The male Manticore roared before charging at the group, his hybrid tail whipping back and forth behind him as his eyes gleamed. With a powerful bound from its hindlegs, it leaped into the air before using its wings to dive down straight towards the Shadowbolts, his kitchen knife-like claws out and ready to slash. As with Mor'du, the Manticore went after Violet Fire first, taking a swing at her with his claws, only for the ebony mare to duck under and leap out of the way with lightning speed. The giant cat flew up after her and gave another few swipes, but Violet Fire was able to dodge each of them effortlessly, even as the other Shadowbolts moved into assist.

“Lightning Thestral: Electric Cloven Hoof!” Fast Tracks shouted, diving up from beneath the Manticore and delivering a powerful punch to his stomach. The Manticore gave a low growl of pain, but otherwise seemed unfazed as it glared down at the light brown stallion with his icy blue eyes. With a roar, he lunged forward and grabbed the Thestral by his left foreleg, before spinning him around in the air and sending him diving towards the ground.

“Whoa!” Fast Tracks exclaimed in surprised, flaring his wings out and righting himself just as he was about to close in on the ground. He took a moment to collect himself as he shook of the effects of the throw.

“You okay Fast Tracks?!” Lightning Shadow called from not too far away. “You nearly hit the ground there!”

“Yeah Lightning, I’m fine! He just caught my off guard that’s all!” Fast Tracks replied back, rubbing his left foreleg in an attempt to the tightness he felt in it. “Now that was one strong grip…”

As the light brown stallion caught his breath, Storm Shadow was the next one to engage with the Manticore, flying at him from above and giving swift swings of her wings. This caused large wing slashes to appear from out of her wings as they shined in the night light, heading right for the large cat. The Manticore’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of the attacks coming for him and he spun around in mid-air, using one of his draconic wings to block and even send some of them bouncing away.

‘Hmmm…so he can use his wings to send my attack away from him.’ The light grey Pegasus mare thought as her light blue eyes narrowed. ‘Looks like I may have to take it up a notch or two…’

With this thought in her head, Storm Shadow gave a powerful flap of her wings and dived to towards the Manticore at an even faster speed, beginning to spin around in the air. As she did so, a miniature black tornado began to appear around her, growing bigger with each passing second, until it was more than three times her body size.

“Dark Pegasus: Black Tornado!” She shouted, as she ascended down towards the Manticore at breakneck speed. The tornado reached its peak once she was within range of the Manticore and she flared her wings, giving a hard flap to get herself out of the tornado, allowing Mother Nature to do the rest. She watched as the tornado shot down towards the Manticore, who was taken off guard by the sudden attack. It let out a roar of surprise as the tornado engulfed him, making him spin around in mid-air before slamming into the ground.

“Nice one, Storm Shadow!” Fast Tracks praised, giving his teammates an approving smile. It soon faded when he saw the Manticore suddenly burst out from the ground, shaking the dust and the rubble off of it fur. “Never mind…”

“I figured that it wouldn’t be enough to take him down.” Storm Shadow murmured. “If we’re gonna be able to take this Manticore on, we’re gonna need to fight with all our strength.”

“Luckily for you, you have plenty of ponies here to back you up!” Violet Fire shouted as she soared through the air.

The Manticore threw his head back and let out another roar, before drawing in a breath and shooting out another stream of orange and yellow flames at the Pegasi. Storm Shadow and Fast Tracks both flew out of the way with profound swiftness, watching as the flames headed right for their captain.

“Sky Pegasus: Whirling Tornado!” Blue Skies shouted as she began to spin around in mid-air, causing a large tornado of wind to form around her, very much like how Storm Shadow did just moments ago. When she was within range, she gave a flap of her wings and pulled herself out of the tornado, watching as it flew towards the stream of fire, almost immediately extinguishing it.

With that done, Violet Fire flew into the air, summoning her magic as bolts of electricity began to form around her body. When it reached a certain pitch where it felt like it would be enough, Violet Fire shot down towards the Manticore, who was hidden somewhere in the thick cloud of smoke and dust. Just as she was about to strike, the smoke and dust, it suddenly got cleared away, courtesy of the Manticore using his large wings to get erase it, before shooting a bolt of fire out at Violet Fire.

The Shadowbolt was slightly taken aback by the sudden move, but was able to dodge out of the way in time before resuming her dive down towards the large cat. He fired a few more bolts of fire at the Pegasus, only for her to dodge each and every one of them as she drew closer to the beast. Seeing that it wasn’t going to be able to burn the Pegasus, the Manticore raised his tail and gave it a hard swing, and Violet Fire’s eyes widened behind her goggles when she saw a multitude of large dagger-like spikes suddenly flying towards her.

“Captain!” Lightning Shadow cried, watching in horror as the large spikes rocketed towards her leader.

Clenching her teeth, Violet Fire closer her eyes and used her forelegs to block her face from the spikes, tucking her wings to her sides at the same time to avoid getting any of her feathers sliced off. She felt the spikes rush past her, and winced when she felt them slice into her suit, but due to the electricity surrounding her body, they were only there for a second or two before they burnt away into nothing but ash. That didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt though, even if the strikes were small and swift.

