//------------------------------// // The Second Meeting // Story: My Little Pony: The Brothers of Discord // by mr.myxsiple //------------------------------// CHAPTER 5 THE SECOND MEETING "So...how was your day?" Ironhead was a little surprised when he entered their apartment at the end of the day. After closing the front door, he turned and gasped upon seeing Scar grinning at him. He put a hoof on his chest, feeling his racing heart beat. "What the hell Scar? You trying to give me a heart attack?" he asked annoyed. Scar however still kept his grin on. "So...how was your day?" he repeated. "Uh...kinda OK I guess..." Ironhead answered heading towards his room. Once there, he jumped on his bed and sighed. He looked up and was surprised to see Scar sitting on his bed with that same grin on his face. "OK...what else?" Scar continued. "Uh..." The confused earth pony sat up on his bed and shrugged. "Applejack kinda pissed me off when I got there, so I uh...knocked a tree over..." he said nervously. "Yeah...kinda freaked her out a bit and got a pay cut. She didn't let me buck any trees after that and made me clean up the chicken coop. Do I still smell like it?" He sniffed himself and frowned."Ugh, I need a bath. Anyway, after that, she made me sell apples at the market. After that-" Ironhead stopped upon seeing the grin still plastered on his brother's face. "OK; you're really freaking me out now." Scar was unresponsive leading his brother to sigh. "So...how was your day?" One second later, Scar was in his brothers face startling the latter. "It was the best day ever! You're never gonna believe what just happened!" "Uh huh." Ironhead slowly pushed Scar's head away from him. "So what happened? You find out what's with all the light going around?" "What?" Scar finally dropped the grin. "Oh yeah...That." He looked away guiltily. "You forgot?!" he exclaimed. "I-I didn't! I swear!" Scar defended. "I looked a little, then it happened!" The grin returned to his face. "I was taking a break and then...she showed up." "Who?" Ironhead raised and eyebrow. Scar flew over and put a leg around his brother who gave him a funny look. "Did you meet a cute girl or something?" "You could say that..." Scar answered, his cheeks slightly flushed. "I met the coolest and most amazing pegasus in all of Equestria today; you seriously don't know who?" "Wha-" Ironhead began, but the pieces stated to fit. Scar's goofy smile, the way he's fawning over somepony, his calling her the coolest and most amazing pegasus in all of Equestria; he knew his brother well, and there could only be one pony Scar could be talking about. "Rainbow Dash?!" "YES!" Scar shouted. As Ironhead rubbed his ears from the close range shout, Scar flew over to his bed and laid down. "No freakin' way; she lives here in Ponyville?!" "You bet she does! I showed her one of my tricks and then, she did her own and then, we flew around town and then, we had a race and then, SHE SAID I WAS COOL! And then-" "Alright alright; I get it. Sheesh." Ironhead rolled his eyes as his brother started to go on about Rainbow. Ever since Scar came back from that Best Young Flyer's competition, he'd been going on and on and on about some pony named Rainbow Dash who supposedly did something called a Sonic Rainboom. He'd been talking about her and attempting his own Sonic Rainboom for so long, he annoyed the whole family. It finally stopped after a month when a pissed-off Psych finally shut him up...using his powers. Ironhead shuddered at that memory; it took Scar days to recover from that and ever since, he never talked about Rainbow again (at least, not in front of Psych). Scar eventually stopped his rambling and looked up at his brother. "You think I have a chance with her?" Ironhead opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He tried to figure out what to say. On one hoof, he was happy that his brother had finally met his idol and inspiration despite how annoyed he gets when he fawns over her and would love to help him out with her. On the other hoof, they had a job to do; his getting a job at Sweet Apple Acres had already cut into his searching time and Scar busying himself with Rainbow would just cut into their investigation. "Uh...look." He hated to do this. "Maybe you should...y'know...forget her for now..." "WHAT?!" Scar was suddenly in his face again making Ironhead once again push him back. "But-but-b-but-" "Lemme put it this way." he explained. "If Ponyville's destroyed, she'll go with it." Orange eyes widened in shock after that. "Y-You're right!" Scar exclaimed. "There's no way I'd let her die if I can help it." "Good to hear." Ironhead replied. "You can start saving her and the rest of Ponyville by getting this to dad." He pulled out a corked test tube filled with soil. Scar wasted no time in taking it in his mouth and heading for the window. "I'll be back in ten minutes." he said sliding the window open and spreading his wings. "Make sure you-" But Scar had already left before