Glint Stones: Visit

by Middle Ground


Chapter 9 - Work Day part 3

Before Chilly and Gust left Twilight's castle to help Rarity with her fashion designing, Sparx and Ashes left with Starlight to visit Fluttershy. But when they got there, they were met with Fluttershy whimpering in fear. She definitely didn't forget about the incident involving the Spellbind Brothers.
"Fluttershy, it's fine. They're not going to hurt you." Starlight was trying to convince Fluttershy that Sparx and Ashes didn't mean any harm, but it wasn't going too well.
"Guys, help me out here...!" Sparx and Ashes were both looking at Fluttershy with rather blank expressions on their faces.
"What's with you two...?" Starlight was confused.
"Is she related to Marble in any way...?"
"DOES MARBLE HAVE A TWIN SISTER?!" They felt like they were talking to Marble again. Afterwards, they went inside Fluttershy's house to enjoy some tea in the living room.
"So you're not actually related to Marble in any way...? You sound a lot like her. You two barely make a noise at all."
"YOU'RE LIKE MARBLE IF SHE WERE A PEGASUS!" They were both surprised by this. Fluttershy was still frightened by them and was silent.
"Ashes, please keep your voice down. And Sparx, be nice. And keep your powers in check." Starlight continued to drink her tea. The visit continued without a single word for about ten minutes and it was getting really awkward. Suddenly, all of Fluttershy's animals came inside the house.
"Oh, I almost forgot...! I have pets to feed!" Fluttershy scrambled from her seat and began feeding her many pets. She brought out the needed feed for her pets which mostly consists of vegetables, bird seed, and even bread.
"She has a lot of pets...!" Ashes kept his voice down as Starlight asked.
"Can't those animals feed themselves...?" Sparx had a bored expression on his face.
"They are her pets, Sparx. Fluttershy takes care of many different kinds of animals." Fluttershy continued to feed her pets while Starlight, Sparx, and Ashes wait. Finally, Fluttershy finished her feeding and rejoined her guests at the living room table.
"Sorry for taking so long. I have so many cute animals to take of, it keeps me so busy." Fluttershy said quietly. She began to drink her tea after her task.
"Huh...so she can speak."
"Sparx, I said be nice." Starlight was beginning to lose her patience with Sparx. Angel Bunny nuzzled against Starlight in affection.
"You take care of all these animals?! That's so cool...! I just burn things!" Ashes was amazed at how well Fluttershy she took care of her pets. Fluttershy blushed from the compliment. Suddenly, her pet bear poked it's head through a nearby window and gave a loud grunt.
"HOLY S#%+!"
"A BEAR?!" Sparx and Ashes jumped back at the sight of a bear showing up. Fluttershy suddenly froze in fear from their outburst. Her pets all scattered in fear.
"Sparx, Ashes, DOWN...!" Starlight was ready to stop them from doing anything crazy. Angel Bunny hid in her mane.
"Stop...! He is my friend!" Fluttershy gave her pet bear a hug in it's defense.
"That is a bear...! A predator! It eats meat! How is that a pet?!"
"DID SHE TAME A BEAR?! FLUTTERSHY IS AWESOME!" Sparx and Ashes kept their distance since bears are predators.
"Sparx, Ashes, calm down! Beary is not going to hurt you and you two will NOT start a fight here!" Per Starlight's orders, Sparx and Ashes cautiously sat back down at the table, keeping their eyes on Fluttershy's pet bear.
"Oh dear, I forgot to bring you your honey...! Please, wait right there!" Fluttershy began searching for a pot of honey for her pet bear.
"Oh no, I'm all out of honey! I need to go get more for Beary! Starlight, could you help me?! I don't want to go into the Everfree Forest alone.... Since it's so scary." Fluttershy shivered at the thought of going in the crazy forest alone. Starlight thought about it for a moment, and then came up with an idea.
"Actually, I think you should have Sparx and Ashes go with you while I stay and look after your pets. You could use the protection." Fluttershy the shuddered at the suggestion.
"Fine.... It's better than doing nothing."
"YEAH! LET'S GO!" Sparx and Ashes got up from their seats and made their way. Fluttershy hesitantly followed them out of the house.