“Lightning Pegasus: Electric Slash!” Violet Fire flared her wings out and shot them forward, sending a huge bolt of violet colored lightning at the Manticore as it crackled in the air. The Manticore flared his wings and tried to shield itself from the attack, but this did nothing to stop the lightning bolt form striking him head on, sending volts of electricity throughout its body. The attack was strong enough send the giant cat flying back, and he let out a roar of pain as he crashed into a nearby tree.

“Captain Violet Fire!” Blue Skies cried as she flew to her Captain’s side. “Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry Blue, I’m fine. I just wasn’t really expecting him to do that.” Violet Fire replied, wincing at the small cuts that were in her torn purple suit. “Damn…this is definitely gonna be hard to stitch back together.”

“That’s the least of our worries right now Captain!” Fast Tracks said, looking back at the Manticore as it slowly rose to its feet. “We’re gonna get much more than torn suits if we don’t send this big guy flying out of here fast!”

“Then we’ll just have to keep at him until we do.” Storm Shadow murmured, ruffling her wings as she took off towards the cat.

As the four Shadowbolts continued to engage the Manticore, the seven mares sitting not too far away watched the battle in silence, while be safely guarded by the other members of the team. Each of them having varied expressions on their faces and their own thoughts on the matter as they silently conversed with one another.

“My word, that was quite the hit that Violet Fire took up there, wasn’t it?” Rarity asked, putting a hood to her furry chest. “The poor dear’s suit got all torn up by those spikes that beast shot at her…I wonder if she’ll be able to stitch them back together.”

“You’re telling me Rarity.” Rainbow Dash replied, completely ignoring the alabaster Unicorn’s last comment. “I mean, did you guys see how fast those spikes were going? I wasn’t even able to see most of them until they hit her, and most of them were just whizzing past her!”

“Yeah,” Applejack nodded. “How was he even able to do that?”

“I think it has a lot to do with the part of the Manticore’s tail that’s a scorpion.” Twilight replied evenly. “Though we can’t really see it, Manticore’s have these spikes on their scorpion tails that emerge out from various parts of it. They can’t really be seen that much because of how little they protrude of the tail, and are very much invisible from afar. When the Manticore uses its tail to attack however, it can summon those spikes out of it tail, each one of them coated with a bit of its poison inside, before shooting them out at their enemy as if they were all arrows. If a certain amount of them manages to hit their target, it’ll send the poison inside their victims make them have the side effects that Fluttershy said that the Manticore’s sting could give. Although it’ll be at a much slower, yet no less painful rate.”

“Wait a minute!” Pinkie Pie interjected, a confused frown morphing onto her face. “If that’s true, then how come Violet Fire isn’t in any pain from all those tiny little spikes? Shouldn’t that kitty’s poison be hurting her right now?”

“It should,” Goku began, putting a hoof to her chin. “Though I think Violet Fire may have saved her own life back there.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, looking over at the tan Pegasus.

“You guys saw her summon that coat of lightning around her too, right?” The Kirin asked, glancing over at her friends. “When those spikes hit her, the either got bounced off or burnt by the amount of power and electricity that was radiating off of them. I think it may have also burnt the poison off of the spikes, even before they hit her, preventing the poison from entering her.”

“Huh…I never really thought about it that way.” Rainbow Dash murmured, looking down at the ground in thought. “Guess I’ll have to try that out whenever I use my lightning as a means of attack.”

A loud explosion from in front of them snapped the seven mares out of their silent conversing, and they looked over to see Violet Fire and her teammates still engaging the Manticore in battle. They could see that some of them had some cuts and tears in their suits, and they looked a bit dirty and dusty, but otherwise seemed unharmed. The Manticore on the other hoof, had his fair share of burn marks and slashes on the wounds that he already had, staining its dark orange coat stain a deep red and leaving its mane disheveled. Despite this, the giant cat did not look the least bit winded, and kept at it with the same amount of speed and strength he had since the fight had started. He continued to slash at his adversaries and shoot gets of fire at the Shadowbolts, occasionally lashing out with his tail to either shoot its spikes or try to sting them.

“Oh jeez…” Goku murmured, her face forming in a slight grimace. “They’re really doing a number on the big guy aren’t they?”

“Yes…they are going all out on the poor thing.” Fluttershy murmured quietly, her ears flattening as she watched the fight with a pensive frown. “Though…I can’t help but notice that there’s something…off about the Manticore.”

“Whaddya mean by that sugarcube?” Applejack asked, raising a golden eyebrow at the buttermilk Pegasus.

“I’m not sure if you noticed this like I did,” Fluttershy began tentatively. “The entire time that the Manticore’s been fighting Captain Violet Fire and her team, he hasn’t one tried to kill any of them…at least not immediately. I mean, sure he’s tried to bite, slash and even sting at them a few times but…I can’t help but feel that he’s not really trying to kill them or even eat them.”

“Darling, I’m afraid that I don’t quite understand.” Rarity said quizzically. “The Manticore clearly attacked them first, and the Shadowbolts are only doing what they can to defend themselves. I don’t see how that can show that he’s not trying to, erm…eliminate them.”

