Gemini in All Things

by LCranston

Chapter 4 - Temptation and reward

The next day, just before lunch, Twilight and Trixie were performing a magical experiment. They were trying to distill the essence of fresh, healthy wood to help twilight solve her problem in trying to reverse the effects of charring.

Trixie had just levitated a small beaker or blue chemical up to the top of the glassworks and carefully poured it into a swirling glass tube. The blue chemical slid down in a helix towards a bubbling brown mess and started dripping into the mixture. The mixture was being heated by a magic flame. Once the bubbling mixture accepted the blue chemical, it turned flat gray and dried out.

The two unicorns sighed in frustration. It was the tenth failure so far. They were running out of ideas.

Suddenly, the sound of Spike’s fire breath came from the kitchen.

Twilight called over, “Is that what I think it is?”

Spike replied, “Twilight! It’s from the Princess and she says it’s an emergency!”

He ran into the living room as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Twilight levitated the paper in front of her, reading quickly.

Curious, Trixie tried reading over the purple unicorn’s shoulder. She asked, “What is it?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide and she summarized, “Oh, no! An enraged family of manticores are headed for Ponyville!”

Spike and Trixie gasp in astonishment. They had heard of manticores, but had never seen them. According to old mares’ tales, if you meet a manticore, you die.

Spike tugged his headspikes and frantically asks, “What are we gonna do?”

Trixie strikes a heroic pose and declares, “We’ll fight them off! Twilight and the Great and Powerful…”

Twilight interrupts by saying, “No! We’ll corral them in the Everfree forest and figure out what’s causing them to rampage. Trixie, get my saddlebags!”

The blue unicorn fetches the saddlebags without any comment.

As she ties them to Twilight’s back, the purple unicorn levitates several items into them.

She orders, “Spike, run off and get Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Tell them to meet us at Sweet Apple Acres.”

The baby dragon salutes and races off into town on his errand.

Trixie asks, “What shall we open with? Lightning? Fire? Oooh, how about that spell to mess with your opponent’s vision? They attack each other!”

Twilight refutes her by saying, “No. You will stay here. You’re not ready to take on manticores. I want you to finish this experiment, then learn the spell of Reversing Poison from my book on Advanced Alchemy Applications.”

The blue unicorn stammers, “B-but T-Twilight! I can help! You even said I was stronger than you in some ways!”

The purple unicorn gave her student a firm glare and ordered, “You don’t have the experience yet! Manticores are nothing to take lightly! Now finish your tasks and then organize the alchemy lab. I’ll be back later.”

She then concentrated and teleported in a flash of light.

Trixie just stood there, hurt and confusion plain on her face.

=====================

When Spike returned, he found Trixie copying a final set of notes from Twilight’s alchemy book. He looked and saw the glassworks replaced in the storage closet.

He asked, “What’s going on, Trixie? Any word from Twilight?”

She closed the book and re-shelved it. She said, “No, not yet. I finished the experiment. Then I learned the spell she said to learn. Now I need to organize the lab and I’ll be done.”

Impressed, Spike asked, “Wow. That’s awesome! How did you finish the experiment all by yourself?”

A smile graced the blue unicorn’s lips. She liked it when people were impressed with her.

She replied with some smoothness, “Oh, Twilight and I had a few more things to try for the experiment. Once she was gone, I just selected the approach that I thought was best and it worked. The spell was an elementary one so I learned it fast. Now I can save you if you are ever poisoned.”

The baby dragon actually clapped for her, stating, “Bravo! Twilight would be proud! Tell you what, why don’t I go make lunch while you organize the lab. Then we can have a free day until she gets back.”

Trixie drew herself up taller as she accepted the idea, “Well, why not? Could you please put radishes in the salad? I like radishes.”

Spike saluted and said, “Radishes it is!”

The blue unicorn quickly set to re-stacking the bottles of ingredients and dusting them off. She finally decided that things were looking up for her.

=====================

After lunch, there was a knock on the door. Since Spike was washing up the dishes from lunch, Trixie opened it. There stood the mayor of Ponyville and two stallions she did not know.

The mayor was frowning but politely asked, “Is Twilight home? We’ve got a bit of a problem and I need her advice.”

Trixie stepped aside and waved the trio in, saying, “Twilight was sent by Princess Celestia to prevent a vicious pack of ferocious manticores from destroying Ponyville. She has not returned.”

