Chapter 5 - Animals and Crusaders

Chapter 5 – Animals and Crusaders*Nyx’s P.O.V.*

“So what do you think of our friends so far?” Twilight asked Joshua as we made our way through town.

“They’re very nice,” he replied.  He then noticed the Everfree Forest off to the side.  “What’s that over there?” he asked.

“It’s the Everfree Forest I told you about,” I replied.

“The scary place you found the castle?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “We try our best to avoid going in there except to see our friend Zecora.”

“Zecora?” he asked.

“She’s a zebra that’s great with potions and herbal remedies,” Twilight said, “I’m sure you’ll have a chance to meet her sooner or later.”

“Why are we close to the forest?” he asked.

“Fluttershy lives near the edge of the forest,” Twilight replied.

“You’ll see why soon enough,” I added.  Soon we approached the cottage where Fluttershy lived.  We saw the timid pegasus feeding her animal friends as we approached quietly.

“Aw,” Joshua whispered, “How does she do that?  I can’t get close enough to animals like that without scaring them.”

“It’s her special talent,” Twilight replied, “She can communicate with animals in a way nopony else can.”

Fluttershy soon finished feeding her animals and was about to go back into her cottage when she spotted us.

“Oh, hello Twilight.  Hi Nyx,” she said greeting us.

“Hi Fluttershy,” I said.  She then noticed Joshua on Twilight’s back with curiosity and walked up.

“Who’s this Twilight, and what kind of creature is it, if you don’t mind me asking?” she asked.

“This is Joshua,” Twilight responded, “He’s a human from another world.  Joshua, this is Fluttershy, she’s the animal caretaker here in Ponyville.”

“It’s nice to meet you Fluttershy,” Joshua said climbing off Twilight’s back.

“Oh my, he talks too,” Fluttershy said, “It’s nice to meet you as well, Joshua.  If you don’t mind me asking, why were you brought here to Equestria?”  Once more, Joshua told his story.  “Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed afterwards.  She quickly scooped up Joshua in a comforting hug.  “I’m sorry that had to happen to you.  That must’ve been horrible.”

“It was,” Joshua replied, “But I felt a little better when the princesses found me.  Is it hard work taking care of all those animals?”

“Oh yes.  I can show you some of them if you’d like,” Fluttershy said putting Joshua back down.

“I would like that,” he replied.  Soon, the two of them walked over to where the rest of the animals were.  “There are animals like these back on my old world,” Joshua said.

“Oh?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, but we couldn’t get too close to them without scaring them.  I have seen some birds on other humans’ hands because they had bird feed in them.”

“Would you like to try and feed some of my birds?” she asked.  Joshua nodded his head.  Fluttershy picked up a box of bird seed and poured some into Joshua’s open hands.  “Now just stand there as still as you can and wait patiently and quietly,” she said.  Joshua nodded his head again and waited there.  The next thing we knew, a pair of birds landed on his hands and began pecking on the pile of bird seed he had.  More birds soon came over and began pecking away at the pile of bird seed.

“They seem to be enjoying themselves,” Twilight whispered to me, to which I nodded.

Soon though, the birds finished up the seeds and flew away, chirping happily as they left.  “They’re saying ‘thank you,’ ” Fluttershy said, “Did you enjoy that?”

“Yes, I did Fluttershy,” Joshua replied, “I think that’s the first time I fed birds.  Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome Joshua,” Fluttershy said, “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, have you met any of our other friends yet?”

“Mm-hmm,” Joshua replied, “I met Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.  I also saw Pinkie Pie too, but she gasped and ran off when I said hello though.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Fluttershy said, “She’s just being Pinkie Pie.  She’s putting together something special for you too.  I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“We need to get going,” Twilight said.

“It was nice meeting you Joshua,” Fluttershy said giving him another hug, “You’re welcome to come visit me whenever you like too.”

“Thank you Fluttershy,” Joshua said returning the hug.  Soon Fluttershy went back into her cottage.

“Hey Twilight,” I said, “Can I take Joshua over to the clubhouse now?”

“Of course Nyx,” Twilight said, “Just make sure you two are back at the library before dinner.”

“I will,” I replied.  I then walked over to Joshua motioning for him to get on.  “C’mon Joshua.  It’s time to meet my other friends.”

“Okay Nyx,” he replied as he got on.  “Bye Twilight, I’ll see you later.”

“You too Joshua,” Twilight said watching us leave.

Soon, we made our way to the clubhouse.  I didn’t see any of my friends there.  Apple Bloom was probably still telling Scootaloo and Twist about Joshua.  “Well, here we are Joshua.  Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse,” I said as we entered.

“Cool,” Joshua said climbing off my back.

“While we wait for the girls, let me show you around.”  I then pointed over to a piece of paper on the wall that had drawings of mine and my friends’ heads in a list.  “Right there is where we do our roll call.”

