“Applejack? Applejack, there you are! Come quickly, Fluttershy’s gone missing!”
The orange pony looked up, taking her hooves off the tree she’d been kicking to harvest this season’s crop. “Huh? Whaddaya mean by that?”
Rarity came to a stop in front of her friend, trying to catch her breath. “I went… went…puff… one moment, dear… I went to see if she if she wanted to come for a walk around town with me today… but her cottage was completely empty. I thought that maybe she’d just gone out but… I checked her backyard, and there was a massive paw print around back!”
“Yer point bein’?”
“Do you not even care that Fluttershy might be in danger? Agh...why did the other three have to be impossible to find...”
Applejack glowered at the white mare. “Listen here, ah don’t think we got anythin’ to worry about; Fluttershy would definitely be able tah see danger comin’ a mile away. And giant paw prints?” Her expression softened. “But if yer so worked up about it, ah suppose ah can just get these apples harvested when we get back.”
“Oh, thank you so much dear…”
“And by that, ah mean yer gonna help me.”
If Rarity’s face could get any paler, it was doing a good job of it then. “But…uh…err…fine, fine. Just come quickly; something definitely isn’t right.”
“Then ah’ll see you there!” And with that, the earth pony charged off towards Fluttershy’s cottage, located near the edge of the forest. With a groan, Rarity rubbed her aching forelimbs and began to follow her friend.
“Would you just stop for a moment? All this sweat is bad for my coat! Huff…huff… Applejack, STO-” Rarity called out, running into her friend from behind. The dazed unicorn shook her head. “Hmmm… you know, you can take orders really well when you choose to.”
But the orange mare wasn’t paying her any attention. They’d arrived at their meek friend’s house and headed around back, only to stop short in front of a paw print at least twice the size of themselves. The paw print led to another, and another, until the trail eventually reached the forest’s edge and disappeared into the trees. Applejack let out a low whistle. “And here ah thought you were just kiddin’ around.”
“Please, I leave the jokes to Pinkie. But that’s besides the point, what should we do?”
Applejack’s eyes followed the trail as she moved a hoof to her chin. “Ah reckon we should pay Zecora a visit; if Fluttershy’s in the forest, surely she musta caught sight of her.”
“Excellent idea. Shall we go?”
“Ya read mah mind. We’re comin’, Fluttershy!” Applejack ran forward, but found herself making no progress. She stopped struggling and noticed Rarity had clamped her teeth onto the earth pony’s tail, halting her progress.
Rarity let go of the golden hair, moving to Applejack’s front and giving her a stern look. “That’ll be enough of that, missie. I’m all for hurrying, but just one minute to walk normally and rest isn’t too much to ask for.” With that, Rarity walked off into the woods, in the direction of their mystic friend’s hut. Applejack rolled her eyes and followed after her, the forest swallowing the pair of ponies up.
“Ah’m tellin’ ya, it’s this way!”
“Don’t be a foal; clearly THIS is the path that leads to Zecora’s!”
“Who you callin’ a foal, Miss Priss?”
“Of all the nerve!” Rarity groaned, running a hoof down her face. They’d been arguing on which way to go for the past five minutes, and she was CLEARLY right.
“Alright, we can’t be bickerin’ about this all day; Fluttershy may be in real danger.” Applejack pulled out a shiny golden coin, displaying the proud figure of Celestia on one side and the regal image of Luna on the other. “Sun or moon?”
“Hmmph, couldn’t solve it any more diplomatically? Very well then, sun.”
Applejack tossed the coin high into the air, letting it fall back onto her hoof. She stomped it onto the ground and moved her hoof aside to reveal the results: Celestia’s smiling face loomed up at them.
“That settles that,” Rarity said with a smirk. “This way!”
Applejack grumbled, reluctantly following her friend down the path she’d chosen. They walked in silence for awhile until the path gradually turned to grass, the trail gradually fading away.
“I know ya won and all, but ah’m pretty sure this isn’t the right way…”
Rarity, unfortunately, had to agree. The few times she’d gone to visit her striped friend, there had always been a path to lead the way. If only this forest was easier to navigate…
Rarity was about to voice her agreement and turn back when a shuffling sound came from the side of the path. A head shot out of the bushes, startling the duo and making Rarity shriek. They calmed down after noting it was just a little brown cow, playfully poking its head onto the path.
“Aww, well ain’t you just the most precious thing. You get lost, little fella?” Applejack walked forward, stroking the little calf’s head. Rarity smiled at the gesture, but her face fell when the creature’s expression turned menacing. What is a cow doing out in the forest, anyway? I’m sure Twilight told me a story about something like this once…
Recognition slowly dawned on the unicorn. “Applejack, step away, now!”
