Hunted

Rarity had been working for the past several hours on Edmund's clothes, all the designing had been finished, and she was well through the fifth pair of pants. She had been quite inspired, but now that she was falling into a routine, her mind couldn't help to wander to that Doctor Whooves. He had saved her spending a few hundred bits on a new sewing machine, not to mention time saved. There was however something more, about him, something, physical. No, it wasn't that he was outrageously handsome, but Rarity found his humble colours pleasing. It was as common as not in Ponyville for a citizen to have some garish coat colour. It was something that often clashed with the muted tones of older styles of formal attire, Rarity's personal favourite branch of design. It would have been nice to make a suit for him, if nothing else.

It was at this point that the door to Carousel Boutique open, revealing the pony that had been occupying Rarity's thoughts. As Rarity got up she gave her usual introduction, and the Doctor said. "Hi, I was thinking about getting a suit, you know, something for a formal occasion, oh, but something that's durable to, things tend to get hectic where ever I am."

"Certainly good sir, step right this way and I'll get your measurements." Rarity replied, all her glee at having the opportunity to improve the object of her interests.

Ok, just let her do the measurements and you can go. Doctor Whooves thought to himself, he had left Edmund realizing that he really was interested in this mare, but he needed an angle, a way in, and a suit was just the way. He would get some advice from Edmund later. For now he was just a customer and interested individual, he really did need a new suit, the D'aawleks, in an attempt to love and tolerate him, had burnt up the last two dozen he had.

Shortly thereafter the measurements were finished and Doctor Whooves bid Rarity farewell, promising to return in a few days to pick up his purchase. Rarity let out a contented sigh, returning to her work on Edmund's clothes, eager to finish them so she could get to work on the Doctor's suit.

****

I rounded the turn by Sugarcube Corner when at last I saw the familiar faces of Spike and Sweetie Belle. Each in possession of a rather large lollipop. "Hey you two, Applebloom and Scootaloo were wondering where you were." I called out.

"Oh! Uh hey Edmund, Sweetie Belle and I looked for hours and then we thought that we would get something from Sugarcube Corner!" Spike replied after giving a brief start.

"Well, it's getting late we should all be headed to our homes."

"Gotcha, seeya Sweetie Belle!" Spike waved to the filly as she silently made her way to Carousel Boutique. Spike and I headed towards the library when Spike spoke. "You called the library home after just being here for less than twenty-four hours, care to explain?"

"Ah, well, its a good place to be, and truth be told I don't think I'll be able to afford a house very soon, so for now it is a home to me." I replied, the dragon was an attentive listener.

"You just seem to be taking this all in stride so well, seriously, when Twilight moved here she was practically climbing the walls." Spike noted.

"Yes I am, though being alive when for all accounts I should be dead is hardly something I think I should doubt." I chuckled as I said this, the image of a pony somehow climbing a wall without the gripping power of hands or feet crossing my mind.

"Wait, you almost died?" Spike asked worriedly. "What happened?"

"I was in a situation that warranted I remain while others were brought to safety." I replied.

"Did it work, did you save someone, who were they?" Spike was gazing up at me intently.

"Yes, I did save someone, two people actually, I didn't know who they were though." I answered.

"Why did you save someone you didn't know, what if they turned out to be bad?" He asked.

"Sometimes you can tell a lot about a person from a quick examination, maybe not enough to know everything about them, but enough to know their worth protecting... even dying for." I responded.

"Oh, that makes sense, Twilight's told me since I was little 'Don't judge a book by its cover.' Funny, she had to relearn that lesson herself with Zecora."

"Zecora?" I asked.

"She's the zebra who lives just inside the Everfree Forest. For a long time everyone in Ponyville thought she was an enchantress or something, it all turned out to be a bunch of hooey." Spike replied.

"It's important to have faith in others, I wish I could have trusted others in my own world so readily." I said looking to the now rising moon.

"You mean you didn't trust others in your own world?"

"Placing trust in someone requires you to expose a piece of yourself before them, I didn't really have an opportunity to do that without immediately regretting it when I was younger." I said.

"Then why are you so trusting of me, or ponies?

"Spike ... In my world humans are the only intelligent species, there was nothing else with art, language, ... stories." I stated. "When I was young I was constantly bullied by others, to me, they all looked the same, like me. I guess in time I just started to learn that I couldn't trust what was similar on the outside. The only people I met who showed any modicum of kindness looked quite different from me, on the outside."

"And so you figure that because ponies look so different, they must behave differently as well?" Spike asked.

I smiled, it felt good to reflect on who I was, and how I'd come to be. "Yes, though when I got older I realized that look like or unlike me, every person could hold a beautiful soul, it was just a matter of taking the risk to see it."