The three ponies became very concerned. One of the stallions fretfully asked, “Should we evacuate?”

The blue unicorn hastily assured him, “No, no! Twilight Sparkle is on the case! My teacher shall surely succeed. We must simply be patient and await her return. In the meantime, can I be of service?”

The mayor, remembering the last time she came across this particular unicorn, stepped back and said, “Um, I think not. It’s just a silly disagreement. It can wait until tomorrow.”

The other stallion griped, “How long do we have to wait? The work crew is ready to build now! Every day we waste is more money out of my pocket!”

Trixie smoothly asked, “Well, why are you not building already?”

Trying to prevent a fight between the two stallions, the mayor summarized, “These two gentlecolts are trying to decide who owns a particular strip of land between their two homes. One wants to build a fence but the other claims the land is his and he does not want a fence there.”

Inside, the blue unicorn’s spirit fell. This was important enough to bother Twilight Sparkle about? Property rights?

She called out, “Spike! Where is the book on land deeds of Ponyville?”

The baby dragon came out, slid the rolling ladder over to the reference section, and climbed it. Pulling out a thick, dusty book, he offered it to Trixie, who levitated it to a nearby table and began flipping through the pages.

Spike asked, “That’s the one. What is this about?”

Trixie responded, “A property dispute. We need to settle this before two ponies start a fight. Mayor, what’s the address in question?”

The mayor replied, “It’s the strip of land between number twelve and number thirteen on Saddle Way. The proposed fence is supposed to be in the middle.”

After flipping through the pages, Trixie found the land chart of Saddle Way. Finding the layout of number twelve and number thirteen, she saw that the layout of the land and houses only offered one solution.

She asked, “Who owns number thirteen?”

The first stallion said, “I do.”

Trixie declared imperiously, “The strip of land between the houses is actually your land almost in entirety. In fact, your land comes right up to six inches from the outside wall of number twelve. If built, the fence would be completely on your land.”

She turned to the other stallion and stated simply, “You’ll have to build your fence elsewhere, I’m afraid.” Both stallions looked closely at the map.

After mulling over it silently, the second stallion griped, “Well, I’ll be galloped. That’s right. Dang it! I’ll have to think of something else. Maybe I can get my money back if I tell the work crew the situation.”

Both stallions left satisfied. The mayor turned to Trixie with a cautious eye.

After an uncomfortable moment, she said, “Thank you. That could have turned out worse, I’m sure.”

Trixie bowed theatrically and replied, “Always happy to be of service to Ponyville.” With that, the mayor left.

Spike asked, “Trixie, are you sure we should have done that? Maybe we should have waited for Twilight to come back.”

The blue unicorn primped her mane and said plainly, “Spike, you know she would have done the same thing I just did. Besides, you want to tell ponies that we’re useless when they need help?”

The baby dragon shook his head. He certainly didn’t want anypony to think that of him, especially anyone who might gossip to Rarity.

=====================

An hour later, a loud wail rose up from outside. Trixie rushed outside to see what the emergency was.

She looked in the sky. No, no giant vultures.

She looked to the horizon. No, no swirling flames coming this way.

She looked at the ground. No, no trembling of pebbles from some giant cataclysm.

So, what was the big deal?

The voice came form the next street over, even louder. Trixie raced over to find a circle of ponies surrounding a mare with a gray coat and light green mane.

Pushing her way through to the center, she asked, “What is wrong? What happened?”

The mare opened her green eyes and sobbed, “My…l-l-little filly…is gone!” She then sobbed even harder.

Trixie rolled her eyes with impatience. Yes, this was important, but not worthy of hurting her ears this way.

She gently placed her hoof upon the shoulder of the mare and commanded, “Take me to your home.”

The mare followed Trixie’s physical commands, asking, “Wh-why?”

The blue unicorn declared, “The Great and Powerful Trixie will use her magic to find your lost filly! Now take me to your home!”

Not knowing what else to do, the mare obeyed.

Once they arrived, Trixie commanded, “Find me the last piece of clothing that she wore which is still in this house.” When the mare’s expression showed confusion instead of action, she added, “Now!”

The mare ran off to a small bedroom and returned with a pair of ballet slippers. She said, “My little filly just loved dancing the ballet. She wore these to practice last night.” She nuzzled the little shoes, relishing the scent of her lost child.

Trixie firmly took the slippers from the hysterical mare. She channeled energy into her horn and sensed the essence in the shoes. She had to search hard to find the tiny bit of essence still left there.

