ASotBTiE: The Equestrian Series
by: TimeTravelinc.

Chapter 1: The Medusa Chicken from The Everfree
(From MLP:FiM “Stare Master”)

A ordinary day in Ponyville usually involves something crazy (and mostly disastrous) happening in the small town, like as James discovers one day as he rode his bike into town to talk to Rarity on the idea of Graphic Tees. ‘She’ll either love the idea or hate it, but I’m hoping she’ll help me make it.’ he thought.

Heading to the Carousel Boutique, James was parking his bike around the time that he heard some sounds that sounded like Sweetie Belle trying to help. ‘Like Sister, like… sister?’ he started to think as he entered the Boutique. As he did so, he noticed the shop dummy rocking back and forth for a moment, before coming to a crash on some fabrics. They streaked across the air as they landed onto the bench, causing a few items to crash into some balls of yarn, and some into a sewing machine (by use of a simple lever).

Through a series of events that James couldn’t fully pay attention, mainly because he was ducked down, hoping he wasn’t going to get kicked in the face by some unexpectedness, it soon cleared and revealed a terrible mess.

“Dang! Murphy would be proud by this Rube Goldberg.” James exclaimed. Sweetie Belle and Rarity looked at the Scientist before Sweetie Belle looked back at her sister.

“I’m just gonna stand over there.” she said, before running past James and sitting in a corner. Rarity sighed before James walked up to Rarity.

“Hi Rarity. I was going to ask you to do something but I see that you’re busy.” he said.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. “Say, tell you what.” he started, “I’ll help you clean up around here, while I tell you my idea.”

Rarity thought for a moment, before she said, “Alright, I need all the help I can get.” As they cleaned up the shop, James started explaining on the idea of graphic tees, which Rarity wasn't fully ideal on.

After a bit of work on cleaning up, Rarity went back to working on the dresses. James then turned to Sweetie Belle. “Look kid, I don’t think that your talent is making dresses for people like your sister, Rarity.” James said. Sweetie Belle looked at him with those big sad eyes before James said, “Don’t give me those sad eyes. You will find your cutie mark in time, just not doing this.”

Suddenly, the bell rang, causing Rarity to cringe for a brief second. “What now?” she exclaimed, under stress. The three of them turned towards the door to see a butter yellow pegasus with pink hair.

“Oh, I’m sorry. The sign said that it was open, but I must’ve been mistaken.” the butter yellow pegasus said.

“Fluttershy dear, I’m sorry. I forgot that you were coming here with Opalescence.” Rarity said.

At that moment, Fluttershy placed the basket down on the floor to which James and Sweetie Belle walked over and stood next to Rarity. “Hello Fluttershy, how are you?” James said.

“Oh, very well.” she replied. At that moment, Opalescence came out of the basket and soon sat there, gleaming like a white shiny pearl.

Rarity soon got close to Opalescence. “I don’t know how you’re able to do that. I can’t get near her without getting a swipe from her.” she said. At that exact moment, Rarity said that, Opal hissed and swiped at Rarity, to which she quickly dodged.

“DANG! That was tense.” James said, to which suddenly, he was distracted by the look of something shiny.

“You didn't have to use… the stare?” Rarity said.

James snapped out of his “Ooh, Shiny!” moment, and turned towards the three. “Wait, the stare? What’s that?” James asked.

“Something I use when I have to,” Fluttershy replied, “And no Rarity, I wouldn't, I couldn't. I have no control over that when it happens.” she said, before looking down at Opal.

“No, I’m just good with animals.” Fluttershy said, rubbing noses with Opal.

“Well maybe your cutie mark should be a picture of Opal then.” Rarity joked. James smiled at Rarity’s comment, then looked at the cat. Opal seemed to stare into his soul, as if it was going to kill him, as if it was going to eat him on the spot. It was as if-.

He suddenly found himself on the floor with Rarity, Fluttershy, and Sweetie Belle surrounding James, curled up in the fetal position. “What happened?” he said as he sat up. The three of them looked at each other, then back at the scientist.

“Well, you suddenly collapsed and seemed to say ‘She’s going to get me. She’s going to get me.’, whatever that meant." Rarity said.

James then remember what had happened… well, not exactly on what happened but he had a pretty good idea. “Rarity, I think your cat was giving me the death glare.” he said nervously.

