//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Freddy's New Job // by ImmaGenericWriter //------------------------------// “Is this it?” “No.” “Is this it?” “No.” “Is this it?” Scootaloo asked for the umpteenth time, holding a yellow flower on a long green stem between her teeth. “That one ain’t even pink, Scoots!” Apple Bloom said back in exasperation. It had been like this for nearly an hour; Scootaloo would look for the Heart’s Desire flower, but would come back with every other kind of plant instead. Whilst she was getting increasingly irked with Scootaloo’s antics, Zecora couldn’t keep the smile off of her muzzle; the energy of these fillies was infectious to the Zebra shaman. “Well done, Scootaloo. You found something my people call Heuningbos. It is a plant you do not want to toss.” Scootaloo’s wings fluttered in happiness, believing she just found a rare, exotic plant. “All right! What does it do?! Increase the strength of any pony tenfold? Makes them almost as fast as Rainbow Dash? Oh! Oh I know! It makes their spirit leave their body!” “Directly translated, Heuningbos means Honeybush. If harvested correctly, it makes quite the pleasing tea,” Zecora explained, holding off on its other uses. “Oh, that sounds very nice! Can we take it back with us? Please, Zecora?” Sweetie Belle asked for the first time, never having left the Zebra’s side. After her last run in with the cockatrice, she was none too eager to be in the Everfree Forest without an adult nearby at all times. “We may take it, or the three of you can eat the little treat. Its taste is like a candy, most sweet.” Scootaloo scrunched up her nose after smelling the flower. “This stuff is candy? It doesn’t smell all that sweet.” Apple Bloom, not doubting Zecora’s knowledge in plants, stepped towards Scootaloo and ate the small flower. Her suspicions were instantly confirmed. “Wow! No wonder it’s called Honeybush! It tastes like Ah’m eatin’ fresh honey!” Scootaloo looked at her sceptically. “How are a few flower petals supposed to taste like honey?” “Ah dunno,” said Apple Bloom with a shrug. “Let’s go find more, then y’all can have some!” The two fillies looked towards Zecora and Sweetie Belle, anticipating permission from their caretaker. Zecora nodded in answer. “You may go, but do not wander too far. Even here, the Everfree keeps its dangerous par.” Scootaloo jumped for joy. It seems that even one night worth of rest overcharged the young Pegasus. “Coming, Sweetie Belle?” Sweetie Belle shook her head in the negative. “No thanks, I’d rather stick with Zecora. I want to see where Heart’s Desire grows.” “Ya sure, Sweetie?” Apple Bloom asked. “I’m positive.” “Alright then, we’ll bring ya back some. Let’s go, Scoots!” Wasting no further time on chatting, Apple Bloom sprinted after Scootaloo who took the lead in their hunt for the Honeybush. Barely a minute of galloping had passed before the two fillies found more of the Honeybush plant, although it was nearly parallel to the ground now. Apple Bloom stalked closer, inspecting the dead and thoroughly crushed plant. “Is this how ya found it, Scootaloo? The one ya brought ta us seemed less…flat.” “Nope,” denied Scootaloo. “It wasn’t like this when I got that first flower. It looks like something big went through here.” She slowly looked around, as if hoping to see through the thick vegetation, “There has got to be more around here somewhere. Let’s go find some!” “Ah dunno, Scoots, this is still the Everfree Forest. What if we run into the thing that did this?” Apple Bloom asked. The forest around her seemed to grow even darker now that she knew something potentially dangerous was nearby. Scootaloo remained completely undeterred by this. “Oh come now, Apple Bloom, are you chicken?” Apple Bloom frowned at her friend’s words. “Fine. Let’s go get us some Honeybush.” With the agreement reached, the two rivalling friends set out to search for their honey-like treat. “So, Zecora, what potion are we going to make once we find the Heart’s Desire?” Sweetie Belle asked while constantly scanning around her for the pinkish flower. Without breaking stride, Zecora answered the curious filly. “A mother does not know what to get her filly, much to her dismay, for it is almost her birthday. The potion we seek to create will make her worries abate.” “How will that work?” Sweetie Belle inquired. Now more focused on Zecora than searching. “The potion we will brew works much like the love potion that went askew.” Sweetie Belle blushed, remembering the problems that had caused. “Whosoever drinks the potion first will have their most desired wish to come to the forefront of their mind. The second potion drinker will then temporarily have the other’s desires defined.” “I’m glad we’ll be part of getting that filly the perfect gift!