//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine // Story: A Friend In Need // by Vietmane Veteran //------------------------------// Editor's note: The entire chapter became corrupted, so I had to rewrite this. Chapter 9 Apple Bloom watched as Fluttershy neared, a blue filly or colt behind her. When they got close enough, Apple Bloom opened her mouth to greet them. "Howdy, y'all!" Applejack called out as she exited the house. She and Apple Bloom made their way towards Fluttershy and the smaller pony. Apple Bloom neared the smaller pony. "Howdy! Mah name's- Wait, what?" she said, looking at the creature. It looked like a Changing Crystal, but it was shaped like a pony! But Twilight said that ponies were the only things they couldn’t imitate. "Apple Bloom! Don't be rude!" Applejack scolded. She came closer to the others. When she saw the creature, she stopped. She looked back and forth between it and Fluttershy. She gave a laugh, throwing her head back. "Guess you and Discord finally did it! Ya finally tied the knot! This is a reason to celebrate! Come inside, and I'll get y'all some of our strongest cider!" She turned, heading back for the house. Apple Bloom was confused. But there was no wedding. Wouldn't Fluttershy be the sort to have a wedding? Fluttershy sighed. "Why does everyone think . . . ?" she mumbled. She looked up. "Um, no thank you," she said. Applejack gave another laugh. "That's right! Ya hate the fermented stuff. How about I get yous some of our normal cider? Or I can make a new batch right now!" "She ain't finished talking!" Apple Bloom called out. Applejack stopped and turned around. "Sorry. Continue," she said. Fluttershy nodded. "Thank you. Now, I would like you to meet Friend. Please try to avoid making him upset or angry," she began. Applejack opened her mouth to speak. "Applejack! Now who's being rude?" Apple Bloom scolded. Applejack blushed. "Beg pardon," she apologized with a tip of her hat. Fluttershy nodded. "Thank you. Friend here is from another universe, according to Pinkie. I'd explain, but you really don't understand multiversal theory." Applejack gave a simple nod. "Also, Discord and I are not married. If we did marry, I'd have invited everyone I knew, and Discord would have made it so anybody could attend." She turned to look at Friend. "Applejack and I need to work on plans for the animal sanctuary. You can play with Apple Bloom in the meanwhile." She looked up. "That is, if she's free to?" she asked. Applejack nodded. As the two larger ponies walked back to the house to discuss plans, Apple Bloom turned her attention back to Friend. "So . . ." Friend said. "'So' what?" Apple Bloom asked. "Why did you hold your hoof out?" "That's how we greet others," Apple Bloom answered. Friend smiled. "Let me show you how we greet others." He began to nod his head. Classical music began playing, with small amounts of Dub supporting it. "Cool! How do I shake back?" Apple Bloom asked. "Join in," Friend said simply. Apple Bloom hesitated, before beat boxing a simple pattern to join with Friend's music. She could feel the music joining together. Suddenly, Friend became clearer. She realized that she was seeing important things about him. It felt like when she channeled her chi during Kung Fu. She could see sorrow, joy, and a king. Then, it repeated, but in a different aura. Apple Bloom stopped her rhythm, and Friend followed her example. "What? Was? That?" she asked. "First, we greeted each other, and then we got to know each other. You're very brave and strong. You have a deep connection to your friends. There was more, but we're not of the same energy, so I couldn't see it clearly." Apple Bloom smiled. "Com'n! I want ya ta meet the fellow Crusaders!" She reached down to grab Friend by the leg and ran, stumbling when it turned out she wasn't holding on to anything. She turned back to look at Friend. He waved a hoof though the space of where a leg would normally be. Apple Bloom gave a bit of a sheepish smile. “Whoops.” (Editor's Note: I don't know how to write a transition, so here we go!) Sweetie Belle was lying on her back, her hind legs propped against one of the walls of the tree house. She sighed in annoyance. "Where is she?" she complained. Scootaloo gave an annoyed grunt as she worked on her drawing of Rainbow Dash. "If you ask that one more time, I'm going to force you to look for her yourself," she complained. Sweetie Belle rolled onto her left side so she could better see Scootaloo. "Oh, so when I'm late, you're annoyed, but it's okay for Apple Bloom to be late?" she asked. "You were ten minutes late! She's only been late for six minutes!" Sweetie Belle gave a huff. She moved so she was back to having her hind legs propped against the wall. She sighed in annoyance. "Where is she?" she complained. A crayon hit her in the face. "Ow! What the hay?" she exclaimed. "I warned you!" Scootaloo claimed. Before they could begin to be in a fight, the door opened. "Howdy, girls! I brought somepony for y'all ta meet!" Apple Bloom said. "Cool! What's her name?" Scootaloo asked. "H- Hello. I'm Friend,” the colt said. Sweetie Belle blinked. Whoops. “Sup. I’m Scootaloo,” Scootaloo said as she pinned her picture to the wall. With a grunt, Sweetie Belle rolled onto her side. She stood up. “Hello. I’m Sweetie Belle,” she said with a slight bow. Friend bowed back. “Friend here is from another world,” Apple Bloom began. “Sweet!” Scootaloo interrupted. “Do you have any special powers?” Friend seemed to think for a moment. “Well, I’m super strong . . .” he said. “Awesome! Can you show us?