Dumbbell landed on the well kept lawn of Fluttershy’s cottage. Her home was used often as a field trip destination for the young school ponies, typically for biology and ecological lessons. What better place than the literal nature reserve just outside her door. Rainbow Dash and Dumbbell had volunteered to help set up roped boundaries for the foals, learning kiosks with signs and treats for feeding the animals. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash experienced a bit of a set back so Dumbbell decided to go ahead. Though when he arrived the place seemed quiet, and he was about to knock on the cottage door to see if the mare was even home, when suddenly…

Crash!

“What was that?” It sounded like something heavy falling over. Next thing he saw was Fluttershy running out from the back of the cottage, a giant serpentine creature wrapped around her head and upper body.

“Holy-!” Dumbbell watched as Fluttershy collided into the side of the cottage, blinded by the bulk of the snake covering her eyes.

“Hang on Fluttershy, I got ya!” He rushed over in a panic looking for the head of the serpent. If he could find the head of this thing he could-.

In a flash the snake struck at Dumbbell, forcing him to rear up. The fangs missed him by inches. “Woah!”

He could hear Fluttershy’s muffled speech from underneath the snakes irritated hissing. Dumbbell was going to try again when Fluttershy lifted a forehoof to…gently stroked the hairlike back spines of the snake. Immediately the snakes irritation waned, the beady black eyes that glinted at him turned away as its whole body began to relax. It sloughed back revealing Fluttershy’s face in the process. She seemed…completely fine.

“Whew, it’s okay Miss Slithers, I know it’s a bit chilly this morning but you’ll be back inside your warm nest in no time.” As Fluttershy petted the snake, her eyes made contact with Dumbbell, her eyes brightened.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” she said quickly. “Were you waiting here long?”

It took a moment for Dumbbell to process what had just happened. “Uh-uh no. I just got here.” The strange snake creature still clung to Fluttershy’s small body so tightly that Dumbbell cringed with concern. “Do you need help getting that thing off of ya?”

“No, actually this is my fault,” said Fluttershy. “Miss Slithers got outside somehow. I found the poor girl shivering in the wood pile. Oh, she was cold the whole night! I’m glad I found her when I did, because she was so cold, she was practically stuck onto me for warmth.”

“Miss Slithers?” Dumbbell thought. It has a name?

“Well that explains it,” Dumbbell mused to himself as he watched Miss Slithers guardedly. “So…That thing, uh I mean, she isn’t trying ta kill you?”

“Yes I’m absolutely positive!” Fluttershy said jovially, stroking the back of the snake gently. “She’s perfectly fine.” As if to confirm this, Miss Slithers actually purred, or more like a purr like hiss exited her mouth between the quick flicks of her black forked tongue. “Still, thank you for helping me. Sometimes she can be a little bit clingy.”

“So…” Dumbbell managed a tentative step back. “She’s safe?”

“That’s correct.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Dumbbell clicked his tongue. “Alright.”

With the false emergency quelled, the two ponies walked together in awkward silence.

“Is Rainbow Dash coming?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, later,” Dumbbell said. “She was having a rough morning so I decided to fly ahead.”

“Oh, okay then.” Fluttershy went silent again, thinking about everything that needed to be done before the school children arrived, but first she needed to get Miss Slithers back into her cage. A wayward glance towards Dumbbell made her notice how uneasy he appeared. The source of the unease being the big ever snake coiled around her neck. The two were locked in an icy stare down.

“This thing is really freaking me out.” Dumbbell said more to himself than to Fluttershy. “Why does it keep looking at me like that? Like it knows who I am,” Miss Slithers hissed loudly, Dumbbell glowered. “What did I ever do to you?”

“Heheh, I’m not surprised that you don’t remember.” Fluttershy said as they reached her front door. Dumbbell balked on her welcome mat.

“Remember what? What are you talking about?”

“Flight camp, show and tell, snake in your mane. Do you remember?”

Dumbbell’s ears fell back as he thought back on the slowly resurfacing memory. “Snakes…snake…oooooh..” He looked down at Miss Slithers again, appearing even more fearful. “So that’s…her?”

Miss Slithers coiled her body in a menacing halo around Fluttershy’s head, the dangerous glint returned to her eyes. Dumbbell stepped back, taking the hint.

“Eh, no hard feelings. Right?”

“There there Miss Slithers,” Fluttershy cooed as she calmly rubbed the back of the snake’s head, like before the creature took solace, her hostility receded.

“I’ll be out soon, let me put her back inside her nest first.” Fluttershy smiled apologetically as she stepped inside her cottage. “And yes, no hard feelings.”

_ _ _

One day after Flutters got her cutie mark, she decided to bring one of her animal friends up to Cloudsdale for show and tell. She ended up choosing Slithers who at the time was small enough to hide in her mane. It wasn’t the smartest decision but it seemed alright at the time. Unfortunately somehow during the day Fluttershy lost track of Slithers, who had decided to make a new home in Dumbbell’s mane. When he found out of course he freaked. In a panic he threw the poor snake over the edge, leaving Fluttershy heart broken. But by some strange domino effect of miracles Slithers survived the fall and eventually grew up to be this…thing. She doesn’t like Dumbbell very much.