The Human Pet

by RushyFiction

Chapter 29

With a worn-out moan, Crimson Star forced his sleep-crusted eyes open. The heat being nigh unbearable, the bat pony wriggled out of the gigantic, empty sleeping bag. His thick fur was sticking out in various places, and was rather uncomfortable, dry and heavy on him at the moment. Crimson's poor head pounded, and a dizzy spell forced him to sit down and gather his bearings for a bit.

Outside of the incredibly crude tent/shelter thing Skinny had set up, he and Angel Bunny were having a miserable breakfast sitting next to the calm, green lake. The bunny was nibbling on a dry stalk of celery with a stare that could kill whilst Skinny was picking bits of unappetizing processed tuna out of a tin with his fingers, and devouring them even slower. Owing to the thick air and humid atmosphere this deep in the Everfree Forest, the alien was dressed in nothing more than undergarments and a dirty, yellowed shirt. He had a pensive look about him. Crimson felt like cheering him up, but a few priorities came first.

He got to his hooves again and trotted towards the lake. Angel took no notice of passing, and the alien casually ran his minotaur-like fingers over his back. Crimson had noticed that just like that temperamental race, Skinny's kind placed a great deal of importance on the touch of hands rather than muzzles, as was the way with most Equestrian quadrupeds. He appreciated the attention regardless and flashed Skinny as friendly a smile as he could conjure, before dunking his head in the icy waters of the lake.

By the Nightmare's fluffy ears, that feels good! He thought as the coolness wiped away the cobwebs in his head. Without hesitation, he unclipped the signature Lunar Guard medallion from around his neck and dived into the lake for a refreshing morning swim. Crimson could sense Skinny looking at him with trepidation.

He wasn't entirely wrong to do so either, for although the lake was certainly empty(as Crimson's bat-pony senses told him), the Everfree Forest was practically a hub for bizarre magical phenomena as a result of Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon's legendary duel. There was no such thing as a safe swim here.

Crimson Star wasn't particularly worried about all that, though. Swim first, and ask questions later, that's my motto.

He splashed around in the lake without a care in the world to clean his fur, and lapped up enough water to drive away his headache. Once he was properly refreshed, the bat pony extended his wings and took to flight directly from the water, carrying himself back to the campsite, where he shook his body free of the excess drops right next to his two friends, who looked like they could use some proper refreshment too(though judging from their indignant cries, they didn't agree).

Crimson Star snickered a little, and sat down on the ground to replace his medallion. The bat pony's furry tummy was grumbling for food as well, so he took a deep sniff of the air, filling his nostrils with the vast variety of scents nearby: a massive overdose of thick vegetation and mud, the artificial fabric of the tent, the dead leather of Skinny's saddlebags, the spicier-than-usual musks of the unwashed alien and Angel Bunny... ah! There it was...

Sniffing again to make sure, Crimson trailed the smell to the sleeping bag, and found a few spotty apples and some squashed, ruined tangerines under it. Skinny must've lost these. Oh well. The bat pony licked his lips and picked up one of the apples. His sharp teeth slided into its flesh like a knife through warm butter, and he sealed the wounds with his mouth so he could suck the juice out. Within a few seconds, the fruit was a dry husk and Crimson discarded it to pick up another, repeating the process.

As he was a natural carnivore, they didn't fill him up much, but it was enough to keep him going for a few hours. What was I thinking, rushing in here without food? The only thing to eat would be the bunny, and explaining that to miss Fluttershy would be such a delight, wouldn't it? Crimson rolled his eyes and knocked his hoof against his head repeatedly in annoyance. Stupid Crimson, stupid, stupid, stupid!

The bat pony knew that his only chance of finding out what his alien friend wanted was by being patient, and following along. The risk in of itself was well worth taking, but without food or a clear end goal, the Everfree Forest became that much more dangerous.

As long as I'm still strong, I should take him back to Ponyville and- hey! Crimson stood up on his hooves and looked around worriedly. Where's he gone??? "Skinny? Skinny! Where did you go?"

His query was immediately answered by a strong pair of arms that wrapped around his abdomen so suddenly that the bat pony let loose a very un-stallionlike yelp. "H-hey! Skinny!!"

The alien sat down with the bat pony on his chest and held him tightly, with Crimson's hooves dangling over his arms helplessly. He towered over all ponies on account of his bipedal nature, and had a habit of making Crimson Star feel as if he was a little foal in comparison, especially when pulling stunts like this. Crimson didn't mind one bit though - Skinny was Skinny, and yearned for comfort like any good pony under the sun and the moon. Feeling left out, Angel Bunny abandoned his bitter plants and made a comfortable nest for himself in Crimson Star's mane, much to the latter's delight.

Together, they were content to sit at the shore of the lake for a while and wait... for something.

