The Life and Times of an Alchemist Turned Pony

by Thadius0

Side Chapter 1 - How NOT to tame your manticore

Author's Note:

This chapter written by recentteen14.

Fluffy was a manticore, a free thinker, a pony in the skin of a beast, in a way. He was also running for his hide again. His only thoughts could be summed up with "Gotta get away," "Those fillies are crazy," and "Why isn't the town panicking yet." He considered stopping for a moment, before realizing that would be a very bad idea when he heard a shout behind him.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MANTICORE TAMERS YAY!"

How had this happened to him yet again? Let's rewind a little bit, to the day before.

---

"Tell me again, Bloom, why are we in the Everfree?"

"Ah told ya, we're gettin our cutie marks in forest exploration! Besides, we can visit Zecora if we run into any trouble."

"Rarity is going to be angry when she finds out..."

"Then we won't let our sisters find out! After all, who needs to know?"

Fluffy sighed to himself. He had gone for a walk and had run into... This. Three little fillies wandering into the Everfree was just BEGGING for trouble. He decided to get them home the fastest way possible. He jumped out from behind a tree and landed in front of them, roaring as he did so. This would scare them off... For... Sure?

"Wow, a manticore! Do you think I can keep it? It's awesome!"

This... wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"Darn it Scoots, you can't keep a Manticore! Do you know what the town would do?"

"Oh yeah? You've got Winona, Sweetie has Opal, and I need a pet more awesome than both of them!"

"A manticore? More awesome than Winona? Winona is the best pet ever! She's part of the family!"

"Girls?"

"Part of the family? Is that what you tell her to rope her into doing your chores for you?"

"Mah chores? I do mah chores mahsel-"

"Girls? I think he's friendly."

At this, Applebloom and Scootaloo turned around to see Sweetie Belle sitting next to the Manticore, rubbing at his belly while his tongue lolled out like a dog. Fluffy initially wanted to keep them out of harms way, but the belly rubs just felt so good...

"Huh. So, do ya think the town would let me keep him if they saw this?"

"Ah doubt it, but maybe we could do it in secret. Hey, we could be..."

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MANTICORE TAMERS YAY!"

Fluffy suddenly felt a net drop on him, and he was place in a wheelbarrow being pulled by a scooter? What the hay was going on!?

"Girls, next time you're going to put something in a net, could ya warn me first so I can get out of the way and not get caught with it?"

"Sorry Sweetie..."

Sweetie grumbled something under her breath, but to her credit she was scritching Fluffy behind his ears while she did so. Were they taking him out of the forest? At least this couldn't be all bad... After all, with three innocent fillies, what's the worst that could happen?

---

The three fillies had taken Fluffy around the outskirts of the town to a tree house. It was a good sized tree house, Fluffy had to admit. He wondered who had built it for the three. After all, none of them had a cutie mark in construction, so it couldn't possibly be one of them... Right?

"Alright Mister Manticore, we're here! No funny business now."

"Can you two get the net off of me already?"

"But you looked so happy scratching him behind the ears..."

"T-That's not the point!"

Fluffy felt the net be removed from him, and the filly that was trapped with him got off of him. He stood and stretched.

"Why did ya let the Manticore out? How are we gunna get him in the clubhouse now?"

"Ask him nicely?"

"That'll never work! This is a Manticore we're talking about! He won't understand us until we tame him and teach him how-"

Sweetie Belle looked up at Fluffy with wide eyes. "Will you come into our clubhouse with us?"

Fluffy looked at the filly and felt his heart stop, before nodding and climbing into the clubhouse. That filly was dangerous... Good thing she didn't know how to weaponize her cuteness more effectively, or else all of Newvale would be bowing to her.

"That actually worked? OH COME ON!"

"How the hay can you tame my new pet better than I can!"

"I've had a lot of practice with Opal, and I think he should be my pet."

"You've already got a pet!"

"Why not make him the clubhouse pet then?"

"Hey, yeah, that's a great idea!"

"I still say he should be mine..."

Fluffy just looked down at the three fillies, snickering to himself about how cute they were. He would have to go home later, but for now he could humor them. He opened the door and went inside, wondering if there was any tea.

He waited inside for a few minutes before poking his head back out. Were the fillies gone? Huh. They had forgotten about him. Maybe it was because the sun was starting to set. He didn't feel like walking all the way home in the night, so he laid down inside the clubhouse and fell asleep.

