Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

This Is My Fault!

“Riki, bring me the first aid kit, fast!” yelled Fluttershy. “Twilight, push all that stuff off the table and grab some towels now!” The two frantically run around as the yellow pony gives out orders. Liz watches silently, too scared to step into Fluttershy’s house. Her eyes slowly follow Fluttershy, putting a badly injured Louie on the table. She wishes she could look away, but she can’t. It’s her fault Louie is like this. If she hadn’t gone into that damn forest, none of this would have happened. The only words that she can say are…

“I'm so sorry, Louie… This is my fault.”

Flashback- Earlier this morning

Crystals, Crystals, & More Crystals, is one of many weird and interesting books Twilight has in her library. We’re spending hours researching for our big special project. Twilight has been reviewing several research papers about crystals, and I’m handling the books. Louie is here, just sleeping around.

“Link Crystals are a type of crystal that can send sound to the crystal it’s linked to.” I read to myself. That’s pretty cool, but not what I’m looking for. I pulled out a sticky note, writing ‘Helpful, but not right now’ and then placed it on the page. Flipping to the next page, I read ‘Solar Crystal.’ Okay, this sounds interesting. I read a few lines before stopping, “Twilight, I found what we need!”

She drops the papers and walks over. Reading over the page, Twilight says, “Yeah, that will work!”

“Solar crystal is the perfect power source for our crystal engine,” I said, opening my notebook. Flipping to a sketch of a piston engine with crystals in it. “Now we need to find them.”

Twilight looks up from the book, “It says the crystals can be found in places with lots of light.”

“Know any places?”

“A few, mostly mountains. It also says that solar crystals can be found in Everfree Forest. It’s rare to find because the crystals don’t get enough light.”

“Alright, what now?” I asked as I stood up.

“There are two options. One, we can go hiking in the mountains, but it takes a few days to get there and find the crystals.”

“Not really a hiker,” I sighed.

“Two, we can go to Everfree Forest and look for it.”

“But did you say it is rare to find?”

“Yes, but I think a friend can help us.” Twilight smiled. “Her name is Zecora. She lives in the forest. I think she probably knows where to find it. Whichever option you choose, I’ll be perfectly fine with it.”

“…Well, let's go to Zecora to see if she can help us.”

“Alright, let's get ready,” Twilight said, heading to the stairs. “I’m going to get my saddlebag, be right back.” As Twilight walks up the stairs, I start to put away some of the books.

I hope I made the right decision to get the solar crystals this way. It might be dangerous. Maybe I should get Riki’s help. No Twilight is enough. Plus, Riki has been a bit sluggish ever since he came back from Las Pegasus. I want to give him a break. I made my way to Louie and picked him up. “Hey, how’s your nap?”

“Meow,”

“Are you dropping Louie off at Fluttershy’s house or leaving him here?” Twilight said, coming down the stairs.

Before I say anything, Louie jumps onto my shoulder. “I think he wants to come with us.”

“Are you sure?"

“Yeah, now come on. We are burning daylight!” I shouted with excitement. This might be fun.

“Right!”

Deep into Everfree Forest Twilight, Louie and I make our way to Zecora’s hut. As we do, I ask Twilight how she knows Zecora. Twilight tells what happened, from thinking that Zecora was some evil enchantress. Accusing her of putting a curse on them and thinking that she was going to eat Apple Bloom.

Surprise to hear how bad they fucked up. I'm also surprised that Zecora doesn’t hate them.

“I hope you and the girls learned your lesson,” I said, pushing through some bushes.

Twilight lets out a sad sigh, “What we did was wrong, and we learned from our mistakes.”

“You guys did act pretty normal when you met Riki and me.” Louie pops his head out of my backpack, letting out a meow. “Louie, I think they will be more worried about the two humans than you.”

“You're right about that.” Twilight chuckled. "Liz, we’re here.” She stopped and pointed at a tree. I saw masks and bottles being hung from the tree. Twilight knocked, “Zecora, it’s me, Twilight.”

After a few seconds, Zecora opens the door and says, “Twilight, it’s good to see you, but may I ask who that I view?”

