Equestria's Kishin

After showing the three guests their room that they were to stay in, Angel bunny hopped back downstairs. He found Fluttershy relaxing on the couch, and he cuddled up next to her. Soul, Liz, and Patty all came downstairs after Angel.

"So, what do we do while we wait for the others to come back with Black Star?" Liz asked.

"We could nap," said Soul as he yawned. He was becoming gradually sleepier as the day moved forward.

"Well, there are lots of things to do in Ponyville," Fluttershy chimed in. "I could show you around, i--if you want, that is."

"Yay! Pony town tour!" shouted Patty happily.

"Well, we've got nothing better to do," said Liz. "Why not?"

"I guess my nap will have to wait," uttered Soul. Fluttershy hopped off of the couch, and walked towards the door. She opened it and politely allowed her guests out first, then turned to Angel.

"Don't worry, Angel bunny. I'll be back to feed you dinner in no time," she told him as she followed the three pegasi through the door, which she carefully closed behind her. They walked through the meadow, across an arched bridge, and arrived in the main part of Ponyville. Fluttershy took them through the market where she usually bought all her foods, and around the center of town. She made sure to point out all the significant buildings and attractions of Ponyville, such as the Town Hall, the Bowling Alley, the Ponyville Tower, and the Spa.

"I saved the best place for last," Fluttershy said with a smile as she stopped the tour in front of the Sugar Cube Corner Bakery. Soul recognized the building from when they walked through Ponyville on the way to Fluttershy's cottage earlier. It certainly did look like a gingerbread house, with white paint swirled on the roof to look like icing, and a cupcake-like tower on top. The whole building seemed as though it had come out of a story book.

"They make the best pastries here, from cakes to pies and everything in between," Fluttershy continued. "Would you like to try something?" she asked. Patty licked her lips, and happily bounced towards the door. Liz pulled her back.

"Hold on, Patty. We want to be polite," she said. "Thank you, Fluttershy, but we'd hate to make you pay for all three of us."

"It's not a problem, really. I'd be happy to treat you guys to something sweet." She smiled sweetly at the three pegasi.

"You sure?" asked Soul.

"Certainly," Fluttershy responded. "Go ahead everypony, pick something out." It made her happy to treat her new friends, and her heart fluttered with joy. She also planned on introducing them to Pinkie Pie, who was always laughing and smiling, and always loved new friends. Patty, Liz, and Soul walked through the door. Their jaws immediately dropped as they took a look around the bakery. There were shelves of colorful, beautifully decorated cakes, and glass display cases with flavorful cupcakes, creamy cheesecakes, and scrumptious pies. Mrs. Cake trotted out to greet her customers.

"Oh, hello dearies! What can I do for you today?" Fluttershy followed her friends through the door. "Fluttershy! Are these your new friends, dear?"

"Yes they are, Mrs. Cake,"she replied merrily. "I've decided to treat them to a little something today. Is Pinkie Pie here?"

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, but Pinkie Pie is out gathering ingredients right now. She's planning on trying a new recipe she invented. I'll let her know you stopped by though," said Mrs. Cake.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cake," Fluttershy repsonded. "Alright , everypony, choose a treat!" The three of them walked up to the counter. It was a difficult decison of course, since there were so many delicious looking sweets to choose from.

"I think I'll have the chocolate strawberry cupcake," said Soul.

"I'm gonna try a slice of the raspberry swirl cheesecake, please," Liz ordered.

"Blueberry scone! Blueberry scone!" said Patty excitedly.

"Right away, dears," said Mrs.Cake as she pulled the pastries out of the display case, and placed them into individual boxes for each of them. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you very much Mrs. Cake," said Fluttershy sweetly as she dropped six bits onto the counter.

"Have a good day, Fluttershy, and Flutterhsy's friends!" she called after them as they made their way out the door. They trotted happily down the street as they each carried their boxed treat in their mouth. Fluttershy flew gracefully behind them, pleased to make her friends smile. They all headed back to Fluttershy's cottage, a road which was now becoming familiar, and they sat down at her dining table to enjoy their treats.

"Thanks a bunch, Fluttershy," said Liz through a mouthful of cheesecake. Patty and Soul followed up with an "Mhm!"

