Of all the reactions you had expected from the level-headed mare, the library door being slammed shut on your muzzle when she saw the cub was most definitely not one that was high up on your list. You rubbed your muzzle and turned to look at the manticore on your back, its eyes wide with wonder. “Sorry, little guy. We’ll have to find another solution.” You knocked on the door, opening it a touch before calling in. “Princess Sparkle, if you won’t help me, can you at least direct me to somepony who will?”

You sensed something coming your way, a scroll floating through the gap and dropping to the floor, the door clicking shut a moment later. You just gave a sigh as you floated the paper up, unrolling it to see her message. ‘Try Fluttershy. She lives in a cottage outside town. NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!’ With a small huff of annoyance, you turned from the library and looking around. Outside of town could be any direction from here. “HI!”

You reared back in shock as two bright blue, way too large eyes stared at you. The cub slipped from your back and yelped as it hit the floor, hiding under your legs. You calmed down as you looked at the grinning, bright pink mare, whose head was cocked in your direction. “Um… hello?”

“Is that your manticore? I have an alligator! Do you think they’ll be friends?” You blinked at her in confusion, then floated the note over to her. “Flutters, huh? You wanna go that way!” You thanked the mare and lifted the manticore back up, then started to walk in the direction of her outstretched forehoof. “Hold it! You’re the one Twilight told me about, aren’t you? Well, you don’t get a welcome party, you bully!”

You just shook your head and resumed your trot, not bothered by what the ponies in town thought of you. Fifteen years or so ago you might have, but now… you had seen so many things their opinions no longer mattered to you. Such was the lonely life of a ‘paranormal’ investigator, even more so when you occasionally returned to Canterlot.

It didn’t take long for you to get to the path that seemed to circle the town, a small brook running parallel. Your ear twitched when you heard giggling, but a glance behind revealed nopony there. You then felt eyes watching from above, but there was only a single cloud and that was it. The giggling came again as you resumed your trot, but you ignored it.

Soon a small wisp of smoke was visible on the other side of a small stone bridge, and you stopped to look at the mailbox to see if it was the right place. S & FS Runner. FS… Fluttershy, perhaps? Giving a shrug, you set a hoof on the bridge, but stopped as you sensed something under it. Lighting your horn, you took hold of something and brought it up, finding the colt that had woken you up giggling at you. The sound of splashing below drew you to the edge, and you looked over the low wall to find the three fillies looking up from the water.

You slowly lowered the colt back to the group, then noticed the pegasus stallion that was his father watching the interaction from high up in a tree branch. He noticed you had seen him and rolled over, gliding down into the small yard outside the cottage, and stood looking at you expectantly. You took that as an invite, and moved closer, speaking once you were across the bridge. “Hello again, sir. Could you tell me if this is the residence of a ‘Ms Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Mrs Runner does live here.” You swallowed nervously then, the pegasus tilting his head so he could get a better look at your back. “So why are you carrying a manticore and looking for my wife?”

“It needs to be looked at. I found its mother in the forest, she was dead. I was hoping there would be somepony in town who knew what they were doing, and I was directed here.” He just gave you a nod, then pointed towards the small building. Giving him your thanks, you trotted over and knocked on the ajar door, hearing a mare’s voice inside.

"...unicorn stallion, lemon coat 'n peach mane. Ah tell y'all, Ah don't like 'im.”

“Oh Applejack, I have already met him! I can’t believe such a nice stallion would be a bully!” Your ears flattened as she said that, and the door opened to reveal the butter yellow pegasus standing next to the mare who was at the farm. She glared at you and trotted by with her head held high, but the pegasus just smiled at you. “Hello again. How can I help?”

You turned to your side to show her your passenger, and soon there was no weight as she took the cub from you. “I found it alone in the forest. Something had killed its mother.” Tears formed in Fluttershy’s eyes as she looked at the cub; then she turned her gaze to you expectantly. “I wanted to make sure it was in good health, and Princess Sparkle sent me here.” She gave a small giggle and smiled at you, shaking her head.

“You can just call her Twilight, you know?”

“I can’t. It’s complicated.” You cut the mare of before she even asked, so she set the manticore on the ground and let it get its bearings. Its gaze locked onto the shaking form of the pegasus colt, and it lunged forward before you could stop it. Instead of expected screams of pain, the only thing that hit your ears was the colt’s laughter. You turned around and your eyes went wide with shock, the cub licking the colt’s face.

“We’ll look after him.” The pegasus stallion turned to the mare with a frown, but backed down when she glared at him. You thanked the mare and left, soon arriving back in town. The large tree in the centre dominated your thoughts, but the owner had forbidden you from entry. But that was only if she was there, because it was a public building… right?

You spotted a cafe with a view to the library, so you took a seat on the tables outside. An earth pony stallion with a slicked back mane and a thin moustache came and took your order, simple tea and a daisy sandwich. As he moved back in, your gaze turned towards the treehouse, watching intently.

You thanked the waiter when he brought your food over, but your mind was still elsewhere as you tried to think of a way to show Princess Sparkle how sorry you really were. Deciding to start out small, you took your notebook and a few spare sheet of paper from your saddlebag, copying down what you had discovered about manticore anatomy. You were going to pass it to the biology department to use anyway, so why not her as well?

