The distant rattling of a wood door in its frame, shaken by forceful knocking, dragged Twilight Sparkle to grumbling consciousness. Sitting up in bed brought her face directly in line with the sunlight streaming through the window. “Urgh,” she grumbled, squinting her eyes. The rays of dawn peeking over the horizon were angled too high to wake her as they normally would in an hour or so, but their brightness was just as potent. The unicorn threw off her covers and stumbled out of bed. Heading down the loft into her main living area, she paused at the door leading down to the rest of the tree. Smiling ruefully, she floated a brush over from the vanity as she made her way out of her bedroom.
The knocking was much louder on the main floor of Golden Oaks Library, an indistinct orange and yellow shape thundering hooves against the portal. After quickly running the brush through her mane and tail in a glow of magenta energy, Twilight cantered over to the door.
Golden Harvest nearly fell into the library as Twilight swung the door open. Her poofy mane had more than a few hairs out of place and her green eyes were bloodshot. Her voice carried an edge of desperation. “Oh Twilight, thank goodness you’re awake.”
Twilight stifled a yawn, blinking in the morning sun. “Golden? It’s really early.” She stepped aside as the farmpony entered, watching the yellow mare sit on a floor cushion in front of the round reading table.
“I’m sorry; I’d normally wait until the library was open.” The mare’s tone grew dark. “It happened again.”
The unicorn’s eyes widened. She set her hairbrush down in front of the bust and sat next to Golden Harvest. “Again? This would make it two nights in a row.” She stood as abruptly as she sat and began to pace back and forth. “That’s four times in three weeks and the occurrences are increasing in frequency…This is serious.” The yellow mare nodded solemnly, watching Twilight’s pacing. “Where did it happen?”
“My tool shed, out by the carrot patch.”
“Alright, I’ll meet you there in half an hour.” Her sentence was punctuated by a low gurgle from her belly. She flushed. “Better make that forty-five minutes. Do you mind asking Fluttershy to meet us there as well? I will not bias your mind by suggesting theories or suspicions, but there’s a possibility this was an animal attack and her experience would be very helpful.” As she spoke, Twilight stopped her pacing and slowly approached a desk. Gravity dropping the volume of her voice and coloring her tone, she said, “I’ll bring Rainbow Dash with me.”
Golden Harvest cocked an eyebrow, casually patting her mane into place. “Rainbow Dash? The weather pegasus?”
“Rainbow shares my love of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum routine of everyday life.” She slid open the drawer of her desk. A magnifying glass lifted out in a haze of magic. “She helps me out on things like this; nothing clears up a case so much as stating it to another pony. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” she promised, her words dropping to an indistinct mumble, “The game is ahoof.”
Twilight trotted down the beaten path, appetite satiated by a daisy sandwich and magnifying glass tucked carefully in a saddlebag. Rainbow Dash lazily flew upside down next to her, forehooves tucked behind her head.
“So what’s all this about, Twi’?” the pegasus asked with a yawn, flipping over and resting her head on her forelegs. “Why’d I have to get up so early?” Her rose colored eyes slid shut and her flight path veered, sky blue side bumping into purple shoulder.
The unicorn rolled her eyes, smirking as she shoulder-checked her marefriend back. “Napping while flying? Really? And I told you; there’s been another attack.”
Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “Don’t look at me like that, Egghead. Only one of us had any coffee.”
“I would have brought you some, but we still have an agreement after the ‘tongue incident’ regarding which one of us is allowed to make the other coffee, Trotson.”
“Of course you’d bring the ‘cauterized taste bud accords’ up again. And we’re back to the Egghead-Trotson thing, too?” Rainbow Dash floated down onto Twilight’s back, resting her head on indigo mane and draping her legs over the unicorn’s sides. She continued to beat her wings, the bulk of her weight held aloft rather than actually laying on her partner. “Y’know the only reason I put up with you is ‘cause you’re an awesome pillow, right?”
“Well, I only put up with you because you’re a good blanket.”
“Don’t you mean the best blanket?”
“I’ve had better.”
The pegasus somersaulted through the air, bringing herself muzzle to muzzle with Twilight while flying inverted. “I don’t believe you; no blanket could be better than the Rainbow Dash.”
“Blankets don’t complain so much.”
“Can blankets do this?” She caught lavender lips in a kiss. Twilight paused in her forward momentum, running a hoof through multicolored mane. The contact was brief, but left both mares grinning foolishly at each other.
