THE EQUESTRIAN VENTURE
Chapter three: pony friends
Written by TheCrimsonDM
Fluttershy lived in a small cottage at the very edge of town. It was a strange journey walking to her house. There were a lot more ponies staring at Rita time around, and thanks to the new necklace she was able to understand them now. Most of the ponies commented on the princess, Rita figured that Twilight must have been the princess in question due to her living inside a castle and all. Enough ponies however noticed Rita and made comments about her to make her feel out of place.
A lot of the ponies asked questions such as. “What is that thing on Pinkie’s back?” And also like, “is that a monster?”
Rita did not appreciate the comments, and neither did Pinkie Pie for that matter. Pinkie gave some of the ponies talking sneers, which stopped them from talking. Pinkie then asked in a joyous tone. “So Rita did you know that I have a pet alligator? His name is Gummy and I think you two would hit it off.”
Rita simply sat there pondering for a moment on whether anyone would actually be crazy enough to own a pet alligator. Pinkie must either be crazy, or she was telling a story to Rita. Pinkie almost reminded her of a friend from long ago. Rita shook her head trying to loosen those regretful memories.
She then said. “I suppose I’m not too popular around here. Figures, this always happens when I go outside the lab.”
That sentence got a look from Twilight who then asked. “Oh, what do you specialize in?”
Rita was about to tell her it was magic, but thought it better to lie. She then said. “I work on inventing new things, machines and such.”
Twilight was about to say something else when Pinkie butted in and asked. “Did you know that I work in a bakery? We make all kinds of stuff, like cakes and cupcakes and donuts and sweet bread and-“
Twilight cut in now saying. “I’m sure that Rita knows what a bakery is, and I’m sure she would love to visit later.”
Rita on the other hand was salivating at the thought eating of some sweets. She simply had to ask. “Do you have chocolate donuts?”
Pinkie Pie grinned wildly while looking back at Rita, causing her to flinch back a little. Pinkie then said. “Of course, the Cakes have everything you could want down at Sugarcube Corner.”
Rita made the mental note to check out the bakery when she was able to walk again. She looked up at the sky, the sun was a lot lower than it had been when she had walked through the portal. She theorized that there may be a time difference here, a quick estimate had her place it at eight to ten hours later then her worlds time. That was of course considering that the time wasn’t taken up from the portal itself.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a small pony with a yellow fur coat and a red mane. The little pony had a pink ribbon in her mane. She bounced next to the group of ponies as they walked and she asked excitedly. “Wow, are you the monster everypony is talking about?”
Rita thought the sight of the cute little pony was adorable, so long as they were bigger then her she was okay with ponies…almost. Rita answered her saying proudly. “My name is Rita, and I’m not a monster, I’m a human.”
The little filly then said. “I’m Applebloom, your pretty neat looking. Although I’m not supposed to talk to you. My sister said to stay away.”
Rita didn’t like to hear that, but the little one showed interest and intelligence. So Rita thought for a second and said. “Well you go tell your sister that I’m no monster. I’m friends with both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie after all, so how could I be evil.”
Applebloom thought about it for a second and squealed. “Your right.”
Two other fillies were watching Applebloom from in between two houses on the opposite side of the street. They looked a little scared of Rita. Applebloom looked at them and smiled, she then looked back at Rita and said. “Sorry I got to go get my cutie mark, see ya later Rita.”
Rita found herself enjoying the kindness of the little pony, and also from the ones around her. They seemed a little scared of her, but they were far more accepting then she thought they would be. Although that was also what worried her about them. This place called Equestria was simply too strange, and too nice be real. Something had to be off, and she would find it eventually, or it would find her. She wanted to be prepared for when that happened.
They finally arrived at a small bridge that crossed over to a winding road going up to a small cottage. The cottage had solid wood walls with a leaf covered roof. It was one of the oddest things that Rita had ever seen, but something about it felt…homey. After walking up to the door Fluttershy opened it and walked in inviting the others to fallow. Rita gave a small chuckle at the door once she realized it was very similar to a stable’s door.
