Chapter 8
“For the last time, Fluttershy, I don’t want a bunny.”
“But look at him, he’s just so cutsie wutsie!”
Alan sighed. Why was he having such a hard time getting this across to her? “Look, Fluttershy. I’m looking for something quick, carnivorous, and deadly. I’m sick of eating nothing but eggs and fish, and having to pick dandelions and grass out of my salads. I want something that can hunt.”
“But...um...it’s a bunny...”
Alan sighed again. “Look, let’s make this a little easier. Do you have any birds?”
“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy nodded happily, “I have a lot of birds, actually, I’ll be right back.” she said, before flying off into the sky.
Alan gave yet another sigh. Finally he was making some progress.
It was springtime now. Winter having been officially wrapped up, on time even. It was now that Alan had made a rather shocking discovery.
He didn’t have anything else to eat.
His small stock of fish had been completely wiped out in those three months where the lakes had been frozen over, and he really wanted some meat.
Of course, the only other option for meat was poultry, but he had no idea where he was going to get chickens. That was when a thought hit him, who said it needed to be chicken? Riding on this new discovery, Alan then turned to the idea of bird hunting, and eventually Falconry.
With that, Alan turned to the one pony he knew had at least one bird. After all, you can’t hunt with a falcon if you don’t have one.
Fluttershy then returned, bringing a flock of birds behind her.
“Now, uh, we have Mrs. Hummingbird, Mr. Toucan, Mr. and Mrs. Finch, they come as a pair, Mrs. Swan, Mr. Mallard, he likes to be called Drake, and then we have Mr. —”
“Fluttershy, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need something that can hunt. Like a falcon or something.”
“Oh,” She paused, before looking up at him, “well, I’m...um...getting there, can you...um...wait a little bit, if that would be ok with you?”
Alan sighed again, what was that? The fifth now? Was he getting old or something? “Go ahead,” he said to the yellow pegasus, who began to go down a long list of birds, tropical, waterfowl, gamefowl, and the like.
“Now comes the carnivores.” Fluttershy said, “First is Mrs. Osprey. Then, Mr. Peregrine, he is actually very fast, and then is...”
Alan’s eyes, however, were caught by one bird near the end of the line. 30 inches tall, the white-headed, hook-beaked eagle stood with as much pride and majesty as was befitting his species.
“And this is Miss Bald Eagle.”
Correction, her species.
“I’ll take her.” Alan said.
“What?” Fluttershy asked, having moved on to a raven.
“I’ll take Miss Bald Eagle.”
Fluttershy looked between them, Alan holding the glare that the yellow-eyed eagle was giving him. “Um...” Fluttershy said, “Uh...Alan, could I talk to you, over here, if that’s...um...alright with you...”
“Sure.” Alan said, a smile on his lips as he looked the bird over again, before following Fluttershy to out of earshot. “What is it Fluttershy?”
“I...um...don’t think getting Miss Bald Eagle is a good idea...”
“Why not?”
“She...well...she tends to be very independent...”
Alan gave a smirk, “A free spirit?”
Fluttershy nodded, “She’s driven away anypony that’s tried to take her away from here...I...I don’t think it’s a good idea...”
Alan only smiled bigger. “Well, let me talk to her first, and we’ll see where it goes from there, alright?”
Fluttershy gave a hesitant nod. “Alright, but be careful...”
Alan nodded before going back to the bald eagle as it stood there, two and a half feet tall and just as proud. “Hello, there, Miss.”
The eagle gave him a glare.
Pets, Alan wondered at them, here in this universe. They had a higher consciousness than the wild animals, and they were very close to being sapient. They seemed completely unable to perform speech, but seemed able to understand perfectly. They had personalities and attitudes, feelings and even logic, bordering that of the ponies themselves. Yet they couldn’t build, nor speak, an odd thing, honestly.
“Are you happy here?” Alan asked.
The bird nodded, curiosity creeping into her eyes.
“Miss Fluttershy treats you well,” Alan said, “You’re able to come and go as you please, you’re always well fed. It must be nice here, huh?”
The eagle nodded again, cocking its head to the side.
“You hunt, don’t you?”
The eagle shook its head.
“Really? Why not?”
She pointed towards the pegasus with one of her wings.
“Ah, of course, Fluttershy’s strict no-hunting rule, I forgot, sorry.” Alan said, turning back to the bird. “I understand you don’t like it when people try to take you away.”