She then cast out a wave of magical energy similar to the essence in the shoes in all directions. Nothing. She sent out another wave, more powerful. Still nothing. She loaded up her horn with a huge amount of energy and sent out a powerful pulse. To an earth pony or a pegasus pony, the wave would be unnoticeable. To a unicorn who was actively searching for magical energy, it was like a thunderclap right a ground level.

Suddenly, a faint echo sounded. Trixie let loose with another wave. The echo sounded again.

The blue unicorn raced out of the house and followed the direction of the echo. The upset mare followed as fast as she could.

They actually left the edges of Ponyville and raced along the major road headed eastward.

The mare frantically asked, “Are you sure she’s this way?”

Trixie tuned out the words and focused on the echo. It was very strong now.

Soon, they came upon a wailing sound, similar to the mare, only higher-pitched. It came from the side of the road where a cart loaded with boxes sat unmoving. Tethered to the cart were four strong stallions. The logo of a shipping business was stenciled on the sides.

One of the stallions was untethered and trying to calm a small filly on the side of the road. The filly was white with a green mane and blue eyes.

Suddenly, the filly heard the hoofbeats and looked over.

She screamed, “Momma!!!” She then ran up to tackle the hysterical mare.

The mare in question started crying again, “My baby! My baby!”

Trixie ran up, out of breath, to the stallions. Catching her breath slowly, she looked all four of them over. They all were tall, powerfully built stallions who had dark brown coats, black manes, and brown eyes. She guessed that they were all brothers in a family business.

At length, she said, “Thanks for stopping the cart.”

The stallion shrugged and said, “All of a sudden, we heard crying in the back. We’ve had a heck of a time trying to just get her to tell us her name so we could return her.”

One of the tethered stallions asked, “Hey, are we done here? Can we get going? We’re gonna be late!”

Trixie shook hooves with the untethered stallion and said, “I’ll be sure to tell the mayor you helped. Good day.”

After the stallions left pulling their cart, the mare hugged Trixie powerfully. She gushed, “OH, THANK YOU!!! If it wasn’t for you, my baby might be all the way to Stalliongrad by now.”

The blue unicorn needed a moment to make sure her ribs were not broken before she felt capable of breathing again. Then the trio walked back to Ponyville.

=====================

When they arrived, the town was in an uproar. Several stallions and mares were busy arguing and looking around.

The mayor saw Trixie and galloped over. She asked, “Can you help us? The food storage has been broken into and some of the food is gone! We need everypony to help find the thieves.”

The mare spoke up right away, “This clever unicorn found my missing baby right away! She can definitely find the thieves!”

The assembled ponies gave a cheer and began to bombard Trixie with questions.

Trixie shouted, “Quiet!” Upon seeing the crowd hush, she added, “Take me to the storage.”

The mayor frowned and impatiently asked, “It’s already been broken into! They wouldn’t hide there! Why do you need to go to the storage shed?”

The blue unicorn insisted, “I need something to track them with. Now, take me there!”

The mayor led the assembled ponies and Trixie to the storage shed. She declared, “Here it is. Now will you stop goofing around and help us?”

Trixie examined the shed with a practiced eye. She indicated the lock and asked, “This lock has not been forced. Who has the key?”

The mayor huffed noisily and replied, “Only I have the key and I did not steal the food!”

The blue unicorn asked, “Open it, please.”

The mayor began to complain, “Now see here, young…”

Trixie fixed the mayor with a powerful glare that she reserved only for her worst hecklers. The mayor gave up and produced the key.

Opening the doors, she gazed at the multitudes of sacks of grain, fruit, and vegetables. Over a dozen were ripped open, the contents spilled all over the floor.

The mayor declared, “We’ve been robbed again! More sacks are torn open! Everypony! Let’s organize into search parties!”

Something tugged at the back of Trixie’s mind. Something was familiar about this. She looked around, noticing the deep shadows in the corners of the building.

Summoning a light from her horn, she lit up the corners until she found one that had a hole in it. She frowned, being proven right.

She used a simple incantation to cause a minor explosion of light and sound.

Outside, the assembled ponies were ready to go door to door demanding to be let in to find the thieves. The sudden light and explosion startled them into silence. They all looked at the storage shed.

A short stream of rats fled the far corner of the building, heading outside of Ponyville.

The assembled group of ponies tried to squeeze into the building to see Trixie using her magic to repair the hole in the corner of the building.

