Hey guys, first of all, thanks for giving my fic a try! This is the first fic that I've ever written, so please criticize. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: Dicovery
It was a normal, warm morning in the Everfree, and the many flocks of chickens filled the forest with their morning call.
"Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!"
All of the chickens had always started off every morning by doing so, with the exception of the young ones. Although eventually, they would grow and develop the requirements to do so on their own. They would all be starting every morning with their call... Perhaps with the exception of one of the chicks. A certain brown chick that was abnormally larger than the others, and seemed to take a longer time maturing.
Although he was born at the same time period as some of the fully matured chickens, he still remained a chick. He was around the age of 5, which made him one of the eldest in his flock. But his abnormality didn't stop there. He was born with the ability to make many sounds that were abnormal for his species. The closest being that his "voice" resembled the sound of a pony.
Throughout the five years of his life, he had been troubled by his abnormality. He had tried to imitate the others, and spent the majority of his life trying to be normal. Although in the end, no matter how much effort he put into fitting in, he could never do it. He was different.
But one day, the chick made a life changing decision. He chose to accept who he was, and to accept the differences that came along with it.
After he came to accept his differences, he came to the realization that he was perhaps not meant to live as a chicken... Perhaps... he was meant to live as a different being.
With this realization, he had started to venture often to the borders of the Everfree, where he would occasionally spot the ponies coming in to just venture, or to visit the odd looking hut where the zebra resident lived. He would listen to their method of communicating, and at first, he just stood there, befuddled by its complexity. Unlike the chickens in his flock, they made many different pitches, and seemed to be communicating to each other through groups of sounds. It was fascinating to him, and he chose to pursue it. He chose to attempt to learn their form of communication.
He started to learn around the age of three, and had come to listen to ponies everyday since then. He observed and tried to memorize what type of noise they made when they seemed to be talking about something they gestured to, and worked his way up from there. He memorized a few of them by the age of four, and he constantly practiced them, so that he would never forget them.
"Hello. Hello. Hello. Look. Look. Look. Sore. Sore. Sore Sore. Hurry. Hurry. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. No. No."
He quickly adapted to how the ponies pronounced each word, and became quite comfortable with it. He was proud of himself. He would one day be able to communicate to another being, and fit in! Full of inspiration and excitement, he worked harder and harder to learn the ponies' language.
And finally... At his current age of five, he had worked hard enough to construct full sentences, and had a much better understanding of the language than he had a year ago. He still practiced, however, to expand his vocabulary and his ability to describe things with more detail, as his sentences were still very basic.
"I see the hut. I see the hut. We should get back. We should get back. Is that a talking chick? Is that a talking chick?"
When he practiced, ponies would often spot him practicing, which left most of them befuddled. Some even fainted, and others just ran away. The chick paid no attention however, for he was too focused and determined to observe his surroundings.
Any of the ponies that had spotted him previously chose to ignore him, and his existence was unknown to the oblivious ponies of ponyville. They convinced themselves that they were just seeing things, and that the talking baby chick wasn't real.
However, there was one exceptional pony.
Ever since Zecora's first visit to Ponyville, Applebloom had started to visit the zebra's hut every now and then. She had gotten used to the usual path, and knew about most of the strange creatures that resided in the Everfree.
She entered the Everfree Forest as usual, and walked in the general direction of the hut. She looked around, spotting the wildlife of the forest that she had begun getting familiar with from her conversations with Zecora. There was the Poison Joke on her left, which she first encountered when her sister's friends had experienced its effects. There were also the eerie trees that filled the forest all around her, which still spooked her from time to time. The sound of the wildlife was evident as well, but Applebloom was lucky enough to avoid detection of the Timberwolves, Hydras, Maticores, Cockatrice, and all of the other dangerous animals that the Everfree had to offer.
She continued on her walk, and kept on looking around her surroundings, to see if she could find anything else that peaked her interests. She saw only the very common plant life, so she decided to trot on in a brisk pace.
Applebloom could see Zecora's hut now, but stopped when she spotted a unique flower that once proved to cause havoc in Ponyville, and ultimately, made her suffer.
It was the Heart's Desire, and while it had formidable effects, it was an admirable flower. Applebloom trotted towards it, and stopped as she spotted more of them. She saw not just two or three, but a whole bush of them!
