Chapter 2
From out of the shadows a mysterious male voice says: LunarStar Princess Krystal is unable to do the opening note today so I will be doing so for her. LunarStar Princess Krystal does not own My Little Pony that honor belongs to Hasbro. The only part of this story that she owns are the characters Grandpa Haku, Artie Choke (he'll make a grand appear in the next chapter), her perspective of the Equestrian universe, the storyline, and a number of other original characters that will slowly be appearing throughout the story. Including myself, but I will not say who or what I am until later on. *Mysterious voice gives a small chuckle* Oh and just to clear any confusion the lines spoken will have "lines" and the thoughts of characters will have [thoughts]. Now that has been taken care of it's time for a recap of the last chapter.
Recap: Pinkie Pie is preparing a large birthday celebration and has the CMC as the distraction to keep Fluttershy preoccupied for the day. After the five fillies start asking a multitude of questions, Fluttershy decides to tell the story of how she came to own the cottage and a tale of a special Unicorn she knew.
A young Fluttershy was sitting on the grass talking with some of her new animal friends. She'd just gained her cutie mark and had seen an amazing sight in the sky. It was a strange disturbance with an odd rainbow later to be known as a Sonic Rainboom. The remains of it had died down moments before a flock of different colored butterflies and birds lazily flew around the Pegasus's head. For the first time since joining the flight camp, the filly felt comfortable and relaxed in her surroundings. She couldn't see any signs of Cloudsdale or the big race between the bully colts and her friend, Rainbow Dash, far above in the sky.
Fluttershy's smile grew as a mouse brought her a small yellow flower. "Thank you Miss Mousy, that was very nice of you. I can't believe that I never knew about how wonderful it is down on the ground. Maybe I can…," Fluttershy began to say, but stopped as a tall nearly all ivory colored Unicorn stallion with two faded light pink streaks in his mane and tail appeared. However the stallion didn't acknowledge the presence of the critters or the young Pegasus. It seemed as though his attention was strictly focused on a single space in the menacing looking forest of trees. The birds and butterflies stopped in their flight to land near the filly causing her to look up in surprise before turning her attention back to the stallion whose cutie mark was oddly glowing making it hard to see what the picture looked like.
Just as Fluttershy was about to greet the mysterious fellow, a loud roar was heard. The ground began to shake and a large flock of unusual birds looking as though something had scared them flew over the forest. The only being to look unfazed by the sound or earthquake was the stallion whose eyes never strayed from the single spot in the forest. It appeared as though something was making its way through the trees before a chorus of howls from a group of possibly even scarier beasts was heard.
At the possibility of a great many monsters, Fluttershy began shaking, eyes wide as though she was stuck in a nightmare. Small whimpers escaped from the filly as she began to cover her head. "No, please, not again. Please don't yell at me. I have my cutie mark. I'm not useless. Maybe I was wrong and I should never have come here," Fluttershy cried into her hooves.
Just as she was about to give into fear an unfamiliar male voice said, "Please do not be afraid. I'm here to help."
The voice was not yelling nor menacing like the sounds escaping the forest. The soothing words helped the filly calm down enough to uncover her head to find out who was speaking. All of the little critters were watching the older pony who hadn't moved from where he stood. Fluttershy's eyes didn't leave the stallion as the roars and howls began to get louder. Whomever or whatever was making the sound was approaching the clearing.
Suddenly a large beast leapt out of the forest, landing directly in front of the Unicorn. Fluttershy's brain started screaming at her to fly away, but for some reason even at the sight of the large lion with bat ears and wings and a scorpion tail couldn't make her want to leave even as her wings clung to her body. It was almost like the Unicorn had cast a spell to keep her and the beast from doing anything.
"Please be calm. There is no need to be afraid," the stallion said as though he knew what the filly was feeling. However behind the beast, a tiny version minus the mane was chased out of the forest by large canine shaped beings made out of branches and leaves. For some reason the canines refused to leave the boundary of the forest even as they eyed the little creature hungrily.
Fluttershy was about to say something, but jumped when she noticed that each time the wooden dogs looked at the Unicorn they began to move around appearing uncomfortable in his presence. It seemed as though they were scared for some unknown reason. As she turned her attention back to the stallion and the unusual being that she realized was turning its head from one side to another. Looking closer she noticed an odd forest green and ocean blue colored fabric that appeared to oddly look like it was a streamer wrapped around the head of the creature. The streamer looked as though it was completely covering the eyes.
Suddenly the stallion reached a hoof out to the creature saying "Please stay still mighty manticore, Sir Nicholas Heart, I will take away what has covered your eyes." The manticore, Sir Nicholas, stopped his movements as the Unicorn pulled the streamer off revealing a pair of large unsettled feline eyes. "I can't believe that streamer could cause so much trouble after Artie promised to be careful with his experiments."
