It was not a dark and stormy night. It was dark, certainly, as the moon was new, but barely a breath of air stirred within the Everfree Forest. All was quiet. And yet I knew that out there prowled many a dangerous beast, even now. None would be foolish enough to try attacking me, however, and so I feared them not. My lair, too, was quiet, and motionless, as I lay there in the darkness. The night held mysteries, and secrets.
Personally, I think the night is beautiful. The stars and the moon, and the dark void that lay around and between them. And yet the night hurt me once. It was that day that I learned of friendship. I remember it well, even now, years later…
I felt a sudden, intense pain in my paw, and I grew angry. Who dared attack me? I roared in pain, before falling silent again. Then, they appeared. The ponies. They seemed frightened of me. Hah! And for good reason. Such fools, to think they could best me! I roared my fury, and one fled, but the rest only grew bolder. Another attacked, leaping onto my head, but I just threw her off. Then a third, a pegasus, flew towards me, flying around in circles (probably trying to confuse me or something). I waited a moment before striking, swatting the impudent creature away with my tail. This defeat did little to dissuade my attackers, however, only increasing their maddened determination. They might even have beaten me, working together. But it was not to be.
There was a sixth pony, another pegasus. She never moved to attack me. She didn't want this fight. Quite honestly, I had no particular desire to fight either, but these fools had challenged me! Such were my thoughts, until the little yellow pegasus moved in front of the others, shouting at them to stop. I was unsure, then, and so I waited. I waited as she approached me, trying to reassure me that she wouldn't hurt me. She turned over my paw, and there it was: a thorn of condensed darkness, the essence of the night itself.
Reassuring me again, she pulled it out, and I was finally free of it. At that moment, I loved that little yellow pony with all my heart. With that thing out of my body, and its influence out of my mind, I was rational again. I realized that these ponies never hurt me, or even tried to until I was aggressive myself. And the yellow one had been so kind to me.
What was this feeling, I wondered. I felt so good inside, because… these ponies cared about me. Was this friendship?
I know now, of course, that it was. That yellow pony was named Fluttershy, and we have been friends ever since. My species may list hers on the menu, but she is my friend, and for her sake I swore off eating pony long ago. Sometimes I help her, and sometimes she helps me. When I hurt my wing, I went to her, and she helped me. When I found her lost one dark night, deep in the forest, I led her to my lair and let her stay there until morning, where she would be safe from the creatures that roamed in the night.
And so when I looked at the little yellow pony curled up between my paws, fast asleep, it was not without a sense of accomplishment. As she murmured in her sleep, dreaming, I softly folded a wing over her sleeping form to keep her warm, curled up protectively around her, and went to sleep myself.
She slept there until morning came. I woke long before she did, but I was content to remain where I was, for the morning sun fell across my sleeping area, and I could simply lie there and enjoy its warmth. Perhaps an hour after I woke, Fluttershy shifted, then jolted awake with a squeak when she realized she wasn't in her own home. She was in mine, and as I lifted my wing she relaxed, realizing she was safe.
Still, there were things to be done. My food stores were running low - I would need to hunt again soon - and Fluttershy needed to be guided back out of the forest. Even as charismatic as she was, there were dangers here she couldn't win over with friendship, from swift rivers to dangerous rockslides. And so as my charge stirred, I did as well, and we soon set out together for the edge of the forest.
It was quite a trip to the edge of the Everfree Forest from my lair. I'm a predator after all, and not a small one either, which means that I need a substantial amount of room to roam. Understandably, my lair is thus deep within the forest, where I can live without having to worry about Ponyville so close. Fluttershy had been truly lost, to have wandered so far as for me to find her near it.
Yet, sometimes we meet in the forest, her and I; my lair is not too far away for that, and we spend a little time together, renewing the friendship we share. It is a valuable thing, friendship, especially to a manticore such as I, for I can afford few true friends in the wilds of the Everfree Forest. Friendship here is hard to come by here, and so it is precious.
We reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, finally, and our time together came to a close.
Some of those creatures out in the darkness would laugh, but they don't know what I do.
Author's Note: I don't usually add an A/N at the end like this, but in this case I felt it was necessary to explain. I don't usually write short stories, this one being an exception to that rule. This story is maybe as long as a chapter in any of my others. Understandably, this really affects the style of writing, and this is almost more of an experimental piece than anything else.
Trying to fit a meaningful sentiment into terms that the manticore could express (since he cannot speak) was nigh impossible in third person, so I decided to experiment a bit and do a story in first person. There is absolutely nothing in canon to suggest anything about the intelligence (or lack thereof) of manticores, so I felt comfortable in defining that however I wanted to. But enough about that. What do you all think of the concept? The style?