Fluttershy was humming to herself when a loud rapping on her door startled her and caused her to spill the birdseed she was carrying. “Coming,” she said softly.

Birds squawked. Through her open windows, she saw them fly off. The small furry animals that normally gathered around her cottage scampered away. They did not say nice things.

Fluttershy creaked the door open and poked her head out. “Um, hello there...?”

A pony wearing a black cloak stood before her. The cloaked figure pulled her hood down, revealing a light blue earth pony mare with curly gray hair and magenta eyes. Fluttershy blinked. It took a moment before she recognized her visitor.

“Oh, it's you, Shoeshine. Can I help you with something, Miss Backgroundmare?”

Shoeshine muttered something unintelligible.

“Um, I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. Can you speak louder please?”

“Don't call me that anymore.” The cloaked pony scrunched up her muzzle in distaste.

“So... what should I call you?” Fluttershy asked. She stepped back nervously and glanced around. Something about this pony was putting her on edge.

The pony formally known as Shoeshine held her head up and grinned. “You can call me Linky, and I'm going to be a legend!”

Fluttershy backed away from the looming figure. “That's nice... Linky. Do, you, um, need something from me?”

Linky blinked. A frown pulled the corners of her mouth down. “Sorry. I didn't mean to spook you.” She glanced over her shoulder and a brief look of panic crept into her eyes. It passed quickly and the blue earth pony resumed her poker face. “As a matter of fact, there is something you can help me with. I've heard that you can talk to animals; is that right?”

“Well, anypony can talk to animals. I can understand them better, that's all.” Fluttershy looked around but didn't spot any animals in the room. The birdcages hung on her walls were empty and there was no scampering to be heard under her couch or in her walls. “That's odd. I wonder where they all went?”

Linky glanced over her shoulder again. An eye twitched. “I don't mean to impose, but would you terribly mind if I stepped inside?”

“Um, that's fine, I guess. Eep.” Fluttershy hopped back to avoid Linky as she ran past. Out her doorway, there was nothing down the open path. “Is something following you?”

Linky paused in the middle of the room. She looked around with wide eyes at all the furniture, bookshelves and birdcages. “No, nothing's following me. Not that I know of. Not yet, anyway.”

“What? You expect to be followed?” Fluttershy gently shut the door.

Linky made a weak laugh. “Well, let's just say that I've become a lot more paranoid ever side I took up adventuring and leave it at that.” She pointed at one of the bird cages. “What do you have to offer?”

“Offer?” Fluttershy asked. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, well, I've been thinking that it would be a great boon if I secured an animal companion for my travels.” Linky's grin was too wide to be wholly genuine, but Fluttershy didn't care.

She grinned and her eyes sparkled. “You want a pet?”

“That's... another way of putting it, yes.” Linky examined the room again with her magenta eyes. “I don't see any, though.”

“They're shy around ponies they don't know. I'm sure they'll come out of hiding when I tell them why you're here. Why don't you take your cloak off and sit down while I ask around?” Fluttershy pointed at her coat rack.

Linky bit her lip and frowned. She stared at the coat rack as if it were made of deadly poison. “Actually, I'd like to accompany you if that's okay.”

“I don't mind but since the animals are afraid of you, I'll have an easier time talking to them if you're not there.”

“Oh.” Linky cast her eyes down.

“Don't worry. I'm sure they'll warm up to you once you've been properly introduced.” Fluttershy pointed a wing toward her couch. “Wait here and I'll be right back.”

“Wait—you'll still talk to them once they're here, right?” An eye twitched nervously.

Fluttershy stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Linky blinked. “Nevermind. Go ahead and gather some and I'll wait here.”

Fluttershy spread her wings and tapped her front hooves together. “You won't be disappointed! I've got so many wonderful critters for you to see~”

Linky groaned as Fluttershy left through the back entrance singing to herself. Left alone, Linky took her cloak off, but she draped it on the back of couch. There, she could easily grab it if she had to leave in a hurry. She didn't trust the evil, conniving coat rack.

Without her cloak, her cutie mark of two horseshoes was visible. One was copper, and the other silver. Much like the nickname she chose for herself, they were linked together like two loops in a chain. She scowled at it.

“~with muskrats and wallabies here for you to see. Any one of them will fill you with glee. Um.” Fluttershy stopped singing when her animals stopped following her. They got as far as the door but wouldn't come in. “What's wrong?”

Fluttershy didn't get an answer to that question because they spooked and ran off when Linky stood up.

“Wait! It's okay. She's not here to hurt you. You can come back. It's safe, I promise.”

Linky stared intently at Fluttershy while she talked out the door to her animals. “What about that one?” Linky asked.

From the kitchen, a white rabbit entered shoving his empty food bowl with his head. Fluttershy turned around and bent down to pat him on the head.

“This is Angel Bunny. I'm sorry, but he's very near and dear to me. I could never part with him.”

Angel stuck his head up and looked looked around. When he spotted Linky, he ducked behind Fluttershy's legs.

“Not you too, Angel. What's gotten into you all today?” Fluttershy nuzzled Angel Bunny. Her expression changed as she read his body movements. “Huh? Afraid? What's there to be afraid of?”

Angel thumped his foot and pointed at Linky.

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked up at her guest. “He says you're afraid.”

“What? Me!?” Linky jumped back and caught herself reaching for her cloak. She took a deep breath and steadily placed her hoof back on the floor. “The great adventurer Linky is not afraid.”

Fluttershy frowned. “That's not what Angel said.”

Linky gritted her teeth and darted her eyes around. “Your bunny, he's very insightful, isn't he?”

“Most animals can sense fear, and some ponies can too, I guess.”