The bird smirked, an interesting expression on a beak.
“I’m not going to do that to you.” Alan said.
That earned a shocked look.
“My country, you see, when it was founded, was under oppression. They were bleeding us dry of everything we had, and they just kept taking. Food? Gone. Water? Gone. Property? Gone. Whatever they wanted they took, in the name of their king. And then they turned around and had the gall to sell it back to us.
“Well,” Alan said, “we got sick of that real fast. So we told them that we were our own country, with our own government, our own rules, and our own taxes. They weren’t that happy with that, so they sent soldiers to crush our ‘rebellion.’
“We fought for freedom, and we died for it.” Alan said, looking the bird right in her yellow eye. “After many men died, and after many more bled for the ground we stood on, we won. We then said, that every man, woman and child would be equal, and they would all have a choice. Now, I wouldn’t be much of a patriot if I took away that choice for our national bird, would I?”
She looked at him again with a new look on her face, a mix of curiosity, thankfulness, and empathy for the thing that felt her need for freedom.
“So, here’s my offer, you spend a day or so with me, and then you decide what you want to do, whether it’s live with me or Miss Fluttershy, or even in the wild if you want, it would all be up to you.” he said, holding out his hand for her to perch on.
She looked at him, then to his hand, and back and forth a few times.
Finally she brought one of her talons gently on his finger. The other followed and she slowly shuffled to his forearm, being careful not to draw blood.
Alan smiled, “Thank you for giving it consideration.” he said, before running his free hand down her neck.
Fluttershy’s eyes went wide for a second before the biggest smile grew on her face. “Oh, yay!” she ‘yelled,’ “Oh, I’m so happy for you two! This will be so good for both of you!”
Alan chuckled before saying, “Now now, Fluttershy, the little miss here has to make her choice.”
The bird gave a smile, before taking a quick look around.
Alan gave the sky a look, wondering what she saw with those eyes of her.
He was met with a black, billowing cloud of smoke.
Fluttershy followed his gaze. “Oh...my...”
“Well,” Alan whispered to himself, “Let’s go meet a dragon then, shall we.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan just watched as Fluttershy went from pony to pony, hopelessly trying to explain the situation, while receiving a glare from the eagle on his shoulder.
It was odd looking up at a thing that was on his shoulder.
“What?” He asked the bird, “You want me to send them all into a panic? Someone will arrive with an official statement, with instructions on how to proceed, just yelling right now would make the situation worse.”
She lessened her stare, but continued to eye him.
“Wonderful first impression...” Alan grumbled to himself.
Sure enough, though, Twilight Sparkle made her appearance, “Listen up!” she cried, “Smoke is spreading over all of Equestria.”
The gathered ponies, suddenly aware of the danger for the first time, turned their heads to the sky, finally noticing the ominous cloud overhead.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to—” Fluttershy began, most still ignoring the quiet voice.
“But don’t worry.” Twilight continued, unknowingly interrupting the pegasus, “I have received a letter informing me that it is not coming from a fire.”
A collective sigh went through the crowd.
“It’s coming from a dragon.”
Alan watched as the crowd, relaxed a calm a second ago had erupted into chaos.
The Eagle’s glare was practically burning through him.
“Ok, so maybe she needs to take a few speech classes, but at least it’s the official word.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan doubled checked his checklist, a habit he had picked up from his housemate, before using his checklist to check his pack.
Snacks? Check. Rope? Check. He was glad he brought his rope. Coat for the altitude, the same duster-like coat he wore during winter? Check. Knives strapped to his belt? Check. Judgement? Double check. Canteen filled with water? Check. Keychain firestarter? Check. Giant bird on his shoulder? Check.
“Yeah, the library is a nice enough place to live.” Alan said to the bird, “Not too much space inside, but you’ll have all the room you’d ever want outside.”
The bird simply looked around, before flying off. Perching on one of the bookcases, she showed off her almost 6 ft. wingspan. She seemed to test the bookshelf before flying to another across the way, a pleased look on her beak.
“Are you packed yet, Alan?” Twilight impatiently asked from the door.
“Almost, just making one last check!” Going through the bag again, Alan gave a satisfactory nod before putting on one of the gloves Rarity had made him. As tough as leather, the glove was a miracle of fabric, being both as warm as wool, but as cool as cotton. “I’ll be right down!” he yelled, coming down the stairs, holding out his hand.
