//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Princesses, Fluttershy and the Chocobo; Dark Powers at Work // Story: My Final Pony Fantasy III // by Vimtrust5 //------------------------------// Back in Equestria... In the town of Ponyville, Fluttershy was busy taking care of her animals, including the large Chocobo she had received as a gift from Cid of the Lufaine. To say she was ecstatic to have a new animal friend was an understatement: the minute she laid her eyes on the creatures, she just knew she had to make friends with them. During her time with the creature, the yellow pegasus learned it was a male and struggled to come up with a name for him. At first, she considered naming after the Chocobo cry "Kweh," but he refused. Then she thought "Benjamin" would suit him well, but he did not approve. The Chocobo did consider taking names like "Leonard" and "Arthur" but shook his head, refusing to take their names. After suggesting several other names including "Larry," "Victor," and so on, they finally settled on "Randi." Speaking of which, Randi chirped happily seeing Fluttershy return. "Take a look at this," said Fluttershy, holding a letter with the Canterlot royal seal on the envelope. Tearing it open, the yellow pegasus read the contents of the letter and gasped in surprise and joy. "It's from Princess Celestia and Luna; they want to meet you and learn all about you." "Kweh," the Chocobo squawked. "It's all right. I'm sure they'll like you." True... Ever since Fluttershy said the word "Chocobo," the royal sisters couldn't help but feel curious so they decided to pay Ponyville an unofficial visit one morning and went straight to Fluttershy's cottage. When they arrived, they found its owner playing with a large yellow bird the size of an ostrich. Needless to say, the sisters were speechless at the sight of this avian. The bird took notice of the two alicorns and his eyes went wide in shock. "Kweh?" "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" said Fluttershy. The sisters looked on in amazement; they had never really seen such an animal before, and here it was, right in front of them: a creature from another world was standing right in front of them. "Is... is this it?" Celestia asked, her eyes not leaving the Chocobo. "Yes. I wanted to name him 'Kweh' after the Chocobo cry, but after coming with several other names, we settled on 'Randi.'" "It is a pleasure to meet you, Randi." "Kweh," Randi chirped happily, causing the two monarchs to giggle. "There's something that's bothering me, Fluttershy." "What is it, Princess?" "Is there anything it can eat?" "Oh, he told me that Chocobos eat some special greens; they came to Equestria with him," the yellow pegasus said, holding a bag of gysahl greens. "Well that certainly seems convenient," Luna observed. "...Yes, it appears so," Fluttershy agreed. "Kweh," Randi chirped. "Flutterhsy," said Celestia. "Yes, Princess?" "I was wondering it were alright to spend the day with your new friend." "Oh, I'd love it, but wouldn't that take you away from your duties as rulers of Equestria?" "There's no need to worry about that," said Luna. "We asked for Princess Cadence to take over royal duties at Canterlot. We knew she'd be skeptical about leaving the Crystal Empire, but we made sure to have her ask Shining Armor to keep everypony save over there." The yellow pegasus took all this information and looked over to her avian friend. He chriped, accepting their offer. *music ends* For the rest of the day, the princesses spent several hours with Randi and were enjoying their time together; their activities including feeding him, running around with him, and even speaking with him (and Fluttershy translating for both parties). The last activity for the day included a little picnic where the three ponies helped each other to some tea while Randi had himself a drink of water. *music fades out* "Well," Celestia chuckled, "it was nice meeting you, Randi. But we have to go back to Canterlot, now." The innocent creature titled his head with a puzzled look. "It's our home," said Luna, pointing to the city above Ponyville. "Good night, Fluttershy." "Good night, Princess Celestia. Good night, Princess Luna." "Good night, Randi," Celestia and Luna said together. "Kweh..." Randi chirped sadly. And with that, the royal sisters flew back to Canterlot, leaving the two yellow creatures near Fluttershy's house. "I wish everypony's alright," said Fluttershy. Although she didn't join her friends on their next journey, she still wished them the best of luck and hoped for their safe return. Later that night in Canterlot All was quiet in the castle halls; so quiet not even a mouse slipped by the patrolling guards. Earlier Princess Cadence bid her aunts farewell and returned to the Crystal Empire. Luna slept and used her powers to find anypony in need of help if they had terrifying dreams. This time was different. She felt the same odious presence that had prevented her from helping Twilight earlier at work once more. From what she could tell, it was a feeling of darkness and evil set on completely destroying everything without mercy. *music ends* Luna felt herself back in the real world as she jolted up from her bed and began hyperventilating. Feeling as if she was losing her powers, she went straight to her sister's chamber. "Sister!" Princess Celestia's eyes instantly opened and gazed upon Luna. "What is it, Luna?" "It is worse than I thought..." Celestia trotted toward her sibling and stopped within a few feet of her. "I fear as if," Luna said before pausing. "...As if... as if I can't reach Twilight or the others!" "What?!" "That same entity that I encountered before... I've met with it again." "Oh no!" Celestia gasped. "We must head for the Crystal Empire at once!" And so the sisters left the palace to check up on the purple alicorn and her friends...