Inside the cottage there was a green wooden floor, and a lot of rustic furniture. There were also a large number of bird houses inside, and a cat bed in the corner by the door. Rita could also see a stonework fireplace, and throughout the house were small walkways strewn about with squirrels climbing along them.
Pinkie Pie walked in with Rita on her back and after having taken a single look inside Rita prepared herself for the smell of animal urine. The thick smell hit Rita causing her to cover her nose and exclaim. “Why does it smell like PINE!”
Fluttershy looked at her shyly and said. “Oh…we just got done cleaning… this morning …again.”
Rita was surprised that the house didn’t smell bad, just strong. Pinkie Pie set Rita down carefully on the couch, and this time she didn’t get hurt. Rita looked up at the ceiling and saw a white bunny rabbit looking down at her menacingly from a hole cut into the ceiling. Rita stuck her tongue out at the rabbit, and it left, but not before twitching its nose threateningly at her. She had a feeling that the little bunny was going to be a great rival in the days to come.
As Rita sat there on the couch she began to feel alone again, she was stuck inside of a world with no humans. What if she was stuck here forever, she didn’t like this at all. This was feeling far too familiar and that was making her even more scared and paranoid. Painful memories of the war were playing in her mind, she had to find a way to fight them off before she broke down.
Rita tried to distract herself by asking Fluttershy. “So is this where you do your work?”
Everyone looked a little confused for a few seconds before Fluttershy said. “Oh…do you mean my veterinarian skills. Um…sometimes I do?”
Rita tried to relax on the couch using the pillows to lay her head down on, her leg was throbbing in pain again. She then said sarcastically. “Nope I meant the sensual massaging skills; Of course I mean you’re veterinarian skills.” After a moment Rita added bitterly. “It’s just a sprain, it’s not like I have a hole in my chest or anything…Just…go or whatever.”
Fluttershy blushed as she looked away and said. “Um…well…I can wrap your leg…if you want.”
After a few moments she looked over and noticed that Fluttershy was gone, and both Twilight and Pinkie were looking at her with serious expressions. Rita felt a cold rush of fear rise in her as she asked timidly. “Are you going to…bite me?”
Twilight shook her head and said. “No, but I think you need to be a little more respectful of Fluttershy.”
Pinkie Pie added. “Yeah, she’s taking care of you after all.”
Rita looked away and said dully. “I don’t need her pity, I don’t need anyone’s pity…I’m…” Rita couldn’t finish her sentence as she felt like something was caught in her throat. A sudden sinking feeling hit her, and tears began to water her eyes. All she managed to do was make a whimpering sound as she tried to speak again.
Pinkie Pie then said in a very soft and quiet tone. “I know you’re hurting, and scared, but you need to know that we’re all here for you.”
Rita wiped the tears away and forced her pain down deep inside and said. “I’m sorry, I just…I don’t know how to handle this. Being still is…hard.”
Twilight spoke next, she had a caring tone as well. “it’s alright, I can relate to that. You want to feel important, like you’re doing something worthwhile right? I promise if you keep trying, and if you start trusting us. You will feel a lot better.”
Rita looked over and saw Fluttershy standing behind the two of them, Fluttershy then said with her mouth around the handle of a medical box. “Ohm vhack.”
The two ponies looked at each other and back to Fluttershy. Fluttershy walked between them and sat the box down. She then opened it up and Rita saw all kinds of things inside the box. Bandages, syringes, even some pills. Fluttershy used her hooves to deftly pull out an elastic bandage, the kind used for sprains. Fluttershy then asked. “May I?”
Rita looked down at Fluttershy’s hooves. Rita than pulled down her sock and said. “Okay. Just please don’t hurt me.”
Fluttershy nodded and using her hooves she lifted Rita’s leg and placed a pillow underneath to keep it elevated. She then used her surprisingly soft hooves to begin gentle wrapping Rita’s swollen leg while saying. “Did you know that I am also a licensed chiropractor?”
