An hour later, Rainbow Dash came flying back to Sweet Apple Acres with Scootaloo not far behind racing on her scooter. Twilight stood at the door waiting for them. Scootaloo got off her scooter, took her helmet off, and walked towards Twilight. Twilight also noticed that Scootaloo had a black eye, for she knew it had something to do with yesterday.
“Hey, Twilight,” Scootaloo said. “Rainbow Dash told me you wanted to see me.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, it’s about yesterday. There’s even something we want you to see. I promise that it’s safe. And if you promise not to be scared, we’ll let you in on it.”
Scootaloo scratched her head, unsure of what was going on. “Uh… yeah, sure, I guess.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay. Come in.”
“Let’s go in, squirt.” Rainbow Dash said.
Scootaloo walked through the door and entered the house. She soon stopped in the middle of the living room. The others moved out of her line of vision to reveal Abacus sitting on the sofa. The moment she saw him, she let out a shocked gasp, for she recognized who the pony was, and began to back away in fear.
“It’s alright, Scoots,” Apple Bloom said. “He won’t hurt ya.”
Scootaloo blinked in shock. “Hurt me? He’s the one that was in our club house that everypony in town's been talking about. He’s a murderer!”
“He is NOT a murderer!” Apple Bloom shouted.
Lawful Eye placed a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder. “It’s fine, Apple Bloom. Your friend doesn’t know the whole story.”
Scootaloo, still scared that she was in the same room with Abacus turned her attention to Lawful Eye. “Who are you?”
“I am Lawful Eye," Lawful Eye said. "Investigator detective from Fillydelphia.”
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Detective? So you’re a policemare?”
Lawful Eye nodded. “That’s right. And I need to ask you some questions. But I think you have the right to know the whole story.”
The Main Six, and Lawful Eye sat Scootaloo down, got a copy of the paper from yesterday, and told Scootaloo everything for a good long while.
“And that’s the whole story.” Twilight said.
“So he’s innocent?” Scootaloo asked.
Lawful Eye nodded. “Yes. Now, I need to ask you some questions. First: Apple Bloom said you got that black eye yesterday by banging your head on the door of your club house. Is that true?”
“Yeah.” Scootaloo rubbed her black eye with her hoof. “We tried to get our cutie marks in burglar busting, but that was a fail.”
Lawful Eye tilted her head. “You what?”
“It’s our secret society,” Apple Bloom said. “We call ourselves "The Cutie Mark Crusaders". We’re on a crusade to find our special talents, an' ta earn our cutie marks.”
“We have another friend who’s a crusader too. Her name is Sweetie Belle. But she’s gone on vacation with her parents during the summer.”
“I see." Lawful Eye looked at Scootaloo sternly. "Well, if that's true, why did you say that Abacus hit you?”
“I didn’t!” Scootaloo said.
Rainbow Dash placed her hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. “Squirt. I think you better tell us what happen.”
“An' we want the truth, sugarcube.” Applejack said.
Scootaloo looked nervous as everyone in the room locked their focus on her. Thinking she might be in trouble, she hesitated to speak.
“You’re not in trouble, little filly.” Lawful Eye said calmly. “But we need to know what happened.”
Even though it was plainly clear that she was not in trouble, she still felt that she was. Knowing there was no way out of this, Scootaloo sighed as she decided to give in, and talk. “Okay. I’ll talk.”
Everyone in the room came closer to hear Scootaloo’s story on what happened. Scootaloo took a deep breath and began to talk. “You see... Yesterday, after the incident that morning, we didn’t worry much about it because nothing was taken. Then when I was riding home, I saw many ponies in town carrying a newspaper. So I came closer to see what the excitement was.”
________________________________________________________________
Yesterday...
Scootaloo rode through the main street of Ponyville on her scooter, her wings making the iconic buzzing, motorized sound as it always did. She winced a bit as she felt the pain on the right side of her face, for it still felt a little tender from hitting her head due to her and Apple Bloom's encounter with Abacus not to long before. She took a short-cut through the market place when she noticed to her left hand side that there was a large crowd of ponies gather around the newspaper stand. Curious to what was going on, she made her way towards the crowd, and poked the attention of the nearest ponies in the crowd, which turn out to be Caramel and Lucky Clover.
“Hey, what’s all the excitement?” Scootaloo asked.