The eagle swooped down, and perched perfectly on the gloved hand. “Alright, let’s go.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
“Alright, ladies, and Alan, listen up.” Twilight said, pacing down her line of troops. “I’m mapping out the fastest route, but we’re going to have to keep a good pace if we expect to get up the mountain by nightfall.”
“M-m-m-mountain?” Fluttershy asked nervously.
“The Dragon is sleeping in that cave at the very top.” Twi said, pointing to a tall, lone mountain in the distance.
“Looks pretty cold up there.” Applejack commented, noting the snow through the thick smoke.
“You bet it is!” Rainbow Dash said, “The higher you go, the chillier it gets.”
“Good thing I brought my scarf.” Rarity smiled, pulling out a white and pink striped scarf, which she expertly wrapped around her neck.
An impressive feat, Alan thought, considering she did it with her mouth.
“Ooh, pretty.” Pinkie admired, especially loving the color scheme.
“Oh, yeah,” Dash said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “that will keep you nice and cozy.”
Hardly anyone noticed as Fluttershy gulped.
Alan watched it all go by, Fluttershy trying to get her way out of it with polite excuses, only to have Twilight prepare for them, to the point where she had nothing left to keep her. Then came the rather embarrassing part where she jumped into a bush, hiding from her own shadow.
Alan moved over to the bush, and picked the small pegasus out. She squirmed in his grip, both wanting to continue hiding, but yearning for a friend's comforting embrace. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I’m here with you.”
The pegasus looked up at him, whispering, “Could we just stay here? Can’t I just stay here? I’d probably just hold everypony back, anyway.”
Alan gave her a smile, “No, Fluttershy, you can’t stay, we need you. But I’ll be here with you, every step of the way.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
The walk up the mountain was long and hard. The steep incline gave barely enough hoof- and footholds, and the increasingly cold weather was not helping.
Nor was the extra 65 pounds Alan was carrying.
Fluttershy was still in his arms. The poor pony had frozen up a few times with the irregular snoring of the dragon. The eagle on his shoulder was watching him intently.
Alan was a strange creature, the eagle thought. It was absolutely unlike anything it had ever seen before. It was confident, and strong, and yet it seemed fairly fragile.
Even now she could feel an artery beneath his shoulder, all she had to do was stick her talon like so, and he would die.
It claimed to be a carnivore, but it held Miss Fluttershy more gently than one of those pathetic plant eaters would. But he did not share their cowardice. He stood tall, he walked proud, he moved with confidence. She was sure that if he had wings, they would be strong, nimble, and quick. Everything a hunter would be.
Another earth-rumbling snore echoed through the world, and Fluttershy gave a small convulsion, as if she had had a stroke.
Alan didn’t even flinch, instead, he brought his face down to the pegasus, “It’s okay, Fluttershy, it’s okay.”
What strange hunters they must make. They have no claws, no talons, no fur to keep them warm in the long hunts, no wings to fly, just stubby fingers and a face that was not even properly shaped for biting. Yet there was something about him, something that told her deep within the darkest, most feral parts of her mind that he was a threat, a terror, a master that would be obeyed or else.
And yet, he was so kind. So caring for this pegasus who, she would admit, needed a backbone transplant.
It was odd on just so many levels.
“I don’t think climbing the mountain in the dark is a good idea.” Alan said, the sun setting behind them.
“Well we would have gotten there faster if somebody would hurry it up a little!” Twilight said, emphasizing the humanized version of the word.
“Well sorry if I can’t climb the mountain with my hands full!”
“Then just put Fluttershy down already! She has wings and legs, she can climb herself.”
Alan looked down at the yellow pegasus, before turning back up to the purple unicorn, “Alright, alright, so it’s my fault, ok? That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a bad idea to climb the mountain after dark.”
Twilight grumbled, “This should have been taken care of by now!” she yelled before magically tossing her saddlebags off onto an outcropping that the mountain unwittingly provided. The other four ponies gave grateful groans as they unloaded their bags off their backs. Dash simply fell to the ground from where she flew, moaning in pleasure as she finally had the chance to stop moving. Pinkie and Applejack, both having either worked harder, or simply just had more energy, simply sat. Rarity, meanwhile, looked for the cleanest rock to fall against.