Rita looked at Fluttershy’s focused eyes and asked shocked. “How can a pony be a chiropractor?”
Fluttershy gave a small laugh but didn’t remover her eyes from Rita’s leg as she said. “Well the first step was learning to be both gentle and rough at the same time. It was really hard, but it was worth it. I have helped fix back injuries before. In fact if you want, after you’re leg heals of course, I can show you my massaging skills. I want to make sure you didn’t injure your back when you fell after all.”
Rita muttered to herself curiously. “A pony and a chiropractor, now this I’ve got to study.”
Fluttershy stopped wrapping and looked to Rita saying. “Well, um there isn’t all that much to study…but if you want to.”
Twilight smiled along with Pinkie Pie while Rita examined her now wrapped leg. The wrap was white, and the brand name on it was, “race.” The pain was still there a little but it was better, and she didn’t even feel a thing while Fluttershy worked. Maybe she will have Fluttershy do some work on her back after her leg is better…probably not, those hooves were still scary.
A few hours later the other two ponies left Rita in the capable hands, er hooves of Fluttershy. Fluttershy treated Rita to a welcoming vegetarian diner of vegetable soup. Rita enjoyed the dinner although she couldn’t finish what was on her plate. There was simply too much food for her at the moment, though she did watch in aw at the large amount of food that Fluttershy had eaten. Fluttershy ate a lot more then Rita thought a sensitive creature such as her would normally eat. Another oddity was that the bunny rabbit, named Angel was also eating at the table. He had kept his beady little eyes carefully on Rita the entire time.
After dinner was over Rita found herself sitting on the couch looking out the window at the darkened night sky. She didn’t like sitting here like this doing nothing. She needed something to do, anything. If only she had access to some tools and some scrap metal she would be able to keep herself occupied.
Fluttershy walked up to her and asked. “Is something wrong?”
Rita looked up at Fluttershy and admitted. “Yeah, I’m going crazy just sitting still. I need something to do…in fact.” An idea began to appear inside her head. “Do you have any tools?”
Fluttershy nodded saying. “Yes, I have them inside my shed. I have to do a lot of modification to the house for the animals after all.”
Rita then said. “Okay I am going to need you to do something for me, something stealthy.”
Fluttershy grew a sly smile as she said. “Oh…I think I can do that. What did you have in mind?”
Rita grinned while saying. “When I appeared here, something from my lab may have come with me. I don’t actually know how the portal affected my lab after I used it. I’m hoping something came with me.”
Fluttershy frowned a little before saying. “Oh I’m sorry, but me and Pinkie Pie were watching. You’re the only thing that fell from the sky, and Pinkie Pie would have noticed if anything else fell.”
Rita’s hopes sunk a little bit, but then she asked. “Do you have any scrap metal?”
Fluttershy smiled again saying. “I might have something in my shed.”
Fluttershy had found a wooden stick about Rita’s height. The stick was to help relieve pressure on Rita’s leg so she could actually walk a little bit by herself. For some reason Fluttershy wasn’t too keen on the idea of having Rita ride her back.
Rita fallowed Fluttershy to a small wooden shed in her backyard. Inside she found an assortment of tools, and a few sheets of thin steel. Rita had to ask. “Where did you get those,” while pointing at the sheet metal?
Fluttershy explained. “Oh a long time ago my friend Rainbow Dash was working on a catapult, she didn’t need these so she just left them lying around. I thought I would get them out of the way for everypony. Why, what do you have in mind?”
Rita grinned with excitement. This was exactly what she needed. It would take all night, but she wouldn’t be so helpless afterwards. Rita looked at Fluttershy and said. “I’m going to make something, it’s my craft. It…um…helps me feel better when I’m depressed.”