The earth pony kept stroking the calf, turning her head back towards her friend. “What are ya talkin’ about? Is there somethin’ behind the cow?” She looked back only to see that the calf’s head was rising and rising until it towered above the bushes, revealing a matted torso and a pair of sharp, menacing hooves. Applejack stepped back as the beast stepped forward, revealing the lower half of a tall, black pony.
“What is that thing?!” Applejack yelped, turning to hoof it in the other direction.
“It’s a centauros! EVERY PONY FOR THEMSELVES!”
The pair fled in the direction they came from, the monster slamming its hooves into the ground right where they’d been standing. They’d gotten a head start, with the aggressive creature struggling to pull its forelegs out of the ground, the sheer force of its attack having embedded them into the earth. It let out a roar and charged down the path, at a speed that would rival even the fastest earth ponies.
“We can‘t outrun it! What are we going to do?” Rarity huffed. She glanced back and picked up speed, seeing the monster gaining ground way too fast.
Applejack’s expression hardened as a plan came to her. “Quick, distract the thing!”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “You’re not serious?!”
“Trust me!” Applejack replied. And with that, she ducked off the path and into the bushes. Rarity tried to shout at the deserter, but she noticed the rampaging monster almost right at her heels and quickly picked up the pace.
“For the love of Celestia, HELP ME!” Rarity stumbled over a root and nearly fell over, quickly righting herself as the monster’s hooves thundered behind her. “Why haven’t you given up yet, you cretin?!” The centauros replied with another ear-piercing roar; but this time, it was of pain. Sensing the creature slowing to a halt behind her, Rarity stopped and turned to see what’d happened.
“Yeeeeeeeeeehaw!”
Applejack had the monster by the ears, having managed to leap onto its back while Rarity had its attention. The monster was bucking, furiously trying to knock the pony off of its hindquarters. It shook back and forth, Applejack trying her best to keep perfectly still. Soon enough it moved too close to a nearby tree and, with a yank of its ears, Applejack pulled the creature hard towards the trunk. Its head slammed into the bark, the creature giving a low moan as it slumped to the floor. Applejack hopped off, holding her head high. “Good enough for ya, princess?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. The duo paused as the creature stirred with a groan. Looking at each other in unison, Rarity simply said “Your path.” Happy to oblige, Applejack led the way back where they came, the creature left behind alone to deal with the pounding headache it’d wake up with.
Applejack had been right. After a short walk, the pair found themselves outside the familiar residence of their mystical friend. Raising a hoof, Rarity knocked on the wooden door. A voice called out from within, “Come in, come in, there’s no need to be shy. Let me see who it is who has stopped by to say ‘hi’!”
The two ponies entered, the tangy smell of Zecora’s latest concoction tickling their noses. The zebra was watching over the pot, reading from a small book as she randomly threw different varieties of herbs into the brew. “Welcome, my friends! What brings you here? Something’s written on your face…it appears to be fear?”
“We’re fine, dear…we just had an…unpleasant trip over here. But there IS something we’d like to ask of you.” Rarity sighed. “Do you think you could help us?”
“No trouble at all, I’ll fetch some refreshment. Sit, drink up, and tell of what has you so spent.” The zebra placed a lid on the brew, sealing off its aroma. She walked to a shelf and took a number of bottles down, mixing them together into a few glasses. Rarity and Applejack took a seat and Zecora handed each of them a bubbling glass.
The pair sipped the fruity concoction, the drink refreshing their exhausted bodies. “Thank you, darling,” Rarity chimed in. “But we’ve come to ask if, by chance, you’ve seen Fluttershy come by recently? She’s gone missing, and there’s been signs of a large creature around her house.”
“You ask this zebra if she’s seen, your shy little friend, miss fashion queen?” Zecora lifted a hoof to her chin, pondering for a moment. “Ah, yes! While I worked on my latest brew, I heard the sounds of not one, but two.”
The two guests leaned forward, Applejack speaking in earnest. “Ya’ve heard Fluttershy? How was she? Who was with her?”
“Her condition I simply could not tell… but from the sound of her voice, she seemed quite well.”
Rarity looked towards Applejack. “She’s okay! Well…for now.” She turned back to Zecora. “Do you have any idea where she went?”
Zecora collected the glasses and set them aside, heading towards the door while her two friends followed. “Her voice was headed to the east.” Zecora gave them a smile and opened the door for them. “Good luck, my friends, but beware the beasts!”
“Thank you dearie! Stop by town anytime, we do need to get together again at some point.” The pair waved goodbye to their friend, who gently closed the door behind them. Following Zecora’s directions, they began to head east in search of their missing yellow friend.
“I can’t, I simply can’t!”
“Come awwwwwwn! We’ve got to get to Fluttershy before anything happens! And it’s just a little MUD fer cryin’ out loud!”