Getting up, they continued the conversation with Rarity showing the gold cloth to use for her clothes. Sweetie Belle looked as though she had a good idea. Fluttershy was about to leave when two blurs sped past her, “Hi Fluttershy”, with James getting spun around in a tizzy, “Hi James”. He soon fell to the floor as he saw Applebloom and Scootaloo stop right next to Sweetie Belle. “Hi Sweetie Belle.”

Looking up, Sweetie Belle's eyes suddenly grew big, and she had a smile on her face. “Applebloom, Scootaloo.”

“You ready for tonight.” Scootaloo said. Now James wasn’t exactly known for being curious. Scratch that, he was overboard curious on some days. Today, he was just mildly curious. Getting up, and brushing himself off, he then walked over to them.

“Tonight we find out what are special talents are.” Applebloom said.

“Even if it takes us all night.” Scootaloo said.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SLEEPOVER AT RARITY’S! YAY!” they exclaimed

“Yeesh! You girls are loud.” James said, as he checked his ears for damage. ‘No damage. That’s a good sign.’ he thought. He then looked at Sweetie Belle.

“I also made these.” she said, placing on a red cape. On it was a blue shield symbol with a small filly in yellow. The other two were proud.

“What does that symbol on the cape mean?” Fluttershy asked. James had a gut feeling hit him like a ton of bricks.

He then quickly covered my ears. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they yelled, “YAY!”

‘Thank you, brain.’ James thought as he unplugged his ears.

“We’re on a crusade, a mission.” Scootaloo said, “We’re trying to find what our cutie marks are.”

“I also added this golden silk to the cape.” Sweetie said, showing it to the crusaders. James looked at the cape, then at Rarity, in which realization hit her, and her eye twitched in fear.

“Uh-oh.” James said. She soon sped past everyone and went and grabbed the gold silk, which had three square holes in the fabric.

“Sweetie Belle, what have you done?” She said, her voice getting higher in pitch. “That was the last of the gold silk *GASP!*, which means that I’ll have to make more.” Rarity said, before turning towards Sweetie and her friends, “Which means that the sleepover is canceled girls.”

‘I wonder why I’m surprised that Rarity doesn’t sound upset?” James said.

“What?” Sweetie exclaimed.

James was feeling particularly sorry for Sweetie and her friends, when Fluttershy and James had the same idea, ‘That’s It!’ they thought, as a light bulb appeared over their heads.

“Wait," Jame started, "what if I-,”

“We.” Fluttershy replied. James looked at Fluttershy, then the gears in his head started spinning more wildly.

“That’s right.” he said with a smack to his head, “What if we worked together to allow the Crusaders to have their sleepover?” James said.

“I don’t know.”Rarity said, unsure “I’m pretty sure we can handle them.” Fluttershy said. Rarity looked unsure, “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It won’t be any trouble at all.” James said with a grin on his face, “Have you met my sister and her friends?” Rarity replied.

James smiled like a cheshire cat, then said, “Have you met my family? They’re more chaotic than these kids. I’m pretty confident that we can handle them.”

“Besides, you said that I was good with little creatures.” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, and kids like me, well almost all kids.” James said, thinking back to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. He didn’t like them, mainly because they reminded him of spoiled brats. Deep down, he thank the lord that he didn’t turn out that way, but also knew that he was at fall too (mainly because he would forget things, and sometimes go off tangent, as well as ramble on, on subjects).

“Besides, who can’t handle these cute little angels?” James said. At that moment, the three of them smiled, halos appearing above their heads, ‘One of these days, I’ll see if it is cartoon physics that really causes this stuff to happen.’ James thought.

He then realized something and quickly covered his ears- “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SLEEPOVER AT FLUTTERSHY’S WITH JAMES! YAY!” They exclaimed as they ran out the door.

“How cute.” Both Fluttershy and James said.

Realization hit James again, like a returning bully with a killer punch. “Hey! Wait up!” James said, quickly running out the door.

“Wait for me.” Fluttershy said. Rarity gave a worried hum, as Fluttershy ran out the door.

The three fillies ran down the street as James rode his bike and Fluttershy hovered right next to him. “Oh, we’re going to have so much fun.” Fluttershy said, “We can braid our manes, paint our hooves…”

“Watch movies, tell stories, listen to music while we make snacks.” James added. They suddenly noticed that the three were gone.