“…Rainbow, you are by far the best blanket.”
“Damn straight.”
They crested a hill and Golden Harvest’s farm came into sight. Two yellow mares stood together out from the main house, surveying what was left of the tool shed. Even from the road, Twilight could see the force of destruction wrought on the auxiliary building. Its door had been practically torn from the hinges, the top half hanging free, the twisted band of the hinge’s plate catching glinting rays of sunlight. The door itself, four sturdy boards bound by two strips of iron, was partially bent down the middle. It hung sadly, swaying gently back and forth in a wan breeze, the strained lower hinge emitting displeased groans with its movement. A spray of broken farm equipment and tools littered the earth around the doorway, the pattern of shrapnel thrown from a low-grade explosion. The worst of the damage was to the structure itself; large holes littered the walls, splays of fragmented boards jutting out from the tremendous force of whatever made them. Heavy blows delivered from inside the shed spoke of rage and power. The flat roof sagged, its support compromised nearly to the point of collapse. Twilight swallowed thickly and galloped down to meet Golden Harvest and Fluttershy.
Fluttershy smiled thinly at her approaching friends, speaking softly, “Good morning Twilight, Rainbow.”
The unicorn returned the smile, her eyes tracing over the destruction. “Hello, Fluttershy. Thank you for coming.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. Um. Why did you want me to come?”
Twilight cantered around the toolshed, noting the wheelbarrow that had been crushed flat, shattered yoke, and hoe that had been bent in half. “Well, these attacks have been happening more frequently. First was the root cellar at Sweet Apple Acres at the start of the month, where the door looked like it was blasted off from the inside. Then your chicken coop just last week,” the meek pegasus shuddered, remembering the crushed nests, shattered floorboards, and terrified birds, “and the night before last it looked like someone took a battering ram to the delivery door at Sugar Cube Corner. And now this.”
Rainbow Dash was flying in lazy circles, examining her hooves more than the destruction. Broken sheds were boring. Not like that old barn she blew up for Applejack. “That didn’t explain why Fluttershy is here, Twi’.”
Twilight directed a deadpan glare towards the hovering mare. “I was getting there.” She smiled back at the yellow pegasus. “I think this must be the work of something out of the Everfree. If it were vandalism, there should be something stolen, and so far nothing’s missing.” She raised an eyebrow at Golden Harvest. “Was anything taken this time?”
“Well, it’s kinda hard to tell,” the farmpony sighed, kicking a hoof through the dirt. “Plenty’s broken, but it doesn’t look like anything’s missing.”
The unicorn turned her attention back to the shed, examining the large splinters jutting out from a hole. “And look at all this damage. I can’t imagine a pony being able to do this. It must be an animal. A timber wolf, or perhaps a manticore.” Her eyes narrowed. “Although the hole seems a little small for a manticore; it’s barely larger than a hoof…” She straightened, turning back to Fluttershy. “So, since you’re the expert on animals, I thought your opinion on what could have done this would be very valuable.”
“Oh, I see.” The timid mare circled the shed, casting a critical eye on the many holes littering its surface. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, she gauged the bore of a few with both forehooves before spending several minutes examining the twisted door. “Well, I think you’re right about it not being a manticore,” she spoke slowly, “Maybe a cub, but cubs don’t usually wander very far from their mommies.” She approached the interior, but hesitated to step inside. “Gosh, it’s dark in there.”
Rainbow Dash groaned. “Fluttershy, it’s just a tool shed.” To prove her point, the sky blue mare swooped down through the ruined door and stood in the middle of the small room. “See? Nothing to be…afraid…of…” On a gossamer strand of silk, a large, fat spider dangled directly in front of the daredevil’s eyes. The gentle currents of her breathing rocked the spider back and forth through the air until it alighted on the tip of her snout. “Gaah!” she screamed, “Get it off, get it off, get it off!”
Rushing blindly out of the shed, Rainbow careened directly into Twilight, toppling them both over in a heap. The pegasus began whimpering with her head resting on the ground, backside across Twilight with her rear end in the unicorn’s face and all four hooves waving wildly in the air.
A yellow hoof gently pressed against Rainbow’s muzzle and the spider crawled its way off her face. Fluttershy smiled at her friend as a glow of red slowly bloomed across blue cheeks. “Don’t worry, Rainbow. Orb spiders aren’t poisonous and they hardly ever bite ponies.” She turned her attention to the little brown critter on her hoof. “Isn’t that right, my little lady? You were just looking for some scrumptious little flies, weren’t you?”