The trip had gone just fine for a while, until their path crossed with a muddy mire. Applejack had no qualms with the earthy mixture, but Rarity had sat down and refused to go on. “Just mud? That ooze won’t come out of my coat for WEEKS!”
Applejack groaned and rubbed her forehead, glancing around to see if there was any other solution. She walked to a low-hanging tree, plucking a thick vine from its branches. After tugging on the taut vine to test its strength, the earth pony quickly tied a loop in the end and gave it a few test twirls. Satisfied, she swung it around over her head and released it, grinning as the improvised lasso landed perfectly around a sturdy tree branch over the quagmire. “’Nother perfect shot,” she mused, giving the vine a quick tug to tighten it.
“What are you…?” Rarity started, giving a quizzical expression. Her face quickly fell when she put two and two together. “Surely you jest…”
“Noooope.” Applejack retorted gleefully, grabbing her friend around the waist as she held the rope in her mouth. With a shout (and a squeal from Rarity), the orange pony leapt off the ground and held tight to the vine, letting their momentum swing them across the mud patch. The vine was too short though; at the rate they were going, they’d end up just short of clean ground and plunge right into the mud. Applejack had to think quickly; a hissy-fit from Rarity was the last thing they needed right now. Hastily coming to a decision, Applejack shoved the white unicorn away from her, pushing her back a little as Rarity was flung to safety from the mud, leaving Applejack to swing back and forth as the vine slowly came to a standstill over the mire. With a gulp, the earth pony let go, seeing no other way to escape.
Squick!
Rarity groaned from the shore, uneasily rising to her feet. “You could have been a little gentler, Applejack…Applejack? Where’d you go?” She turned around and quickly moved a hoof to her mouth to restrain a laugh as her friend slowly crept out of the bog, covered head to toe in sticky mud.
“Snrrrrt…I always thought equestrian mud monsters were just a myth…hee…” Rarity teased. “Well, brown always was your color…snrrrt…” She couldn’t hold it back any longer, as the unicorn fell to the ground in laughter. Unamused, Applejack wiped the mud from her eyes and flicked it onto her friend’s nose. “Hey!”
“We got no time for this sugahcube,” Applejack said with a grin at her friend’s reaction to being struck with exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. “Now can we go? Fluttershy’s a-waitin’.”
“Right, right…” Still trying to wipe the offending ooze from her face, Rarity stood up. “If I remember correctly from our Nightmare Moon excursion, there should be a river just ahead. We’ll get you cleaned up and be on our way. Let‘s be off.” She started to walk into the woods when she turned to her filthy friend. “And…thanks.”
Applejack grinned. “Tweren’t nothin’.” After trying to shake off as much muck as she could, the earth pony trotted quickly to catch up to her friend, both of them heading deeper into the forest.
Rarity had been right. The duo exited into a clearing, cut in two by a sparkling river. And therein lay the problem…there was no way across.
“At this rate, we’ll be too late to get to Fluttershy…” Applejack mumbled, already beginning the search for anything that would help them cross before she washed off any grime.
“Hold on a second,” Rarity called out. Applejack raised an eyebrow at her as she white unicorn walked to the river’s edge. Picking up a pebble, she dropped it into the water with a plink.
“Uh…thas’ nice and all, but shouldn’t we be findin’ a way to cross the river?”
Rarity hushed her, staring down into the river’s depths. Curious, Applejack joined by her side and peered in. At first, there wasn’t much to look at; the river flowed beneath them undisturbed. Applejack was just beginning to question her friend’s sanity when a long, dark shadow pierced her field of vision. It swam beneath the river smoothly, coming to a stop just below them. Applejack leapt back as the shadow burst out of the water, Rarity remaining still.
“Oooooh, it makes me so mad when something tries to pollute my river!” A giant purple serpent was now taking up most of the river, running the offending pebble between his claws. With a sigh, he flicked it far across the clearing.
“Steven?”
Hearing his name, the river serpent looked around, finally settling his gaze right below him. “Yes, who may I say is speakin-…Rarity? Rarity, is that you? Oh, it is! I haven’t seen you since you and your friends introduced yourselves to me on your way back from your last trip!”
The unicorn smiled as the creature she’d helped out of a ‘hairy’ situation recognized her. “It’s been far too long, Steven! How’s the moustache?”
The serpent grinned, turning his head and leaning in to show off the item in question. Rarity’s tail still glimmered on the side of his face, a bit of orange peeking out to the side of it. “Oh, it’s still faaaabulous, thanks to vou! And I think my old one might even be growing back!” He spun his finger through it, uncoiling the facial hair. “I’m so grateful for your help dear, I was afraid without my moustache my girlfriend would leave me! What brings you out here?”