"Ah should grab all o' this for Zecora! She could make so many more potions!" Applebloom yelled aloud, in excitement.
"I should grab all of this for Zecora! She could make so many more potions!" A mysterious echo repeated.
"Huh? What the hay?" Applebloom said.
The baby chick never really cared for what ponies looked like, and was only interested in their ways of communication at the time. He always sat fairly close to the trail in the forest, behind a tree so the ponies would not stop in their tracks to stare at him, like the first time he made an appearance. It also helped him focus, and he made an effort to not look at the ponies either.
Most ponies would always just sprint away after spotting him, or something relative to that anyways, so he did not care especially if he was spotted. He sat in a quite visible spot, and figured that he would at least get a few sentences of practice before they ran away.
He sat there, waiting for the fifth pony of the afternoon to come by. He had been sitting there for some time now, and started to become bored. Having nothing to do, he just took his time to study the zebra's home.
It was the same as it always was, although he did not know the words to describe it. It was not a hut, but it wasn't exactly really a structure of any sort either. It was the hybrid of a tree and a... What did the ponies call it? A house?
He pondered about the mysterious tree/house, until he heard hoofsteps approaching the trail leading to the very home he was thinking about.
He sneaked back into his usual spot, and sat in silence, waiting for the pony to talk.
He keenly listened for any talking that they would do. The pony, however, did not talk for quite a while. Perhaps he or she was alone?
The chick waited and waited, but all he could hear was the hooves hitting the ground, as the pony walked on.
When he was about to give up on this pony, and walk to another hiding place, she spoke.
"Ah should grab all o' this for Zecora! She could make so many more potions!"
The voice was a bit higher than the usual ponies that would come around, so the baby chick took a wild guess that it was perhaps a younger pony. Nonetheless, he chose to practice as usual.
"I should grab all of this for Zecora! She could make so more potions!" the baby chick repeated.
"Huh? What the hay?" Applebloom said.
Applebloom hardly saw any other ponies in the Everfree, since most of them avoided it. They were all scared of the forest and animals that inhabited it, with the exception of her sister and her friends. This was so strange, that she decided to investigate.
Applebloom silently trotted over to where the echoes were coming from, and saw what seemed to be a large baby chick, looking the other way.
It was about a head taller than she was, and it had an assortment of dark and light brown feathers. Its feet were quite large as well, one foot being around the size of all of her hooves put together. She could not see the face of it though, as it was facing the same way as she was.
"Well that's strange..." Applebloom wondered out loud.
"Well that's strange..." The echo repeated.
"Huh?!" Applebloom yelled in surprise.
"Huh?!" The echo repeated once again.
The mysterious echo left Applebloom dumbfounded, and started to wonder if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had followed her to mess with her. She looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She shrugged it off, convincing herself that it was just the strange forest's magic getting to her head.
"Well that was weird..." Applebloom started to walk towards the bush, to gather the flowers.
"Well that was weird..." The echo repeated once more, but this time, Applebloom could hear the echo a bit louder than before.
"Wait a second..." Applebloom could hear the echo of what she was saying from the direction of the large baby chick, and since the curiosity got the better of her, she decided to poke the chicken.
The chick could hear the pony coming abnormally close, but he was committed to practicing this day. He would let nothing interrupt it, and no matter what, he was going to stay put right where he was.
Or at least he thought so, until the pony came up to him and poked him right by his tail feather.
"What th-" The chicken blabbered, before he saw a yellow little filly, with a red mane that was tied off with a pink bow tie.
"Oh mah gosh! A talkin' chicken!" Applebloom yelled.
The chick was shocked by the sudden interaction, and he could no longer just stay put. He was shocked to say the least, and was shivering.
They stood there, staring at each other, until one of them decided to make a very quick move.
"Oh no, oh no, I have to get away!" The baby chick yelled, as he sprinted away in a random direction.
"Wait come back!" Applebloom tried to run after the baby chick, but he proved to be too fast.
"Well... Ah'll be darned... I gotta tell Scoots and Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom yelled, and ran back towards Ponyville.
"Ahm serious! Ah saw a talkin' chick!" exclaimed Applebloom, as she stomped her hooves in frustration.