Caramel turned to Scootaloo. “The murderer, Abacus Sum is out of prison.”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “Abacus Sum?”
Another pony, Lucky Clover turned around to face Scootaloo. “Yes." He held out today’s copy of the Equestria Telegram to Scootaloo in his hoof. "This is him.”
Scootaloo took a good look at the front page with Abacus's mugshot photo. She blinked with realisation. “Hey! I saw that pony earlier.”
Caramel and Lucky Clover, along with a few other ponies who heard turned around quickly in shock. “WHAT?! You saw him?”
Scootaloo scratched her head. “Or somepony who looked like him.”
“Where?" Lucky Clover asked. "Where did you see him?!”
“At our clubhouse, at Sweet Apple Acres. We tried to catch him, but he got away." Scootaloo mildly winced from her sore black eye. "Burglar busting is painful.”
One mare, Amethyst Star, noticed Scootaloo's black eye. “Oh, dear. What happened to your eye?”
“Did he hit you?!” Caramel asked.
“Well, I-I think-”
Before Scootaloo could explain any further on what happened, Amethyst Star shouted out to the crowd, instantly getting their attention. “Did you hear that, everypony?! This poor little filly was assaulted by Abacus!”
“That monster!”
The crowd began to yell and shout with anger at what they were just told, drowning out Scootaloo's denials at that statement. Knowing that her words could not be heard, she remained silent throughout the rest of the whole thing.
________________________________________________________________
Back in the present...
Everyone in the room was shocked at what they were hearing as Scootaloo finished her retelling of what happened.
“And that’s what happened.” Scootaloo said.
“So, you did say he hit you?” Twilight asked.
Scootaloo shook her head. “No! I tried to tell them that I got the black eye from hitting the door, but they wouldn’t listen to me. So I kept my mouth shut.”
“You what?!” Rainbow Dash asked.
Scootaloo turned to Rainbow Dash. “I didn’t mean to. I swear. Please don’t be mad at me.”
Rainbow Dash's face turned red with frustration. “Mad? Oh, I'm beyond that! You have no clue on what you’ve just done!”
Scootaloo dropped her head shamefully, with tears beginning to form in her little filly eyes. “I…I’m sorry.”
Rainbow Dash snarled. “Sorry? You're SORRY?! That’s not good enou-!"
“That’s enough, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said. "I understand your anger. But Scootaloo isn’t to blame.”
Lawful Eye nodded. “She’s right. It’s obvious that the townsfolk assumed that Abacus assaulted Scootaloo. Fear and hatred can make others not think straight, and make one jump to conclusions without knowing the truth. Small town, small minds. She didn’t really do anything wrong.”
Rainbow Dash soon turned her attention to Scootaloo, whose head was down in shameful guilt, and had a tear running down her young gamboge coloured cheek.
Rainbow Dash sighed with guilt. “Oh, okay. I’m sorry, kiddo. I didn’t mean to get mad at you. You didn’t know.”
Scootaloo sniffled. “But I still caused this.”
Rainbow Dash put her hoof under Scootaloo's chin. “Listen, kiddo. You didn’t realize the truth about Abacus, and you didn’t know how the town would think of it.”
“That’s right,” Apple Bloom said. “Cheer up, Scootaloo. Ya can make up for it by tryin’ ta help with Abacus.”
Rainbow Dash smiled at Scootaloo to make her better. “Just remember one thing for next time. Whenever something happens that you're not sure about, come tell me or one of us first. Okay, little buddy?”
Scootaloo looked up, and rubbed away any tears that managed to escape from her eyes. She then put on a slow, relieving smile. “Okay, Rainbow Dash. I promise I will.”
Rainbow Dash petted Scootaloo’s mane. “That’s my little buddy.”
Scootaloo quickly began to feel better, for it always made her feel good to have a proud moment with her idol. She gave one more sniffle to clear the mucus from her nose. At the same time, she suddenly paused like if something got her attention. This made the others look at her with a what’s-the-matter look on their faces. Before long, Scootaloo was sniffing with her nose in the air like a dog.
“UGH!” Scootaloo winced and quickly covered her nose with her hoof. “What is that awful smell?!”
“Smell?” Rainbow sniffed the air, and like Scootaloo, winced, and quickly covered her nose with her hoof. “Pee-ew! That smell.”
“Oogh!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Land sakes!” Applejack said.