“Yes, it IS looking amazing, darling. And we’re out here because we need…wait, ‘girlfriend‘?”
“Oh, yes!” Rarity and Applejack gave each other surprised expressions while Steven sank under the waves, reappearing quickly with something clutched in his hand. He held out a picture frame, which Rarity took in her hoof. Admiring it, she noted the familiar figure of Steven coiled around another serpent. The other one, a bright shade of green, smiled at the camera, running a claw through her long blonde hair. “That’s Hilda, who‘s currently interning out in the Celestial Sea,” Steven pointed out. Leaning in close, he gave his facial hair another twirl. “She’s due back in a few months…I simply can’t wait! And she looooves the moustache.”
“Err…right. Yes.” Rarity handed the picture back to her serpent friend, who sighed and held it close to his heart. “Well then…you remember Applejack, I assume?” she asked, pointing to the mare in question.
“Oh, this simply won’t do for a friend of Rarity!” Steven eyed Applejack up and down, grimacing at the mud coating her. “Uno momento, dear,” he said towards the white unicorn. He picked up Applejack, ignoring her protests, and dropped her on the edge of the water. He grabbed her back gently between his claws. “Now, miss Applejack, are you ready for the SPIN CYCLE?”
“Ah beg yer pardon?”
“Here we go!” With a twist of the wrist, Applejack was spinning at mach four. Muck and grime flew off in waves as Steven proceeded to scoop up and pour water onto her. Moments later, he deposited a very clean (and VERY dizzy) earth pony back onto the shore.
Rarity held back another giggling fit. “Thank you very much, Steven. But back to the point, have you seen a yellow pegasus come by your way recently?”
The serpent held a claw to his chin, pondering. “I don’t think I saw her go by, but I did see a big creature leap over my river carrying something in its mouth. Rotten little thing almost got some fur in the water!”
Rarity sighed. Well, it’s the only lead we’ve got… “I don’t suppose you could help us across the river, darling?”
“Of course, of course! Hop on!” The serpent extended his hands, gesturing for them to climb aboard. Rarity hopped onto one hand while Applejack squirmed to get away from the other, fearing another extreme bath. Steven plucked her up anyway and turned, depositing them gently on the other bank.
“Ooooh, you’re such a good help, darling!”
“It’s the least I could do to repay you, and for keeping my relationship alive.” Not missing a chance to show off his ‘stache, the serpent once again twirled it. “Come back anytime! Oh, and one more thing.” Steven leaned low, scooping up some water and extending it to Rarity. The unicorn looked inside at her reflection, remembering that Applejack had hit her with some ballistic mud earlier. Scrubbing it off in the impromptu pool, Rarity rechecked her reflection. Satisfied with the perfection that looked back at her, she smiled up at the serpent. “And thank you again. Give my regards to Hilda.”
“Gladly! Take care!” With that, the serpent sank back below the waves, leaving the two mares alone in the clearing. Noting Applejack still dazed on the ground, Rarity trotted over and helped her wobble to her feet. Letting her rest on her for awhile, Rarity led Applejack back onto the trail into the woods. After getting far enough away, the two looked towards each other. “…GIRLFRIEND?”
“R-Rarity!”
The unicorn looked behind her and gave her friend a confused look. The two had been walking for about ten minutes when Applejack fell back and called out for Rarity’s attention. “Yes, what is it dear?”
“O-on your hoof!”
Confused, the mare looked down. Peering back at her was a fuzzy black creature, staring up at her with its glossy eyes and scuttling about on eight legs. “Oh, it’s just a spider. What about it?”
Applejack looked surprised. “I reckoned that you, of all ponies, would be ‘fraid of…s-spiders.”
“Oh, no dear. I wouldn’t go looking for them…but I don’t mind them. After all, legend says that the first dress material was silk, given generously by spiders who wished to make peace with the ponies.” Rarity scratched her head. “Though I’m not sure how long that lasted…soon after, ponies not only learned how to create their own silk, but how to make cloth as well.” The white mare gently scraped the spider off her hoof, watching it waddle towards Applejack, who quickly kicked it away into the bushes. “Aww, was that necessary? Poor thing. And besides, you’re the LAST pony I’d expect to be afraid of anything.”
Embarassed, Applejack turned her gaze downward. “It’s…it’s not somethin’ ah’m proud of.” She absent-mindedly kicked her hoof across the ground. “When you accidentally lock yourself in the cellar as a filly and get surrounded by the…t-things for a couple hours til’ someone rescues ya…well, havin’ a small phobia is a lil’ bit justified.”
Surprised that her friend would trust her with this information, Rarity walked over and placed a reassuring hoof around her neck. “I’m so sorry, darling…but it was just one little spider. I’m sure we’ll reach Fluttershy soon, and then we can get out of this Celestia forsaken place.”