Applebloom had run back to the infamous CMC's clubhouse, which was built in place of her Applejack's old tree house. The three fillies, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo always met there, whether it was just to hang out, or to plan out how to get their cutie marks.
Applebloom made her way there, after her strange encounter, to tell her friends about the strange baby chicken that was talking, just as a pony would.
"That's such a lie! Are you sure you didn't just see Scootaloo in the forest or something?" Sweetie Belle did not believe a single word of Applebloom's tale, as she had never even heard of such a thing.
"Hey! Stop calling me that! I'm not a chicken!" Scootaloo retorted, being fed up with the name-calling.
"He was sayin' weird sentences n' all! Ah saw him on mah way back from Zecora's Hut!"
"Fine then. Should we try and find this made-up chick of yours in the Everfree forest then?" Sweetie Belle challenged.
"Fine! Ah'll show ya that Ah ain't lyin!" Applebloom agreed, for she knew that it was the only way to get a point across to her stubborn friends.
"Meet at the club house tomorrow morning! Then we can start our awesome adventure! No matter how pointless it sounds." Scootaloo concluded, rolling her eyes as she finished her last sentence.
The fillies dispersed, and returned to their respectful homes, while they all prepared for their adventure.
Sweetie Belle ran back home, to the Carousel Boutique, which her sister, Rarity ran her business. She ran into the building, and saw that Rarity had fallen asleep on her desk, while working. She thought about waking her up, but the last thing she needed after her friend acting all coo-coo was a grumpy, sleep deprived sister.
She walked up the stairs stealthily, and opened the second door to her left, where her room was.
She sat on the carpeted, scruffy floor, gathering everything she would pack for their journey tomorrow.
She made sure to pack the essentials, that being their signature CMC capes, which she made quite some time ago, and a banner that read "I TOLD YOU SO." in bold letters. She would use it to gloat to Applebloom after their failure to find the "Talking Chick".
"This is perfect! I'm so gonna rub it in her face tomorrow!" Needless to say, Sweetie Belle was confident about her victory.
Scootaloo ran to her "other" hideout, where she stored everything CMC related, because she didn't want them getting lost or misplaced in her own home. It was in Fluttershy's chicken coop, where she had her own stall for her to nap in. She figured that if the chicken calling was going to continue, that she would surprise her friends, and lie to them that she was actually really a chicken.
She dug through the old nests, where she buried her one most precious treasure of all time.
Scootaloo had only one thing in mind bring with her. Her very own picture taken with her only idol, Rainbow Dash. She carried it everywhere, for Rainbow was her inspiration. She dreamed of one day, when she would be just like her idol. To be as fast and agile. To be admired by everypony. To be... AWESOME.
"So... Awesome..." Scootaloo was daydreaming at this point, which had eventually caused her to unintentionally walk into the nearest wall.
After she had separated from her friends, Applebloom ran back straight to Sweet Apple Acres, where her humble family had lived for years. Much like how Scootaloo admired Rainbow Dash, and how Sweetie Belle wanted to be like Rarity, Applebloom looked up to her sister Applejack. Applejack was strong, humble, caring, and was the perfect role model. She was also one of the best rodeo ponies in Equestria, and that made her very admirable to everypony. Applebloom wanted to be just like her.
She walked into her house, looking around, wondering what she would bring with her. She tried to think for quite some time, but eventually came up with the perfect object.
Applebloom walked towards the object, with a beaming smile, as she knew it was perfect. She picked up one of her sister's lasso ropes. This was to catch the chick, in case seeing the creature was not enough to convince her friends.
"Ah'll convince those two tomorrow... An' they'll know Ah wasn't lyin'!"
Soon enough, night fell upon Equestria, and the beautiful moon surfaced.
At this time, the chick had started to make his way towards the area close to the hut, where he would usually awake to the sound of ponies talking. It would be just another day, which he would follow his usual routine. Listen to ponies until noon, then return to his flock.... Or so he thought.
"Alright then. Are you girls ready?!" Sweetie Belle had been the most excited out of the group of three friends, as she could not wait to gloat to Applebloom.
The CMC gathered at the edge of the Everfree forest in the early morning, to get a head start on spotting this "Magical Chicken" of some sort, that Applebloom had apparently found.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Scootaloo yelled, getting quite impatient, much like her idol.