"You're all very welcome. Please excuse me, everypony, I have to go feed my animals," said Fluttershy. She opened a pantry door in her kitchen, pulled out a large sack of mixed chow for animals, and headed to the living room where all her animals were. Liz waited for Fluttershy to leave the room, then spoke.

"Is it just me, guys, or is she like, the nicest person ever?"

"Pony," corrected Soul. "But I guess she's nicer than any people we've ever met, too." It was true. Out of all the people they had encountered in the human world, Fluttershy beat every nice person by a landslide in the kindness competition. She even gave Tsubaki a run for her money, which was impressive considering Tsubaki's tolerance for Black Star. Soul took a large bite out of the cupcake he ordered. The fruity strawberry flavor and creamy chocolate blended together in perfect harmony in his mouth. The frosting was smooth and rich, and the cake was fluffy and moist. This cupcake was far better than any kishin egg souls he had consumed in the human world. He ate the rest of the cupcake in one bite. After he finished, he looked out the window. It was getting dark, and the others still hadn't returned yet. Soul began to worry that something happened to them. Was Maka okay?

"Hey, guys, is anyone else getting a bit worried that the others haven't come back yet?" asked Soul.

"You know, now that you mention it, I am a bit worried," Liz responded. Soul stood up from the table and walked towards the door.

"I'm gonna go to the Forest. I shouldn't be too long," he announced.

"Wait!" cried Fluttershy softly. "The Everfree Forest is too dangerous! You never know what you could find out there!" She looked up at Soul with frightened eyes.

"Don't worry about me," he assured her. "I'll be fine."

"What if something happens to you? What if you get eaten? It's not safe!" Her hooves were covering her face and she was cowering on the floor.

"Fluttershy," he said, and she uncovered her face and looked up at him. "I promise you, I'll be okay. Trust me." He gave her a warm smile, then headed towards the door and walked out. Not five seconds after he left the house did he see Maka, Tsubaki, and Black Star all running out of the forest. He ran towards them.

"Maka!" he yelled as he approached his friends. "Where's Black Star? And the other ponies you were with?"

The three of them were panting. Maka was the first to speak, her words interrupted with heavy breathing. "We...found...Black Star...then... there--"

Boom! Soul jumped. The house shook. The many animals that were previously gathered around Fluttershy all scampered and fled into hiding spots around the house--under the couch, in a bird house, in a mouse hole, in the corner. Fluttershy panicked. "Oh no!" she cried as she fled upstairs to hide under the bed and cry.

"What...was...that?!" exclaimed Liz. "Just when we think this place the happiest most pleasant land on Earth, BAM! An explosion happens!"

Soul, who was still outside talking to Maka, wanted to take immediate action. The sound had come from the Everfree Forest, and he couldn't help but think it had something to do with Black Star and the other two who were still in there, Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"Maka, I'm going into the Forest. We need to know they're okay."

"Don't think I'm not coming with you, Soul," she responded, and they galloped off in the direction of the explosion. Death the Kid and Tsubaki decided to go into the house to see Liz and Patty. They found them at the dining table, half-eaten pastries in front of them.

"Tsubaki! Kid! Where have you been all day? What was that explosion?" Liz immediately began asking questions after not seeing her friends all day.

"Well, we were out in the Everfree Forest looking for Black Star, then once we found him Rainbow Dash and Black Star began fighting," Tsubaki began.

"Their voices woke up an underground monster, and by then they had taken off in this direction. Twilight told Maka, Tsubaki, and I to run since we were defenseless, and that's how we ended up here," Kid continued

"Is Black Star here yet?" Tsubaki asked worriedly.

"No, we hadn't seen anyone, so Soul went looking for you guys," Liz told her.

"He just went with Maka into the forest. Are you and Patty alone here in the house?" asked Kid

"Jeez, I hope those two are okay. And no, Fluttershy is upstairs hiding. The explosion must have scared her."

"Fluttershy got us food!" Patty chimed in.

"Poor thing," Tsubaki stated sympathetically. "The ponies here probably aren't used to a whole lot of action like we are." She left the room, and began to make her way upstairs to go comfort Fluttershy. "Hey, it's me, Tsubaki, Fluttershy." She found the frightened pegasus shaking under the bed in the upstairs bedroom. "Are you okay?"

"I--I'm just---I'm very scared," Fluttershy managed to stutter. "What i--if somepony g--got hurt?" There were small tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't you worry," Tsubaki said to her. "If I know my friends, they'll be just fine."

