Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

The Girl And Her Cat!

“Louie, where are you!” yelled Pinkie from on top of Riki's shoulder. “If you come out, I have a secret treat for you… It's a cupcake!”

“Pinkie, it’s not a secret if you tell him,” Riki said tiredly.

The group has been searching in Everfree for a few hours.

“Riki, you’re lagging behind,” Rarity said worriedly, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, Louie really did a number on you,” Applejack added.

“I've been through worse.” Riki smiled, “Also, thanks to Fluttershy and Twilight for helping me.”

“Don’t push yourself, Riki,” Fluttershy said worriedly.

From Riki's hood, Spike says, “I was surprised to see you and Twilight with a messed up Riki. More surprised to hear Louie did that to him.”

“You should have seen Louie. That one red eye and then gotten very big.” Rainbow said. “He was like a monster.” Liz hears this but tries to push it out of her mind.

Applejack bumps into Rainbow and says, “Don’t say that. You don’t want Liz to be mad.”

“My bad,” Rainbow apologized.

“Liz is too mad at herself to be mad at anyone else,” Riki said as he broke off a tree branch. He begins to swing it around like a sword.

“Does she still think this is all her fault?” asked Fluttershy.

Riki swings the branch around, hitting a few trees in the process. “I think she needs someone to tell her it's not her fault.”

“Darling, why don’t you tell her? You are her brother,” said Rarity.

“…I did. But I think she needs to hear it from Louie.”

Ahead of the group, Liz and Twilight are walking side by side. It has been quiet between them. Liz breaks the silence, “Twilight, do you think Louie is a monster?”

“What? No, I don’t think Louie is a monster.” She said, shaking her head. “Ignore Rainbow Dash… Do you think Louie is a monster?”

“…No, I don’t think Louie is a monster.” Liz mumbled, “…I am scared of him. And that makes me mad. I want him back, but what if we can’t save him.”

Twilight was about to say something, but a loud rustling sound could be heard. “What's that?”

The others regroup with Liz and Twilight. As they do, the sounds of falling trees can be heard. “Is it Louie?” Liz asked.

“It might be a manticore,” Fluttershy said, hiding behind Riki.

Riki removes Pinkie from his shoulder. “Whatever it is, just be ready,” he says, preparing his stick.

The sounds stop.

“Maybe it was nothing-"

“Rrrraaaaaggghhhhh!”

A huge timberwolf jumps at the group, ready to bite at them. Riki quickly shoves the stick in its jaws, stopping its bite. He then follows it up with a stronger right hook to the face, but it does nothing. The timberwolf roars before lunging again. They all barely dodged the attack. “Everyone okay?” Riki shouted as he held Pinkie and Fluttershy under his arms.

“Yeah, we’re all good here!” Twilight yelled back.

As Riki puts down the two ponies, he has a better look at the timberwolf now. The wood is dark like it’s been in a fire. Slightly bigger than Louie, and it has red eyes. “Oi, Fluttershy, that timberwolf. Can they look like that?”

She trembles behind Riki and shakes her head. Look at the timberwolf up and down, saying, “No, this is the first time I've ever seen one like that. Riki, we all need to get out of here.”

The timberwolf goes to attack the others, “Shit.” Riki said, pulling out his tonfas. He then hits the timberwolf across its side. “Damn, its body is tuff.”

“Riki, watch out!” Spike yelled from Riki's hood. He ducks under the timberwolf’s swipe attack.

Taking this opportunity, Riki gets some distance. “Thanks for the lookout, Spike.”

The dragon moves to Riki’s shoulder, “It’s nothing, but be a little more careful.”

“What’s wrong with that timberwolf?” asked Applejack.

“A lot bigger and scarier,” said Rarity, “We should run.”

Riki spins his tonfas, “Twilight, can you get us out of here?” Riki didn’t get an answer. “Oi, what’s wrong?”

“Liz…she's not here,” Twilight said with a worried look.

“What!?” yelled everyone.