"Follow me then!" Applebloom took the lead, taking her friends towards the previous path that she had spotted the odd creature at.
The three fillies walked with a quickened pace, as they were all eager to find their goal. Applebloom tried her best to retrace her tracks, and eventually ended up at a very familiar spot in the forest.
"He was here! Ah saw him talkin' around this area... Now we jus' gotta look for him..." Applebloom instructed, as she focused intently on the trees around her.
"Alright then! Let's hurry and look around! This is taking too long already!" Scootaloo impatiently yelled.
The chick had fallen asleep after arriving at his usual spot in the forest, and rested until he awoke to the sound of the flocks of chickens yelling to their heart's content. He awoke, and stretched his wings as far as he could. He yawned just as a pony would, and started toward his favorite stream, where he would always bathe in the morning.
When he arrived, he slowly dipped his feathers in, and felt the cold water wet his feathers. Then, he started to make his way back to where he would listen to the ponies' conversations.
"I don't see him anywhere... Are you sure about this talking chick Applebloom?" Scootaloo was skeptical about the whole thing from the start, but now, she was full of doubt.
"Ah swear! Ah saw him! Jus' keep lookin'!" Applebloom had started to become nervous. What if she had just imagined it? What if she was just insane? Was the chick even real?
"Uh... I really don't think that there's a talking chick... We should just give up, Applebloom." Sweetie Belle was almost gleaming with the thoughts of gloating to Applebloom, and telling her how silly she was.
"Maybe... Aw heck, maybe Ah'm jus' a crazy pony..." Applebloom went straight from eager to depressed, as she had realized the possibilities that she may just be a crazy lunatic of some sort, and that she could never be a normal pony, let alone be a great pony like her sister.
"Aw... Don't say that Applebloom, we can keep trying! Maybe we're just not trying hard enough!" Scootaloo was always one to criticize and poke fun at her friends, but she always made the effort to be caring when her friends were feeling down.
"Naw... Don't even bother... Ah know Ah'm just a crazy pony... Y'all should just go home..." Applebloom was distressed at this point, and was even tearing up.
From a distance, the chick had heard something that he had never heard in his entire lifetime. Somepony was crying. He quickly dashed over to the location, and stopped to see three little fillies. One of them was the chick he saw the day before, and he also spotted two other fillies alongside her. One was orange, and the other white. They were trying to comfort the yellow one, who was crying.
"Come on, Applebloom! It's okay! There has to be a talking chick around here somewhere!" The orange one yelled.
Were they... talking about him? This made the chick feel both nervous, and excited. Should he go and talk to them? Would they freak out? The chick contemplated on his different choices of actions, and was completely oblivious to the fact that he was completely in the open, where he was in the line of the fillies' views.
"Uh... What's that chick doing...? And why's it so big?" The white one asked, which caught the chick off guard, and made him stumble and trip.
"Hahaha! It's kind of silly!" The orange one laughed, entertained by the chick's failure.
"I'm not silly!" The chick unconsciously responded, which left the three fillies befuddled.
Oh no! I didn't mean to talk! I messed up big time!
The chick was now panicking, and resorted to running away again, as he was not ready to face whatever came with being discovered as the first of your species to talk.
"THERE HE IS!!! GET HIM!" Applebloom was now full of excitement, and ran at full speed after the talking chick.
"Wh... Wha... What just happened...?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle asked, to no one in particular.
The chick ran through everything from thick bushes to puddles, with the three little fillies still hot on his tail. Oh no! What if they catch me? What are they gonna d-
The chick's thoughts were quickly disturbed, as a very famous rope made him halt to a stop, and launched him backwards, specifically towards the yellow filly.
"Ah gotcha now..." Applebloom slowly said, with the most grim smile on her face.
After a few moments of intent staring, the three fillies had begun to question the chick.
"Why can you talk?"
"How do you talk?"
"Do other chickens talk too?!"
The questions were endless, and the chick could feel multiple headaches making their way into his head. His fears had quickly gone away, and was immediately replaced with irritation, and annoyance. He wanted to put a stop to it. So, he responded to them.
"I don't know why I can talk, I don't know how I'm talking, and no, other chickens can't talk." The chick slowly responded, in a monotone voice.
