//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Lions of Lambs // by ArguingPizza //------------------------------// I'm not dead! Also, my computer is alive again! Ponyville Library was Twilight Sparkle's island of calm in a sea of craziness. Libraries in general were her comfort zone, but Ponyville Library in particular held a special place in her heart. Not only because of the fact that it was the first library she'd ever been able to live in-the young unicorn suppressed a squeal of delight at just the thought- but also because it was Ponyville Library where she had experienced her first Pinkie Pie Party and first faced Nightmare Moon, which had led to becoming friends with the other Elements of Harmony. Not to mention discovering the Elements themselves and their first round of saving Equestria. And as such it was particularly annoying for the purple unicorn when the calm, quiet atmosphere of the library was shattered like glass by a loud and violently drawn out snore. For a moment, Twilight was convinced a Hydra had somehow managed to sneak into her tree home, before realizing the true culprit. Dropping the half dozen books she was attempting to re-shelve, Twilight turned and stared at a cyan Pegasus sleeping on a bean bag chair. A Daring Doo book was draped across her face, and every time the pony in question snored, the book was almost sucked into her nostrils. Not even bothering to complain, Twilight used her magic to open a closet and pull out a well-worn cardboard cut out. With well-practiced motions, Twilight placed the cut out directly in front of the snoozing pony and stood well to the side. She took a few deep breaths to prepare herself, and breathed in deeply- “OHMYCELESTIARAINBOWDASHHELPMANTICORERUUUUUUUUN!!!!” The cyan jolted Pegasus awake. The first image she saw upon waking was a hideous Manticore, inches away from her face and about to swipe her into oblivion. “AAAAHHH!!!!!!” A single, powerful flap of her wings propelled her out of the bean bag chair, away from the 'manticore', and directly into a transparent purple wall. Rainbow Dash's body flattened against the barrier before sliding down and landing in a heap on the floor. A moment passed. “I was snoring again, wasn't I?” Rainbow asked without bothering to stand. Twilight's expression was bored. “Yep.” “I thought I asked you to stop waking me like that?” Rainbow replied, rubbing her aching head. Twilight rolled her eyes and returned the cardboard cutout to her closet. This wasn't the first time it had been used in such a manner, and it wouldn't be the last. “Yes, and I asked you to stop drooling on my books.” Rainbow sat up and looked back fondly at her former sleeping space. Sure enough, the Daring Doo novel was soaked completely through. Rainbow pouted. “Yeah well.....its not my fault books are so fragile.” Twilight giggled and continued to re-shelve her books as before. “Rainbow, these books are for everypony in town, not just for you to drool on.” Rainbow Dash continued to pout, before standing and stretching. “Well, its been fun Twi', but I should probably get some practicing in before I head home. See ya later!” She waved and walked to the door. Before Rainbow Dash's hoof could reach the handle, the door was slammed open. Rainbow Dash was flattened against the wall. She groaned in pain while a nervously bouncing Pinkie Pie stood in the doorway. “Twilight! Oh good I found you! My Pinkie Sense has been going off all day! My tail just won't stop twitchie-twitching! You gotta help!” Pinkie zipped across the library and collapsed at Twilight's hooves. Sure enough, her tail was shaking hard enough to move Pinkie's entire body. “Uh...how can I help? I already tried to figure out your Pinkie Sense, remember? It didn't exactly end well....” Twilight thought back to all the horrible things that had happened during her investigation with a shudder. Who even mails anvils? Or fully loaded carts? Pinkie wasn't swayed. “You gotta have something in all that magicky head! Please Twilight! I've already ruined three whole cakes! Those cakes didn't hurt anypony! Whyyyyy!??!” Pinkie was bordering on hysterics. Behind her, Twilight's front door drifted closed and Rainbow dropped to the floor.. “Ugh...ow.” Rainbow took a moment to look around before her eyes fixed on Pinkie Pie crying a river of tears while grovelling to a confused Twilight. “Pinkie Pie? What's the matter?” Pinkie Pie's ears perked up and her tears stopped instantly. Faster than an Earth pony should be able to move, Pinkie tackled Rainbow Dash and pinned her to the floor. “Dashie! You've got to stop me! I'm a danger to pastries everywhere!” Rainbow looked past Pinkie Pie at Twilight for clarification, but the lavender unicorn shrugged in confusion. “Uh....I'm not sure what you want me to-mmff!” Rainbow's confused reply was cut off abruptly when Pinkie shoved her hoof in her mouth. “Wait! Knee twitch,” the pink mare's knee began to twitch erratically, “Eye flutter,” Pinkie's eyes fluttered rapidly, “and achie shoulder. Huh. I wonder what thatttttttttt-” Pinkie then began to shudder violently, enough to make her fall off of Rainbow Dash and onto her back. After several seconds of shaking, Pinkie was still. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both stood over her expectantly. “Well?” asked Rainbow Dash. “What does that mean?” Pinkie's carefree smile returned the her face and she shrugged. “No idea! I've never had a combo like that. Twitchie tail, knee twitch, aching shoulder, and a doozy-shudder all in one. Never had one of those before!” Pinkie giggled and stood. Rainbow and Twilight shared a look of mild concern,before mutually agreeing that it was simply Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. That thought was quickly squashed when an ear-shattering boom passed through the library. All three mares squealed in surprise and collided together in an impromptu fear-hug. “W-w-what was that?!” Rainbow Dash asked, trying unsuccessfully to keep the fear out of her voice. Twilight squirmed her way out of the fear-hug and threw her door open. In an instant Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were at her side. All three focused their gazes on a massive fireball soaring low over Ponyville. Everywhere in Ponyville, ponies stopped whatever they were doing to rush outside and see the commotion. The eyes of everypony in town were locked on the explosion tearing through their skies. Terrified pegasi dived out of the way of the wayward comet. The gears in Twilight's head began to grind as she began calculating where the fireball was going to land. Estimated velocity, altitude, angle of descent, and a dozen other factors combined to give Twilight a rough estimate of where it would land. It should miss town, thank Celestia, and land right about.....oh no. “Applejack!” The purple unicorn burst out of her tree home at a full gallop, heading straight for Sweet Apple Acres Behind her, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash looked at each other in confusion before quickly following suite. Twilight pushed herself to move as fast as she could, but her rarely-exercised muscles were already crying from the exertion and she hadn't even reached the edge of Ponyville yet. Another set of quick mental calculations gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The fireball above her was moving too fast, had too large of a lead on her, and she couldn't even begin to keep up. Twilight made a snap decision and magic flowed into her horn. There was a magical whine and a loud POFF, and the purple mare disappeared. At that exact moment, Twilight Sparkle appeared in the front yard of the Apple Family home....... And directly in the path of the rapidly approaching fireball. BOOOOOM The fireball touched down in the middle of the Apple family orchards, barely a hundred yards away from Twilight. The ground shook violently from the enormous impact, and Twilight struggled to remain standing. The destruction didn't stop there. The fireball continued to plow through the orchard, gouging a deep wound in the earth as it went. The impact had slowed the fireball immensely, but it was still heading straight for Twilight. Thinking quickly, Twilight threw up a shield to cover both herself and the Apple home. Twilight took a deep breath and fed every ounce of her immense magical reserves into her shield spell. A few painful seconds ticked by as the fireball rapidly approached the Apple home, leaving hundreds of destroyed trees in its wake. After what seemed like hours to Twilight, but in reality was less than a second, the fireball finally slammed her shield. The tremendous force felt like a white-hot ice pick being hammered into her brain, directly where her horn was. Only the concentration needed to maintain the spell kept Twilight from screaming in pain. Mercifully, the energy from the explosion quickly dissipated. Twilight's shield dissolved as her legs gave out and she collapsed in the dirt. Twilight didn't have the energy to stand again, so she just rested on her side, panting. “Twilight!” three voices cried out at once. Twilight cracked one eye open, and her vision was filled with the faces of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. “You okay sugar cube?” asked Applejack with worry in her eyes. “Eeuuugh.” Not quite a 'yes', but close enough. “Wow! Twilight that was so super amazing! That meteor was like 'woooosh' and then you were all 'paPOP!' and then it was all 'CRAAAA-” A well placed hoof from Rainbow Dash cut off Pinkie's excited rant. After taking a few moments to catch her breath, Twilight stood on wobbly legs. When she nearly toppled over, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie moved to steady her. “I'm okay, I'm okay. Whoo. Wow, that really took a lot out of me. Applejack, are you-” Twilight stopped when she noticed the look of despair on Applejack's face. The apple farmer was surveying what was left of her north field, the majority of which was smoking ruin. The meteor had gauged a deep, wide trench the width of Sweet Apple Acres, stopping just in front of the family home. “Oh, Applejack I'm so sorry,” Twilight said. Applejack sniffled. “Its not your fault sugar cube. But it'll take years to fix all this.” Twilight didn't have a response to that, so she decided to walk to the edge of the still-hot crater. Twilight attempted to cast a heat-cancel spell, but the moment her magic started to flow a white hot pain shot through her brain. Twilight nearly dropped to her knees again, but the pain disappeared as soon as she cut off her flow of magic. Deciding instead to simply brave the heat, Twilight gently made her way to the edge of the crater and looked down towards the center. Through all the smoke and haze left over from the crash, she was just barely able to make out a strange, lumpy shape. However, instead of being burnt black, the shape was a mix of darkened tan and purple. It was- Wait, is it..........moving? The shape appeared to be shifting, and then there was a very, very distinct moan of pain. Blegh. I admit, I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I just couldn't seem to get it perfect. So, here it is as is, and I'd appreciate some criticism. Constructive criticism, but criticism. Also, please point out any and all grammar errors and typos so I can fix them.