Pushing the subdued blue mare off of herself, Twilight leaned in and whispered, “If you wanted to shove your flank in my face, you only had to ask,” before standing up and dusting off. Rainbow Dash remained on the ground, her face turning a darker crimson. “So anyway, about the shed?”
“Oh yes.” Fluttershy trotted boldly inside the small room, pausing to return the orb spider to its web. She looked around quietly. “Well, I don’t see any fur or feathers…it might have been a small dragon, I suppose.”
Twilight’s eyes lit up. “A dragon! I didn’t think of that!” Hurrying inside the now cramped toolshed, she floated her magnifying glass in front of her face. “A dragon would make sense; they’re strong, don’t have to be that large to set off on their own, greedy. It’s perfect!”
Rainbow returned to her hooves as her face slowly cooled. “Didn’t you just say nothin’s missing?”
“They’re greedy, but they have unique tastes. It probably didn’t find anything it wanted and took out its frustration on the shed.”
Golden Harvest’s eyes widened. “A dragon attack? This is bad.”
“Well, it’s only a theory; we can’t jump to conclusions just yet. All we know is that this is very strange…” She frowned, leaning over one of the holes with her magnifying glass. “It appears to me that this mystery is considered insoluble, for the very reason which should cause it to be regarded as easy of solution - I mean for the outré character of its features...it should not be much asked, ‘What has occurred,’ as, ‘What has occurred that has never occurred before.’”
Golden Harvest cocked an eyebrow at Rainbow. “Did she just quote something?”
“Probably. She does that.”
Twilight frowned, glaring hard at the short blonde hair caught in the fragments of the hole she was examining. She pulled it free with her magic, dropping it onto the end of an outstretched hoof. “This hair is too short and a little too light to be one of yours, Golden.” She left the shed, holding the hair out for inspection. “Does it match anypony you know who might have been in your shed?”
Golden frowned. “I’m not sure. That’s a pretty common color for manes, but I’m pretty much the only pony who uses the shed.”
The unicorn held it close again. “I’m not even sure it’s from a pony. It’s awfully short…it could be from a manticore; it’s about the right shade to be lion fur, especially a cub.”
Rainbow made a disgusted huff, taking off to fly in erratic circles. “I’m bored, Twi’.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “We’ll get going in a minute, Rainbow.” She smiled apologetically at Golden Harvest. “So what happened? Did you see anything?”
The farmer shook her head slowly. “I’m a heavy sleeper. I got up this mornin’ and it was like this.”
“Anything suspicious happen last night?”
“No. I turned in early; lot of work to do on a farm during the summer. Only ponies I saw on the road were Big Macintosh and that large pegasus stallion from ‘round town. I forget his name.” She turned a quizzical eye to the aerially reclining Rainbow Dash.
“What? Just because I’m a pegasus means I automatically know all the other pegasi in Ponyville?”
“He’s got a white coat, works out a lot, has a barbell cutie mark?”
Rainbow grumbled, hiding her face behind her hooves. “That’s Snowflake.”
Twilight giggled, shooting a smirking leer at her marefriend. “You were in charge of the team to transfer water up to Cloudsdale.”
She crossed her forelegs and looked away. “…He’s also a cadet at the Wonderbolts Academy…” She centered her glare on the farmpony. “But that doesn’t mean a pony should just go assuming that a pegasus knows every other pegasus in a town, Carrot-top.”
“No,” Golden Harvest said flatly. “I’ll just assume that the head of the town’s weather team might.” Magenta eyes narrowed in response.
“Well, I think we’re done here,” Twilight chimed a little too brightly. She turned to her pink-maned friend. “Thanks for your help, Fluttershy.”
“Oh. You’re welcome, Twilight. Let me know if you find out which critter is responsible. I’ll need to have a stern chat with that meanie.” She turned and smiled at the two mares currently glaring daggers snout to snout. “Thanks for having me over to your home, Golden Harvest. And thanks for not squishing that nice little spider, Dashie.”
Rainbow straightened in surprise, then grit her teeth. Her voice dripped with barely hidden venom. “You’re welcome, Fluttershy.”