Alan slowly placed Fluttershy down, while the eagle took to a nearby branch. Sitting down, Alan took out his coat and firestarter. “I’ll be right back guys.” He said, slipping on his coat and drawing his knife.
Twilight grumbled something about lazy partners and due dates, but everyone else one was fairly quiet.
Fluttershy watched as everypony set up a rudimentary campsite, gathering loose bits of grass and pine needles to lay on. Rarity, though, seemed content with her fairly clean rock.
It took a while, but Alan returned, a bundle of sticks in his hands, and setting up a ring of stones, he began to set up a tepee of sticks. Looking around, he then quickly grabbed a chunk of Dash’s makeshift mattress and stuffed it into the tepee.
“Hey! I’m sleeping on that!” she protested, giving him a pathetically feeble glare.
“You’ll thank me later.” Alan said, before taking out a small black stick on a ring.
Bringing his knife to the stick, he slid the two together, sending sparks flying.
“Woah!” Rainbow said, having never seen so many sparks before. Alan ignored her trivial amazement, and began to focus on the small flame that had caught from Dash’s “volunteered” resources.
Softly blowing on the flame, Alan expertly coaxed a good fire, and before long, he had a respectable fire crackling away.
As the ponies tiredly gathered around the fire, eager for warmth in the frigid night air of the mountain, Applejack began handing out apples and apple juice. They all took one of each, passing the saddlebag along.
Alan ate his apple, and drank his juice, but still felt hungry. “Hey,” he said to the bird, “Do you want to get us something while there is still some light out?”
She simply spread her wings and took off in response.
“Thanks!” Alan called after her.
“Ya still hungry Alan?” Applejack asked incredulously.
“I have a bigger stomach than you.” Alan replied.
“Well, Ah would have packed more food had Ah known we were going to be gone this long.”
“Yeah, sorry about that guys.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it dear,” Rarity said, “After all, you were simply looking out for Fluttershy.”
“Yeah,” Alan said, remembering his earlier excuse “It’s just she looked really tired when we started out, I didn’t want her falling behind.”
Fluttershy remained silent.
“Yes.” Twilight said, having composed herself a little, “And even though we are going to more than nine hours behind schedule, it was a nice thing to do.”
“You’re going to hold this over my head for forever, aren’t you?”
“You’re making me tardy.” Twilight replied, “I am never tardy.”
Alan chuckled,until he noticed Twi’s deadpanned face.
Alan simply sipped at his canteen. “So...uh...did anypony bring anything for smores?” he asked.
“Why would we have brought—” Twi began.
“Yup!” Pinkie said, digging into her saddlebag, “I got all we need right here!”
“Why am I not surprised...”
Alan chuckled before quickly sharpening a few of the sticks he had brought to hold marshmallows. Before long, seven marshmallows were browning away near the fire, while the small crowd talked.
The eagle came back, eventually, a small fox in its talons.
While the sight of the dead creature had sent Fluttershy into a swoon, the others simply looked at it sadly. Alan, Twi noticed, shared the look before closing his eyes and muttering, “Thank you for your sacrifice, and may you forever dance in the fields of heaven.”
Alan then took a quick opportunity to move away from the camp before skinning, cleaning, and dividing the meat between him and the bird. The eagle seemed more than happy for the leg it was given, provided of course that it got some of the cooked stuff Alan was preparing while trying his best not to sicken everypony around.
In their defense, they did their best to hide the disgusted looks on their faces.
Alan cooked it as quickly as possible, doing his best to get it off the flames fast enough to keep the ponies from gagging on the fumes, but still get the meat cooked. Once that was done, he stretched the skin out next to the fire, close but not too close.
“What are you doing with that?” Dash asked, a bitter taste in her mouth.
“Drying it.” Alan said, “If Miss Eagle here chooses to stay then I need something to go on my shoulder. Talons don’t feel that nice you know?”
“Ok.” Twilight began, “This is why eating meat is wrong. It’s just disgusting!”
“That’s your best counterpoint?” Alan asked, “That meat is disgusting?”
“Can you even smell it?” Twi asked, “It smells disgusting!”
“It smells delicious! The biggest problem is there isn’t enough meat on it!”
Pinkie watched this go back and forth, munching on her smore.
Dash, Applejack, and Rarity all simply ate their snacks before rolling over and going to sleep.