“Whether the Manticore attacked first or not isn’t the point Rarity.” Fluttershy said, shaking her head. “The point that I’m trying to make is that it doesn’t look like the Manticore is attacking them in the way that looks like he wants to kill them. It’s not about whether he attacked first or not, it’s about how he’s fighting them. It’s like he’s trying to…ward them off, or something like that.” Her teal eyes narrowed as she took a closer look at the Manticore. “Not only that, but it seems like he’s fighting a little…sluggishly.”

“Sluggishly?” Pinkie Pie asked perplexedly. “You do know that that’s not exactly a slug that they’re fighting, right?”

“Yes Pinkie, we know.” Rainbow Dash replied, rolling her eyes. “What Fluttershy means is that Manticore isn’t fighting the Shadowbolts the way it should be! There’s something off with his stance!”

“Oooooooh!” Pinkie Pie replied, a look of understanding coming to her face as she nodded. “Well why didn’t you put it that way Fluttershy? That would’ve been a lot easier!”

“Pinkie, honey…just stop talking please.” Goku sighed, running a hoof down her face as she heaved a sigh. “Anyway Fluttershy, you were saying?”

“Like I said, I noticed that the Manticore doesn’t seem to be fighting with as much ferocity as Manticore’s normally would.” Fluttershy nodded, running a hoof through her cherry blossom mane. “It’s like there’s something that’s…making him falter and nearly mess up his attacks at the last minute. Or that he’s already been in another fight with another Manticore or some other animal, just before he encountered us, or-”

A soft gasp suddenly left Fluttershy’s throat as whatever she was about to say next died in her throat. Her eyes slowly widened as a look of realization etched across her face.

“What’s the matter Fluttershy?” Twilight asked her face morphing into concern as she looked at her friend. “Did you figure something out about the Manticore?”

The buttermilk Pegasus said nothing to the lavender Unicorn, just continuing to stare intently at the battle going on before her. She watched as the Manticore continued to fight off the Shadowbolts, slashing with its deadly knife-like claws, swinging with its spiked wings, and shooting its tail out in an attempt to sting them. As she did so, she couldn’t help but notice that Manticore hadn’t made any direct hits, especially with his tail, almost as if he wasn’t really trying to inflict any serious damage on them. This only further proved her theory as to how the giant cat was fighting, but she just couldn’t figure out why he was doing that.

Then, suddenly, as if to answer her thoughts, the Manticore reared in the air, and that’s when Fluttershy saw them. It was in view for only a second, but Fluttershy’s sharp eyes were able to see just what it was before it disappeared. The buttermilk Pegasus immediately shot up to her feet, her sudden movement causing the others to jump. Before any of them could say anything, she suddenly spread her wings and took to the air.

“Fluttershy?!” Applejack shouted, aghast at what the Pegasus was doing. “Where in tarnation are ya goin’?!”

“To stop the fight!” Fluttershy replied back as flew passed the Shadowbolts that were guarding her, ignoring their looks of surprise. “I have to stop the Shadowbolts before they really get killed!”

“Are you nuts?! Get back here!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she made to go after the foolish mare. She didn’t get too far before she felt something wrap around her left hind leg and pulled her back. Looking behind her, the cyan mare saw Goku’s tail wrapped around her leg. “What the hay are you doing G?! Let me go!”

“Rainbow, if I were you, I wouldn’t try to stop Fluttershy from whatever she’s about to do.” Goku said firmly, her stern golden eyes locking with Rainbow Dash’s magenta pink ones. “I have a feeling that what she has planned is gonna save all of our hides.”

“What makes you say that Goku?” Pinkie Pie asked, giving a little tilt of her head.

“...Just keep watching.” The tan Pegasus murmured, her golden eyes locking onto the scene before her.

As the six mares continued to watch the battle unfold and Fluttershy flew in to stop it, the Shadowbolts continued their assault on the Manticore. The giant cat leapt at Storm Shadow and attempted to slash at her, only for th light grey Pegasus to duck under him and deliver a powerful buck to his face. This sent the Manticore staggering back, but he quickly recovered and let out a loud roar at the mare, before lashing out with his right paw and knocking her away, right where Fluttershy had landed.

“Fluttershy!” Blue Skies exclaimed. “What’re you doing here?! Why aren’t you with your friends?!”

“There’s no time to explain!” Fluttershy said hastily as Storm Shadow rose to her feet. “I need you guys to listen to me! The Manticore is-”

“Going to eat you and your friends if we don’t take care of him, we know.” Storm Shadow said, putting a hoof on the buttermilk Pegasus’ shoulder. “Don’t’ worry, we’ll take care of it!”

“No, wait! You don’t understand!” Fluttershy shouted, only for the light gray Pegasus to fly off towards the rest of her team.

The manticore growled as he saw Storm Shadow approaching him again, and lashed out with its tail, causing another flock of spikes to sail towards her. Eyes widening, the Shadowbolt shot high into the air, narrowly evading the poisonous spikes as they flew passed her and embedded themselves into a few trees. The giant cat gave a couple swings of his giant wings, sending large spines up at the light grey mare, causing her to ascend even higher and further away from it and her teammates.

