Home is where True Peace and Love Is

by MetalBrony823

Red River Hog Pool Time

Luke was still having fun in the lake next to Zecora's home town with all his friends and father. It was a rather close call that Fluttershy shooed a hippo away with just her infamous stare.

The young human was also happy that he didn't have to kill an animal with his lightsaber this time, thanks to his closest pony friend.

In the lake, some small birds were hanging next to Fluttershy like Egyptian geese, moorhens, coots, and a few small herons would come hang with her. The yellow pegasus would make good conversations with the birds that wanted to talk with her.

"You really have a gift with animals, Fluttershy." Said Okove, noticing what she was doing.

"Thank you. I always know how to communicate with animals." And a small bee eater flew away into the sky. "The animals around here are quite friendly."

"Well. Maybe to you." Said Twilight. "But I think they are still afraid of the rest of us, Fluttershy." And she lowered her body down the water, with her head peeking up. "I highly doubt that we would be able to control that mean hippo like you."

"Well, we were in danger. I had to do something to make him go away."

"Do not worry. Hippos are not really ones to make friends so easily. But you did save our lives, my dearie." Said Zecora.

"And at least I didn't have to kill another animal." Said Luke. "So how about this. What do you guys want to do next?"

"I was thinking we can drop in on Babatunde, and the buffalo's village." Twilight suggested."

"You totally read my mind, Twilight." Said Spike. "Those guys seem cool. I mean, do you all remember seeing the horns on their heads yesterday?"

"Oh yes." Said Fluttershy. "They are very intriguing, I think we shoums go see him after we are all done swimming."

"I could not agree with you more, sweetie." Said Rarity. "Although I am not one for excessive violence, I guess I can compliment them all for their horns."

"They are like a strong-willed type of buffalo herd. They look like they can fight with honor like the ones back in Ole Appleoosa." Said Applejack.

"I guess it's settled then." Luke said. "Babatunde and his herd's town it is." And he washed his long, dark-brown hair down his back. "I'm getting curious about them myself." And he took a sip of his glass of lemonade.

"Oh yes, even though they have peanut-sized brains, it would be quite interesting to meet them all once again." Said the Master of Chaos with his mischievous grin on his face.

"Yoy behave yourself, Discord." Larry warned him flatly with his eyes narrowed in irritation at him. "The last thing we want is for you to cause a stampede because of your mischief."

"Yeah Discord. The last time you insulted Babatunde, you almost caused him to go on a rampage like a runaway train." Said Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy, you'll keep an eye on him, right?"

"Of course, Rainbow Dash." And in a more stern voice. She said "Discord, will you please treat them nicely?"

"Of course."

"Do the Pinkie promise."

"Very well." Discoes sighed, and then he swore the oath by saying "cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a dagger through my eye. There, I said it. Happy?"

This made Fluttershy smile. "Yes, thank you, Discord." Then she made an adorable sneeze that sounded like a kitten mewing. Something else caught Luke’s eye, which was a large, black and white martial eagle, for those birds of prey were completely huge and gigantic in size.

It’s talons looked so sharp, and deadly. So deadly enough to penetrate through a full-grown human’s skull, and easily gouge their eyes out. “Ooh. Wow.” He muttered in fascination.

“What is it, Luke?” Asked Spike. He looked over and saw the eagle jus perching on the nearby dead tree. “Ooh, That eagle looks massive.”

“I know. Just look at it.” Said Rainbow.

“And it looks so beautiful.” Fluttershy agreed in awe. “Those feathers are so gorgeous.”

“Oh yes, the martial eagle is the largest eagle in all of Zebrica.” Said Okove. “And certainly one of the most formidable.”

“Can it fly as fast as me?”

“Not Everything is a contest, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight pointed out to her.

“Uh, Everything is always a compitetion to me.”

“Of course it is.” Applejack muttered sarcastically. “Besides, you got to race with those cheetahs yesterday.”

