“Oooh Scarlett~”
>Through the trees came a vibrant red face, a black, splotchy mask adorned on it.
>Said face was always bright and cheerful, eager to do anything.
>”Hm? Watcha got lil’ Peep? Ooooooh what are those? Can I have them? Please please please?”
>The excited bird dropped from the trees to get a better look at the shiny objects scattered around.
“Calm down! Of course you can. I was ju-“
>”EEEEEEE THANK YOU THANK YOU! Oooh these are going to look so wonderful in the nest I just know it!”
>Grasping the coins in her mouth and little hooves she deftly flew back into the trees.
>Of course, Peep wasn’t done and followed her up.
“Like I was saying. Blue and I went to this pony town outside of the forest. It was so cool and they had all sorts of things to do!”
>”Ponies huh? Can I go see them? I wanna go see the funny ponies tomorrow! They won’t hurt me will they?”
“No no they’re really nice! They like to make friends so I think they’d like you a whole lot.”
“However, there’s a lot that’s very different from everything we do here in the forest. It’s getting late so I can’t tell you everything, but what you should do is look for the big blue tree and ask for a pony named Twilight. She can give you more information.”
>”Can do lil’ Pidge! Wait where are these ponies?”
“North, beyond a large field. Remember, find Twilight.”
>”Peep! C’mon it’s late!”
>Blue’s voice could be heard a ways through the trees.
>Saying her good nights to Scarlett she returned to her own nest.
>Blue would be cuddling her closer that night.
 
>”Good morning class!”
>”Good morning Miss Cheerilee!”
>It was just another day for Cheerilee and her class.
>She was always so excited to greet the foals every day and to see their bright smiles.
>Today was a math day.
>It was interesting that while Mr. Rich practically thrived off doing math and number crunching, his daughter absolutely hated it.
>Oh well, there were still plenty of students happy to learn.
>*Thump*
>Cheerilee looked back expecting some guilty looking filly trying to hide the fact that they just through something.
>But all that greeted her were slightly perplexed looks.
>Maybe she was just imagining things.
>She turned back to the board to continue her lesson when-
>*Thump*
>There it was, louder this time.
>When she turned around again it was evident even the kids didn’t know what was happening.
>*Thump thump*
>Was there somepony on the roof?
>Why in Equestria would someone start banging around the roof of a school?
>Faint muttering could be heard, confirming that it wasn’t just some ordinary animal.
>*THUMP*
>Okay this was getting ridiculous.
>She was going to give this pony a piece of her mind.
>Stomping outside she was confused by what she saw.
>A bright red pegasus with a black face mask was on the roof, rearing up and striking the roof with her front hooves in an almost playful manner.
>”Stupid boxes. How do the ponies get into these things?”
>What?
>Was this pony out of her mind?
>Had she been living under a rock or something?
>*Thump thump*
>Crazy or no this pony had to stop.
>”Excuse me Miss?”
 
>Her ears perked up and her head came about soon after.
”Hi there little pony! What’s your name?”
>”Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to get down.”
“But why? How do you get in here anyway?”
>”Because I’m trying to teach the children and you’re making a bunch of noise!”
“Children? Oooh I love little chicks! They’re so adorable! Can I see them?”
>The more this mare talked, the more Cheerilee wished she would go away.
>”Can you at least come down so I don’t have to shout?”
“Okay! Hey wait you never said your name!”
>”It’s Cheerilee. Now would you kindly le-“
“Cheerilee is a nice name. Cheerilee! Cheer-cheer-cheerilee! Hehe that kind of sounds like my singing!”
>The red mare started whistling in what sounded like birdsong.
>Sweet Celestia this was aggravating.
>She deserved to be locked up into a mental institution she was so insane.
>”Leave. Now.”
“Huh? O-oh, you sound upset. Sorry for bothering you I guess. I guess I’ll just head into town then.”
>Oh lovely. She just unleashed some looney out into Ponyville that’s going to cause who knows how much trouble.
>But it was fine, because at least she was out of HER hair.
>Things would get better and she would get some well-earned rest at the end of the day.
>She headed back inside and was about ready to teach when she heard a loud crack.
>It turns out she wasn’t stopped soon enough as part of the ceiling fell down.
>This was going to be a long day.
 