---

"You... have no idea how glad I am that you're here. It's funny - I hear a woman's voice for the first time in half a year and off I go running into the jungle without a clue. I don't know who she is, I don't know if she's trustworthy, I don't even know her name. I just know... I'm not alone. At least I think I do." You scratch Shaggy's left ear and also boop the bunny above him on his pink nose. "No, I'm not alone. I've got you, and you've got me." You smile. "But I have to find it. Whatever it takes. The key to unlocking the ability to talk to you, to truly be with you beautiful people... it's in that castle. It must be!"

It is the only thing you've dreamed of since you came here, to tell Sweetheart how much you appreciate her and her friends, to thank Princess Tia and Princess Luna for their graceful acceptance. You yearn to be part of this world, and though you've managed to learn a few things through Luna's strange abilities, you've never truly integrated.

Whoever the woman on the phone was, she has given you hope, hope that you can truly find complete happiness here, just so long as you can get to those ruins. Of course, there is also the matter of keeping your end of the bargain and rescuing the mysterious dame from whatever prison holds her, but as far as you're concerned, you hold all the aces. Once you're able to talk to the ponies, you can figure out who she is and what to do.

Shaggy squirms out of your grip and touches your chest with a hoof, as if trying to get you to hold you still. Both you and the bunny watch with curiosity as his ears twitch from one direction to the other, trying to catch some kind of disturbance. Something in the forest? You listen as well, even trying to hold your breath. It's not that the forest is eerily quiet - it's full of strange bubbling noises, the cries of mysterious birds and distant roars. You had acclimated yourself to all that, so you look towards the bat pony to recognise any potential threat he might pick up on...

THWACK!

... and watch as a slimy, gigantic tentacle bursts out of the jungle and right through your tent. Your heart jumps up to your throat and you, Shaggy and the bunny all scream loudly, and scamper. Unfortunately, you slip on mud in your panic and trip straight into the icy cold lake. Two dips in two days. It would've been rather humorous had you not been under immediate threat of a particularly Japanese demise.

You flail in the murky green depths, desperately trying to reach the surface, only for a pair of strong hooves to grab you underneath your arms and pull you out. With his wings flapping as powerfully as they can, Shaggy drags your heavy hide out of the water and onto the muddy surface, only for a tentacle to wrap itself around him in turn, and pull him off.

"SHAGGY!!" You scream.

---

As a Lunar Guard dedicated to the Princess of the Night, Crimson Star's training included handling unexpected situations - after all, villainy by its very nature meant playing with no rules, and often no announcement. So when an oversized cephalopod rudely interrupted the campers' morning, the part of sweet Crimson that once would have panicked and turned him useless now simply went to sleep, and the bat pony was able to analyse the situation.

Well, as soon as he had lunch. Without further ado, Crimson bit deeply into the luminous green tentacle wrapped around him, and dug around with his sharp canines to ensure maximum pain as he sucked the nourishing blood out. Rather tangy. Soon enough, either the monster reacted in pain or simply lost feeling, and Crimson dropped out of the tentacle's grasp and onto his rump. Out of nowhere, Angel Bunny dropped down onto his stomach. "Oh, hello!" The bat pony said, bemused. He placed his little friend on his back and stood up on his hooves, looking around.

"Now, where's Skin-?" Crimson began to say, but the bunny shoved himself against the bat pony's neck, saving him from another tentacle whishing overhead. "OH! Thank you, Angel!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I had better take care of this first."

Crimson bit his lip, observing as the tentacle monster struggled to pull down a tree in some mindless rage. "Alright then." He murmured, and ran his tongue over his fangs. "Angel, I'm going to attack him. When I do, can you be a pal and annoy him a little for me while I do my thing?" Crimson felt the little bunny's soft paw pat against his head affirmingly. "Thanks a bunch. Now hold on!"

The bat pony took to flight, heading directly towards his opponent. Noticing his rapid approach, the strange swamp creature roared loudly and thrust his many tentacles randomly in Crimson's direction, forcing him to dash and duck with lightning-fast reflexes, courtesy of the many, many hours of flight training under miss Spitfire's perfectionist eye.

Weaving his way in-between, the bat pony latched onto the back of the aquatic creature's head and sunk his sharp fangs through its slimy, scraggly skin and into the warm flesh underneath. At the same time, Angel Bunny used his claws to climb up on top of its head and slap repeatedly at its eyes, aggravating and confusing the monster as Crimson drained its blood and weakened it.

As expected, the monster thrashed around in pain, more focused on the pain to it’s eyes than the increasingly numb spot on the back of its head. Angel Bunny, small and cunning as he was, expertly dodged each of its attempts to crush or grab the irritant like a fly always buzzing away right before one could splat it, and gave the monster's eyes hell. He even jumped off for a moment, only to snap off two sticks from a nearby tree so he could cruelly play drums on its eyes.