---

Fluffy woke up to something poking him. He tried to wave it away, but it was insistant on waking him up. He cracked open an eye and saw the three fillies from the other day staring at him.

"Do ya think he's dead?"

"Nah, he's our new pet! He wouldn't die that easily!"

"Girls, he's waking up! You know what time it is!"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MANTICORE TAMERS YAY!"

Fluffy shook his head a little and tried to go back to sleep. It was too early in the morning to do this...

"Hey, he's trying to go back to sleep! You know what we do to bad Manticores, right girls?"

"Quick Sweetie, hoof over the makeup!"

"Rarity will be angry with us for this, I just know it..."

"Girls, lets get started!"

Fluffy opened his eyes. That was a lot of makeup. THAT WAS A LOT OF MAKEUP. He couldn't move, he had somehow been tied to the wall. He could only watch in horror as the three got started...

The next two hours were blotted out from Fluffy's memory. All he could remember was that he eventually managed to rip himself from the wall and fling himself out the door. The three had started to chase him on the scooter, and they had chased him into the middle of town.

---

He finally got away... He couldn't hear them anymore. Turning around, he saw that they had crashed into another pony. They were now poking at him. Fluffy was tempted to go back to save him, but he was still in the middle of town. While the chase had gotten him pretty dirty, he still had a lot of makeup on from his encounter with the nightmare trio. He was determined to get home and wash this off before anypony saw him.

Then he realized he was in the middle of town and everypony was staring at him, some in horror, and some trying to hold in laughter. He groaned and wished he could disappear... Wimpering, he tried to make himself as small as possible while looking for an escape - There was only one, and it was towards the three fillies. Time for Plan B.

He ran towards the thick of the ponies in the exact opposite direction of the Crusaders and jumped, intending to glide over them. They scattered, and he spread his wings to glide. Unfortunately, he didn't get much air, and ended up crashing into a house. Shaking his head, he got back up and ran until he was back in the Everfree before collapsing at the edge of the woods. Running from his fellow manticores for hours on end? No problem. Running from the nightmare trio and escaping from the middle of town? Never again. At least he was safe now, even if he was still covered in makeup.

"O-Oh... My..."

Scratch that, there was still a pony around. Groaning internally, he looked up and saw Fluttershy. This brought a small smile to his face, since she was one of the few ponies that wouldn't run from the sight of him, but then he remembered the makeup and tried to hide himself.

"Oh, it's alright... Why not come home with me and I'll help you get cleaned up? T-That is... If you want to..."

Fluffy sighed in defeat. It had been too long of a day to keep running away... He stood up and walked towards Fluttershy. At least the nightmare trio wouldn't be able to get him now... He was safe. Though, the next time he saw them in the woods, he would run the other way. He felt sorry for the pony he had left with them, and while he wanted to go back and save him, it was a bad idea in every way. Hopefully that pony would forgive him if they ever met again, but for now, he couldn't wait to get home.

Comments

[SeventhBrony]

oh GOD oh poor Fluffy!!! I knew had figured something along these lines but GEEZE oh my poor sides they hurt SO much

4310916 well I was close, VERY close

[rikusorasephiroth]

Fluffy NEEDS to learn to peak at some point.
I don't care when or how, but it HAS to happen.

[GameHunter]

"How the hay can you tame my new pet better then I can!"

"Oh yeah? You've got Winona, Sweetie has Opal, and I need a pet more awesome then both of them!"

"A manticore? More awesome then Winona?"

Seems the writer typed then, instead of than

[Thadius0]

4337252
Editing!

[Grahf]

but to her credit she was scritching Fluffy

minor mistake scratching

[Spc jacko]

Scritching Is correct. Its when you lightly scratch behind the ears. Scraching cause harm.

[isjor1]

Cutie mark crusaders
natures natural repellent

[PilgrimAngst]

Any other manticore and they would be… THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, APPITIZERS YAY!!!

[Central Consciousness]

4341068 don't be silly what would an appetizer cutie mark look like

[booklover41]

4714708 cupcakes

[Jake Witt]

4714708

Magic Horse Brand: Horse Meat?

[Razzy]

Poor Fluffy.

[ThatBadGuy]

Famous last words you hear:

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GELDERS, YAY!!”

[Hurryon_Dragon]

5540084
this video scares me