“Ow, fuck, damnit!” I yelled, rolling down a hill. When that timberwolf attacked us, I jumped back a bit too much. Didn’t know I was so close to a hill. I finally stop rolling, laying in an opening field. Nothing feels broken. Looking where I rolled down from, it’s too steep to climb back up, and even if I yell, they probably can't hear me.

That damn timberwolf is something alright, but Riki is with them. It did look different than the other timberwolves. It kind of reminds me of Louie. Wait, is the same thing that happened to Louie, is happening to the timberwolf too? Shit, I can theorize about that later. I need to find a way back to the others fast. Looking around the open area, I see some trees that have been pushed over. I walked up to see claw marks, a lot of claw marks. “Louie?”

Making my way deeper, following the downed tree and claw marks. A rustling sound catches my attention. I know I shouldn’t go towards it, but I need to see if it’s Louie. Then something big slowly walks out. I take a few steps back, a manticore, and it looks hungry. It has big wings, long scorpion tail, and a flowing red mane. “Hey, h-how about we just talk like normal…creatures,” I said nervously.

“Grraaaauuuu!”

Oh, God, it’s breath smells.

I begin to run away from the manticore as fast as possible. Making my way back to the open area I was at. I tried to climb the slope, but it was too steep. Pulling out my wrench from my backpack, I get ready to fight. The manticore runs to me. Ready to dodge out of the way, however, something slams into the manticore’s body. Standing between the manticore and me is Louie.

The two stare down each other for a bit. Louie lets out a hiss before hitting it in the face, drawing some blood. The manticore lets out a growl before running at Louie. They both start to bite and claw at each other. The manticore when to use its tail, missing a few times. Going for another strike, the manticore is cut off when Louie bites on the tail and spins the manticore, then slams it to the ground. The manticore was about to get up, but Louie placed his paw on its head. Louie was about to go for the killing blow. I couldn’t watch anymore, “Stop it, it's over!” This distraction allows the manticore to escape into the forest.

When Louie looks at me, his eye flickers red, and he walks towards me as he breathes heavily. He has trouble walking forward like he's trying to stop himself. As it looks like Louie is about to attack, he turns around and runs. However, I grabbed one of his tails. “Where do you think you're going!?” I yelled, pulling on his tail. “We are worried about you. I'm worried about you. You know how much it hurts me to see you like this, like some monster!”

Louie pulls his tail from my grasp. Getting in my face, he lets out a low growl.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like being called a monster, so stop acting like one then!” I reach out and try to touch his face, but he pulls away like he's scared. I kept pushing and managed to touch his face. It's so soft to touch. “Whatever is going on, let us help you, please!” I begged as tears began to flow out of my eyes. “I hate seeing you act like this.”

“…I-I’m sorry.”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. “Louie, you just talked?”

“I don’t know what’s going on. I'm so scared.” Louie cried, “I keep hearing a voice. It hurts so much. Telling me all these bad things. But every time I look at you, my head feels clearer.”

“This is my fault. I got you hurt, almost got you killed!” I wailed, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Liz… It’s not your fault,” Louie said, nuzzling me. “But now I’m like this… What if I can’t be fixed? You don’t want me.”

“You got it all wrong! I will always want you.” I smiled with tears in my eyes. “No matter how weird you get, I will always love you.”

“I love you too!”

As the two hug, a silver glow comes from Liz's shoulder. Without them knowing, the silver light coats them. Dark energy began to flow out of Louie’s body. Then, a black feather rises out of his neck, fading away into nothingness. When the light slowly goes away, the two pull apart from their hug. “It’s gone.”

“What’s gone?” Liz asked.

“The voice is gone, and my head doesn’t hurt anymore!” Louie said happily, jumping around. “I feel better, Liz! I don’t feel like I'm going to explode anymore.”

Liz began to smile, “That’s amazing… Wait, how’s that possible? What happened?” Liz watches Louie playfully runs around. Maybe she shouldn't worry about it. I'm just happy that he’s back in some way. “…Oh shit, Louie!”

“What is it, Liz?”

“The others are in danger!” Liz yelled frantically, “A wild looking timberwolf is attacking them. We need to go help!”

Louie picks up Liz by the back of her shirt, flipping her onto his back. Liz’s hand digs into the cat’s soft fur. “Hold on tight,”

“Wait, how are you going to find them?”

