Whilst the reputation of the Bearers of Harmony has been slow to spread, ignorance couldn't remain total forever. And that means that those Bearers who have certain extra skills are becoming more widely known.
Fluttershy, for example, is becoming more popular with those ponies who have animal companions. After all, what better possible pony to ask advice from than somepony who can communicate with animals in their own language?
So it's not entirely unreasonable that a self-professed bird lover would travel all the way from Canterlot to seek Fluttershy's help as a consultant, particularly when dealing with a very unusual bird indeed. And, truth be told, Fluttershy could use an excuse to get away from the cottage. After all, it is Spring...
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This story contains examples of:
- Blessed with Suck: This story takes pains to explain how being able to speak to animals has really nasty repercussions on Fluttershy's life. For starters, whereas everyone else smiles at the sweet melodies of Spring bird-calls, Fluttershy is in effect being bombarded with a constant tide of profanities and vulgarities, because she can translate those bird-calls into the mindless territorial boasts and calls for sex they actually are.
- Also, as icing on the cake, her talent also causes male animals to see her as, whilst dominant, the most desireable mate in the world, so she spends Spring being constantly hit on by animals hoping to get lucky and mate with her. Applejack is quite put off when Fluttershy finally comes clean about this aspect of her powers.
- Whilst not directly an issue, it also really bothers Fluttershy that so many ponies ask her to tell them exactly what their precious animal companions are thinking, because it really is hard for her to admit that by pony standards, most non-pony animals are, honestly, pretty stupid.
- Impoverished Patrician: Audu's family squandered much of their fortune in the past. Audu fortunately has a talent for wealth management, which is how she is able to maintain a bird sanctuary and indulge in the occasional fancy dress (her plumage as she calls it). She still lives far more modestly than most of Equestria's nobility, if Applejack's surprise at Audu living in an ordinary house is any indication.
- Morphic Resonance: Inverted: Fluttershy strongly suspects that her talent works at least in part by causing any animals she interacts with to see her as an oddly-shaped-and-behaving member of their own species. Unfortunately, when it's mating season, this causes all the males to see her as the most desirable mate around.
- Secret-Keeper: Fluttershy is aware that Ratchet is herself a pegasus noble, although she keeps this fact from Applejack because it's not her place to say.
- Snobs Vs Slobs: Applejack makes it quite clear that, for the most part, she detests the aristocrats of Equestria, although by the story's end she's forced to admit that Audu Bontemps is one of the "good ones".
- Unwanted Assistance: Fluttershy is quite perturbed that Applejack takes it upon herself both to accept Audu's request for help and to haggle over an acceptable price; whilst it's true that Audu was offering a much-needed supply of funding, Applejack's presumption of Fluttershy's cowardly ineptitude at providing for herself is still something that rankles.
