Chapter 3: Return to Everfree
Rainbow Dash and I are standing at the entrance to the Everfree Forest. The sun is still low in the sky, the early morning shadows stretching long towards the West.
“Here we are,” I say to Shanghai, who's hanging onto my right shoulder, as usual, “ready to start a day of adventure.”
“Mmm…” Shanghai says, half-heartedly, “I'm still not sure about this…”
“Don't worry,” Rainbow Dash says confidently, finally getting used to Shanghai, “Alex is awesome! We'll be fine.”
I laugh a little, “Oh, so I'm the one who's going to play the hero?” I answer with a humorous tone.
“Well, I can't summon lightning at will,” Rainbow Dash says back, her tone light-hearted, but with a hint of awe underneath, “but we're burning daylight standing here talking. Let's go!”
With that, Rainbow Dash eagerly runs into the forest. I watch her for a moment, a smile on my face, before I shake my head and follow her.
As we walk through the forest, I note the lack of Timberwolves, and find it strange. I guess my little stunt last night made them wary of me?
We eventually reach a marshy stream, which has a large, mossy rock in the middle. The rock is convenient for crossing, but something about it is nagging at me…
Rainbow Dash looks at me, not noticing the expression of thought on my face. “What are you waiting for?” she asks cheerfully, “let's keep going!” With that, Rainbow Dash approaches the stream.
My eyes snap wide open as I finally realize why the rock is bothering me, and I shout out to Rainbow Dash, “that's not a normal rock!”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash responds, confused, as she lands on the 'rock'.
When she lands, the being pretending to be a rock shifts, forcing Rainbow Dash to take to the air to avoid being tossed into the murky water. The thing rises up in the water, revealing itself to be a large, rocky crocodile.
“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash says as she's thrown off. She then notices the crocodile-like creature. “How'd you know that was a Cragadile?” she asks me.
I notice the so-called 'Cragadile' preparing to leap at Rainbow Dash, “survive now, questions later!”
Rainbow Dash gets the hint and dodges to the side just in time to avoid the snapping jaws of the Cragadile, which then splashes back down into the stream. Rainbow Dash's dodge brought her to the opposite side of the stream, and the Cragadile eyes her from the water, apparently either uninterested in leaving, or unable to leave, the stream. It turns its gaze to me, and I realize I still need to cross the stream.
“Just zap it!” Rainbow Dash calls.
“Unless you want an angry Ursa Minor after us again,” I remind Rainbow Dash, “lightning is out of the question!”
“Oh yeah.”
I weigh my options as the Cragadile continues to eye me. I realize that since it's made of stone, it must be very heavy. Even though it made an incredible leap trying to reach Rainbow Dash, a plan to exploit its weight forms in my mind.
“Well, here goes nothing.”
Reverse Sign「Turn Over」
The magic circle forms around the Cragadile, and then it's flipped onto its back, which catches it by surprise. Not wanting to waste my opportunity, I cross the stream quickly.
On the other side, I turn around just in time to see the Cragadile finish rolling upright, before it turns toward me, and I swear I see spite in its glare.
“Now that that's done,” Rainbow Dash says from next to me, “do you mind explaining yourself?”
I had forgotten that Rainbow Dash doesn't know much about Gensokyo. “I can faintly sense the power of nearby living beings,” I respond, “it's a skill that many Yokai from Gensokyo have. It's not very powerful though, so I'm actually a bit surprised I could tell that rock was alive.”
Rainbow Dash gives me a look of slight disbelief before responding, “well, look who's just full of tricks.”
“And I'm still on the weak end of the spectrum when it comes to the residents of Gensokyo,” I retort, continuing through the forest with Rainbow Dash. She looks amazed by this comment.
“Really?” she says, “is the average person in… where you're from, really so strong?”
“Yeah,” I say in response, “I've heard of someone who has the ability to destroy anyth-”
I stop speaking and moving suddenly when I hear a strange noise just ahead, “wait,” I say to Rainbow Dash, “there's something just up ahead.”
Rainbow Dash looks at me for a few moments, before a mischievous grin - which is becoming a familiar sight to me - forms on her face, “let's go check it out, then.”
Before I can stop her, Rainbow Dash is already rushing ahead, and I'm forced to follow her to make sure she doesn't get herself hurt.
I catch up to Rainbow Dash, who is crouching behind some bushes. I crouch next to her, and noticing her intent gaze, follow her eyes to a large beast.
The creature has the body, legs and head of a lion, its hind legs being mostly unremarkable, but its forelegs and fore paws are very large and strong-looking. It has a pair of large bat wings on its back and bat ears on its head. Finally, it has a big scorpion tail, with a mean-looking stinger.
“What is that?” I ask nobody in particular, incredibly confused.
“That,” Rainbow Dash starts, “is a Manticore.”