The mayor demanded, “What is going on here, young mare?!?!”

Without turning around, Trixie explained, “The sacks were not taken away, they were chewed open. Therefore, ponies did not take the food, rats ate it right there. They chewed through the weakened wooden corner and came in. It reminded me of when I used to live in my wagon. Rats would try to chew their way in and eat my food. I just lit up the place and found where they came in. I used a simple incantation to scare the rats away. Now, I’m fixing your hole.”

Once the hole was repaired, she turned around to face the mayor and said passively, “Once this angry mob is done being silly, you should get a carpenter to shore up the walls on the ground here. They’re starting to get rotted. That makes them easy targets for rodents. I would suggest putting metal plates over the planks to discourage future rat infestations.”

The entire assemblage just stared blankly for a moment. Then they erupted into cheers! Their winter food was safe!

The mayor declared, “Ponies of Ponyville! We are saved by this very clever unicorn! Three cheers!”

The crowd cheered loud and hard for Trixie. The unicorn could not wipe the huge grin off her face, no matter how much she realized she should. It just felt so good to be appreciated.

=====================

Trixie returned to the library, tired from all the exertion. Still, her spirit was flying high. She was wanted! She was appreciated! She could definitely get used to this.

Spike call out from the upper floor, “Twilight, is that you?”

The blue unicorn responded, “No, Spike, it’s me. I just solved a problem which would have starved Ponyville this winter.” She tilted her head back, awaiting the applause.

The baby dragon called back, “Oh, that’s good. Let me know when Twilight gets back. The princess wants to hear from her right away.”

Trixie’s ego deflated. Her practiced grin turned to a sour frown. She expected more. Still, it was better than nothing.

She waked into the kitchen, suddenly having a craving for some of Twilight’s herbal tea.

Suddenly, the library windows rattled under the assault of a hideous roar. A general panic arose in Ponyville.

Trixie looked through the windows in anxiety. Trying to mask her visceral fear, she demanded, “What is that noise?”

Spike yelled down from the upper floor, “Twilight once described it to me. That’s just like the manticore the group found in the Everfree Forest! One of them must have gotten away from her and charged into Ponyville! What are we going to do?”

The blue unicorn felt the thrill of challenge once again. This is her chance to fight off a manticore! She could prove herself to all of Ponyville how much she had learned!

She shouted, “I will face the manticore and I will defeat it!” She then raced over to open the front door.

Spike poked his head out from the upper floor and shouted, “Twilight said you’re not ready! You’ll be killed! Shouldn’t we call for help?”

Trixie shouted back, “Who are we going to ask for help?! Twilight and her friends have not returned from the Everfree Forest and these local ponies are not warriors. Are we supposed to sit back and let the town be destroyed just to save ourselves? Is that what Twilight would do?”

The baby dragon scratched his scales nervously. He couldn’t deny that logic.

“Well, no. She would save Ponyville. But what can we do?” He suddenly got an idea. “I got it! I’ll write a letter to Princess Celestia!”

Trixie galloped towards the far end of town, calling over her shoulder, “You do that!” She raced as fast she her legs could carry her towards the deafening roar.

It was easy to figure out where the manticore was rampaging. Everypony was running away from it. Trixie had to push her way through the constant stream of panicking ponies towards her goal.

“Get out of my way! I have to help!”

Eventually, she pushed her way to the public square. The manticore was easily three times as tall as she was and outweighed her a dozen times. It was big, nasty, and aggressive. It had already smashed the fountain in the public square. Water was leaking all over the ground.

The manticore had cornered a family of three ponies up against a pile of rubble that had once been a house. The stallion bravely stood in front of his wife and colt, but even he was scared at the sheer size and strength of the creature.

Trixie reared up on her hind legs and neighed a challenge.

The manticore looked over to her.

She called out, “Leave them alone, you flea-bitten mongrel! Pick on someone your own caliber! I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will vanquish you!”

The cornered mare mumbled to her husband, “Isn’t that the mare who brought the Ursa Minor here last year?”

The stallion grunted, “Great. Now we’ll be humiliated as well as killed.”

The manticore turned back to the family and raised his paw to strike.

Trixie’s blood began to boil. That incident was NOT her fault! Why was everypony blaming her for the actions of those two dolt colts?! Why wouldn’t they give her a chance! She deserved a chance!!

She looked at the manticore. It ignored her as if she were nothing of consequence. Nobody turned away from her!!