‘They couldn’t have gone very far.’ James thought as he and Fluttershy looked around. He suddenly found them and pointed it out to Fluttershy. He then noticed Twilight, who looked dizzy, like something sped by her so fast it made her head spin. “Heh, heh. How’s it going Twilight?” James said.

“Fine,” she replied, before noticing Fluttershy, “Hello Fluttershy, how are you?”
“Oh, very well," Fluttershy replied, "And you?”

“Fine. I’m actually heading into the Everfree Forest to get some of my favorite tea from Zecora.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Th-the Everfree Forest?” Fluttershy said, nervously. James still shrugged at this, knowing that Earth was a bit more worse than The Everfree… mainly because the Everfree was a wild version of Earth, and Earth was full of crime and stuff, but mainly, mostly harmless.

“You will be careful, right?”Fluttershy said, worried about her friend's safety.

“C’mon, this is Twilight we’re talking about. If she becomes too careful, she’ll cause an event that’ll possibly cause all of Ponyville to be thrown into chaos.” James said.

Twilight stood there shocked at what James had said, “How did you know I did that?”

Now it was James’ turn to be shocked. “Wait, that happened already? Dang. I miss all the good stuff in this town.”

Twilight chuckled as well as Fluttershy. “Anyways, I’ll be careful.” Twilight said, “What about you? What are you doing with the girls?” she asked. Fluttershy explained the situation on what she was doing while James kept an eye on the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“And what about you James?”

“Hm?” James replied to Twilight. James turned towards Twilight, “Come again.” he said.

“I said,” Twilight started, “what about you James? What are you doing?”

“Simple, I’m helping Fluttershy.” James simply said.

Twilight was soon impressed and relieved to find that Fluttershy wasn’t doing this alone. “Wow, I see that everypony has their hooves and hands full.” she said. Twilight soon looked at Fluttershy and James. “Are you sure that you two can handle them?”

“What, these sweet little angels?” Fluttershy said, pointing towards the fillies who suddenly showed up, “They’re no trouble at all.”

At that exact moment Fluttershy said that, the fillies had smiles, and halos appeared above their heads. James, who was as level headed as a Mad Hatter, decided to let his brain figure that one out. It’s reply: CARTOON PHYSICS. ‘Of course it is.’ James thought.

A few minutes later they soon ended up at Fluttershy’s cottage. ‘Well, the place definitely feels homey and nice. Seems to also house a lot of animals, what with all of the small places that fit birds, ferrets, and well... others.’ James thought as he looked at the small and cozy cottage.

They soon entered the cottage with James ducking down, and the first thing he saw was a bird and chipmunk was conversing which caused James to snicker quietly to himself. There was soon the loud sound of the fillies added to the mixture as the animals (minus Angel Bunny) were frightened off as the curious fillies quickly moved around, curious about everything.

“No… problem at all.” Fluttershy said to herself, however James didn’t realize this. “

If this is no problem, I’d hate to see what was a real problem.” he said. Fluttershy gave James a glare, to which his silent reply was a humorous shrug.

Fluttershy then turned back towards the girls. “Ok girls, uh, what should we do first?” Fluttershy said. James looked at them as they argued briefly on who was going to get their cutie mark first.

“Ok girls settle.” Fluttershy said. James just shook his head. He then got a surprise as Angel quickly jumped off his bed and into James’ lab coat, avoiding the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“I’m staying up all night.” Scootaloo said.
“Me too.” added Applebloom.
“Me three.” Sweetie said.

James didn’t like where this was going. “Now girls, you need your rest. And I think that it would work out if we played a game, or watched a movie...”

Turning back towards them, he saw that they were gone. ‘What did Rarity give these kids. Caffeine?’ James thought to himself, to which he quickly helped Fluttershy in getting the kids. Applebloom was tipping the chair, however Fluttershy pulled her down.

Sweetie Belle had her head stuck in a bird coop, however, James was able to pull her out of it. Blowing a tuff of hair out of her eyes, James walked over and sat on the floor, cross legged, then looked at Fluttershy. She gave a look that said, “Not a word.” then turned towards the Crusaders. “So,” Both James and Fluttershy started.

“What do you want to do?” Fluttershy asked, “Play a game?”

“Watch a movie? Sing a Campfire song… even though we don’t have a campfire?” James said humorously. Both Fluttershy and James hoped that they would settle down.

