//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Fluttershy and the Luchador // Story: Fluttershy's Unexpected Journey // by JesterOfDestiny //------------------------------// The forest was now far behind, but didn’t disappear. It ran all the way across the western horizon and gradually slid back from the right. The sun was crawling towards the horizon. The road slowly disappeared, as Fluttershy followed it. She kept walking as if it was still there, following a straight line. The wind swept through the grass and Fluttershy’s mane. She seemed to have been lost again, not unlike the time she was running away from the ogres. She tried to use this empty time to try and talk to animals again. Interestingly, not many birds were around. Not even rabbits. There were however, large dragonflies flying in the sky and a herd of ladybugs taller than Fluttershy herself. She tried talking to them, but they didn’t say anything. She didn’t stray from her imagined path, which after a few hours did pay off, as the road appeared again. It ran up a small hill and Fluttershy followed. And over the hill she saw a small town sitting on a crossroads. Hoping it’s not a ghost town, she approached. Once in, she noticed, that all people there were almost twice as tall as anyone she’s ever met before and the buildings were equally massive. They were giants. She stepped into what looked to be a tavern, hoping she could get some rest. The bartender saw her and said. “Hey, why the long face?” He shouted thinking he was funny. Fluttershy paused for a moment. She didn’t get the joke. “Um, I’m looking for a room to rest.” The bartender cleared his throat. “Why don’t you use the stable like the rest of the horses?” She looked behind her and saw a tiny stable, with only two horses. “Oh, right.” She said and approached the two horses. She inspected them. The horses were pretty curious too. “Hi I’m Fluttershy.” She introduced herself to the horses. “I’ll be spending the night here, if you don’t mind.” The horses had no response. “Oh, right. Me talking is considered unique around here.” She turned around and saw one giant riding an enormous rhino beetle. She thought for a bit. “No wonder there are so few horses in here. Well, it has to do for now.” She said to no one in particular and laid down on a patch of hay. Suddenly, loud buzzing filled the air. “Raiders!” Someone screamed. “Raiders are coming!” Giant rove beetles emerged from the skies, with regular sized people riding them, followed by their leader, a huge stag beetle, with a masked giant riding it. “Your rent is overdue!” The giant shouted at the townsfolk, then turned to the raiders. “Take everything you can move!” The raiders riding their rove beetles, begun crashing through doors and looting the houses. They did take everything they could move, especially expensive looking furniture. Their leader, the giant riding the stag beetle spotted Fluttershy. “You’ll do nicely.” He said with a grin and flew towards her. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant grasshopper emerged from above the stable and landed on the flying beetle, stopping it. A giant with a mask emerged too and after letting out a battle roar, he lunged towards the beetle rider. “Get him!” The stag beetle rider shouted. The raiders stopped looting and jumped the masked vigilante, who began fighting them off. As that went on, their leader looked at Fluttershy and begun the chase again. She started flying, but the stag beetle was catching up, while gnashing its pincers. “I got you now talking horse!” The rider taunted Fluttershy. She was now between the stag beetle’s pincers. They snapped, but Fluttershy flew above it. That slowed her down massively and she was now in reaching distance of the masked raider. In the heat of the moment Fluttershy threw a kick at him. And because horse kicks are still powerful, the rider flew right off his ride. The stag beetle flew a bit forward without its handler and stopped. Fluttershy saw the other giant starting to struggle with the other raiders and decided to help him. She saw one running towards him, so Fluttershy kicked them off their beetle and sat in their place, hoping to be able to control it. But neither Fluttershy, nor the beetle knew what to do and they ended up crashing into the raiders holding down the masked giant. The raiders hopped back on their beetles and fled in defeat, leaving their leader in the dust. The masked giant walked over to the leader writhing in pain. “You’re a disgrace to all masked warriors!” He scolded him. “You’ve tainted our tradition!” The leader blew a very loud whistle, to which his stag beetle turned around and started running towards them. He got up and ran towards it, then jumped up between its pincers and was back in the saddle. They ran towards the masked giant and only stopped, once he grabbed the stag beetle by its pincers. The rider got up and grabbed a knife, but before he could do any harm, Fluttershy flew in and kicked him in the face a second time. He was thrown off and the stag beetle let go of the masked giant. The masked giant walked up to the pained giant again. Fluttershy was more interested in the giant stag beetle and was wondering how to tame it. “You don’t deserve to wear the mask.” The masked giant shouted and removed the raid leader’s mask. “This is not the last time you see me.” He shouted while covering his face. He tried blowing his whistle again, but he only got a fist inside his mouth. “Yes, I’ll visit you in jail!” Said the masked vigilante, as the local law enforcement handcuffed the raid leader. “Additionally,” he continued, “we’ll take away your mount!” He pointed at the stag beetle Fluttershy was petting. “A criminal like you don’t deserve the noble beast!“ He watched the law enforcers take the raid leader away, then walked up to Fluttershy, who was warming up to the massive beetle. “That scoundrel will not be getting those three wishes!” He said proudly. “Well, I can’t grant wishes anyway.” She corrected him. “That’s right.” He answered. “You only grant the wishes of those on the side of good.” He said and winked. “No that’s not...” Fluttershy didn’t have the time to correct him. “Citizens of Mellow Crossing!” He yelled out to the townspeople. “I believe this horse deserves your praise and a room for the night!” He then winked to Fluttershy, whistled to his grasshopper and they both jumped away behind the buildings, followed by the entire town cheering for both of them. The law enforcers took away the stag beetle, so it could get a rightful owner. Fluttershy waved at it, wishing she could find out more about it. But the sun was going down, so she walked back into the tavern for her room. The bartender jumped out from behind the counter, with a somewhat dishevelled look. “Yes! I’ll fetch your keys.” He said and gave Fluttershy a quite big key. “That’s room twelve and don’t worry, it’s free for town heroes.” She found the bartender’s panting strange, but didn’t question it. His voice did sound oddly familiar.