Another Monday, another day of school for Garfield as he can't wait to get his brain to explode with more tough studies. At least he spent Sunday helping Fluttershy out some more, right after doing the morning chores he was assigned to do at Sweet Apple Acres. It was a lot easier handling animals than doing farm work at five in the morning, considering Fluttershy's idea in animal care for the future if he can't be a superhero as his full-time job.
"Ugh...I hate Mondays," Garfield grumbled, still tired from waking up early this morning and trying not to fall back asleep during the first period of the day.
As he walked down the hall to his next class, he saw some students grouped together, watching something on their classmate's phone. "Whoa, no way!" one of them exclaimed. "Did that really happen at practice!?"
"Yeah, and I got some of it recorded," another said, one of the football jocks who was there during practice when the timber wolves attacked. "Wish I got those wooden dog things coming out and attacking us, but you will not believe what happened next."
Garfield froze in place at the mention of the Equestrian wolves made of wood, spinning around in a one-eighty on one foot, trying to hide the sweat starting to bead down his head as he walked over to the group. "Uhh, what was that about a wooden dog?" he asked nervously.
"There was more than just one, and they were alive, like a pack of wolves!" the jock said, almost expressing excitement despite almost losing his life. "Here, look. There's not much with Sunset Shimmer and her friends fighting off these things, and I have no idea what happened when this green cat waltzed up out of nowhere."
Garfield gulped nervously, squeezing in with the rest of the football player's friends to see the video on the small screen of the cell phone. There was some bits of the fight before he came along as the kitten, though it cut out and came back once the timber wolves chased after him. It continued off with the girls all escorting the dangerous, now suddenly docile, timber wolves, along with a green saber-toothed tiger.
"No way! Where did a saber-tooth tiger come from!?" one teen asked excitedly.
"This has got to be edited," a skeptical teen said. "Wolves made out of bark and twigs and an extinct tiger brought from the ice age, but with green fur?"
"I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes!" the jock exclaimed. "Ask the rest of the team! We all saw it, even Sunset and the girls! They nearly died fighting those wolves!"
"With how many different kinds of creatures that exist in that Equestria world where all the magic is coming from, they might have animals that might be prehistoric to us, but exist there," one student theorized.
"I still think that video's edited with a poor excuse of adding that saber-tooth, while making its fur the wrong color and lacking any eyes," the skeptic grumbled, then turned to Garfield. "What do you think? Is it all faked?"
"It's not fake!" the football player said in defense to his proof.
Garfield stammered, not willing to give any comments as he was that "fake" saber-toothed tiger. Luckily, he was saved by the warning bell ringing.
"Uhh, well! That's the warning bell!" he said with a nervous chuckle. "Better not be late! See ya!"
Garfield sped off, kicking up dust as he ran and turned down the hall to his next class. "...That new kid is kinda weird," one of them commented.
"And yet he's become best friends to the seven most popular girls in school no less than a week being enrolled here...Lucky dog," the skeptic teen grumbled irately.
Throughout the rest of the morning until lunch period, Garfield wasn't able to focus on his classes' lessons after witnessing that video. It wasn't just that one student who recorded that Saturday; the rest of his teammates had gotten evidence of that day on the football field, showing it off to any other classmates while the teachers weren't looking. This began to make him paranoid, fearing any of those videos or pictures could have a slight chance of revealing him shapeshifting, thus making them all discover who has been these mysterious green creatures. So far, the girls had kept the shapeshifting creature a secret, but someone could have possibly seen him and begin to spread rumors about a rare animal that can morph into others. Unfortunately, some have speculated that when they saw the green kitten and saber-toothed tiger, they were one and the same, believing that it might be another creature that came from Equestria.
Throughout his paranoia, Garfield thought everyone was looking at him, thinking they secretly knew HE was that mysterious creature. He was clearly overthinking things, but he tried not to show too much attention when one of them asked or showed him the timber wolves' attack. His body was on autopilot as lunch came, grabbing a tray and picking a table away from the rest of the different groups of students, deep in thought with his worries as he tried to come up with a plan if his shapeshifting powers were discovered. He didn't notice Fluttershy walking over to him after getting her lunch, spotting him sitting by his lonesome.
"Hi, Garfield," Fluttershy greeted, but he didn't respond, too lost in his head to be wary of his surroundings. She sat down beside him, gently tapping on his shoulder, finally getting his attention. "Are you ok?"
"Oh...Uhh, yeah. Just...kinda exhausted from learning," Garfield said, reassuring her with a grin. "My brain needs to reboot. Give me about...the end of the day before it starts back up." Fluttershy laughed a little, understanding how overwhelmed he is with all the curriculum he needed to catch up on since he arrived. "Was your day just as boring?"
"No, not really," she said. Her phone suddenly buzzed, seeing what kind of message she got. "Oh boy. Here comes some more of this."
"More of what?" She showed him what's been slowly going around, which happened to be the incident with the timber wolves. "...Oh...I saw and overheard others talking about it."
"Yeah. But I'm a lot more curious about the shapeshifter who saved us," Fluttershy said. "I wonder if he's too scared to show us who he really is...Or what he really is..."
"Along with everyone else who watched that video," Garfield uttered to himself.
Soon, the other girls came over to join him and Fluttershy after waiting in line for lunch. "Oh man. I thought we were awesome before, but we're starting to become internet heroes. Did you guys see the videos and pics posted online?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm pretty sure we've all seen it, but I kinda wished they didn't get leaked out that way," Sunset grumbled. "Can't really help witnesses who want to take recorded evidence of something 'amazing'."