Rainbow had a bold look on her face. “True. They didn’t stand a chance against me back there.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a fair advantage.” Said Luke. “Cheetahs don’t have wings like you do.” And he took a sip of his glass of aloe Vera juice. “Let me ask ya: what would you think of you were a cheetah ad had wings?”

“I would feel.... spotty?” Reinbow Said modestly. They all laughed at what she just said. “And I would be thinnand skinny.”

“A rather true statement.” Said Rarity before putting on her sunglasses. “Ah. I a, so glad we have decided to take a little dip in this nice little spot of water to enjoy ourselves in.

Lyra splashed the hair from her mane before saying: “Yeah, you can say that again, Rarity.” Then she looked underwater for anything dangerous or sneaky to her, and the rest of the group. “So far, No tigerfish.”

“Whew, that’s good.” Bon Bon Said.

“Cannonbaaaaaaal!!” Shouted a voice from above them. It was Pinkie Pie with her own diving board. She was falling in a ball position with great speed.

“Oh no.” Starlight muttered. “Brace for impact!” Everyone stood out of Pinkie’s way when she was going to hit the water. It was like a nuclear bomb hit the lake and water exploded on the air, falling back in the hole, making the lake filled with water again.

Everyone was soaking wet, and Luke wagged his hair like a dog would do after a bath. “Jesus, that got me all wet.” He muttered, pushing his hair back.

“Oh! Pinkie Pie!” Rarity complained to her. “Must you do that? It could have messed up my beautiful mane.”

“And I think you scared the eagle away.” Fluttershy pointed out. She was right, the martial eagle left the branch to not get hit or splashed with water before the bomb-like impact.

“Sorry.” Pinkie sang. “This is just so fun!” Then she put on her snorkeling mask on herself. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I got fish to find.” And she dove down below like a seal or a walrus. Like and the the others were looking annoyed with her shenanigans, and just continued with their business.

“Oh, i think I got water up my nose.” Starlight complained. “Pinkie Pie.” All of a sudden, something caught her attention when she saw a softshell turtle minding it’s own business. It was small, and it had yellow eyes with a rather long nose. It’s head somewhat made him look like a snake, and it slowly blinked it’s eyes twice. She approached it and the reptile crept his head in his large, flat shell. “Hey there, little guy.” She tried to talk to it

“Uh-oh. Easy, Starlight.” Said Zecora noticing her. “A Zebrican softshell turtle can, if angered, delivery a nasty bite.”

Looking back at the turtle, Starlight heard it making rumbling and chittering sounds, then looked at her. It opened it’s mouth slightly wide, and lunged at her with a fast strike, trying to bite her.

“Oh my.” Fluttershy Said.

“Whoa, That is fast.” Rainbow admired the little creature. “Not to worry. I have a tortoise, and I know how to deal with them.” She bragged. She hovered above it, and smiled. “Hey there, you’re a cute little guy. Yes you are, yes you are.”

Just then. The turtle lunges at her nose, hanging on to it with it’s beak.

“Ah!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Get it off me! Get it off me!”

Pinkie Pie was trying to pry it off of her friends’s nose, but the turtle was having a firm grip on it with his mouth.

Luke couldn’t help but laugh seeing how silly this looked to him. Sure, it sounded cruel,but he did find it a little funny. Discord, on the othe hand, began guffawing on the ground so hard, a few tear were coming out of his eyes.

The softshell turtle did not budge and still held his mouth onto Rainbow Dash’ nose. “Ah! I can’t get it off of me” einaiv exclaimed. “Could somepony please pry this crazy turtle off ,y face?!”

“Don’t worry Rainbow Dash, hold still.” Then Twilight used themagic from her horn to make the turtle’s lower jaw let go of Rainbow’s nose. Despite the softshell putting up white a fight, Twilight managed to pull it off of Rainbow’s nose, and carefully place it into another part of the river.

