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Rabbits

Chapter 4: Rabbits

“Hi Miss Nimbus, can we borrow some fabric?”

Nimbus looked up from her dress to see three brightly smiling fillies. “Well hello girls,” she replied,” I suppose you can, there’s a box of lengthy fabrics over there, help yourselves.”
Lily and Screwy zipped towards the box, nearly toppling several dress forms in the process. They began to pull huge swatches of fabric out the box. Lily pulled a hastily cut piece of linen out of the box and presented it To Nimbus. “Do you have more of this fabric anywhere?”

Nimbus grasped the linen and began examining the thin fabric, “Aww,” she murmured, “Spider silk and pegasus cloud cotton, beautiful stuff.” She handed the fabric to the excited unicorn filly and said, “I'm sorry girls, this stuff is so expensive to make, I couldn’t possibly part with a piece any larger than this.”

Screwy draped a large swath of fabric in front of Nimbus and asked, “How about this? This stuff is perfect for a curtain.”

Nimbus stared at the fabric in front of her and snickered, “Girls, the first thing you should know about making a curtain for a stage is that you shouldn’t be using silk and linen.”

She rose from her sewing machine and rummaged in a few of the chests sitting on the edges of the room. She pulled out a ruby red fabric and presented it to the three fillies, “Her(e) girls,” she said flashing them a great smile, “Heavy velour has always been used by the greatest performers out there, and I don’t see why three great performers like you girls would be doing without it.”

“Thanks Miss Nimbus,” The three fillies cheered.

“Oh it’s no problem girls,” Nimbus replied, “Just be careful with it, and I was wondering about how Comet was fitting in this little act...”

“Oh uhh, We were going to perform when she got better,” Trixie replied, “In fact, ugh, we were planning on making capes for us all to wear when we were performing.”

“Well,” Nimbus said, resuming her sewing, “I suppose that will be a nice little treat for her once she gets better, do you girls need any help with making the capes or anything?”

“No thanks, Miss Nimbus,” Trixie said, “But could we borrow some fabric and some rulers?”

“I don’t see why not,” Nimbus replied, “Feel free to look in the fabric chest.”
Trixie peered into the chest and began idly pulling bolts of fabric and tools. She would stop to examine every fabric, determining each and every scrap with a scrutinizing eye. Her eyes lit up and she presented a slightly worn bolt to Nimbus.

“Can we use this?” she asked, “It’s really pretty, and we can be so mysterious while were on stage.”

“Go ahead Trixie, have fun,” Nimbus said, “And if you want girls, Comet is resting upstairs, you could go visit her.”

The trio of fillies thanked Nimbus and climbed the stairs of the home. They found Comet in her room idly pushing a book.

Her eyes lit up as her friends entered her room. “Hey girls, I didn’t expect you to get here this early. How’s progress on that stage?”

“Well, we got the platform done and we got some fabric from your mom to make the curtain.” Trixie remarked, “All we need to do now is figure out what we want to do for our shows.”

“Well when my hoof gets better I wanted to do a ballet, my mom always said I had some talent when I danced at parties and such.” Comet smirked, “What do you girls plan to do?”

“Well I was gonna do something with building. I don’t know what though.” Screwy said.

“Ugh, I don’t really know what I wanna do,” Lily replied, “I don’t really have any talent I can show; all I do is grow flowers.”

“Well,” Trixie said, “I am planning on having a magic act, so the world can see the marvel and mystery of the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“That’s so cool,” Comet remarked, “I bet you’re gonna blow all those ponies away with your magic.”

“Yeah, this is gonna be the best show ever.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Now, please be careful with the bunnies,” Fluttershy explained, “They are timid little darlings most of the time. And they all need equal amounts of food, so don’t let any of the bunnies have more than they need.”

“Yes, alright,” Trixie replied, “This doesn’t seem like too hard of a task for Trixie, now where can she get the feed for these animals?”

“There are a few bushels of carrots in the storage shed behind the chicken pen. Just be careful, some of the feedbags could fall off and you could get hurt again.”

“Alright,” Trixie said, “And what do I do after I finish with the rabbits?”

“Well, there is always something to do when it comes to these adorable critters, if you want we can see what else needs to be done after the rabbits have been fed.”

Trixie nodded and trekked towards the shed, silently admiring the scenic tranquility the animals brought to the cottage. Trixie began to push against the door with her magic, but felt the smooth wood resist her magic. She placed her hooves against the door and pushed with her weight. She felt the door slowly budge open, creaking and groaning every inch. Trixie took a deep breath and leaned heavily against the door. She felt the door swing open, taking her with it. She landed in a startled heap in the middle of a small shed, stacked to the ceiling with bags of seeds, nuts, and dried fruits. She pulled herself of the shed’s floor and examined the door. The door had been blocked by several bags that had been stacked against the door. She quietly sighed and pushed the bags out of the way.

She turned towards the containers and sacks in the shed. She pulled several boxes off the pile and peeked inside them, looking for the orange that would reveal her goal. She repeated this several times before sighing and restacking the boxes. She looked up and smiled, she saw a large bundle of carrots, sitting on a pile of bags with pictures of birds happily munching seeds printed on them. She grabbed the carrots off and smiled.

She walked to the door and stopped, the door to the shed was once again blocked. She sighed and dropped the carrots, using her magic to move the bags out of the way. She enveloped the heavy burlap bags with her magic and focused on lifting, but she found that the sacks resisted her every attempt at moving them. She changed her stance and focused harder, willing the bags to move. She felt the bags haphazardly rise off the ground, Trixie grit her teeth and redoubled her effort.

