//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Slugcat Parents // by Meicrackmon //------------------------------// I wake up to Naibyn nibbling on my ear in his sleep. It takes some effort, but I manage to pry him off my head and place him on the ground carefully so I didn't wake him. I peaked my head out the shelter and left once I confirmed there wasn't any danger. The fruit I saw yesterday should be filling enough for the two of us. I head off towards the town and explore a little more and look for the fruit. On my way I found another spear and it was made of metal this time so I put it on my back as I continued. When I arrived the Raindeer residents seemed to be more comfortable around me and mostly don't pay attention. As I continue to look for the food, a yellow Raindeer approaches me. "Hello there!" She seems excited to meet me and she oddly makes me feel calm. She reached to pet me and I nuzzled into her hoof. "Hi. My name is Nightshade." "Hello Nightshade. I'm Fluttershy and you're adorable." She says lifting me up. "You can understand me?" She nods and boops my nose. "Fluttershy I found some kind of fruit yesterday and it was really tasty! Do you know where it is? It was red and had a stem in the middle." "Oh, you mean apples. I can show you where they are if you want me to." "Yes please." I wiggle from her grasp and climb atop her head. I hold on to the fur on her neck since there are no antlers. "Ok, hold on tight." She says as she starts to fly. "I didn't know Raindeers could fly!" I say holding on tightly until she suddenly stops and I end up falling off. I prepare to roll but she catches me and holds me close to her chest. I can hear her heart beat. Its a little fast. "Oh, I'm so sorry about that, are you ok?" "Yes. Now for this apple!" We arrive at the same place I was yesterday. She picks up an apple and gives it to me. I eat half of it and get filled. "Tastes really good. Naibyn will probably eat the rest." "Naibyn?" "My pup." "You have a child?!" She seemed over excited about that. "Y-yes...?" "Can I please meet them?" "Yes but no touching." I said with a warning tone. "I promise I won't hurt them." "... Ok but I'm gonna hold onto him." She carries me to the shelter where I'm staying and I get Naibyn. "Momma I'm hungry." "Don't worry I got you an apple." "Apple?" "Yeah kiddo its a new type of fruit. you had some yesterday." He seems excited when I hand it to him and ate it. "I want you to meet Fluttershy." he follows me outside. Twilight came in to the castle and saw Fluttershy petting the scug pup and the scug holding onto him. The older one occasionally grabbed her hoof to be petted too. "The Scugs letting you pet her pup?" "Scug?" She asked them. They responded with a few squeaks. "They say they're called Slug Cats Twilight." The slugcats continued to pull at her hooves for petting. "Really? I have to update my notes then." She said scratching her head. She also reaches for the small pup but the larger slug cat just smacks her hoof. "Why wont she let me pet him?" she says deflated. "I'll be in the library. "Bring you an apple? Ok sure thing Nightshade." Once Fluttershy returns with another apple I thank her and decide to sleep early. I hold on to Naibyn tightly as I drift to sleep and he nuzzles under my neck. I wake up in the morning with Naibyn not next to me and I began to panic. I ran out and look everywhere while hyperventilating. I spread some of my nitroglycerin spit onto my spear and wrap a red cloth around it, then I grab a piece of rubble and continue searching. "Um. Twilight, what are you doing?" Starlight asks. "Rainbow Dash said there was another rain day scheduled. So I want to find out why the Slug Cats are scared of rain. So I put the small one in a cage." "Thats... A little extreme don't you think?" "They'll be fine Starlight." They watches as the small one jumped everywhere and tried biting the cage and hyperventilate. "Twilight-" "They're fine." They watched as he eventually calmed down. He eventually noticed the rain wasn't falling hard or flooding quickly and let the rain fall into its open mouth. He then started to panic again and began letting out loud and high pitched 'waaa's and screeches. Then they saw a big red lizard approach the cage. It lets out a chilling hiss and growl as the slug pup backs away. "Twilight!" "Yeah now its gotten dangerous. Don't worry I'll use my magic to rescue him." Before Twilight could do anything a piece of rebar imbedded itself in the lizard and blew up after it made some crackling noises. They saw the mother slug cat come in with another piece of rebar with red cloth. It spat out a red orb and the red lizard rapidly charged at them. It threw the red orb and when it made contact, it exploded. The red lizard was blown onto its back and the slug cat threw another explosive piece of rebar into it. Nightshade grabbed another red orb and rushed for another piece of rebar but the lizard bit into them. They watched as Nightshade cried out and smashed the red orb onto the lizard. They both fly away from each other but Nightshade's eye was burnt and scratched now and she was bleeding from her midsection where she was bit. Nightshade threw the last piece of rebar at the lizard and it impaled it causing the red lizard ran away. Twilight immediately ran out, "Are you o-" Nightshade threw another piece of rebar and Starlight managed to put up a barrier in time. The rebar still broke partly through it. They both backed up back inside the building. I regain my breath and wince as I feel the red lizards poison running through me. I manage to get the cage open. "C'mon Naibyn." I say already exhausted from the poison. "Lets go home." Naibyn doesn't say anything and just listens. I breath heavily as I start to leave. Fluttershy approaches me. "A-are you ok?" I sigh and almost collapse. "N-No. Please take me to your shelter. I need somewhere safe to stay. Please." Fluttershy nods and picks me up to cradle Naibyn and I as she goes to her shelter. I pass out.