“Can’t get distracted. Need to find Twilight. Need to find big tree. Can’t get distracted with other pony things. I can do that when I find Twilight. And to find Twilight I need to find the big tree.”
>Scarlett had been mumbling to herself throughout her entire flight.
>After the encounter with the irritated purple pony she decided it was best to learn before doing things.
>But to her there were so many tantalizing new things to go see and do.
>Maybe just a quick check at the big area wouldn’t hurt?
“N-no! Can’t do anything until I find the big- TREE!”
>Peep wasn’t kidding, it really was big.
>Bigger than every tree she’d seen in her whole life.
>It also barely even looked like a tree.
>But if that’s where Peep said this informative Twilight pony was then who was she to complain?
“Now how do I get in this thing?”
>There was a path leading to the tree, so maybe that’s how the ponies got in?
>Maybe the ponies did some weird stuff to get inside like they do with the boxes.
>The red bird was downright stuck as to how to get in.
“Maybe if I wait someone will show up.”
>Well, she waited for about thirty minutes with her flank planted in front of the tree without any luck.
>Perhaps there were alternate ways to get in?
>Taking to the air she could see the numerous holes riddled throughout the tree and the protruding boxes.
>Well, they were open and big enough to fit her so why not?
>Squeezing into the opening revealed a large, spacious room, with craftsmanship she could never have even dreamed of.
“So pretty~ NO! I still need to find Twilight!”
>But the tree was so big, and there were so many different paths to take.
>Well there was always one tried and true method for finding others.
 
“TWILIGHT? IS THERE A TWILIGHT IN HERE? I NEED TO TALK TO A PONY NAMED TWILIGHT!”
>Despite the sheer size of the structure, there was nobody to be found for quite a while.
>Did all the ponies have this much empty space in their boxes?
>Well it only took a while but there eventually came a very loud, very annoyed response.
>”UUUUUUUUUUUUGH, WHAT? WHY ARE YOU YELLING?”
>A series of very loud hoofsteps found their way to Scarlett, almost as if she knew where she was.
>The hoofsteps were attached to a very angry looking pony.
>”Seriously, why are you yelling!? If you wanted to find me then Spike should have told you where I was!”
“Who’s Spike?”
>”What do you mean who’s Spike? He should have been the one to answer the door! How did you get in here without seeing him anyway?”
“I climbed through one of the little holes on the tree. “
>Wha- YOU CAN’T DO THAT! THAT’S BREAKING AND ENTERING, AND ON GOVERNMET PROPERTY!”
“O-oops. I-I’m sorry Twilight, I-I didn’t know. I’m not good with pony stuff yet, b-but that’s why I came to see you.”
>The poor mare looked like she was on the verge of tears form that outburst, like she never wanted to upset anybody her entire life.
>And what does she mean she wasn’t’ good with “pony stuff” anyway?
>She was a pony and yet she didn’t understand actual pony stuff?
>And why was she colored so stra-
>”Oh.”
>In her fit of anger, Twilight was blinded to the most obvious thing about who she was talking to.
>”Hey hey don’t be sorry. I didn’t know that you were a bird pony. You know Blue and Peep right?”
“Oh yes! They’re some of my best friends in the whole forest! I really really really wanted to go to the pony town they were talking about and Peep said that I should go see you.”
>”Well then you came to the right pony! I can tell you almost anything you need or want to know about ponies. Now if you’d follow me I have somewhere we can get down to business.”
 
>The two walked the halls back to where Twilight had talked with the other birds.
>Scarlett was singing her own little happy tune and making chirps all along the way.
>Though Twilight realized that she would have to explain ponies and Equestrian society YET AGAIN.
>But it was alright, because there was a lovely amount of research to be had with it.
>Twilight had taken her seat, and Scarlett sat on the floor.
>”Alright. Now what would you like to know about ponies?”
“Okay so there are these boxes everywhere and I never figured out how…”
>And she was off.
>Talking a million miles an hour with a million questions filling her head about anything she could think of.
>It almost reminded the princess of another very excitable mare she knew.
>”You’re quite the curious pony. Do you have any other questions?”
“Uhhhhhhm… No.”
>”Well alright, because in exchange for telling you about my world, I want you to tell me about yours.”
>Once again Twilight brought out her writing instruments in her magical grip.
>With a short flutter of wings and a soft chirp, the bird was taken aback by such an odd display.
>”It’s magic. I guess I never really told you about it since you never asked. Basically it’s something that can do many different things the user wishes.”
>Twilight decide to put on a little show for the curious pony and start moving things this way and that.
>Scarlett had a glimmer of amazement in her eyes, like that of a little filly in a candy store.
>Twilight thought it was cute the way the red mare had followed everything with such a fascination.
>Followed everything… with her entire head.
>”Errr… I guess this is an impromptu first question, but why do you turn your entire head like that?”
“Huh? Oh! U-uhm that’s because I forget that I can move my eyes a lot, so I normally just use my whole head when I look at things.”
>“Okaaaay. Anyway, on to the questions.”
 