Apple Bloom, with her hoof over her nose, turned to Big Mac. “Uh, Big Mac? Did ya just...ya know...let Fluffy off the leash?”
Big Mac, with his hoof over his nose, shook his head, knowing good and well what his little sister was implying. “Nnope.”
“Well, where is that smell coming from?” Twilight asked.
Lawful Eye bravely uncovered her nose to try and find the source of the smell. Apple Bloom, noticing this, joined her in the search. They searched for a while until they came close to Abacus, who was still sitting sad, and quiet in that same spot on the sofa the whole time. Lawful Eye sniffed close by to Abacus, and gasped with surprised, for she took two small steps back knowing that she found the source of the awful smell. Abacus himself.
“Oh, dear,” Lawful Eye said. “It’s you, Abi.”
Everyone in the room turned towards the depressed, filthy, scruffy earth pony still sitting on the sofa. Abacus sadly looked away, embarrassed and ashamed that he was smelly.
“Oh my!” Rarity cleared her throat. “No offence, Abacus darling, but you really do need a bath. You smell like you haven’t bathed in days.
Applejack went to the door. “Well, ah better get the tub outside ready.”
“And when you’re all fresh and clean, Abacus, I’ll give you a little make-over, and a haircut.” Rarity said.
Applejack then noticed that Apple Bloom had some of the smell from Abacus as she walked past her to head outside. “An' Apple Bloom. Ya better take a bath too.”
Apple Bloom sniffed herself, and winced realizing she smelt like Abacus. “Alright.”
Outside, Abacus and Apple Bloom were each sitting in a wooden tub full of bubbly, soapy water getting washed. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity tended to clean Abacus, while Applejack and Scootaloo tended to Apple Bloom.
Scootaloo accidentally knocks Apple Bloom in the face with a long scrubbing brush. “Hey! Watch it.”
“Sorry.” Scootaloo said with the scrubbing brush in her mouth.
Scootaloo started to scrub the top of Apple Bloom's head. Soapy bubbles began to form and grow on top of Apple Bloom's head as Scootaloo scrubbed her with the scrubbing brush. Apple Bloom focused her eyes on Abacus in the tub close by next to her. She saw that Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy were scrubbing Abacus very thoroughly. Their scrubbing forming a build-up of bubbles faster than on her side, which soon engulfed Abacus in thick, white, soapy bubbles. Finding that amusing, she gave a quiet, sweet giggle before Applejack dumped a bucket of clean water to rinse Apple Bloom off.
“OOH!” Apple Bloom jumped surprisingly, after getting rinsed and began to shiver. “That’s cold!”
Applejack tilted her head. “Cold? It couldn’t be. Ah checked it just a few moments ago.”
Applejack put her hoof into the empty, but still wet wooden pail, only to feel that it was ice cold instead of warm. Her confusion quickly changed when she heard the sound of familiar giggling. She turned her head to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who were standing around alongside with Lawful Eye watching the whole time, beginning to giggle amusingly. After seeing another identical pale right next to them, Applejack then realized that they had switched them behind her back as a funny prank.
“Oh, Rainbow, Pink.” Applejack chuckled and shook her head.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie right away shift their giggling to a burst of laughter. Soon almost everyone began to laugh along. Lawful Eye, who had seen what Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had did, found it hard to keep a straight face. She put a hoof over her lips and laughed quietly. Abacus did not laugh, for he was still quiet and depressed underneath the mountain of bubbles. He then felt the sudden splash of warm water from Fluttershy's bucket drenching him from the top of his head.
“Sorry, Abacus.” Fluttershy said.
Soon enough, Abacus was all clean. Twilight and Fluttershy helped Abacus out of the tub, and lead him into the barn, where Rarity was going to give him a haircut.
Rarity guided Abacus to a little stool in front of a mirror that she and Applejack set up earlier. "Now you sit here, darling.”
Abacus sat himself down on the stool. When he came face-to-face with his own reflection, he flinched, closed his eyes, and turned away at the sight of his horribly scarred face.
Rarity then started to wrap a towel around Abacus’s shoulders as she prepared to cut his mane. "I remember very well how you always had your mane, dear. You had such wonderful hair.”
Abacus said nothing. Rarity began to levitate a pair of hair-cutting scissors with her magic, and then began to cut Abacus’s hair. The minutes ticked by, and for the whole time, Abacus kept his eyes tight shut. After a while, Rarity was at last finished.