Fluttershy could only stare in awe as the Unicorn stood his ground and wasn't even afraid of any of the large wooden dogs or of Sir Nicholas. Fluttershy looked at the critters she'd met, seeing calm expressions and looks of curiosity directed towards the Unicorn. He was like the brave hero coming to the rescue in one of her favorite bed time stories. "Wow, he's amazing," the filly whispered to herself.
Sir Nicholas's attention focused on the male pony who held the streamer. It was almost like the pair was sharing a private conversation. Seeing this made Fluttershy wonder, [What is going to happen now? Is the manticore going to attack or do something else?]
Just as she moved her head to try to get a better view, Sir Nicholas raised a paw then lowered it to show the stallion the underside which had a large thorn poking the velvety looking part. The stallion's eyes became soft as he said, "So this is the other reason you were so upset. You got a big splinter in your paw when trying to help your son, Manny Roar, from the pack of Timberwolves. You are a great manticore. Once more let me help you, please."
Without another word verbally spoken in response, the Unicorn swiftly bit down on the thorn and pulled it out of Sir Nicholas's paw allowing a bit of blood to escape the injury. This caused the young manticore, Manny Roar, to mew in concern. However the Unicorn only spat the thorn out before using the large streamer as a makeshift bandage. "This should help keep your paw from giving you any more trouble. I'd suggest you leave this on for a while. Don't worry about anything my friend. I'll go talk to Artie about being more careful with where he leaves the aftermath of his experiments so you should be safe from streamers catching you again. In the future I'd be more careful with how you fight those foolish wolves."
His words earned a kind, toothy grin from Sir Nicholas before the manticore turned towards Manny Roar who could only stare at the elder one with large concerned eyes. Fluttershy began to smile as the manticores drew closer to one another while the pack of Timberwolves ran back into the shadows of the forest. Once Sir Nicholas was close to Manny, the elder manticore gently bit the young one's neck before placing Manny onto his back between his wings. The sight made every creature and pony in the area smile, before the elder let out a loud roar. This time the roar was not as scary as the previous ones heard when Sir Nicholas was on his rampage, but strong enough to make the ground rumble in response.
Suddenly the large bat wings spread out and without a sound Sir Nicholas jumped into the air allowing a small breeze to help him start to glide over the trees as the manticores returned back to their home. The younger mewed loudly in his happiness of being above the tree tops and not having to fear for their lives.
Seeing this made Fluttershy very happy that everything had gone well for everypony. Nopony had been hurt during the interaction and the stallion was so brave as he helped out the manticore that it made the young Pegasus want to be just like him. A courageous and very helpful pony that could help any kind of creature no matter what they were, except for dragons because they're large scary beings. Just the thought of them made a chill run down the filly's spin. Once the pair were out of sight, the stallion's cutie mark stopped glowing allowing the young filly to see two hearts on either side of a horn similar to the one on the Unicorn's head, but this one looked as though tiny rays of light was being produced from the horn reaching out to touch the hearts.
Fluttershy felt the urge to say something to the amazing champion of critters great and small. Very slowly she began to stand up and try to say something, anything. Except no matter what she tried, no words would form as she opened her muzzle. The only sound that could be heard was a soft squeak. This seemed to make an unexpected echo in the clearing, which made the ears of the stallion nearly jump in alarm. A bit of red began to color the filly's cheeks as the stallion turned around to find out what or whom had been the source of the sound. The moment their eyes met a spark was felt. Unknowingly this ignited the start of a friendship that would make a great impression on everypony in Ponyville.
Krystal: Yay, the chapter is finally finished. I can't believe that I finally finished it.
Fluttershy: Awe, it's okay. You did a really good job. The day I got my cutie mark was a really big day for me and Grandpa.
Krystal: Thanks Flutters. I wish that I could have included more dialogue, but there wasn't anywhere it could be added. *A few tears try to escape my eyes, but I force them back.*
Fluttershy: Don't worry about any of that. I couldn't have said anything even if I wasn't as shy as I am. Oh and I need to warn you about something.
Krystal: What is it Fluttershy? Is there something that you want me to add to this chapter or something that I need to know about for this story?
Fluttershy: Well it's not something that could have been included, but there is a new Pegasus that is going to be introduced in the next chapter and she needs a name.
Krystal: Really? That's amazing. I have an idea. How about letting the readers create a name for her?
Fluttershy: I think that is a great idea. The new Pegasus character is a lady librarian who is a good friend of Artie Choke's and Grandpa Haku's. She is really nice, but there are some times where she and Uncle Artie would argue because of how silly he could act.
Krystal: By the moon and stars, I can't wait for the next chapter, but I wonder who the voice from the beginning of the chapter was. Hey Flutters, do you know who it was?
Fluttershy: *Eyes jump in alarm as a blush is seen on her cheeks before putting her hooves over Krystal's mouth to stop the questions.* We'll pick the name at random and give a shout out to the one who created the name. Please leave a review to tell us what you think, but please don't send any flames because Krystal will use them to make s'mores for the CMC. We look forward to seeing all of you next time. Happy reading.