"And some of them think that those timber wolves were fake!" Rainbow complained. "I mean, have they forgotten about what happened with Sunset, The Dazzlings, Twilight, Gloriosa Daisy, and Juniper Montage!?" Sunset and Twilight growled bitterly, leering at Rainbow for her mentioning all the dangerous Equestrian magic that was unleashed, along with their transformations. "...Heheh...no offense?"
"I should be used to that, but it doesn't help if you keep bringing it up," Sunset said, her arms crossed over her chest while tapping a finger against her arm.
"Speaking of Saturday's fiasco, did anyone else notice they caught our helpful shapeshifter in the shot?" Rarity asked.
"Spreadin' like a wildfire to a wheat field in the middle of a hot July day," Applejack said. "Pretty soon, the whole world's gonna want to know why there's a green saber-toothed tiger runnin' around here."
"Oh, I hope they don't capture and hold him in captivity," Fluttershy said worriedly.
"He could probably escape whatever cage they put him in!" Pinkie said. "You all know what I think the green transforming buddy of ours really is?" She waved her friends closer, making them lean closer as Pinkie didn't want anyone else to hear her. "...He's a blob."
"...A blob?" Sunset questioned.
"Yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it!?" Pinkie asked, as if she came up with the most genius answer to the biggest life question. "The animal shapeshifting, AND sentient?"
"Or it could be a changeling who waltzed through the portal," Sunset theorized, then looked at Twilight. "Speaking of portals, is your experimental portal working right this time?"
"After the malfunction last time, I triple-checked every single calculation in my system's algorithms, along with anything wrong with my laptop and internal workings of the disc for my portable portal," Twilight said. "Everything was flawless when I first tried it, but I don't know what caused it to short out. When I tried again yesterday, in a more open environment with no expensive equipment that could break-" She giggled sheepishly, having made a mental note to test her experiments outside a building that were as dangerous as a magical portal. "-it was a success with no problems whatsoever."
"Good. Now we won't have to struggle trying to drag dangerous creatures that come through the randomly appearing portals back to the permanent one in front of the school," Rainbow said.
"But there's something that started bothering me when our mysterious ally left us," Twilight interjected. "He flew off as a peregrine falcon, and my initial portal when I gave it a test run in the lab was about the same size for a controlled experiment. And, judging by the hole in the window made by the thing that went through during the mishap...if my estimations are correct...I think our animal friend might have been the one who crashed into our world."
Garfield was about to take a bite of his salad when Twilight relayed her hypothesis to everyone, making him pause while glancing at her nervously. "Are you sure about that, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"It's just a hunch, but he showed up the next day when the Manticores came through, and if my portal opened up in a storm in the middle of the sky, that might have caused the short-circuit, blinded by the powerful wind and rain and flying through it unexpectedly," Twilight said. Garfield knew he didn't fly through a storm, but it sure did appear out of nowhere, and it did spark wildly when he went straight through it. "That might not tell us who he is, but it's a possible theory to how he might have arrived here."
"I still think he's a magical blob!" Pinkie exclaimed, making Sunset facepalm with a groan.
"The only magical blob I've ever heard of from my own knowledge and what Princess Twilight's told me is something called The Smooze," Sunset said. "And that's more of a slime than a blob."
Garfield whimpered, poking his food with his fork. Thankfully, they didn't find it suspicious that he had also arrived unexpectedly yesterday, and with a poor excuse as a transfer student with information from his "old school" lost in the mail and with no electronic records of him. He didn't know what was worse: being known as the green shapeshifter by the whole school, or having his new friends find out he's from another world.
While lost in thought, some other students at another table were looking at the video from Saturday on a phone, a trio of pre-teens who had a knack for causing trouble: Apple Bloom and her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle had white skin like Rarity, but her curly hair was a light pink and fuschia, wearing a white and light pink striped shirt under a lavender light overcoat, a yellow skirt, and lavender boots with yellow laces, while Scootaloo had orange skin and messy purple hair, a black, short-sleeved hoodie, green khaki shorts, and black-grey boots.
"Aww, man! Where were we when this happened!?" Scootaloo whined. "Those wolves look so cool."
"And clearly dangerous!" Sweetie Belle said bitterly, leering at her friend. "Rarity fought those things, and she almost got eaten by them!"
"And Rainbow Dash came in to save the day," Scootaloo said. "She's way faster than those mutts made of bark and twigs."
"Don't y'all think it's weird how they attacked at first, but then a while later, they were all tame?" Apple Bloom mentioned. "And there's also...a green saber-tooth tiger with them, who didn't even try to hurt Applejack, Sunset, or anyone else...Ah don't think somethin' like that really exists."
"Maybe it's a lion Fluttershy took care of at the shelter that was spray painted green?" Scootaloo theorized. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared blankly at the pre-teen, even knowing Fluttershy has a way with animals, they doubt she could talk to a dangerous predator without getting mauled. "...What?"
"Ah don't think a shelter for PETS will allow somethin' as dangerous as a LION, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom grumbled.
"Speaking of, last week, Rarity said something about a green lion that saved Fluttershy from...manticores, I think she called them?" Sweetie said. "And just a couple days ago, another green lion-"
"Tiger," Scootaloo corrected.
"Same thing! They're both cats, but I bet they're not as worse as Rarity's mean cat, Opal!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Anyway, as I was saying, there was another green lion that appeared out of nowhere and stopped more creatures that came from this other world."