Applejack calmed herself down. “Thanks, hon. Ah needed that. Yer right, she’s waitin’ on us, let’s g-…”
Rarity watched as her friend looked forward, her jaw dropping. Confused, Rarity waved a hoof in front of her face. “Applejack? Is something the matter? What is it?” she asked. She looked where her friend was gaping and her jaw dropped as well. The baby spider looked down on them, almost as if it were mad at being turned into a projectile. It was currently riding on the head of its mother…which was about the height of eight ponies stacked on one another.
“A-Applejack?”
“Y-yeah?”
“I…I might be a little scared of s-spiders now, t-too.”
“R-run?”
“RUN!”
The two ran straight under the massive arachnid, keeping to the path as the furious spider gave chase. They didn’t get far before the creature started shooting webs at them, missing them by mere inches while its child chattered happily atop its head.
“Applejack! We can’t escape that thing!” Rarity huffed. “We have to do something! Think you’re up for another rodeo?”
“ARE YA CRAZY?! Ah ain’t gettin’ NEAR that thing!”
“Okay, okay! Think, Rarity, think…” Her mind racing as fast as she was, her thoughts drifted to the fabric lecture she’d given her arachnophobic friend mere moments ago. Aha!
The mommy spider was gaining, launching another glob of web at them. Rarity worked quickly, letting a magic glow flow into her horn as she focused on the projectile webbing. The web stopped in mid-air as the same glow enshrouded it. It worked!
She made the glob levitate behind them, trying to focus on running and fiddling with the web at the same time. Soon enough, and with the addition of a few more ballistic web missiles, Rarity decided she’d done enough. Here goes nothing…
She stopped, while Applejack kept running on. She turned to look at her creation: A long string of webbing, the object that would either save her life, or get her in deeper trouble. Concentrating, she let the arachnid get closer.
“Come on…”
When it was only a few feet away, Rarity struck. Flinging the web towards the spider’s legs, they hit it perfectly. Tripping over the web, the spider crashed to the ground. It struggled, only managing to ensnare itself even more in the sticky mess. The baby spider skittered around nervously on its mother’s head, before fleeing from Rarity’s glare. “Take that, pests!”
With a smirk, Rarity walked down the path. She found Applejack watching from behind a tree, her eyes wide.
“Wow, Rarity…ah didn’t think ya had it in ya.”
The unicorn tossed her mane over her shoulder, smiling proudly. “I’m a mare of many surprises, darling. Now shall w-…”
A shriek came from farther down the path. The two mares looked at each other quickly before charging down the path. “Fluttershy!”
They came to another clearing, the two mares ending up opposite a cliffside. The screaming had died down, but they were sure that it had come from on top of the cliff. “Fluttershy! Ya up there, hon?” Applejack called out.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a head peered over the side, shadowed by Celestia‘s setting sun. “Flutters?” Rarity called out tentatively.
The head came out further, revealing a body. The shadows fell away as a manticore glanced down at them from on top of the cliff. The two mares groaned. “It’s just one of those things again…” Rarity sighed, but she quickly paused. “Wait, what does it have in its mouth?”
As if it had heard, the manticore let go of whatever it was holding. A few scraps of yellow fur floated down, coming to a rest in front of the mares.
“…Oh Celestia,” Applejack murmured. The orange pony looked up, glaring fiercely at the creature. “What have ya done with her? She better be alright up there!” Looking bored, the manticore just laid down and gazed at the two ponies. Its indifference only served to tick off the earth pony. “Ya hear me up there, ya mangy house cat?!”
The creature perked up,sensing the insult. Snarling, it got to its feet and started clambering down the cliff. “Yer lookin’ for a fight, fleabag? Ya got one!” Applejack shouted, pushing her hat forward.
“Dear, I don’t think you’re helping the situation…” Rarity cautioned. But by then the manticore had reached the ground…and the earth shook as it leapt off the cliff onto the forest floor. The last time they’d dealt with a manticore, back on their hunt for the elements, it had been about half the size of this one. The mares gulped.
“We got this!…Right, Rarity?”
“S-sure, dear.”
The manticore made the first move, slamming its paw onto the ground right where Rarity was. Seeing it coming, Applejack leapt onto her friend, knocking them both out of the way as its claws raked the ground. Turning towards their attacker, Applejack leapt forward and spun, kicking the monster right across the face. It barely even flinched, striking the pony with its paw and knocking her across the clearing and into a cluster of bushes.
“Applejack!” Rarity shouted, concern for her friend causing her to lose her focus. The manticore took advantage, leaping forward and putting its arms around the white mare. She was completely engaged in the beast’s arms.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh Celestia.” The manticore licked its lips hungrily before snapping its jaw forward, missing Rarity by an inch. It repeated this several times, Rarity leaping out of the way consistently. The little charlatan is PLAYING with me! she thought, dodging another snap of its jaws.