She summoned energy into her horn and then directed it at the manticore’s paw. The paw was enveloped in a thin blue field of light. As the paw came down, Trixie pushed it aside.

The paw slammed into the ground next to the stallion, leaving a small crater. Surprised, the manticore turned its attention to Trixie.

The blue unicorn summoned the moisture in the air to form a thunderhead cloud. A cloud twice the size of her sprang into being above her. Not the size she wanted. She had controlled the moisture properly, but there just wasn’t enough water in the air to form an impressive one.

The manticore slammed its enveloped paw upon the ground, shattering the energy field. It then ran towards the blue unicorn that had annoyed it.

Trixie willed the wind to blow hard and push the creature back.

The cloud released a wind burst…and whipped the manticore’s mane around and around.

Trixie’s jaw dropped. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

The manticore leaped up and slammed its paw down.

The blue unicorn rolled out of the way and then backed up against the wall of another house.

The stallion griped, “And now the Small and Not-Powerful Trixie is gonna die with us. Brilliant. Maybe you should have stayed with your Ursa friends.”

Trixie’s anger ceased to boil. Instead it started to explode!

She turned to the stallion and screamed, “Will you give it a rest?!?! I did NOT bring anything to Ponyville!!! Not then and not now! But now I’m gonna save your sorry tails if it’s the LAST THING I DO!!!”

The entire family’s eyes bugged out at the mare’s rage.

Trixie turned to the manticore, who had now turned around and made ready to pounce.

Trixie allowed her anger to override her calm sense of logic. She extended her reach of magic farther until it nearly felt it reached the horizon.

Dozens of large clouds flew in from all over the skies to join with the small thunderhead, expanding it to ten times its original size.

Several lightning bolts crackled in every direction. Three pierced the ground all around the manticore, causing it to halt its attack. Another one struck the broken fountain, melting it into slag. Another one struck the wall of the house behind Trixie, carving a hoof-sized hole in it. A lightning bolt sailed right out of the middle of the cloud and slammed the manticore right in its chest, wounding it.

The creature screamed its pain to the heavens. It raised its claws, ready to strike.

The unicorn overcharged her horn and pointed it at the broken fountain. Flicking her head at her target, the magic responded sympathetically. The water splashed the manticore on its front half. The water got into its eyes and stung its chest wound.

Trixie then forcefully ordered the wind to blow. The cloud erupted with a powerful gale of freezing cold wind, pushing the manticore back a few feet in the muddy ground. The water instantly froze all over its body, causing it frostbite and untold pain.

Howling in despair, the manticore fled the way it came.

As it crossed the edge of Ponyville, a cry split the air.

“Wing! Formation Delta!” It was the flying Royal Guard of Canterlot!

Eight armored pegasi wearing bronze plate armor and wielding silver spears flew down from the sky and broke into two flights of four warriors each. Each flight formed a line of spears and began to harass the manticore in its flanks.

The creature turned around and swiped its claws, striking two of the winged warriors. Minor wounds opened in their shoulders, staining their white coats a brilliant crimson.

Trixie knew that the fight was out of her hooves now, but the wounds on the guard worried her. She felt that she had to do something to help the royal guards.

A dark thought formed in her mind. This would certainly turn the tide.

She commanded the cloud to rise up high in the sky. Then, she used Twilight’s lesson on concentration to combine many lightning bolts into a single, thin lance of electricity. Aiming it carefully, she let loose with her last thunderbolt.

The air sizzled and spilt apart with the shaft of power pushing its way forward. The bolt struck the manticore right in the left shoulder, drilling its way through the flesh and into the bone of the creature.

The beast fell to the ground, howling at the top of its lungs in pure terror and sadness. It’s now crippled left arm lay limp upon the ground.

The flying royal guard surrounded the manticore, no longer wary of its claws. Only one side of it was not covered by spears.

The commander ordered, “Push it west, stallions!” The guard thrust their spears menacingly at the creature, herding it toward the open spot, which faced west.

The manticore slowly limped west miserably, whimpering in pain the whole way.

=====================

Trixie walked with the family towards the hospital just to have them looked over. As they crossed a street, the population of Ponyville came back, cheering loudly.

The mayor stepped up next to the blue unicorn and addressed the crowd. “Citizens of Ponyville! We have been saved by the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The crowd stomped their hooves in appreciation.