Satisfied that he had gotten Storm Shadow a good distance away from him, the Manticore turned back to the other Shadowbolts, only to Lightning Shadow in front of him, both of her forehooves out in front of her.

“Sorry about this big guy.” Lightning Shadow said softly before she closed her eyes and summoned her magic forth. “Lightning Pegasus: Electric Explosion!”

The Manticore had no time to contemplate what the Pegasus had said before it felt its whole word explode into violet white-hot pain. It roared out in agony as Shadow Step blasted giant volts of crimson electricity at it, causing it, leaving destroyed earth around it and cracks in the ground.

“Wait, stop!” Fluttershy cried again, watching in horror as the Manticore fought to keep itself from being blown away.

The Manticore suddenly let out an ear-piercing roar, fire blasting out from under it and blasting the electricity around it away. Shadow Step had no time to dodge before she found herself ingulfed in flames and blasted away.

“Well that was a bust…” Shadow Step murmured, brushing some of her mane out of her face as she flew past her teammates. “He’s all yours Fast Tracks!”

“Got it!” Fast Tracks replied, giving a salute as he shot towards the Manticore. “Here I come!”

“Everypony, please listen!” Fluttershy shouted desperately as the light brown stallion zoomed past her. In desperation, she turned to Blue Skies, a pleading look in her eyes. “Blue Skies, I need your help, we need to stop them!”

The palomino mare gave Fluttershy a perplexed look. “W-why, what’s the matter?”

“Lightning Thestral: Neigh!” Fast Track shouted, sending a powerful wave of purple lightning from out of his mouth at the Manticore. The large cat retaliated with a flaming roar, and the two elements clashed in a powerful struggle. A moment later, the Manticore’s fire started to grow in power, and before long, he was making the lightning diminish and sending Fast Track crashing into a tree.

“Well, that certainly hurt.” Fast Tracks muttered as he picked himself up from off the ground and shook off the impact. “I really thought I was gonna get burnt there.”

“Are you alright Fast Tracks?” Violet Fire asked, helping her teammate up to his hooves. “That was a hard hit that you took back there.”

“Yeah, I’m alright Captain, just a little roughed up, is all. Although that was a really close call back there.” The light brown stallion replied, shaking the dust off of his suit. “Good thing he didn’t sting me back there, or I’d down and out real fast.”

“Well, maybe this’ll teach you not to go taunting our enemies over getting the job done.” Storm Shadow scolded, earning a childish pout from Fast Tracks. “Anyway, I think it’s time to end this, don’t you Captain?”

The ebony black mare nodded her goggled flashing in the moonlight. “Yes, let’s make this next attack count!”

“Captain, Violet Fire, hold on!” Blue Skies shouted as she flew over to them. “Fluttershy is trying to tell us something!”

Unfortunately for Blue Skies, her words fell on temporarily deaf ears as Violet Fire flared her wings and took off towards the Manticore, who flared its own wings in preparation for the mare’s attack. Fast Tracks and the others weren’t too far behind her, each of their bodies glowing with bright auras as they readied themselves to land a final blow. As they did so, they noticed a yellow and pink blue suddenly zoom past from above them, stopping just in front of the Manticore. Fluttershy skidded to a halt in between the Manticore and the Shadowbolts, the former taken off guard by the sudden action. Flaring her angelic wings to their fullest span, she glared each of the Pegasi in their goggled eyes, her letting out a fierce yell that stopped them dead in their tracks. “I said…HOLD IT!!!”

The sheer raw authority in the buttermilk Pegasus’ tone was enough to make all of the Shadowbolts, even Violet Fire, stop dead in their tracks and heed the cherry blossom maned mare’s command. They each felt themselves flare their wings out and freeze in mid-air as they all stared wide-eyed into the angry eyes of Fluttershy as she stood protectively in front of the Manticore. Her teal blue eyes blazed a bright fiery orange that burned right into their skulls like a flaming inferno, with the pupils being a scorching hot white that only added to the intensity of the glare. Not a single one of them were able to find the strength or the will to move, unable to look away, their goggles doing nothing to protect them from Fluttershy’s fiery eyes that shone like two miniature twin suns.

The intense staring contest seemed to go on for what seemed like hours to the ones in the center of it, yet it only lasted for just a couple of minutes. Yet it was one of the longest two minutes that Violet Fire and her team had ever experienced in their lives, only added by the two twin orbs of fire that they were all staring into. Finally, the intense glowing in Fluttershy’s eyes slowly, but surely, began to recede, as if wanting them to feel every ounce of her fury. By the time it completely disappeared, the Shadowbolts found themselves completely winded, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

“F…Fluttershy…” Lightning Step finally said as she broke the eerie silence. “What…what did you just do?”

“Yeah!” Fast Tracks exclaimed, slightly adamant as he pulled back his goggles. “I felt like you were trying to burn our eyes right out of our heads! What gives?!”

Fluttershy exhaled slowly, folding her wings to her sides as she straightened he mane. “I’m sorry that I had to do that to you and your troop Violet Fire. You didn’t leave my any other choice...I tried to tell you guys to stop, but none of you would listen.”