“Ow!” Rainbow Said, covering her nose. “Jeez, That turtle can really bite. Gah! My nose really smarts.” Her nose looked like a swollen, red tomato, fresh from the plant in a garden.

“Are you Okay, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked

“Despite that turtle giving me a nasty bite, i’m Perfectly fine.” She noticed Discord laughing his butt off at seeing Rainbow’s misfortune like that

“You look like a piggy!” Discord Said before laughing again. Rainbow wanted to kill him for making fun of her like this, but she knew that Fluttershy wouldn’t allow it, and she was powerless compared to the master of chaos.

“You know what? Laugh it up, Discord.” Rainbow stated flatly. “I don’t care, i’m on a cool trip with all my friends on vacation.”

“Thanks to me.” Luke said

“And me,” Zecora added. “I am certainly glad that you all have come along for this trip was meant to be.”

“I agree wit you, Zecora.” Said Luke. “I’m glad as well.” A couple of snorting noises were heard in the bushes, and it sounded like oinking. From right behind Luke and his father, there was a red river hog sniffing at his hair.

“Oh well. You look cool, don’t ya?” Luke admired the wild pig his unusual and somewhat silly looks on his face. The red river hog licked Luke’s face, and another came from the grass, and licked alarry’s faces like a dog showing affection.

“Aww, hello.” Fluttershy greeted them. “Aren’t you just the cutest little pigs on the world?

A couple of the piglets went up to Fluttershy, sniffing her with their little snouts, and it felt rather ticklish to her. A few of them backed away, possibly feeling shy or scared of her at first,

“It’s okay, little babies.” She reassured them all. “I won’t hurt you.” And the red river piglets began to warm up to her. Some of the grownup pigs went up to her as well, trying to get a closer look at her.

“Look at these lil piggies.” Applejack Said. “Those are some of the most unusual looking piggies I have ever seen before my life.”

“They look a little... repulsive.” Rarity modestly remarked. “Rather a little barbaric on their faces. Just then, an adult red river hog went up to her out of curiosity, and sniffed her. “Oh ho, that does tickle me a little.” Then she got a treatment of being licked on her face by it’s tongue and nuzzled by the pig’s body.

“Oh look.” Said Lyra. “You’re getting new friends, Rarity.”

“Alright, Alright.” Said The white unicorn. “I take it back. These little swine are just so cute.”

“Yeah. Just look at those ears. Kinda remind me of goblins a little. In a good way of course.” Lyra Said.

Then some of them decided to take a swim with Luke and his friends. The young human honestly never seen an unusual creature like a red river hog, which was native to Africa in Luke’s home world as well. All of a sudden, a crowned eagle swooped down out of nowhere, and snatched one of the babies with it's mighty talons.

It was a jarring sight for all of them to see. Fluttershy was absolutely saddened and had tears in her eyes seeing a baby red river hog being swiped by a predator like that as it's next dinner. Luke went up to comfort her. "You okay, Fluttershy?"

"yes. I just never seen such horrible, tragic.... sad...." then she couldn't hold it in anymore, and cried into Luke with a hug. "He was just a baby."

"Shh, I'm here, Fluttershy." Luke soothed her. "Please don't cry."

Then her other friends went to comfort her as well, especially Discord, whom he always considered Fluttershy as his closest friend of all. Poor Fluttershy was certainly torn by what she just saw. "Don't cry, Fluttershy." said Twilight. "It just caught us by surprise, it's not the end of the world."

"So what if an eagle took away one of the baby piglets as a lunch to be mauled and eaten by him, doesn't mean-"

Then Fluttershy began crying even harder than before, and more tears streamed down her face. "Pinkie!" They all scolded her.

"What? I was just making a point."

"Two words Pinkie. Not. Helping." Said Larry.

"There there, sweetie." Rarity added.

Meanwhile, the pigs, and the other piglets went out of the water and mourned for the loss of a love one like this. They all gathered around and bowed their heads with tears streaming down their goblin-like faces. It was indeed a heart-wrenching sight that they just witnessed, but the crowned eagle was just following it's instinct.