"R--really?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Mhm," Tsubaki responded as she nodded her head.

Maka and Soul were moving quickly, although they refrained from calling anyone's name to avoid another monster encounter. It was still very dark out, and the superfluous amount of trees blocked nearly any moonlight that may have otherwise lit their path. The only thing they knew to do was keep running forward.

Oof! They hadn't run very far when Maka ran into something, and she was knocked off of her hooves.

"Ah!" a voice exclaimed in surprise. As it turned out, the something that Maka had run into was Twilight.

"Twilight!  Is everything okay?" asked Maka as she stood up and dusted herself off.

"We heard an explosion after we left the forest, so we came looking for you guys," said Soul.

"Everyone is really worried," Maka continued. Rainbow Dash, who had been flying alongside Black Star above Twilight's head, began to laugh.

"Everything's fine guys. That explosion was just the sound of my awesomeness," she boasted. Maka and Soul tilted their heads in confusion.

"Let's get out of the forest guys. I'll explain everything when we meet up with the others back at Fluttershy's place." The four others nodded in agreement, and they found their way out of the Everfree Forest. Soul could feel his sleepiness returning now that all the excitement was finally over for the day. It had to be around 9 or 10 at night, and he was ready to go to sleep. Alongside Maka and Twilight, he felt his way around the grass and brush, carefully placing each hoof until he found the dirt road that led to the exit. He could see the moonlight shining on the meadow through the opening at the end of the path.

He walked up to the door to Fluttershy's cottage and saw Patty and Liz sitting casually on the couch together, and Death the Kid was pacing in the middle of the room. This house...it's so...asymmetrical... he thought to himself, and continued pacing to try to calm down his nerves from his OCD. He was relieved to see Soul and the others come through the door so he could distract himself from the hideous architecture of the cottage he was in.

"Hey, everybody," said Soul.

"That was quick," stated Liz. "What happened? Did you find out what exploded?"

"That was me!" Rainbow Dash said as she flew into the house. She never grew tired of boasting of her accomplishments, especially when they ended in cool explosions.

"Where's Tsubaki?" asked Maka.

"She's upstairs with Fluttershy," responded Liz. "I think that poor pegasus got scared to death after the explosion sounded," she said. Soul felt his stomach turn thinking about Fluttershy being even more scared than she was before he left.

"Hey, everypony, I'd love to stay, but it's getting pretty late. I really need to get back to the library," Twilight announced. "That was quite the adventure we had today. Oh, and Rainbow and Black Star, thanks for saving me," she smiled as she talked to the two pegasi. "See you tomorrow, eveypony!" She trotted out the door.

"I'm with Twilight," said Rainbow as she let out a long, loud yawn. "See ya!" she said as she flew away. Maka watched them leave.

"You guys, I think we should talk about something," she said to her friends. She called Tsubaki, who was still upstairs. They all made their way into the living room where she was standing. "While we were in the Everfree Forest, and the worm monster attacked us, Twilight said, 'What is it doing here?' Now I may be wrong, but something tells me they aren't used to monster attacks in this world."

"Probably not," said Liz, and she let out a long yawn. "But can we talk about it in the morning? It's pretty late, and I'm getting tired."

"Mhm," everyone else said collectively.

"Alright. Let's get some sleep then," said Maka. "Is Fluttershy still upstairs, Tsubaki?"

"Yeah, the poor thing was shaking. She would be happy to know that you all made it back safely though," she said.

"Hey Fluttershy!" Soul called her name so she could hear him from upstairs. There was a pause, and then a yellow figure flew down the stairs, and ran straight into Soul. Fluttershy clung to him for a moment, and he stepped backwards in surprise. "You okay, there?" he asked as he looked down at her. Her mane mostly covered her face, and her eyes were shut tightly. She then relaxed, and stepped back from him, her cheeks a light shade of pink.

"I guess I'm just glad you're okay," she whispered softly, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Okay, guys, lets get some sleep," said Liz.

"I put some blankets out for all of you." Fluttershy's voice returned to a normal volume, and she lifted her head so her hair fell out from in front of her eyes.

"Thanks a lot for letting us stay here, Fluttershy," said Maka.

"It's not a problem at all," Fluttershy said as she smiled at her guests. "Goodnight, everypony." She disappeared into her bedroom.