Fluttershy smiled happily as she finished packing supplies into her saddlebags. In went sandwiches, carrots, and a pickaxe smaller than her hoof. Watching her was Angel, who thumped his foot on the wooden floor impatiently. Rarely was he anxious to get going this early in the morning, she thought.
She turned to admonish him. "Now, Angel, we've talked about this. Being rude for its own sake is very bad. I can tolerate it, but you won't make many other friends that way."
The rabbit rolled his eyes.
She shook her head. "On that note, off we go, snookums." Fluttershy then lifted the bag onto her back and proceeded towards the door, waving goodbye to all the other critters who called her cottage home. Angel hopped after her, scowling as usual.
After further goodbyes for all the animals who lived outside in the vicinity, Fluttershy set off down the path towards town, thinking that Celestia had really outdone herself today. Soft golden light filtered through the trees, and the dew on the leaves sparkled like stars. She was so busy smiling at the scenery, including the pretty flowers and the butterflies that hovered around them, that she didn't notice the pony standing in the middle of the road until she bumped into him.
"EEP." She leapt backwards in surprise, shaking. Slowly opening her eyes, Fluttershy beheld an aging, bald stallion. He smiled at her. "Oh, um, hello mister. I haven't seen you around Ponyville before. Are you lost, or something? Maybe?"
The stallion waved a hoof. "Oh no, I'm fine, lass. I've had my coffee, and that's what I need to get going!"
"That's... good to hear," she replied meekly.
"Say," he said, beaming, "how would you like to learn how to play Poke Ball?"
Having heard quite enough, Angel placed himself in between him and Fluttershy, sending the stranger his best don't even think about it look. Neither pony noticed.
Fluttershy ducked her head. "Well, um, I kind-of-sort-of have someplace to be right now..."
The old pony's face sagged. "Oh. That's quite alright. It's just that I've been dying to tell somepony about this game my nephew and I made up."
"Well... if you put it like that..."
"Great!" He gestured to the side of the path. "Alright, sport, it's time!"
Angel groaned inaudibly as a young unicorn colt wandered in from the edge of the forest. His mane was purple, and his coat brown. "Hi, miss!" he exclaimed. "I'm Weedle-Deedle!" Fluttershy noticed he seemed quite the energetic type, but was working hard to stay in position.
"Ok, so here's how this works," the stallion began, pulling out a red rubber ball. "I'm the Tamer, and Weedee over there is playing the Monster. The Tamer throws the ball, and tries to hit the Monster. But if the Monster pokes a hole in the ball with his horn, he goes free."
"It's fun!" Weedle-Deedle confirmed.
"Here's a demonstration."
Fluttershy shuffled her hooves awkwardly as she watched the old stallion rear himself back to throw the ball. It sailed through the air towards the colt, whose mouth was set in a fierce line of determination. Angling his head just right, he managed to nail the ball directly in the center, popping it.
The colt bounced around in childlike joy. "Yay, I did it!"
"That you did, sonny." He rushed in and embraced the youngster, both of them giggling.
Fluttershy stared at the affectionate display for what was perhaps slightly too long. "Oh, that does look like fun, I shou-" It was then that she was interrupted by a warm touch on her leg. She glanced down to Angel, who was pointing his paw at the sun, brow creased in confusion.
She gasped. "Oh my, I'm sorry, but I really have to go, you two."
Angel nodded, and leapt onto his caretaker's back. He slapped her flank, causing Fluttershy to shoot up into the air from the stimulus.
"Well, it was nice meeting you," she called down softly as she flew straight off into the south, no further time to spare.
* * *
It was nearly noon by the time the pair reached their destination: the beautiful Cinnamon Island, home to colorful toucans, swaying palm trees, and white, sandy beaches. It was on one such beach that Fluttershy set down to land, sweating and exhausted from the long flight. Still, no boats visited the uninhabited volcanic landmass, so she really had no choice.
"Alright, Angel, time to get to work!"
He placed a paw on his cheek, clearly reluctant to do anything productive.
Fluttershy sighed. "This is a serious matter, and you know I can't do this without you. The Blue-Shelled Turtles make their nests here, and the babies need help getting out of their eggs. We've talked about this."
Angel tilted his head back and forth once, eyes upturned.
"Well, I'm glad you're on board. And the turtles will be too."
Smiling, Fluttershy trotted off along the area near the coast. She was passed by Angel, and followed behind him. Soon, the rabbit stopped hopping and began to dig a hole in the sand. After about an inch of sand had been cleared away, a small set of speckled white eggs became visible. Some of them already had cracks.
