//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: A Changeling and his Bond Brother: Days of Nightmare Moon // by Southern Wing //------------------------------// As the group continued walking, Rainbow Dash was still yakking about Twilight’s rescue. “And then Wing and Fluttershy went looped around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time.” “Yes, Dash,” Wing replied, not even hiding how annoyed he was. “We were all there, though I’m sure Twi is grateful.” “I am pretty thankful I’m not dead,” Twilight agreed. “But we really have to get to the castle.” However, she was interrupted by a loud and nasty roar in front of them. “A manticore!” Twilight shouted. The beast stood between them and their way home, blocking their path to the castle. “We’ve gotta get past him!” Wing and Sev raised their weapons to fight him. Before they charged, a soft voice from the left squeaked out in protest. “Wait,” Fluttershy spoke in her soft tone. “What? This might be a bad time, but can you speak up?” Sev sighed. “Wait,” Fluttershy repeated, a little louder that time. “I can help.” “Ugh. I’m charging in if something goes wrong,” Sev facehoofed. He kept his weapon ready in case things went that way. “Come on, Flutters, you can do it,” Wing replied. “Give her a little faith, Sev.” Looked like he had no problems hearing her. The rest of the group lowered their weapons to give the yellow pegasus her chance. “You really need to give her assertiveness lessons, you know that?” Sev snorted. “Why do you think she’s facing a manticore by herself?” “We can’t be nice to this thing!” Rainbow Dash cut in. She went ahead and lunged right at the manticore. Next thing she knew, she was thrown back into the trunk of a tree. She saw stars circle around her eyes. “Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. She scrambled to Dash’s side to make sure she was okay. She was, just a little stunned that she got her flank handed to her like that. “Waaaaaaaaait! Let me try!” Fluttershy yelled. Her loud and snappy tone made the whole group shut up, as it was so unusual for her. She calmly stood up to the manticore with a nervous smile. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. What’s wrong?” The manticore blinked his massive eyes and calmed down. He didn’t expect a pony to treat him so kindly. Realizing she was on his side, he sat down and lifted a front paw in front of her. A purple thorn was sticking out of its toe pad. “Oh, you poor baby,” Fluttershy gasped. “No wonder you were in so much pain. If you’ll let me, I can take it out for you.” “Don’t tell me she’s talking to that thing like it’s a baby,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Shh. I think it’s working,” Twilight commented. “Now this might hurt for just a sec.” Fluttershy pulled the thorn out of the manticore's paw. He winced as it was removed, but he flexed his paw and realized that the pain was gone. That did it; he threw his front legs around Fluttershy and pulled her in. “Fluttershy!” the group shouted at once. They feared he was going to eat her or worse. Instead, he had pulled her in for a big hug. His big grin told the whole story, and he licked her face for good measure. “Aww, you’re just a little baby kitty. Yes you are,” Fluttershy giggled in response. “See, buddy? She’s really good with animals,” Wing pointed out. “Bet she’ll be good with kids, too. They’re the same thing,” Sev snickered. “Oh, please. You’ll get Mother started,” Wing communicated to Sev. Much to his dismay, it was already too late. “I’m not getting any younger, Schkitz. It’s time you and fluttershy got married and started making little nymphs! Then you can tell me all about the similarities between kids and animals,” Queen Chiton chided, milking Wing’s misery for all its worth. “Mother!” “Ah, come on buddy. I’m sure your children would be cute!” Sev snickered again. He shared Chiton’s talent for soaking in all the misery Wing offered. “This conversation is not over,” Wing snorted. He turned around and started to head back to the group. “Oh, buddy, it’s just getting started,” Sev laughed. “You know I’m just screwing with you, right?” “LIke how you ‘screwed around’ with Vinyl? Did you tell Dash about it yet, or should I have the honor?” “You wouldn’t dare.” Sev lost his innocent look at that threat. “What makes you think I won’t?” “Okay, okay, we’ll call it a draw. Truce?” “Truce. Let’s drop it, they’ll hear us.” They found their way back to the gang by then. “I