Snickering, the farmpony extended her hoof. “Thanks for your help, Fluttershy. Come back any time.” After a brief hoofshake, she turned her hoof to Twilight. “You too. I really appreciate you looking into this, Twilight.” The unicorn smiled and shook hooves before heading back to the road.
Grumbling darkly, Rainbow followed overhead. “So what do we do now, Twi’? Go track down Big Mac and Snowflake?”
The mare shook her head. “They were in the area the evening before, but that doesn’t mean anything. No, we’re going back to the library; I’ve got some books on magical fauna I need to read through.” She ignored the exaggerated scoff. “Then we’re going to find a good hiding place to set up an ambush in the Everfree for this evening.”
“Now you’re talkin’.”
She batted her eyelashes. “Oh, and reading in the library doesn’t sound appealing?” Rainbow chewed her lip but said nothing; she knew a trap when she smelled one. “I thought you were enjoying that Auguste Dumane story. Just think…” she leaned in towards the hovering pegasus, letting her eyes fall half shut, “The two of us…snuggled up on the couch with our books…accidentally brushing hooves now and then…”
Red slowly spreading across her face at the same rate as her grin, Rainbow settled onto the ground, matching Twilight’s canter. “Well, when you put it that way…”
“Twi’, you haven’t exactly said what we’re doing. What’s the game now?”
“A waiting game.”
Rainbow Dash grumbled, jostling the bush she was sitting in as she attempted to get comfortable. One of the branches was poking her directly on the cutie mark.
Twilight shushed her from a neighboring bush, her disapproving stare hidden by the night vision goggles borrowed from Pinkie Pie. She called over in a stage-whisper. “Try to be more quiet, Rainbow, do you want to give us away?” The blue mare grumbled louder in response, adjusting her own high-tech headgear.
Rainbow wasn’t having a bad day, per se. She’d woken up a little earlier than she wanted, but spent most of the time since then kicking back and reading with a wing wrapped tightly around a certain attractive unicorn. Unfortunately, reading was all that happened and her marefriend’s implicit offer of sloppy make outs never came to fruition. And although she was enjoying reading about an intrepid protagonist outsmarting a thief, the writing style was rather dry. The pegasus thought that most of her annoyances seemed to involve dryness just recently. Except for the night-vision goggles; they were making her head itchy and hot with perspiration. She injected as much petulance into her hushed voice as she could. “Twilight, why can’t I hang out in a tree?”
“Because you’ll fall asleep.”
Damn, Twilight got her there. She grumbled again.
“Pipe down, you might scare something away.”
Sinking into her bush, Rainbow flicked her tail at the lecherous branch and succeeded in getting several hairs tangled around twigs and leaves. Gritting her teeth, she began scanning the unnaturally brightened forest. She caught sight of the occasional bird shifting in a roosted slumber and it was quite fun to watch bats erratically hunting bugs through the trees, but mostly it was boring. All the detective books Rainbow had been reading were way more exciting than this. Stupid forest. Stupid stake-out. And with the harsh and unnatural green light of night-vision impairing subtlety, the pegasus couldn’t even engage in her favorite boredom-staving activity: leer at Twilight until she notices.
A soft rustling slowly grew louder as something lumbered slowly through the forest. Whatever it was could not be discerned by either mare thanks to the density of the trees, but they both sunk low in their hiding spots, ears cocked and twitching in the direction of the disturbed foliage. Low branches began to shake at closer and closer intervals, until all at once the creature barged into view.
Thick, furry paws clomping heavily on twigs were attached to the lithe, puffy frame of a lion cub. Scaly wings lay flat across the feline’s back. It paused in its momentum to sniff the air questioningly, chitinous tail twitching back and forth, the wicked stinger a violent metronome.
Whatever the odor attracting the manticore cub’s attention was seemed to be overridden by the appearance of a passing bat. Large feline eyes wide with excitement, it bounded high into the air, claws extended, and swiped at the furry creature. The bat weaved erratically and avoided certain death as the manticore hit its apex and descended to the forest floor with a thump. A cross look on its lion face, it thumped a paw against a tree in frustration. The trunk exploded in a wet spray of splinters and sap at the point of impact, toppling slowly to the strained snapping of green wood. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both hoped the jittering noises emanating from their hiding spots on account of nervous shaking wasn’t too noticeable.