“This is one of my new friends, she is a human.” Twilight smiled.

“…Hello, Zecora. It’s nice to meet you.” I said, “My name is Liz, and umm?”

“You’re surprised to see a zebra in Everfree, don’t you worry because this place can be heavenly.”

“…Yeah, that’s what I was about say. Nothing else.” I chuckled. Didn’t want to bring up the rhyming thing. “Also, I’m surprised you haven’t heard about me and my brother. We've been here for about three weeks, give or take.”

“I rarely leave the forest for supplies, so I don’t get any news about you guys.” Zecora said, “But one time when the sun rise, I think I saw your brother with my eyes.”

“You must have seen Riki when he was working out. Oh, Zecora! We came here to ask for help.”

Twilight nods and adds, “We wonder if you know where we can find any solar crystals?”

Zecora thought to herself before saying, “Crystals that use the sun as power, I know where you can find them within one hour. I would like to come with you two, but I’m a bit busy with my cauldron’s brew.”

“Oh, maybe next time,” I said, sounding a bit disappointed.

“Don’t worry Liz my new friend, I will help you to the end,” Zecora said. She then gets a piece of paper and writes something down. “I’ll write down directions to the solar crystals in a flash, but watch out for creatures that will cause a thrash.”

“Thanks, Zecora!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yeah, and we will be very careful.” I added, “If things do go bad, Twilight can teleport us out.”

“Meow!”

Thank God Zecora doesn’t write in rhyme. Even if I only talked to her briefly, I could tell that she is kind.

Carefully look at Zecora's directions and say, “Twilight, do you see a tree resembling a dragon?”

“Umm, no.”

“Fuck, maybe we passed it or something?” I questioned, looking around. “Wait, where is Louie?”

“Yowl!”

We both look up in the trees to see Louie. He lets out a few meows. “It sounds like he wants us to follow him.” Said Twilight. We followed Louie for a bit. Passing through some shrubs, we see a tree resembling a dragon.

“There it is!” I exclaimed, “Good job, Louie.”

“Mrruh~”

Heading to the tree by sliding down a hill slope. “Okay, the solar crystals should be here,” I said, brushing the dirt off my body. We begin to look around the tree for the crystals.

After a while, I heard Twilight say, “Liz, I think I found the solar crystals!”

I make my way to Twilight to have a look at the crystals. Having a better look, it’s the size of my hand. “It’s small?”

Twilight took out a book from her saddlebag, flipping through the pages. “It says that solar crystals grow better in sunlight, so that's why they’re so small.”

“Yeah, light barely touches the forest ground here,” I said, examining the crystal. “No wonder it's hard to find. Huh?” As I check out the crystal, something catches my eye. Pushing away the dead leaves, I see crystal shards.

“Liz, you find something?” asked Twilight.

“I think so?” I picked up one of the crystal shards and showed it to her. “It looks like it was from a solar crystal. And look here.” I then picked up a solar crystal. It was a bit bigger than the one we found, but half of it was gone. “Is that a...?”

“Bite?” Twilight said, getting a closer look.

“Grrrrr!”

We quickly turned around to see a pack of timberwolves. The five wooden wolves slowly make their way to us. “I think I know why that crystal was bitten into, ” I said as we slowly backed up. “Timberwolves eat solar crystals for the sun energy inside. It's probably like a treat to them.”

“Liz, that's nice and all, but I think we need to leave.”

“What about the solar crystals?”

“Leave it. I’ll teleport us out of here now!” Twilight said, getting her horn ready.

“Wait, where is Louie?” I panicked, “I’m not leaving him, Twilight!” I then ran off, trying to find him.

“Liz, wait!” Twilight yelled, following after me.

“Louie, where are you!?” I shouted. I look behind me to see the timberwolves slowly gaining on us. “Twilight, do something!”

Her horn glows and says, “Look away, now!” As I do, I can still see Twilight’s horn let out a blinding bright light. This causes the Timberwolves to trip and stumble over each other. “They’ll be like that for a while.”

