The Unicorn with Fire on Her Flank

by Noradora

Chapter 3: Duties

Darkness.

Everywhere, there was darkness.

Black as obsidian, all-encompassing. It consumed everything around it, blocking all light.

It was not a cruel darkness. Not at first. It was warm, welcoming. One could be content in its embrace, for it did not take out of greed, but because that which it took was readily offered. So long as the darkness was pleased, nothing else mattered.

Then something changed. Suddenly it was not so kind, so soothing. Now it devoured by choice, sinking its teeth into all it could, refusing to let anything escape its grasp.

The darkness was frightening. The darkness was beautiful. Even in the wake of its destruction, it was still terribly beautiful.

Then there was light. Precious light. Light of many colors, bright and pure. It warmed the barren landscape, allowing life to return.

The light was beautiful. But it did not banish the darkness...

~ ~ ~

Awakening with a groan, Wispwillow rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and allowed them to slowly open. The bright light of morning was pouring in through her bedside window, bathing the room in... well, light. The young unicorn idly noted, with some pleasure, that she was much more receptive to the light than the previous morning, when she had woken up hurling obscenities at the sun...

It was strange, she thought, waking up in a new home. Everything was so different. It made everything else seem so far away. Almost as if they didn't exist at all... Which was both a beautiful and terrifying thought. Her problems, her family... What if—

Beautiful and terrifying...

...That was some dream. A bit melodramatic, though, don't you think?

After pondering a moment, she shook that out of her head along with the cobwebs. No time to dwell on that, Wisp. You've got a big day ahead of you... Probably.

That is, if the first day of work is all it's cracked up to be.

—————————

Wisp found herself wondering why the meeting had to take place here. Searchlight's office wasn't terribly small, but it was an office. It was starting to feel crowded with just three ponies inside.

She took another glance at the pony next to her. He was an earth pony stallion, about as sturdy as one would expect and hardly taller than her. But then, Wisp herself was a taller-than-average mare.

His white coat and forest-green mane stood out well enough. His green eyes were a lighter color than his hair, but they didn't look particularly... lively. The pony seemed to carry himself seriously, but perhaps a little too much so. This was an official meeting and all, and she herself was making certain to keep a straight face and upright posture, but she found something about this stallion unsettling.

Then again, perhaps she was just letting her imagination run off without her. After all, how else might a pony to react to a grown stallion having no cutie mark?

Wisp wondered if the earth pony had ever been given trouble for his lacking flank. Equestria was a kind, tolerant place, but some ponies, Wisp knew from experience, never grew out of being close-minded children.

She had no more time to wonder, however, as the captain had finished shuffling through the paperwork on his desk and was about to begin the meeting.

"So as you both know, you're going to be doing most of your work with a partner. And, as you might imagine, your partner is standing right next to you."

Wisp looked over to the earth stallion again, but the pony hadn't even moved. He was like a statue.

Creepy...

"I won't mince words. Wispwillow, your temper has a way of getting you into trouble, so a stallion like Wintergreen should be able to keep you in check. Wintergreen, you play things a little too by the book, so the new recruit should be able to compensate for that and your lack of social skills."

So I was onto something...

Then, as Wisp took the time to be displeased at Searchlight's assessment of her, she noticed Wintergreen actually taking the time to nod to his captain. It was the first movement she'd seen from him since entering. Finally, a sign of life...

The captain eyed them both before continuing. "I trust neither of you have a problem with that arrangement?"

"No, sir," they replied in unison.

"Good." Looking at Wisp, the unicorn stallion continued, "Wispwillow, I trust that you've familiarized with Ponyville as ordered, but Wintergreen here already knows the route you'll be taking for now. You won't always be out patrolling, but follow his lead and keep an eye out for trouble." Then dividing his gaze between both ponies, he continued, "As you both knew signing up, Search and Rescue is proactive in Ponyville and doubles as an impromptu police force, should the need arise. You know what's expected of you."

The recruits nodded again in unison.

"Very well. We're done here, unless you have any questions."

Wisp took the opportunity to clear her throat. Once Searchlight acknowledged it, she asked, "Out of curiosity, sir, what about the other searchponies? That is, will there be any introductions, or..."

The senior unicorn nodded. "Everyone usually isn't in the same place outside of emergencies and the occasional meeting. It doesn't help that things aren't very organized here in Ponyville; I'm in charge, but there are so few of us to actually organize." In an unprecedented show of emotion, Searchlight actually swished his tail and let out a restrained snort. At the same time.