“There you are, darling.” Rarity said kindly, as she took the towel off his shoulders. “You’re starting to look like your old, handsome self again.”
Abacus did not look. It was saddening for Rarity to see this stallion refusing to look at himself in the mirror, but she understood that it was not without a reason. For she knew that she would be like that too if her beautiful face was horribly scarred like that.
“Well, let’s go outside, and show everypony how you look.” Rarity placing her hoof on Abacus’s shoulder. “Come along, dear.”
Rarity lead Abacus outside where everyone was waiting. Lawful Eye and the rest of the Main Six all smile to see Abacus all cleaned-up, for they all thought he looked a little more normal after a bath and a haircut.
Lawful Eye smiled. “You look nicer now, Abi.”
“I think you did a good job, Rarity.” Fluttershy said.
Rarity smiled. “Thank you, Fluttershy. I tried to remain faithful to how I remembered he looked.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who were playing fetch with Winona the dog, caught a glimpse of Rarity and Abacus emerging from inside the barn, and being admired by the others. They both quickly ran over excitedly to the others to see how Abacus looked.
“Abacus!” Apple Bloom called out as she and Scootaloo came running up to him.
“Wow!” Scootaloo said. “Rarity did an awesome job.”
Just then, Winona came rushing through past Apple Bloom and Scootaloo towards Abacus, barking happily with her tail wagging. Abacus suddenly screamed, and jumped backward against the barn door in fear. Applejack was confused and surprised.
“Hey, Abacus,” Applejack said. “It’s just Winona. Don’t ya remember her? She sure remembers you.”
Winona continued to come to him like the lovely natured dog that she was, with her tail still wagging and barking. Abacus continued to look at Winona with great terror in his eyes. His mind quickly began to morph the happy barking Winona in front of him, to a big savage looking black dog with blood-thirsty eyes, and sharp teeth barking viciously.
Abacus screamed and cried with real terror. He cringed on the ground, and huddling himself up into a ball in horrible fear.
Lawful Eye quickly rushed over to Abacus, and shielded him from Winona. “Get that dog away from him! Can’t you see he’s terrified?!”
Applejack whistled. “Come here, Winona! Here, girl!”
Winona came to Applejack on command all sad like if she had done something wrong. Lawful Eye then turned her attention to Abacus, who was all traumatized by Winona. He started to cry and whimper, and Lawful Eye put her hooves around him to try and calm him.
“It’s okay, Abi," Lawful Eye said. "It’s okay.”
Almost everyone was surprised and confused by what they had just witnessed. Twilight noticing everyone's confusion spoke out. “Has he always been afraid of dogs?”
“No,” Fluttershy said. “He actually loved dogs.”
“That’s right,” Applejack petted Winona who was whining sadly. “He was never terrified of Winona.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said. “An' Winona wouldn’t hurt anypony.”
Ten minutes later that day, the others were all waiting outside. Lawful Eye, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were inside with Abacus to calm him down from the incident with Winona. Just then, Applejack and Lawful Eye came out the door toward the others.
“How is Abacus?” Twilight asked.
Lawful Eye sighed. “He’s calmed down. But he’s still very upset.”
“I don’t understand,” Fluttershy said. “Abacus was never afraid of dogs.”
Applejack nodded. “Ah know. He never used ta be terrified of Winona either. An' those two were like good friends.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. “Lawful Eye? Do you happen to know anything about this?”
“Does it have somethin' ta do with his time in prison?” Applejack asked.
Lawful Eye could clearly see that they were all concerned about Abacus. She sighed, and decided to tell them. “I guess since you’re his friends, you have the right to know.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. Please tell us.”
Lawful Eye cleared her throat. “Alright then. While in prison, Abacus was a common victim of prison violence and abuse. He was abused verbally, psychologically, and physically, and it was all unprovoked.”
“No surprise,” Rainbow Dash said. “Hoofstrong Prison Center is considered the worst prison in Equestria. All those dangerous prisoners in there must’ve made his life a misery.”
Lawful Eye closed her eyes. “The prisoners? No. It wasn’t the prisoners who abused him." She opened her eyes with a glare of anger and disgust through her glasses. "It was the prison guards.”
The Main Six's eyes widened in shock in unison. “The prison guards?!”