“Stop us?” Storm Shadow asked perplexedly. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, I was trying to get you guys to stop fighting the Manticore.” Fluttershy emphasized, causing the Shadowbolts to blink at her in surprise. “I know this may sound crazy but I don’t think the Manticore is wanting to eat us. I think they’re might be something else going on.”

“What do you mean baby?” Violet Fire asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. “What else could be going on other than what’s happening now?”

Fluttershy paused, looking off to the side as she rubbed the back of her head, her mind trying to form the right words to say. “I can’t really explain it, and even if I could, it really wouldn’t make any sense. So, why don’t I just show you all instead?”

As she said this Violet Fire noticed the look in Fluttershy’s eyes, and, after another moment, her expressions softened as she nodded towards her fellow Rosario. With that, Fluttershy turned, her teal eyes locked with crystalline eyes of the cat looming over her like a dragon emerging form out of a cave, both boring into each other’s very being. The Manticore gave a low growl and lowered his head closer to Fluttershy as she slowly began to walk towards him.

“What in the hay is she-?” Fast Tracks began to ask, only for Violet to shoot a hoof out in front of him. He glanced at his Captain for a moment, before looking over at Fluttershy, and what he saw made his jaw drop.

The Manticore, who had just a moment ago looked ready to bite Fluttershy’s head off, was now rubbing his head against her’s, letting out a deep purr in the process. The shy mare’s eyes were closed as she too rubbed her own head against the giant cat’s, a small smile adorning her face as she gently stroked its crimson mane.

“Oh my goodness…” Violet Fire whispered, holding a hoof to her mouth as she stared at the scene in awe.

“What in the world…?” Storm Shadow murmured, her own eyes wide with disbelief.

The Shadowbolts weren’t the only ones who were taken aback by Fluttershy’s actions. Not too far away from them, her six friends were also witnessing the scene, most of their own expressions gob smacked and slack-jawed.

“Holy shit...” Rainbow Dash whispered, her jaw hanging open. “Are…are you guys seeing what I’m seeing right now?”

“I believe we are darling.” Rarity replied dumbly, for once not bothering to scold the Pegasus for her profanity. “Though, I’m having a hard time believing it myself.”

“Took the words right outta mah mouth, Rares.” Applejack nodded, blinking a few times. “Ah can honestly say that it’s the most astonishing thing Ah’ve ever seen in mah life.”

“Uh-huh…” Twilight and Pinkie nodded in unison, while Goku just watched silently.

“Shhhhhh…there there, little one. It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you.” Fluttershy said soothingly to the Manticore, as if she were a mother gently consoling her foal. “Just calm down…everything’s going to be alright.”

As she calmed the giant cat, she reached out with a hoof and began to gently stroke his thick crimson mane, before reaching a bit farther and stroking him behind the ears. This earned her another purr of contentment from the Manticore as he pressed himself even closer to Fluttershy, who smiled warmly at his sudden display of affection.

“My my…you certainly are a sweet little baby, aren’t you?” The buttermilk Pegasus cooed, giving the Manticore a scratch under his chin. “You certainly weren’t acting like that a few moments ago. Which reminds me, could you tell me why you attacked me and my friends like that?” She asked curiously, pulling away and looking up at the Manticore with a raised cherry blossom eyebrow.

The manticore paused at this question, staring down at the Fluttershy for a few moments, before looking at the trees behind him, and then back at her again. It then let out a slow breath through its nostrils as it began letting out a series of low growls and hisses. Fluttershy stood in place, listening intently to the Manticore as it communicated with her, making gestures with its paws and wings in the process.

“Um, you guys...” Lightning Shadow said after a few minutes of silence. “…not that I’m trying to break this up but, can any of you tell what Fluttershy’s doing?”

“I think it’s been made plainly obvious” Fast Tracks began slowly. “She’s communicating with the Manticore.”

“She’s what?” Storm Shadow asked, wondering if she heard the light brown stallion right. “You mean she can actually understand what it-er, he is saying?”

“It looks like it.” Lightning Shadow murmured softly. “I mean, it has to be. Can’t you see all of those gesture’s the Manticore’s making to her? It’s obvious Fluttershy able to tell what he’s saying.”

Violet Fire nodded in agreement. “I was thinking the same thing. Something tells me that she has a talent for understanding and communicating with animals.” She said softly, her eyes trailing down to Fluttershy’s Cutie Mark. “And not just because she’s a Rosario.”

“Oh my…you got into a fight with a group of Cave Demons who wandered in your territory while you were out patrolling your boarders away from your pride?” Fluttershy finally said, putting a hoof to her mouth as her eyes slowly widened. A nod from the Manticore confirmed her answer, along with Violet Fire’s speculation. “Oh, you poor thing…no wonder you had all of that blood on you went you came here. You must be in so much pain right now!”