Ironhead could finish. Panicking, he looked out the window, but Scar was already gone. He began to freak out; he always told Scar to stay high above the clouds so nopony would see him use his powers, but now, giddy from his earlier encounter with Rainbow Dash, he might forget to fly high enough. Panicking, Ironhead tried to stay positive. Maybe Scar would fly high enough to avoid being seen. Maybe nopony would notice him if he flew too low. Right? By the time the sun began to set and the moon about it take its place in the heavens, Fluttershy had finished feeding the animals for the night. After watching the chickens eat for a while, she put away a bag of chicken feed and made her way back to her cottage. She was thinking that after giving Angel his carrot, she'd pour herself some tea and busy herself with a novel she'd been reading. It was during her walk back to her home that she felt the wind pick up for some strange reason. She stopped upon noticing this and looked around. As she turned her gaze upwards, the wind increased in intensity. All of a sudden, something streaked across the sky, soaring over her head and bringing an intense wind with it. The wind was incredibly intense, stronger than any kind Fluttershy had ever encountered before. Before she knew it, her hooves left the ground, and she found herself airborne. As she tumbled about, her wings flared out, and, remembering what she could from flight school, she attempted to stabilize herself before she could crash into something. Luckily, the wind began to die down a bit. Fluttershy managed to stop herself from tumbling and get her hooves back on the ground. It was a good thing too; looking up, she realized that she was just a foot away from smacking into the side of her house. Panting a little, she looked around seeing the animals in disarray from the earlier incident. Instantly, she was there to calm them down. With some patience and a kind voice(not to mention a little help from her Stare), she managed to restore order to the animals. "There there. No need to worry. Everything's alright." she said soothingly to a baby rabbit shivering in fright. The bunny eventually calmed down and hopped on over to its parents. Fluttershy smiled upon seeing that but then frowned as she heard panicked clucking coming from her chicken coop. She headed over there and entered, finding several startled chickens fluttering about. She sighed and got to work. After finally calming them down, she too managed to do the same. What was that? she thought as she looked upwards. She thought she imagined it, but she could've sworn that whatever flew above her was big and fast; all she saw was a red streak. She looked down at the chickens again; while mentally making sure all of them were there, she wondered just what that red streak was. Wait. She counted again to make sure, but the same result came in; a chicken was missing, one particular chicken to be exact. "Elizabeak..." Fluttershy muttered as she left the coop and began searching everywhere for the missing chicken. When she was nowhere in sight, dread started to creep down her spine as she looked around the coop. To her dismay, she saw a trail of feathers leading away from the coop and into the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy gulped; going into the forest alone was a bad idea, but Elizabeak was in there. Who knows what could happen if she didn't try to get her. She considered calling one of her friends to accompany her, but doing so would take too long. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and entered the woods. It was starting to get dark; Fluttershy tried not to imagine what kind of things could be lurking around. "Elizabeak..." she called out weakly hoping to get the latter's attention and not attract any creatures to her at the same time. She ventured deeper into the forest. "Elizabeak...where are-" Startled clucking interrupted her. She turned and saw Elizabeak emerge from a clump of bushes and head rigth for her. "There you are." Fluttershy said. "What were you thinking running off-" But the hen had ran pas her and made a beeline for the cottage. Fluttershy watched her leave in confusion; she seemed frightened by something, but what? She looked over at the bushes Elizabeak emerged from and gingerly took a step forward. It was then that she smelled something strange, like something was...burning? Her eyes widened in fear; a fire in the forest could drive out any beast and send them into town. It could also spread and affect her house as well. But it didn't seem like a forest fire. There wasn't any smoke above the trees, and there weren't any wildlife running away. But she could definitely smell something burning. Wondering what it was, she followed the path Elizabeak ran away from. In the end, she reached a large clearing. She saw nothing burning or on fire. In fact, there was only one thing in that clearing. The same strange colt she saw the previous day. The surprise on Ash's