A louder crashing rumble emanated from the forest. A full grown female manticore lunged from the woods, pinning the cub to the grass. A low growl escaped her throat as she stared at her captive. The cub whimpered, its arachnid tail curling between its legs and ears lying flat. The adult manticore rolled the cub onto its stomach and unceremoniously hefted it by the scruff of its neck in powerful jaw muscles. She straightened and pranced back into the woods, a mewling whine of annoyance trailing away from the reprimanded baby.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s gaze met through their spy gear. “Well,” the unicorn said breathlessly, “Our case becomes rounded off, and difficulty after difficulty thins away in front of us. It looks like it was that juvenile manticore. It won’t be bothering Ponyville tonight, though.”
Rainbow pulled her tail free from several branches with her teeth and stumbled out of the bush. She trotted to catch up with Twilight as she headed back towards town, pulling off the sweaty goggles. “So what happens now?”
“Tomorrow we talk to Fluttershy and come back here in the evening. She’ll come with us and convince that baby to stop using Ponyville as its night-time playground.” The pegasus nodded appreciatively. “I’m glad we can put this behind us now.”
As they connected to the dirt pathway leading to town, the dark silhouette of a galloping pony with a gently swirled mane came into view. As the figure grew closer, the distressed features of the cream-coated mare gained clarity. “Twilight!”
The unicorn’s brow knit with concern as she hurried her pace to meet the earth pony. “Bon Bon, what’s wrong?”
“There’s been another attack!” Wide violet and magenta eyes met, exchanging looks of confusion and worry in the dark night.
Twilight felt her heart jump into her throat as she examined the town’s fountain with her marefriend. The beautiful purple statue of a pony prancing on a ball was no longer in the middle. Half of the sphere the statue perched upon remained attached to the base in the center of the pool, jagged crags of sundered stone erupting from the ruined orb like accusatory fingers. It didn’t look like it had been smashed; it looked like something tore it to pieces.
Small hunks of purple littered the bottom of the scant foot of water. The mare’s head, most of its slicked back mane broken off and wavering in the ripples of the water next to it, smiled vacantly at the unicorn from its watery grave. The expression was transformed to an obscene leer in the undulating current and dappled reflections of the street lamps around the town hall. The ledge surrounding the circular pool had bricks missing like the leering mouth of a jack-o-lantern and the flecks of purple stone extended out into the cobbled street as far as four yards from the fountain’s edge. The largest intact piece of debris was the torso, headless and limbless, lying half in and half out of the water. Propped up diagonally along the stone lip, a splintery shaft that used to be part of a foreleg pointed at the unicorn in an accusatory manner. A large fissure ran across the dismembered pony’s barrel. The basin of the fountain had been compromised in the destruction and water dribbled slowly into the street.
Bon Bon shook her head sadly. “It was like this when I closed up the ice cream shop for the night.” Her head and tail drooped low. “I confess I was in the back with some music playing, so I didn’t even hear anything.”
Twilight sighed, dragging her eyes away from the vapid stare of the severed head. “Anything unusual that you noticed about the evening?”
“Not really.” The earth pony rubbed her chin. “Lot of folks around town came in looking for something cold and sweet. Mayor Mare came in and got a chocolate shake, I remember that. Hmm, what else…” her blue eyes narrowed in thought. “Oh! The Cakes came by to pick up their weekly order of ice cream for Sugar Cube Corner and a lot of my regulars came in; I always get a big crowd of ponies in after the gym closes. Y’know; they spend a few hours lifting weights then celebrate with a vanilla malted. And the Cutie Mark Crusaders nearly burned down the whole town trying to earn cutie marks in ‘frying ice cream,’” her voice took on a venomous annoyance to match her scowl before she brightened. “Cheerilee got a banana split; she must have finished her summer paperwork early this year…who else…Hey, something suspicious did happen!”
Twilight and Rainbow caught each other’s eyes before simultaneously asking, “What?”
“Cherry Berry didn’t leave a tip for her double-decker cone!” Her exclamation was met with twin withering stares. “What? That mare always leaves a tip.”
Twilight sighed, but forced a smile. “Well, thanks for your help, Bon Bon.”
“You’re welcome, Twilight.” She looked at the fountain and sighed. “I always liked that statue. Well, goodnight you two.” She turned and cantered off down the street.
After staring at the destruction for several more minutes, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, her voice an awed whisper. “What could have done this?”