"Huh. Sweetie's right," Apple Bloom said. She looked at the video, paused at the moment where the recording caught the green saber-tooth tiger, noticing the lifeless-looking eyes it had. "And Ah overheard mah sis say that these lions that helped them were one and the same. Which means...there's a new creature runnin' around here that can show up at any time when there's trouble." The trio of friends looked at each other, all three of them smirking as they simultaneously came up with an idea. "Y'all thinkin' what Ah'm thinkin', girls?"
"Internet fame if we find and follow them and record that green lion in action?" Scootaloo asked.
"Even though I'm sure it's not just a lion if Rarity's called it a shapeshifter, but it can't be that hard finding an animal that's unnaturally green," Sweetie Belle said. "I'm in!"
"Next time Applejack and her friends find out about somethin' new that appeared out of nowhere, we'll quietly tail them, and find our target," Apple Bloom said, Sweetie and Scootaloo nodding in agreement.
A few days had passed, news of the mysterious green creature spreading all throughout the school and social media and if it was truly friendly or waiting for anyone to lower their guard to become its next prey. Garfield couldn't go from one class to another without someone mentioning his animal form, only raising his fear of being discovered as the heroic shapeshifter and what everyone would think of him. It wasn't uncommon for him to transform back in Jump City since a majority of the citizens in his world didn't bat an eye from superhero teens with incredible powers saving the day. Even if Canterlot City had magic creatures from a different world, along with seven girls with magic that came from that very same world, he didn't know what to think if his own mutative shapeshifting powers were similar to whatever a changeling from Equestria looked like.
"Ugh, this is so frustrating," Garfield muttered to himself, taking a walk in town to try to clear his head. "I didn't think having a secret identity was going to be this hard. I really, REALLY don't want anyone to figure out it's me that's been saving everyone as 'the green creature'." He sighed, rubbing his head as he tried to think of a way to throw people from speculating it was him. "If I get knocked out by something even worse than a manticore or timber wolves, they're sure to know it's me if I change back...I guess Beast Boy's gonna have to come out of his early retirement, and I can wear my mask to hide my face...at least, most of it..."
Looking around, he quietly snuck into a nearby alley, going through his backpack, and pulled out his old outfit he kept stuffed inside. Digging around the pockets, he took out the old mask he wore when he was in the Doom Patrol, mostly purple and able to fit his pointed ears comfortably. It would cover the upper half of his head, but left the area around his mouth exposed. Even though it kinda worked hiding his identity, he would have to deepen his voice around others, and maybe add a bit more to his mask to fully conceal his face due to his growing paranoia. Stuffing his superhero outfit back in his bag, he left the alley, finding a solution to making his secret identity more secret at the Carousel Boutique. Aside from clothing, there might be some fabric he could buy, or maybe a scarf to add an additional feature to his mask to better hide his face.
Thankfully, Rarity wasn't working today, so Garfield bought what he needed, then made his way back to Rainbow Dash's house. He passed by her as she lounged in the living room couch, watching a movie about her favorite fictional adventurer, Daring Do, heading upstairs and shutting the door to his room. He pulled out his outfit and mask once again, getting straight to work on upgrading his mask. He didn't hear Rainbow follow after him when she noticed him rush upstairs.
Right as he was about to get to work, Rainbow barged in without knocking. "Yo, Garf, you all good?" she asked.
"AAAHHH!" Garfield shrieked, scrambling all over as he hid his superhero outfit and fabric under the bed. He stood up, stiff as a board, glaring angrily at the girl barging in on his privacy. "Dude! Seriously! Do you ever knock!?"
"What were you hiding that's making you all jumpy?" Rainbow asked, then gave a sly grin and began to tease him. "You hiding some magazines you don't want me to look at?"
"It's none of your business when it's MY stuff!" Garfield argued. "And if there's any kind of 'magazine' I care to look at, it's comics!"
"You sure about that?" she asked teasingly, making Garfield growl with the biggest frown he ever gave anyone. "Dude, relax. I'm just kidding." He reared an arm back, then shot it at the door, pointing at it while silently ordering her to get out. "Alright, alright. I'll leave you with your 'comics'."
She laughed and left Garfield alone, making the shapeshifting Titan grumble. "If Cyborg were a girl, I think Rainbow would fit the bill...without the robot parts," he muttered to himself. "I need to get a lock for this door...or maybe something heavy enough to bar her from waltzing in without permission." He spotted Tank slowly crawling by, picking up the tortoise up to his eye level. "You wanna block the door to my room so your owner doesn't barge in on me again?" Tank just tilted his head slowly in confusion, but Garfield chuckled, patting his shell. "Nah. I wouldn't let you do that."
He lowered Tank back down and let him "run", then closed his door, grabbed his clothes he flung under the bed, and got back to work, hoping Rainbow doesn't interrupt him again.
The next morning, Garfield and Rainbow hung out downstairs, eating some breakfast while scrolling through different channels for something good to watch. Garfield managed to sew the fabric to his mask, making sure it was comfortable over his mouth as he put it on so it didn't suffocate him while breathing. After several minutes of channel clicking with nothing good on, they heard the front door open, getting a surprise visit from the rest of the girls, deciding to hand out at Rainbow's house. As they talked about their week or about their recent struggles against Equestria's most dangerous creatures, Garfield noticed Twilight was a bit preoccupied with her phone. She was eagerly waiting for it to ring, and when it did, she immediately read the text and sent another back.
"Having fun with your phone, egghead?" Rainbow teased. "I'm hearing that going off more than Tank when he's hungry."
"She's probably in the middle of a deep conversation with her boyfriend," Sunset said, making Twilight blush heavily.
"N-No I'm not!" Twilight denied. Her phone rang again, but Pinkie swiped it out of her hands before she could see the recent text. "Hey!"
