//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Definitely not a chicken. // Story: Ponyville's New Pet // by Bubbabob //------------------------------// "Y'all sure we should be doin' this, Scootaloo?" "Yeah, I don't want to get it trouble with Rarity again." "Will you two relax? Besides, we're not going into the Everfree Forest; we're going 'near' the Everfree Forest." Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, the infamous Cutie Mark Crusaders, were heading towards the Everfree forest to see if they could get their Cutie Marks by being...um...er... "What 'er we doin' to get our Cutie Marks again?" asked Applebloom. "Birdwatching, like Fluttershy suggested," replied Scootaloo. "Maybe I can learn to fly by seeing how birds do it," she mumbled quietly to herself. "Actually, the correct term for what we're doing is ornithology," Sweetie Belle said. Both of her friends gave her weird looks at that. Sweetie Belle blushed and rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. "I did it again, didn't I?" Scootaloo just shook her head and sighed. "Yeah, ya did. Let's just get going, Dictionary." Sweetie Belle turned bright red and humphed, not gracing Scootaloo with an answer. Applebloom was trying to suppress her giggles, not wanting to be mean towards her friend. As they got closer to the Everfree Forest they got increasingly nervous. Even though they weren't going into the Everfree Forest it still gave them a sense of foreboding. The forest was a dangerous place filled with all sorts of nasty creatures: Manticores, Cockatrices, Hydras, Timberwolves, and Ursa minors and majors. Not to mention all the poisonous plants that have all sorts of weird affects (especially poison joke). And the creatures mentioned before? Those are some of the more pleasant ones. "Why do we have to go into the Everfree Forest for this? Couldn't we have just gone to Whitetail Woods or Fluttershy's house?" Sweetie Belle asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "First off, were just going 'near' the Everfree Forest, remember? Second, the birds of the Everfree are probably a lot more exotic," replied Scootaloo who was trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. "Wow, Scootaloo. Yer actually using yer noggin," Applebloom joked, trying to lighten up the mood. It seemed to work as Sweetie Belle cracked a smile. "Heh, thanks Apple- hey!" Scootaloo cried indignantly. This caused Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to burst into a fit of giggles while Scootaloo stood there, red-faced and glaring at them. With their nervousness forgotten, they continued trotting towards the Everfree until they were about 10 meters from the edge. They stood there, just staring at the forest. Finally, Applebloom spoke up, "So, we're just supposed ta' watch birds?" "Yeah I guess," Scootaloo answered. They stood there for about 10 minutes looking for birds. All they saw was a blue jay, a humming-bird, and a crow. When they checked their flanks, they were still blank. "Y'all think we're doin' it wrong?" "Maybe we should have asked Fluttershy more about it before running off like that or gone to Twilight and asked her instead," Sweetie Belle said. "We didn't really think this through, did we," Scootaloo agreed. They all had solemn looks on their faces at another failed attempt to get their cutie marks. "Well, let's look on the bright side," Sweetie Belle said. "What bright side?" Scootaloo asked. "At least we didn't covered in tree sap this time," Sweetie Belle said with a smile. Both friends facehoofed at her attempt at humor. "Let's just go home." Just as the CMC turned around, looking defeated, their ears perked up at a strange gurgling noise coming from a large bush just outside the forest. "What do you think is is there?" asked a clearly frightened Sweetie Belle. "Maybe a chicken?" Scootaloo suggested. "Ya would know that, wouldn't ya?" Applebloom teased. "Hey!" "Ah'm just messin' with ya." Applebloom looked back at the bush and thought it was definitely a good time to leave. "Let's get goin', Ah don't wanna know what critter is in there." "Well, I'm going to check it out!" declared Scootaloo. "What're y'all crazy?!" Applebloom said anxiously. "No, I'm brave; just like Rainbow Dash!" Applebloom just facehoofed. Yeah, brave and stupid, Applebloom thought. "Scootaloo, wait!" Sweetie Belle yelled. When Applebloom looked up, she saw Scootaloo running towards the bush while Sweetie Belle was running after her, trying to stop her. "Consarnit, Scootaloo!" Applebloom yelled before running after them. Before either of them could reach Scootaloo, she stuck the upper half of her body into the bush. When they reached her, Sweetie Belle said, "Scootaloo, are you okay! What's in there?!" "...Whatever it is, it's definitely not a chicken," she said. Both of them quirked an eye just before Scootaloo started screaming. "H-help! It's got me!" Both of them quickly came to her aid and started tugging on Scootaloo. When they managed to get her upper half out of the bush, imagine their surprise when they saw an orange tentacle wrapped around her right forehoof. "What are you two doing?! Keep pulling!" When they shook off their shocked expressions, they continued to pull at Scootaloo. The tentacle suddenly let go, causing them to all fall on their backs. Before they could get up, a shadow descended upon them and wrapped around their wee little bodies from the neck down. They started screaming and hollering for help and begging the monster that had them not to eat them. Slowly their screams turned into giggles, followed by full blown laughter. "Sweet Celestia, it's tickling us!" Applebloom said between laughs. "Make it stop! Make it stop!" Scootaloo barely managed to get out. After about 3 minutes of tickling, Sweetie Belle shrieked, "P-please stop m-mister m-monster! You're going to make me peeeee!" Miraculously, it seemed to work; the monster gently released them on the ground and slithered a few feet from them. It took them a few minutes to recover, giggling here and there from a strange happy feeling that wouldn't seem to go away. When they were able to get onto their hooves, they took a look at their tickle attack assailant. What was before them appeared to be a huge, orange blob. That was all it was; no eyes, no mouth, no limbs to speak of. All it did was make excitable gurgling noises while its body shifted constantly. They continued to stare at it until Scootaloo finally spoke up. "Kind of looks like a beanbag chair, doesn't it?" Applebloom facehoofed. "That's all ya have ta say after all this?" "No, what is that thing?" "Do you think it's dangerous?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Not unless you count tickle torture as dangerous." The orange tickling monster suddenly started slithering towards Sweetie Belle, making her freeze up. When it was right in front of her, two tendrils came out of its body, wrapped them around her back, and pulled her into a...hug? After a few moments, she returned the gesture with a smile on her face. "...girls?" "Yeah?" Applebloom and Scootaloo said in unison. "...this feels really nice. You should try it." They were hesitant at first, but they eventually decided to hug the orange mass for themselves. They immediately had smiles plastered on their faces when they made contact with the strange creature. "...this feels really nice," Scootaloo said. "Eeyup," Applebloom sighed. "...does anyone smell chocolate?" asked Sweetie Belle. "Now that ya mention it Ah do. Is it coming from this critter?" They all took a good a good whiff of the blob and gasped in unison. "Sweet Celestia it is!" "That. Is. So. Cool!" Scootaloo said excitedly. "That is pretty cool. Do you think we can keep it?" Sweetie Belle asked hopefully. "Ah don't know, maybe we should ask it?" Applebloom said. "Excuse me, Mr. Blob, would ya like ta come back ta Ponyville with us?" All Applebloom got in response was being nuzzled by the creature and happy gurgling noises; it reminded her of being licked by Winona. "Ah'll take that as a yes," she laughed. "Let's go to Twilight first." "Why Sweetie?" "I want to see if Twilight knows anything about this thing. For all we know we could have discovered a whole new species!" There was absolute dead silence. ... ... ... "CUTIE MARK MONSTER DISCOVERS, YAY!" And so off they went to Ponyville with a new friend trailing behind.