The manticore was getting bored, though. It yawned its mouth wide open and slowly began drawing its arms towards it, dragging Rarity along with them. No, no, NO! I don’t want to be lunch!
The mouth snapped shut inches in front of Rarity. The arms released, freeing her as she quickly bolted away. She looked back, seeing what could have freed her. Applejack smiled at her, clutching a vine tightly in her mouth, the other end wrapped around the creature’s ear and yanking hard. The beast roared in pain, jerking its head to the side. The vine snapped, causing Applejack to fall flat on her flank. Wasting no time, she coiled the rope up and secured it on her hip before getting to her feet.
“Ah was hopin’ to have a good lunch when this was all over,” she growled. “But it looks like it’ll have tah wait.” She lifted her hat off her head, revealing a couple apples resting on her head. She removed them and replaced her hat, before turning and kneeling down. She flipped the apples behind her and kicked with all her might, launching the ballistic fruit straight towards the manticore.
They were both perfect hits. The first smashed into its right eye with enough force to turn the apple to mush. The other one slammed into its left eye before bouncing to the floor. The beast roared, stumbling around blindly and squashing the poor second apple.
“Keep it busy Rarity, ah ain’t done yet!” Applejack grabbed her vine-rope and ran to the clearing’s edge, towards a couple trees. Rarity watched as the monster rubbed the eye that wasn’t covered in apple ooze, slowly regaining vision in it. Its eye rested on her, pure fury written all over its face. It launched itself forward, smashing a closed fist into the ground in front of her. The ground split, launching the unicorn up into the air. She shrieked as she came down, landing clumsily over by where Applejack had run off too.
“It’s all ready!” Her orange friend called out. Rarity slowly raised herself on a hoof, seeing that Applejack had tied the vine between two trees to create a tripwire.
Understanding what she had to do, Rarity got up and called for the monster, who was trying to clean the ooze from its other eye. “You cantankerous kitten! Are you too scared to fight? I thought you were a monster, not a mouse!”
Turning towards the mare, the beast raised its scorpion tail high over its head. It slowly approached, jabbing its stinger in the air a few times. As it got closer, Rarity backed away slowly, until it leapt forward and jabbed the stinger into the ground. Rarity dodged, starting to run towards the tripwire. The manticore followed, attempting to strike the pony with its tail every few seconds.
Reaching the tripwire, the unicorn jumped over it, clearing it by a few inches. Seeing her friend had succeeded, Applejack pulled the vine tighter, keeping it as taut as possible. Blinded by rage and apple mush, the beast ran forward and tripped over the cord, slamming its face into the forest floor. It stayed still, as the two ponies stepped forward to inspect it.
Two paws shout out, grabbing the ponies off the ground and startling them. They squirmed in its grasp as it stared hatefully at them. Moving Rarity into the fist Applejack was occupying, it unsheathed its claws and held them over the two struggling mares heads. It slammed its hand down.
“Leon! You let my friends go, now!”
The two mares watched as the creature’s paw stopped hurtling down on them. It unclenched its fist and let the two mares drop to the ground with a thud. It walked towards the cliff while the two ponies tiredly got to their feet. Looking to see who saved them, a large grin burst over both their faces.
“Fluttershy!”
Their meek friend stood on top of the cliff, looking no worse for the wear. She stared down at the creature. “Now tell them you’re sorry!”
The manticore grumbled before turning towards the two ponies and mewling a few incomprehensible sentences at them. Fluttershy’s expression softened. “That’s a good boy! Now come on up, you don’t want to be miss it. We’re almost done.”
Fluttershy turned to go back to the cave. The manticore rubbing its eyes clean before starting up the cliff side. Applejack called out to their friend, “Now wait a darn second Fluttershy! We’ve been lookin’ all over for ya! Ya can’t just leave us down here!”
The yellow Pegasus turned back, remembering that her friends were there. She called out to them. “Oh…so sorry, I’ve just been really busy the past few hours…could you wait just a little bit longer? Sorry for the wait…I’ll make it up to you, I have some medical supplies with me. I’ll patch you both up, just hold on a minute…if you don’t mind, that is…”
The manticore had reached the top of the cliffside by this point, and it and Fluttershy disappeared over the cliff’s face. Too tired to even attempt to try and climb the cliff, the two mares sat in the clearing in silence, resting their aching limbs. Five or so minutes later, Fluttershy reappeared over the cliff side. Holding a white case with a bright red cross sign on it, she glided down towards her friends.
She arrived and began patching them up, cleaning and bandaging any scratches or scrapes. The two weary mares were still full of questions, though.