No such luck.

“We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Scootaloo said.
“And,” Applebloom said, “we want to crusade for our cutie marks.”
“And. And… uh,” Sweetie Belle thought for a moment before, saying, “-Yeah! What they said.”

Fluttershy stood there, nervously thinking of what to do. “Now girls, this is a time for rest, not for a time of play.” James said, trying to act stern to these kids. “You can go looking for your cutie marks tomorrow. How about instead we have something nice and relaxing, like something that will unwind all of your troubles?”

“Or we can do something exciting and fun, like explore the Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo said. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle liked this idea, exclaiming it with a “YEAH!” They were about to run out the door when Fluttershy stopped them in the tracks.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy started, “the Everfree Forest is much too-” “Boring.” James said, quickly jumping in. The four ponies looked at James, as if he was crazy. ‘If I can persuade the Crusaders not to go into the forest by telling them boring things, they may settle a little bit easier.’ James thought.

“The place at night is much too boring, because all at night, there are creatures that sleep all night. They also doesn’t seem to be a lot going along in there. I mean you may see a creature or two, but they don’t do much, almost nothing at all.” James said, hoping to sound convincing, “Which is what you guys should be doing. Instead of adventuring, why don’t we relax?” he said.

“Because we want to get our cutie marks, and besides, you’re lying.” Applebloom said. James’ face switched to calm, to surprise as he soon looked at them.

He then replied, “What makes you so sure?”

“I hang out with my sister, what makes you think that I haven’t learn the difference between lying and telling the truth?” Applebloom said. That’s when James brain reminded him that Applebloom’s sister is the Element of Honesty.

‘Dang! She has a point.’ James thought.

“Besides,” Sweetie started, “You could go with us and we could catch some unusual creatures. We would be um… Creature Catchers!” The three brightened at the idea. James couldn’t help but mentally groan. “YAY! CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CREATURE CATCHERS!!” They all yelled. James wasn’t prepared and seconds later, they all saw the scientist on the ground.

Getting up, they saw that his glasses broke from the intense sound. ‘What’s this, a Jerry Lewis film?’ he thought as he pulled off the cracked glasses. As he got up, the girls started playing around, playing “Creatures and Crusaders”, at least that’s what James jokingly named. He soon brought the glasses back onto his face, realizing that they were automatically repaired.

He didn’t think too much into it as Scootaloo, Applebloom (as the creature) and Sweetie Belle ran off. “Come back, dangerous creature,” Sweetie yelled, as she jumped onto a nearby table, “So I can catch you!”

“Never!” yelled Scootaloo. James saw where this was going and quickly ran to try and stop a “Homewrecking”.

Homewrecking(n)~What one does when trying to get something as easy as picking up a talent or getting a cutie mark, while causing localized destruction on accident.

“Careful…”Fluttershy said, “you don’t…” There was a crash, and the sound of a ‘Oof!’ from James before she saw the end result. “break anything.” Fluttershy said disappointedly.

Lying on the ground, James was in much pain, slightly confused. He then noticed something, “Um, where the vase I was-” *CRASH!* It slammed onto his head.

“Never mind.” he replied before his head suddenly hit the ground. “Sorry Fluttershy.” Sweetie Belle said. “Yeah, and sorry James.” Scootaloo said.

James soon started to get up, getting the table off of him. Thankfully it wasn’t broke. “That’s ok girls. I’m made of sterner stuff.” he said with a smile, “Now how about a contest.”

“It’s called the Silence Contest.” he said as the three fillies sat there on the couch. “It’s so simple, even a baby could do it.” The Crusaders looked at each other, in confusion then back at James.

‘This sounds similar to “Shh!”, but is it?’ Fluttershy thought. “The rules are simple, you three cannot talk and whoever makes a sound is out, whoever last the longest wins.” James said with a satisfied smirk.

The three fillies had the same thought as they sat there, ‘That’s lame.’

James hoped that this would work, then he said, “Now stay there and as soon as we leave the room, the game begins.” He said, ushering Fluttershy to follow him, “Meanwhile, Fluttershy and I will go make some tea. Have fun.”

They soon, as someone would say, ‘booked it’ and headed for the kitchen. As they made tea, James said, in a low calm tone, “Fluttershy, do you have any Green Tea or Earl Gray…” ‘or is it Earl Grey?’ he briefly thought. There was the sound of noise coming from the living room, as both the pegasus pony and human ran in, seeing all the commotion for what was going on.