The Manticore, seeing the sadness and sorrow in the buttermilk Pegasus’ eyes, frowned as his ears pinned back against his head. He leaned his head in again and nuzzled the mare once more, trying to provide her his own form of comfort. She hugged him around his neck, as he, ever so gently, wrapped one of his large dragon wings around her, taking care not to accidentally stab her with his spines. After holding the embrace for a few more seconds, Fluttershy pulled away from the Manticore and looked him right in the eyes, the frown on her face still present.

“Is that the reason why you attacked me and my friends?” She asked the beast in a gentle, yet firm tone. “Because you thought that we were that very same Cave Demon that was coming back to finish you off?”

Once again, the Manticore looked away, his frown growing slightly deeper as he pawed at the ground with one of his large clawed paws, thus confirming Fluttershy’s answer. However, before she could speak, the Manticore looked at her again and starting to give out another set of growls and hisses with his paws.

“I see…so even though you saw that none of us were Cave Demons, you thought that we were here to attack you or your family?” Fluttershy asked the giant cat, getting a low growl in return. The buttermilk Pegasus let out a long soft sigh, brushing some of her long silky mane away from her eyes. “Well…that explains that I suppose. While I’m not exactly happy that you nearly burned one of my friends alive, I can’t really blame you for why you did what you did. You were only protecting your home and your family, and you believed that an enemy of yours was coming back for you or for them. You were only doing what you had to do, so I won’t hold it against you. It’s not my place to judge wild animals by how they act after all, especially creatures like you.” She said sympathetically, putting a hoof one the Manticore’s left paw as she smiled up at him warmly. “I probably would’ve done the same thing if I was in your position…although I might not have been as…ferocious as you were.”

The Manticore’s expression softened at Fluttershy’s words, his ears perking up as he gave her the best smile he could through his set of fangs and canine teeth. He lowered his head to nuzzle her a third time, and as Fluttershy leaned her head up to reciprocate, she suddenly found herself nearly stumbling to the ground as the Manticore jerked his left paw away. The giant cat’s face contorted into a grimace as he held his left paw with his right one, a small hiss of pain escaping his throat.

“Aww, what’s the matter sweetie? Do you have a thorn stuck in your paw?” Fluttershy cooed, earning a slow nod from the Manticore. “Can I see it please? I promise I’ll do what I can to help.”

The giant dragon winged cat glance up at Fluttershy, pausing long enough to see the concern and sincerity in her eyes, as if trying to detect any type of lies or deceit from the Pegasus. It then gave a light nod and slowly extended its paw forward, allowing her to see the underside of it.

Fluttershy gasped again, her face contorting to that of horror as she stared at the large thorn sticking out from one of the soft pads of the Manticore’s left paw. However, it wasn’t the fact that there the thorn was stuck in the cat’s paw in general that had her so horrified. It was how big it was, and how deep it seemed to be imbedded inside the paw.

“Oh my goodness!” The buttermilk Pegasus cried, rushing over to inspect the paw. “I can’t believe how deep it is! I’ve never seen a paw so deep in a Manticore’s paw before! I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it out…this may be harder than I thought.”

Taking a deep breath Fluttershy moved closer to the Manticore and gingerly wrapped her hooves around the large thorn protruding out from his paw, taking care not to send any jolts of pain through it. The Manticore watched silently as she inspected the thorn, trying to decide in her head how she could take it out and end the giant cat’s pain without causing more in the process.

‘There’s not really much I can do to make that happen.’ The buttermilk Pegasus thought, frowning hard as she stared at the thorn. ‘If I do it too slowly, there’s a chance that he may lose a good portion of blood. If I do it too fast, I may damage the nerves and muscles in his paw, and he may not be able to walk on it for a while. I guess I’ll just have to find some alternative route to it then. I just hope he won’t be too mad at me when all of this is over. After this, I can use my healing magic to heal his other wounds.’ Taking another deep breath, she looked up at the Manticore with the tenderest expression that she could give him. “Alright honey, I need you to listen to be very carefully. I’m gonna try to take the thorn out, okay? Its gonna hurt when I do, but I need you to bare it for a few minutes…can you do that for me?” She asked, her tone matching her expression as she ran a hoof across the Manticore’s cheek.

The Manticore’s crimson eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking from Fluttershy’s tender expression to the thorn that she had in her grasp. He looked as if he didn’t want her to do it, being afraid of the pain that would’ve most certainly came afterward. The giant cat fought it down however, and, after taking a moment to contemplate, looked at Fluttershy and gave her a slow nod, giving a low growl of consent.

“Alright, thank you dear. I promise, I’ll try to make it as bearable as I possibly can.” Fluttershy said reassuringly, smiling at up at the Manticore. “We’ll do it on the count of three, okay?” Another nod from the Manticore confirmed that he was ready. “Alright then, here we go…one…two…three!”

With those words, Fluttershy gripped the thorn in her hooves and her teeth and began to pull, making sure not to go too slow or too fast in the process. The Manticore let out a loud roar of pain as he scrunched his eyes shut, slamming his other paw on the grown as he clenched his teeth. The buttermilk Pegasus’ ears pinned against her head, her heart immediately aching as she listened to the Manticore writhe in agony. She nearly stopped her pulling of the thorn, but she fought the urge down, wanting to get over and done with as quickly as possible. Though that didn’t stop her from caressing the Manticore’s face with her angelic wings in an attempt to console it.

