Marx: One Of The Three Jesters Of Insanity

Dragonshy

(Opening shot: fade in to a long shot of a large sod-roofed cottage situated just beyond a small brook, with Fluttershy standing on the bridge that spans it. Birdhouses hang from every branch of a nearby tree, with others mounted atop a shrub and among the roof sods. Rabbits and other cute critters run free over the grounds, and a henhouse stands behind the structure. This is the first time that Fluttershy’s house has been seen on camera. It is daytime.)

(Picking up some fish in her mouth from a handy basket, she jumps into the brook. Under the bridge is a tunnel dug into the earth, with a small dock at its mouth. As she wades past, she tosses two more fish onto the dock and a pair of ferrets emerge to retrieve them. Next, she flies up to a few birds nesting in a tree and spits a mouthful of worms to them; it takes her a second to clear the taste from her mouth, and she blushes before dropping to the ground. Here, a small house has been set up for her rabbit Angel, who is chewing on a carrot. A wooden sign in this same shape hangs above the door.)

Fluttershy: Not too fast now, Angel bunny. (Close-up of him; she continues o.s.) You wouldn’t want to get a tummyache.

(His happy appetite evaporates in a flash, and he gives her annoyed look and drops the carrot, wiping his paws to show he wants no more. Fluttershy is briefly taken aback, then laughs a bit.)

Fluttershy: You really should eat more than that, don’t you think? (It hops away; she grabs the carrot in her teeth.) It’s not playtime yet!

(Overhead view of Angel, with Fluttershy flying to overtake him; at ground level, the rabbit stops short as she lands and sets the food down. No soap.)

Fluttershy: I know you want to run, but… (Close-up of him; she continues o.s.) …just three more bites. (Head shake.) Two more bites? (Again; she pushes it closer.) One more bite? (leaning into view) Pretty please?

(Angel’s reaction to this entreaty is to kick the carrot away and hop back the way he came. Her sigh is answered by his cough.)

Fluttershy: Oh! (She flies to Angel, who looks intently up o.s.) Goodness! Are you okay? (Cough.) Are you coughing because there’s a carrot stuck in your throat? (Louder.) Because you need some water?

(Even louder cough, sounding like someone who has smoked two packs a day for a decade. The cute little white rabbit lifts Fluttershy’s chin to aim her eyes in the direction he has been looking. Cut to a long shot of the problem: a plume of thick black smoke issuing from a distant mountain peak. A gasp from the o.s. pegasus; she then stands up into view. On the next line, she turns 180 degrees to take in the extent of the pollution wafting toward Ponyville, the camera panning to frame it.)

Fluttershy: Because of that giant cloud of scary black smoke?

(She gets a carrot to the back of the head; cut to Angel on the ground, fed up at her previous obtuseness.)

Fluttershy: (from o.s.) I’ll take that as a… (Cut to her.) …yes.

(fade in to a long shot of Ponyville and the leading end of the black plume. Cut to the park, where ponies are enjoying the fine weather.)

Fluttershy:  Help! (galloping into view) Help! Please? Help? There’s…there’s a horrible cloud of smoke! It’s headed this way and—

(She completely fails to get even one pony’s attention, and ducks with a cry to avoid a ball that comes flying at her. Before it can hit the ground, Rainbow Dash flashes in and starts bouncing it up off her forehead and rump.)

Rainbow: Don’t be such a scaredy pony. It’s just me, future Equestria ball-bouncing record holder. (Pinkie Pie arrives to watch.) Two hundred forty-six, two hundred forty-seven…