heard some of that,” Twilight noted. “Do you always bicker like that?” “Kinda. It’s our thing,” Sev nervously smiled, hoping she didn’t hear the Vinyl bits. “Huh. I wonder how a friendship lasts when you two do that.” Before Sev could continue, he heard Wing say something. “Two down four to go.” “What are you talking about, Wing?” “Spoilers.” “I really hate it when you do that.” Sev scowled. “I know.” Wing smiled sarcastically at Sev. The group resumed their long march through the forest. Wing and Sev had their weapons standing by in case they’d deal with another threat. Rarity, meanwhile, wasn’t too big on what they were seeing around them. “I wish we could get a break from these… eh, awful sights,” she complained. As if to answer, a group of branches overhead blacked the area out. They couldn’t even see their hooves in front of their faces. “I didn’t mean that literally,” she cried. “Called it,” Sev thought. “That’s just asking for trouble.” He accidently bumped into her soon after. “Oh, sorry, Miss Rarity.” “No, I should be issuing my apologies,” the white unicorn interrupted. Suddenly, everypony was bumping into something in the area. Hooves collided, horns nearly went into places horns weren’t meant to go, and feathers were brushing everywhere. “Oops. Ah think ah stepped in something,” Applejack said. “Don’t you live in a farm? I thought you were used to that,” Dash repiled. “It’s nuthin’ like that! At least Ah can see what I stepped into back there!” “Ow! What the buck was that for?!”  Sev rubbed the back of his head after a big whack. “What are you talking about?” Wing mumbled. “That wasn’t me!” “Whatever…” Sev muttered before a scream broke the little silence that was left. “What the buck?!” Wing raised his rifle at the sight of a tree. Not just any tree, but one with an evil face. “Oh no. I’ve seen enough 80s horror movies to see where this is going!” Sev groaned. “Yeah. Let’s just get away from here before the vines do bad things to us.” Almost everypony agreed with him and backed off...save for one. A pink one, so to speak. “Don’t you see, girls?” Pinkie cheered, the only one that wasn’t scared for her life. ♫When I was a little filly and the sun was going down…♫ “Pinkie, this isn’t time for a song!” Sev cut in. “Is she really…” Twilight wondered. ♫The darkness and the shadows would always make me frown♫ Pinkie continued to sing. “Yep, she’s really doing it,” Wing groaned. ♫I'd hide under my pillow♫ ♫From what I thought I saw, ♫But Granny Pie said♫ ♫That wasn't the way♫ ♫To deal with fears at all♫ “Pinkie, what is the answer?” Dash asked ♫She said♫ ♫Pinkie♫ ♫You gotta stand up tall♫ ♫Learn to face your fears♫ ♫You'll see♫ ♫That they can't hurt you♫ ♫Just laugh to make them disappear♫ HA HA HA” While everyone else gasped from Pinkie’s antics, Wing and Sev stayed silent. “Pinkie gonna Pinkie,” Wing whispered, while Sev shrugged. ♫So, giggle at the ghostly♫ ♫Guffaw at the grossly♫ ♫Crack up at the creepy♫ ♫Whoop it up with the weepy♫ ♫Chortle at the kooky♫ ♫Snortle at the spooky♫ ♫And tell that big dumb scary face♫ ♫To take a hike and leave you alone♫ ♫And if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna… Ahahaha, ha ha ♫Pinkie gasped as she needed a deep breath after all that singing. She was very silly the whole time she sang, but it worked. All those evil trees in the forest with the evil faces were gone. A bunch of happy, smiling trees took their place, and the whole evil atmosphere was gone now. “Hey, it actually worked,” Wing commented. “ONE MORE TIME!” Pinkie shouted. ♫Giggle at the ghost--♫ “You know we have an evil horse bringing night forever out there?” Sev interrupted. That made the whole gang erupt in laughter. Twilight nodded. “What you did was really heroic, Pinkie, but he’s right. We still have a job to do.” “Three down, three to go,” Wing communicated to Sev. “Ugh, the suspense is killing me. You gonna keep me waiting or just tell me?” Sev pondered. “I’ll explain it eventually.” “Exactly, all good things come to those who wait, as they say,” Queen Chiton commented. “Yeah yeah.” Sev grumbled. He kicked the ground as they went on their way through the forest. “I just wanna get back home now.” “We will. Have a little faith, will you?” “Schkitz is right, Sev. Good things come to… what’s the rest of the saying?” Queen Chiton communicated. “Those who wait. I heard you the first time!” Next up on the menu was a river in the midst of a clearing. It should have sounded like a calm