"Behave yourselves, you two!" Starlight was instantly starting to regret her decision. Fluttershy, Sparx, and Ashes made their way into the Everfree Forest and it was quite hectic. There were many strange noises, the trees all looked quite un-friendly, and the clouds were darker than normal.
"Geez, this place is weird. So where do you get this honey from?" Sparx and Ashes followed Fluttershy as her personal escorts.
"It's not too far.... The tree the bees live in is just up ahead." They continued to travel into the forest to find an old tree with some busy bees buzzing about.
"Oh good, we're here...! Please wait right there! I'll be back!" Fluttershy flew over to the tree to gather the honey for her pet bear. Sparx and Ashes began to wait as requested.
Sparx gave a bored sighed, "This is sooooooo boring.... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd rather do school work than do this kind of crap."
"I can't wait to get back home and tell Marble about Fluttershy! Their like sisters!" Ashes laughed.
"Pfft...whatever. If I see another Pinkie Pie, I'll go crazy." Sparx cringed at the thought. Suddenly, they then heard the sound of growling approaching them.
"Hey Ash, do you hear that?" Sparx stood on his hooves and began looking around.
"Yeah, I do. Is it an animal?!" Ashes quickly got on his hooves in caution.
"Nah...it sounds bigger and meaner. I think we should leave...now." Sparx could sense something really dangerous nearby.
"Alright, I'm done. We can leave no-" As Fluttershy made her way to Sparx and Ashes, a pair of red eyes shined from behind the trees.
"FLUTTERSHY, BEHIND YOU!" Ashes shouted. Fluttershy turned around to see a Manticore leap out of it's hiding place for an attack. Suddenly, black bars sprouted from underground and stopped the Manticore in it's tracks. Fluttershy was safe, but paralyzed with fear. Manticores are ferocious monsters with the face and body of a lion, the wings of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion. They're usually found in the deeper parts of the Everfree Forest.
"Get out of there, you idiot!" Sparx then magically yanked Fluttershy away from the Manticore towards them. The Manticore began to break through the bars with it's great strength.
"Fluttershy, get outta here! We'll deal with this thing!" Ashes and Sparx were both ready for a fight. Fluttershy shook off her fear and began to make her way back to her house.
She stopped and said, "Please, be careful...! And don't hurt it!" She then left the area without looking back.
"Don't hurt it, she says.... Yeah, that could be tough." Sparx and Ashes stood their ground. The Manticore broke through the bars and attacked the two. It swiped at them multiple time with it's claws, lashed about with it's scorpion tail, and flew about to catch either Sparx or Ashes. They continued to avoid it's relentless attacks.
"WHAT IS WITH THIS THING?! GO AWAY!" Ashes gave the Manticore a good kick and sent it crashing into a tree. All that did was make it angrier.
"Geez, this guy must have woke up wrong! We don't do something, it could go and attack Fluttershy and Starlight!" Despite Sparx and Ashes efforts, the Manticore wouldn't cease it's attacks. Meanwhile, Fluttershy safely arrived at her house to see Starlight spending time with her pets.
"So how did getting the hone-"
"Starlight, help...! Sparx and Ashes are being attacked by a Manticore!" Fluttershy said while out of breath. Her pets gathered around out of concern.
"A Manticore?! Where are they?!" Starlight then heard the sound of thunder and roaring nearby.
"Never mind...! Stay here! I'll be back!" Starlight ran towards the direction all the noise was coming from.
"Those two better not do anything too crazy...! And they better not be dead!" Starlight was quite worried as she ran. Sparx and Ashes were still fighting the Manticore.
"What is this thing's problem?! We keep hitting and blasting this thing and it wont leave us alone!"
"GET OUTTA HERE, JERK!" The Manticore was the one suffering damage, but suddenly a black mist started emanating from it's body and it's body began to heal of it's wounds. It got back up all ready for more fighting.
"What the hell...?!"
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sparx and Ashes were shocked to see the Manticore back on it's paws. The Manticore then gave a loud roared that echoed across the forest.
"Agh...! My ears! Ashes, we gotta do something!" Sparx covered his ears due to the loud noises. He then noticed Ashes trembling in fear for some reason.
