//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Aubery (part one – preparations) // Story: Shy and the Beast (Master): Animal Instincts // by Cerulean Voice //------------------------------// “Good morning, Angel. Did you sleep well?” Fluttershy smiled at her favourite pet rabbit leaping up and down on the stool next to her bed. He gave a short squeak, but his smile soon faded as he began to tap his foot on the varnished wood. “Breakfast time already, is it?” Fluttershy lifted her head from her pillow and stared out the window. Rainbow had told her some light rain would be scheduled for the morning – “But it should be cleared up pretty quick,” she'd said. Fluttershy flapped her wings and lifted herself up, the blanket falling gracefully off her body and back onto her bed so well that anypony could swear she’d not even slept in it at all. With a push, the circular glass rotated, such that the scent of morning dew and wildflowers entered her nose. A few pinpricks of water tacked themselves to her fur—not an unpleasant feeling, more of a natural wake-up—as she beheld the glory of springtime. The thumping grew louder. “Oh, of course. Sorry, Angel. Coming right up!” The rabbit nodded and bounded downstairs while a pair of fairy wrens flew in and settled themselves on Fluttershy’s head. “Good morning, Silvy and Glacie. I guess you’re both hungry too?” The twitterpated pair chirped into her ear in response. “Come on then.” She walked down the stairs. What a glorious spring morning. Maybe if the rain lasted longer than expected, she could curl up with a nice book, surrounded by her friends. Yes, that would be nice. A knock at the door. Fluttershy tensed up. Who could be calling so early, and in this rain too? * * * * * “See? I told you they’d be okay.” Cratus finished his rounds of the cage as the dark Everfree morn finally relented in its deluge. “A little agitated, but nothing they won’t get over.” Fluttershy sat upon a nearby mossy boulder, careful to avoid the mud Cratus splashed up with his passing. “I still think it would have been better to at least dig them a little trench or something. They normally live underground after all.” Cratus sighed. “We’ve been through this, ’Shy—there was no time for that. The ground was too hard before the rain, but once it starts, you don’t want to be caught out in it.” “I know, I know. ‘Our safety first’. But I still would have preferred it.” A pair of mandibles clicked together, answered by another pair until the sound overrode all others. “Hey!” Cratus flicked his chain out toward the cage; it clanged against the bars, sending vibrations into the ground. Both porcupedes fell quiet. “Better.” Smiling, Cratus wound his chain back around his leg. “So, er, what were we looking for today?” “Oh, the manifest. Right.” Fluttershy floated over the softened earth and through the tent flap. “Um, let’s see…” She snatched up the list and a quill from next to Cratus’ mattress, first dipping the quill in an inkpot. With paper in hoof and quill in mouth, she returned to the boulder and held it up, Cratus peering over her shoulder. Cockatrice: 100 bits [x] Parasprite: 50 bits [x] (no more than two) Chupacabra: 250 bits [x] Manticore: 300 bits [x] Triffid: 50 bits [x] (get a couple of these, just in case) Ahriman: 200 bits [x] Porcupede: 200 bits [ ] Aubery: 150 bits [ ] Hydra: 2000 bits [ ] (attempt only with extreme caution) ?????: Priceless [ ] “That’s another one down,” Cratus said while Fluttershy marked the Porcupede checkbox with an ‘x’. “Just the most dangerous ones of all left.” Fluttershy cocked her head. “What’s so dangerous about the Aubery? It can’t be too bad, seeing as how the princess’ reward is even lower than the porcupedes.” “Well, that’s the thing.” Cratus threw the covering back over the porcupede enclosure. “Supposedly, the bird itself is not actually dangerous, or even mildly aggressive, just difficult to find. In fact—” he smiled widely “—according to stories, only one pony’s ever seen it. It’s a beautiful bird, lithe and slim like a phoenix, except with a light-blue plumage and gold-tipped wings. The adventurer who claims to have discovered it named it after his lover, Aubergine, on account of how beautiful he claimed its singing to be.” “Wow. How romantic of him.” Fluttershy rested her chin on a hoof, eyes beginning to mist over. “At least, that’s what we know of it. As for the stallion, he went mad and murdered Aubergine.” “What?” Fluttershy’s misty eyes cleared instantly. “But why? How could anypony do such a monstrous thing?” “Nopony knows truly why he did it to this day. All anypony knows for sure is that he had an insatiable obsession with talking about the Aubery’s song. Now listen up, because this might be important.” Fluttershy nodded, mouth shut, focused on Cratus. “Before discovering the Aubery,” Cratus continued, “the adventurer had always been a friendly pony, well loved by his town. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. But when he returned from his journey, it was all he would talk about—how beautiful this bird’s song was. Constantly reminiscing, to the point where ponies refused to talk to him anymore. And when poor Aubergine finally cracked and told him to snap out of it or she’d leave him…” Cratus made a pop with his tongue and jerked his front hooves in opposite directions. Fluttershy flinched away. “That’s… that’s horrible.” Cratus nodded. “Of course, the most popular opinion among the townsfolk who tell the story seems to be that it was the bird’s song that drove him insane. Which is why—” He squelched up to the tent’s entrance and emerged a moment later, two pairs of bulky headphones held in his teeth, and placed them onto the boulder next to Fluttershy. “—I packed these.” Fluttershy stared at the giant earpieces. Curious, she lifted one up into closer view, turning it around. There was a smaller cone inside the large cone, and a loose wire connected to the inner cone that hung out with what appeared to be a miniature microphone on the end. “I’ve never seen anything like it. What do we do with these?” Cratus pointed to one of the outer cones. “You see how this one is all around the other one? This one’s to cancel out any noise we might hear. But the wire leads to a mouthpiece, which attaches under your chin.” He picked it up and placed it onto his head, ensuring the headphones completely covered his ears. “Now, I can’t hear a thing, so you’ll have to just nod so I know you understand. Follow?” “I think—oh. Right.” Fluttershy closed her mouth and nodded. “Now for the mouthpiece, then. You draw the wire across the side of your face—you can bend it a little and it won’t bend back—so that the microphone sits just below your mouth. You talk into that when the phones are switched on—” Cratus tapped the left side of his phones, bringing up a small blue light “—and I’ll be able to hear your voice, and your voice only.” He tapped the headpiece again; the blue light vanished. “Got that?” Fluttershy just nodded. “Good.” Cratus motioned to the other pair. “Try them on.” Trembling slightly, Fluttershy lifted up the strange contraption and lowered it onto her head, adjusting it so the earpieces fell comfortably into place. She opened her mouth and screamed her absolute loudest scream, almost loud enough for the birds on the branch above her head to hear. Silence. She opened her mouth a few more times, and gasped a silent gasp. What she had meant to say was, “I’m not sure I like this,” but she supposed that meant it was working properly. Cratus tapped the side of his head. A silent, “Um, yes,” later, Fluttershy tapped her own head in the same place. “Different, isn’t it?” came Cratus’ high voice. “A world of complete and total silence on demand.” Fluttershy shook her head quickly before remembering about her own wire. Once she had it in place, she spoke again. “How in Equestria do these work?” Cratus gave a toothy grin. “Mana batteries. There’s a high-grade crystal inside each of these headpieces that stores unicorn magic. Princess Celestia charged these to capacity with her own power, borrowed from the sun, but even so, the crystals will only work for a few hours. So we need to conserve our usage, understand?” With that, Cratus tapped his head again; when the blue lights were extinguished, he took off his own headset, motioning for Fluttershy to do the same. “So,” he said once she’d removed her set completely and shook her mane out, “you ready to search for one of the most elusive creatures of all time?” * * * * * “Hello? Who’s there?” Fluttershy put her eye up to the peephole in her front door. A strange stallion stood outside. His coat was light grey, and he bore a brown saddle with silver and red underbuckles. His mane seemed to be tucked beneath the saddle; or maybe they just met at the same place. He wore black sandals, his rear legs each twined with what looked like bandages for tensile support instead of injury dressings. Wrapped around his right foreleg was a thick steel chain, coiled over many times. But it was the vivid green eyes and bold black goatee that grabbed her attention. A sense of familiarity filled her, though where she knew him from eluded her at present. The stallion rapped on her door again; he must not have heard her. “Um, hello?” Fluttershy repeated, upping her voice. “Can I help you?” “You are Fluttershy Posey, Ponyville’s primary animal carer and tamer?” Even the voice tickled a part of Fluttershy’s mind. It was slightly higher than she would have expected from a stallion with his tough appearance. Wheezy, but a clear pitch, like he was actually an elder trapped in a youth’s body. Although he didn’t exactly seem that young, come to think of it— Another knock. “Oh, yes. Yes, I am Fluttershy. Sorry. I just don’t normally get visitors this early in the morning.” “I don’t like to waste time,” came the reply. “O-okay.” She opened the top half of her door, letting more sunlight stream in and giving a more clear