Twilight and Alan continued their debate, while Luna rose the moon at Canterlot, each poking at the other while Alan ate.
“Well excuse my tragically human stomach for finding grass inedible!”
“You killed a living, breathing, creature for no reason.”
“I killed it because I was hungry.”
“It was a living thing.”
“A living thing that had no soul, and would probably kill bunnies or chickens if it had roamed free.”
“Um...Twilight...” Fluttershy began.
“How do you know it didn’t have a soul?” Twi asked, directed at the human.
“How do you know plants don’t?”
“Twilight...” Fluttershy said, a little louder.
“Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about murder.”
“No. We’re talking about hunting.”
“Twilight.” Fluttershy said, finally catching the unicorn’s attention.
“What, Fluttershy?”
“I think Alan is in the right.”
Both debaters stopped. “What?” they asked in unison.
“He is simply doing what he is meant to do. He is doing what comes naturally. We naturally eat grass, he naturally eats—”
Another dragon snore erupted.
“Eep!” Fluttershy cried, ducking behind Alan.
Alan gave her a gentle pat on the head, “Perhaps we should continue this conversation another time, Twi.”
Twilight nodded.
“Go ahead and get some sleep.” Alan said, “I’ll make sure the fire’s still going.”
Twi went to sleep, casting a worried, curious glance towards the pegasus, before finding a good patch of grass to lay on.
Fluttershy shook like a leaf as the dragon snore echoed along the mountain side. Alan watched her. “Poor girl,” he muttered before wrapping his arm around her, “Try to get some sleep, Fluttershy.”
“I don’t think I can.” she whispered.
“Don’t worry. I’m right here.” Alan reached his hand behind her head, and stroked her ear, “I’m right here.”
Eventually, Fluttershy’s eyes closed and her breathing steadied.
She dreamed she was in a field, surrounded by flowers and butterflies. Every now and then it was ripped apart by an earthquake, only to have it come back together with the words of a voice saying, “Don’t worry. I’m right here...”
<<<|Ω|>>>
The next morning came, and as it did, the six ponies and single human climbed up to the lip of the mountain just outside the cave.
Placing Fluttershy down, Alan yawned. He had stayed up the entire night, keeping the fire lit while also reassuring Fluttershy through the night. She had nearly woken up fourteen times, each due to the loud snoring of the dragon.
“Alright.” Alan said, “You guys wake me up when things go horribly wrong, alright?”
“Things will not go horribly wrong!” Twilight said.
“Sure they won’t.” Alan yawned.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Well.
Things went horribly wrong.
Fluttershy’s previously-unmentioned Dracophobia had made things incredibly difficult. Instead of her original plan of two expert negotiators, she had had to go in alone. Of course, without the animal expert’s backup, Twi had found herself inhaling more smoke than she wanted to for a lifetime.
Rarity went in next, and did exceptionally well. Until she mentioned the jewels the creature was hoarding.
Then Pinkie went in with her...whatever plan she had. That worked out about as well as expected.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy hid behind a fairly large rock, and Alan was napping away.
“Keep it down will you?”
Trying to nap.
Of course that would explain all of the snicker-like snores she kept hearing from that direction.
And now, Rainbow Dash was upset, her infinite patience surprisingly at its end.
So, what would she do, but charge directly into the cave?
Horribly, horribly wrong.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The Dragon gave its first honest to goodness roar, an ear-splitting, earth-rumbling bellow that shook the mountain.
Alan stood, sword drawn, and gulped.
Admittedly, he would feel much better if the Dragon hadn’t singled him out with the single name, “Pendragon.”
Apparently, Arthur had a few draconian enemies.
A breath of fire leapt at the human, and Alan jumped out of the way, the tail of his coat smoldering. Rolling, Alan barely missed the giant claw coming down on him, and was very glad he had taken off his pack. “A little help, here, guys!”
Twilight quickly summoned a few mana ponies, each picking up a stick to attack the dragon. A distraction, mostly. Rainbow Dash began dive bombing the dragons head, hoping to get the thing off of Alan. Applejack bucked at its legs, a more futile attempt than Dash's. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon from the hammer space she seemed to have infinite access to, and began launching confetti at the rampaging reptile. Rarity, at first panicking, managed to collect herself, and began sending out every light-based illusion she knew at the creature’s eyes.
Roaring in anger, the Dragon blindly swept its arm around, sending Alan, Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity all against a rock, dispelling the spells, and sending the cannon flying.