James shook his head, then said, “Well, you guys lose, and therefore your prize is to go to bed.” He then started collecting them, as he carried them to the guest room. There were shouts of protest, but he didn’t really pay much mind to such things.

“Now go to sleep and tomorrow, when you wake,” James said, pulling the covers and tucking them in, “Not only will there be a nice breakfast, but Fluttershy and I will take you trekking through the Everfree.”

“But how are we supposed to find our special talent in our sleep?” Applebloom said, to which Fluttershy replied, “Maybe you have a lovely little dream about your special talent.” “About construction, about stunt coordination, about singing…” James mumbled.

However, the girls heard that part from James, but didn’t know what he was talking about, so their brains did the only thing that they could do, store it for later.

“But we’re not even tired.” Scootaloo said.

Fluttershy patted them down, before an idea came to her mind. “How about I sing you a Lullaby?” she said.

As Fluttershy sung the song, James saw that the fillies were starting to calm down, and even he was starting to feel sleepy. Then Sweetie Belle claimed she knew it, and Fluttershy asked her to join in. ‘To quote over the famous Han Solo “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” ’ he thought.

She cleared her throat, and suddenly the place sounded more like a gospel song, upbeat and loud. The place vibrated as James, and Fluttershy watched everything unfold. ‘DANG!’ he thought, ‘She has some mean pipes!’

James looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom as they rode the bed that bounced to the epic noise. After Sweetie hit that last part, there was sounds that came from outside, sounds of clucks and bkaw!

“What is that?” Scootaloo said. James knew exactly what they were thinking, as they saw the open window. “Oh no ya’ don’t.” James said, quickly blocking their path. James then turned towards Fluttershy. “Um, Fluttershy,” Fluttershy turned towards James, “why don’t you deal with the chickens while I sing them a lullaby.” he suggested.

“But-!” the crusaders started. “NO BUTS!” James exclaimed, shaking the place briefly. This caused Fluttershy to flinch and the the three girls to peak out from under the covers. “Just stay there and let me sing you a lullaby,” James stated, “While Auntie Fluttershy tends tah’ the chickens.” he said, slipping into a southern accent.

(Note: This is not meant to offend anyone, just be kinda humorous and he can do a southern accent. If this offended you, my apologies in advance.)

Fluttershy understood what James wanted her to do and headed out, “Oh, thank you James.” she said.

“Just doing what I think is right.” James said, which made him realize something, ‘Boy, did that sound cliche’d or what?’ he thought.

James was soon alone in the room with the Crusaders, allowing him to try a different approach to the lullaby. He then used a tuner to find the right note to sing in, then started singing.

“GOODNIGHT!” he exclaimed, slamming the door shut. James brushed off his hands, satisfied in what he thought would work. Fluttershy soon entered the house, closing the door. “How about a nice cuppa?” James said, seeming to place a British accent on.

(Note: Again, same as before, except replace Southern with British. There’s kinda a reason he does that.)

“It wasn’t really that hard, was it?” Fluttershy said, lying on the living room sofa. James looked at her, missing the Crusaders by mere seconds. He then turned back to the tea, and said, “Well, depends on your definition of hard. Honestly, I thought we were toast.” James said, making the tea for him and Fluttershy.

“Good with animals, good with kids.” she said to herself. James just smiled and sipped his tea.

A few minutes later…
James was finishing off his tea, and Fluttershy was taking a brief nap. “Peace and quiet.” she said.

James finished it, setting the cup onto the table, ‘Almost as if-.’ His thoughts stopped for a moment, as he felt a sudden dread come over him. “Too quiet if you ask me.” he said getting up. Fluttershy and James quickly ran upstairs to see that they were gone.

‘And they didn’t even leave decoys. That makes it all the more interesting.’ he thought to himself. Soon, Fluttershy and James were searching for the girls, until James went to the chicken coop and checked if they were hiding in there for some reason.

“Um, Fluttershy,” he called to her, “You might want to check this out.” he said. Fluttershy went to James and saw that Elizabeak was gone. They soon noticed the tracks. James went over and saw the chicken tracks and the ponies tracks, as well as a piece of the Crusaders’ capes they had on them.