“Good, now we can go find Louie and get the hell out of here,” I said with a sigh of relief. I then stopped, trying to catch my breath. “Louie! Where are you, Louie!”

“Liz, keep it down. We don’t want the timberwolves to find us.” Twilight warned me.

I know, but I need to find him. I can’t leave my cat. “Lou-” I stopped when some bushes began to rustle slightly. “Louie!” I make my way to the bush.

“Wait, Liz!” shouted Twilight.

As I approach the bush, a timberwolf jumps out, ready to bite into my face. Too scared to close my eyes. Too scared to scream. I can only watch the wooden wolf get closer and closer. Someone save me!

“Hisss!”

Right before me, I see Louie clawing and biting the timberwolf’s face. “Louie!” I called out, watching this unfold.

The timberwolf shakes its head, trying to get Louie off. It then manages to fling the cat off, making him hit a tree. Louie gets up on his paws and lunges toward the timberwolf. Just to get smacked away, hitting the ground with a thud next to me. “Louie!” I screamed in terror. I picked Louie up. His body is limp. Wait, is this blood!? As I pulled Louie into a hug, dreading the timberwolf to attack me. When it was about to lunge at me, a magic beam hit it.

The timberwolf drops to the ground. “Liz, there you are,” Twilight said, running up next to me. She then sees the badly injured Louie, “What happened?”

“Twilight, we need to go now!” I cried, “Get us out of here. I need to save Louie!”

Her horn starts to glow, “Fluttershy can help. We can go there.”

Flashback End

It’s her fault. It’s all her fault. Liz looks at her hands, seeing the blood of Louie stain on them. As tears begin to flow, she feels like she's about to throw up. Liz grabs her chest when her heart begins to race. She knows what this is, she experienced this before.

A panic attack.

She tried to catch her breath as she fell face first into the grass. She can only hear Riki call out to her before blacking out.

Back in Everfree Forest, from a tree branch above. A crow watched the whole thing. It flies down to a pile of sticks that was the timberwolf. Plucking out one of its pitch black feathers and says, “let’s do a little experiment,”

As the sun sets and the moon rises, Liz sleeps quietly in her bed. Downstairs in the kitchen, Riki and Twilight are having a cup of blackberry tea. “Twilight, thanks again for getting Liz and Louie out of there,” Riki said, sipping his tea. “But lucky enough, I was at Fluttershy’s place helping her move a few things.”

Twilight taps the table a few times before saying, “You’re welcome, but it doesn’t feel like I helped. Louie got hurt, and Liz has been asleep for hours.”

Riki reached over and grabbed her hoof, “Twilight, stop bringing yourself down. If you didn’t teleport them out of there, shit would have been bad.” Riki said with a soft smile, trying to cheer her up.

“Thanks for the words, Riki,” Twilight said softly. “How are you feeling?”

To Twilight’s dismay, Riki pulls his hand back and says, “I was thrown off when I saw you guys appearing out of nowhere.”

“Teleporting more than myself can be tough,” Twilight said, finishing her tea. “It was a lot more difficult with Liz, her magic resistance.”

Riki grabs the empty cups and drops them in the sink, “Then I saw Louie, and Liz was freaking out calling for Fluttershy.”

As the two continue to talk, Liz quietly walks into the kitchen. Twilight notices her and says, “Liz, you’re up!”

“How are you feeling?” Riki asked, drying his hands. “I was worried as hell when you fainted.”

“I’m fine. What about Louie?” Liz asked, on the brink of tears. Waiting for Riki’s response. “Please tell me Louie is still alive!”

“Louie is alive,” Riki said with a smile. Liz then hugged Riki as hard as she could. “Fluttershy was able to keep him in stable conditions. Just a few broken bones, he’ll be up and running in a few weeks. Well, that's what Fluttershy said.”

“Let’s go see him!” Liz said ecstatically. She begins to run off but is stopped by Riki grabbing the back of her shirt. “What are you doing?”

“Look, it’s late Liz.” said Riki, “We can check up on him tomorrow morning. Now, you hungry?”