"The lack of a recruitment campaign of any description doesn't help, either."

That sounded curious. If the captain wasn't pleased about that, why not just go out and do something about it? He was, as he'd just said, the one in charge. She held her tongue, however, and allowed him to finish.

"Anyway, yes, you will meet them before long. Best for everypony to know each other's face."

Wisp nodded. And she would have left then, but his answer gave her something else to ask about. "Also, you mentioned 'playing it by the book.' Did you mean we're encouraged to bend the rules, or what?"

"Not precisely. But so long as you don't cause trouble to innocent ponies, I frankly don't care what you do to get the job done." When he sensed her next would-be question, he continued, "Wintergreen here, however, doesn't seem to do anything more than necessary. I'm expecting you to make up for that."

Wisp nodded, satisfied with that answer. And that sounds about right, so far...

"If that's all, you can go."

Wintergreen made for the door, and Wisp began to follow, until, again noticing the small-ish space the meeting had taken place in, she remembered something that had occurred to her earlier.

"One more thing, sir. You said we don't have many searchponies. Is that why we're meeting in this... Town Hall office?"

If the subtle undertone to his voice was any indication, Searchlight didn't seem particularly fond of the subject. "Indeed. We hardly number a dozen for the time being, so the Mayor doesn't feel spending money on constructing or repurposing a building to fit our needs is justified. And she's right. This office is all we truly need."

Wisp could swear she heard a grumbled "for now" under his breath, but then the captain was levitating his desk papers into a drawer and glancing at the clock above the door. "I think that's enough for now. Go on and get to work."

The lone mare of the group nodded. "That was all I had to ask, anyway."

And with that, she turned and left the room, shutting the door and joining Wintergreen outside. Wisp had never actually noticed him leave, but here he was. Again completely still. Just waiting.

Yeesh.

Before she could start feeling anymore awkward, she suggested, "Well, shall we get moving?"

Without a word, the stallion turned and started on his way.

Sigh.

This is gonna be one of those days, isn't it...?

Still, she did as ordered and followed him outside the building, and around some more buildings into the residential districts. Ponyville looked rather idyllic in the glow of the morning light. Going on three days living here, Wisp was already starting to almost forget why she had ever thought much of living in Canterlot. The marble city definitely had plenty to love, despite its reputation for stuffy shirts and rigid social structure, but here, life in general seemed rather more... relaxed. Less stressful. Pretty much everypony in Ponyville got along. Even wealthy ponies like Filthy Rich were warm and friendly.

The same could not be said, however, for Wintergreen. Twenty minutes or so of walking around, and the stallion hadn't so much as grunted in her general direction.

How did Wisp know it had been twenty minutes?

She'd counted.

She would have tried to strike up a conversation by now, but she was only just getting over her morbid fascination with just how unsociable he appeared to be. So far, being around Wintergreen was like hanging out with a rock. Social skills, indeed...

Flanking him as they made another turn, Wisp cleared her throat, deciding enough was enough. She had to keep her eyes on her surroundings—Ponyville seemed a safe enough place, but the point of patrolling was to help keep it that way—but she was determined to get the stoic stallion to speak up.

"So..."

Nothing. Hmph.

"Where are you from?"

Facing ever forward, Wintergreen replied, "Fillydelphia."

"Ah, I've never been there. What's it like?"

"Loud."

...Okay, so it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Well, if you're from Fillydelphia, what brings you to Ponyville?"

Wisp thought she saw his head turn toward her, ever so slightly. Or maybe it was just her imagination. "The quiet."

Oh boy, we're up to two words now. "So you came here to get away from the noise?"

Wintergreen quietly watched a pair of pegasi fly past before answering. "From a lot of things."

Wisp gave a snort. She found herself disappointed that it hadn't been Flitter and Cloudchaser passing by, because at least then she could perhaps have a moment of... Not this. Even with the teasing they'd started on a couple days ago...

And then the image of Cloudchaser's flank HAD to flit through her mind. She fought the urge to facehoof. All that damn talk about flanks...

Returning to the present, though, Wisp found herself growing more and more perturbed by this strange pony. She didn't mean to judge, but did he really have to be so difficult?

Might as well keep it up, though. I AM making progress...

"Things like what?"

"Personal things."

A mare and her foal walked by as they turned a corner.

"Okay, then, how do you like it in Ponyville?"