“They must’ve went after your chicken,” James said, “and they all went into-”
“*GASP!* The Everfree Forest” Fluttershy replied in fear.

And now a word from our sponsors…

And Now Back to ASotBTiE: The Equestrian Series

James and Fluttershy were running through the forest with James having Night Vision goggles on his head, not in use for now, and a flashlight in his hand. Fluttershy had nothing on her but had worry on her face. “Those girls have really done it this time! They’ve bitten off more than they could chew!”

“Just like us. There’s a pattern here.” James said, as he looked around.

“We should’ve never asked to take care of them.” Fluttershy said, her head drooping.

James turned around and faced Fluttershy. “Oh c’mon. You and I both know that we didn’t know that this was going to happen.” he said. He then stood up and looked around, before saying, “Now, c’mon! We’ve got some fillies to save.”

They soon heard some sounds similar to the girls and quickly headed towards the sounds, however, they couldn’t find them. They soon came across Twilight. “Twilight, is that you?” James said.

Fluttershy was relieved to see one of her friends in the unfamiliar forest. “Twilight, it is you. Thank goodness.” Fluttershy said, as she tried to talk to her friend. James noticed that Twilight hasn’t moved in a few moments, nor replied to them, when the full moon revealed the problem.

“*GASP!* Oh, no!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

James and Fluttershy looked at the statue of Twilight, and noticed how detailed it looked. “Fluttershy, you don’t have a creature named ‘Medusa’ around here, do you?” James said, tapping on the stone. The Twilight Statue tipped over and fell onto the ground.

“If she’s been turned to stone James, then…” she didn’t finish her sentence for fear of what would happen to them. Fluttershy soon quickly sped off to find them. “Girls!”

“Wait, what about Twilight?” James said.
“Leave her, she’ll be fine.” He heard Fluttershy say.

James looked down at the Twilight turned statue, then said, “We’ll be back for you, I promise.”

He then ran off to help Fluttershy.

“Girls,” Fluttershy said, worried “Thank goodness we found you!”

“We?” Sweetie said. They soon got their answer as a light shined down on the four of them. “Well, that’s a relief.” he said to them. “Now, c’mon! Let’s head back to civilization before something gets us.” he said.

“But we haven’t found the chicken yet.” Sweetie said. “There’s no time for that now. There’s a cockatrice on the loose.” Fluttershy said, fearfully. The three fillies and one human were confused now.

“A cocka-what?” Both James and Applebloom said. Fluttershy was frightened, and James was more confused than frightened.

“A cockatrice!” she said again, “It has the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. Now, c’mon!” she said again.

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” James said. Fluttershy quickly looked around. “Fluttershy, what does a cockatrice do?” he asked. She looked back at James.
“Remember Twilight?” she said. James nodded, and suddenly, his brain made the connection.
“Wait, we’re dealing with a Medusa chicken?” he asked.

This gave even more confused looks to the Crusaders. Applebloom started to say, “What’s-”

“What’s Medusa?" James interrupted. He soon got a nod from Applebloom. "She’s from Mythology, from years, almost eons ago.” James said, now showing a bit of fear, “She was a creature that was like this cockatrice, part woman, part snake. The worst thing was that if you looked at her, you would get turned to stone.”

“That’s exactly what this thing does isn’t it, Fluttershy?” James said nervously. Fluttershy gulped then nodded, frightened of what would happen. Suddenly, the bush rustled and there's the sound of clucking coming from it. Then suddenly, the chicken came rushing by them.

“The chicken.” the girls said, running after it.

They soon ran after it, followed by James and Fluttershy. As they ran after it, they stopped hearing a weird growl. They soon spotted it in a bush, followed by another. James noticed the eyes, and quickly pulled out his mirrored sunglasses. He then gave Fluttershy a mirror. “The effect of Medusa couldn’t be effected on mirror surfaces.” James said.

Suddenly, they heard a scream come from the girls as they ran towards the area with Twilight. James and Fluttershy heard the scream. “Sounds like they found Twilight. Let’s go talk some sense into them.” James said as they ran back to the place before. They soon saw what was going on as the Crusaders ran around and panicked.

James couldn’t handle it anymore and just snapped right then and there. “SHUT UP!” He yelled. The three girls just stopped what they were doing and stopped there in fright. James then heard the roar of the cockatrice. “Girls,” he said calmly as he stared at the monster before him, “Behind us now.” They didn’t have to make him say it twice, they did as they were told as the creature gave a monstrous *CLU-ROAR-CK!*.

