//------------------------------// // 123. Until Next Time // Story: Azure Edge // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// Rarity and Applejack stood on the snowy hills of Luna Bay, the icy shore in sight as they faced down not only the bitter cold but a deadly manticore as well. “So,” Rarity bit her lip, “how exactly are we going to incapacitate this thing without killing it?” “Just leave that to me,” Applejack said confidently, pounding her chest. “You know what you gotta do once it’s beaten?” “I don’t,” Rarity mused, trying to affect the same kind of confidence, “but I’ll figure it out. Just trust me.” “I do, no worries,” Applejack cracked her knuckles and charged at the manticore. Applejack rushed the manticore and took a hard swing at its face, but the creature jumped out of Applejack’s range. That said, Rarity noticed something curious when the manticore landed; it winced. The manticore swung its right claw at Applejack, who dodged and lurched back to a safer distance, but more importantly, Rarity suddenly had a revelation. The manticore had used that same claw to attack every single time, and never the other one. Rarity couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous this situation was shaping up to be. She had a hunch of what to do next, but she couldn’t believe how absurd it was. “Applejack!” Rarity called out. “The manticore’s left leg is injured! Flip it over onto its back for me!” Applejack didn’t waste any time, jumping toward the manticore and stomping with her left foot to make the creature flinch from the shockwave, then grabbing it by its mane and flipping it up over her shoulders and onto its back. And sure enough, Rarity immediately saw the pitch-black thorn embedded in the creature’s paw. Could this really be the sole reason the beast was going berserk? A mere thorn in its paw like a children’s tale? As Rarity approached the struggling beast while Applejack held it down, Rarity supposed it was worth a try. Rarity didn’t dare get too close, so she simply used her magic to snatch the thorn out of the manticore’s paw, though the instant her aura connected with the thorn, a chill went down her spine. She brought the thorn closer to herself in order to inspect it, and the closer it came to her, the more distressed she felt in her stomach. Under no circumstances would she ever touch the thing with her skin. Suddenly, she recalled a memory; this thorn was exactly like the one embedded inside the cragadile from Haysead Swamp. And just like that thorn— as if on cue by Rarity’s revelation— the thorn turned to dust in the wind, Rarity feeling desperately nauseous for a moment before the feeling subsided and she returned her attention to the matter at hand. That matter of course being the manticore, which had now pinned Applejack to the ground. And while Rarity initially was shocked and terrified by this, instinctively drawing her axe, she quickly relaxed at the sound of Applejack’s laughter as the manticore licked her face like an excited puppy. “Applejack?” Rarity asked casually. “Need some help?” “Nah,” Applejack laughed, holding the manticore’s face at bay, “I think I’m good.” Rarity hummed, and the manticore suddenly turned its attention to her, looking up at her with bright, shiny puppydog eyes, before standing to its full height and looking down on her, and yet she didn’t feel intimidated by it whatsoever. Rarity reached out her hand and the manticore put its nose up against it, Rarity petting the creature for a moment. “I certainly hope you’re not planning on causing any more trouble,” Rarity said, merely thinking aloud, though she reacted with a gasp when the manticore shook its head. “You understand me?” The manticore nodded. Rarity sighed and slowly lowered her hand. “You should return to wherever you came from,” Rarity said calmly, though with the squall raging in her stomach she felt anything but calm. “It’s not safe for you here in Equestria.” The manticore sat on its haunches and pouted, and Rarity was left baffled by just how empathetic the creature seemed to be. It was nothing like any of the other monsters Rarity had fought before. Though it horrified Rarity to think about what if it was, and Rarity had simply been ignorant to how these quote-unquote ‘monsters’ truly behaved. If someone’s first impression of her had been her fighting for her life, they likely would not have had a stellar impression of her character either. “I’m guessin’ it ain’t safe wherever this fella came from either,” Applejack said, gently patting the manticore’s mane. The manticore shook its head. “Well as much as I hate to place this burden on you,” Rarity said grimly, “if you’re discovered by ponies again, the next Slayers who come to find you won’t be as merciful as us. You can stay here if you wish, if you can survive without being discovered and hurting the nearby ponies, but I’m afraid that’s all we can do.” The manticore happily nodded its head and offered a salute. Rarity saluted back. “Until next time, then.” The manticore ran off into the hills behind Luna Bay, and while there was a nagging feeling clawing at Rarity’s anxieties that she was making a horrendous mistake by allowing the manticore to be free, she knew in her heart that she couldn’t have taken another option knowing now what she knew. “So,” Applejack said awkwardly, “guess we’ve been livin’ a big ol’ lie our whole lives, huh?” Rarity sighed and dragged her hand down her face. “So it would seem.”