"Yup! It's Timber Spruce alright!" Pinkie said after seeing who the sender was.
"Uhh, who is Timber Spruce?" Garfield asked.
"One of the owners of Camp Everfree," Applejack said. "Her sister, Gloriosa, was the one who went mad with power with those gems we have now tryin' to save it."
"Oh, now I remember you saying something about that moment," Garfield said. "...Wait, how old is this Timber guy?"
"A little older than us by a couple years," Sunset said. "Twilight's got a thing for older guys."
"No I do not! Stop teasing me!" Twilight exclaimed while the girls all laughed as they made fun of her. "And give me back my phone, Pinkie!" She snatched her phone back from Pinkie, the heat from her blushing face fogging up her glasses. When she got another text from Timber Spruce, their romantic conversation came to a halt as she gasped in shock at the new message. "Uhh...looks like we've got some more Equestrian beasts to stop."
"Oh no. What now?" Rarity whined.
"Timber's saying some giant lizard creatures have made their home up on the nearby mountain at Camp Everfree," Twilight paraphrased. "Some campers said that they were almost crushed by boulders when they spotted them on the mountain trail, flinging them from their tails by a cave that's not too far from the trail."
"Oh my," Fluttershy uttered worriedly. "They could hurt the woodland critters there, too."
"Any idea what these big lizards might be, Sunset?" Rainbow asked.
"Hey, it's been a long while since I've lived in Equestria," Sunset said. "Even I don't know half of the different kinds of creatures that exist in my world when I've been so busy learning about everything else in this one."
"You could ask Princess Twilight," Applejack suggested. "Meanwhile, Ah think we'd better head to Camp Everfree and take care of them lizards before they could seriously hurt someone."
"I'll have to stop by my house and pick up my portal," Twilight said. "I don't think we'll be able to keep something that big unconscious for long if we try to transport them back to the portal at school."
"Should I come with?" Garfield asked curiously.
"Probably best not to tag along," Sunset said. "Sorry, Garfield. I know you want to see some Equestrian creatures, but I don't think dangerous ones are a good example."
"Ok, that's cool," he assured. "Just show me some pics. That's fine with me." The girls got up and headed out, Fluttershy giving Garfield an apologetic look before following the others to prepare for the trip to Camp Everfree. As soon as they were gone, he got up from the couch and went upstairs to his room. Unzipping his backpack, he pulled out his superhero uniform. "If those lizards are anything like prehistoric dinosaurs, there's no way I'm gonna let them face something that dangerous."
After Twilight gathered her laptop and metal disc for her portal, all seven girls headed out in separate vehicles, Applejack taking her truck with Rainbow riding with her, while the others carpooled in Fluttershy's car. Just about thirty or so minutes on the road, they reached the entrance of the camp, thankfully getting more business after the Rainbooms helped save the camp from turning into another pointless mall by the man who tried to take it from Gloriosa and Timber; Filthy Rich. The girls saw a lot of activity from some campers, both young and old, as they pulled inside. Overlooking the campers as they partook in some crafting was a young man wearing a red shirt, green cargo shorts, brown hiking boots, and a black beanie. He had green hair and his skin was a light tangelo.
"Timber!" Twilight called out, getting the counselor's attention as he turned around.
"Hey!" Timber greeted as he waved at them. Twilight was eager to see him again, running up to him and hugged him, nearly knocking them over. "Sheesh. You really seemed to miss me after we just texted each other."
"I'm mostly glad you weren't crushed by a rock," Twilight said, playfully bantering with Timber as they usually communicated with each other.
"Oh, gee, thanks," Timber said sarcastically. "But, I was here all this time. Gloriosa was the one who was leading this morning's hike up the mountain, and she and the others with her ran back in a panic. Thankfully, no one was badly hurt, but we might lose some business if something more dangerous than a bear starts roaming around the campground."
"Don't worry. We're on it," Twilight assured her boyfriend. She took off her backpack, showing Timber her new device. "I've worked out the kinks on a little experiment I've been working on since we wondered where the crystals came from, and aside from a little boo-boo in the science lab, it's in perfect working order. I just hope that the size of these lizards doesn't exceed the limit of the portal's height and width."
"And if we can get a description of what they looked like, I could let an outside source tell us what we're dealing with," Sunset said, carrying her magic journal in her hands.
While the girls followed Timber to where Gloriosa was, back at the entrance gate where they parked their vehicles, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo poked their heads up from under the tarp in Applejack's truck. "Score," Scootaloo quietly cheered. "Good thinking with the tarp, Apple Bloom."
"Kinda lucky we were hanging out this morning at the farm," Sweetie Belle noted.
"And we actually get to see some new critters from this magical world," Apple Bloom added.
The trio of miscreant pre-teens carefully snuck out of the back of the pickup, Scootaloo holding onto a video camera to get the footage they needed. Making it to the forest trail, they followed it toward the mountain where they overheard the mysterious Equestrian lizards making their nest at. While hiking up to their destination, Scootaloo began recording, aiming the camera at her and her friends.
"Hey there, internet, it's Scootaloo of your favorite video content creators, the CMC," Scootaloo said, starting off their video with an over-the-top intro. Even Apple Bloom rolled her eyes in the background at the ridiculous greeting. "Today, we're on the hunt for the rumored 'green creature'. That just so happened to be the mysterious saber-tooth tiger that was with the best athlete of all time, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of her friends, who aren't as important as her when they stopped these strange wolves made out of wood."
"Oh brother," Apple Bloom muttered.