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Oh! Um, sure.” Friend turned and exited the tree house, the others following him. They wondered around, Friend searching the ground. He picked up a large rock, and after testing its weight, set it down and continued searching. After a while, Scootaloo let out a large groan. “You’re boring,” she stated to Friend. “W- What?” Friend said, flinching back. Sweetie Belle was about to defend Friend when Apple Bloom did so instead. “Scootaloo! Be nice! We’re searching fowa somethin’ heavy, so be patient.” Scootaloo turned towards Sweetie Belle. “How about you?” she asked. “Huh? What about me?” “Is he boring you?” Scootaloo asked, pointing at Friend. Sweetie Belle bit her lip. Normally, she’d have defended Friend, but the moment to do that had passed her by. And she didn’t want to hurt Friend’s feelings, but she didn’t want to lie either. And if she tried to avoid the question, Scootaloo would keep pestering her. “A little bit,” she answered, lowering her ears. Friend frowned, which made Apple Bloom look worried. Scootaloo jabbed her hoof towards Friend. “Hah! See? Boring! I win!” Scootaloo shouted, being too caught up in the fact that she was right to remember that she was insulting someone in the process. Friend began twitching, before suddenly becoming pink. "That's it!" he roared. "I try to be friends with you, then you ask me to entertain you, and then you become impatient! Then you make fun of me!" Scootaloo turned and ran, screaming. "You're not going anywhere!" Friend shouted. He polymorphed into a giant mechanical cog, rolling after Scootaloo. He ran her over. Apple Bloom turned and began running towards the farm. With a growl, the giant cog turned and went after her. He ran her over as well. Friend reverted back into his normal form, but still pink. Scootaloo stood up. She had become pink as well, and her eyes had become black, a bit of the black going down the left side of her face. Her mane and tail seemed to have straightened into sharper points, and her body had thinned slightly. Apple Bloom got up, also pink. She had become slightly larger, and she seemed to have bulked up. She saluted. "Bloom reporting for duty, Fiend!" Scootaloo walked over to them. "Sorry for being a jerk," she apologized with a scruff of her hoof across the ground. Friend, or rather, Fiend, softly smiled. "Thank you, Scooter," he whispered. The three of them turned and made their way to Sweetie Belle. "Would you like to join?" Fiend asked. ". . . Join what?" Sweetie Belle replied. "Me, your friends, the King," Fiend answered. Sweetie Belle fainted. She awoke to a sensation of strength and power. She opened her eyes to see that she was in the tree house. Friend was standing by her. She raised herself to her hooves. He noticed that she was up. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I turned you without consent. I’m sorry I turned you at all. The others are outside. I’ve asked them to not infect anything.” He looked down, shuffling one of his hooves. “I’m so sorry, Sweetie Belle.” “Huh? Don’t be sorry, Fiend. And besides, my name isn’t Sweetie Belle.” “Sorry, Sour Belle. I need to ask you something. I asked the others this, but they said no. May I turn you back?” Friend asked, his ears lifting. Sour Belle turned and ran, hiding behind the podium. “No way, Fiend! You need guards! And ones who trust you in your Passive state. Also, never bring Devil Bunny into existence ever again. He thought he knew better than you just because you were passive!” “But what about your other friends? What about your sister? Her aura is a purifier; she’ll never be able to join the army. Aren’t they important enough to turn back?” Sour Belle gave a grunt of complaint. “I’ll show you what’s important to me right now!” She walked out from her hiding place and went up to Friend. She jabbed him in the chest. “You are, Boss! You were taken from your own world, into ours. We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we help others. And I’ll be darned if you think that the same doesn’t apply to you.” Friend opened his mouth, as if trying to find something to say against it. He sighed. Then a smile came across his face. “Thank you. I accept your service, and thank you for it.” The door banged open as the other Crusaders entered, causing Friend to jump. They joined in a group hug, and after a moment, Friend returned the embrace. “. . . So, who wants to go have some fun?” Scooter asked, the smile on her face indicating that she had a plan.