"It's fine. Peaceful. Usually."

"And that's all you have to say about it?"

"Yes."

Twitch.

"You're really not the talkative type, are you?"

A pause. "No. I suppose not."

Another twitch. And then her mouth twitched. Before she knew what she was saying, Wisp blurted out, "You don't have many friends, do you?"

For once Wintergreen made eye contact with her, of course answering with nothing more than a simple "no."

Wisp stopped in her tracks. That cut it, this pony was definitely getting on her nerves. "Look, can't you at least try to be friendly?"

To her surprise, he stopped as well. And oh goody, he again deigned to make eye contact. "I'm not being unfriendly."

Snort. "You're definitely not being friendly. Same difference."

The stallion tilted his head slightly. "That's why Captain Searchlight partnered us together. You're the one with social skills."

Glare. "Yeah, but that's no excuse for you to be so difficult. The least you could do is open up a little."

His head was still tilted, just barely enough to indicate that he was capable of it. It infuriated her. "What does that have to do with work?"

Growl. "If we're going to be working together, we should at least try and get along, you dolt!" A colt on the side of the street stopped to watch.

And then he lifted an eyebrow. Barely. "You're the one yelling at me."

Wisp's eyes widened. She almost wanted to scream, but she bit down and ground her teeth instead. Growling again at the befuddling earth pony, she pushed past him and carried on down the street. "Forget it. Let's just get moving."

Behind her, Wintergreen watched his partner walk away. Unseen by anypony, something behind his eyes shifted. But he promptly trotted back up to her; She needed him to lead the way, after all.

The next couple of hours, though, carried on much the same for Wisp. Even ignoring the earth pony proved aggravating—all it accomplished was rubbing in her face that he had no tact whatsoever—so she had eventually returned to her line of questioning, for if nothing else, it was less boring than the alternative.

"So, you like the peace in Ponyville. What exactly do you mean by 'peace'?"

"Less noise. Less crowding. Cleaner air."

"Fair enough. But besides comparing with Fillydelphia, is there anything in particular you like about this place?"

The stallion blinked. "No. Just the quiet."

Hrmph. This isn't going anywhere...

As they crossed a bridge over a small river, a different question occurred to her.

"So... You said you don't have many friends."

The response took a conspicuous second longer to come than usual. "...No."

The unicorn almost let her temper flare back up, but she kept it down. At least this once, she could try to give him the benefit of the doubt. At least, she didn't think he was capable of being intentionally vague or attempting to annoy her on purpose.

"No as in you don't? Because it's pretty obvious you did say that."

"Yes."

Twitch. She was starting to wonder if he really was doing it on purpose. Well, if it turned out he was, she could play that game too.

"Well, did you mean that you have few, or... none at all?"

Wisp would later regret smirking at the way Wintergreen's back stiffened, the way his right ear just barely twitched. She told herself even then that she only had a right to be amused if he'd been toying with her himself... But either way, she would've still asked the question.

"...I have no friends. Not anymore."

Oh. Well, that sounded interesting. Sensitive, but interesting...

"Oh? And what do you mean by that?"

"..."

Again, the two searchponies had stopped in the middle of the street. Wisp wasn't sure who had stopped first. For that matter, she wasn't sure when they had ended up in Ponyville's rural countryside. She could see a number of farms in the distance, one of which was full of apple trees. It seemed somewhat backwards to be patrolling such a sparsely populated area, but then, such a place would be ideal for some random hooligan, wouldn't it?

Wisp wasn't very concerned with that at the moment, though. She was more focused on just how long her "companion" was taking to answer her question.

She fully turned to face him where he had stopped. "Well?"

The earth stallion's stone mask was still in place, but his voice shook. Slightly. "I don't want to talk about it."

That was worthy of a lifted eyebrow. And made for a good opportunity for some payback. "No? You've been quick to answer my other questions," the unicorn suggested innocently.

And then Wintergreen got a glint in his eye. The corners of his mouth turned upward, and he lowered his brow—as always, only slightly. And then he opened his mouth.

"Now you're being unfriendly."

Ohhh, did he really just go there? I think he did...

"Oh, really?" Wisp snapped. "Very clever. But you haven't exactly given me a lot to work with, Wintergreen."

The stallion's smirk grew. "Same difference."

"I—wha—"

Wisp shook her head in disbelief. "That doesn't even make any sense. You... You're TRYING to piss me off, aren't you?"

