//------------------------------//
// Episode 5: It's a Trap! 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Future Incursion 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
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Crystal looked down the sight of the makeshift catapult she constructed; it was pointed at the front lawn of Izzy’s cottage through a window. She smiled, satisfied at the angle and let out a woot. “And that’s how you set up defenses.” She said as she turned and trotted down the ramp to the first floor.

Mystic saw her sister coming down and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, Crystal? Don’t you think you went a little overboard with fortifying this place?” She asked

It had been three days since she and Mystic received their mother’s tree bark letter, specifically their mom’s instructions to stay put, and keep each other safe. So Crystal set about to fortify the cottage with every possible defense she could dream up. Catapults, tripwires, nets, and a bunch of other stuff. Crystal smirked and shook her head. “You remember mom’s instructions right? Stay put, and stay safe. We don’t know what’s out there, and we don’t know how long we’re gonna be here for. So the logical course of action is make sure that if something comes, we’ll at least be able to put up a fight, and make it SO much trouble for them. Just like kids do.” She explained.

“And if Mom comes and gets caught in one of your traps?” Mystic asked. “Seriously, some of these defenses could really hurt somepony.”

“We put up tripwire spells so we’ll be alerted to incoming ponies well before the traps start going off.” Crystal responded. “That way, if it’s anypony we know, we have plenty of time to warn them.” She said.

Mystic nodded. She still felt that Crystal was going a little overboard, but given the situation they were in right now, she figured it was Crystal’s survival instincts kicking in. “Ok. I just don’t want to accidentally hurt mom.” She said.

“We won’t.” Crystal assured her.

Mystic nodded. And just decided to change the subject. “Anyway, I made some lemonade for us if you want.” She said.

Crystal raised an eyebrow. “You made lemonade?” She asked.

“Yeah. Using mom’s recipe.” Mystic explained as she trotted to the kitchen.

That had Crystal flabbergasted. Mystic knew their mother’s lemonade recipe?! “You know mom’s recipe?!” She asked as she trotted after her sister. “How?!”

“When we were getting our mental link under our direct control, the recipe leaked to us clones. We promised mom we would keep it a secret.” Mystic explained.

Crystal smiled. “So you can make her lemonade whenever we want?” She asked.

“Crystal, we can’t do that. We don’t have a large supply of food, and we don’t know how long we’re gonna be here. We need to make the food last as long as possible.” Mystic told Crystal.

Crystal relented. “You sound like mom.” She said.

“You could say I AM mom. I’m her clone.” Mystic responded, which got both girls laughing. Mystic poured two cups of the lemonade for them and they drank it.

Crystal smiled. “Mmm. You did good Mystic. Exactly what mom makes.” She said.

“Courtesy of the time it took to get our mental link under control.” Mystic responded proudly.

They continued to drink their lemonade, until their horns tingled. They put their glasses down in shock. “Incoming!” They both shrieked.

They both ran up the ramp to the second floor and peaked out the window. They saw a middle-aged gray unicorn stallion approaching.

“Should we catapult him?” Mystic whispered.

Crystal took another glance out the window. “He doesn’t LOOK hostile. But don’t judge a book by it’s cover so let’s watch what he does.” She suggested.

So they watched the stallion closely. They watched him bypass all the traps Crystal had set up outside simply by stepping over their tripwires, and they heard a knock on the door, followed by a voice. “Hey Izzy? You home? I wanted to ask if you had any eggs to spare.” The stallion called out.

Crystal and Mystic glanced at each other. Mystic mouthed that she didn’t find any eggs at all.

Outside, the stallion patiently waited for Izzy to answer the door, but he noticed something. He couldn’t hear a single sound coming from the cottage, which was almost unheard of for Izzy. What in the world? The pony thought to himself. He glanced around, and didn’t notice anything off. He bit his lip. “I could really use those eggs…and Izzy did say her door was open for me even if on the off chance she wasn’t home…I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I let myself in and had a look.” He concluded.

Crystal and Mystic heard that and gulped. “He says he’s here for eggs, and he knows the last owner of this cottage….”

“For all we know he could be a—“ Crystal was cut off when the door opened, and not even a second later, she heard a screech and one of her traps setting off. Crystal and Mystic ran to the top of the ramp to see the pony turned possible intruder caught in a net.

The stallion was struggling. “What the…IZZY! What the hay is this?!” He shouted, confused and angry.