>Once again it started with the simple stuff.
>What is your species, what do you eat, who are your friends?
>*Splat*
>Twilight looked up for her writing to find Scarlett with that same expression on her face.
>Wide eyed, smiling, and with her tongue sticking out.
>She looked just as intent on listening as ever.
>Except it appeared that she moved a bit with a… less than pleasant surprise sitting where she just was.
>”Uhhhhhh why did you do that?”
“Because I had to.”
>Right, she should really go over what isn’t really acceptable around ponies.
>And clean up the mess later.
>”Anyway. So I guess this slipped my mind when talking to the others, but do you happen to know anyone by the name of Zecora?”
“Hmmmmmm. I know plenty of birds in the big forest but I’ve never heard of them before.”
>”She isn’t a bird. She’s a zebra that lives in the forest who-“
”Oh oh! You mean that really weird black and white pony that goes around picking flowers? None of us really pay her much attention because we all thought she was diseased because of how different she looked from ponies.”
>”Interesting. Looks like I have to go talk to her about this.”
>On one hoof Twilight thought that this mare was not very intelligent.
>On the other she was trying to beat up the first hoof for having such unprofessional thoughts regarding her subject.
>And on the third hoof was her equinity telling her that this pony was more than just some subject to be studied like a wild animal.
>She could deal with the internal conflict after she dealt with the defecation on her floor.
 
>”Alright, now the next line of questions didn’t get anything from the others, so I’m hoping you could tell me.”
“Okay!”
>”Great! Now, do you know anything about bird pony courtship, mating, or reproductive cycle?”
>At this she seemed to have lost her confidence in being able to answer.
“Uhhhhhh. Hmmmm… oh yeah! Sometimes I poop out eggs, and they say that if I get with a male bird, then little chicks will come out of them!”
>Time to push just a little harder.
>”And do you know how you would get with a male bird?”
“No. But sometimes I’ve been able to attract girl birds because of my pretty colors and we get to snuggle a lot!”
>”So you have never been with a male bird before?”
>”Nope!”
>Well that was extremely unhelpful.
>Though she still had to take measurements and make drawings.
>”Alright Scarlett, I need you to be really still for a while, and only move when I tell you to okay?”
“Maybe. Is this a game?”
>”Not really, but I just need you to do what I say okay?”
>And so began the long process of taking measurements of every single piece of the bird imaginable.
>Distances between joints, height, the circumference of her barrel.
>Then came the drawing.
>While she never considered herself an artist, she was sure that her detailed drawings were realistic enough.
>And it was calming too.
>The soft scratching of the pencil, only broken up by her changing her position, or moving Scarlett in one way or another.
>There were sketches of her face, her wings, feathers, everything.
>Now came one of the last drawings.
>She just had to move the pesky tail and-
“CHEERP! Hey hey hey what are you doing?”
>As a part of the study I need to see-“
“No no NO!”
>Scarlett had accentuated it with a bop to the nose, the red mare puffing up and ruffling her feathers.
“Blue said that I should only let other birds I really trust touch me down there!”
>”Okay, sorry about that.”
>Maybe next time will yield results.
 