"Now? Yes."

Her eyebrow began to twitch. That he was still speaking in that minimalistic way of his didn't help one bit. Seriously, what was up with this guy? And where was this even coming from?

She made sure to ask.

"Really? So now you choose to grow a personality? Why?"

Wintergreen looked her square in the eye, tilted his head, and said, "Because you make it so easy."

Some small part of her tried to tell her that this was going dark places, but Wisp didn't care. She took that part of herself, stuffed it into a box, and bucked that box into a deep, dark closet. She didn't need to hear that; this stallion was asking for it. After all, what had she even done to deserve this?

"I make it easy, do I? Look here, you little cur, this all started when I tried to make some friendly conversation, and y—"

"You aren't looking so friendly now."

"ARGH! Yes, and you bloody well know why!"

Wisp was beginning to feel a dull ache between her eyes. Why, why did the captain have to stick me with this arse? He's UNBEARABLE. Maybe I can ask him to split us up, or assign me to someone el—

"Whatever do you mean?" Wintergreen asked, with the very same faux innocence she had used just a minute or two ago.

Wisp whinnied as she reeled on him again. "Just SHUT UP, you little piece of—!"

And just like that, it happened. She had barely noticed the ache growing in her horn, but suddenly, with the scene before her, she was acutely aware that it was gone.

Wintergreen's tail was on fire. And it was a fairly short tail.

Her rising anger had already washed away. Replacing it was a deep, unbearable dread. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't happening...

But as the earth pony realized himself what was going on, eyes widening in shock and ears plastering to the side of his face, she had to accept that it most definitely was. It really was happening...

In a surprising show of emotion, the stallion began to scream. And scream, and... Well, he was screaming pretty loudly. His breath quickly grew ragged, and his pupils became pinpricks. The way he reared up and began kicking and jumping around, one might find themselves reminded of an elephant spooked by a mouse. And oh, how he screamed...

"Nononono, no, not again, not again!" Wisp whimpered, her face the picture of grief. "Please, not again..."

She simply stood, transfixed before the earth pony fruitlessly flailing around and trying to put out the fire. In his panic, it didn't occur to him that bucking his legs and shaking his tail around would only do the exact opposite of extinguishing it...

Wisp still couldn't move, rooted to the spot on that dirt road somewhere between Ponyville and its farmland. How had she gotten here again? She had thought she was being careful. She HAD been careful... right?

The dark unicorn was continuing to pity herself when that voice in her mind spoke up again. Apparently it had broken out of the box and found of its way out of the closet, because now it was shouting for her to stop sitting there feeling sorry for herself and sodding DO SOMETHING. Somepony is on fire, you idiot! Put it out!

And so Wispwillow broke out of her stupor and threw herself at the panicking stallion, tackling him to the ground. She tried to reach for his tail to stomp it out, but she couldn't do a thing with him thrashing around beneath her. She struggled with him, trying to hold down his legs down with one arm and reach over with the other, but then she winced when she got a good, hard kick to the chest.

"For Celestia's sake, just... sit... Still!"

As it turned out, using her magic to immobilize the fully grown earth pony stallion was the way to go. But, even with his limbs held still, he continued to scream. For good reason, she supposed, because now the fire had grown from the tips of his tail well toward its base. It had yet to reach his skin, but he would certainly have to be able to feel the heat by now.

Still holding the pony down, Wisp made short work of the flame with her front hooves. After stepping away from Wintergreen and releasing her magical hold on him, it occurred to her that she might have done well to hold his mouth shut, too. It would have saved her a few seconds of screaming. Then again, considering he had been in such a frenzy, that might have made it difficult for him to breathe. Right, just stick with the basics. No need to get creative and make a pony pass out...

Wintergreen pulled himself up into a sitting position, looking between her and his singed backside. Both of them were still catching their breath, and with the panic over, Wisp returned to the shivering schoolfilly she had been for moments before. She was falling into a deep, yawning pit inside herself, and it hadn't been the first time.

As her partner regained his composure, he again looked to his attacker. He blinked, but said nothing. Once again, his face was the motionless mask of a statue now that it wasn't stricken with fear. It had irritated Wisp before, but now it terrified her. What did he think of her? What was he going to do? Would he tell Searchlight? If he did tell Searchlight, how long would it take for word to get to the Magi Corps and ruin the possibility of her would-be career forever? Things were rocky enough there as it was, but this...