Pulling out the tiny pickaxe, Fluttershy kneelt down in front of them. She chipped away at the eggshells, twisting her leg ever-so-gently. Soon, multiple tired, big-eyed faces poked themselves gingerly out of the holes she made.
"Aww, aren't you just precious," she cooed.
The brightly-colored aquatic reptiles blinked up at her adorably as they pried their protective cocoons off the rest of the way. Soon, the group of siblings began pulling themselves along towards the sea with their flippers. Fluttershy hovered above them, muttering words of encouragement. Only once they were safe beneath the waves did she allow herself to look away.
Further down the beach, Angel stood with his forelegs crossed, one eyebrow raised. He had already uncovered seven more nests.
"Great job, Angel."
He snorted, nose wrinkled.
And so she repeated the process of hatching and ushering a few more times, her heart soaring every time she met a new set of eyes.
However, just as she was about to open the first egg of the fifth clutch, something flashed out of the corner of her eye. Fluttershy turned to look.
What she beheld was unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was a disjointed mass of orange, purple, and black cubes, hovering in midair. They shifted and slid across eachother in a dizzying array of patterns, yet maintained an overall shape vaguely resembling a rectangle with a notch on top; about three times the height of a pony.
It was terrifying.
She practically teleported behind the nearest tree, shaking like a leaf. "O-O-Oh no! W-W-What is t-t-that thing?" she stammered.
Mustering up a tiny iota of courage, she peeked one eye out to keep looking. It hadn't moved, but the remaining turtles had already hatched themselves and were making a break for the shoreline, scared out of their minds. She could hear birds flapping in the forest, the noise growing slowly more faint. Their caws sounded panicked. This did not ease her fears in the slightest.
A thousand thoughts rushed through her mind, most of them telling her to fly away as quickly as possible. However, one of them reminded her of something far more important. "Angel!"
Her pet bunny was still on the beach, all alone! She would have to brave the thing's presence in order to find him. So, Fluttershy reluctantly took a step, and then another, keeping her eyes shut and head twisted back.
When she felt the warm sand underhoof, she blinked them open. Now, two things about her surroundings had changed. The first were multiple areas plagued by what she could only describe as distortions, patches of 'shaky' air, water, and land that surrounded the... thing. The second was Angel, who stood next to her, wearing a look of determination.
"C-Come on, Angel!" she urged. "We n-need to go, right now!"
He shook his head.
"What? Why not?" Now she was afraid and confused.
Angel performed a wild array of gestures.
She glanced at the hovering rectangle thing. "Of course it's dangerous, that's why we're leaving! Though, I had no idea it was alive."
He flung up a cloud of sand, then cracked his knuckles.
"Oh nonononono. There is no way I'm letting you fight that thing, especially if it could destroy all Equestria if left unchecked!"
But Angel wouldn't take no for an answer, and bounced over to it. He dropped into a fighting stance, eyes narrowed. Fluttershy took a deep breath, eyes wide.
A few of the purple cubes that composed the anomalous creature turned orange.
Angel made a 'come hither' gesture.
It let loose a spine-tingling, high-pitched screech.
Immediately afterwards, strange, fast-paced music began to play from out of nowhere. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered Fluttershy, except for the fact that she wasn't compelled by Equestria's innate magic to sing along with it. Getting the message, she backed away into the trees again, giving the combatants a wide berth.
The creature jerked backwards, hovering over the water. Wasting no time, Angel dashed after it on his hind legs, kicking up sand with each step. Around his opponent, the waves ceased, and twin pillars of water rose out of the briny sea, perfectly smooth. Once they had been fully extracted, they abruptly tilted 90 degrees and rocketed towards Angel. But he was even faster, leaping off the ground as he spun sideways through the air. Midway through his jumping maneuver, the water projectiles crashed together where he was a fraction of a second ago, producing a tremendous splash. Still, the force pushed him further than intended, and Angel skidded as he landed.
Pushing himself off the ground, Angel maintained his charge, even as the number of spacial distortions in the area multiplied. Hitting the edge of the island, the bunny kicked off with a mighty bound, sailing towards the creature. He spun, planting a solid roundhouse into its side. The thing screeched again, sent reeling sideways through the air. Descending, Angel dove beneath the water. When he breached the surface with matted fur a few seconds later, he was directly below the thing, and connected with a massive uppercut to its underside.
After recomposing itself, the entity continued ascending slowly higher as the cubes composing its body altered their mad dance. Angel was on the beach now, glaring upwards in a ready position. Soon, the creature had completely changed shape into a chevron, and began to glow with a harsh white light.