The daredevil bit her lip. “We did see that manticore cub smack a tree down, but it was taken back into the forest…” Her eyes scanned the wreckage. A brief game of word association played through her head. She settled on ‘enraged,’ ‘hulking,’ and ‘passionate’ as the best descriptors for the creature responsible for what remained of the fountain. “Whadda we do now, Twi’? That cub seemed so obvious…”
“I…uh…” She swallowed and cleared her throat, letting her mind wander back to the comfort and safety of organization and rote memorization. “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.” She shook her head briskly, setting her eyes and raising her voice in strength. “We’ll just have to come at this again tomorrow night. It was a capital mistake for me to theorize before I had all the evidence. It biased my judgment.”
Rainbow nodded. “So wanna look for evidence?”
As she took hold of her magnifying glass in a glow of energy, Twilight said almost reluctantly, “Yeah.” The pair poked through the broken stone, looking for anything out of place. The shattered rubble didn’t have any claw-marks that Twilight could ascertain and there didn’t seem to be any fur left behind this time. Turning over a piece of thigh, Twilight frowned. A flower, bruised and crushed flat, was smeared across a cobblestone. “There’s a flower here. I’m not positive, but it looks like an apple blossom.”
Rainbow extended a hoof without looking and pointed across the street. “Flower shop.” Twilight muttered in annoyance. At least her eye wasn’t twitching yet. “Wanna keep looking?”
Her violet eyes wavered a bit as her resolution weakened. “No. I wanna go home. Rainbow…would you come back to the library with me?” She cast a fearful eye over the broken statue. It was rather unsettling how close the stone matched the color of her coat in the low light.
“Sure thing, Twi’.” The pair set off for the tree at a subdued stride. “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“It was a mistake to assume whatever creature that’s doing this is coming out of the Everfree Forest.” A crease formed in the middle of Rainbow’s brow; the lavender pony sounded exceptionally tired. “We’ll keep watch around town and try to catch it in the act.” The pair neared the library and Rainbow began to hang back. Opening the door in a glow of magic, Twilight turned pleading eyes on the pegasus. “Would you like to come inside?”
Rainbow followed her marefriend in through the front door. “You okay, Twi’? It’s gettin’ kinda late…”
The unicorn bit her lip, casting her gaze around the dark room. Shadows loomed from bookcases, concealing corners in inky blackness. Everywhere contained a potential predator, one that could smash her far more easily than a pony statue. She locked her knees to keep from trembling, focusing her attention back on the pegasus. “Would, um, you mind spending the night here?” She looked away quickly as Rainbow straightened in surprise. “I’m feeling kinda…rattled.”
“…Yeah, sure Twi’. Whatever you need.” She followed Twilight upstairs, frowning as she noticed the purple mare jerk in response to the low grown of a creaky riser. They crept quietly into Twilight’s bedroom and climbed up to the loft, careful to not wake the dozing dragon splayed out haphazardly in his basket. Twilight slid under her sheets and pulled them up to her chin. Rainbow Dash dropped her voice to a whisper. “So, um, I know you have a guest bed I can set up; where is it?”
A glow of magenta surrounded the daredevil and lifted her off the ground. She suppressed a shocked cry as she was involuntarily hefted onto the bed and pulled under the covers. Purple hooves grasped around her middle as soon as she could move again. “Please, Rainbow,” Twilight murmured, “I know we’ve only been dating for a month and this is maybe too much to ask, but…whatever’s out there…” A wing unfurled and wrapped around the mare, pulling her close. She released a heavy breath slowly, letting her nerves wash off her shoulders. Snuggling into the soft blue fur of her mare’s chest, she mumbled, “You are way better than any blanket.”
Rainbow Dash kissed the top of her head and held her tightly.
Early morning sunlight cut through the windows and caught Twilight and Rainbow’s eyelids simultaneously. They huddled into each other in response. The pegasus was first to break through the haze of sleep to lucidity and cracked open an eye.
Indigo hair swirled out on the pillow, glinting luxuriously in the merry rays. Twilight’s face was pressed into her neck and both a foreleg and hindleg were draped over her sides. Her own legs were encircling her marefriend and one wing was still extended. She flicked her tail and felt a tug that suggested it was entwined with Twilight’s tail under the blankets.
A warm smile spread across her face as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. She lifted a hoof and ran it softly through the long straight strands of the unicorn’s mane. At her gentle touch, Twilight stirred, hooves stretching and back arching as she yawned. Rainbow was pretty sure ‘adorable’ didn’t quite cover it.
