The life I wished for.

This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. Not only was I in danger, but the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike were also in the danger zone.

“Spike! Get by the girls and hide! Stay close by so I can find you when I’m done with this fat cat.”

“Wait what!? Are you crazy? This thing could rip you apart!”

“Well geez Spike, thanks for having faith in me bro, don’t worry, I got what I need for this.” I grabbed the hilt of my sword and brought it in front of me. I passed my hand over my face to put on the mask. I immediately felt more aware of everything that was around me, I knew where the girls were now, They hid in the bushes with Spike right by the path we were taking.

“Alright. This might not end well, for either of us, how about you just leave, and me and my friends will be on our way. How does that sound?” The large cat like creature just hit his paw on the ground and growled at me. It didn’t seem like he wanted to attack me, it was almost like he was…..talking to me?

“So? What are you waiting for? Are you going to fight me or not?” I lowered my sword just a little, but I kept my eyes on his the entire time.

Out of no where the manticore jumped towards me, I had no time to react, so he smacked my sword away from me and pinned me to the ground. He sniffed my body and gave a loud roar.

“Well, this is the end. This really sucks.” I closed my eyes, waiting for this giant cat to eat me, but all that I felt was a large, wet tiger tongue, across my mask, the saliva oozing through its cracks and on to my face.

“What? Are you seriously licking me?” I pulled off my mask and looked at the manticore. It was smiling at me and kept sniffing my body. I thought about it for a moment and it finally hit me.

“Wait, did a yellow flying pony pull a thorn out of your paw a while back?” I pretended to pull something out of my hand so he might understand a little better.

He nodded at me and gave me another lick right on my face. He moved back a little so I could get up and dust myself off.

The only reason he didn’t attack me was probably because he could smell Fluttershy on me, other than that I couldn’t think of anything.

“Brandon? Are you okay?!” I heard Sweetie’s squeaky voice from behind the manticore.

“Yeah, I’m fine Sweetie Belle. This manticore is a…..friend.” I looked over to the manticore. “Right?”

The manticore nodded and sat down. He licked his paw just like a cat would back home on earth.

“Alright, I think we had enough excitement for the day. It’s time to get you girls home. You too Spike.”

“Sounds good to me, I want to get home now before we get attacked by another monster in here.” Spike gestured to the girls to come out of the bushes.

“Yeah that sounds good to me. Hey I’ll see you around fuzz ball. We cool?” I got my answer from a large wet tongue along the whole left side of my body.

“Great, thanks. Alright girls, lets get out of here.” The manticore slowly walked towards the girls with his head low; trying not to scare them by showing he could be gentle.

“Umm B-brandon? I-is he going to e-eat us?” All the girls were huddled together. They started to shake when the manticore got close to them.

“No. I don’t think he’s going to eat you guys, he probably just wants to say hi.” I tried to reassure them, though I was also reassuring myself at the same time.

The manticore got close to the girls and laid down right in front of them. He rested his head on his paws and gave the fillies a sad look. The part that really surprised me though, is that Sweetie Belle moved away from the group and trotted to the manticore. She rested a hoof on the manticore’s head and started to pet it.

“You know, this manticore is nicer than Opal. He’s just a little sweet heart aren’t you big guy?” She ruffled the mane of the manticore as she smiled at him. His large scorpion tail started to wag lightly side to side.

“Are you kidding me? This thing could have eaten us! He isn’t some sweet heart; he’s a big stupid monster!” Scootaloo was trying to be tough again, I knew that is was just an act, but when I was young I did the same thing around my friends as well.

“Ah don’t know Scoots, heh is bein purtty nice right now. I don’t think he’s gonna hurt us now.” Apple Bloom trotted behind Sweetie Belle and started to pet the manticore’s side. The large cat rolled onto his back, Apple Bloom started to give him a belly rub as he started to purr gently.

“C’mon Scoots time to give him a chance!” I picked up Scootaloo and started to bring her towards the manticore. She started to kick and wiggle around in my hands.

“H-hey! Put me down! I don’t want to touch that big stupid cat!”

I lowered her to be eye to eye with the manticore and she stopped moving. They stared at each other for a long minute. The manticore smiled before he gave her a big lick, from the top of her head to the bottom of her hind legs.

Scootaloo blinked a few times before she burst out laughing. She giggled even more as the manticore continued to lick her. I put her on the ground and she jumped up onto the manticore’s belly.

“Hey Brandon, can we keep him? He’s like, the best pet ever!” The other girls nodded in agreement as they all gave their love to the large fluffy cat.

“Well, I would say yes…but I don’t think all the ponies in Ponyville will be too happy about this giant cat running around there.”