Now that it could see again, it quickly grabbed the thing flying around its head and sent the rainbow-colored pony to the pile of living things that would be its next meal.
The one tickling his leg was next.
With the six living things all in one pile, he decided that they needed a taste of their own blinding medicine. With a deep breath, a thick black plume of smoke surrounded the five ponies and human. The wind itself strong enough to split the weak, sedimentary boulder behind them.
That’s when the dragon saw the small, yellow, pink maned pegasus behind it.
She looked up at him, his hunter eyes recognizing the fear and terror in them. Then she looked down on his soon to be prey, and he noticed something.
Her posture changed; her back straightened, her wings spread, and she looked him square in the eyes. “Nobody messes with my friends!” the fear was gone, the timidness was gone, the only things there were her two eyes, and they were as fierce as those of a warrior. As strong as iron.
The dragon cowered.
Oh sweet Faust above, what had he done?
<<<|Ω|>>>
The trip down the mountain took only five hours, compared to the 15 of going up.
Their mission had been a total success. The dragon had been told, in no uncertain terms, that he had to go. He was also told to not attack the nice human, who most certainly was not Arthur. Fluttershy now, well, fluttered down the mountain, hovering next to Alan the entire way.
Alan walked, smiling with the eagle on his shoulder, as Fluttershy showered him with thanks. “Oh, I just know I wouldn’t have been able to climb the mountain if you hadn’t been there for me, Alan.”
“It was nothing, Fluttershy.”
“Oh but it was everything. If you hadn’t gotten me up there, then we wouldn't have been able to move the dragon, and then, everything would be covered by smoke, and all of the little animals in the fields and meadows would be...”
You know, for someone so shy, Fluttershy really gushed when it came to animals.
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “Besides, if you hadn’t been there, we would probably be still climbing the mountain.”
Alan didn’t say anything.
Mostly because when it came to running, the ponies far outclassed him.
They probably could have made it fine if he weren't so darn slow.
“There must be something I can do to thank you, Alan.” Fluttershy said.
“No.” Alan replied, simply, “You’re a friend, it was the least I could do, besides, you’ve given me the major supply of my food for the past five months now.”
“Yes, but this was really important. I just have to do something for you.”
Alan rolled his eyes, it seemed there was no dissuading the pegasus.
Geez, there was just too much weight on him. Rolling his shoulder and craning his neck, Alan felt a pop and a release as his vertebrae snapped back into place.
The eagle seemed to take that as a hint, and took to the air above him to give his shoulder a rest.
Alan never noticed the pegasus and eagle talking together above him.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Opening the door to Twilight’s library, Alan slumped into the cool tree.
“Are you alright, Alan?” Twi asked.
“No, but it serves me right for saying ‘I’ll catch up.’” he said with a smirk before standing back up.
Twilight took his bag from him, catching it in the lavender aura of her magic.
“Have you seen the bird?” Alan asked, laboriously climbing the stairs.
“Owliscious?”
“The eagle.”
“Oh.” Twilight said, giving him a gentle push as he went upstairs. “She took off with Fluttershy last I saw her.”
“Ponyfeathers.” Alan muttered, “Well, looks like I’m going back tomorrow, probably to get a falcon or something.”
“You’re not going back for her?” Twi asked.
“No, it’s her choice, that was the whole point. You know, freedom and all that jazz.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, “Because Fluttershy left you a note saying that Miss Bald Eagle just wanted one night to say goodbye to everyone.”
Alan looked at her and blinked. “She’s decided to stay?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh...” Alan said, before climbing back up the stairs, “Now to just figure out a good name.”
--------------------------------
Two more pony centric chapters, then the gala, and then season two, after that, things go to hell.
“But I don’t like hell, their summers are too intense.”
Well too bad.
“Humph.”
Anyways, guys, thanks for reading so far.
“Yeah, and thank you for all of the favorites and watches and comments, and be sure to leave some more of those.”
See ya next time, Bye!
Hm...It makes sense that Fluttershy would be the first to admit that maybe a species that can eat meat, and has been doing it forever, isn't quite a complete monster for killing a non-sentien/sapient animal for food. As she does take care of some carnivorous animals.
I like this.