face was mirrored on Fluttershy's. The latter wondered if he would fly away again like the previous day. Ash on the other hand kept his hooves on the ground. He couldn't believe he'd seen this strange pony two days in a row. He didn't need this; he wanted her to leave, but she was strangely immune to his Glare. He had no other choice; he had to use his powers to scare her off- What's stopping you from reducing her to a pile of cinders? He closed his eyes and growled as the thought crossed his head starling Fluttershy a little. He decided to go and do just what he thought. After all, that what's he's supposed to do. He's suppose to do nothing but kill, hurt, destroy and make others suffer- He growled again and opened his eyes, his teeth bared. Fluttershy gasped as she saw those angry eyes suddenly change from gold to scarlet. His Glare wasn't working, but fear still rooted Fluttershy to her spot. Ash focused on her and concentrated; in just a matter of seconds, she'd be burnt to a crisp. But for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Do it! he screamed in his mind. Burn her! Hurt her! This is what you're supposed to do! You don't have any other choice! Fluttershy watched as his legs began to tremble. In reality, Ash had never used his power directly on other ponies or anything living thing before. She would be his first victim, his first murder... Ash growled loudly as he hesitated some more. He screamed in his head to burn her, but he just couldn't. He gave one last cry before falling to the side. He started panting as if he's just run a marathon. He then weakly opened his eyes; Fluttershy saw then revert back to their original golden color. "Oh dear. Are you alright?" She galloped over to him and tried checking for injuries. He didn't seem to be hurt at all. "Go away." Ash told her. "B-but you look hurt." Fluttershy reasoned. "I said go!" Ash yelled standing up. He put a his hooves on her and shoved her away from him. Fluttershy stumbled a bit but was otherwise unharmed. She looked up and saw his face and was surprised to see him staring at her wide-eyed with shock, as if he couldn't believe he'd done such a thing. "Are...are you OK?" she asked. Every part of her told her that this was a bad pony that she had to get away from as quick as she could, but she couldn't just ignore somepony who looked like he was in pain. "You're not from Ponyville aren't you? That is...if you don't mind me asking..." Still slightly agitated, Ash stared at her with raised eyebrows and remained silent. Fluttershy drew back a bit. "I-it's OK. You don't have to answer if you don't have to..." She looked at him and saw him watching her warily. "I'm sorry...I didn't even introduce myself...I'm...I'm Fluttershy..." What the hell? Ash thought. He wondered what happened to that determined, strong-willed, apology-demanding mare he met only yesterday. Now, that same mare is standing before him apologizing and even giving him her name. He shook his head; if she knew what he really was, she'd be right in staying as far away from him as possible. He had enough of this. Being around anypony else caused his to think things, things that hurt him greatly which is why he always wandered off alone to do his own thing. He turned around , took a few steps away from the shy mare and spread his wings. "W-Wait!" Fluttershy called out before he could leave. "It's dangerous in the forest, especially at night. There's Timberwolves, dragons, Ursas, manticores..." Her list of horrors lurking in the forest was incomplete and would hopefully remain that way. "I...I'll be fine..." Ash replied without looking at her. "OK...If you say so..." he heard Fluttershy reply. He found himself lingering longer than he wanted to. He didn't understand what was happening to him. He growled silently and fidgeted for a while before finally speaking. "Ash." Fluttershy's ears perked up upon hearing that. "What?" The colt turned his head to the side, but didn't exactly look directly at her. "M...my name's Ash." Taking a deep breath, he spread his wings and took off into the forest. "Ash." she whispered to herself as he watched him leave. Noticing just how dark it was getting, she decided to follow suit and leave the clearing as well. "What a strange pony..." she mused as her house approached. Putting Ash of out her mind, she entered her home and sighed, finally feeling at ease. She went and made herself some nice jasmine tea. When it was ready, she settled herself on her couch and took a sip and sighed feeling totally relaxed. She reached over to a nearby shelf and grabbed a book and turned to the page where she stopped. Upon finding it, she began reading; nothing could bother her now. Well, except a certain white bunny that hopped on her chest, pulled down her book and pointed at his opened mouth. "Oh yes. Carrot. Sorry." Fluttershy apologized as she fetched her pet's meal. Little did she know that what she saw earlier that day wasn't a red streak. It was a scarlet blur.