//------------------------------//
// No food?! 
// Story: Of Food and Friends 
// by Sandova Mirell 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2:

Rainbow Dash was clearing the last rogue cloud that had drifted from the Everfree when she saw Fluttershy flying past at an impressive speed. That is, impressive for Fluttershy.

“Heya Fluttershy! What’s with the big rush?”

Fluttershy noticed her friend and flew towards her, Angel Bunny hanging from her mane.

“Rainbow, it’s awful. I just found some creature in the Everfree and it's badly hurt! We need to help it!”

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend and cocked her eyebrow.

"In the Everfree Forest?! Fluttershy what were you thinking going in there? You, of all ponies, should know how dangerous that place is."

Fluttershy mumbled and hid behind her mane before Angel Bunny tapped her on the head.

"Oh, uhm, well. I was chasing Angel when I heard some noise. Some creature I have never seen was badly hurt because a manticore wanted to eat it. It talked and it sounded scared so you really got to help me because I can't move it and-"

Rainbow raised her hooves.

"Whoa Fluttershy, take it easy. Where did you say this weird creature was?"

Fluttershy told Dash where to find the strange creature and Dash took of as soon as Fluttershy was done talking. Fluttershy eep'ed before following her blue friend as quickly as possible.

After a while she reached the clearing to find Rainbow Dash standing next to the unconscious creature. She looked up when she noticed Fluttershy.

"This was the creature you were talking about? It seems kinda, dangerous, you know? You sure you wanna help it."

Fluttershy looked sternly at her friend before nodding, Angel still sitting on top of her head.

"Of course, it sounded so afraid, the poor thing. It was crying and begging for help, and help it I will. So, could you help me take it to my cottage, i-if you don't mind, that is."

"Sure thing, I'll be there in ten seconds flat!"

"B-but the cottage is so far away."

Now it was Rainbow's turn to narrow her eyes.

"Ten.seconds.flat."

Before Fluttershy could protest her friend had already grabbed the creature and started to drag it into the sky, straining visibly. She stopped a bit and huffed.

"Okay, maybe no ten seconds. But I will make it in ten minutes, tops."

Fluttershy smiled meekly and flew up to the creature.

"Don't worry, I will get you better, I promise."
~
Kog'Maw hurt, but also felt strangely soft. No, it was the world around him that was soft. He snorted and tried to open one of his many eyes. When his eye adjusted to the light he saw he was inside some kind of building. He snorted curiously and tried to get up. He was halfway up when a sharp pain made him cry out a bit.

"Oh, you mustn't get up. You'll only hurt yourself."

Kog'Maw was even more surprised at the soft voice coming from somewhere near him. He turned a bit and saw a strange creature looking back at him. The creature was light yellow, except at the top of its head, where it was pink. Two large blue eyes looked at him. Kog'Maw tilted his head in confusion, what was this thing? And more importantly, could he eat it?

"Food?"

The strange creature's eyes widened, and Kog'Maw head a small gasp.

"O-oh, you really can talk. Don't worry, I can bring you some food."

Kog'Maw blinked. The strange creature could talk? Kog'Maw did not know this creature, so his first instinct was to eat it. On the other hand, it did say it was going to get him some food. Kog'Maw decided to wait until he had eaten whatever the creature gave him before eating it, because then he had more food!

The creature had already moved away, but he could still see another small creature standing before him. It was a, bunny. Or at least that's what he was told these creatures were told. Kog'Maw tried to eat a bunny before, but his ooze had dissolved all of it before Kog'Maw could eat it, so he didn't bother with them anymore.

This bunny was looking at him with narrowed eyes, and Kog'Maw decided to look back. The Voidborn and the bunny were still locked in their staring contest when the pink and yellow creature returned.

"Oh, I see you've met Angel Bunny already. Are you getting along?"