The Manticore is padding forward slowly, making noises to its left and right as it goes. The noises sound kind of like a mixture of low growling and steady clicking. Absent-mindedly, my gaze drifts to the Manticore's bat ears. I stare at the bat ears, listening to the strange clicking-growling noise…
Suddenly the connection between the two is made in my mind as my eyes widen in realization. I quickly and silently pull Rainbow Dash down so that we're both completely behind the bush.
“W-” I don't even let Rainbow Dash get past the first syllable as I put my hand over her mouth as silently as possible. I lean in towards her ear, and in as quiet of a voice as possible that Rainbow Dash can still hear, I whisper into her ear.
“Don't make a single noise. It's using echolocation to search for prey.”
The two of us silently listen to the sounds of the Manticore's paws on the ground and its echolocation-like growling from behind the bush. Suddenly, the growling stops.
As the sound of its paws grows slightly louder with each step, I realize what's happening. I turn to Rainbow Dash and whisper, “it found us.”
Rainbow Dash looks at me with a surprised expression on her face… and I realize too late that the footsteps stopped, and in the next instant, the Manticore lunges at us through the bush with a roar.
I barely manage to dive out of the way, the Manticore's claw grazing the back of my leg. I get up quickly and turn to face the Manticore, on the verge of using a Spellcard before I remember that I'm avoiding lightning magic, which means I can't go on the offensive.
The Manticore turns to me, snarling. I swallow as I attempt to stare it down, struggling to keep the nervousness off my face. I look over the Manticore in more detail, and realize that it isn't as muscular and healthy looking as I first thought. In fact, it looks very lean and underweight. I begin to feel bad for the poor Manticore as I realize that it's probably starving.
After a moment, the side-effects of my pity make themselves known as the adrenaline from earlier drains away. Suddenly the pain from the 'scratch' on my leg - which turns out to be more severe than what it felt like earlier - forcefully comes to my attention in my mind, and I inhale sharply through my teeth as my leg is no longer able to support my weight and I fall to the ground, clutching the injury.
Rainbow Dash notices this from the far side of the Manticore, and - thinking quickly - swoops past it, scooping me up and flying away. I can hear the Manticore crashing through the forest in pursuit.
I try to ask for our destination, my voice strained through the pain, “Ungh, where are you-”
“Shush,” Rainbow Dash cuts me off, “just save your energy. I'm bringing you to Fluttershy. She should be able to fix you right up.”
Rainbow Dash flies through the forest for a while, the Manticore crashing after us the whole time, slowly falling behind due to Rainbow Dash's speed, until the edge of the forest comes into sight. Just past the edge of the forest I see a house, which seems to be Rainbow Dash's destination, so I assume that house is where this 'Fluttershy' lives.
The house appears to have a grassy roof, and the front yard is littered with holes, which appear to be for small, subterranean animals. There are bird houses scattered all over the house itself as well as a tree in the front yard. The path coming from the front door of the house leads to a bridge over a stream. Looking under the bridge, I notice a tiny dock-like structure leading to a space under the bridge. Out front is a feminine-looking pony, who must be Fluttershy.
Fluttershy has yellow hair, and a pink mane and tail, the mane curling up at the ends. Her outfit consists of a green, wool sweater - which has slits in the back for some wings - blue jeans and a butterfly hair clip in her mane. Rainbow Dash comes to a screeching halt in front of Fluttershy, who recoils in surprise… or fright… or maybe both.
Rainbow Dash begins speaking quickly, “Alex's leg is injured, and we've got an angry Manticore after us, and-”
GRROOOOO!!!
The Manticore comes crashing out of the forest with an enormous roar, cutting off Rainbow Dash. Startled, Fluttershy looks over at the Manticore, which is taking a moment to look her over as it bares its teeth with a low growl.
To my surprise, Fluttershy steps between us and the Manticore, and gives it… a look that I can't effectively describe. All I can say is, even from behind, just by looking at her, I can feel my willpower fall away. I can't exactly blame the Manticore as it slowly backs up before lowering itself to the ground, placing its head between its paws in silence.
“Now that you've calmed down,” Fluttershy says in a voice that's a lot sweeter and quieter than I was expecting, considering what just happened, “I'll go get you some food.”
Fluttershy enters her house, and a few moments later comes out with… what appears to be raw chicken from a butcher? I take another look at all the bird houses, the holes all over the lawn, and remember the tiny pier. Thinking about it, I decide that she must love animals of all kinds, and - judging by that, uh, Stare of hers - must also know how to deal with animals of all kinds. I turn back to the Manticore to see it finishing the last of the chicken, before it turns with a soft purr and goes back into the forest.
After that is said and done, Fluttershy turns to us, “you said something about an injured leg, Rainb-” Fluttershy stops short with a gasp when she sees my leg, “oh my gosh!”
“Yeah,” I say to Fluttershy, “the Manticore did this.”