"Oh mah gosh! So Ah'm not crazy! What's your name?! How old are ya?! This is so exciting!" Applebloom was beyong excited now, and she was becoming quite obnoxious in the chick's eyes.
"I don't have a name... And I'm five years old" The chick maintained his monotone voice, hoping that the fillies would take a hint that he was annoyed.
"You don't?! That's so weird!" Sweetie Belle responded, with a look of confusion on her face.
"Yes... I know. But what are your names?" The chick was slowly coming to terms with the three fillies, and had begun to take an interest in his current situation as they had.
"Ah'm Applebloom!"
"I'm Sweetie Belle!"
"And I'm Scootaloo!"
"And we're the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!"
The three introduced themselves, which brought a smile to the chick's face. They seemed like such good friends, and their excitement and happiness was just contagious.
"Anyways, did you just come to find me?" The chick asked, curious to know about their purpose to venture in the Everfree.
"Yeah! We thought Applebloom was lying about spotting you but I guess it was true!" Scootaloo answered, still full of excitement.
"But uh... What do we call you? It's kind of weird that you have no name..." Sweetie Belle brought the question up, for it was bothering her.
"Oh Ah know! We can give you a name!" Applebloom excitedly stated.
"Really? That'd be great!" The chick was also excited now, as he had always wanted to be known as more than just another chick.
"How about weirdo?" Scootaloo joked, to which they all laughed.
"No but seriously... How about... Peep? Y'know, since you're a chick and all." Sweetie Belle explained, which brought a smile to the chick.
"I like it! Call me Peep from now on!" Peep was now gleaming with happiness, and had even gone to hug the three fillies.
The three fillies had continued their barrage of questions, which Peep tried his best to answer. He couldn't answer some. For he did not know why he had grown to be as large as them, or why he was the only one born this way. It still puzzled him to this day, but he had been too preoccupied lately with the mission of learning to speak. Perhaps he would revisit those questions later.
"You gotta come with us Peep! I have to show you to Rarity! I just gotta!" Sweetie Belle urged, thrilled to have something to show her sister, whom she wanted attention from.
"An you gotta come to mah farm too! Ah wanna show you to my family!" Applebloom also urged, eager to show Peep to Applejack.
"You have to come and visit our club house too!" Scootaloo joined in, full of excitement.
Peep contemplated on whether he should go or not, for he would surely face the same barrage of questions that his three new friends had posed just moments ago. But soon enough, the excitement of having new friends overtook any sense of rational thought in his mind, and he quickly agreed. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Peep started towards Ponyville.
That was a pretty fun chapter... I really hope you guys liked it, and if you spot any typos of any sort or have any suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks for reading!
Chapter 2: Introductions
"Where should we go first?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Peep were having trouble deciding where to head to first, as they were too excited to think beforehand.
"What about the clubhouse? It's the closest from here!" Scootaloo offered, to which the others agreed.
"Alright! Let's go!" Sweetie Belle replied, not wanting to waste time.
The CMC and Peep hastily made their way to the clubhouse, across Sweet Apple Acres. It was still quite early in the morning, so the Apple family was not quite in full gear yet. Applejack and Big Macintosh were still in the house, preparing for their day's work.
The CMC trotted up to the front door of the clubhouse, with Peep following not too far behind. For him, this was a miracle, to see an actual building up close like this, since he had only seen them from the inside of the forest. It was like a perfectly lined up assortment of trees, none like in the forest where he lived. He would have to ask about how they did that later on.
Soon enough, they piled into the clubhouse, one by one. It was quite small, but could fit all four of the children inside. Once they were all in, they all sat down, and decided to discuss their current situation.
"So. Ah know you can speak Equestrian, but do ya know about how ponies live?" Applebloom began.
"Like do you know what we eat, what we have to do, and how we all contribute to society?" Sweetie Belle specified.
"Contribute? What does that mean?" Scootaloo questioned, to which Sweetie Belle sighed in disappointment.
"It means to work with a community with a similar goal." Sweetie Belle answered, in a monotone voice.
"Well, sorry dictionary..." Scootaloo responded, slurring her sentence.
"C'mon gals, we're getting off topic! So anyways Peep, do ya?" Applebloom said.
