//------------------------------// // 7 // Story: The maned ape // by sykko //------------------------------// It had been a month since Big Red had been taken in by the Apple clan. Currently he was being escorted by Twilight Sparkle and Big Mac to Ponyville General Hospital for radio-spectrographic imaging on his leg. "So Applejack's training for the big Canterlot rodeo?", Twilight asked. "Eeyup!" "In two weeks is the big Ponyville Founder's Day hoedown." "Eeyup." "Have you asked anypony to join you?" "Eenope!" "Nopony's asked me yet." Twilight pushed the mane away from her eyes. "I've never been to a hoedown before." She lifted her head up, fluttered her eyelashes gave a smile. "I sure hope somepony asks me." "Eh...err...ah...um." Twilight wait for a few moments while Big Mac balked. When all he said were single syllable non-word sounds, she blew out a dejected sigh and looked at the ground. Dave watched as Diesel and Star nickered at each other. Though he couldn't understand the brightly colored horses, he could recognize flirting when he saw it. He could only snicker at Star's awkward attempts at flirting. He recognized that Diesel balked at the awkward flirting Star did and heard the odd chuffing noises Diesel made. His heart almost broke at the way Star looked dejected, Diesel must have rejected her. Dave nudged Diesel on his side. When the red stallion looked at him, he said, "I know she's kinda pretty, ya know, for a horse and whatnot, but I think you did the right thing. After all I think your wife'd be upset with you flirting with another woman...unless you two have that sort of relationship. Not that I'm judging or anything. It takes different strokes to make the world go 'round." He paused for a moment. "Ya know, I think Imma shut up now before I deepthroat my own foot." *** Big Mac looked over at Big Red and listened to the chattering hoots the maned ape let out. Though he couldn't understand him, he understood advice when he heard it. Big Mac nodded and turned his attention back to Twilight. "Ahem. Uh...Twi. Uh, if'n nopony has asked ya to the Ponyville hoedown, might Ah have th' honor ta escort ya? Ah mean after all this'll be your first real Ponyville hoedown an' it wouldn't be proper ta allow a mare whose it's their first time go unescorted an' whatnot." Twilight perked up at that. "Thank you, Big Mac! I'd--" "I think she'll have to get back to you, darling!", Rarity chimed in. She nudged Twilight off to the side. "Rarity, what in the Tartarus are you doing?!", Twilight hissed through clenched teeth. "Big Mac will be my first actual date ever." "You can't be serious, darling.", Rarity whispered. She looked her friend dead in the eyes and gasped. "Oh. My. Celestia! You're serious!" "Weeeeeel...there was this one time back when I was still a filly. A colt asked me out to the spring trot. I said yes." "Well don't keep me in suspense, darling. What happened?" Rarity was all ears now. "I said yes. Mom took me out to get a new dress and some shiny shoes..." Rarity leaned forward, anxious to hear how her friend's first date went. "And then he never showed up. Found out later that he wound up taking Silver Medallion to the Trot. I cried my eyes out, then retreated back to what I knew best, studying. I buried my nose in the books until shortly before I received my marester's in advanced magical theory when the princess sent me here to Ponyville." "The nerve!", Rarity exclaimed as she fumed. "It wasn't that bad. I mean, at the time I thought it was. If it wasn't for Princess Celestia ordering me here, I never would have met you five girls. We would have never defeated Nightmare Moon and freed Princess Luna from her corruption." "That's not what I meant, Twilight." Rarity was fuming. "I'm talking about that colt. What a cad! Asking out a lovely young mare, then standing her up so he could go out with some--some trollop!" "It's fine, Rarity. I've made peace with it a long time ago.", Twilight said. "if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten my marechelor's in history or my marester's in advanced magical theory." Rarity huffed out the last of her anger a ta colt who was a stallion by now, then took in a cleansing breath. "On to the matter at hoof. A lady doesn't immediately say yes when a gentlestallion asks her to an event. She lets the tension build and waits for three days then gives her answer." "Rarity, I just want to go to the Ponyville hoedown with him, eat some food that's terrible for my health, do a few hoedown things and generally have a good time. You don't have to worry about anything, I'm not going to fuck Big Mac. Yes, he is a handsome stallion and he's nice, but he's not my type. Plus I'm sure Applejack'd wring my neck if I did let him get under my tail." Rarity asked, "What is your type, darling?" "There is this guard who protects Cadance. He's a pegasus who has a nice smile, a big barrel chest and a tight plot." "Oh ho! You're a chest and plot kind of gal, eh?", Rarity said with a tittering snicker. Twilight felt her cheeks and ears get very hot. *** Dave watched in silence as Diesel let out chattering nickers to Star. Star immediately perked up. As she started letting out chattering nickers, Blue Diamond interposed and gently shoved Star aside. As Star and Blue Diamond were doing whispering nickers back and forth, something horses never did back home, Dave nudged Diesel's side. "I think you need to go get your wife, my man. I think you're being conspired against." Just as Star and Blue Diamond had finished their whispering nickers, the sound of growling hisses grabbed Dave's attention. Running up was a purple and green bipedal lizard the height of a toddle, one he had named Komodo, what with him, he had assumed the lizard was a he, being able to breathe green fire, just like the dragons of myth and legend. The only real life dragons he knew of were those big monitor lizards on the island of Komodo, so he had decided to name the bipedal lizard after them. He held in his clawed hand a scroll. *** "Twilight! Twilight!" Twilight looked over to see Spike running up holding a rolled up scroll in his claws. "What is it, Spike?" "It's a message from Princess Celestia!" Spike handed the scroll over to Twilight who took it in her magic and unfurled it. Spike held a claw to his