She continued, “This brave unicorn risked her very life to protect our home and our foals from the rampaging manticore! I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are all glad she came back to us.”

The entire crowd cheered their approval.

Trixie’s eyes shed a single tear each as she felt untold waves of joy fill her heart.

The mayor patted the blue unicorn on the shoulder and smiled.

Trixie tried hard not to cry in front of everypony.

Mr. Cake called out, “You know what Pinkie Pie would say at a moment like this!”

Mrs. Cake finished, “It’s time for a party! Everyone gather around Sugarcube Corner and we’ll hand out some goodies!”

The assembled ponies all moved steadily towards Sugarcube Corner. Trixie was overwhelmed. Her smile widened deeper than it had ever been on stage.

She asked, “A party? For me?”

The mayor agreed, “Yes, a party for saving us from the manticore. I think it’s a splendid idea.”

The party erupted with music playing from every window on the street. Ponies would crowd around the windows playing their favorite music. Sweet treats were handed out freely. Tasty punch was mixed and disappeared fast.

Trixie had never had such fun in her entire life. She danced and ate until she felt fit to burst.

Suddenly, everypony started chanting, “Speech! Speech! Speech!”

The blue unicorn was gently pushed to an opening in the crowd where she tried to stammer out a speech. Funny, she never had trouble making speeches before.

She said, “Well, um…Thank you, everypony. I just wanted to do what was right. I hope you’ll let me stay this time. I kinda like this place.”

Everypony cheered wildly in agreement. Another pair of tears dripped from Trixie’s eyes.

Suddenly, she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She turned around…and then looked up slightly.

She looked deeply into the eyes of the most handsome stallion she had ever laid eyes upon. Considering how many places she had visited in her life, that was no easy statement.

He was tall and muscular, with a face to die for and eyes that she could drown in. His coat was a light sandy brown, his mane was black, and his eyes were the loveliest shade of sapphire she had ever seen.

He spoke with a deep, rumbling voice that said, “Hey there.”

Somewhere in the back of her brain, she knew that ponies could not really melt. However, she chose to believe what she felt anyway.

She mumbled, “Hi.”

He said, “You know, I saw the way you fought that manticore.”

Trixie’s brain just shut down. She said mildly, “Yeah.”

The stallion added, “I’ve never seen such magic, even from Twilight Sparkle.”

Trixie just allowed her face to dissolve into a sloppy grin.

She nodded slightly and said, “Uh-huh.”

He moved his face close to hers and whispered, “You’re also the prettiest pony I’ve ever seen. You wanna…maybe…go out tomorrow night? Maybe get something to eat and then a walk by the meadow?”

Her lips parted, revealing the most dazzling smile. Her eyes lit up like bonfires.

She moved her jaw…and squeaked, “Yes!”

The stallion blushed and said, “Cool! I’ll meet you here at dinnertime tomorrow. Bye, Trixie.” He cantered off towards his home.

The blue unicorn immediately felt like she was flying. Up on her hind legs, she glided and spun in pure bliss.

The mayor called out, “Well, it looks like the party’s over, folks! Let’s help clean up and call it a night.”

Trixie looked up and saw it was nighttime. She immediately thought that maybe Twilight had returned already and would want to know what had happened.

Still riding on her cloud of happiness, Trixie trotted off back to the library. She thought about how proud Twilight would be for hearing about how she had taken on a manticore all by herself!

Suddenly, she remembered Twilight’s speech about how she was not ready. She remembered how upset Twilight was about Trixie trying to come along. She also remembered Twilight mentioning sending Trixie away to live somewhere else.

The blue unicorns heart immediately went back to the library. The place she called home. The place she now missed.

More tears welled up in her eyes, but now they were not from happiness but from grief. If Twilight found out about the manticore, she would blame her for it! Everyone already blames her for bringing the Ursa Minor to Ponyville. They’ll blame her for the manticore, too!

If that happened, then Twilight would send her away immediately! Maybe forever! She would lose the best home she’d ever have…and she’d never see her stallion again!

More tears dripped down her face. Suddenly, something clicked into place inside of her mind. She knew what she would do. She would fight for her home!

She raced back to the tree as fast as she could, hoping and praying that she would not be too late.

Comments

[manonthe3up]

"She nuzzled the little shoes, relishing the scent of her lost child."

[mrmayortheiv]

I think its funny, backed up in a corner by a giant rampaging manticore and the citizens of ponyville take the time to insult and heckle others, it is actually exactly what i would expect