"Well... no... I only spent time in the forest, so I have no idea... Could you maybe teach me...?" Peep answered reluctantly, not wanting to disappoint his new friends.
"Of course we will!" The CMC yelled in unison.
The CMC began their summary of a pony's regular life in Ponyville, and explained each type of pony's usual job. They covered that the pegasi controled the weather, the earth ponies grew the crops, and that the unicorns handled anything related to magic.
After the brief lesson about a pony's life, the CMC and Peep contemplated on their next course of action.
"Where should we go now? As much as I want to show Peep to Rarity, I don't think the ponies in town would react very well to Peep coming in and start talking..." Sweetie Belle said.
"Hm... maybe we should talk to Twilight! She knows everything, so maybe she'll know why Peep can talk! Then she can explain it to everypony!" Scootaloo proposed, to which the other three agreed.
The four friends started towards the Ponyville library, where Twilight made her home. Upon seeing the large tree house however, Peep was astonished. He stopped, dead in his tracks, and gazed upon the mystical wonder.
Now, this was actually a tree this time, yet it was somebody's home. This was even more puzzling to Peep than the clubhouse he saw earlier, because this looked just like a normal tree! It was a weird hybrid of both, with windows, a door, and a porch, but the main structure looked exactly the trees back home. It reminded him a bit about the zebra's home, and that made him even more curious. Were they connected somehow? He would have to ask about this as well.
While Peep sat and stared at the library, the door to it opened, and Twilight stepped out.
"Oh hey girls! What are you up to today? And what's with the big chicken there?" Twilight asked, with a confused expression.
What in Equestria is that, Twilight wondered.
"Oh! Twilight! We were actually stopping by to ask you about him just now, but he just stopped walking!" Sweetie Belle answered, while Twilight walked towards them to get a closer look at Peep.
"Where did you find him? And what did you want to know about?" Twilight asked.
Twilight had never seen a chicken that large, and especially not one this young this size, in all her life! She had never even seen one of that size in any of the books she had read on wildlife either, and this new spectacle peaked her interest.
"Ah found him in the Everfree Forest when Ah was goin' to Zecora's..." Applebloom said, trying to recall the events from her memories.
"And we want to know why he can talk!" Scotaloo added, eager to hear an answer.
"What? Girls, that's just absurd... Chickens can't talk, none of them ca-"
"Oh hi! Sorry, didn't see you there! That library is just so hu-"
"Ahhh! He talks!" Twilight yelled.
"I told you so!" Sweetie Belle yelled back.
After recovering from the shock, Twilight recomposed herself, and invited the girls and Peep to come inside, to have a better look at Peep, and if she could find any book on talking chickens.
"Spike! Come down here! I need help to find a book!" Twilight called to the young dragon, who came down in a hurry.
"Which book? The one on Equestrian history? The study on Manticores? Or the book on mu- Hey... What's with the huge chick on the couch? It looks kind of funny..." Spike said, with a similar face to Twilight's when she first saw Peep.
"Why does everyone say that? I mean, I think I look fine! Handsome even!" Peep responded, in a slightly offended tone.
"Whoa! He can talk! That's so cool!" Spike yelled, filled with excitement.
"That's just it Spike! I'm looking for a book with anything about talking chickens! I've heard of Cockatrice, but that's the only being that resembles a chicken that isn't a regular one..." Twilight said, informing Spike.
"Oh... Let me see what I can find..." Spike responded, and took off to search anything related to chickens.
"Alright, while Spike is looking for any books, why don't you tell me what happened up to this point?" Twilight asked.
"Okay, well... It all started when Applebloom came calling..." Sweetie Belle began.
The CMC then took turns to tell Twilight of their adventures, while Twilight took vigorous notes, recording every single detail. When they got to the part about meeting and talking to Peep however, Twilight stopped to introduce herself properly to Peep, and apologized for being rude to him earlier. Afterwards, they finished their story, and Twilight decided to ask more precise questions to Peep.
"So... Peep... At what age did you notice that you were different from the others?" Twilight questioned.
"Uh... A couple months after my birth, since all of the other chicks were already maturing..." Peep answered.
"Alright..." Twilight took a couple of notes, and began to question him more. "So, you said that you practiced Equestrian on your own? How long did it take you to perfect the language?"
