//------------------------------// // Ch. 25 - Mamma // Story: The Monster in the Twilight // by Georg //------------------------------// The Monster in the Twilight Mamma Mothers are the most dangerous of monsters. A peaceful bear will turn into a roaring beast if they see a threat between them and their cubs. Even a peaceful pony can become a terror of sharp hooves and biting teeth when their foal is in danger. So when a monster’s cubs are threatened, even the giants of the Everfree walk carefully. The manticore snuffed uneasily while glaring out into the night. Dawn had arrived earlier, but only briefly, before being swallowed again by the hungry darkness. Now her little cubs squalled and fussed at being hedged inside the cave by their overprotective mother, hungry and bored, wanting to explore the dangerous world even though they too could sense the unnatural air that hung over the night. A noise disturbed the darkness, and the manticore rushed to the entrance of her cave to listen. It sounded like a creature with uneven steps, perhaps sick or wounded. Food would keep her little cubs warm and happy, and not out in the dangerous woods becoming food for something larger than themselves. She prowled to the bush outside her cave to peek at the creature passing by— —and promptly returned to her cave to chivvy the little manticores back inside. The purple creature was not to be trifled with at any time. Now, it looked sick and even more erratic, muttering to itself while it moved in a flickering gait through the clearing by vanishing every step and reappearing yards away, leaving little divots of moved earth no larger than a paw print in its wake. Far better for the mother manticore to quietly whet her claws on a nearby boulder and find some easier prey. Sooner than she had expected, another creature came down the path with a growing buzzing rattle that echoed through the air of the clearing. Chasing her little cubs back into the cave and giving the disobedient brats a fierce growl to keep them there, the mother manticore prowled back out to the bush outside her cave. This time she remained in place, watching the bizarre parade of little colorful cubs pass by. They looked like the purple one’s cubs. They sounded like the purple one’s cubs. They even smelled like the purple one’s cubs, with that strange changing scent they always had whenever the purple one had brought them to the clearing. The manticore lurked until they had safely gone down the pockmarked path after the purple one, then crept out to the clearing to check. Score. Several tiny little eggs had been scattered along their trail, which she quickly scooped up and took back to the cave to share with her little cubs. Each of them seemed to explode with flavors she never had experienced before, although they did make the cubs dash around the cave with far more energy. The little niblets of food were not enough to feed the cubs, but whatever wandered through the clearing next certainly would. A muttering noise overlaid the regular clop of fast-moving hooves this time as the mother manticore chased her overexcited cubs back into the cave, although she had to threaten them severely before she could make it back to her bush to observe what was trekking through the clearing. It looked tasty. It smelled far more than tasty. The faint whiff of sweat that drifted through the clearing air wafted across her nostrils with the delicate appeal of the most delicious wounded herbivore, young and fat with veins of marbling and a juicy liver. It was too good to be true. It had to be a trap. She hurried back to her cave, catching her little cubs as they scuttled around in all directions, dragging them all back inside and pinning them to the ground until the dangerous bait passed by. Nothing was that good to eat. Whatever was using it as bait must have been far more dangerous than she. However, after the delicious-smelling creature had gone on its way and nothing lurked in its wake, she began to think that perhaps she had been mistaken. The wailing cries of her hungry little cubs triggered a sense of regret, but before she could set out to catch up with the delicious little snack, she heard the sounds of even more creatures coming through the clearing. A herd of herbivores. The easiest thing to hunt. All it would take is one powerful roar to stupefy them in place and a vigorous pounce with a swipe through their midst to cripple one or more of them before they scattered. She dragged her cubs to the bush and cuffed them until they remained still. They would need to learn how to hunt if they were to survive, and the little cubs made tiny little growls and thrashed their stingers as they impatiently waited on their prey. Finally, the herd of herbivores galloped into view, and the mother manticore leapt forward with a mighty roar! * * * The screams of the frightened ponies were overwhelmed by a powerful voice, shouting, “Behold, as the Great and Powerful Trixie vanquishes this terrible beast from the Everfree Forest! Marvel at her skill, her power over the forces of nature, her ability to bend the very rules of creation to smite—” “Oooh, they’re so cute!” “To smite… To… Fluttershy! Will you please stop playing with the monster’s little spawn? I’m trying to vanquish it!” “I’m sorry, but they’re just so adorable! Yes, you are! Yes, you are too! Those cute little eyes and darling little paws—” “And tiny poisonous stingers,” grumbled Trixie to herself, because nopony else was listening, far too busy staring at the little butter-yellow pegasus with three little manticore cubs tumbling over her, and the mother looking on with detached concern. “Raarhuuh.” “Oh, I’m sorry Missus Manticore. I know they need to get their sleep, or they’ll be cranky in the morning.” “Fluttershy,” said Trixie quietly while trying not to grind her teeth. “If we don’t get going, they won’t have a morning.” “Sorry! I’m sorry. I’ll come back later, would that be all right?” Trixie muttered to herself while the rest of the group trotted down the path, giving a frustrated, “Finally!” as Fluttershy caught up. It took The Great and Powerful Trixie a moment to realize just exactly was different about the shy yellow pegasus, but once she realized what it was, she could not restrain herself. “Fluttershy!” The pony in question nearly leapt straight up with a shrill, “Eep? Yes?” “Put. It. Back.” With a heartfelt sigh, Fluttershy landed and parted her mane, nudging the baby manticore concealed inside back onto the ground and back to her mother with a soft cry of, “Don’t worry! I’ll come back later and we can play then.” The disguised zebra moved up beside Trixie while Fluttershy ran off to rejoin her friends with frequent backwards glances at the manticore family. “Do you see what is behind the heart of one so kind?” Trixie growled, taking the bottle of bourbon out of her cloak and looking at it for a moment before sticking it back into her cloak. “I’m starting to think we’re the only sane ones here.” The pink ‘alicorn’ smiled just the tiniest little smile and patted Trixie on the back. “We? Not me. For twelve years I’ve lived in my forest tree, with only my daughter for company. We zebra are a herding kind. Such solitude is damaging to our minds.” “I wasn’t talking to you.”