//------------------------------//
// Manehatten Beauty  
// Story: An Orange Dosn't Fall Far From the Tree 
// by seatiger19 
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	The bright morning comes. Do you remember the warm summer suns? Well if you do you will remember this story told at the campfire. The roasted marshmallows and the tents tied with thin wire.This was just a fairy tale. But it turned the others faces pale. But if this fantasy really was real. How would the actual characters feel? Would they love what they hear. Or would they hate it full of fear. Something that may have been foreseen. Starting with a beautiful mare named Tangerine.

***


Tangerine woke up to the warm sun hitting her face. It was another beautiful spring day and her potted plants had been growing well. Tangerine had always been a green thumb, her Aunt and Uncle could never figure out why she was so good with plants. She was also always very honest, when she was little she broke the cookie jar but she told her Aunt exactly what happened. She was home schooled because her Aunt and Uncle didn't want her to be teased by how she didn't have a cutie mark. Tangerine Got her cutie mark after helping her Uncle work in the orange orchard one day and got it as three oranges. 

Tangerine walked over to her desk putting her hair into a braid and then putting her tail in a braid. She put on a simple casual cyan dress, and walked down the stairs to get breakfast. Her Aunt had made pancakes with orange juice. She gulped down the orange juice and properly nibbled at the pancakes until she was done. "Auntie I'm going out to sell some oranges, the ones that uncle brought home yesterday" Tangerine yelled into the kitchen, where her Aunt usually was. "Okay but can you grab the sack full of toys and donate it to the orphanage for me" she yells back. "Okay" Tangerine yells back going out the door and onto the streets of Manehatten.

She carefully runs out to the sidewalk, where there is a kind looking stallion walking in the direction Tangerine was going. She thought it would be nice to talk with someone so she walked up to him and said "Hello." "Oh hello..." his words trail off after looking at the beautiful pony. "Um my name is Flint, I um work on the..." he starts to say but trailing off. "Oh mister Flint my father talks highly of you, he says you are a hard worker" Tangerine replies trying not to let the conversation go downhill. This often happened when she tried to talk to other ponies. "Oh really" Flint says lifting his head up high. "Oh nice talking to you, this is where I set up stand" Tangerine says stopping at a clearing in the crowd. "Here let me help you" the white stallion said. He helped her put up the stand and bought an orange. She was so happy how well the day was already going. "Um miss" a maroon mare runs up to her orange cart.  "May I have all of the oranges please" she says holding out five bits. Tangerine new it was under priced but didn't want to be rude, so she packed up the oranges in a sack and set them down. "Thanks so much" Tangerine said, putting the money in the small cashier register. Tangerine then handed the rushed mare the sack and started cleaning up. She reached for the sack of toys and was going to start head off to the orphanage when she realized how heavy the sack was. She opened it and found all of the oranges she had just sold. "Oh no" Tangerine whispers to herself. She ran down the bustling streets when she saw the mare barely in front of her. She was running so fast, she didn't notice the light orange stallion that just stepped in her way. She was to late, she crashed into the stallion knocking a pink purse out of his pocket and spilling the contents everywhere. "So very sorry" she says helping him pick up the bits, she grabs the purse and puts the bits back in. She sees curly writing on the purse, Miss Jessica Prunes, it says. Remembering her neighbor saying that she lost her pure yesterday, "You don't look like a Jessica Prunes" Tangerine says snatching the bits he held in his hand, and running off. Unfortunately some other ponies saw her and thought she was stealing from the poor stallion.

Tangerine ran down the street sticking the purse in her pocket and looking for the mare she gave the wrong sack to. She looked around and saw the mare turn down Second street. She ran past a mare in a black suit a with deep purple mane and a white body. Tangerine saw the mare go into an old rusty apartment, so she pursued her up to the apartment. Orange rang the doorbell and the mare opened it to see a wrecked mess of a pony. "Oh dear, You caught me, I under payed" she said looking down at six colts chewing on their pacifiers. "No no, I gave you the wrong bag" Tangerine says out of breath. "Oh" she said taking her bag and looking in it. Tangerine hands her the beg of oranges and says "No you can have we were going to donate it anyways, and you look like you could use them" Tangerine says pushing the bag of toys back at the mare looking down at the wide eyed colts looking up at her. Tangerine turns around and shuts the door, but before she does she hears a small "Thank you."

"Halt. Put your hands up. And turn around" A light shined in Tangerine's face. There was a couple of police ponies looking at her. Tangerine obediently does what they say. 

She ends up behind bars, with the orange stallion staring at her with evil eyes. The mare she just helped was there and so was the white stallion who helped her set up the orange stand. A telephone booth was set up in the bars where she could call her Aunt probably just a holding cell. She walked over to the phone sadly and picked it up and put in her home number. "Yes this is the Orange residence" her Aunt replies back, "Hi Auntie its me, I uhh have a problem" Tangerine says into the phone. "What is that sweetheart, we can get through it" her Aunt says kindly realizing it was Tangerine. "Well umm I'm in jail" Tangerine says, silence. "Your what... What Did You Do!" her Aunt says calmly like shes dealt with it before. "Just come here and I will explain it to everyone" Tangerine says with a sigh, she thought her Aunt would be more violent. "Okay just hold tight" her Aunt says hanging up. 

"Okay kid you getta see the sherrif" the policeman says taking her out of her cell and up the stairs into an organized office. A grey stallion with dark blue hair looked up at her from his coffee. He took a bite of his chocolate doughnut and looked Tangerine strait in the eyes. "Sorry kid, but let me tell you something" he remarked with an ugly smirk on his face. "I have a superpower, I can tell when someone is lying-" he says, "Oh thats a relief" Tangerine interrupted smiling. "You see 'sherrif' I don't lie." Tangerine says. "Oh we will see about that, tell me why you stole from the Stallion?" he asked his eyes piercing hers. "I didn't steal from him he stole from my neighbor, and I was going to return it" Tangerine says returning the stare. He is surprised to see that she is telling the truth but he continues. "Then what were you doing at Mrs. Seeds house" he asked hardening the stare. "I was giving her the sack of oranges that I accidentally switched with another sack" Tangerine says relieving the truth once again. "Your good kid, but then why did you..." the sherrif stumbles not knowing any more questions to prove shes guilty. "Your fine lead her to the waiting room" he says sighing. As Tangerine leaves she can hear him moping in his defeat. She is lead into a comfortable waiting room with fluffy red chairs and a rug. The rug catches Tangerine's eye. It shows a duel of two unicorns one is white as snow and the other is black as night. On the edges of the rug it shows different constellations and stars. 

Tangerine's mom arrives and takes Tangerine away when learning she did nothing bad. Their neighbor, Jessica walks through the door right as Tangerine and her mom are leaving. But hearing about the situation Jessica thanks Tangerine. Tangerine gets home around dinner time she hadn't eaten since breakfast, but she wasn't that hungry. She grabs an orange and goes up to her room falling asleep immediately.