"About two years, if I recall right... I came close to the edge of the forest every morning to listen in on the ponies and practiced what they said... Took a lot of effort though." Peep answered.
"Two years huh? That's pretty impressive... A normal foal takes at least three or four years! Your brain must develop at a faster rate than a pony's!" Twilight said, now eager to study him more.
After their brief discussion, Spike interrupted the group with a large pile of books, which he could barely carry.
"Well... Here they are!" Spike dropped the pile of books, and spread them out to let the others have a good look at the variation.
"Everything from chicken behaviors, chicken diets, to chicken mythology. Read up!" Spike started his way towards his bed, and yawned.
"I'm gonna take a nap... Good luck everypony..." Spike crawled into his bed, and got into the fetal position. He fell asleep within seconds, and started to snore.
"Well... I guess we should get started then. Why don't you four get started in that section, and I'll start over here." Twilight suggested.
The five worked silently but vigorously, with the exception of Scootaloo, who joined Spike in the world of slumbers, and slept on the couch. They eventually found that they were without any clues, and could not find anything that was relevant to talking chickens of any sort.
"What do we do now Twilight? There's nothing to help us here!" Sweetie Belle complained, in a very annoyed tone.
"Well... If books won't give us the information, maybe somepony can... Come on girls, let's go ask Fluttershy. Maybe she'll know something about this." Twilight stood up, and started towards the door. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle then woke up Scootaloo, and followed Twilight out to Ponyville. Peep was close behind them as well.
Twilight, the CMC, and Peep soon came to Fluttershy's cottage, which was again, quite puzzling to Peep.
What's with all these crazy trees?! Peep thought, as he inspected it, to see if anything was different about it.
As he closed in on it, he could see that it was just like the other crazy trees that the ponies lived in, with windows and doors, but the inside was what confused him even more. There were probably more animals in there than he ever saw in his lifetime in the forest! They were everywhere! He became very confused, and decided to ask his new friends, before he went insane.
"Why are there so many animals in there? Did they all break in or something?" Peep asked, which made the ponies giggle.
"No Peep, Fluttershy just likes to take care of animals! She takes care of anything from cute bunnies to ferocious Manticores." Twilight explained, which left Peep in a daze.
"Wow." That was all Peep could utter out, as he tried to image a pony taking care of a Manticore.
Twilight knocked on Fluttershy's door, and waited for a response. When Fluttershy opened the door, Twilight greeted her, and asked her the question that was on everypony's mind at the time.
"Fluttershy, do you know anything about a talking chicken?" Twilight asked, while she slightly titled her head sideways.
"What? That sounds... Silly, Twilight... How could anything like tha-"
"Why does everypony assume that it's silly for a chicken to talk? Is it really that rare?" Peep interrupted, which left Fluttershy completely stunned.
"Uh... Fluttershy? Are ya okay? Ya seem kind of... shocked..." Applebloom said, as she waved her hooves in front of Fluttershy's eyes, to get her attention.
After staying still for a few more seconds, Fluttershy came out of her daze, and recovered quite quickly.
"Th-this is so wonderful! He can talk! Where's he from? What's his name?" Fluttershy asked, to which the group gave her the answers.
After introducing Peep to Fluttershy, the group decided to ask if Fluttershy had heard of such a thing during her time of caring for animals.
"Well... personally I've never seen anything like Peep before, but I've heard of a tale regarding the Princesses and their magic affecting some wild animals... But that's all I've heard about this kind of situation..." Fluttershy answered.
"This is turning out to be an interesting day..." Twilight walked over to Peep, and gave him an investigative look, and turned to look to everypony else. "I'll contact Princess Celestia, and see what she thinks about this."
As soon as she mentioned the Princess, Peep suddenly turned pale, and started to worry about his decision to visit the Equestrians.
"Oh no... Am I in trouble?!" Peep asked.
"No, I'm just going to ask them if they've heard of any talking animals like you before... I have a feeling that they're somehow connected to this..." Twilight responded. "I'll be right back. I have to send her a letter. You stay here with Fluttershy and the girls in the meantime."
With that, Twilight ran out of Fluttershy's cottage, on the course towards her home, where Spike was still sound asleep.
"So Peep, what's it like living in the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy had begun asking Peep numerous questions about his home, which he gladly answered. He enjoyed her company as much and if not, more than the CMC, because of her polite manners. Maybe that's why the other animals like her too...