"We're here at Camp Everfree, where we got word that some new dangerous creatures have appeared and almost harmed the campers," Scootaloo continued, ignoring the young farmer's comment. "It's a two-fer today, but why are we looking for these creatures than the green saber-tooth? Well, I'll tell ya why, and it's an awesome theory! From overhearing the girls with all the magic-Hey!"
Apple Bloom swiped the camera away, getting fed up with the overly-winded monologue. "Basically, mah sister and her friends fought manticores a couple weeks ago, where a green lion saved Fluttershy, and now a green saber-tooth tiger helped them fight off and tame them wood wolves," she summarized. "With them showin' up, so does this green creature, so we can get footage of both of them to get some views."
"I was gonna get to that!" Scootaloo complained.
"And y'all were takin' forever!" Apple Bloom argued.
Scootaloo growled, then took the camera back, Sweetie grinning sheepishly in the background as she waved nervously at it. "So, with my more awesome explanation ruined, we're gonna get up close and personal to both these creatures and study them."
"Well, anything you write is a bit long-winded, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle noted. "Looking through a thesaurus to look up all the different names for 'friend' does not mean use every single synonym it lists."
"At least I used one for that speech," Scootaloo grumbled, Apple Bloom behind her snickering at her disgruntled muttering.
After hiking up the slope, they reached the cliff where they heard the dangerous lizards were, spotting a cavern in the mountain. They didn't see any sign of these creatures outside, so they decided to risk looking inside. From the sunlight seeping through the cave, they found what they were looking for: three very big reptilian beasts that screamed deadly, their tough skin a couple shades of gray, their tri-horned heads and back legs speckled with red spots, black fur on their back, and their spiked tails looking strong enough to launch the heavy boulders that almost got the campers earlier. Luckily, they were sleeping, taking a little nap after scaring off people from their new territory.
"Wow, they're big," Sweetie Belle whispered, all three girls trembling just from seeing how much bigger they were compared to them. "Probably bigger than a bear."
"They kinda look like ankylosauruses," Apple Bloom said.
Scootaloo slowly panned the camera, getting a good shot of the giant lizards before turning it back to herself, grinning nervously while trying not to show her fear. "H-Here they are. M-Man, they're...really cool...and dangerous..." She looked around the cave, but aside from the slumbering reptiles, there was no sign of the exact creature they wanted to get footage of. "But...our real target isn't here..."
Getting a crazy, yet very stupid idea, Scootaloo carefully crept closer to the beasts, shocking Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "What are you doing!?" Apple Bloom hissed.
"Well, whenever that green creature is around, there's always something dangerous from that other world going crazy," Scootaloo said.
"And you're gonna make them go nuts and attack us!?" Sweetie Belle squeaked, struggling to keep her voice down so they didn't wake up the creatures that were even worse than walking into a bear hibernating in its den.
Seeing Scootaloo was dumb enough to go through with this crazy plan of hers, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to her, quickly pulling their brash friend away before she kicked one of the reptilian behemoths. "You're going to get us killed!" Apple Bloom said.
"If there's someone in danger, it's sure to come help us!" Scootaloo explained, trying to squirm out of her friends' grasp.
"What if it's only in Canterlot City, not out here in this forest!?" Apple Bloom hissed.
Their struggle caused them to slip, all three of them falling over and smacking into the side of the nearby creature. Startled awake, it alerted the other two as it crawled away from the three girls. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat up, gulping nervously as they were being stared down by the irate reptiles from another world.
"...Uhh...n-nice lizards?" Scootaloo uttered sheepishly, now beginning to regret waking them up.
After getting more information from Timber's sister, Sunset waited for Princess Twilight to send her the results as to what they were dealing with. She soon got her answer as the book flashed, and after reading the words as they appeared on the pages, Sunset grimaced at the type of Equestrian lizard that were here.
"Oh boy," she uttered, then turned to her friends, waiting at one of the benches with Timber and Gloriosa, Twilight's boyfriend's sister having pink skin with her long hair in two shades of purple, a daisy wreath wrapped around her head, wearing a yellow shirt, blue jean shorts, and sandals, along with a blue scarf around her neck, where she once had a necklace that held the girls gems. "Guys, we might have a bit of a problem with these 'lizards' roosting on the mountain near the camp."
"And that kind of problem would be...?" Twilight asked, everyone waiting for Sunset to elaborate on the details.
"Well...These lizards are called slingtails, and rightfully called that because...they fling heavy boulders at intruders invading their territory," Sunset said. "The worst thing about it is that these things actually live close to the Dragon Lands back in Equestria."
"'Dragon' Lands!?" Gloriosa and Timber exclaimed.
"Yup. There's dragons in Equestria, and the slingtails could be just as bad as them," Sunset said.
"...And I thought what I turned into was the worst," Gloriosa muttered.
"So, what happens if you can't stop them?" Timber asked nervously. "I doubt Filthy Rich might come back to take the camp again if he knew about this, but if they cause more trouble..."
"We'll figure it out, Timber," Twilight assured. "We just...gotta come up with a plan."
Suddenly, Rarity's phone rang, quickly answering it when she saw the caller ID. "Hello, mother...I'm kind of in the middle of something important...No, Sweetie Belle's not with me. Why?"
Applejack's phone rang, too, answering it as well. "Yeah, bro?...No, Ah haven't seen Apple Bloom since this mornin'. Ain't she playin' with her friends?" Applejack went from confused to concerned as Big Mac told her he hadn't seen them anywhere at their home. She let out a frustrated huff. "Consarn it, Apple Bloom. Ah'll give her a call and find out where she is," she said before hanging up. "Along with those other two girls."