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. They resumed their search for the next few minutes in silence. Sweetie Belle knew she couldn’t learn more until they actually found the plant. After a few minutes of searching, Zecora noticed several deep gashes in a nearby tree. It looked like it might belong to a bear. Bears have claws of four, not three…what could this possibly be. The answer hit Zecora once she remembered what species sometimes moved through this part of the forest. A Manticore! Apple Bloom hastily stuffed the sweet plant into her saddlebags after taking a small taste of it. Just to confirm it was Honeybush of course. The small filly glanced back, confirming that her saddlebags were well and truly stuffed. With a satisfied nod, she started looking for Scootaloo, confident that she had collected the most Honeybush. Putting a hoof to her mouth, Apple Bloom called out, “Scootaloo!” “Over here!” came the reply. She began trotting in the general direction of the voice. It didn’t take her very long to find some rustling bushes, no doubt it being Scootaloo collecting some more Honeybush. “Ya’ll done yet, Scoots?” Apple Bloom questioned the bush that had gone still. “Get out here so we can head back to Zecora and Sweetie.” “Sure, sure, just gimme a sec,” replied Scootaloo from somewhere off to the side. Confused by this, Apple Bloom reached out to the leaves in front of her and parted them slightly. Inside she found a small lion-like creature curled in on itself. When the tiny creature spotted her, it tried to scamper away, but the scorpion tail attached to the cub was caught in some branches. It took Apple Bloom all of two seconds to make the connection. “Scootaloo…” The baby Manticore let out a desperate, loud mewl. It was instantly answered with a great roar. “Run!” Apple Bloom never even had time to see where Scootaloo was before a gigantic paw swiped her away, sending her tumbling over the ground. She could weakly hear somepony call her name in a mix of fear and worry. But she could not respond. All of her focus was on drawing in some breath which seemed oddly hard to do for some reason. Scootaloo was at her friend’s side within moments. She sported a single long, bleeding cut. The Pegasus filly couldn’t care less at that moment. “Come on, Apple Bloom, get up! Get up! Get up!” Scootaloo nudged her with each repeat of the word ‘up’. “Come on! We have to get out of here!” With oxygen being mercifully restored in small, frantic bursts, Apple Bloom shakily got to her hooves. As she did, a terrifying sight awaited her. The Manticore was in midair, leaping towards them. Not even having enough breath to shout a warning, Apple Bloom closed her eyes, waiting for the end to come. After several seconds, she finally heard a voice. “H-h-h-h-hey there! No need to fi-fi-fight!” Confused but still very afraid, Apple Bloom slowly opened an eye to see what was keeping the Manticore from their meal. The sight she saw left her speechless, despite wanting to scream again. A gigantic bear with a comically small top hat was busy holding onto the Manticore from behind, seemingly unaffected by the powerful toxins its tail delivered into its body with each strike. “B-B-Bonnie, w-why don’t you give our new friends a h-h-h-h-hug and put a plaster on his or h-h-h-her boo-boo!” the bear said in a stuttering, but very cheerful voice. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were lifted off the ground by a bulky purple arm. Apple Bloom looked up into the thing that had just lifted her up. She immediately wished she hadn’t. She had never seen anything like it. The monster had no face, only teeth and a mockery of two rabbit ears on the top of its head. Worse still were the two ominous red lights glowing from somewhere at the back of what remained of its skull. The Manticore seemed like a cute little kitten in comparison. She wanted to scream, but her breath was still coming to her in shallow intervals. Both from her injuries and from a new layer of terror. Fortunately Scootaloo had no such issues and screamed for all she was worth.