“We’ve been looking all over for you, dear.” Rarity moaned a little as Fluttershy spread a stinging salve over her forelimb, before the stinging turned to a soothing sensation. “What happened?”
“Yeah! Ya can’t imagine what we went through ta find you. We thought ya were in danger!” Applejack chimed in.
“Oh my…maybe I should have taken the time to leave a note. I’m so sorry, this is my fault…” Fluttershy muttered, placing a small bandage on Applejack’s cheek. “The least I can do is explain…you two remember that manticore we dealt with back when we were looking for the elements of harmony?” The two mares nodded. “Well, it all began soon after that…”
Fluttershy sighed. She loved Angel, she really did, but when he was refusing to eat his lunch, it was almost enough to make her want to kick something. She quickly got rid of that thought…kicking things was much too rude, she would never…
Getting her thoughts back on track, she nudged the carrot even closer to the little white rabbit, who simply shook his head again. “Please, Angel, for me?” The rabbit looked at her out of the corner of its eye before raising its nose to the air again.
Fluttershy wracked her brain. “If you eat it, later I’ll bake you some of those carrot crisps you love so much,” she bargained. Angel merely gave her another dismissive glance. His eyes bulged as he glanced over her shoulder. He grabbed the carrot and retreated into his little wooden house, slamming the door shut.
“Oh, my. Good boy, Angel!” Fluttershy praised, turning to go back to her cottage to make good on her promise of carrot-flavored treats. Running into something, she backed up and looked to see what had snuck up behind her.
“Grwwrrwr?”
Fluttershy panicked as a manticore looked down at her, having wandered into her backyard. She calmed herself down when she recognized it as the one that she had helped out back in the Everfree forest. It stepped forward and licked her face, causing her to giggle. “Oh, it’s nice to see you too, Mr. Manticore.”
The creature seemed to hiss when its name was called, but it quickly stopped. It turned and motioned for the meek Pegasus to climb onto its back. Always a trusting pony at heart, Fluttershy gently eased herself up onto the beast’s back. After making sure she was settled, it took off into the woods.
“Whoa! W-where are you taking me, Mr. Manticore?”
It didn’t respond, simply charging on ahead, dodging tree branches and other obstacles. After a short amount of time, they’d managed to get deep into the forest, quickly approaching a cliff side. It clambered up, Fluttershy clinging to its back, before reaching the top and revealing a cave set in a rocky mountain wall. The manticore entered, motioning for the pegasus to climb down. She complied, and the manticore led her deeper into the cave. Soon it opened into a vast cave, and Fluttershy looked around in awe. It was filled to the brim with the manticore’s kin; small ones, older ones, even a baby or two were nestling on rock ledges or grumbling to their fellow manticores.
Her manticore friend led her towards the back of the cave, the other creatures gazing at the pegasus with something akin to respect, or at least having the courtesy to not devour her. At the back of the cave sat the largest manticore in the entire cave: the pride leader.
Her friend sat down next to the leader, nuzzling up to him. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry…Mrs. Manticore,” Fluttershy said, apologizing to her friend. The leader stared down at Fluttershy, as if it were judging her. After a moment, it bent down, and nuzzled the pegasus’s face with its own. It motioned towards a spot next to it, and Fluttershy stepped forward and sat where she was directed. She made herself comfortable and began to observe the manticores as they went about their day.
Fluttershy frowned, glancing across her backyard towards the woods. She still remembered the first day she’d met up with her manticore friend… after it had led her to its pride, they had allowed Fluttershy to stay and observe them. She’d learned so much, and she’d befriended quite a few of them too. Eventually, Celestia turned the reins over to Luna as the sun set and the moon took its place. Once night had set, her manticore friend had taken her home, where she documented anything useful about the species into her animal guidebook.
Since that day, the manticore would stop by every once in awhile. Sometimes it would just laze around in her backyard as the two played or relaxed; even a few of the animals had grown used to its presence. Yet on other days, the manticore would take her back to its cave to allow her to study their kind some more, befriend them, and to teach her a few things they’d somehow managed to master. Once, they even led her to a herb she’d never even heard of before, which she took home and found out it could be turned into an effective aloe substitute, or be made into a refreshing skin paste.
But her friend had randomly stopped showing up about a month ago. Fluttershy didn’t mind at first, since it sometimes took a few days before the manticore made an appearance. But days turned into weeks, which turned into a month in good time. Now, she was thinking the manticore had abandoned her. She sighed, sniffling a little. It’s alright, she probably has good reason for not coming to see you…
She raised the tea she’d made to her face, taking a long sip to calm her nerves. After nearly draining the cup, she lowered it and looked into the eyes of the manticore pride leader.
“GYAAAAAAAAAH!”