“He's also braver than the others. Are you really sure you don't want to part with him? That's exactly the kind of animal I'm looking for.”

Fluttershy vehemently shook her head. “Oh, no no no. He's very special to me. He's my very special widdle bunny. Isn't that right, Angel?”

Angel Bunny hugged Fluttershy's leg and stuck his tongue out at Linky.

“He's also got an attitude, I see,” Linky said. She fidgeted with the rug that was bunching up under her legs from her mistreatment of it. “Do you have any other brave animals?”

Fluttershy tapped on her chin. “Well, I do have some dogs...”

Linky frowned. “I can't say that I'm a 'dog' pony, but if that's the best you've got, I'd like to see them.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I'd rather not. They're related to wolves and the scent of fear drives them wild.”

“Oh.” Linky lifted a leg as if to take a step forward but stopped when her hoof trembled. She froze. “Traitorous leg,” she muttered, and took another deep breath.

“Perhaps you'd like to stay for a while? I can brew up some nice, relaxing tea. Once you calm down, I can bring the animals back.”

“No! I can't stay!” Linky shouted louder than she'd intended and flattened her ears and flinched when the echo of her voice came back to her.

“Is this about the thing that's not chasing you?” Fluttershy asked.

“No! I mean...” Linky clenched her eyes tight. Beads of sweat were beginning to glisten on her hide. “I'll be freeing her. It's not that bad. They're overrated anyway.”

“What was that?” Fluttershy asked. “If you need to pee, there's a bathroom down the hall.”

“That's not what I—nevermind.” Linky shook her head. Fluttershy's brow wrinkled and she opened her mouth to speak again. Before she did so, Linky hastily pointed at an oversized jar. “What's this?” she asked.

“That's an empty container of grape jelly. I, um, buy food in bulk because I have a lot of mouths to feed.”

“It looks big enough to hold an entire rabbit,” Linky said as she picked it up and unscrewed the lid. She glanced down at Angel Bunny who was still hiding amongst Fluttershy's legs. “There's a thought. Maybe I should get a bug for a pet. A butterfly or three would be nice to have.”

“You really shouldn't keep butterflies in jars,” Fluttershy frowned. “Or any other bug, really, well, except lightning beetles, but they're trained for that.”

“Eh, it was a silly thought anyway. I'd rather own a dog than a bug and that's saying a lot.” Linky shuddered. “I don't really like dogs.”

“So... um...”

“Would you mind turning around?” Linky asked.

“What!?”

“To get the tea! To get the tea, I mean. I think I will stay for a while, after all.” Linky grinned sheepishly.

Fluttershy deadpanned. “Are you planning something? Because if you are–”

“Of course I'm planning something! I'm about to head off on a grand adventure and my nerves are shot and I could really use some tea to help me calm down right about now,” Linky huffed. “That's all.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy looked down. “I think your nervousness is affecting me. I could use some tea too, and I just know that Angel Bunny wants his lunch.” Fluttershy nuzzled the white bunny again. “Sorry for making you wait so long. You've been such a good sport. For that you get an extra cherry on top.”

Angel Bunny hopped with glee as Fluttershy walked away. Unfortunately, he was left facing the wrong way and out in the open. That's when Linky made her move.

Acting swiftly, she darted forward and... tripped on the rug.

“Aaah!” Linky screamed as she lost control.

“Wha?” Fluttershy turned her head just in time to see the imminent collision. She flinched.

“Uurpmhf.” The two of them made incoherent noises. They skidded up against the wall in a heap.

“Sorry, sorry!” Linky frantically peeled herself off the floor and grabbed the jar. She screwed the lid on and snatched her cloak off the couch as she made a mad dash to the exit. “I'm so sorry about all of this, but there's no other way. Perhaps you'll even thank me someday.”

“What? Linky, wait! What's going on?” Fluttershy got up to chase after her, but Linky slammed the door in her face. “Ow!”

Fluttershy stopped to rub her very sore and now-bleeding muzzle as Linky's hoofsteps faded in the distance. She went to the kitchen to get an ice pack for it.

“That was awfully mean of her. I wonder what that was all about? What do you think, Angel?”

Silence.

Fluttershy glanced around. Her heart started to race when she didn't see him. “Angel!?”

A traumatized white bunny stuck his head out from behind the couch.

“Oh there you are.” Fluttershy scooped him up for a hug. “I'm so glad you're safe. I don't know what I'd have done if you'd been bunnynapped.”

Angel made some strange gestures.

“What? You're not making any sense, Angel. You'll have to speak more clearly if you want me to understand you.” Fluttershy rubbed her temple. For some reason, a headache was coming on.

Angel facepawed. He squirmed out of her grip and kicked one of her hind legs.

“Ow. What was that for?”

Angel pointed up at her thigh. She followed his paw to look at it. She opened her mouth to say something but frowned instead. Something wasn't quite right. It wasn't hurt. Her leg wasn't sore. Her fur was smooth and unblemished and yellow the whole–

She jumped six feet. “My cutie mark! It's gone!” Angel waved at the door but she didn't need his help to figure out what happened. “She stole my cutie mark!”

She kicked the door off her own cottage. “Wait! Stop, thief! Give it back!” Her eyes watered when she saw no sign of her visitor down the trail. She spread her wings and took flight in pursuit of a target with far too great a lead on her. “G-give it b-ba-ack.” Her words broke up as she flew above the trees and saw no sign of Linky in any direction.

Author's Notes:

This story takes place prior to the start of season three. The last canon event that took place was 'A Canterlot Wedding.' If you want a quick reminder of who Linky is, she's this pony.