Lawful Eye nodded. “Yes. All of the prisoners sent to Hoofstrong Prison Center suffered like Abacus. The guards of Hoofstrong Prison Center abused them in all the forms you can think of. Especially Armstrong.”
“Armstrong?” Twilight asked.
Lawful Eye nodded. “He was a minotaur who was the warden of Hoofstrong Prison Center. He’s a bash artist, a bully, and a sadist. He did whatever he wanted to the prisoners. He’s a heartless tyrant. He was shamelessly cruel. He even owned a savage guard dog that was as evil, and sadistic as him, and would viciously attack anypony who came near it, or at Armstrong’s command.”
Fluttershy's eyes widened. “So you’re saying…?”
“Yes." Lawful Eye's eyes slightly looked at the door of the Applejack's house. "The horrific scarring you see on Abacus’s face was caused by that very same dog. Armstrong commanded it to attack him." Lawful Eye growled. "And it was for no reason, except for his guards and his own sick, sadistic satisfaction.”
The Main Six were all mixed with shock, sadness, and anger from what they had just heard. Hearing that someone would do something so evil and cruel to an innocent, defenseless pony just for sheer pleasure.
“That monster!” Fluttershy said through gritted teeth.
“Well, it ain’t no wonder he’s so terrified of dogs.” Applejack said.
Rainbow Dash pounded her hoof fist with a face of anger. “What I wouldn’t give for just five minutes alone with that bastard!”
“You’ll have to wait your turn!” Rarity growled. “That beast ruined Abacus’s beautiful face. I’d love to rip him to pieces for doing such an unforgivable crime against fabulosity!”
“That’s just horrible.” Twilight said.
Lawful Eye growled. “Horrible isn’t enough to describe the kind of monstrosity that was discovered there.”
“You’re right! Horrible isn’t enough! I’d say disgraceful! Disgusting! Despicable! Abso-defi-posi-lutely Devastatingfully unforgivable!!" Pinkie Pie suddenly paused. "…Wait. Is Devastatingfully even a word? Maybe I should look it up in my diction-”
“We get the picture, Pinkie!” The rest of the Main Six said in unison.
“Oh, uhh…okay.” Pinkie Pie said.
Lawful Eye sighed. “Anyway. For that whole time Abacus was in prison, he quickly became one of Armstrong’s personal favorite targets. The guards he had there were not just made up of ponies, but of some griffons too. And the most disgusting of all, he let his guards beat, torture, starve, and even rape them. Armstrong and his guards did all that to all those prisoners, including Abacus.”
“Oh, please stop!” Fluttershy pleads. “I’ve heard enough.”
“Ah think we all have,” Applejack said. “Ah’d not even dare imagine what they did ta him in there.”
Lawful Eye adjusted her glasses. “I don’t blame any of you. I was absolutely disgusted by what I found out too.”
“Well, what I want to know is, why wasn’t that sick bastard, Armstrong busted?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Lawful Eye put on a serious face. “The answer is obvious. The prison was corrupted and rogue. Nothing went in or out of that place. They didn’t even allow visitors from family, friends, lawyers, or even investigators, because they didn’t want any evidence of abuse and torture getting out. Whenever somepony came to see a prisoner there, they would turn them away.”
“Then how did you get word about all this?” Twilight asked.
Lawful Eye glanced at Twilight. “Somepony from inside the prison brought the information to me. In exchange for a lighter sentence in his role in all the abuse to all the prisoners.”
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “His role?”
“Ya mean a guard from the prison gave ya this information?” Applejack asked.
“Correct,” Lawful Eye said. “But I don’t want to go into too much information, for court reasons. Right now, we need to work out accommodation arrangements to keep Abacus safe.”
Twilight nodded. “I agree. It’s obvious that the whole town knows by now that Abacus is here in Ponyville.”
“True,” Applejack said. “But since they all suspect that he’s here, an' because of Winona bein’ around here too, ah don’t think Abacus would really want ta stay here at Sweet Apple Acres. So where else is he gonna stay?”
There was a long moment of silent thinking amongst the Main Six. They all knew that Abacus needed a new place to stay, But the question among each of them was: who would take him?
“Well, um...” Fluttershy spoke suddenly, catching the attention of the others. “I suppose he could stay with me.”
“That’s a great idea!” Pinkie Pie said.