“Awwww….” All the girls spoke at the same time, they knew they all wanted the same thing.

“Hmmm….I have an idea though. He will have to stay here. But maybe, just maybe, we can visit him every so often. Though I cant promise anything, and we cant tell anypony about him okay?”

“Yay! Can we name him Fluffy?” They all spoke at the same time, it was almost like their minds were connected.

“Umm sure we can name him Fluffy, but right now, it’s time to get you fillies home.” I gathered all the fillies and Spike together and started to walk down the path towards the opening of the Everfree.

“Wait, how are we going to know if he is the right one? He cant be the only manticore in the forest.”

“Yeah you’re right….” I looked at the mask on the ground and a thought passed through my head. “Hey, Fluffy, come here real quick.”

The manticore moved towards me with a confused look on his face, not sure what I had in mind for him.

I grabbed my sword and cut a vine down from a nearby tree. I cut a small piece off and made a small hole in the mask. After a few minutes of twisting and tying, I crafted a necklace out of the vine and put it on Fluffy. The mask dangled from his neck with a small shine.

“There. Now we know that it’s him. Are you all ready to go? Say bye to Fluffy.”

“Bye Fluffy! Hope to see you again soon!”

“Yeah! It was mighty fun playing with ah big cat like you!”

“You are pretty cool, not as cool as Rainbow Dash, but I can hang out with you again.”

They all gave Fluffy a big hug that he returned rather gently. He walked up to me and gave me a big lick, also doing the same to Spike.

“Gah! Really!? I already took my bath for today!”

“Well so did I, but it’s not like I can’t take another one. It’s not that big of a deal Spike.”

“Yeah I guess your right. Well lets get home shall we?”

“Yep. C’mon girls, time to go.” I nudged them forward so we could get moving.

“Wow, that was a real good time if yah ask me. Mahybe the Everfree forest ain’t that scary.”

“Well I don’t want you girls going in there with out me. I know your sisters don’t want to be in there so I’m the only one you got to take you in there.”

Our first stop was Sweet Apple Acres. We got half way up to the house when Big Mac trotted out of the trees.

“Well hey there Big Mac, working hard as always I presume.”

“Eeyep.” I always wondered what went on in his head. People on earth that were quiet were usually pretty smart or had a lot on their mind. I wonder why he is so quiet.

“Well I’m just bringing little Apple Bloom home for ya. I hope I didn’t have her out too late.”

“Eenope”

“Big Mac? Who ya talkin to over here? Oh well howdy Brandon! Great to see ya. Ya just bringin Apple Bloom home?”

“Yeah, we had a lot of fun now didn’t we girls?” I gave them a little wink, and I was pretty sure AppleJack saw it too.

“Yeah! We had loads of fun! We met this giant sweet kitty in the Everfree forest! We named him Fluffy!” Apple Bloom was jumping up and down with excitement.

“Umm….say what now?” AppleJack was a little confused hearing about a giant cat. I thought that she would have caught on to it to be honest.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now I got to get Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo home. See you Wednesday alright AJ?”

“You bet Brandon. Cant wait to have your help on the farm, we got a lot to do!”

“Alright bye AJ, later Big Mac.”

They all waved as the four of us walked towards Ponyville. The sun was just starting to go down as we walked up to the Carousel Boutique. I knocked on the door. A few moments later, Rarity opened the door with a smile.

“Oh hello my dear. Just bringing Sweetie Belle home? Would you care to stay for some tea?”

“Sorry Rarity, I have to bring Scoots and Spike home and get back to Fluttershy for dinner.” I gave Sweetie a small hug before she trotted inside.

“Oh well that’s a shame. I’m so glad that you were able to watch Sweetie for me, I just had so much to do today. Thank you so much dear.”

“Oh it was nothing, I had some fun myself to be honest. I’ll see you on Thursday.”

“Alright have a good night my dear.” I turned around as she was shutting the door. I walked with Scootaloo and Spike over to the Library. Spike stopped me before I could open the door.

“You don’t have to say hi or anything. I’ll just let myself in. See you later Brandon.”

“Alright I’m just going to bring Scootaloo home then. See ya Spike.” I walked with Scootaloo for a few minutes. I noticed that Scoots was really quiet so I gave her a nudge.

“So where am I taking you then Scoots? I don’t think I’ve ever been to your house.” She looked up with a nervous look on her face and started to talk, but it seemed she was having trouble getting her words out.

“Oh….well I uh…..”

-You choose!- I have read a few fanfics about Scoots so I was having trouble deciding what I wanted to do with her home life. I’ve read about her living in a group home, having a depressed drinking mother, and her not having a home at all. If you have Ideas please leave them in the comments.