Fluttershy looked at the crusaders, avoiding the cockatrice’s gaze, James then said, “Do it Fluttershy, not just for me, for Twilight, or for Elizabeak. Do it for the girls.” His words of inspiration inspired her and caused her bravery to show once again.

“You!” she said, jumping towards the creature, “Just who do you think you are, going around, turning others into stone?” she said. The creature gave a dismayed squawk before it started staring at her intensely. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” she started, her body turning into stone, “I’d have half a mind and tell your mother what you’ve been up to young man.” she said.

The cockatrice looked frightened at first, but then looked angry again. ‘Well, that threw him off guard. He’s starting to sweat.’ he thought with a smile. It soon continued with it’s gaze. “Now you go over there, and turn Elizabeak and my friend Twilight back to normal,” she said, giving it The Stare. That did it, that struck the true fire of fear into that creature, and it showed on the creature’s face as it gave a dismayed squawk again.

“And don’t ever let me catch you doing this again.” she said. James and the girls then saw the stone part of her dissipate off her. “Do you understand me?” she asked it. The creature nodded in reply, then ran off to do just as Fluttershy asked. James removed his mirrored sunglasses, and placed them back into his pocket.

“Are you girls alright? I-i mean, We were so worried.” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, fine!” Scootaloo said,
“Thanks to that stare of yours." Sweetie said.
“And you were brave James.” Applebloom said.
James curiously looked at them, “You really think so? Because, I was quaking in my boots.” he said, then added, “Talking about ‘acting in the face of danger’.”

“You’re like the queen of stares, you’re the-”

“Stare Master!” The Crusaders said, finishing Scootaloo’s sentence. They soon gave their apologies and promised to listen to both either Fluttershy, James, or both.

“Oh you do, do you?” James said, with a smile. Fluttershy decided to join in, “Well, you better, or I’ll give you The Stare.” she said, looking at them with one eye. Applebloom and Scootaloo stood there in shock while, Sweetie covered her eyes. James couldn’t hold it any longer and started to laugh, and soon Fluttershy and the other three joined in.

Soon Twilight returned from her stone-cold nap, and walked towards the others. “Ugh, Wha-what happened?” she said. They soon heard squawks coming from behind James.

They all turned to see Elizabeak with her head in the ground, stuck. “There’s something you don’t see everyday.” he muttered.

From the Desk of James Rouse: Scientific Advisor of Equestria

Dear Princess Celestia,
Yesterday, I had decided to help my friend Fluttershy with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as I thought that I could handle three little children. Boy was I wrong, and so was Fluttershy in assuming that it would be no chore. She assumed that since she was good with animals, she was good with kids.

Her lesson she learned is not to bite off more than we can chew or swallow. I feel that this is a lesion that should be learned by all man pony-kind.

I hope that Fluttershy will explain what caused her to learn this lesion.

Signed, your friend and Scientist,
James R.

P.S: There was a Medusa Chicken running around in the Everfree, although you guys call it a cockatrice, anyways, ran into one… if I ever do that again, I hope to run into a friendlier one then that one.

James smiled at his letter, then decided to take a nap in the hammock he set up at Fluttershy’s. Twilight and Fluttershy were enjoying their tea, while the Crusaders played around.

It seemed quiet until a surprise landed on James’ face. It was white, had fur, and made a *Meow!* ‘Uh oh.’ James thought, as he calmly got up. Opal soon dug her claws into James’ face, but James just tried hard to ignore it.

“How about later this afternoon?” Fluttershy said.

James then tapped the shoulder of Fluttershy and said, “How about now, while I’m still somewhat calm.” Twilight looked at James with a shock look before scrunching up her face in pain. “Also, someone call a medic.” he said. They all soon laughed, at the mishap.

"Seriously though, someone call the medic."

Author's Note

Finally, after months of work, I finally finished working on this chapter. Only several more to go in itself. You know how it is.

*SIGH!* It's tough to be a writer.

Additional note: The editor couldn't let me send out this final product when I finished it some time ago. I finally did that, and now it is done. Are ya' happy moderator, because this isn't the writing style I use. What I use is, what is used in writing books.

*SIGH!* It's really tough to be a writer like me.

-The Character