Neither Kog'Maw nor Angel Bunny reacted, still locked in their staring contest. Although Kog'Maw did not know what a staring contest was, he still kept looking at the strange bunny, waiting to see what it did. Maybe he should eat it, because this bunny confused him. Before he could make a decision the strange creature put a large basket between them. Kog'Maw turned his attention to the basket, oblivious to Angel's victorious expression. The basket was filled with all kinds of vegetable, and Kog'Maw looked at the strange creature in confusion.

"This food?"

The Creature nodded. Kog'Maw picked up an orange stick and put it into his mouth. It tasted good! He then opened his maw wide and swallowed the entire basket, ooze dripping from his mouth as he did so. The creature made a startled sound and flinched back, before smiling again.

"Oh you poor thing, you were famished, weren't you? It's a good thing that I found you before that manticore got you."

Kog'Maw was still swallowing the last remains of the basket and didn't hear the creature talk. When he was finished he looked at the creature again.

"More food? Want meat."

The creature froze in place.

"Y-you want m-meat? I-I'm sorry, but I can't h-hurt another creature  just so that you can eat m-meat. Y-you will have to do with v-vetgetables."

Kog'Maw cocked his head sideways.

"Strange creature is meat."

At this the creature made a terrified sound and ran out of the room. Kog'Maw blinked, then followed the creature.

"Stop run food, me hungry!"

Before he made it out the room a rainbow-colored blur shot through the doorway and something blue slammed into Kog'Maw. He felt himself slam into the wall of the room and cried out in pain and surprise. 

"Oh no, you are not gonna eat my friend after she just tried to save you."

In front of Kog'Maw stood another strange creature. It looked like the other, but this one was blue and had a lot of colors on top of its head. So this was the creature that attacked him? Kog'Maw laughed and spit a glob of ooze at the creature, who simply dodged it.

"Ew, watch it."

The creature then saw the ooze eat its way through the floor, hissing and bubbling as it did.

"Oh horseapples."

Kog'Maw had already heaved up a lot of ooze, and was now readying  a barrage of bio-arcane slime. The blue creature saw the slime drip from his mouth and swallowed. 

"So you wanna be like that? Fine, let's dance, freak."

Before Kog'Maw could spit the creature shot forward and hit him again. Kog'Maw cried out in frustration and began spitting his ooze everywhere he could, hoping to hit the creature this way.

The fighting went on for a while, but eventually the blue creature got stuck in his sticky spittle. Kog'Maw had almost exhausted his supply of ooze, so he decided to eat the creature immediately. He had taken two steps when the yellow creature suddenly stepped in front of him.

"S-stop, please. No more fighting."

Kog'Maw stopped advancing, these creatures confused him. 

"But blue creature hit me. I hit back. I just want meat, and she meat. You meat as well. I will eat meat."

He set another step forward when the yellow creature opened its eyes wide and looked at him. Kog'Maw found that he could not move, the creature's blue eyes filling his vision.

"You will not eat my friends, you hear me mister? Ponies are not food, and you will not try to eat them. Am I clear?"

Kog'Maw stood there, caught in the creature's spell, and became afraid. He began to cry.

"I sorry, I just want food. I like meat. I wanna go home, to Void."

Kog'Maw kept crying, not understanding this world and these creatures. He wanted back to the League and fight. He didn't notice the yellow creature coming closer until it stroked his head.

"It's alright, I'm not angry. Hush now, I will help you get home. But first you have to apologize, okay?"

Kog'Maw nodded, and the creature stepped back.

"Dash, can you come over here, please?"

The blue creature huffed, but stepped forward. The yellow creature nodded and looked at Kog'Maw.

"Can you tell us your name?"

Kog'Maw nodded again.

"I Kog'Maw, I come from Void."

The yellow creature smiled at him.

"Hello Kog'Maw, I am Fluttershy. And this is Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash waved a foreleg at him.

"Uhm, hi."

"Kog'Maw, you scared Rainbow Dash and me very much. Can you apologize, please?"

"I sorry for scaring Rainbow and Fluttershy. I will not eat Rainbow and Fluttershy."

Rainbow Dash looked relieved, and Fluttershy smiled and nodded.

"Very good. Now, do you know how you got here?"