Snuggling back into her warm blanket of safety, Twilight opened her eyes. As choppy locks of color invaded her vision, she straightened up and found magenta eyes waiting for her.
Running her hoof along Twilight’s mane again, Rainbow whispered, “Mornin’, Twi’.”
A small smile on her lips, Twilight whispered back, “Good morning.”
“Sleep okay?”
The unicorn’s grin widened and she pulled her marefriend close, pressing their muzzles together in a brief flurry of lingering pecks. Leaning back again, she said brightly, “Better than I have in ages.”
Spike grumbled and sat up in his basket, glaring over the foot of the bed. “Oh, barf.” He ducked the pillow Twilight winged at his head and snickered. Rainbow pegged him with hers.
After breakfast, the two mares spent the day together reading books, planning a route for their watch that night, and snuggling on the couch. Shortly after lunch, Rainbow was pleased to be on the receiving end of the make out session she was looking for the previous day. Twilight was more than happy to indulge her.
At dusk they left the library and began to make their rounds, looping through the winding streets of Ponyville in a pattern that brought them quickly through the entire town in a loop, keeping their eyes and ears primed for any suspicious activity. As they trotted through the early evening shadows, Twilight felt the knot in her stomach that had untied over the course of the relaxing day with Rainbow Dash begin to reweave itself. Glancing around a little too rapidly, she lost her footing and stumbled into the pegasus.
“You okay, Twi’?” The sky blue mare frowned, her brows drawn together in concern.
“Y-yes…” She looked away, her ears flat on her head. “Just a little nervous…”
“Hey.” She stopped and turned to face her marefriend directly, emphatic strength injected into her words. “You know that whatever it is, I’ll protect you, right?” Puffing out her chest, she boasted, “Nothin’s gonna get through the Rainbow Dash.”
The unicorn smiled weakly, pressing her side up against her marefriend as they continued their rounds. Almost absent-mindedly, she floated her magnifying glass out of her saddlebag, holding it close to her head in mulberry light. Its presence was a comfort; Twilight was the one in control, not some horrible drooling monster intent on tearing her lovely home apart piece by innocent piece. Luna’s moon rose steadily overhead as they scanned street after street.
A steady thump echoed down an alleyway. The two mares stopped short and exchanged glances. Rainbow hopped off the ground and hovered a few feet in the air, gliding silently down the narrow passage. Twilight followed carefully, her hoofsteps drowned out by the sounds of banging metal and her own thundering heart hammering in her ears. The pull down metal delivery door to the back of a shop vibrated with each crash. Twilight’s eyes raked over the shaking entryway; the padlock hadn’t been removed so much as torn from its latch, lying bent and twisted on the ground.
The pegasus landed next to her trembling partner, wings extended in an intimidating display, feathers and chest puffed out in defiance. She whispered, “It almost sounds like something’s talking in there.” The purple mare bit her shaking lip, a frightened squeak the only noise escaping her vocal cords. “I know some monsters can talk…” She winced as the banging grew louder. Her voice cracked as she continued, “I…I think there might be more than one whatever's in there…and they’re agreeing with each other a lot…” Glancing at Twilight, she almost felt the terror coming off the unicorn’s coat in hot waves. This was bad. Before her nerve could break she remembered her promise and closed the gap between herself and her marefriend, wrapping a wing possessively around the pony.
Eyes narrowed and hardened, she gave Twilight a sharp nod. Swallowing the lump caught in her throat and locking her knees, the unicorn grasped the door in her magic and swung it open. She gasped, the glow surrounding her magnifying glass winking out.
Thick, corded muscles enrobed in dusky red bulged and relaxed, pressed and rubbing against lily white feathers and fur. Swarthy orange draped over tawny yellow. Teeth gnashed between heated pants, grunts echoing as boxes were smashed to splinters and hoof dollies were hammered flat. A lime green shape leered from the darkness, speckled with black points.
Big Macintosh and Snowflake started when the glass lens shattered on the alleyway ground. Wide eyes turned towards the two mares. Rainbow Dash felt her face grow warm, then burning, then painful as she regarded the large, muscular older brother of her friend wrapped around the back of the meathead pegasus. Unthinkingly, she raised a hoof to block the traumatic scene from Twilight’s vision. As her hoof covered violet eyes, a purple hoof entered her line of sight. The foreleg brought solace to her eyes, but did nothing to save her poor ears from the wet pop that echoed down the alley when Big Mac scrambled backwards.