It dove for Angel at tremendous speed, but missed its charge as he jumped out of the way. But the still-shining entity banked hard into an impossibly tiny horizontal loop and nailed the rabbit before he hit the sand. Fluttershy looked on in horror as the creature carried him along, pressed against the tip of its body, and the pair hit a large boulder with enough force to split the rock in two.
"ANGEL!"
She couldn't tear her eyes away from the spectacle, despite the worry regarding what she might see. But soon, the dust settled, and both fighters seemed relatively fine, somehow. Angel only had a large bruise on his back, and a scowl on his face. The creature had resumed its original configuration, and its self-fluctuations seemed like a taunt.
Angel rose to his feet, quickly closing the distance between him and his target. He cut loose with a flurry of jabs with his forelegs. Rearing back, he finished with a powerful right hook. The mysterious being visibly flinched from the power of the blow, its movement momentarily interrupted. It retreated into the air just as Angel was about to connect with another hit.
In what Fluttershy assumed was anger, it began spinning at high speed, body lengthening as a vortex of biting winds formed around it. Angel braced himself as the motion abruptly stopped, sending crescent-shaped waves of compressed wind energy in all directions. Fluttershy had to duck for cover as one such arc sailed towards her, slicing the tree she was crouching behind clean in half. The plant collapsed with a resounding crash.
Shivering, she managed to keep watching. Kicking off between two trees to gain height, Angel flung himself in a cartwheel at the cube monster. Extending his legs at the last second, he connected with a furious dropkick, sending it careening away. It screeched again, and the distorted areas on the beach ripped open, now full-blown patches of static-filled void.
The thing then morphed back into its chevron form, hovering in place as each of its three points began to charge with colored energy. Not missing his chance this time, Angel picked up a rock off the beach in one paw, angling upwards with the other. As the points of color the beast was shaping became clearly visible as growing orbs of flame, ice, and lightning, Angel hurled the stone up at it.
Fluttershy was not expecting the projectile to meet its mark, but it did. Though, not before the creature launched the one it had made. It flinched and sagged downwards in the sky.
Now, Angel stared down the spinning trifecta of elemental energy, positioning himself just right. He grinned.
Just as it was about to hit him, he jumped, reaching out with a paw. He latched on to one of the bands of white light that linked the orbs together, and spun. The projectile twisted, leveling out after a few rapid rotations, and Angel released it like a Frisbee.
The bunny landed, turned around, and donned a pair of aviator shades. Time seemed to slow just as the orbs exploded against his target in an enormous shower of crackling yellow bolts, sizzling red waves, and jagged blue crystals.
All of the rifts in reality sealed themselves instantly as the cube creature spontaneously disassembled and dropped into the sand, the small blocks rattling around eachother like so many dice.
Awash with relief, Fluttershy glomped her best friend in a tight hug, nuzzling him with the side of her head. "Oh, Angel, thank goodness you're all right! That was amazing!"
He smirked, as if to say of course.
"Really, though, I was so, so scared just watching those attacks that I could barely move. And you just--"
Angel placed a paw over her mouth, gesturing with the other to the fallen creature. He tapped his head a few times.
"It's not... dead? Thank goodness." Fluttershy sighed in relief. "We should take it back to Ponyville, then; before it wakes up. Twilight will know what to do."
He appeared skeptical.
"I've already befriended one chaotic meanie, and I can befriend another."
Angel conceded that she had a point.
Fluttershy broke off from the hug. "So, I guess we can eat lunch now. All the turtles have already hatched. And you've certainly earned it, sweetie."
He nodded, stomach growling.
Grinning, Fluttershy reached into her bag with her mouth and flung her picnic blanket onto the sand.
The pair ate their fill in peace, then headed home, the inert entity in tow.
* * *
Twilight awoke from her slumber more readily than usual. She was quite eager to continue examining the strange creature Fluttershy had brought her yesterday. None of the books in her castle library had any leads on what it was. If the creature didn't start moving again, she would probably have to call Discord in for help. From what her friend had told her about her ordeal, it seemed to share his penchant for chaos.
So absorbed in these musings was Twilight that she only now noticed something very off about her bedroom.
She now had in her possession 127 additional desk lamps.
Author's Note
Depending on how popular this gets, I may or may not end up making a slice-of-life sequel where MissingNo. starts living with Fluttershy and gets involved in various antics around town.
I actually consulted Bulbapedia for information on MissingNo. while I wrote this. It can, in fact, learn Tri Attack and Razor Wind via TM. And it's base defense is literally zero, so a normal rabbit would certainly be able to inflict damage.
Fun fact: This is actually my second fic where Angel dropkicks somebody.