“I can follow Riki's scent.”

“Rarity, watch out!” Riki shouted as he kicked the timberwolf in its side. Making it crash into a tree. The timberwolf gets back up. At the spot where Riki kicked, vines came out and fixed the broken wood. “That's cheating!”

“Why does the darn thing always try to attack Rarity and Fluttershy?” asked Applejack.

“Maybe my stunning beauty hurts its hate filled heart.” Rarity said dramatically.

“What about me?” Fluttershy said.

Riki gets in front of them, getting ready for the timberwolf's next attack. “Look, I don’t want to burst your bubble, Rarity. But I think it's trying to pick off the weakest link.”

“Now that’s just rude,” Rarity huffed.

“Yeah,” Fluttershy agreed.

Twilight fires a beam at the timberwolf, hitting it in the face. “We need to find Liz so we can get out of here.”

“I know, I know,” I said, running to the timberwolf. “But if we don’t beat this bastard, it’s going to be a lot harder to find Liz with this timberwolf on our ass. Rainbow, go low, I'll go high!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash flies toward the wolf. It was about to bite her, but she went underneath the timberwolf and hit its leg, making it fall. Riki is about to slam his tonfas onto the wolf's head. However, the timberwolf opens his mouth, shooting out sharp wood chips. Riki manages to block a few of the wood chips, but the rest digs into his arm.

“Riki!” Twilight shouted.

"Your arm!" Fluttershy yelled frantically.

Riki pulls out the bloody wood chips and says, “I’m fine!”

The timberwolf is going to attack Riki, but Louie jumps on and pins it down. Louie then picks up the timberwolf by the neck, throwing it across the forest. Everyone is surprised not just by Louie saving Riki, but also Liz riding on a giant cat. “Lizzy! You're back, and you found Louie!” Pinkie squealed.

“Hey, guys!” Liz smiled, “Need help!?”

“Absolutely!” Twilight replied.

Fluttershy carefully walks up to Louie and asks, “Liz, is Louie alright?”

Before, Liz could answer, but Louie did instead. “I’m alright, Fluttershy. I'm a bit scrambled in the head, but I think a nice nap can help.”

“That’s good to hear,” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief.

“Wait, did I just hear Louie talk?” Riki said shockingly.

“Yeah, Louie talks now.” Liz said, “I thought you gotten used to all the weird stuff here?”

“You're right, but I never expected this.”

Rarity taps Riki’s leg, “Excuse me, I don’t want to interrupt this, you two, but the timberwolf.”

The timberwolf runs wildly at them, but it looks off. Like it is falling apart, its tail snaps off, and its ears just drop. It tries to regenerate, but it’s breaking down too fast. “What’s wrong with it?” asked Spike.

“It looks like whatever made this timberwolf is breaking down the body.” Twilight hypothesizes. “It can’t handle anymore.” She was then thrown onto the back of Louie by Riki.

“That’s cool, but we need to leave,” Riki said, throwing everyone onto the cat. “Louie, not too heavy?”

“No, I’m good!”

Before Riki can get on, the timberwolf jumps at them. Crashing onto the ground, it lost its wooden front right leg. Riki quickly grabs one of Louie’s tails. “Go!”

Louie begins to run through the forest, being chased by the timberwolf. Liz looks back at the wolf and says, “Twilight, shoot at its other leg!” Twilight fires a beam and hits its other front leg. The timberwolf falls face first into the ground. It tries to get up, but its body begins to expand, and then...

Booom!

The timberwolf explodes into tiny wooden pieces. Its body couldn’t handle the mysterious power that was flowing through it. The force of the explosion launches everyone out of Everfree Forest, landing on top of each other.

“Is everypony alright?” asked Applejack.

“Wait, where's Louie!?” Liz said worriedly.

They all look around only to hear, “You guys are sitting on me!” Louie wiggles his way out from under everyone. He then jumps onto Liz’s lap, “Almost suffocated under pony butt.”

“Glad to see he’s fine,” Riki said, getting up, “The whole talking thing will take some time to get used to.”