Fluttershy smiled and walked with her over to the table. Rita stood awkwardly at the table, putting most of her weight on her uninjured leg. She could still feel pain while she stood though. Fluttershy looked worried as she asked. “How long is it going to take?”
Rita let out a sigh before saying. “Probably all night.”
“And you’re going to stand like that all night?” Fluttershy exclaimed.
Rita nodded feeling determined to get this done. Fluttershy turned sideways behind Rita and offered. “You can…um…use me as a chair if it helps.”
Rita looked over at her in surprise, and asked. “Really?”
Fluttershy nodded, and Rita said. “But I’m going to working all night long. Don’t you need to sleep?”
Fluttershy gave a short yawn before saying. “Ponies can sleep while standing up. It’s not something we usually do, but everypony takes naps like this sometimes. Especially Pinkie Pie.”
Rita didn’t know that ponies could sleep like that, but it was useful to know. Rita scooted up and onto Fluttershy’s back very carefully. The pain in her leg was already subsiding by the time she got comfy. Rita then said. “Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone I can do this.”
Fluttershy said. “Alright, I promise. But what are you doing?”
Rita smiled slyly while saying. “Magic.”
Rita stuck her right index finger out and concentrated for a second. After a moment her finger began burning at the end in a small bright flame. She then said. “I’m not very good at normal magic, but I am good enough to make the tools of my trade with my bare hands, and some scrap metal of course.”
Fluttershy watched in fascination as Rita began to cut the metal sheets with her finger, and then soldering them together to create something unique. By the time Rita had cut and fused together a crude gauntlet with wire coils on the back of the hand and a round open space in the palm. Fluttershy had fallen asleep.
This gauntlet was not a very protective device; it was mostly just thin strips of metal about the length of her finger, connecting piece together. Finger joints would be added later, but right now it wrapped in between her fingers and down to her palm before going back up along the sides of her hands and reconnecting with the main body on the back of her wrist.
Fluttershy had proven to be a great asset to Rita, and to her surprise a good…friend. Fluttershy gave a small shiver from the cold night air. Rita looked around and saw a light blue blanket lying in the corner of the room. She quietly got down and grabbed it. Ignoring the pain from her knee, she laid the blanket down over Fluttershy. Fluttershy murmured in her sleep. “Thank you…rainbow.”
Rita replied. “It’s nothing, good night Fluttershy.”
After climbing back up onto standing sleeping pony, Rita thought for a moment and found it amusing that Fluttershy made such a good chair, Rita then joked to herself. “Fluttershy is best chair.” After that Rita continued to work.
The final part of her job required her to make a needle thin piece of red hot metal. She used that to inscribe runes upon the gauntlet, it didn’t matter what the runes looked like so long as she put magic into them. They only served as connecting points for the gem, they would draw out the magical energies inside the gem and then focus them outward. She would only need a mirror and a gem of some sort to finish her gauntlet. Inscribing alone would take a few more hours. She also decided that she would use a simple cantrip spell to change the steel color to a nice copper color. It felt more appropriate that way.
***
Fluttershy woke up after a few hours, and was about to stretch out before realizing that there was a sleeping Rita on her back. Stretching out her wings she managed to keep Rita nice and safe on her back before she walked back inside the house. It was going to be morning soon, and Rita seemed to really need the sleep.
Fluttershy carefully carried Rita up the stairs and into her bedroom. Fluttershy carefully laid Rita down on her own bed before covering Rita up with the blue blanket. Rita then whispered in her sleep. “Please don’t…leave me…”
A tear was running down Rita’s face. After using a wing tip to wipe the tear away Fluttershy leaned down and whispered. “Shhh. I won’t leave you. I promise.”
Rita rolled over before saying. “Don’t leave…dad.”
Fluttershy let out a long yawn, and realized that she needed some more sleep as well. Her bed was big enough for the two of them to sleep on without bothering one another. Fluttershy got in on the other side and whispered. “Good night Rita.”Then she fell asleep and had happy dreams about her friends, including her newest one, the strange little human named Rita.