“But, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Are you sure? You have lots of animals at your cottage, and you saw what Abacus was like with Winona.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I do. But I know for sure that I don’t have any dogs. Abacus can stay with me.”
Rarity smiled. “Fluttershy, darling. You’re a real saint.”
“And what about you, Lawful Eye?" Twilight asked. "Do you have somewhere to stay? If not, you can stay at my place, if you’d like.”
Lawful Eye rubbed her chin. “Well, I was going to go into town and find a hotel to stay in." She smiled. "But since you generously offered to accommodate me. Sure. I accept it.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s settled then. Detective Lawful Eye will stay with me, while Abacus stays with Fluttershy.”
“Well, I better take Abacus to my cottage.” Fluttershy said.
“Sure thing, Fluttershy. He’s sittin’ in the living room with Apple Bloom an' Scootaloo." Applejack looked at Winona. “Oh! An' ah'll also shut Winona inside the barn, so that she don’t scare him again.”
Applejack took Winona into the barn, and shut her up inside, while Fluttershy made her way towards the front door, and entered into the house to get Abacus. Then Lawful Eye turned to Twilight as she was ready to head to her place at the Goldern Oak Library in town.
“So where is your place, Twilight?” Lawful Eye asked.
Twilight turned to Lawful Eye. “Oh, it’s in town. As soon as Abacus and Fluttershy come out, we’ll get going.”
Just then, they could hear Fluttershy speaking to Abacus, kindly trying to convince him to come out. “Come on, Abacus. It’s okay. Winona’s shut inside the barn. You can come out.”
Abacus soon came out slowly, looking around him like a little, cautious, timid animal to see if Winona was still outside.
Fluttershy placed her hoof on Abacus’s shoulder. “You’re going to stay with me. And don’t worry. I don’t have any dogs at my cottage. But I do have other animals.”
“Well, let’s go.” Twilight said.
Rarity handled her mane. “I think we should all go home now.”
“You said it.” Rainbow Dash stretched.
“Well, see y’all later.” Applejack said.
“Gotta dash.” Rainbow Dash took off into the distance with a whoosh, followed by a rainbow trail behind her.
All the other ponies started to make their way out of Sweet Apple Acres, and down the road. Before long, they reached the crossroad that went to one of two ways. One way obviously went to Ponyville, while the other went to Fluttershy’s cottage.
“Well, my cottage is just down this road.” Fluttershy said. “We better be on our way.”
Twilight nodded. “Sure. I’ll see you later, Fluttershy.”
Lawful Eye gently patted Abacus's shoulder with her hoof. “We’ll all come see you soon, Abi. Okay?”
“...Okay.” Abacus said, with his head down in a depressed tone.
Fluttershy waved at Twilight, Lawful Eye, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. “Bye-bye.”
Lawful Eye watched as Fluttershy escorted Abacus down the road that lead to her cottage, walking slowly. As Lawful Eye watch them getting smaller the further they walked down, Twilight could see that Lawful Eye was concerned for Abacus’s well-being.
Twilight placed her hoof on Lawful Eye's shoulder. “It’s alright, detective. I assure you that Abacus is in good hooves.”
“I hope so,” Lawful Eye said. “I really do.”
Rarity sighed. “Well, then. Let’s get a move on.”
Twilight nodded. “Sure.”
“Hey, Twilight?” Lawful Eye asked.
Twilight turned her head to look at Lawful Eye. “Yes.”
Lawful Eye gave a mild smile. “Thank you...for all the things you and your friends here are doing. Helping Abacus, and accommodating me.”
Twilight smiled. “You’re welcome. After all, helping out one another is what friends do.”
“Oh!” Pinkie Pie bounced alongside the others. “I think you’ll love Twilight’s place. It’s a library built inside a big huge tree. Lots of books to read. And you’ll get to meet Spike.”
Lawful Eye tilted her head. “Spike?”
“Yes," Twilight said. "He’s my most faithful assistant who lives with me. Oh. And just in case, he’s a baby dragon.”
Lawful Eye blinked. “A baby dragon? How did you come across one of them?”
Twilight chuckled. “It’s a long story.”
As they all walked toward Ponyville, the sun began to set in the distance. Lawful Eye knew that trying to help Abacus get back into society was not going to be easy, but at least she had a bit of help from some ponies in town. They also knew that first thing tomorrow it was the beginning of the challenge that lay ahead.