“The poor thing was hungry,” Fluttershy says without looking up, “you can't blame it for trying to get some food.” She inspects my injured leg for a few more moments before speaking again, “but your leg looks different from anything I've seen before. I'll still try my best to treat it anyway. Rainbow Dash, could you please bring her inside?” Rainbow Dash nods and follows Fluttershy into her house, letting me stand while offering her shoulder for support since I still can't put weight on my bad leg.
The inside of her house has more bird houses, and there are small staircases and doorways scattered about, along with a variety of other objects for a variety of animals. It's obvious to me that she loves animals.
Fluttershy tells us to wait in the living room, then leaves the room. While waiting for her, I finally realize that Shanghai is missing, “wait, where's Shanghai?”
“Oh,” Rainbow Dash responds, “I remember seeing her fly away when the Manticore first attacked us. I'm sure she's just at my house.”
“Well, if she's not, we have to look for her,” I say to Rainbow Dash. Before Rainbow Dash can respond though, Fluttershy comes back into the room with some disinfectant and gauze. She expertly treats the wound on my leg, and I have to wonder if she works as a paramedic.
After Fluttershy finishes, she speaks to me, “now that your injury has been tended to, I don't think you've introduced yourself yet. Do you mind telling me your name?”
“Oh, right,” I say, having forgotten about that, “my name is Alexandria Kijin.”
“I hope you don't mind me saying Miss Kijin,” Fluttershy says shyly, and incredibly formally, “but you look really different from us ponies, and you don't look like any other animal I've seen before.”
“You can just call me Alex,” I begin, “but as for my species, I'm half-human and half-Yokai.”
“I don't think I've heard of a Yokai before,” Fluttershy says, “but you seem like you don't want to go into that topic, so I'll leave it be.” She then turns to Rainbow Dash, “you should get home Rainbow Dash. Miss Ki- Um, Alex, needs to rest her leg. I think it's a good idea for her to stay here until she recovers.”
Rainbow Dash gives me a worried look. “Alright, if you say so, Shy,” Rainbow Dash says finally in a worried tone, “I'll see you later Alex.” With that, and a quick wave, Rainbow Dash leaves.
For most of the afternoon, I try and make some small talk with Fluttershy, though my attempts aren't very successful. Later, I'm watching the sunset outside one of the front windows when there's a tiny knock on the front door. Confused by how tiny the knock was, I answer it… and Shanghai flings herself at me, sobbing with tears streaming down her small face.
“Alexandria!” Shanghai says, her voice overflowing with relief, “I'm sorry for running away like that, but… Rainbow Dash came home alone, and when I asked her why, she said you were hurt! I was really worried!”
I see Fluttershy come into the room from the corner of my eye. She stops short when she sees Shanghai. “Come on Shanghai,” I say to Shanghai, trying to calm her down, “there's no need to cry. I'm going to be just fine, thanks to Fluttershy.”
Shanghai lets go, wiping at her eyes as she calms down. “Oh yeah,” she says, “Rainbow Dash mentioned a Fluttershy.”
I turn to Fluttershy, “well this is Fluttershy. Fluttershy, this is Shanghai. She used to be a doll, but for reasons that we don't yet know, she came to life a couple days ago.”
Fluttershy looks at Shanghai with an intrigued look on her face, “well, it's nice to meet you Shanghai. You look very well made. The doll maker who made you must have been very talented.”
Shanghai blushes and fidgets a little, embarrassed by the praise. “Alice was definitely very talented,” I say to Fluttershy, “her dolls are the best in all of Gensokyo, the place where I was born.”
Fluttershy looks at me and says, “her dolls must make all the children very happy.”
I think back to the shows Alice would put on for all the people of the Human Village, and how after we became friends, I would come to every single one. These memories cause me to finally realize just how much I actually miss Alice and the other people that I got to know in Gensokyo, the homesickness setting in. For once, I'm thankful for having my thoughts interrupted as Fluttershy speaks up.
“But it's getting late,” she says to me, “you really need to get your rest. I'll bring you to one of the guest rooms.”
As it turns out, there are several guest rooms in Fluttershy's house. I'm brought to one, and Fluttershy leaves after saying good night. I finally realize just how exhausted I actually am. I climb into bed with Shanghai, we say our good nights, and - for the third night in a row - I fall asleep almost instantly.
End of Chapter 3
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For anyone who might be confused: I added the gore tag because of some content in chapter 3 that I was unsure about. For all I know, I could have posted chapter 3 without needing to add the gore tag, but I thought it would be better to be safe rather than sorry.
Another good chapter, but it did feel a little rushed. If you want some advice, take your time you post chapter's more often than most do and a story this good is worth a little bit of a wait to get another good chapter.
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Alright, thank you for the feedback.
is it bad that i'm hoping for a scene where Shanghai and angel does verizon fights like a star wars one or a mortal combat one. it doesn't need to be official just something funny i just thought of.
I'm definitely enjoying what you've got so far. Keep it up!