"Even if it ended up hurting in the end?"

"Being a good person doesn't mean that you're always going to come out ahead in life. But when you look at the people who lie, and cheat and do everything under the sun to destroy. You still get the last laugh, because at the end of it all, they aren't even at one with themselves, let alone others, and it destroys them. That is the ultimate mockery of the vicious."

"What is?" The purple drake asked of me.

"That they think that they can be at war with everything that is good on the outside, yet keep the inside intact."

"I think I understand now."

"If you ever want to discuss something Spike, I am here for you." I told him as we reached the library. The last vestiges of the sun had crept under the distant mountain Canterlot was set upon. And the moon was rising over the Everfree.

****

Trixie was walking along a cliff in the Everfree, gazing at that same moon, she contemplated stopping to rest, but she was still well rested from her afternoon nap. She saw by the stars that she was close to Ponyville now, and she planned her moves for when she got there. Maybe I could ask Snips and Snails first they still believed in, if just a little, even after the Ursa Minor. Maybe I could get them to give a not to Twilight, to apologize, and meet with her. It was at this point she heard a rustle from a bush behind her, followed by a familiar set voices. "Watch it ... No you watch it! I swear I heard somepony right over ... WAH!" To Trixie's surprise she beheld just the two ponies she had hoped to meet.

"Snips? Snails? Its so good to see you, but, what are you doing here in the Everfree?" Trixie asked candidly.

The plump unicorn stood up and answered rather quickly. "We were just out for a walk when we heard something coming, so we hid in the bush, thinking it was an Ursa Minor."

"Or a manticore!" Snails added. Something was off about their manner of speech, much to, quick, like they had been ready to speak. Trixie shrugged and she began.

"Well I was hoping you two could help me, I've realized how ... foalish I've been in the past, and I was hoping you could tell Twilight that I apologize for what I've done." Trixie stated.

"You haven't done anything wrong though..." The two unicorn stallions, no, colts said in perfect unison. This set Trixie on edge as the sat beside her, one on either side. Still, the two were rather adamantly standing in her defence, that clearly hadn't changed in her absence.

"No, I did do something wrong, I lied about my abilities, refused to accept that I have limits, and put ponies with which I had no quarrel with in danger as a result." Trixie replied.

"Oh, but who cares about other ponies, you have us ..." Snails said as Trixie felt a hoof stroke her mane, this was uncalled for, humbled as she had been by the day's experiences, this was crossing multiple lines.

"Stop it, you hardly know me, that you think I shouldn't care about the things I've done shows that, though I suppose it's not your fault." Trixie said as she glanced back to see that the source of pressure on her tail was Snips taking a seat on it. Trixie was getting angry at this, being the only friends she had or not, this was crossing all boundaries and Trixie began to wonder if she had entered estrus early this year. This thought was brought to an abrupt stop as she felt a sharp scraping sensation on her flank. Reflexively Trixe bucked, and she heard a hiss come from Snips as she turned around to reprimand the upstart colt. She looked to the ground in time to see a green flame work its way over Snips.

Trixie jumped to the side as another hiss and flame poured over the corner of her vision. She now beheld two abominations. Onyx carapaces covered them from instect winged back to hole riddled hooves. Muted teal shades filled the creatures' eyes as they hissed at Trixie. Changelings.

Trixie let loose a bolt of magic at one changeling, and bolted through the forest. She could hear a buzzing rapidly approaching her as she ran for dear life. The drone of wings grew to a loud din when Trixie, stopped, taking the creature by surprise and landing a solid buck in the creatures chest and it fell. Trixie turned to run again when the other changeling caught her by the leg with a grip of magic, Trixie didn't know where it was, and could only continue to drag herself along with the impeding miasma surrounding her leg. The grip snapped a few moments later as Trixie worked her self out of the magic with wards. She galloped as the sound of screeching sounded from behind her again. Turning to look back Trixie's next step met with no ground, sending her tumbling down a steep hill. Her left forehoof struck a rock and she screamed as she felt bones crack as she fell the rest of the way. Landing on her stomach, Trixie looked to a clearing in the distance in front of her. Gathering her magic, she teleported to the glade just as she heard the thrumming of wings again. Trixie began to limp as she heard a roar behind her and she dared a glance behind her. What she saw confused her greatly. The changelings were at the edge of the clearing but going no further. A few moments later and they retreated, and Trixie collapsed, the pain finally catching up to her. She thought she saw a cloaked figure out of the edge of her vision.

The last thing she heard before slipping unconscious was a motherly voice cooing. "What is this? Pony of blue. With bone and muscle, torn askew?"