Crystal glanced at Mystic, before clearing her throat. “Izzy isn’t here. You shouldn’t enter other ponies’ homes without permission.” She called out.

The stallion heard the unfamiliar voice, and looked up to see something he wasn’t expecting. Two fillies. “What the, who are you two? What are you doing here?! Did you set this up? Let me out!” The stallion growled.

“Not until you answer a few questions.” Mystic said. She and Crystal lit their horns, ready to attack.

“First off, who are you?” Crystal asked.

The stallion raised a furious eyebrow. “My name is Alphabittle. Does Izzy know you’re here? Where the hay is she?!” He asked.

“We don’t know. But she doesn’t live here anymore.” Crystal said.

“What? Doesn’t live here anymore? Of course she lives here!” Alphabittle said.

“Not according to the note she left.” Crystal said.

“I didn’t see a note.” Alphabittle responded.

Crystal summoned the note and showed it to the intruder. Alphabittle read it, and it certainly had Izzy’s hoof writing. He looked between the note, and the two foals. He looked at the trap he was in, and his anger started to subside in favor of his softness towards foals, especially those who seemed to be in need. He took a deep breath. “Ok, clearly there are some misunderstandings here. I got a proposition. You let me out, and we can talk about this in a civilized way. Nopony needs to get hurt.” He said.

Crystal and Mystic looked at each other, before looking back to Alphabittle. “If we let you go, do you promise not to attack us?” Mystic asked.

“I promise, I don’t mean any harm. Plus, hurting foals is just plain wrong.” Alphabittle said.

Tell that to Sparky and Misty. Crystal thought involuntarily as she lit her horn, and released the trap, setting Alphabittle free.

Alphabittle fell to the ground, and picked himself back up off the ground. “Thank you. Now how about coming down from there?” He suggested.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’ll keep our distance, don’t try to get closer, we can and WILL defend ourselves.” Mystic responded.

“Ok. Fair enough. Now, who are you two?” Alphabittle asked.

“Crystal Spark and Mystic Medley.” Mystic responded.

“Ok. Now what are you two doing here? Where are your parents?” Alphabittle asked.

“We don’t know.” Crystal responded. “There was a magical accident and we got separated from our family.” She said.

Alphabittle’s eyes widened. “So you two are all alone?” He asked.

“Maybe.” Mystic said.

Alphabittle glanced around, it was then when he noticed the multiple traps that could’ve befallen him. “How long have you two been here?” He asked.

“A few days.” Crystal responded.

“DAYS?!” Alphabittle exclaimed, surprised. “You shouldn’t be all alone here for multiple days. Just how old are you two?”

“In the single digits. That’s all we’re gonna say.” Mystic responded.

Alphabittle’s mind raced. He was talking to two kids that were alone without available parents. “Do you two know where your family was going? I could take you there.” He offered.

“We don’t know where they are. And our mom told us to stay where we were.” Crystal said.

“Well, I can’t let you two stay here all alone. It’s not safe. Wanna come back to Bridlewood and stay with me until we find your family?” He asked.

“We’re staying right here. And in case you hadn’t noticed, we can take care of ourselves just fine.” Mystic said.

“Yeah. I can see the defenses you girls set up…you did a good job I’ll admit.” Alphabittle responded. “But still. You two are currently without adult supervision, and at your age that’s a big no-no.” He told them.

“Yeah, we’re unaccompanied minors, we’re aware of that.” Crystal said.

“But our mom told us to stay here and that’s what we’re going to do.” Mystic said. “And before you say anything, no, you’re not moving in with us. That’s out of the question.” She added.

Alphabittle bit his lip, trying to think of a compromise. “Well, then how about I just check on you often?” He suggested. “I’ll bring you food, whatever you might need.”

Crystal and Mystic looked at each other, before shrugging and nodding. “We can get behind that plan.”

“Thanks Alphabittle.”

Alphabittle smiled. “Good. Did you set any traps outside that I just happened to avoid this time?” He asked.

Crystal nodded, and proceeded to show him where all the outside tripwires were. Soon enough, after telling him that there WERE no eggs to have at the cottage, which was why he was there at all, Alphabittle thanked them and went to leave. “Don’t worry girls.” He told them. “I’m sure your mother will be here soon.” He said.

“Hopefully.” Mystic and Crystal responded. Cautiously glad that they had met somepony nice here.

To be continued…