She gives her friend a smile, "Sure, sorry about your apple."
Verdant was almost dizzy from all of the head movement trying to see all of the tricks. She had to look down at the ground for a moment to steady herself.
Looking over at Verdant she asks, "Are you alright? Have you seen anyone that seems to look like they lost something?"
"Hmm? Oh I'm fine. Little overwhelmed at the spectacle. Wait, lost something? Like what?"
LQ laughs, "You must have been really distracted by the performance. Did you not see Lilac pull that bunny out of her bag? It must have slipped in while we were watching the show, it was trying to eat her apples. We were just wondering if it belonged to anyone."
About this time, a girl pony, a pegasus with a yellow coat and pink mane and tail, trots over to all of you. She has big blue eyes that stare at you shyly, and her cutie mark is three pink butterflies. It's Fluttershy!
"Excuse me," says Fluttershy in a very quiet voice. "Thank you for rescuing my rabbit Angel, Angel. He scampered away from me and I've been looking for him all over the place!"
She gently takes the rabbit and cuddles him. He chews on his carrot while looking at everyone in a disinterested manner and making faces at them.
Fluttershy continues, "You've obviously got a way with animals," she smiles shyly. "I think my little Angel really likes you!"
At this, Angel shakes his head vigorously, still giving the other ponies somewhat dirty looks. Fluttershy however, doesn't notice.
"I think you're just the ponies my friends and I have been looking for. We are going away on an important mission, and we need somepony to look after our pets while we are gone. Would you like to help us?"
Lilac notices Angel's looks and glances around at the others. "Err, umm..."
"No, I hadn't noticed. But the show was so......," Verdant trailed off as Fluttershy appeared.
Noticing the bunny's look, the Pony thought, What is his problem?
"Wait, you'd like us to pet sit?"
She nods her head, "If you could please, it would be a great help to me and my friends. You would be doing all of us a great service and I know that Twilight Sparkle would really appreciate your help."
LQ looks at the others, "I know it's a lot of responsibility, but I'm sure if we work together that we can do it. What do you say?"
Lilac looks at LQ over her glasses with an "are you sure?" look before answering. "If you think we can do it, LQ, then let's do it."
Looking at Verdant and Cylver she asks, "What about you two? We kinda have to all agree here."
"Sure, I'll help."
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Cylver watches as the little rabbit silently as it stirs up a ruckus. Barely able to contain the mischievous glint in Cylvers eye the pony smiles.
"Ohh, I'm sure they'll be no trouble at all."
As soon as everyone agrees to help, Fluttershy flutters her eyelashes and gives you a all a big smile.
"Thank you, my friends! Come and meet me tomorrow morning at my cottage at the edge of Everfree Forest. I'll introduce you to my friends and to our pets. They will love to meet you! See you tomorrow!"
Fluttershy turns and wanders off into the market crowds. Angel, her bunny, glares at all of you from over Fluttershy's shoulder, sticks his tongue out, and shakes his fist.
"I hope all the pets aren't a hassle like Angel seems to be," Lilac says honestly. "I guess I better get some replacement apples."
"Yeah, what's his deal? I've never seen a bunny work like that."
"I don't know, I've never seen a bunny act like that either, but some pets can become very partial tuo their owners. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens when we get there." LQ says.
"I've got some... plans to make for tomorrow. I'll see you then." Cylver says happily after some time conversing with the others.
"I think I'd better go get some more treats......for the pets of course."
She nods, "Okay, goodnight everypony. I'm gonna go home and get some things together since we're gonna be going to Fluttershy's cottage in the morning. I'll see you all there." She says before heading home.
The next morning, the ponies all meet up and make their way to Fluttershy's cottage to meet the Mane Six and their pets.
Fluttershy's cottage is on the edge of the Everfree Forest. A wild, wooded, and mysterious area, avoided by ponies as a scary place.
The cottage is reached by crossing a small bridge over a fast-flowing river.
The remarkable thing about Fluttershy's home is that it has a roof of green leaves, it looks a bit like a tree house. Dozens of bird boxes and bird tables hang from the branches of the roof and from the trees dotted around the cottage, and the air is alive with the sound of pretty birdsong. Wild rabbits and squirrels bound and scamper along the path leading up to the cottage, flitting away as you approach.
Looking around, LQ goes up to the door and knocks.
Fluttershy answers the door. "I'm so glad you could make it. Come in! Come and meet my freinds!"
The cottage is very cozy inside. There are comfy seats for ponies and several bed baskets on the floor for when Fluttershy's animal friends come to visit. Several birdhouses hang from the ceiling, with colorful birds flapping around your heads. The baseboards are dotted with mouse holes, from which curious mice stare up at you all as you enter. There are lots of books about pets and wildlife on the various shelves fixed to the walls. Fluttershy keeps her cottage very neat and tidy, despite the presence of so many animals and birds.
Waiting inside the cottage to meet you are Fluttershy's special freinds: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle, and her little dragon buddy Spike next to her.
Giving you all a smile, Twilight Sparkle approaches you and says, "We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generous offer to look after our pets while we are away. We promised them a pampering party, and now that you are here, a pampering party they shall have." She pauses to see if anypony has any questions.
"Ooooo, a party. Wish I'd known."
Fluttershy bats her eyelashes and looks around at all of you, "Oohhh...I'm sorry. Did I forget to tell you about the pampering party they are supposed to have while we're away?" She shakes her head, "I guess with everything going on it just slipped my mind. Before all of this came up, we had promised them a pampering party. You know, their favorite treats and lots of love and cuddles, for being such wonderful pets. I hope it's not too much trouble to ask you to throw it for them. You really are wonderful ponies for doing this for us, and we know our pets are in good hands with you. You can all even stay here in my cottage while we're gone since you'll be taking care of all of them, and we'll be back as soon as we can." She says with a grateful smile.