Twilight gets up close to Louie, “Liz, how is he talking?”

“And how did you calm down, Louie?” Fluttershy added.

“I don’t know?” she responded, “When I got separated from you guys, I ran into a manticore. Louie saved me.”

“I wasn’t in the right state of mind, but I heard Liz.” Louie said, “The voice in my head was telling me to do stuff. I just ignored it, then my head began to hurt. We talked for a bit, then poof, I was feeling a lot better.”

“That really doesn’t explain anything,” Twilight sighed, “I need to tell Princess Celestia about this.”

“Louie, I need to know. Do you know how you got like this?” asked Riki, “Because you and that timberwolf were like the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“The red eyes, very big, a weird aura coming from the back of the neck.”

“What weird aura, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Maybe that timberwolf hit Riki a little too hard, Rare.” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.

Riki rubbed the back of his head, “Anyways, Louie, what happened?”

The cat takes this time before saying, “Last night, I remember something coming into Fluttershy's house, but that’s it. My mind was so foggy at the time, sorry.”

Liz pats Louie on the head, “It’s okay, Louie.”

Louie shakes Liz’s hand off his head. He then jumps off from her lap, “No. It’s not okay, Liz. While I was not in the right mindset, I did bad things. I watched everything as my body acted like… Some monster.” Louie begins to cry his heart out. His body starts to grow again.

“Louie, take a breath!” Riki shouted.

“Liz, darling, be careful.” Rarity said as Liz walked over to Louie.

“We still don’t know what's going on with him,” Twilight added.

“I know what I’m doing.” Liz slowly reached out and petted Louie’s face. And she softly said the same thing he said to her. “Louie… it’s not your fault.” Liz’s words hit Louie hard. He returns to his normal size, and Liz picks Louie up. “Stop kicking yourself, okay?”

“But what about all the damage I did?”

Liz looks over at Riki, “You'll handle it, right?”

Riki groans, “The mayor is going to have my balls.” The ponies look at him weirdly. “Not like that. Luckily enough, I have the bits from that bodyguard job the princesses gave me. I think that will cover it.”

“I’ll come with you, Riki,” Twilight said as she fixed her hair. “If you don’t mind.”

“You can come, may need the company.” Riki smiled.

“Thanks,”

“Hey, can you two flirt later, I’m starving!” Rainbow interrupted.

Twilight began to blush, “Rainbow Dash, we were not flirting. Right, Riki?”

“I’m starving too, hehe!” Riki chuckled. “Who else is hungry?”

“Me, me, me!” Pinkie said joyfully, waving her hooves in the air.

“All that running really has a mare worn out.” Rarity chimed in, fanning herself.

“I'm hungry too, but no cat food.” Louie required.

Applejack asks, “So where are we going to eat?”

“I’ll cook something for you guys,” Riki said.

“Really, you’re the best!” Fluttershy smiled.

“Yeah, Spike, will you help me cook?”

“Sure!” he said as he got into Riki's hood. “Wait, what are we going to cook?”

“I don’t know, I'll figure something out.”

As the group makes their way to Riki’s house. Riki and Liz both look up, like they feel something familiar. “Huh, what's wrong?” asked Twilight.

“…Nothing?” Liz questioned herself.

“Yeah. Nothing.” Riki reassured her. “Come on, guys.”

A cloaked figure watches the group from a cloud above. “Taboo, your little test failed. Somehow, the cat got freed, and that pitiful timberwolf couldn’t handle the power. Feeble creature.”

“no, my test worked better than i expected, pride.” Taboo said as he flew on top of Pride’s shoulder. “i will tell you that i was surprised that cat survived, all thanks to that human.”

Pride huffed as his eyes narrowed, “Still don’t know have you lost to that group, Taboo. Six pitiful ponies and two humans. But I am interested in how strong they are, especially the boy.” Pride readying his scaly claws, preparing to jump off the cloud. “And there's a dragon too, exhilarating!” The cloud underneath begins to darken and lets out a low rumble.

“hold it, pride.” Taboo squawked, “now is not the time to scratch your itch. right now we wait.”