"If they get into any trouble, Sweetie Belle's going to be grounded for a month, for sure," Rarity grumbled. The quiet setting was interrupted by loud screams in the distance, startling everyone as they looked in the direction of the mountains. "What in the world?"
"Wait...didn't that sound like-?" More screaming interrupted Applejack as they heard a trio of girls crying out for help. She and Rarity looked at each other, recognizing two of those voices. "...Please tell me our sisters and Scootaloo are back in Canterlot City and those are just girls who sounded just like them?"
"Nah. It's probably them since I saw them sneak out from the back of your truck," Pinkie said, shocking everyone, especially Applejack and Rarity.
"Why didn't you say anything, Pinkie!?" Rarity screeched, but Pinkie gave them a shrug.
"I thought you knew they snuck in and hid under that tarp you left in the back," Pinkie said.
"They might be getting attacked by the slingtails!" Gloriosa said. "That cliff was exactly where we saw them!"
"Come on!" Sunset said, the group quickly rushing off to help Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo before the slingtails could seriously hurt them.
Running down the trail, they reached the mountain, where they could see some rocks of all sizes getting flung from the cliff side. While avoiding the rocks, they spotted the CMC on the ledge, avoiding the slingtails' rock throwing as they got perilously close to the edge.
"Oh no! There they are!" Rainbow said. "I'll save-YIPE!"
Everyone jumped back as a lobbed boulder fell over them. "How sling happy are these slingtails!?" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Very if they're agitated!" Sunset explained.
One rock from the slingtails headed straight for the three girls, the trio leaping back, only to end up falling over the edge of the cliff, screaming in terror. Twilight was ready to catch them with her magic while Applejack and Rarity watched in horror, but the sound of a falcon's screech echoed throughout the forest caught her attention. Diving down from the air, a familiar green peregrine falcon swooped down swiftly, heading straight toward the falling pre-teens. He then transformed in midair, turning into a gorilla, catching Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, holding them tightly in one arm as he used the other to grab the branches on the many trees as he swung to a slow descent.
"What the heck was that!?" Timber exclaimed after witnessing a falcon turn into a huge, green gorilla.
"A friend," Fluttershy said.
"And just in the nick of time," Applejack said, both her and Rarity breathing a sigh of relief.
The gorilla lowered the girls once they landed on the ground, the trio slowly looking up at their savior. Despite it being a different species, the primate's green fur and blank white eyes matched the similar features on the shapeshifting creature they were searching for.
"Whoa," Sweetie Belle uttered.
"Hah! See!? I told you if we got in trouble, he'd show up!" Scootaloo gloated, but when she looked up at the gorilla, he let out what sounded like an irritated snort, then gently flicked her on the forehead. "Ow! Hey, I'm trying to make you a star here, and this is how you thank me!?"
"Girls!" Applejack called out. Despite being happy seeing them, the CMC grimaced, knowing they were in a lot of trouble. "What in tarnation are y'all doin' here!? And why were ya messin' around with those slingtails!?"
"What's a slingtail?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Those dangerous creatures who were throwing boulders at you three!" Rarity reiterated.
"We just wanted to see the green creature up close," Sweetie said.
"And get it on camera!" Scootaloo added. "Oh! Speaking of!" She tried to record the shapeshifter, only to be yanked away by Rainbow Dash. "Hey! I need to get it on camera!"
"Save it, squirt!" Rainbow said. "You three are in so much trouble, and in grave danger right now!" More boulders began to rain down on everyone, Twilight grabbing some with her telekinesis while Applejack and the gorilla caught the rest and tossed them aside. "Timber, Gloriosa, get these three out of here!"
"Uhh, no problem," Timber said, unable to help but eye the green gorilla helping keep everyone from getting crushed by falling rocks. "You sure he's a friend?"
"He is," Fluttershy assured. "He saved me from one of the manticores in the pride that chased after me, and he saved all of us from a pack of timber wolves not too long ago. He'll gladly help us out again, right?"
The shapeshifting creature turned to look at her after tossing back another boulder, nodding his head in response. "...Ok, I guess we'll take your word for it," Timber said.
"Fluttershy and I will help make sure these three don't try to get in the middle of the action," Sunset said, making the three younger girls cringe as their respective sisters and Rainbow leered disappointingly at them. "Plus, since our magic isn't all that useful for fighting, or dealing with ornery creatures like those slingtails, we'll just get in the way."
"We've got this handled!" Rainbow said.
The girls able to use magic ran up the trail to the cliff with their animal shapeshifting ally running alongside them, turning into a wolf to move faster than a hulking gorilla could, while the others took the CMC to safety, to Scootaloo's dismay as she wanted to get more of the green creature in action. The wolf ran on ahead, charging toward the slingtails, shifting into a rhino as he got closer while weaving around rocks. He rammed into one of the slingtails, managing to shove it back a bit, but they were tougher than their long-ranged attacks made them appear, the attacked reptile smacked his face with its tail. The rhino shook his head, recovering from the swift, painful blow, then transformed into an elephant, letting out an enraged cry and charged once again, ramming his tusks against the slingtail's horns as they clashed.
Rarity and Twilight helped back their animal shapeshifting ally with their magic, covering him from the other two slingtails constantly flinging rocks at him. Applejack fired back with their same methods with her enhanced magic strength while Pinkie and Rainbow tried to distract them with explosives and dashing around them respectfully. The one having a power struggle with the green elephant managed to lift him off his feet, then gave him a hard smack between the eyes with its spiked tail, sending him flying back toward Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack with a pained and startled trumpet. They yelped, using their combined power to stop the heavy pachyderm from crushing them.
"Could you have picked an even heavier animal to turn into!?" Twilight exclaimed.