I should enlist that little fella Crimson thought, before being interrupted by a wandering tentacle that finally discovered him and wrapped around his hind hooves, forcibly tearing him off with a splash of dark blood and preventing him from hooking onto any other part of its body.

In blind fury, the creature's hold on Crimson grew so tight that he screamed, feeling as if his hooves were about to be snapped off. And the pressure only got worse until suddenly stopping. The tentacle turned limp and let Crimson crumple onto the ground with a muffled yelp. As he moaned quietly in response to his aching hooves, the bat pony saw the monster turn idle and slowly drag itself towards the pool. Attached to its side was the fluffy yellow feather of a dart.

Hoofsteps. Above Crimson stood a hooded zebra with compassionate blue eyes shining from the shadows, and a wooden pipe in her mouth which she promptly stuffed into a pocket on her cloak. "I have found many wonders in the Everfree, but I have yet to come across a bat pony." the zebra said with surprise in her tone. "If your hooves hurt, do not fret, while I make sure there's no further threat."

Crimson struggled to get his heavy breathing under control, and gasped: "There was a... a creature, with us... you wouldn't know him. He ran off. Looks like a monkey, with no fur."

The zebra put a hoof to her mouth contemplatively. "Looks like a monkey, with no fur. With a description like that, I can hardly err." Feeling her tail pulled, the zebra turned around and noticed Angel Bunny waving at her and pointing at some vegetables poking out of her stuffed saddlebag with a pleading look. "Angel? What brings you so far from Fluttershy? Oh, never mind, I shall find out why." She released the clasp on her bag and hoofed him a juicy cabbage before turning back to Crimson. "I will attend to your mystery friend. You two should follow that road..." she pointed at a dirt trail from the direction she came in. "... it will lead you to my humble abode."

Author's Note:

Some classic incidental music for the battle sequence :

Comments

[Destiny Chaser]

Perfect music for the fight haha!
Shaggy is quite the scrapper, love the description of details in this chapter.
More please!

[Viper Pit]

Shaggy oh boy he I can only imagine he will never loose that nickname

[Adjier]

Oh boy more Shaggy! I need moar snuggling plz

Loving this. I wonder how Anon's doing though...

[Iamaprettypony]

It would've been rather humorous had you not been under immediate threat of a particularly Japanese demise.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[RushyFiction]

9788679
The argument was based around actual publication of fanfiction, not fanfiction in of itself. I would never try and sell what I write here, not in public and not for a dollar behind a Patreon wall. It's arrogant and presumptuous.

[Holydude]

This was awesome and I usually hate angel bunny but this version of him in this story is great. He turns out to be a great partner for shaggy.

[tsaukpaetra]

🎶 morning in Everfree gurgles!
🎶 morning in Everfree shrieks!
🎶 and I know for absolute certain,
🎶 that everything is certainly ahhhhh!

[cunning_linguist]

I’m impressed by your rhyming with Zecora. So few authors even attempt it, or when they do they inevitably devolve into normal speech with her.

[Desert Tortoise 22]

9789371

🎶 that everything is certainly ahhhhh!

I read that like this

lol

[Inucroft1]

9789371
ahhhh!

[carrs88]

excellent chapter friend, I was already wondering when skinny would meet the local herbalist

[RushyFiction]

9816858

If you really want to write romance into this, you could make a 'noncanon' story, though I know part of the intrigue of romance are the subtleties in everyday life.

Well, technically I did write a noncanon romance spin-off about Shaggy and Nurse Redheart, but I suppose I could consider following the same approach with Anon.
But on the other hand, romance is a very integral part of everyday life, as you pointed out and I wouldn't want the story to lack an element that could make it better in the long run.

[RushyFiction]

9816902
Completely agree. So long as the story itself is free to read, I don't have a problem, especially if the physical book is made for no profit. But when the story is put behind a Patreon wall, that's just scummy.

[Destiny Chaser]

9816858

the ones I consider true masterpieces are more often without any romance or sexual innuendo or content between the human(s) and pony(ies).

I couldn't agree more.
HEY RUSHY!!! YOU HEARING THIS?!?!

[Random_Reader11]

I wonder if discord can understand him.

[chibilink]

The bat pony knew that his only chance of finding out what his alien friend wanted was by being patient, and following along. The risk in of itself was well worth taking, but without food or a clear end goal, the Everfree Forest became that much more dangerous.

I believe in and of itself is the way to say this bit. Though I'm not 100% positive.

It is the only thing you've dreamed of since you came here, to tell Sweetheart how much you appreciate her and her friends, to thank Princess Tia and Princess Luna for their graceful acceptance. You yearn to be part of this world, and though you've managed to learn a few things through Luna's strange abilities, you've never truly integrated.

Did he get Tia's name when Luna poked into his mind or something? I mean I guess based on the sentence right after, but yes.

[Black--Soul]

That the soundtrack i hear, while autoread function is running the combat.