Kog'Maw thought about it, then nodded.

"I was waiting for League match. Summonner then gone, I go in forest. I see tree-wolf creatures, I eat tree-wolf creatures. Then big creature come, try to eat Kog'Maw. I run. Wake up in soft building."

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy with a confused look.

"Did you understand that? 'Cuz I sure as hay don't."

"We should get Twilight, maybe she knows something."

Fluttershy approached Kog'Maw.

"Kog'Maw, we are going to see our friends. Maybe they know how to get you home, will you come with us."

Kog'Maw nodded eagerly, he really wanted to go back home again.

"Okay, but you can't eat ponies. Do you understand me?"

Kog'Maw nodded a bit more sadly this time. 

"Don't worry, I still have some food for you."

She went away, then came back with more orange sticks. 

"I saw you liked carrots, so I hope these are enough."

Kog'Maw happily devoured all the carrots, then sat down and waited for Fluttershy. She and Rainbow Dash move to a door and gestured at him to follow. Kog'Maw got up and waddled after them.
~
Twilight Sparkle was busy reorganizing the library when somepony knocked on the door.

"Spike, can you get the door? I'm kind of busy right now."

"Sure thing, Twilight."

Twilight was almost done with the 'E' section when she heard Spike cry out, followed by a shout from Fluttershy.

"Kog'Maw, no! You can not eat Spike. He is a friend."

Twilight didn't hesitate for a second. As soon as she heard the words 'eat spike' she teleported downstairs, horn sparking with power.

"No one is going to eat-huh?"

In her years as a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmon, she had never seen such a strange sight. Spike was  hiding behind a large pile of books, while Fluttershy was berating some kind of eldritch monstrosity. Rainbow dash was lazily flying around, watching with a bemused expression.

"Okay, what is going on here?"

When Spike heard Twilight's voice he immediately ran towards her, looking panicked.

"Twilight, I opened the door and there was this monster and it said that it wanted to eat me!"

Fluttershy looked up at them.

"Don't worry Spike, Kog'Maw won't do something like that, won't you Kog'Maw?"

The eldritch monstrosity, Kog'Maw, nodded.

"I sorry for scaring Spike. I not know this world."

Twilight blinked, from its looks to its grammar the creature seemed absolutely wrong. Whatever this Kog'Maw was, it didn't belong in Equestria. 

"W-what? Fluttershy, what is that thing?"

Fluttershy looked at her sternly.

"He is called Kog'Maw, and he is lost. I think he is from another world, and he doesn't know how to get back. The poor thing ended up in the Everfree forest, where a manticore was trying to eat him. I berated the manticore and tended to Kog'Maw's wounds."

Twilight took a deep breath to calm down, then looked at Kog'Maw again.

"Okay, I understand that part. But was that about eating Spike?"

Fluttershy hid behind her mane a bit, like she always did when delivering news that somepony wouldn't like.

"Well, I believe he is omnivorous, since he ate an entire basket filled with vegetables before he asked f-for m-meat."

Rainbow Dash swooped down and looked sternly at Fluttershy.

"Before he tried to eat you, you mean. He tried to eat me too, wrecked half your home with that creepy slime of his."

"W-well, It ended up alright, didn't it?"

Rainbow Dash huffed.

"Yeah, after you had to use the Stare and made him cry."

She turned to Twilight.

"Flutters may be able to keep him under control, but that doesn't mean that he isn't dangerous. We need your help in getting him home, fast. Who knows what he'll try to eat next."

All three mares looked at Kog'Maw, only to find him waddling after Owlicious, mouth gaping and dribbling ooze all over the floor.

"Kog'Maw! Stop trying to eat Owlicious! Have a carrot instead."

Kog'Maw stopped at the word 'Carrot' and turned to Fluttershy.

"No eating little bird?"

She shook her head. He hung his head and waddled towards them, but perked up when Fluttershy handed him a carrot.

Twilight sighed and trotted over to the door, flipping the sign from 'open' to 'closed'. This was going to be a long day.