Moments passed by, and Wisp found herself avoiding the stallion's gaze. It wasn't a judging look he was giving her, but that was just the thing! Because it was him, it could mean anything, and she didn't KNOW whether he was judging her! Even just the thought of it drove her mad. And he still hadn't SAID anything!

She began to hyperventilate. She didn't know what was going through his head, didn't know what was going to happen, which meant anything could happen and she'd drive herself crazy not knowing and why won't he say something?!

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to move, get away. Had to escape from this... not knowing. And from the grim knowledge of what had just happened.

"I... I have to go." Already galloping past her victim, she cried, "I'm sorry."

And then she was gone.

—————————

Thump thump thump thump thump.

It was the middle of the evening when she heard somepony knocking at her door for the second time since she had returned home. She still didn't want to get up and answer it. If it was who she thought it was, she didn't feel like talking. For that matter, if it was anypony else, she didn't feel like talking. All Wisp wanted to do was continue to lie in bed, drowning in her misery and self-pity.

Thump thump thump thump!

Another knock, harder this time. Previously it had been faint, listening from her second story bedroom, but whoever it was wanted to be heard. Which made sense, she supposed. But even so... It wasn't like she had been here long, but making new friends so quickly had convinced her she'd be able to handle things better now. Somehow. Now, she was just reminded of all her... failures.

"Just go away," Wisp grumbled, rolling over and pulling a pillow over her head. Leave me alone...

Distracted from wallowing in her thoughts by the would-be intruder or intruders, she counted up to sixty as the seconds dragged by. A pony never stuck around an entire minute after knocking, right? It seemed like such a long time to stand at a door and feel ignored. Surely, whoever it was had left.

She flopped back onto her other side, caring not where the pillow went. Her eyes sealed shut as one dreadful, inescapable thought occurred to her.

What am I going to do now?

Thump thump thump thump thump!

Now the knocking was coming from her bedside window. It was a good thing she had drawn the curtains earlier, or they'd be able to see her. She could still pretend to not be home, or that she was asleep. It'd be easy...

Sigh.

Wisp pulled herself to her hooves and tried to rub some of the exhaustion out of her eyes.I'll have to talk to them sooner later, she thought. Might as well get it over with...

It took barely a flare of her horn to pull the solid white curtains aside, revealing just the purple pegasi she'd been expecting. Their eyes widened as soon as they got a good look at her. It must have had something to do with her bloodshot eyes, the bags under them, and the grim resignation scrawled on her face. Her mane, now recklessly messy instead of deliberately so, no doubt completed the picture.

Cloudchaser looked like she wanted Wisp to let her in through the window. Well, sure, why not...? But Wisp felt too tired to bother with the unconventional would-be entrance. Besides, the space would suddenly feel all crowded, not to mention how that might look. New mare in town, letting two flirty young pegasi she hardly knew straight into her bedroom? Ponyville was by no means tiny, but it was small enough that word would get around quickly. And pretty much everypony knew about their new unicorn neighbor.

But then... Wisp knew she really didn't care that much if ponies gossiped about her. Let them think what they want. She just wanted an excuse.

She could have quickly lifted the window with her magic and told them to meet her at the door, but still she just felt too tired to bother. So she nudged her head in the general direction of the door and began slowly plodding her way there.

Making it down the angled staircase and leaving her room behind, she had to pass through the living room to let her friends in. She idly looked over the furnishings as she passed by, purchased yesterday when she had done a little shopping with the rest of her "moving-to-Ponyville" budget. The old couch on the side of the room had been fine, but its faded blue color wasn't quite her style—this new one matched her dark bluish coat perfectly, and helped add a sense of elegance to the room. The end tables on either side complimented it nicely (or at least completed the picture). And then there was the circle of seating pillows surrounding the large, low-rise table in the center of the room. Wisp was no interior designer, but her powerful magic made it easy to arrange things as she saw fit, and she, for one, thought it would make a good group seating area, perhaps for want of a second couch.

Not that any of that mattered to her right now, however. She was more focused on her life crashing down around her.

She stopped a few feet from the door and pulled it open with her horn, granting the pegasi entrance. As they slowly trotted inside, Cloudchaser was the first to speak up. "It sure took you long enough. We were starting to wonder if you'd tripped down the stairs or something."

Maybe she had spent longer looking over her furniture than she'd thought.

"Sorry. I just... have a lot on my mind."