side as he gasped and wheezed as he caught his breath. Once his breath was back, he looked up to see the other two ponies and one maned ape. He held out a scaled fist. "Hey Mac, you up for O-n-O this weekend?" Big Mac gave a hoof bump to Spike's fist. "Eeyup!" Spike then held a fist up to Big Red. "Hey Red. How are you doing?" *** Dave looked down at Komodo who was holding a fist up to him. He fist bumped the lizard and made an exploding sound with his mouth as he quickly pulled back his hand, opened his fist and wiggled his fingers. When the lizard looked at him confused, he said, "You got blow'd up, my man! I went full french fry while you stayed potato. It's all good though. You'll catch on soon enough." *** Twilight quickly read over the scroll. Her ears drooped and her demeanor fell. "Twilight, darling, whateveris it?", Rarity asked. "It's a royal summons for Big Red. Celestia and Luna want to see him in two weeks.", Twilight said. "That's when Ponyville Founder's Day is. I'm going to have to go to Canterlot with Big Red so that nopony tries to take advantage of him and miss the hoedown" "He can go with me.", Spike said. "I've got something to do in Canterlot on that day. I'llmake sure nopony tries to foalnap him or take advantage of him or hurts him and you can attend the hoedown on Founder's Day." Rarity was all a-twitter. "Ooh, Canterlot! I'm a bit jealous, darling!" She eyed Big Red's makeshift toga that he had made from a bed sheet. "If you're going to see the princesses, I'll have to make you a new outfit. Can't have you seeing royalty with your garments in such a condition." She grabbed his forelimb in her magic. "Come along to my boutique, darling. I have a few ideas that would look absolutely smashing on you!" *** Dave looked down at his hand and forearm while Blue Diamond was nickering at him. A sparkly blue energy field surrounded the lower part of his limb matching the glowing field around her horn. The field made his skin feel prickly and tingly, it felt like his hand and arm was asleep or that static electricity was crawling across his skin. He flexed his fingers and the field broke. Blue Diamond let out a yelp. *** "Yipe!" Rarity felt a sudden zap in her horn when Big Red flexed his digits, breaking her telekinetic aura. She rubbed a hoof across her horn. Big red held up his paws and let out a series of apologetic-sounding chattering hoots. "That's quite alright, darling.", Rarity said. "I just didn't expect you break my telekinesis is all." She bumped the side of her flank into his good leg. "No matter, come along." "Rarity...", Twilight said with a slightly dour look on her face. "First we're taking him to the hospital so they can do more radiographic images of his leg and see how his broken bone is healing." "Quite right! After all what good is good fashion if one's health isn't good first? I shall be awaiting in my boutique for when he is finished." Gerard had been making good time with his small pack of iron wolves towards Ponyville. He stopped at a stream to refill his canteens. He'd be at the outskirts of Ponyville in about sixteen days or so. He let a malicious smile spread across his beak as he thought about how he was going to kill that maned ape. Tartarus, he might even scalp the ponies who took him in as a message to those thrice damned alicorns. As Gerard set up camp, two of the iron wolves that had been sent out to forage for meat for food came back wild-eyed and scared. "What is it you simpering mongrels?!", he growled. The two iron wolves pointed in the direction they had come from. "There-there! In the clearing! Monster!", the first one exclaimed. "It better have not been some puckwidge or a jubjub bird doing a threat display.", Gerard growled. "No-no! Not puckwidge or jubjub! They scuryy-scurry or flap-flap away! Not-not see before! It all clear-see through! Made up of bit-pieces of other creatures!" Gerard grabbed up his gouge spear. If this was a truly never-before-seen creature, then he'd hope he'd get the chance to be the first to bring down. "Now show me where this monster is. I want the honor of being the first to draw its blood." Gerard followed the first to iron wolves to the clearing. The other three followed close behind him. Entering the clearing, he looked around. "Well? Where is this monster?" "It was over there-there!", one of the two lead iron wolves said pointing to a tree. Gerard flapped over to where the iron wolf had pointed. The bark of the tree was an odd color, pink with purple polka dots, in the shape of a griffon's talon. "What in the name of--" His words were cut off by the scared yipping of the iron wolves and the scurrying their paws as they ran in fright. He turned to face whatever had come up behind him and what he saw made his blood run cold. It was a chimeric creature, easily made up of different body parts of a dozen creatures. though it was see through, he could still make out features. Its body was serpentine in shape, one hind leg of a goat, one of a lizard-like creature, a forelimb of a griffon, the other of a lion, the head and face of a pony with the mane of a donkey, a deer's antler, an antelope's horn, the beard of a billy goat, one bat wing, one feathered wing, a pair of mismatched eyes with red pupils, a dragon-like tail with a strange tuft of hair at the end. The...monster was the only word for it, seemed to take no interest in Gerard, it simply walked by on its hind limbs that made no noise as they hit the ground. The monster was clearly talking to itself...or something that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, but no sound could be heard. Suddenly the monster stopped and looked straight at Gerard. The griffon's breath stopped in his chest as he stared into the monster's eyes. No, not eyes, twin swirling vortices of madness that flashed and flickered in a chaotic swirl of colors. A panicked scream escaped Gerard's mouth and he took flight, wings beating hard as every instinct screamed to get as far away from this monster as possible. The translucent, chimeric creature simply shrugged and began to simply trudge off silently towards the northeast. It'd be a week before Gerard would regain his senses and another week before he was able to round up the iron wolves. He swore to never speak or think of this beast again.