view of her visitor. “Good morning, miss.” He inclined his head briefly and then extended the chain-wrapped foreleg. “Cratus Wilde, at your service.” Fluttershy slowly and wordlessly extended her own hoof, careful not to touch the steel. “Um, I’m Fluttershy. But I guess you already knew that…” “Still nice to have confirmation,” Cratus replied as he released her hoof. He cleared his throat. “Ahem. Miss Fluttershy, I’m here today because I was told that you were Ponyville’s—and perhaps even Equestria’s—top authority on animal welfare. They say your special talent is communicating with beasts and taming them. ‘Nopony better,’ said a pink pony that I met upon arriving.” “Oh. You must have been ambushed by—I mean met—my friend, Pinkie Pie. She’s usually the first pony to welcome visitors to Ponyville.” “Yerrrs…” Cratus scratched his beard. “She seemed rather eager to throw me a party. Alas, I declined, asked her if she knew any animal specialists, and you were the very first one she mentioned.” “Um… that was nice of her.” Fluttershy’s cheeks lightened in the morning sun. “So, Mister Cratus, what can I help you with?” “I have a proposition for you. If you are the best creature expert in Equestria, you could help me a great deal.” Cratus raised a hoof to wipe away some excess moisture. “Erm, do you mind if I come in? The rain—” Fluttershy gasped, front hooves shooting to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, how rude of me! Of course, come in, come in.” She pulled open the lower half of her door, allowing Cratus to walk in and lightly shake himself off. A small trip of mice pattered up to him, crowding around his right hoof and sniffing at the chain. “Patients of yours?” Cratus looked down and met four pair of curious, beady eyes. “Oh, no,” Fluttershy said as she closed both halves of her door. “They live here, like most of my other friends.” Cratus looked around, observing the various perches, houses, nests in the rafters, and doggy beds upon which birds, ferrets, rabbits and other small rodents slept. He seemed particularly interested in the large brown bear snoozing on the couch at the back of the room. “All of these animals are your friends? Not pets or injured patients?” Fluttershy smiled at his bemused expression. “Every animal is my friend, and I love them all dearly. I feed them, I bathe them, I sing songs to them—” Fluttershy hovered into her seat at a small, central wooden table “—my house is like a second home to them, and they’re all welcome any time. Oh, except for Harry the bear and Angel Bunny. They live here.” She motioned to the bear as Angel leaped up from a chair, onto the table, and then onto the top of her head—where he promptly began tapping his foot again. Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, it is breakfast time, Angel. Hold on, I’ll fix you a nice salad. You don’t mind waiting juuust a moment do you, Mister Cratus?” Cratus took a seat, eyes on the jackalope sleeping next to a pair of badgers. He shook his head. “Sure. And just ‘Cratus’ is fine.” “Well in that case, just ‘Fluttershy’ is fine too.” As Fluttershy rounded into the kitchen, Angel jumped off her head and bolted straight for the refrigerator, tapping on the lower crisper drawer. Fluttershy hummed while she pulled out and diced up carrots, lettuces, and stewed rhubarb. The tune looped around a couple of times before Angel’s bowl was filled, and she placed it on the ground for him; Angel immediately began to tuck into the rhubarb, ignoring the lettuce. “What do you think of Cratus, Angel?” she asked. Angel swallowed, opened his mouth, pointed into it, and mimed gagging. “Angel Bunny! Don’t you be so rude, or I’ll take your breakfast off you.” Angel crossed his arms and pouted before resuming furiously stuffing his face. “I wonder why he needs an animal expert, though. Maybe he needs a special kind of—oh!” Fluttershy’s face lit up. “The Orthros! I knew he seemed familiar.” Angel rolled his eyes. “Everything all right in there?” came the high voice from the main room. “I am a rather busy pony.” “Sorry! Coming!” Fluttershy dashed through the air, coming to rest across the table from Cratus. “So, how can I help you today?” Cratus turned his head and grasped a poster with his teeth. “This brings me here,” he said after spitting it onto the table. “It’s a bounty set by Princess Celestia herself. She wishes for a pony skilled at handling wild beasts to obtain some rare specimens in the name of research. This bounty has been public for months, and yet she told me that I was the first to respond.” Fluttershy scanned the flyer, eyes growing wider every second. “Th-that’s a l-lot of bits there…” “Sure is,” Cratus said eagerly. “But even though I took the job without hesitation, I would prefer not to go alone.” Fluttershy let the notice fall onto the table. She began to quiver. “Are you… a-are you asking me to—” “Fluttershy, from one animal tamer to another, I wish for you to accompany me on this adventure.”