A faint shuffling broke Trixie’s concentration, the sacks landed with a strange, metallic clang. Trixie stared at the curious sacks; she telekinetically opened the bag and searched the bags contents. She poured the contents in front of her and grimaced, thick ingots of iron rested atop the mound. She scooped up the feed around the metal and refilled the bag. She pulled one of the smaller ingots from the pile and examined it.

‘What pony in their right mind would hide metal in a sack of animal feed?’

Her ear twitched, the shuffling was patter of light feet scamper across the shed. Trixie spun around, hoping to find or accost the noise maker. She only saw an opaque blur disappear from sight, hidden behind an unassuming bucket of grain. Trixie slowly approached the bucket, feeling her heartbeat increase as she drew closer.

She tapped the bucket away with her hoof and saw a snow white rabbit glaring at her. ‘This is what Trixie was supposed to be afraid of?’ she thought with a chuckle.

“Now, what are you doing here little rabbit?” Trixie said, bringing the agitated rabbit to eye level, “I hope you weren’t doing anything that Fluttershy wouldn’t like.”

The rabbit replied by swinging himself towards Trixie and latching onto her horn. Trixie yelped and tried to grab the errant invader. The rabbit leapt from her head into the forgotten bucket, Trixie centered herself and growled. She lifted the bucket and dumped its contents; she found the white nuisance standing in the grain, brandishing an awkwardly sized sliver of metal. The rabbit raised his weapon towards Trixie. She stared in disbelief as the rabbit lunged at her, attempting to strike Trixie on her muzzle. Trixie felt a surge of panic and lowered her horn, parrying away her attacker’s strike.

Trixie heard the rabbit squeak viciously and swing his weapon down; Trixie raised her head and met the rabbit’s strike. She deftly tilted her head and pushed the beast off balance, which in return spun to regain its balance.

Her opponent quickly changed its stance and lunged toward Trixie, forcing her to leap back. Trixie landed ungracefully and sprawled across the floor, she watched her opponent smile and charge towards her, raising its weapon high into the air.

Trixie gasped and pushed herself up; she charged towards the door, barely avoiding a swift strike from the vicious rabbit. Trixie felt a heavy tug on her hoof and she sprawled forward, falling muzzle first into her only exit. Trixie jumped to her feet and surged the weak shed door with a burst of magic, shattering it into thousands of splinters.

Trixie bolted from the shed, wheezing for air and crying out for Fluttershy. She caught sight of the cottage and panted, using all her remaining strength and making and sprinting for safety. She leapt over a small stone fence and yelped as she landed in a stream cutting through her path. She shook the water out of her mane and struggled to stand.

A small ball of metal embedded itself in the river’s bank, barely missing Trixie. She turned her head and shook with fear as she saw the hordes of rabbits standing on the other side of the banks. Dozens of rabbits brandished slings, firing at Trixie with near perfect accuracy.

Trixie cried out in panic and scrambled towards the cottage; using her finite magic to cast a shield, protecting her from the rabbit’s projectiles but forcing her to go slower.

Trixie saw several bunnies flank her, positioned to block her from advancing. Trixie crouched and doubled her shield’s strength.

She crouched, unmoving as the battalion of rabbits surrounded her shield, ready to strike down their target.

‘Oh come now Trixie,’ her conscience mocked, ‘They’re just rabbits, I would think a great and powerful mare such as yourself would be unafraid of such pests, but I suppose that we all make mistakes.’

Trixie felt a wave of unbridled fury surge through her, she rose to her hooves. With a flick of her horn, Trixie changed her shield into a pulse of air, sending the rabbits standing closest to her to the ground. The rabbits stared in disbelief at their fallen comrades before turning back to Trixie.

Trixie ran through the weakest line of rabbits she could find. Unfortunately, she ended up putting the horde of rabbits between her and safety.

The rabbits watched as the blue mare fled; every single rabbit turned to face their leader. He rode a brownish white collie, allowing him to tower over his army. He raised his weapon, a large shard of metal, high into the air. The rabbits raised their weapons and saluted, leaving their enemy for another day.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Fluttershy!” Trixie cried, “Where are you? I’m being stalked by rabid animals!”

“Just a moment Trixie,” Fluttershy replied, “Now Wingsly, please, please, please, be more careful, your wings are very fragile.”

Fluttershy found Trixie ragged and panicked. She gasped and zipped towards Trixie, “What happened? Are you alright? Was it something I did? Please don’t be mad!”

Trixie forced herself to stop shaking, she took a deep breath and replied, “No it wasn’t anything you did, some crazed rabbit attacked me in your storage shed, and then it led some organized rabbit army that chased me around your house.”

Fluttershy blushed, “Oh my,” she squeaked, “Please don’t be mad at them, I couldn’t possibly imagine why they were trying to hurt you.”

Fluttershy gently nudged Trixie towards her bed and said, “I’ll take care of the chores for the day, we can try again tomorrow if you want.”

Trixie waited for Fluttershy to leave before collapsing and heaving a heavy sigh, “Couldn’t imagine why my hoof.” she grumbled. Trixie heard a rhythmic tapping on her window; she saw the white rabbit that attacked her, sporting a smug grin. Trixie growled at the rabbit and turned her head away.

‘My Trixie, whatever are you going to do against that little pest?’ her conscience asked.

Trixie paused, she tapped her head in contemplation. What could she do to stop that rabbit from attacking her again?

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