Lilac adjusts her glasses. "Do you have any emergency contacts?"
Fluttershy looks at Twilight, who looks around before approaching all of you. Twilight seems to think for a moment before responding, "Well...not really. See...all of us have to go to the badlands including Spike, so there won't really be anyone to call. I'm sure the four of you can handle it though, you all look like really responsible and kind ponies. The only ones I can think of that will be in town after we leave are Applejack's family, and Pinkie Pie's folks that run the bakery, but they'll all be busy I suppose and they don't know that much about our pets."
She looks down for a moment, "We just really need your help though and I know you're the right ponies for the job. We trust you to take care of things here while we're gone and use your best judgement. If you're ready we'll all go ahead and introduce our pets to you and tell you a little bit about them." She says while looking back up at all of you with her big purple eyes.
"Sure, sounds good," Lilac says, giving Twilight a reassuring smile.
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"We'll make sure they get the best treatment while you're away."
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Twilight Sparkle nods, "We know you will take really good care of them. Fluttershy said she could tell that all of you were a really good choice to help take care of our pets. Well, I guess I'll start off by introducing my pet to you. This is Owlowiscious." Twilight holds up a bright-eyed brown owl. "Say hello, Owlowiscious."
The owl hoots and bobs its head politely. "He's very well-behaved. He loves being tickled just behind his ear feathers, and his favorite treats are chocolate mice."
"What did you say Gummy?" Pinkie Pie raises the baby alligator she's holding to her ear. "You like these ponies? Well, if you like them, I like them!" The gater, which has not uttered a word, stares blankly at you.
"Gummy says he'd like yuou to feed him fish cakes, and his favorite game is Snap, of course!"
"Hey, Tank! Say hello to your new friends!" smiles Rainbow Dash.
A large green tortoise loooks slowly up at you from the floor. He is wearing aviation goggles, and has a helicopter rotor strapped to his shell.
"Feed him plenty of lettuce and let him out for a spin once in a while, and he'll be as fine as dollar cotton!"
"Say howdy to Winona!" grins Applejack. A brown and white dog wearing a red collar with a gold name tag jumps around Applejack's legs playfully.
"Give her a bone to chew on and she'll be as happy as a worm in an apple barrel," says Applejack. "And her favorite thing of all...belly scratches!"
"Opalescence is extremely sensitive, and you must take full care of my little darling." Rarity is preening a white, fluffy cat wearing an opal-studded collar round her neck, a purple ribbon atop her head, and carrying a toy mouse in her mouth.
"She will only touch the finest cat treats, and you must regularly comb her fur just the way she likes it."
Finally Fluttershy approaches with a familiar looking bunmy, "You've met Angel already. I can tell that he likes you..." says Fluttershy softly.
The white rabbit sneers at you and sticks out his tongue.
"He is such a loving little creature. All he needs are a few juicy carrots, his tail fluffed gently, and plenty of cuddles and kind words."
After they have all introduced their pets, Twilight Sparkle approaches to give last minute instructions to their new pet sitters, "Ok, I don't know how long we'll be away for. We have to travel to the Badlands, far to the South. You'll be staying at Fluttershy's cottage, taking care of the pets until we come back. Make sure they're well fed and entertained. We promised them a pampering party today, so that's your first job. To make sure they're well and truly pampered! Also, keep Fluttershy's cottage clean and tidy. She's been very kind to let you stay here while she's away. We don't want her to be upset by any mess when she comes home.
Now, I'm sure everything will be fine. You seem like nice, kind ponies who are good with animals. It's time for us to go. Take care, and most importantly, have fun!"
Twilight and her five freinds all kiss and cuddle their pets goodbye, then they and Spike wave goodbye to all of you and leave on their mission.
Verdant looked at the turtle, trotting over to him, she said, "You like lettuce? I love lettuce," Reaching in her satchel, she pulled out some leaves and offering it to Tank, "Would you like some now? Huh Tank?"
"Nice to meet you all," Lilac says, keeping an eye on Angel.
Tank takes the proffered leaf and chews on it slowly.
A few minutes after Twilight and her friends leave, the cottage falls silent. Owlowiscious has flown to perch on the back of a chair, and looks away wisely at the pet-sitters. Winona scratches herself, looking bored. Gummy stares straight at all of you with unblinking eyes. Opal seems to look you up and down, then curls her lips in disgust and sniffs haughtily. Tank seems to have fallen asleep after eating the leaf of lettuce, while Angel narrows his eyes and fixes you all with a fierce stare.
You all realize that perhaps the best way to win teh pets' affection is to give them some food. It's a little early for lunch, but perhaps it's time for a snack. Hopefully everyone can remember what each pet's favorite food is.
Fluttershy's cottage has plenty of food cupboards with all sorts of food for all sorts of animals. Maybe you can strike it lucky and find the treats you're looking for.
Bones and lettuce are very easy to find, especially since one pony actually brought some lettuce with her. *wink*
With Tank napping for now, Verdant looked for the other treats.
Looking in one of the cupboards, Verdant finds the bone for Winona, the fish cakes for Gummy, and the chocolate mice for Owlowiscious.
It's easy to find carrots for Angel, yes? NO! Angel demands the exact right type of carrot. Just any old carrot is likely to make him angry!
Lilac attempts to help Verdant out.
With the two friends working together they manage to find exactly the right carrots, as well as the cat treats for Opal.
All the pets seem happy and content with their treats.
Once all the pets have been fed, it's time to start the pampering party.
After thinking for a bit, Verdant realized she had no idea how to entertain these pets. Trotting over to Lilac, "Pst, you have any ideas?"