//------------------------------// // Friends // Story: Monster // by Jabazor //------------------------------// "I'm sure that, if I could calculate the possibility of this working, there would be less than a one percent chance that this would work." Started Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy merrily set the table and made tea while humming to herself. "Rarity will get on his case about his bad looks and only give him annoying beauty tips and Twilight will discomfort him by bombarding him with questions about science and history and not care any bit about his feelings and Pinkie Pie will disrupt his calm and quiet demeanor and Applejack is going to bring up questions of safety and, once all that is done, then he will have to..." and Rainbow Dash went on for about a minute explaining why her friends would make the whole tea party a bad experience. "Goodness, I didn't know that all of my friends had no respect or common courtesy for guests and beings that only wished to be loved. Perhaps I shouldn't be friends with them at all." said Fluttershy as she gave Rainbow Dash a disapproving stare. Rainbow Dash was silent and she walked out of the kitchen to the empty living room, where not even an animal was. She sat down and thought to herself. She had realized that, back in the kitchen, she bothered to mention everypony else's bad habits and flaws except her own, or even Fluttershy's. Rainbow Dash knew very well that she had flaws, as well as Fluttershy. Fluttershy went up to the monster with immediate trust and decided to make friends with the creature, or, at least, that is the way it was told to Rainbow Dash. If the world were such a friendly place that any living being could go up to another living being and immediately make friends with, then maybe that sort of action would have been okay. But to find such a pair in such a harsh world is unlikely, but nice. Perhaps putting all worries aside and just trying to be friendly is the only way that some issues can be solved. Right now, that simple action seems to be saving the monster's life; not that the monster can die, of course, but saving his life in the sense that, without enjoyment, life has no purpose. As for Rainbow Dash's flaws, among the many she had, the first that brought to mind was how she immediately thought that her friends would do such horrid things to the monster and misjudge him. Rainbow Dash thought on how she knew every one of them for years and how she called them friends, yet, certainly, she would not be friends with them if that was all they did. Also, she had been told beauty tips and asked history questions and had dealt with safety issues from Applejack and had dealt with Pinkie Pie's hyperactive behavior, yet, often times, Rainbow Dash didn't find it bad, and yet she immediately made each one out to be bad. She knew that she was scared for the monster, and she knew that she cared for him. The care she had was not like saying that one will take care of another's pets for the weekend if the owner of the pet's is out on vacation, but a care where she would voluntarily get up so early and bring the monster food and stay with him and chat with him for as long as she could. She knew that the monster cared for her and Fluttershy as well. He made beautiful handcrafted items out of pieces of wood and flowers and feathers that he found on the ground. He would give them to Rainbow Dash and ask that Rainbow Dash gave some to Fluttershy and that Rainbow Dash keep the others for herself. He did it without ever being asked to and his only words when he gave them were, "I sincerely hope that you like it, and I apologize if I have harmed your wondrous forest. If I have, I won't make them again." Rainbow Dash headed back into the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy." The expression of sadness and regret for the words she had said was more than words could describe. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash and walked over to her and gave her a hug. Shortly after everything was set, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack arrived. They were simply told that there was a new, shy friend to meet and that he simply needed some new friends because he was new to the town. Twilight knocked on the door and Fluttershy opened it with a smile that was full of readiness and hope. Before opening the door, she took a deep breath. "Let's do this." She put on her game face and opened the door. "Hi!" said all of her friends at once with their smiling faces. Fluttershy's smile quickly turned into one that was forced as she thought to herself, Oh nooooo. Please go back. Please go away. Not ready, not ready, not ready, not ready. This is a disaster. My life is over. Worst decision of my life. Fluttershy began to close the door but her friends' gasps quickly brought her back to reality. She simply told them, "Oops," and all carried on. They all took a spot at the kitchen table and chattered for a while, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy occasionally exchanged looks of uncertainty and despair, but always forced themselves back into the chatter. All was going all right until Applejack brought up the question all wanted to ask at that moment. "Where is the lil' guy? Can't wait to get to know 'im!" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy died in their seats as the others started asking the same question. "Just one moment!" said Fluttershy as she, as if by some miracle, managed to get up and go to the back of her house. The monster was waiting outside the house, hiding in the branches of a tree. He hopped down and quickly went inside when he saw Fluttershy open the door for him. The monster knew the possibilities of what could happen, as did Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked up at him with friendly yet deeply worried eyes. The monster got on his knees to get a bit closer to her level. "No matter what happens here, I know you. Rainbow Dash knows you. We will always fight for you, and if my friends can't accept you, perhaps I chose the wrong friends." Fluttershy's head hung down with the reality of what she had just said. "Little one, I do not know what to say on that matter, but I do know that I would gladly go through all of it again just to receive the love that you and your friend gave me." The two embraced for a while and then went inside the house. Without bothering to stop to introduce him before sitting down, she looked straight ahead and, although she acknowledged the expressions on her friends' faces, she was not fazed by them. Neither was the monster. He took the remaining seat at the table, right next to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The seat was far too small for him. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked around at their friends and hoped that one of them would break the silence, but nothing came. The monster began to think of running out the backdoor, but he remembered that, for a long period of his life, all he ever wanted was a chance. So he stayed where he was and decided to give them all a chance, and many more, if necessary. "Well, I don't know why we're all being silent, but my name is Pinkie Pie." Pinkie Pie was seated close enough to the monster to reach her hoof out, and she did just that. The monster put out his hand, which was long enough to reach across about half of the table, and he gently shook Pinkie's hand. "Hello, Pinkie Pie. I don't have a name, or, I should say, I don't remember my name, if I ever had one, but I would gladly give you my name." "No name?" replied Pinkie with a gasp. "Hmm... Do you not want a name?" "Well, as far as I can remember, I have never required a name for anything I have done, and I, for reasons I can't fathom, don't much want a name." "Well that is perfectly fine with me." Pinkie smiled at him and then returned to happily eating her small sandwich. "Ahem. I am Rarity, and it is a pleasure to meet you." Rarity got out of her seat and shook the monster's hand. "Well, as I am sure anything that could talk would say, the pleasure is all mine. This world is certainly full of beautiful things." Rarity giggled and blushed for a moment, and it was quite the sight to see, because only rarity could look so silly with her in-place trot signifying her happiness. For reasons Rarity did not know, she enjoyed being called beautiful by the creature more-so than any other thing that had called her beautiful. After a short while of what she would have considered "childishness", Rarity became her lady-like self again. "Well, my good sir, I imagine that you have not bathed in a long while, so if you ever want a good clean and some free beauty products, you can most certainly stop by my beauty parlor. It'll be all free." Rarity then proceeded back to her seat. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and, since I hope that we get to know each other on a more personal basis, I would prefer not be referred to with any "highness" or "princess" or anything like that." Twilight got up and walked to the monster and shook his hand. "I mean no disrespect by this, little one, but I do not know what you mean. I would ask if you are actually a princess or queen, but I see no royal attire or crown or guards, and perhaps it is best that I don't know." A realization went off in Twilight's mind, but she quickly disregarded it for the moment. "We'll leave it at this: if it is ever necessary, then I shall tell you." Twilight proceeded back to her seat. "Hi! I'm Applejack! Nice to make yer acquaintance!" Applejack went over to shake the monster's hands, and the monster could not help but make note that, for the first time, he may have come across a pony with at least one-thirtieth of the strength he had. But he still shook her hand very gently. Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity then proceeded to give brief background on their lives and some stories. The monster was surprised at how much he already knew, but he did not rush anypony or tell them that he had already heard the story. "So we've given you a bit on our lives, would you mind telling us about yours?" said Twilight. The monster took a deep breath and looked down, uncertain of what to do. "Oh! You don't have to if you don't want to!" Twilight suddenly felt like she had done a bad thing. "No, no, no, little one. It is quite alright. But you must understand that I was not kept secret by your friends for a long time without a reason. I simply must decide how to form my story, is all. But I must admit that I am a bit scared to say my story." None knew that he was kept secret, but they would soon understand. The monster went on tell them of his harrowing, dreadful life before he awoke from his coma. He told them what he was like in the past and what Equestria was like before it was even Equestria. He told them of the blackness and the fog, the way that no plants grew and thrived and, even if they did, they would die by either his hand or from the ungiving, merciless characteristics of the land. He told them how, if he touched something like a flower or tree, it died. He told them of how he had been filled with rage and even murdered ponies, making their bodies his food. He then told them of how he lost his rage and was then only filled with sadness and simply wanted friends, but it was too late. He told them how he tried to commit suicide and couldn't. He told them how he left himself fall off the mountain and how he fell into a coma. But then he put a smile on his face as he endlessly went on about his good experiences in Equestria and how much he loved the land. He told them of how it made him cry tears of joy when he touched a beautiful flower and did not see it wither, of how he sat by a tree and it didn't turn grey and die. Then he went on to tell them of his wonderful friendship with Flutteshy and Rainbow Dash. He left out a few parts of his story here and there, but only because he thought that the parts were unnecessary. Those who weren't in tears were in awe. They realized why he was kept secret and felt even worse when they came to the harsh realization that not every pony would treat him with friendliness. "We have not yet thought of a way to introduce him to the rest of world, but we will," said Fluttershy. "We wanted to introduce him to you guys first because we needed you guys on our side with this. Will you help us?" asked Rainbow Dash. If they didn't say yes, it was because or their tears, and if they were crying, they nodded. "Well. We need a way of keeping in contact. How shall we do that?" asked Rarity after all her tears had fallen. "Unless he wants to stay in his cave up in the mountain, I think that I shall keep him in my house from now on. You can have a big, huge bed upstairs if you don't mind," said Fluttershy. "I don't mind. Not at all. Thank you, Fluttershy," the monster replied. "I guess that that means that you don't have to get up any more, Dash," said Fluttershy. "I'll still becoming by often, though. Just as I didn't let anything get in my way of waking up, I won't let anything get in my way of seeing you every day, unless it's really, REALLY, important and I can't see you." After a bit more chatter and goodbyes, they all finally left. Many, many hours had passed and night time was upon them. They all had some things that they had to agree on, though: no pony was to be told of the monster; they were all to think of ways to help get revealed to the world and they would meet for discussions about the matter every week; no plan of action to help the monster was to be taken without discussion and approval of the action. Shortly after everypony left her house, Fluttershy began to build a bed for the monster. It would've taken her days to complete on her own, but the monster was conveniently crafty with his hands. Each pony and the monster himself went to bed with a heavy head that day, for the ideas could not be stopped from streaming into their mind.