Well, now that was a really good chapter. Enough changes in the episode to include him but still left enough in there for Fluttershy to still grow as a pony. Clear, descriptive, and kept my attention and entertaining. Thank you very much for another really good chapter. It also kept making me go d'aaaww at Fluttershy the whole time too. I still look forward to many more chapters.
980055
Oh, thank heaven...Honestly I felt that this chapter would have been a disaster, it felt rushed among a few other things, glad to know it was entertaining.
Bleh, this story still does not have enough thumbs up for the quality of writing. Good chapter, I'd have a hard time not messing things up with foreknowledge myself. I suppose there's plenty of time for that though, what with butterfly wings and hurricanes (wait, aren't both of those things Fluttershy?) I'm guessing the timeline is going to slowly get more dissimilar from canon as Alan keeps making more minor changes? I'm looking forward to it.
On that note, are you going to use the episode "it's about time" for one of your chapters? That could be amusing, and fits in to this line of thought.
981918
That was actually the whole point of the first part of the story.
And no, we won't actually be seeing too many season two episdoes, due to "SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER" so it's about time won't actually show up.
I liked the eagle's POV. It was pretty funny.
Yes, things will go to hell in Season 2... for Alan knows nothing about Discord... and Discord will quickly recognize a creature with the capacity to kill...
Faust help them all.
981336 Hahahahahaaaaa! Brilliant! Bloody brilliant! This is what I was talking about my friend! Keep up this level of quality work and it will be fine!
Okay, before I before I open the floodgates by commenting on what is usually a highly controversial topic, I must first point out that, for all my complaints, I do actually enjoy reading this story, and despite the one point in question, this chapter was just as enjoyable as any other before it.
That said, I find the description of the American Revolution to be highly simplistic, one sided, and rather insulting, to be honest. Surely you could have come up with a method of conveying the same information without being quite so nearly anglophobic?
Wasn't this episode before Twilight found Owliscious? Just sayin'.
1121799
I think it's time to throw the canon timeline out the window since after all Sonic Rainboom also occurred before Dragonshy
HELL ISN'T THAT BAD... CELESTIA....SHEESH! You make it sound so horrible and blow it out of proportion.
I'm sorry but you absolutely lost me in this chapter. ...I understand the desire to have a bird of prey do hunting and whatnot, in fact... great idea. Excellent... except... a bald eagle is NOT a bird you'd get for falconing (think that's spelled right). I'm not sure if there are other eagles that might be a good bird for what Alan has planned. But, a bald eagle wouldn't. Why you ask? Because they don't hunt. When it comes down to it bald eagles are scavengers. They might hunt some fish, such as salmon, but they prefer to eat that which is dead or dying. So while I loved the idea, simply due to the fact of the type of bird you're trying to pass off as his "falconing bird" is not a bird that that would work for (much less actually go out and hunt... especially something like a fox).
Also, Alan's description of the American Revolutionary War... it made me want to through the history books at him... and then beat him over the head with them repeatedly... and then do it all over again.
Sadly... if I could I would give this chapter (rather than the whole story) a thumbs down... but that's mostly because the quality has been so high for your other chapters when you compare it with this one, it feels REALLY REALLY weak and out of place.
I'm looking forward to reading your next chapters with the usual awesomeness that you give it.
BAHAHAHA!!!
*snerk* Typical Sugarbowl response... and of course would be the one to make a joke out of it...
1121799>>1308431
And even in the 'canon timeline', the episodes aren't aired in chronological order.
Loving this so far, but I did start twitching when you put a sedimentary boulder on top of a mountain....
2103429
The dragon wanted it up there, so he moved it.
Which is just a lazy way of saying, ok, so I didn't do all of my homework. The only kind of rock that would readily break to come to mind was sedimentary.
name her liberty!
Enlightenment time
HORSES CAN AND WILL EAT MEAT
http://weirdanimalreport.com/article/blood-thirsty-carnivorous-horses
http://www.lrgaf.org/deadly_equines.htm
2386601
One of those theory's was this:
Theory 5: Insanity
Insanity is not strictly a human disease. Animals can go insane, as well. Such seems to be the case of "The Man Eater of Lucknow," who terrorized an Indian city as you can read about in this lurid account.
Therefore, if a pony were to go insane, they would probably do that...
Another would be:
Theory 4: Deprivation
A lot of the "meat eating horses" of the world are horses who are in a starvation situation. Horses who eat meat in a situation where we are asking them to cross Antarctica, or the Kazakh desert, can plausibly be said to be doing whatever they have to in order to survive. Think of all the things people have eaten, in similar situations. Exactly.