"Now that sounds famili—Oof!" Cloudchaser indignantly returned her sister's glare until her head caught up with her mouth. "Oh, er, sorry. Guess I deserved that."

"Damn right, you do," Flitter huffed. Then after shutting the door with a kick, she turned to Wisp and cut to the chase. "What's going on, Wisp? You look terrible."

The unicorn breathed a heavy sigh. "A lot. I'd probably try and avoid it, but... Running away from Canterlot didn't work. It's not like I can avoid what's coming to me."

"Come on, let's go have a seat," Flitter said as she pushed past her sibling and guided Wisp over to the couch with a wing over her back. Clearly, she was the one better suited to... whatever this was. The two of them sat opposite from each other, while Cloudchaser peeked over the middle, standing behind the decor. Or maybe she was hovering in the air, Wisp never really noticed.

The look of curiosity on the "elder" sister's face appeared strange and inappropriate to Wisp. There was still concern there, but... Horseapples, her head was a mess. Who knew what she was or wasn't seeing.

"Now," Flitter started, "Tell us what happened to get you so upset."

Another heavy sigh as Wisp let herself sink back into the couch. She was glad, at that moment, that she'd decided to spring for something a bit more comfortable than the standard fare. Well, here goes, I guess...

"I set a pony on fire."

She had definitely expected the shock on their faces, the gasps and the "whats." She hadn't expected so much for Flitter to just motion to her with a hoof and encourage her to continue afterwards.

"He was my Search and Rescue partner. Captain Searchlight paired us together because apparently he thought we would compliment each other. His calm and stability was supposed to make up for my... my hot head, while my relative personability was supposed to make up for his inability to improvise and his... his..."

She spat out her next words. "He's just so unlikable. He never speaks unless addressed, and when he does he hardly says anything. I tried to ignore it, but he's just so impossible to deal with."

Flitter watched her patiently. Or at least, she thought the mare was trying to look patient. Wisp didn't know. But it was hard to see Cloudchaser from this angle, and... Wisp didn't know.

"So I kept asking him questions to at least pass the time while we were on patrol. Then I guess... I guess I started getting too personal, because he started screwing with me. He was trying to make me angry on purpose. It escalated from there, and then it just... happened. All of a sudden his tail was on fire, and he started freaking out."

When she didn't say anything more, Flitter asked her, "Well... You helped put the fire out, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, of course I did. I had to hold him down, but I took care of it."

After the sisters collectively sighed in relief, she finally heard Cloudchaser speak up for the first time since her little faux pas. "And then what did he do?"

The unicorn swallowed the lump in her throat. "That's just it. He didn't do anything. He just sat there... But..."

She looked at Flitter. Somehow the pegasus was looking sympathetic, and only still slightly alarmed. Wisp craned her neck to look at Cloudchaser, who wore a similar expression. So they weren't going to yell at her for it. That was good. But...

"You're both probably thinking that's all, but... This has happened before."

That caught their attention. So much for relief. "What are you saying, Wisp?" Flitter asked.

She shook her head. "Nopony got hurt that time, either. Not really. But this was... back in Canterlot."

That, too, caught them by surprise. Cloudchaser seemed to suspect as well, but it was Flitter who asked the big question. "This has to do with that breakup you mentioned, doesn't it...?"

Wisp shivered, trying to make herself as small as possible and hide what she could of herself in the embrace of her upholstery. Even if those parts she could hide in this position weren't the ones that could see the way her new friends were looking at her.

"Yes... It's why I ran away and moved to Ponyville. Why I don't plan on going back..."

Author's Note:

1) Previous readers may want to know that this chapter reflects a change I made to a bit in chapter 1 regarding Royal Guard presence in Ponyville. As I've said, I'm going with this being more my story than 100% faithful to its original "source material," so eh.

2) Fanart! Behold Wispwillow in all her glory, looking pretty much exactly as I see her. I adore this thing... Made by my friend Red Fempyro, who you can check out on deviantArt and Tumblr if you so wish.

Comments

[D48]

This was a good chapter and I especially liked the intro. I am a bit of a sucker for interesting wording and that was a nice creative use of the English language.

I also liked the part with Wintergreen because throwing the two of them together is creating a hilarious clash of personalities which should be a perpetual source of amusement, especially if you make the tail burning a running gag. I can just see it getting to the point where everyone is very casual about Wisp lighting their asses on fire while the side characters are freaking out. Of course, that is a terrible idea, but it still makes me laugh.