"Hey Ashes...! What's going on?!" Sparx was confused. Ashes just froze for some reason. His legs trembled, his vision became blurry, and his heart began to beat rapidly. The Manticore slowly made it's way to Ashes to land the killing blow.
"What the hell are doing, Ashes?! Do something!" Sparx then summoned more bars in the Manticore's path, but it broke through without any trouble.
"What the-" Sparx was then smacked by the Manticore's scorpion tail and crashed against a tree. He then collapsed under intense pain. He couldn't move because of such pain.
"Ugh....Ash...run...!" Sparx tried to get back on his hooves, but he could barely get a word out. Ashes remained frozen in fear with the Manticore glaring down at Ashes. Images then began to appear in Ashes' mind, an image of a terrifying monster staring him down with a dark figure smiling down at him from behind the monster. Just before the Manticore could swipe at Ashes, something snapped and flames erupted from Ashes. Ashes screamed in rage and the flames became even larger. The Manticore was completely engulfed in the flames and was quickly reduced to nothing a pile of ash. Sparx was shocked to see such a display of power. But Ashes kept the flames going. His mind was all over the place and he was blinded by rage.
"Ugh...hey, knock it off! You won already...!" Sparx steadily got on his hooves. The flames were starting to get even wilder as Ashes continued to shout in rage.
"Sparx...! What happened?!" Starlight arrived at the area to see what was happening.
"What the hell...do you think happened?! A monster attacked us, Ashes...killed it, and now he's gone crazy...!" Sparx was still in pain from the hit he took earlier. The flames began to spread through the trees.
'We have to stop him before he burns the entire forest...!"
"He won't listen to me...! We need...water or something...!" Sparx was ready for another fight, getting his magic ready. Starlight frantically looked for any water nearby, then she realized that it was very cloudy.
"Sparx, shoot your lightning into the sky!" Starlight pointed at the sky.
"What?! How will tha-"
"Just do it...!" Things were getting desperate as the flames began growing more dangerous. Sparx was confused, but he still shot lightning into the clouds. The lightning hit the dark clouds and thunder started rumbling. As more lightning struck the clouds, more thunder rumbled and rain started falling. The flames were getting extinguished bit by bit as it rained. After a few minutes, the flames were finally extinguished and the forest, while slightly burnt, was saved. Ashes took multiple deep breaths and sat down on his rear-legs from exhaustion.
"Hey Ash, you alright...? Did you let it all out?" Sparx and Starlight walked over to Ashes in caution.
Ashes looked up at Sparx and Starlight and asked, "What happened...? Where's the monster?" He looked around and was very confused.
"Uh...you totally ki-"
"Kicked it's butt and chased it off! You showed it who was stronger!" Starlight interrupted Sparx to keep Ashes from freaking out again.
"Uh...oh! YEAH! THAT UGLY CAT-THING HAS GOT NOTHING ON ME!" Ashes gave a hearty laugh, feeling victorious.
"Dude, what the hell? What's the lie for?" Sparx was annoyed.
"Just...just stop talking, Sparx. Let's just go...." Starlight began to make her way out of the forest and back to Fluttershy's house. They finally arrived to see a very worried Fluttershy pacing back and forth frantically.
"Fluttershy, we're back...! Safe and sound." Fluttershy then grabbed onto Starlight out of worry.
"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALL ALRIGHT!" Fluttershy hugged Starlight tight feeling very relieved.
"Yeah...we're all fine. I'm going back to the castle...." Sparx made his way back to Ponyville. He was very much done with the rest of the day. Even if it was still the early morning.
"Thank you...for saving me...." Fluttershy was grateful. Even her animals were also grateful.
"NO PROBLEM! I'm hungry...!" Ashes then followed Sparx back to Ponyville.
"Fluttershy, I am so sorry for what happened. I'll be sure to make it up to you." Starlight felt guilty for what happened to Fluttershy concerning her safety.
"Oh, it's alright. As long as nopony was hurt." Fluttershy and her animals were all relieved. Fluttershy then noticed the clouds swirling over Ponyville.
Um...what's going on in Ponyville?" Fluttershy pointed at the swirling clouds that looked like a hurricane was being made.
"Oh no.... Now what?!" Starlight ran towards tPonyville to investigate. That was where she met Chilly, Gust, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. What a way to start the day.