The elephant let out a sheepish toot, then shifted into a wolf, giving the girls some relief as he landed on the ground. Rainbow yelped, nearly avoiding a wide-swinging tail as she retreated back with the others. "OK, those things have really thick scales," Rainbow said.
"And if they can toss something as heavy as an elephant, I don't know how we're going to attempt to knock them out," Rarity added.
While they tried to come up with a plan, down below the cliff, Sunset, Fluttershy, Timber, and Gloriosa guided Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo back to safety. They stopped when they heard several fireworks going off above them, Pinkie using every single piece of candy at her disposal to try to distract the slingtails. Scootaloo grumbled, looking around until she found a tall enough tree nearby that was easy for her to climb.
"I am NOT missing out on any of this!" she said, running over to that very tree she was looking for and began to climb up.
"Scootaloo, what are you doing!?" Sunset exclaimed. "We're supposed to go back to the campground! It's dangerous to be here!"
"We're fine over here!" Scootaloo called out, making Sunset grumble irritably. The pre-teen finally reached up as high as she was able to, sitting on a sturdy branch that could handle her weight, getting a perfect view of the battle as she aimed the camera at the slingtails. "Sorry about the interruption, but now we're gonna catch some good ol' fashioned monster fights!"
"Is she always this hard-headed?" Gloriosa asked, gravely concerned for the tomboy's safety.
"Like a familiar athlete friend of ours," Fluttershy muttered.
Pinkie stopped tossing her explosive candies, seeing they barely fazed them physically and only frustrated them more. "Nothing's working! We need something bigger than them to trounce them!"
The wolf let out a curious growl, having no choice but to go all out with the slingtails. He sprinted forward, ignoring the girls calling out to him to wait and figure out what to do, already way ahead of them with his own plan. As soon as he got within a few feet of the trio of slingtails, he leapt and turned into a condor, flapping his wings hard as he flew around them, picking up dust and dirt from the explosive candy and disruption of the earth from the reptiles' boulder tossing. The shapeshifter shrouded them in a huge cloud of dust, Scootaloo keeping her aim on her video camera steady as she watched the green condor soar up, then dove down into the dust cloud.
The girls watched with anxious silence, wondering what their friend was up to. Suddenly, a loud smack was heard from inside the cloud, one of the slingtails flung out and crashing hard into the side of the mountain, falling to the ground in a heap. The other two skittered out in surprise and fear, keeping their distance as they turned to face the dust cloud.
"W-What the heck just happened!?" Rainbow exclaimed.
"What just happened!?" Scootaloo asked in shock.
"Scootaloo, what do you see!?" Apple Bloom asked.
The dust began to blow away from the wind, and what was revealed inside that smacked the unconscious slingtail aside surprised everyone witnessing it. Standing twenty feet tall was a massive green tyrannosaurus rex with black stripes running down its back. Jaws dropped at the sight of one of the most dangerous prehistoric beasts to have ever roamed the earth, and in the flesh. The shapeshifter let out a threatening roar, making the ground tremble as birds in the area flew away in fright from the prehistoric battle cry. Even Sunset, Fluttershy, Gloriosa, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were shocked hearing what everyone believed to be the sound a T-rex would make if they were alive.
"W-What the heck was that!?" Sweetie Belle asked, terrified.
"Uhh, maybe a giant green tyrannosaurus rex!?" Timber exclaimed, pointing up where they can see the towering dinosaur's head from their point of view.
The shapeshifter charged forward, each stomp creating a loud thump as it ran toward the other slingtails. Panicking, the slingtails tried to toss rocks at him, but the T-rex's naturally tough skull bashed them to pieces, even as he kept coming toward them. Lowering his head down to one, he headbutted the closest slingtail hard, knocking it back and on its back. Letting out a quick roar, the dino lunged its head toward it, snatching it in his powerful jaws and shook rapidly like a dog would to a squeaky toy, only wanting to disorient it, not eat it for a snack. The slingtail tried to smack his face with its tail, but it was barely able to see after getting shaken around and being held in the air higher than its ever been in its life.
The other conscious slingtail picked up a huge boulder in its strong tail, ignoring their bigger foe and focused on the girls standing by watching the T-rex take them on. Unfortunately, it didn't count on their stronger predator to being just a ruthless animal that was all brawn. Noticing the boulder sailing toward the girls, even as they saw it and screamed, trying to scatter, the shapeshifting creature quickly turned, swinging his tail hard against the boulder, sending it hurtling back toward its sender. It struck the shocked reptile, shattering to pieces upon impact with its head, stunning it as it staggered in pain. After shaking up the one in his mouth enough, the T-rex flung the disoriented slingtail toward its unconscious friend, making it bounce across the ground before landing on its knocked out friend in a pile.
"Land sakes," Applejack uttered, the girls baffled as they watched the green king of dinosaurs easily dispatch the slingtails.
"He really can transform into any creature, even those that have been extinct for millions of years," Twilight said in awe.
"Whoo hoo! Go, ya motha fudgin' T-rex!" Pinkie cheered. "Show those slingtails who rules this land!"
Despite how awesome it was to see a tyrannosaurus rex fight in real life, Rainbow snapped Twilight out of her own daze with a nudge to her shoulder. "Shouldn't we get that portal ready to send those slingtails back, Twi?"
"Oh! Right!" Twilight said, quickly going through her backpack and pulling out her portal, Sunset's old book to connect it to Equestria, and her laptop to power it up.