stream, but it sounded like a roaring river instead. “Do you hear that, buddy?” Wing commented. “Yeah. It’s not right.” Sev raised his weapon in preparation, and Wing followed his lead. They arrived at the edge of the river. Its roar filled their ears with its torrential downpour. “How are we going to cross that?” Twilight gawked. “Any ideas on why it’s doing this?” “Something happened to it. Maybe it’s magical?” Sev noted, rubbing his chin. “I suppose that’s possible, just don’t know any spells that could do that. Unless whoever cast it is really powerful...like Nightmare Moon,” Twilight thought. “Whatever it is, make it stop! It’s hurting my ears!” Pinkie complained. “It’s coming from over there!” Sev pointed out. He and Wing rushed to the source of the disturbance, and it was something else. A huge monster emerged from the water, and it wasn’t just any monster, but a sea serpent. “Oh hey, it’s just Steven Magnet,” Wing noted. “Stevie, baby! What happened?” “Sev? Wing? How wonderful is it to meet old friends in my most dire hour!” Steven pouted. “Wait, you KNOW him?” Twilight said in disbelief. “How is this possible?” “Of course we do. It’s possible to have friends other than ponies, Twily,” Sev snarked. “What happened to you, Steven?” “The worst possible thing happened. I went out swimming, like I tend to do, when a purple wisp of smoke shot right past me. When it was gone, it took half of my beloved mustache clean off! How can I be seen with just half a mustache? Don’t look at me like this…” He turned away to hide his face. “That’s not good,” Wing remarked. “You spend so much time growing it out only to have it gone.” “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy,” Sev agreed. “Actually, I would, but not on a friend.” “I know I look horrible. Leave me to my fate!” Steven fainted dramatically, sending a large wave everywhere when he flopped down to the surface. “Gimme a bucking break.” Dash muttered. “That’s what all the fuss is about? A mustache?” Applejack cocked her head in confusion. “Honestly, I can’t believe you have the gall to call him out like that!” Rarity was practically in shock. “Seriously, do you know how important a mustache is to a man?” Wing shook his head. “To be fair, they’re women. They’re not really known for facial hair,” Sev pointed out. “Hey! Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t say it’s stupid!” Dash snapped back at Sev. “This isn’t helping!” Wing retorted. “Miss Rarity, do you have any ideas how we can help Steven out?” “Hmm, I might have just the trick. Give me one moment.” Rarity approached Steven carefully, and she used her magic to yank one of his scales out. “Ow! What did you do that for?” Steven asked. “Rarity, what are…” Twilight was cut off by a slicing sound. Steven fainted again from the sound, but at least he landed on the ground this time. “How could you do that?! You killed Steve!” Sev sobbed. Wing stayed silent, but his facial expression said everything. Rarity ignored the commotion and got to work. She didn’t cut any part of Steven off; rather, she had cut off part of her own tail. She hovered it to his face and stitched it together with her magic, and it took hold. Sure enough, it was like Steven’s mustache was whole again. “My mustache! How I’ve missed you!” Steven gleamed. He felt up the new facial hair, and it felt as good as new. “You look simply smashing.” Rarity smiled. “Just took a little faith and time, and wa-la!” “It does look really good on you, Stevie,” Wing commented. “Yeah. It should work until your mustache grows back,” Sev agreed. “Oh, Rarity, what about your tail?” Twilight pointed out. “It’s quite alright, dear. Short tails are in style this season. Besides, it’ll grow back.” “Wait, look over there. Everything’s clear now!” Twilight exclaimed. She jumped into the river to cross it, only to be picked up with her friends by the now-cheerful sea serpent. “Please, allow me to help my new friends!” he exclaimed. He used his backside to create a bridge for them to cross. “Thanks Stevie!” Wing called. The group was able to cross without incident, and Steven went back below the river once they were through. It would be smooth sailing from here, as the journey was almost over. What obstacles were left would be a surprise, but one Sev and Wing agreed they could handle. With a little help from their friends, of course. “And then there were two…” Wing said on his breath. “You really gotta stop talking in riddles,” Sev shrugged.