Equines are naturally Herbivores anyway so...
...Yeah...
fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/269/7/c/mordecai_borderlands_2_by_bl4upunkt-d5fxzdh.jpg
Alanshy, calling it now.
http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/4542851/Murica/
2845459 you deserve all of these times infinite
If some pony "accused" me of killing an animal for food, I would tell them "It should have run faster." That might sound evil, but if you stop and think about it, you see that all of those animals who did run faster and escaped survived to reproduce offspring who were faster and could survive better.
Fluttershy is a bit OOC in this chapter: I know she loves animals, but why doesn't she allow the carnivores to hunt? That's how they get food, they have to do it (and meat is their main diet). And why do the ponies get angry just because he wants to eat meat? Sure, I too wouldn't like to see an animal getting killed in front of me, but still, they're overreacting
He...ate a fox? Well okay then, desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.
And a bald eagle? HELL FUCKING YEAH MURICA
Loved that sentence for some reasons. Indeed, the human is the most dangerous creature on our planet. One should be wary of him.
Boy, talk about fucking getting Fluttershy's character wrong
He just prayed for it to go to heaven.
i like how u used faust and not celestia.
2845459 ok, first i was then i was . thank u for that.
3444988 taste like chicken.
Every animal tastes like opossum chicken!
Personally, I'd have chosen the Raven or Osprey...
cdn.phillymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/4b6287fbd8164e54416eb9b0c33d23f38b5ae440634aac42456d4bedd83d6249.jpg
i swear if you're going to name her "Bullseye"
This whole chapter I could only think one thing: "Freedom mother fer, do you speak it!?"
Hes training to be a pendragon? So the new spike?
5926013 yup, then proceed to name the Raven 'Nevermore'... Because reasons.
Y'know, if I had an eagle, I'd call it punch. That way, if I ever had to present it to somebody, I could say
"This is Punch. FALCON Punch
Just started reading this story, and I have to say, this is genuinely one of the most well-written HiE stories out there. I completely agree with you in the opening chapters on the stages of psychology of humans and their adaptation. No matter how excited one is (in this case a brony) about going to Equestria, if they had at least a basic and satisfactory life/foundation on Earth, then their coming to Equestria would've struck them hard. I personally believe that many 'rushed' HiE fiction represents the fantasy of a brony that is still wrapped up comfortably in his/her bed. When nothing is at risk, you tend not to think of the psychological consequences of loss and such an adaption to a new world.
Of course, I'm generalizing quite a bit, and I believe there are those who would, without a question, jump on-board the Friendship Express and onward to adventure, leaving their old life behind. 'Twas merely my humble opinion on the matter. On another note, the writing is superb and I have yet to find a grammar or spelling mistake. I am becoming steadfast an avid reader of this series and would likely continue on to read the sequels.
Ç'est très magnifique.
Nooooot entirely sure how familiar you are with raptors. When any sort of flying bird goes to perch, their feet have tendons in them which function automatically. When they land on a circular object, their talons close. They do not have the option to do so 'lightly'. Our guy would have had multiple large holes in his arm and shoulder.
I do have to admit that having a Bald Eagle as a friend would be awesome to the fifth degree. I would have gone for a Peregrine Falcon though. Fastest bird in the world as far as I know.
1098568 Anglophobic? Does that mean what you think it means? And, tbh, I think it's rather in-character for Alan, seeing as he comes from America, and we don't exactly have the most objective view of history taught in our schools, (although honestly very few people anywhere do.) Added to that is the fact that it's meant to be persuasive to the Eagle, and so he's not going to launch into a 3-hour lecture over the motivations and history of the American Revolution. He's just trying to persuade a bird to come along with him, and it works. I'm not saying that discription isn't short or rather biased to one side, just saying that in this situation, with this character, it makes sense for that description to be used.
8167472
'stralia does
Why is the Bald Eagle NOT called "Freedom", like any Good American would name it???
I mean honestly after a speech like that...that's what I would name it
8513008
liberty sounds good doesn't it?
8633436
Either of those would be better than Volo. Thats just weird.
8167472
He didn't lie about what happened. He just told it from history point of view. The king was abusing his power and taking money to pay for a previous war that was pretty petty from my point of view.