Liz was about to say something but stopped. Riki is right. Louie will be there tomorrow. “Okay, we go tomorrow. I’m going back to bed, not hungry.”

“Well, I think I should go now.” Twilight said, “Spike is probably waiting for me or fast asleep.”

“Oh, do you want me to walk you home?” Riki asked.

“Bro, this isn’t New York.” Liz deadpan.

“I’m just trying to be nice, hahaha.” Riki laughed, and Liz sighed.

“…I don’t mind if you do,” Twilight mumbled.

Riki stopped laughing and said, “You said something?”

“Nothing, I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Twilight spluttered as she ran out of the house.

“What’s up with her?”

“I don’t know,” yawned Liz.

There is a moment of silence before Riki says, “You know it’s not your fault, right Liz?”

“…Sure,” Liz mumbled as she goes to her room. Leaving Riki alone in the kitchen.

He lets out a small sigh, “Guess I'm eating alone.”

At Fluttershy’s home, Louie sleeps peacefully in a cat bed. His bandages are nice and snug. The moon shines through the open window. Louie slowly opens his eye when he hears a flapping sound. He was too weak to move, only able to turn his head. He sees a crow as black as night, illuminated by the moon. It spreads its wings and plucks a feather, “let’s see how well this works.”

“Come on Riki, hurry up!” Liz yelled at Riki.

The two are making their way to Fluttershy’s house to see Louie. They could have left earlier if Riki hadn’t made Liz eat breakfast. Riki yawned, “When I said we could go in the morning, I didn't mean this early.”

“It’s eight in the morning,”

“I know, but I’m so tired…” Riki responded wearily, falling to the ground. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up in a few hours.”

“Get up you lazy-”

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”

“What the hell was that!?”

“I think that was Fluttershy!” Riki blurted, getting up and running to her house. “Liz, hurry up!”

“Got it!”

They quickly make their way to Fluttershy’s house. When they got there, one of the windows was broken. “Burglar or monster?”

“No burglars in Ponyville, so it has to be a monster,” Riki said, flinging the door open. “Fluttershy!?”

Her house is messed up. Looks like a tornado passed through here. “Fluttershy, where are you!?” called out Liz.

“Over here, under the couch.”

Riki quickly picks up the couch. They see Fluttershy curl up with Angel Bunny beside her. “Fluttershy, you alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’m okay.” She stuttered.

“What happened to you?” Liz asked, “And where’s Louie?”

Fluttershy gets a worried look, “When I woke up to check up on Louie… He attacked me, then he jumped out the window.”

“What, Louie attacked you?” yelled Riki when he dropped the couch.

“No, that’s not possible. He will never do that!” Liz yelled. “What are you talking about, Fluttershy.”

“Liz, stop yelling at her,” Riki said.

“…Sorry.”

“He was acting weird. I couldn’t understand him.” Fluttershy shuddered.

“Where did he head off to?” asked Liz.

“I don’t know, I was hiding under the couch,” Fluttershy responded.

Riki gets up and looks out the window. He sees some blood on the glass and a blood trail. A couple of paw prints, but some of them are different sizes. “Riki, you found something?”

“Yeah, I think Louie is heading to Ponyville.” Riki said as he began to run off, “Come on you two, we need to catch that crazy cat!”

Fluttershy tells Angel she’ll be right back. When she catches up with Liz and asks, “Wow, Riki really figured out where Louie is going.”

“Riki is smart when it comes to mystery stuff,” Liz answered. “Back home he watched a lot of mystery shows. But we can talk about that later, we need to catch up to Riki.”

“Right!”

On the outskirts of Ponyville, Twilight makes her way to Fluttershy’s place to meet up with Riki and Liz. Twilight has been thinking about what happened last night at Riki’s house. She just ran out of there like a weirdo. “Sweet Celestia, what is wrong with me.” Twilight groaned, hoping Riki and Liz don't bring it up. “Huh, what’s that?” She looks out into the distance to see something lying on the ground. Carefully making her way to it. When Twilight got close, she could tell what it was. It’s Louie.

The cat is breathing heavily, and his only eye is blood red. “Louie, what happened to you? I need to get to Fluttershy.”