“Now that has got to hurt…” Rainbow muttered; her own face contorted into a grimace.

“You’re telling me.” Rarity replied rubbing at her own forehooves. “I can’t imagine how much a thorn in your hoof would hurt!”

“I can.” Zephyr murmured, pawing at the ground with his right hoof. “And let me tell you, it hurts like a bucking bitch.”

“Awwww, look at that poor kitty!” Pinkie Pie cooed sadly, her ears flattening against her head as a frown formed on her face. “He looks so said…I think somepony needs to turn his frown upside down!”

“I think Fluttershy already has that covered Pinkie Pie.” Goku said gently. “We’d only get in the way if we tried to do something now. So, I think its best if we just stayed out of her way and let her do this on her own.”

The mares and Shadowbolts continued to watch as Fluttershy continued to pull the thorn out of the Manticore’s paw, who continued to hiss, growl, and writhe as he attempted to fight the pain. With each second that passed, Fluttershy was able to get a few more inches out, and she could feel that it was getting easier to pull the thorn itself out as well. With one final sharp tug, the buttermilk Pegasus was able to get the thorn all the way out, falling back on her rump in the process before she spat the thorn out. She watched as the Manticore held its paw to his muzzle and began to lick the wound tenderly, to try and ease the pain. He continued doing this until Fluttershy walked over to him and took his paw in her hoof, inspecting it carefully.

“Oh dear…this is quite a large wound, a bit larger than I expected it to be.” She murmured, looking over the Manticore’s paw. “Although…it doesn’t look like something that’ll be fatal or permanent, so you should be okay.” She looked up at the giant cat with a raised eyebrow. “Will you be able to walk on it?”

The Manticore didn’t respond to her question, instead keeping his paw out in front of Fluttershy before he closed his eyes. Its body then started to glow a multicolored aura before it started to encase the wound on its paw. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in curiosity and was about to ask the Manticore what it was doing before she noticed its wound beginning to heal on its own. She watched in silent shocked awe as the wound in the paw slowly began to close up, the blood surrounding it being burnt away as if it was never there.

In no time at all, the wound was completely gone without a single trace of it remaining. No gapes, no blood, nothing except the soft pads on his paw. After taking a moment to get over her shock, Fluttershy looked up at the giant cat, who looked at her with what looked to be like a grin on his face.

“Oh…I suppose I’ll take that as a yes.” Fluttershy said, letting out a small chuckle as she smiled at the Manticore in amusement. “I guess I won’t need to use my healing magic for you paw, just your-oh!”

Fluttershy was just barely able to finish her sentence before she found herself being scooped up into the Manticore’s forelegs. Before she even knew what was happening, she found herself being repeatedly licked in the face by the Manticore, who let out a chorus of purrs in the process.

“Awwww, no need to thank me sweetie.” Fluttershy giggled, scratching the Manticore’s chin as it continued to coat her face in saliva. “You were in pain and needed help, all I did was just give it to you…but you’re welcome regardless.”

After giving Fluttershy a few more affectionate licks, the Manticore stopped and gently set her back down, leaning in and giving her one last nuzzle across her face. The buttermilk Pegasus smiled nuzzled him in return, planting a gentle kiss on his nose.

“Well, I have to head off now dear. Me and my friends are on an important mission and we need to get moving.” Fluttershy said softly. “You run along and be more careful when patrolling okay? You don’t wanna get another bigger thorn stuck in your foot.” She reached up and gave the cat one last pat on his head. “Oh, and be sure to say hi to your family for me to, okay?”

The Manticore gave a light nod in response, before turning around towards the forest and spreading its wings in preparation to take flight. Before he did though, he took a moment to brush the lion part of his tail under Fluttershy’s chin in a last affectionate gesture. Giving a final purr of thanks, the Manticore shot off into the air with a powerful flap of its draconic wings, disappearing in the grove of larger trees.

Sighing in relief and satisfaction, Fluttershy slowly turned around to face the Shadowbolts and the rest of her friends, most of which were staring at her wide jaws slack and eyed wide. Upon seeing the looks, the buttermilk Pegasus jumped and shrank away slightly, partially hiding her face behind her mane.

“W…what’s the matter?” She asked somewhat timidly. “Is there something on my face?”

Before Fluttershy could even process what was happening, she found herself surrounded by each of her friends. All of them looking at her wide eyed, speaking so fast that for a minute, she could not for the life of her figure out what they were saying.

“Fluttershy that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “The way you handled that Manticore was sick!”

“I agree with Dashie! That was so amazing!” Pinkie Pie squealed happily. “I knew you were great with animals, but wow, I didn’t think that you were this good!”

“I never knew how skilled you were at taming wild animals of the Everfree.” Twilight added, sounding just as amazed. “How were you even able to do that?!”

“I, didn’t really do anything to be honest.” Fluttershy replied, still hiding behind her mane as she ran a hoof through it. “I’ve…I’ve always had this way with animals of all kind. Like I could tell what the need and what I should do for them just looking at them. It’s a unique talent that I’ve had since I was a filly…along with everypony that’s part of my family.”