Fluttershy flew out of her chair, ducking under her backyard’s picnic table. The leader stepped over and pawed at the ground in front of her, motioning that it was all right. Opening her eyes, the pegasus crawled out from under the table, a blush all over her face.
“Err…sorry for the rudeness, Leon…” She’d given some of the manticores names awhile back; she wondered how Grumby the elder manticore had been dealing with his weak hips. She always called the first manticore ‘friend‘, though. “You startled me…but that didn’t give me any right to get scared.” A thought of her friend jolted through her mind. “Is your mate alright? What’s happened to her? I haven’t seen her in so long…please, tell me she’s okay…”
The pride lord glanced up at the sun, seeming to note that time was running short. Taking no time to answer questions, it gently picked up Fluttershy in its mouth, grabbing her by her back. It quickly bolted into the woods, leaving paw prints in the muddy ground as it went. Fluttershy simply stayed quiet the whole ride; she should have been worried a monster had her in its jaws, but she was as relaxed as ever. She knew it was taking her to reunite with her friend.
Fluttershy finished up her story, putting the finishing touches on caring for her friends wounds. “I’m sorry again for the trouble I caused you two…” she apologized.
“It’s quite alright, dearie.” Rarity, feeling much better, got to her feet. “But it’s getting late, and we should probably get back home. No doubt someone has to have noticed our disappearance by now.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I’ve finished my work here…” A smile slowly crossed her face. “And I think I’ll be seeing more of my friend, too. And an extra friend, as well.”
As if on cue, the pride leader walked onto the top of the cliff face. Looking behind it, a smile seemed to dance across its face as a familiar manticore strode forward and sat down beside it. Blushing at the memory that last time they’d met, Rarity had kicked this manticore hard in the face, Rarity tried to stay out of sight. She poked her head back out when yet another manticore stepped out onto the cliff.
It was just a baby, probably even a newborn. With no mane and the tiniest little scorpion tail, it wobbled out onto the cliff face and slipped, trying to get a hang of walking. The leader picked it up with its teeth, coming down the cliffside with it, Fluttershy’s manticore following after it. The leader mumbled to Fluttershy, who nodded. “Thank you so much for offering to take us back home, Leon.” The large manticore placed the baby on the yellow pony’s back before kneeling down, motioning for the ponies to climb aboard. Making sure to keep the baby on her back, Fluttershy climbed up, her friends right behind her.
After making sure they were all up, the leader stood. Fluttershy’s manticore came over and nuzzled the baby, as well as giving Fluttershy a lick. She giggled, waved goodbye, and the leader took off.
The three watched the baby manticore roll around in the leader’s mane for awhile, watching it squirm around in the tangled locks. Eventually, Rarity spoke up. “You never did say why you were brought out here, dear.”
Fluttershy blinked. “Oh…my apologies…that baby rolling around in Leon’s hair? That’s Manny, the newest manticore. He belongs to Leon himself…and my friend.”
Applejack scratched the manticore cub under the chin, smiling as it purred. “So yer sayin’ that you were brought out here ta watch it?”
“Oh, no. He was born no more than an hour ago…I had to help deliver him.”
Rarity and Applejack shuddered, trying not to imagine what Fluttershy had been up to for the past few hours. Then they took a look at Manny, who was batting at his scorpion tail, and decided that whatever she’d had to do, it was worth it. The trio played with the baby until the lights of Ponyville appeared in the distance.
Rarity groaned. “Oh, I’m definitely going to need a bath after all this. But to be honest, I’m going to miss this little guy.” She stroked its back, listening to it purr. Applejack voiced her agreement.
“Well…no one ever said you could never see him again. Maybe next time my friend comes to visit, we can pick you up and we can all go see Manny together…If you want, that is.”
Rarity conjured up a thought of being surrounded by manticores in a small, filthy cave. “I’ll have to think about it, dea-…” She was silenced as Applejack quickly elbowed the unicorn in the ribs.
“What she’s tryin’ to say is, we’d be happy to.” Rarity shot the orange pony a glare as Fluttershy smiled.
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” The trio saw Fluttershy’s cottage approaching fast. Preparing to depart, they all gave Manny some pats or scratches before Leon came to a stop. They gave him their thanks and turned to enter the cottage, ready to relax after such an exhausting day. Applejack was busy reminding Rarity that she still had to help her with the harvest tomorrow as she closed the door behind her.
Manny scooted up his father’s mane, wanting one more look at the yellow pony that had been there when he first came into the world. He gave a little mew, his father reaching up with his tail and stroking his son’s back with the flat of it. He growled, reassuring Manny that soon, they could see her again. With one last look at the cottage, the two set off into the woods. They were goin’ home, and they knew that Leon’s mate, and Manny’s mother, would be waiting right there for them.