“Me-mmEo-oWe,” Louie said groggy, flopping around.

“Wait, Louie, let me help,” Twilight said concerningly. When she goes to pick Louie up, she hears someone yelling. She looks towards the noise to see Riki, Liz, and Fluttershy. “Oh, hey, I was coming to meet you three!”

“Twilight, get away from Louie!” yelled Riki.

“He’s not himself!” Liz added.

“What do you mean-Ow!” Twilight was cut off by Louie scratching her.

Riki goes for a dive to grab Louie, but the cat jumps out of the way. “Damn, when did Louie get so fast?”

“Louie, stop!” Liz begged. “Let us help you!” Her words didn't work on Louie. He just continued to make his way to Ponyville.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, checking where Louie had scratched her. “Good, you’re not bleeding.”

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

“We'll tell you as we chase down Louie,” Riki said as he ran after the cat. “We need to stop him before he seriously hurts someone or himself!”

As they make their way to Ponyville. Liz and Fluttershy tell Twilight what is going on. Liz asks Fluttershy if this is the timberwolf’s doing. Fluttershy responds that she doesn’t know.

“Guys, Louie, 10 o'clock!” Riki shouted.

“He's going into the marketplace,” Twilight said.

Louie runs around the market, making ponies drop their stuff. He then jumps to stand to stand, knocking over things. Riki jumps to grab Louie. However, the cat jumps out of the way, causing Riki to crash into a flower stand.

“My flowers!”

“Sorry about that, ummm…”

“Daisy.”

Riki brushes the dirt off himself, “My bad, Daisy. I'll pay for all this later.”

“C’mon, Riki! We don’t want to lose Louie.” Liz said as she ran past him.

“Coming!”

When Riki caught up with the three, Rainbow Dash flew beside them. “Yo, what’s going on?” Rainbow asked casually.

“We are trying to catch Louie,” Twilight said. “He's fast, so can you help.”

“This will be easy. I can catch that cat.” After she said that, she quickly grabbed Louie. Rainbow was then hit in the face with Louie’s paw a few times. “Hey, stop that!” Riki walks up to Rainbow and carefully takes Louie so he doesn’t escape. Louie tries to squirm out, but Riki holds him down.

Fluttershy gets a better look at Louie, noting the red eye and narrow pupil. “This doesn’t look good.”

“Guys, his tail.” Liz shuddered, “Look at Louie's tail!”

They all looked at the cat's tail, which was split into two. The two tails whipped around wildly, hitting Riki’s arm several times. “That’s new,” said Riki.

“Fluttershy, what is going on with my cat!” yelled Liz.

“I don’t know, Liz.”

“Oi, I can’t hold on to Louie.” Riki grunted, “He's getting heavy!”

Before anyone can question Riki about what he said, they already received every answer. Louie begins to grow in Riki’s arms, making Riki drop him. “Get back!” Riki yelled at the ponies around them.

“What is going on?” Twilight mumbled.

They watch Louie grow and grow from the size of a large dog to an elephant. Standing at a solid 10 feet tall, Louie looms over the group. Riki is the first one to speak up, “Don’t panic!” He was then swatted by Louie’s big paw. Riki’s body flies through the air, crashing into a couple of stands. This causes the ponies to panic.

The marketplace is in utter chaos. Screaming fills the air as Louie begins to wreck everything around him. Rainbow and Twilight began to help the ponies get to safety. “This way!” shouted Twilight.

Fluttershy went to check up on Riki. “Oh my Celestia, Riki, are you okay!? You’re bleeding!”

“Just give me a minute,” he mumbled, rubbing his head.

As for Liz, “Louie, stop!” She's trying her best to stop the rampaging giant cat. Liz keeps yelling at Louie, hoping that she can get to him. “Louie, please stop!” Liz pleaded as tears filled her eyes. Louie stops and turns to Liz, looking down at her. Piercing red eye stares at her, letting out a low bellow. Liz takes a step back, but Louie gets closer. He opens his mouth. Fear starts to set in.

“Louie?”