>Next time, of course, coming after she cleaned up the now acrid poop splattered on her nice crystal floor.
>”Scarlett, I still have some things I’d like to teach you about. Mainly hygiene.”
“What’s a high-jeen?”
>”Well it’s… how you keep yourself clean and take care of certain bodily functions. Now if you’d follow me.”
>Back again through the winding halls of the castle they went.
>Their destination being a luxurious bathroom of tremendous size.
>”Now, this is a bathroom. In here ponies wash themselves, keep themselves in good shape, and more importantly, expel their wastes.”
>”What you did earlier was seen as improper with ponies. We do not poop anywhere we feel the need, but instead use the-“
>*Splat*
>Bathtub.
>Right into the bathtub.
>Levitating her out of the bath Twilight had placed her butt right onto the toilet.
>”TOILET! THIS THING! If you ever need to go then you sit, like this, on the toilet, and go. Now please finish up!”
>”Oh I don’t have to poop anymore.”
>”UUUUGGHH!”
>This mare could be an absolute pain.
>But that’s alright because once the kinks were worked out she might be easier to handle.
>Might.
>She was speaking through gritted teeth in her agitation.
>”The thing you just pooped in is the bathtub. It’s what ponies use to wash themselves in, like you might wash in a river or lake.”
“…Where’s the water?”
>”It pumps water in for when you need it. And by pony standards, I think you need it.”
“You’re one to talk. Come here!”
>Scarlett had flapped up into the air and behind Twilight before she could turn around.
>This gave her the vantage to swoop in and pin the purple princess to the floor.
“I’ll talk to you about your high-jeens. Your wings are a mess. Some bird you are.”
>”Well it’s beca-“
“I don’t care about any excuses Ms. Filthyfeathers! I’m gonna take care of these babies for you!”
>”Can you at least not force me on the ground?”
 
 
>Of course the bird was nice enough to oblige.
>The two had spent some time in the bathroom.
>Twilight sat on her haunches as Scarlett would sit behind her, or move somewhere for a better position.
>It was nice.
>Twilight would often forget the necessity of preening and would let her feathers get all mangled and messy.
>If Rainbow saw her like this she would have her head.
>It was a big “if” because of the nasty beating she took the day before.
>Scarlett made it feel nice.
>It was soothing how gentle she was.
>Scooching around and tucking in bent feathers, and removing those nasty loose ones.
“You’re really big. We don’t get many big birds out in the forest. I like them because they’re really fun to snuggle up with!”
>She was so cute and innocent.
>Really if she wasn’t being worked on Twilight would probably give her a hug.
>Spitting out a feather Scarlett spoke again.
“All done! Now who’s a pretty birdie?”
>*Grumble*
“A-and a hungry birdie.”
>Back to the old kitchen it was.
>This time Twilight was considerate to forewarn her feathered friend before teleporting.
>Honestly how could it have slipped her mind the first time?
>They’ve had almost no exposure to magic and yet she goes and throws them in an entirely new location.
>Well, it was bread time for Scarlett so that’s not important.
>Much to her dismay there were no seeds in the castle.
>But the bread was filling enough.
>They both noticed that it was getting extremely late, so it was time to show where the ponies sleep.
>It was the same room, and the same little “nest” building ordeal as before.
>Now it was undeniably cute.
>The red mare was all curled up ready to drift off to the world of slumber.
 
>She really wanted to go out to the Everfree to check out the bird ponies that live there.
>Maybe a letter wouldn’t hurt.
>”Dear Celestia, I am writing to inform you of a recent coming out of a group of bird ponies located within the Everfree Forest.”
>”There have been three ponies that I have talked to and have studied since yesterday.”
>”Due to the recent surge of interest in the topic, I am willing to go on an expedition into the Everfree to speak with the local zebra, Zecora, and study the bird pony populations.”
>”Therefore, I will be absent for the next few days.”
>”-Twilight Sparkle”
>With that message sent it was time to hit the hay.
>When she woke up however, there was a reply waiting for her.
>She kind of expected a reply, but at the same time kind of didn’t.
>Oh well.
>”Dear Twilight, while this is most excellent news I have a few things to note.”
>”The first being that you don’t need to be so formal and write to me about it. You’re a princess, go and have some fun.”
>”However, I’m afraid that I can’t really say to have fun so sincerely.”
>”While it is nothing against you or whatever prowess you may have in research, I am afraid that I shall be cutting off your expedition.”
>”Instead I have signed on a highly skilled birdwatcher and ornithologist to take your stead.
>”They say that she is so in tune with nature and birds, that she has practically become one herself.”
>”Expect her to arrive no later than 10 today.”
>”Celestia”