In a flash of light, two towels popped into existence and landed on top of each stallion. Twilight’s voice stammered uselessly for a moment until she broke into a yell. “It was you?! You were the ones that caused all this damage?!” Green eyes met red in the trashed storage room as they wrapped the towels around themselves. Big Mac looked down at the broken boxes and Snowflake began tapping his hooves together sheepishly. Twilight’s eye began twitching rapidly. “I spend hours researching vicious cryptozoological marvels, scare myself half to death, and for what?! A couple of stallions engaged in public bouts of-of carnal relations?!”
Rainbow Dash did her best to keep her voice even and informative. “I believe the common phrase for it is, ‘stud-rutting.’” On the last word, the pegasus’ voice stumbled, desperately attempting to contain the laughter that was threatening to spill out.
Twilight’s head swung around, eyes wide, her snout drawn back in snarling wrinkles, cheeks scarlet. “YOU’RE NOT HELPING!” She whipped back towards the stallions. Snowflake’s face was about the same color as Big Mac’s coat, and the earth pony’s face was nearly black from his blush. “I’m glad you both found a special somepony, but seriously, get a damn bed!”
Big Mac stammered out, “We, er, uh, eeyup, uh…” before trailing off.
The bulky pegasus sheepishly continued, “Kinda…break beds…Yeah…”
Twilight wouldn’t be surprised if smoke was pouring from her ears. “I don’t care! Now you’re breaking Ponyville! Go buy a blasted wrestling ring!” The two perked up, catching each other’s eyes in dawning recognition. They both looked off towards the center of Ponyville. Twilight suspected they were actually contemplating the gym. “You two better apologize to everypony who had something wrecked! Now get out of here!”
They stood and darted down the alley, heads lowered, looking anywhere but the fuming unicorn. When they got to the street, they broke out in a full gallop in the direction of Town Hall.
Rainbow Dash collapsed onto her belly, hammering her hooves against the cobbled ground. She howled laughter into the night, tears streaming from her eyes. Teeth set in a lock-jaw grimace and eye twitching wildly, Twilight scooped her wailing marefriend up in a magenta glow and stomped back to the library. The blue mare’s cackles followed close behind her.
Twilight’s head of steam broke as she neared Golden Oaks Library. She slowed her pace, still dragging the giggling pegasus through the air. Rainbow Dash found herself floating into the library and up the stairs towards the unicorn’s bedroom and a sense of unease cut through her mirth. She was set back on her hooves next to the bed and watched Twilight light a candle on the bedside dresser. Rainbow thought she might start sweating; Twilight was avoiding looking at the pegasus as she slowly rounded the bed and gently shook Spike awake.
“Spike? Do you mind moving your basket downstairs for the night?” She flashed an unreadable eye at the blue mare, who swallowed heavily. “I need to have a chat with Rainbow.”
The little dragon yawned and stretched. “Alright, Twilight, if I have to.” Muttering, he waddled down to the lower loft. As the door shut behind him, Twilight stepped carefully over to the bed and sat down, her eyes trained on the floorboards.
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “So…uh…what’s up, Twi’? It’s uh, gettin’ kinda late and I should probably go soon…”
For a moment, Twilight just looked at the floor and kicked her hindlegs back and forth, pinkness still coloring her muzzle. Her voice barely carried to the blue mare’s ears. “Will you stay the night again?"
Worry was quickly replaced by relief and then confusion for the blue mare. “Uh…sure Twi’. Are, uh, are you still scared?”
“N-no…” She raised her head and locked their gazes, purple eyes shining in the low light of the candle. “Seeing Mac and Snowflake like that…was…” Twin pools of violet began scanning over the pegasus. Rainbow Dash felt a tingle run up her spine. There was no other way to read that look; Twilight was sizing her up with hunger. The dam holding the unicorn’s voice back seemed to break, words spilling rapidly from her mouth. “It was so exciting Rainbow! I know we haven’t been dating that long and if you’re not ready I understand, but if you want to—”
In a chromatic blur, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were under the covers. The slipstream blew out the candle in their wake. The pegasus wrapped her hooves around Twilight, sticking her muzzle into a velvety lavender ear and growling, “I’m not much for memorizing quotes, Twi’, but this one stuck with me: ‘It is my weakness, it has always been my weakness, to desire to show off.’ That sound good to you?”
Twilight purred in response.