“Get away from her!” Riki shouted, flying kicking Louie in the face. “Liz, did he hurt you?”

She only shakes her head, not saying anything. The only thing on her mind was Louie about to say something.

Louie stumbles back from the hit and then lets out a hiss. Riki pulls out his tonfas as he runs towards the cat. Jumping up and slamming his tonfas on Louie’s head. When Riki lands on the ground, he is met with a paw swipe. However, he quickly rolled out of the way. Seeing Louie’s claws cut through the ground effortlessly,

“That was close,” Riki muttered.

“Riki, look out!” Liz yelled.

“Huh!?” Riki said as one of Louie’s tails grabbed him. He tries to break out, but the tail starts to constrict. Not wanting to be crushed, he gets an idea. “Sorry about this.” After Riki said that, he bit down hard on Louie’s tail.

Louie lets out a painful cry. Flicking his tail up, accidentally throws Riki up in the air pretty high. Luckily, Rainbow Dash saves him, “Gotcha, big guy. So, what's the plan?”

“Can you drop me over Louie’s head?” Riki request.

“Sure,”

Riki then shouts, “Oi, Twilight! Keep Louie in place!” Twilight uses her magic on Louie’s paws so he can't move. “Good, now drop me.” Rainbow let’s go of Riki, falling at a fast rate. Louie struggles and manages to pull one of his paws out. But it was too late. “Heavy Landing Crash!” Riki lands on the cat’s head, slamming into the ground.

“Nice job!” Rainbow said from above.

“It's over,” Twilight said as she looked over all the damage that had been done.

“I really wish there was another way to stop him.” Fluttershy sighed sadly.

Liz nodded in agreement as she began to cry, “It hurts to see him like this.”

Riki was about to say something, but he was thrown off when Louie quickly jolted and got up. He then followed it up with a paw swipe, launching Riki into the fountain nearby. He hit his head pretty hard, too dazed to move. Louie then jumps and lands over Riki, ready to bite his head off. The cat was stopped when Liz threw a rock at his head. Turning, and looks at the crying Liz for a few moments. His red eye flickers before he slams his head into the ground. He then ran away. Liz watches as her cat makes his way out of Ponyville. “…Louie,” she wipes the tears from her eyes.

Twilight and Fluttershy help Riki out of the fountain. He takes off his wet hoodie and wrings it out, “Oi, Rainbow! Do you see Louie? Where's he going?”

“Everfree Forest,” she said, flying down.

“Fuckin', of course,” Riki muttered.

“What now?” asked Fluttershy.

“We have to go after him,” Liz declared, “I want to get my cat back. I don’t know what the hell is going on with him, but I know he’s in there.”

“Liz, Louie almost bit Riki’s head off,” Twilight said. “We should get the Princesses for help-”

“Nah, we got this handled.” Riki interrupted with a smile, “Liz, since you stopped crying. What’s next?”

Liz stayed silent for a moment before saying, “We go to Everfree Forest, find and bring Louie back. I want to try talking to him. If that doesn’t work, we’ll use force.”

“Alright, let’s do this.” Riki said, “But we need to get the others.”

Liz nods, “I’ll go get Pinkie and Rarity. Rainbow Dash, you get Applejack. Twilight and Fluttershy, can you two patch up Riki and pick up Spike. When you guys are done, meet at the entrance of Everfree Forest.”

“Yeah, let’s go save Louie!” Riki shouted.

“Yeah!”

A tree falls over as Louie's giant body crashes into it. Breathing heavily as he stumbles through the forest, his head spins and spins. Louie repeatedly slams his head into a nearby tree.

“you are something, cat.”

Louie stops and frantically looks around, trying to find where the voice is coming from.

“i saw what you did, monster. they saw what you did, you beast.” The voice reverberates throughout Louie's head. “your friends don’t want you, they attacked you out of fear. but I enjoy everything you did.”

“Li-aow-z!”

“you think that little girl loves you right after what you did? no! you have nothing. except for power, that i give you to save your little life.”

Just then, a pack of timberwolves begins to surround the cat. Snapping and growling at him.

"go wild!"