scolded, then gave him a gentle slap to the back of his head for good measure. “You should be ashamed of yourself!

Mr Badger had the decency to look down in shame. “Terribly sorry, dear. Didn’t mean to tarnish our delightful tea time with such slandering language. I shall do better to keep my tongue in check.”

“You most certainly will, or there will be no more cookies for you!” Mrs. Badger said with a stony look that could make a bear apologize for stealing honey. “And that goes for the cookies from my jar as well.”

"Yes, dear!" Mr Badger squeaked.

As Fluttershy approached, the knocking grew louder, almost frantic, as if the visitor was in a hurry. This caused Fluttershy to feel a little worried. Was there a disaster in Ponyville? Was somepony hurt? Or possibly the worst: a salespony trying to sell her something she didn’t want or need. She shuddered at the thought.

With a deep breath to calm her nerves, she swung the door open to reveal Rainbow Dash and a very flustered-looking Anon standing before her.

“Hey, Fluttershy! Buddy! My oldest and dearest friend!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with what had to be the worst fake smile Fluttershy had ever seen plastered on her face.

“What can I do for you, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked, having a strong suspicion that her friend wasn’t here for a social visit.

Rainbow’s eyes darted back and forth as she searched for the right words to say. “So, listen, Flutters. I totally don’t mean to just throw this at you, but, well, I’ve got this... situation. Completely unavoidable. And I know it was my turn to have Anon for a bit, but things are just a smidge... hectic in the Wonderbolts’ schedule. Could you maybe take him for me?”

Fluttershy looked from Anon to Rainbow Dash, her expression one of deep disappointment. “Rainbow, you can’t keep avoiding your promise to help Anon. I understand you’re not fond of each other. But he needs to learn from you just as much as he learns from the rest of us.”

“But he’s so weird!” Rainbow Dash blurted out, gesturing to Anon who merely rolled his eyes. ”Apart from talking about this other world stuff. He keeps saying these creepy things. The second I took him off Rarity’s hooves, he looked me right in the eye and asked in this creepy voice, ‘Have the lambs stopped screaming, Clarice?’ I have no clue what he was talking about, but it freaked me the buck out.”

Fluttershy shifted her eyes to Anon, who in turn, stared back at her and shrugged, looking baffled by Rainbow Dash’s rant.

“I...I guess I can take him,” Fluttershy said reluctantly. She wasn’t exactly happy to have Anon unexpectedly arrive early for the week, but he couldn’t be any harder than Discord when she first had him in her home. “But you have to promise to take him next time. Anon isn't just a pet you can drop off whenever you want."

Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up like a filly who’d just been told they could have an ice cream sundae for dinner. “I swear! I’ll take him next time! Thank you! Bye!”

And with that, she took off before Fluttershy had a chance to change her mind.

Fluttershy and Anon took turns staring and looking away at each other for a moment. Until Anon decided to break the ice. "So... I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Anon. The human turned magical talking baby horse. Taken against my will to be educated on the magic of friendship."

"Yes, I remember you screaming all about that in the first couple of days we found you," Fluttershy said with a nervous smile. "But that's neither here nor there. Would you like to come in for some tea?"

Anon shook his head. “I guess I'll come in since I'll be crashing with you for the week. But save your tea. I was raised in Canada. Not the United Kingdom, eh."

Fluttershy decided not to ask what that meant. She stepped aside and allowed Anon to enter her cottage. The first thing Anon noticed as he stepped in was the tiny stairs on the walls and birdhouses hanging from the ceilings. His curiosity grew as he saw various animals scurrying about, going about their business as if this was their home rather than Fluttershy's.

"Holy Dr Dolittle, Batman," Anon whispered as he took in the whimsical sight of a gerbil strolling down one of the stairs. "What's with the rodent renaissance?"

Fluttershy giggled nervously. "Oh, those are just some of the animals I take care of. They all have their own little homes here." She gestured to the birdhouses. "They're quite shy around strangers, so don't be alarmed if they don't say hello."

Anon nodded slowly. "Yeah... birds aren't exactly extroverts from where I'm from." He looked around, trying to process the scene before him. "So, uh, what's your plan for me?"

"Well..." Fluttershy paused to think about it. She did have some ideas for Anon's stay with her, but she hadn't expected to get him early. "Why don't you just make yourself at home? You can play with the animals if you'd like. I'm sure they'd love the company."

Just as Fluttershy said that, a grizzly bear ambled into the room.Anon felt his whole body freeze and his blood turn cold.

"Great Mother of Winnie the Pooh," Anon whispered, his eyes wide as saucers as the grizzly bear lumbered into the room. He had heard of Fluttershy’s strange ability to communicate with animals, but this was next level. He didn't know whether to scream, cry, or wet himself. Running was out of the question: he knew that much.

Fluttershy giggled again, more confidently this time. "Don't be scared, Anon. This is Harry. He's the nicest bear you'll ever meet, aren't you, Harry?" She said, scratching him behind the ear.

Harry looked at Anon with curiosity and sniffed the air. He looked back to Fluttershy and growled.