“Who are those other three?” Joshua asked recognizing me, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle on the list.

“The orange one is Scootaloo,” I explained, “She’s a pegasus who’s really good on a scooter.  The white one with the glasses is Twist.”

“She’s the one who gave you the peppermint stick, right?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “That last one on the bottom of the list is Apple Bloom’s cousin from Manehatten, Babs Seed.  She visits Ponyville often, at least once a month.”  I then moved his attention to another part of the room.  “Right here is where we eat our lunch.”  At hearing that word, Joshua’s stomach started grumbling.  He gave an embarrassed chuckle.

“I’m pretty hungry,” he said, “Haven’t eating since this morning.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, “We’ll have lunch when the others get here.  Only one more thing left to show you.”  I then pointed at a small target rug in the middle of the floor.  “Sometimes we stand in that spot right there and think of great ideas.  So what do you think?”

“I think it’ll be fun being in this club,” he said.

As I stood there looking at Joshua, seeing how well he was doing here with it being only his first day in Equestria, a thought crossed my mind.

“Hey Joshua?” I asked.

“Yes Nyx?” he replied.

“Did you have any brothers or sisters before coming here?”

He shook his head sadly.  “No.  I was an only child.  I wanted a brother or a sister, but my mom didn’t have any more babies after me.”

“Well,” I began, “If you’d like, I can be your sister.”

I could see tears welling up in his eyes as he walked over to me.  Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around me and quietly sniffled.  That answer was enough to know that he did want me as sister, and I returned his hug.  Our moment was interrupted when we heard a couple voices behind us going “Aww.”

“Okay, that is kind of touching, I’ll admit,” said the tomboyish voice of Scootaloo.  Joshua and I broke our hug and turned to the other crusaders, Twist and Scootaloo had saddlebags across their backs.

“Hi again Joshua,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Hi Sweetie Belle,” Joshua said, “Hi Apple Bloom.”

“Hey Joshua.  I’d like you to meet Scootaloo and Twist,” she said motioning a forehoof at the two as she introduced them.

“Hey there,” Scootaloo said.

“Hi,” Twist said walking up, “Apple Bloom told us what happened.  We’re awfully sorry that happened.”

“I’m feeling a little better, but I still miss Mom and Dad,” Joshua said.

“I’ve got just the thing to put a smile on your face,” Twist said.  She then reached into her saddlebag, pulled out one of her peppermint sticks, and gave it to him.  “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” Joshua said taking the stick of candy, “I was getting kind of hungry.”

“You might want to save that for later,” Scootaloo said, “I’ve brought lunch.”  She then reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a box.  “Do you like pizza, Joshua?”

Joshua nodded his head eagerly, “Uh-huh!” he exclaimed, “Pizza is my favorite!”  Scootaloo placed the box on the lunch table and opened it revealing a plain cheese pizza inside.  We soon had our fill of Pizza, and Joshua started licking the peppermint stick Twist gave him.  “Mmm!  This peppermint stick is good Twist!” he said beaming.

“Thanks Joshua,” Twist said, “I told you it’d put a smile on your face.”

“Alright,” Scootaloo said, “Shall we get started?”  Soon enough, we got the room ready for the ceremony.  Scootaloo pulled out a pair of drums and Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom pushed a podium near the back wall and Sweetie Belle stood behind it taking a rolled up piece of paper.  As she opened it, she groaned.

“Scootaloo!  I thought you said your were going to revise this!” Sweetie Belle said.

“Uh, hehe,” Scootaloo chuckled nervously, “It must’ve slipped my mind.”

“Just play the drums, I’ll come up with something,” Sweetie Belle replied.  Scootaloo played four slow beats on the drum, which then turned into a wild pounding  that shook the clubhouse.  Joshua had his ears covered as he stood in the middle of the room.  Scootaloo soon stopped after a while then beat the drum one last time.

“Do you, Joshua, wish to be a Cutie Mark Crusader?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes,” Joshua replied.

“Do you swear to help us in the quest to find our destiny?”

“I do.”

“Do you promise to never stop the journey until we find our marks?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s our pleasure to welcome you as a Cutie Mark Crusader!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, tossing her newly made cape to Joshua.  It landed in front of him.  He picked it up and draped it across his back.

“Thank you,” he said as he tied it up.

“So, what next?” Twist asked.

“Well, we’ve still got some time before we need to get back to the library,” I said, “How about we give Joshua a tour of Ponyville?”

“Good idea!” Apple Bloom said, “We’ll be…”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER TOUR GUIDES! YAY!!!” everyone except Joshua exclaimed.  Joshua giggled at our yell.

“Hop on, Joshua,” I said, motioning for him to get on my back.  He nodded and climbed on.  Soon we walked out of the clubhouse and out into Ponyville.