"Well, we had to move around pretty often, since the timberwolves are always on the move. Besides that, it's pretty peaceful and really comfy once you get used to it." Peep answered.
"It sounds so wonderful there! Can you tell us some stories about living there?" Fluttershy asked excitedly, with Peep peaking her interests.
"Oh! Did you ever see anything cool in the Everfree? Like a huge monster or something? Scootaloo added.
"Well there was this one time with a Ursa Major..."
Twilight sprinted as fast as she could to the library, and even managed to bump into a few ponies in the process.
"Oops! Sorry! Coming through!"
She did her best to weave through the crowd, but her athletic abilities proved mediocre at best. After running into a few other ponies towards the library, she finally reached her home.
Now I have to write that letter, and have Spike send it to the Princess, Pronto!
Twilight quickly ran into the library, and picked up a scroll and quill with her magic. She quickly unrolled the scroll, and started to write her letter, that she would send to her dear mentor.
Dear Princess Celestia,
It has come to my attention recently today, that a large baby chick from the Everfree, has the ability to speak in the Equestrian tongue. He is surprisingly fluent, and has made friends with some of the young children from Ponyville. After I was introduced to this baby chick whom the children have decided to name Peep, I went to ask my friend Fluttershy about him. She has told me that there are stories about you and your sister's magic affecting some of the animals in the Everfree. Is this true? And what should I do with Peep?
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
"Alright. Letter's done, now I just have to send it. Spike! Come down here!" Twilight yelled.
"Murmmph..." Spike stirred in his sleep, unaware of Twilight's urgency.
"Spike..." Twilight started to trot upstairs, as there was no response from Spike.
After she saw that he was asleep in his bed, Twilight trotted over, leaned her head in close to Spike's ears, and decided that he needed a more abrupt waking.
"SPIKE! Wake up NOW!" Twilight yelled, which caused Spike to jump straight out of his bed, and tumble down the stairs.
"What was that for Twilight?! I was having a great dream before you ruined it!" Spike yelled, from the bottom of the stairs.
"You didn't wake up when I called for you, so I decided to make it quick. Point is, I need you to send Princess Celestia an urgent letter! I need her to read this ASAP!" Twilight yelled back, loud enough for Spike to hear it downstairs.
"Alright hold on, I'm coming." Spike walked up the stairs, took the scroll from Twilight's magical grasp, and burned it with his flame, to send the letter to Celestia.
"Thank you Spike, and sorry about the whole waking up thing..." Twilight said, with a tint of shame in her expression.
"It's alright, I'm over it... But what was the letter about?" Spike asked.
"I asked her about Peep, since Princesses' magic may have something to do with him talking. Hopefully she has an explanation, or at least some sort of idea on what to do with him..." Twilight said, pondering about her next action.
"Well, maybe we should stay with Peep until the Princess writes back? We should keep track of him anyways... Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into with the CMC around?" Spike proposed.
"Good idea Spike. Let's get going!" Twilight responded.
With that, the two ran off towards the edge of the Everfree Forest, where their dear friend Fluttershy called home. Twilight was more cautious this time around, and managed to get through without bumping into anypony. They arrived after a few close calls, and walked in Fluttershy's cottage, as Peep was ending one of his stories.
"And then the Ursa Major just ran off." Peep finished.
"Wow! That was awesome!" The CMC yelled in unison.
"That was an interesting story, Peep. And hey Twilight! Peep was just telling us about life in the Everfree. How did it go with the letter?" Fluttershy said.
Twilight and Spike walked in, and took a seat on the couch, along with the CMC.
"Well, I sent the Princess a letter, and I'm just waiting for her to write back. Hopefully she's not too busy with court duty to read the letter." Twilight answered.
As if on cue, Spike belched, and a letter produced itself from the flames.
"Whoa! What was that?!" Peep asked, as he had never seen the process of sending letters by flame.
"That's how I send and receive the letters from Princess Celestia. Anyways, let's see what she wrote back." Twilight responded.
Everypony and creatures alike waited patiently, as Twilight picked up the letter with her magic. She started to read the letter silently, leaving the others waiting in anticipation.
"Well. That's a surprise."