“Well that ‘unique talent’ just saved each and every one of our hides back there.” Goku praised, walking over and draping a wing around her fellow Pegasus. “Something told me that you were gonna be able to put an end to this, and I was right! Kudos to you Fluttershy for saving us from the Manticore!”

“Oh well…thank you.” Fluttershy said quietly, blushing as Goku affectionately nuzzled her.

“As much as I agree with Goku on Fluttershy’s divine skills of taming beasts,” Rarity began as she moved closer to the latter. “Just look at Fluttershy’s beautiful face! That Manticore just covered it in that revolting saliva of his! We simply must get you to a spa and cleaned up!”

“Uh, Rarity, not to put a reign on your little overdramatic parade, but I think Fluttershy can clean herself up just fine.” Rainbow Dash said flatly, hovering in between the two mares. “Besides we’re on an important mission to defeat a bad guy, remember?”

“Well of course darling, I haven’t forgotten.” The alabaster Unicorn replied, rolling her eyes. “I was just saying we should, er, have dear Fluttershy all tidied up before face our adversary, that’s all.”

“Yeah, of course ya were.” Applejack snorted, rolling over own eyes as she flew ahead of the group. “Let’s just go already, th’ sooner we get t’ Nightmare Moon an’ find these ‘ere Elements, th’ better!”

Grumbling under her breath, Rarity flicked her tail skirt and daintily trotted after Rainbow Dash, followed by Pinkie Pie, Goku, and the rest of her friends. As they went into the trees, the Shadowbolts went up to Fluttershy, who was bringing up the rear.

“Um, Miss Fluttershy…” Blue Skies said softly, making the buttermilk Pegasus turn to look at her. “Is what Twilight and Pinkie Pie said true? Are you really able to tame any animal you’re around?”

Fluttershy smiled at the young palomino mare, wiping the last of the saliva off of her face with a wing before replying. “Oh, yes it’s all true…although I’m more use to taming animals that aren’t those from the Everfree Forest. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve dealt with those kinds of animals before and I know how to disarm them and calm them down. It’s just…it’s a little harder for me to do it with animals like Timberwolves and Manticores. Since they’re, um, wilder and…chaotic, than most other creatures.”

“That makes sense.” Lightning Shadow said with a shrug. “We do know who made this forest after all. So we’re not really expecting the animals here to be like the ones we normally see.”

“Yeah!” Fast Tracks exclaimed with a grin. “After all, why do you think this forest is nicknamed, the ‘Forest of Chaos?’ Because it was made by the very chaos god himself, so nothing about this place is normal! If it was, it wouldn’t be as exciting a place to train in, now would it?”

“For you Fast Tracks, definitely not.” Storm Shadow replied dryly with an amused shake of her head. “Regardless, I have to agree with your friends Fluttershy, that was quite the impressive feat. I’ve never seen anypony be able tame animals that well in a very long time.”

“Well, like I said, it’s my special talent.” Fluttershy replied bashfully, gesturing to her Cutie Mark. “It’s something that’s helped me in a lot of tough situations, and I love doing it so…I’m not really complaining.”

“Hmhmhm…well, you certainly proved us right on that one Fluttershy.” Violet Fire giggled, causing the buttermilk Pegasus to blush. “Although, I am curious about just one thing…how did you know about the thorn in the Manticore’s paw?”

“Oh, while you and your team were fighting him, I noticed it when the Manticore raised its paw to swipe at you sometime during the battle.” Came Fluttershy’s simple and casual reply. “It was pretty far away, but I was able to see it nonetheless, thanks to me keen vision.”

“I see.” Lightning Shadow nodded understandably. “You must have a good eye then.”

“Be that as it may,” Fluttershy continued, making the ebony black mare pause. “Even if it didn’t see the thorn, and even if the Manticore didn’t have the thorn at all, it really wouldn’t have mattered. Sometimes, we just need to be shown a little kindness.” She said with a wink as she gently tapped at her roseray, before walking off after her friends.

Most of the other Shadowbolt paused, looking at each other as they silently contemplated over what the buttermilk Pegasus had just said. They looked over at their Captain, who was merely smiling back at them, before giving them a wink and a giggle. After a moment, they all smiled softly, before walking off after the six mares, leaving the desecrated clearing behind them.

Author's Notes:

I just want to point out, to for those of you who have scene the last version of the chapter involving Fluttershy living up to her Element, I'm going to say right now that this is the second half of that chapter. It has some bit of the editing packed into it to make it seem a bit different than it was before, just like with the last one. Other than that, the rest of the parts in it have basically stayed the same and it's pretty much like with the last chapter, besides the addition in the techniques and the addition member in the Shadowbolt flight Team. The next couple of chapters are probably going to end up being like that before I really start to write them from ideas from the top of my head, though that doesn't mean that there won't be any chapters that you'll recognize from the first version the won't be added in here. I just how to see how I'm going to fit them in and what chapter number that I'm going to be putting them ass.

Anyway, that's it for now. Tune in next time for some fluff of a different kind, before things get a bit more...personal.