Discord suddenly picked poor Fluttershy up, and hugged her in his arms now. "Please don't be so disheartened by this. I'm sure the eagle was just hungry and looking for food is all. After all, you told me about how animals in the wild just fight to survive."

"That's... true." she hiccuped. "But... It was just.... horrible."

"Don't be sad." said Discord. "These things happened. And this is exactly what you told me about how lives for animals work. And... it's pretty much like Wakka-shu and Okove said; It's survival of the fittest out here in Zebrica."

"That's right. It can be a cruel world out here, but animals need to do what thamey have to do to survive out here on the savanna." Okove reminded.

"Would you like some alone time, Fluttershy?" Asked Larry.

"Yes. I- i- I think that would be best." She replied while whimpering.

"I better come with her." Luke said. "You guys can have a little fun without me. I have a friend to comfort."

"Thank you, Luke." Said Bon Bon.

"We don't wanna have fun without you." Spike said. "We came here just for you."

"It's okay, Spike." Twilight said. "We won't go anywhere without them."

"Thanks, guys." Luke said. He got out of the pool and went with Fluttershy to comfort her some more.

"Poor Fluttershy. I know how much she hates seeing a poor creature like that piglet die." Zecora remarked with sympathy.

"I know. She's always one with animals." Lyra agreed. "I hope she'll be okay."

"We all do." Said Applejack.

The red river hogs went back to swimming and tried interacting with the other patrons again.

Meanwhile, Luke, Fluttershy, and Discord were a couple yards away and both Discord and Luke were trying so hard to comfort Fluttershy in any way possible.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked

"A little." She replied. "It just broke my heart to see such an innocent piglet get snatched and eaten by that eagle."

"We know how hard it is." Said Discord. "But if you want, I can go and kill that bird and bring back the baby for the hog family."

"No, no." Said Fluttershy while wiping some tears from her face. "I know you mean well, Discord, but you can't just kill a carnivorous animal for killing and eating another animal. They just want to eat and survive."

"At least you fo understand." Luke said.

"Hmm-mm. It just... surprised me back there." Said the yellow pegasus mare. "I know the eagle was just looking for food."

"But look at it this way," Luke reassured. "At least the eagle got something to eat so it won't starve to death."

"You're right." Said Fluttershy. "But what of the family of red river hogs?"

"Oh, they can produce more babies." Said Luke.

"Besides, I am certain that there is such thing as a runt of the litter for these pigs. Just as much as farm pigs would have"

"That's true." And she began to calm down. "You are right. Maybe that poor baby would have died anyway."

"There you go. Like I always heard, it's a cruel world out there sometimes, and we just learn to live with it." And Look tried to make eye contact with her. "Come on, Fluttershy. Give me one of those adorable smile of yours. Please?"

She tried her best for him and only let out a sad smile at him. "Oh Luke. I appreciate you trying to make me feel better."

"What are friends for?" Luke replied boldly.

"And me." Said the master of chaos. "Surely, you would not forget about me, would you?"

"Oh come here, Discord." Fluttershy said, smiling a little more on her face. She embraced him for a hug, and Discord was quite happy with that, and did his best to comfort her some more. "I think I'm feeling better now."

"Good wanna come back to the pool?"

"Yes." And they all went back to the pool to have some fun. Everyone was glad to see Fluttershy pull through from what she just witnessed.

"Feel better now, sugarcube?" Asked Applejack.

"Uh-huh. I'm feeling better now." Said Fluttershy. "At least you piggies still have each other." And the other hogs lined and squealed happily at her and embraced her.

Everyone was happy again, and continued with this fun pool commune.

On the upside, at least crocodiles didn't take one of those piggies, and there weren't any tigerfish, or any of them crocs seen around this part of the river.

Comments

[OfficerBarricade]

awesome story and i saw grammar errors in it that didn't make any sense but whatever please make more