While the shapeshifter dealt with the last slingtail, Scootaloo was on the edge of her branch seat, filming everything as her shock turned to excitement as she witnessed one of the most awesome things that could fit in a movie, but it was all one hundred percent real. "Oh man! You guys need to see this!" she said, laughing giddily as watched the T-rex headbutting the last slingtail back toward the wall of the mountain, pinning it as it scrambled to escape the monstrous predator. "This is so cool! I gotta get closer!"
Scootaloo climbed down, surprising the camp owners, animal lover, and former bully as she ran back up the trail. "Scootaloo, wait! Get back here!" Sunset called out. "Ugh! Why can't you three just be normal little girls instead of go looking for trouble!?"
"That'd be boring," Apple Bloom said.
Sunset growled, running after Scootaloo, the others in their group hurrying after them. Up above, the T-rex rammed his head into the pinned slingtail again, watching it slump slightly as it grunted in pain. He backed away, but the last of the Equestrian rock-flingers wasn't down just yet. Trying to be sneaky, it tried to smack the shapeshifter's face with its tail, only for it to be nabbed by the dinosaur's maw with a swift snap. It was then flung up in the air, and with one hard tail swipe, the T-rex sent the slingtail flying toward its slowly wakening companions, bowling them over and knocking all three of them out at once. Coming out victorious, the shapeshifter let out a roar in triumph, startling the girls at how terrifyingly accurate fictional movies about how he sounded.
Twilight finished setting up her portal, typing away at her laptop to expand the lavender gateway. "Ok, let's hope I can get it wide enough and not cause a short or malfunction," she uttered to herself. Thankfully, there were no sparks as the portal grew taller and wider, big enough for the slingtails to go through. "There. That should be good enough."
While the shapeshifter carried the slingtails individually in his mouth, setting them down next to the portal, Scootaloo arrived with her camera, filming the green T-rex as he assisted the girls. "And now, we see the mighty T-rex build up his body pile to devour their flesh."
He heard the excited pre-teen, letting out a disturbed growl, clearly not interested in "devouring" something with a face. "Scootaloo, we told you to stay with the others!" Rainbow scolded, only to groan when she saw Fluttershy and Sunset not a moment later with Timber, Gloriosa, and the rest of the trio of troublemakers. "And we clearly wanted Timber Spruce and Gloriosa Daisy to be safe, too..."
"I saw everything, and I got it all on camera!" Scootaloo excitedly said, turning to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "You two have GOT to see what he can do!"
"You three have seen enough!" Applejack scolded, marching over to her sister and her friends as they winced. "Y'all are gonna be grounded for the next year for doin' somethin' this crazy, and until y'all get it in your heads, ya AIN'T gonna go near anymore of these dangerous creatures to get internet fame!"
"Yes, Applejack," the trio simultaneously answered glumly, but Scootaloo kept aiming the camera at the green shapeshifter.
Before the T-rex tossed the beaten slingtails through the portal, Sunset made sure to ask Princess Twilight if a portal appeared anywhere in her world that could cause some chaos in any pony towns. After a while for a response, the princess gave the ok, and the king of dinos threw them through the portal. With the last one sent back to Equestria, Twilight closed up the portal before something else tried to come through, then shut it down and disassembled it back into her backpack.
"Nice work, big guy!" Rainbow complimented, then lifted her hand up. "Up top!" The T-rex stared down at her, letting out a deadpanned grunt, waving his stubby arms to emphasize they weren't meant for high-fiving. "...Oh. Forgot T-rexs' have short arms...Well, super awesome job, regardless!"
He simply nodded, then turned to walk off after rescuing the camp. He stopped when he felt something grab onto his tail, turning back to see Fluttershy had run up to him and held his tail.
"Wait, please don't leave," Fluttershy begged, clearly not wanting her savior to leave them again so suddenly. "I know you must not like being around other people, but you obviously care about protecting us from harm. We want to know you a bit more, and...if you want to...show us who you really are?"
The look on Fluttershy's face could make any straight-faced man melt, even a sentient shapeshifter who's a terrifying T-rex at the moment. Looking away from the animal caretaker, he saw the other girls were just as curious as Fluttershy, especially Scootaloo with her hand with the video camera strapped to it, wanting to see who the mysterious green creature really is. It was a difficult choice to reveal himself, but he broke when he looked at Fluttershy again, letting out a low grumble, sounding similar to a defeated sigh. Fluttershy was a bit startled when he transformed, losing her grip on the dinosaur tail as they all watched him shrink.
They were all surprised to see him shift into a human form, showing them his true self. He wore a full-body suit, mostly black while the center from the neck down lower waist was purple, a silver belt, silver gloves, and purple boots with black laces and black and silver soles. His face was completely concealed by a mask, the upper part purple with silver trimming on the sides and around the eyes while the rest was covered in a black cloth. The only part of his face that could be seen was his eyes, and he also had pointed ears that hid in the mask, pointing up to fit snugly against the sides of his head.
"The creature's...a person?" Scootaloo questioned. "Aww, man. That's lame. I thought it would be some kind of alien."
"Or he could still be a blob, but can turn into a person to hide his real identity!" Pinkie said, though her theory was still pretty far-fetched.
Ignoring Pinkie, Fluttershy was still amazed that her hero and ally the last couple weeks was a human with the power to turn into any creature still around today or even extinct. "Is this...what you really look like?" she asked out of curiosity.
"Yes. This is the real me," the hero said, deepening his voice despite it being a bit scratchy, trying to mask it and hide how he really talks.
"...Do you have a name?" Fluttershy asked.
His eyes glanced at the others, particularly Scootaloo, knowing full well she's "documenting" him, then looked back at Fluttershy. "Call me...Beast Boy."