My Little Background Pony: New Neighbors

by comicfan616


Answers at the Library

Turner had a couple of books due anyway, so he would have gone to the library regardless of Applejack’s disappearance; both facts were merely part of a “two birds” metaphor in his mind. He put the books in his saddlebag and made his trek to the library. Unlike most of the other houses and buildings around town, Ponyville’s library was carved into a tree. It never ceased to amaze him how resourceful and clever ponies were.

Turner had come here on his first day in town. Because of his exile, which would last “until further notice,” he needed to support himself, and that included finding a job. One of the places he considered was the library. The proprietor, Twilight Sparkle, wanted some assistance on the actual running of the library, since her other assistant, a baby dragon named Spike, was busy taking care of the housekeeping and such. He eventually decided against it in favor of Clockworks; the previous owner was retiring and Twilight could still handle things well enough on her own.

Even so, Turner always enjoyed reading a good book. Even after he turned her down, he made it a point to visit every so often. He and Twilight became good friends rather quickly, thanks in part to their love of intelligence.

Turner approached the door and knocked. The door became covered in an aura of bright purple and swung open. Turner walked in and saw a unicorn mare, lavender with a mostly blue mane, save for two streaks of purple and pink along the center. Her cutie mark was a pink, six-pointed starburst surrounded by five white sparkles.

“Turner,” Twilight Sparkle greeted. “Nice to see you again.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, Miss Sparkle,” he replied.

“I told you,” Twilight said, “call me Twilight.”

Turner just ignored her. “I’ve brought those books back for you.” He slipped off his saddlebag and pulled out his books. He called them off as Twilight grabbed with her magic. “Platrot on the Universe and Lightning Strike and the Philosopher’s Stone. Can you believe I’ve never read the series until now?”

“Exactly how out of the loop were you during your travels?”

“So much so that I just never found the time.” Twilight chuckled and put the books on the desk in the center of the room.

“Is there anything I can help you with today?” she asked.

“Well, this isn’t exactly book-related,” Turner answered, “but something has come up that I think you could help with.”

“What’s up?”

“Not more than an hour ago, I ran into a little filly by the name of Applebloom. Do you know her?”

“She’s a sister of a friend of mine. Why?”

“I thought so. That friend wouldn’t happen to be Applejack, would it?”

“Is something wrong?”

“I hope not, but evidently, Applejack has gone missing. Applebloom was asking around for her.”

“Missing? Are you sure?”

“The filly was wearing her sister’s Stetson.”

“Oh, I guess it is that bad.”

“And judging by your response, I can assume you know nothing of this.”

“I’m actually surprised I have to hear it from you instead of Applebloom. Applejack and her family were the first ponies I met when I moved here; we’ve been friends ever since. You’d think Applebloom would tell her sister’s friends about this.”

“She’s just young and confused and wants to find her sister as soon as possible.”

“I guess.” Twilight paused in thought. “But no, this is all entirely new to me. Although now that I think about it…”

Turner’s face twisted with confusion. “What is it?”

“Well, I didn’t think much about this,” Twilight started, “but with all that’s going on, there may be a connection.”

“Between what?”

“You know Rainbow Dash, right?”

Turner snorted a short laugh. “Hard to miss her. You can’t go a day without seeing a rainbow streak of some ki—!” He stopped himself. “Except I don’t remember seeing one at all today.”

“I didn’t even realize it until you told me about Applejack,” Twilight said.

“So what you’re saying is that we may have more than a simple disappearance on our hooves?”

“I’m hoping that’s not the case.”

Suddenly, there was a crash, like glass breaking. The two ponies looked up and saw something in a shattered window. Turner’s first instinct was to call it a pony, but he quickly abandoned that idea; the creature’s overall body was equine in appearance, but the details of its features were anything but. It had wings that resembled a giant bat’s, with large ears to complete the aesthetic. Its tail looked like a scorpion’s. It had two horns on the sides of its head, like a buffalo. Turner could also make out some kind of spur behind each of the hind legs, just above the hooves. It was snarling at them, revealing teeth that were sharper than a normal pony’s should be. Its overall body was a dark brown, with a mussed mane that was an even darker shade.

“Twilight,” Turner whispered.

“Yes?” Twilight sounded scared.

“When I give the word, run for the door.” Turner kept his eyes on the creature; it didn’t look like it was going to move anytime soon. “Now!” Both ponies ran toward the door, Twilight’s magic quickly throwing it open.

However, both were stopped by a sudden, almost tired, voice. “What’s happening?” The voice sounded like it was coming from upstairs. Turner cursed himself for not remembering sooner.

“Oh my gosh!” Twilight nearly shouted. “Spike!” She quickly ran back and headed for the stairs. Unfortunately, the creature had left its perch and tried to block her path. Twilight swerved to the side in an attempt to get past it. The creature flew up to her and spun sideways, causing its tail to connect with her skull. Twilight was blown aside into one of the bookshelves, causing the books to fall on her.

The creature landed and approached the pile. “Get away from her!” Turner demanded. He started to charge, but the creature lifted its tail, pointing the stinger end at him. A small stream of clear liquid came out of the point. Turner quickly stopped himself before the stream could reach him. But he moved back when a horrible smell invaded his nostrils. The creature fired a few more streams near the first one, the smell effectively keeping Turner away.

The creature then turned back to the fallen books. He dug through them until he found an unconscious Twilight. It picked her up and placed her on its back. Having claimed its prize, it flew off and out through the broken window. Turner went back to the door and tried to follow the path the creature took, but it was already gone.

“Man, try to take a nap and… Yikes!” Turner turned back into the library and saw Spike in the doorway to the living quarters; he was holding his nose and staring at the mess. “Turner? What happened here?” he asked.

Turner looked at the scene and back outside before replying, “I wish I knew.”