"Now, now. Be nice," Fluttershy gently scolded. "I expect you to be treat him as you do all the other guests."

Anon had no idea what Harry just said to Fluttershy. Frankly, he didn't care at all. Harry can call me a whiny little bitch as he pisses in my cereal; I ain't crossing that furry tractor. He took a cautious step back, his heart racing like a blue hedgehog. Sometime, somewhere, he remembered learning how to fend off a bear attack. Your chances of survival were higher if you shoved your arm down the bear's throat, as they were known to have terrible gag reflex. He looked down on his dainty little hooves and gulped. While he wasn't really a fan of them, he would greatly prefer to keep them intact rather than not have them at all.

"Okay, sure. I'll just... uh... I'll just stay over here," he pointed at the corner of the room that seemed the farthest from the bear.

Fluttershy instead beckoned for Anon to come closer. "Don't worry, Harry won't hurt you. He's just a little protective." She looked back at Harry, who rolled his eyes and lumbered out the room.

Anon fainted.

When he came to, he found himself lying on the couch. Fluttershy hovering over him with a wet cloth, looking deeply concerned. "Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Oh, joy. I pissed myself, didn't I?" Anon replied groggily.

"What? No! No, it's just a damp cloth, see?"

Anon groaned as he pushed himself up from the cushions, his legs wobbly like a newborn foal. "OK then. Then, I'm good. Any other apex predators you got roaming around in your home or just the bear?"

"Oh, Harry's not the only one," she said, dabbing a little more at Anon's brow. "But don't worry. They're all my friends. I have a way with animals. They wouldn't hurt a fly around me."

Anon's eyes grew even wider as he took in the gravity of his situation. "And what about when you're not around?"

"I can't stop predators from being predators. But they know while they're here no one is to eat or be eaten," Fluttershy said assuringly. "But if you're really that nervous, I can ask them to stay outside during your stay. Although I cannot express enough how they won't harm you."

Anon closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Against my better judgment, I'll take your word for it. But just incase I'm bathing in pepper water tonight."

Fluttershy chuckled a little at his dramatic tone. "I promise you, Harry is more likely to eat your snacks than you. Now, would you like to help me feed the chickens their dinner?"

Anon's first thought was to say no. He would much prefer the chickens be his dinner. Chickens were one of the most boring animals on his planet and possibly on this one, too. Then he figured it would probably be best to stick with Fluttershy incase she had a basilisk or something around here somewhere.

"Sure, why not?"

The two of them walked outside to the chicken coop, surrounded by a small yard where the chickens were pecking away at the ground. Fluttershy lifted the bag of feed she had slung over her back and began to scatter it around the area. The chickens immediately stopped what they were doing and scurried over, clucking in excitement. Anon watched them peck at their dinner disinterestedly.

"Here," Fluttershy said, holding out a small handful of feed to Anon. "Why don't you give it a try?"

The answer no was tempting again, but instead he sighed, rolled his eyes, and accepted the feed. "Ok, I'll feed these clucking feather balls." He tossed the feed into the yard, and the chickens rushed in. One chicken, a little more adventurous than the others, hopped up to Anon's hoof and looked up at him expectantly.

"She seems to like you," Fluttershy said happily, watching the chicken balance on his hoof.

She'd like me a lot less if her brain wasn't the size of a pebble and knew how big a fan I was of Colonel Sanders, Anon thought to himself as he gently shook the chicken off. It clucked indignantly and strutted away, looking for more food.

As the two of them were making their way back to the cottage, Anon's gaze drifted to a peculiar creature that had appeared on the edge of the yard. He stopped to take in a better look at what it was. It looked like a cat, but it was unlike any feline he had ever seen before. Its eyes were unnaturally large and unblinking, filled with a piercing green that seemed to stare straight into his soul.

"What the...?" Anon whispered under his breath as the peculiar creature began to slink closer. This caused Anon to take several steps back. He looked for Fluttershy to explain this creepy cat, but she had already gone inside. "Fluttershy! There's a crazy-looking cat out here!"

"What's that, Anon?" Fluttershy called.

Anon turned his back to the cat and yelled, "I said: there is one weird-looking cat out here! It looks like- like Applejack's granny or something! I'm not even sure if it's really a cat!"

He looked back to the cat to find it had come closer. Now a good ten feet away, its eyes still wide and unblinking. This was something straight out of a Stephen King novel.

"Be gone, demon from hell!" Anon barked, waving his hoof at it. The creature didn't flinch. If anything, it took another step closer. Seeing how Fluttershy wasn't coming to his aid anytime soon, he shook his head. "Fuck this!"

Anon sprinted back inside and slammed the door shut, followed by a chair under the knob. Forget pepper water. I'm bathing in Holy water tonight.

Author's Note

Next up: Rainbow Dash.
Coded idea for chapter so I don’t forget the ideas: Mom, Can’t Find It! Can’t Stop! Numbing Rage, Wonderbolt, Uniform, Death Stare, Blood will be spilled tonight.