Movement at the base of the tree caught your attention, where said mare was leaving, meeting with the pink pony from that morning, with an alicorn filly trotting next to them. You were glad that they chose to not go in a direction towards you, which presented your opportunity. You got up and paid for your meal, then trotted to the library, chuckling as you found the door unlocked, and made your way inside. “You’re not being very tactical about this, are you?”

You looked up at the stairs and saw a young dragon staring at you, his arms crossed. Ignoring him, you moved over to a work desk and grabbed a stack of blank papers then set your notebook down next to them. By the time you had copied every page, it was mid afternoon, and the dragon hadn’t left you alone for more than a minute at a time. Knowing that Princess Sparkle would likely be back soon, you gave him a nod and packed your things away, stopping to look back at him from the door. “Could you please tell me if there is an inn in town?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s two streets to your right.” You nodded to him and left the library, closing the door behind you as you trotted on your way. “WAIT!” You weren’t even five steps away when the dragon came running out, the stack of papers in his claws. “Who shall I tell Twilight left these here?”

“Tell her… an old acquaintance.” With that you left, easily finding the inn and renting a room for a few days. It wasn’t that expensive, but maybe a bank visit was in order, just in case. The building was a mix of a tavern and a hotel, run by a charming (when not drunk) mare called Berry Punch, and you spent most of the evening pouring over your notes in a corner booth, only leaving to get another cider, which you drank slowly.

Occasionally ponies would come up and ask what you were doing, so trying to be friendly, you told them, and showed them your notes if interested. A group of ponies kept catching your attention, however, and you couldn’t help but notice a few of them resembled your former schoolhood friends… and fellow bullies.

You soon retired to your room, and flopped down on the mattress. It was much more comfortable than the hay from the previous night, and it didn’t take you long to drift off.

“Ugh, can you believe it? Even after I told him to stay away from the library, he still came back!” Pinkie Pie just continued to hop along next to Twilight, all smiles as her friend raged about that stallion. Having been woken up earlier than usual, Skyla was dozing on the lavender alicorn’s back, but she soon woke up when knocked from her perch.

“SKYWA!” Even though her side hurt a little, she still giggled as Bolt wrapped his forehooves around her neck, and she returned the embrace. The mares smiled as he pulled away and dragged the filly in another direction, and they crossed the small bridge to find Sky Runner and Fluttershy in the front yard. “SKYWA NEED WAK UP!”

The adults laughed as the sound of a filly screaming and a splash hit their ears, followed by a soaking wet alicorn entering their vision, her ears splayed back with her mane and tail hanging limp. Behind her was a trio of grinning fillies and a brightly beaming colt, who believed he had done the right thing. Fluttershy turned away from the foals as something brushed her leg, looking down to see the manticore cub looking at her hopefully. “Wait, he actually left that here?”

“Yes, Twilight, he did. And I have to say I don’t agree with you.” The alicorn just stared at the pegasus, who turned towards the river. She returned a moment later with a fish in her mouth, and threw it into the bushes, the cub leaping after it. Even if she was okay with animals eating meat, she still didn’t want to see it. “I have met him twice now, and he is a charming stallion. I really think he has changed.”

“It’s a good job you’re married then.” The mares ignored Sky, and the stallion just sighed as he went to grab towel for the foals. With Bolt around water, soon they would all be dripping. He winced slightly as an angry shout came through the house.

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT! ONCE A BULLY, ALWAYS A BULLY! He’s one of the ponies that used to torment me when I was younger! In fact, he’s one of the few who got physical!”

“Well, maybe you need to talk to him then. A lot can change in such a long time.” Twilight just sat down with a huff, turning her face away. “Maybe you should just give him a chance. Remember the whole Zecora incident? We never gave her a chance until you told us to.”

“...fine. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Now, what is it you needed?”

“Oh! I was wondering if you had any books on manticores? I… don’t really know much about them, and although I’ve been curious, it’s now something I could do with urgently.”

“I‘m not sure, but I’ll check. Skyla, will you be okay here for a bit?” The filly looked over to the others, where Applebloom sheepishly averted her gaze. Skyla turned back to Twilight and nodded, the mare smiling at her. “Ok then, I’ll be back in a bit with any books I have on manticores, if any. Pinkie?”

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the foals.” Twilight gave her a nod and made her way back to town, smiling as she entered the library. She was surprised to find Spike binding a stack of papers, and she recognised the horn writing style on the front page when she looked over his shoulder.

“Spike, who was here?”

“Huh? Oh, hi Twi. Uh, he just said to call him an old acquaintance.”

“Let me see that.” He passed the stack, and she flipped through it. It was a copy of his notebook, and at the back a detailed breakdown of manticore anatomy. Twilight gasped as she realised this is exactly what she was after, and she slipped it into her saddlebags, then headed towards the door. “Spike, find me the spare copy of A History Of The Magic Of Friendship. I may not like him, but I can at least thank him in a way he’ll understand. I’ll be back with Skyla later.”

The dragon gave her a nod, and she left her home as he ran into the basement, not understanding what Twilight was thinking, but he just left her to it. She couldn’t tell him off for gorging the ice cream if she didn’t know, right?

A knock on your door caused you to stir with a groan. Your eyes slowly opened to see light filtering through the curtains, and a further knock forced you out of the bed. You opened the room door to find nopony, but on the floor there was a copy of the book you were reading in the library. Well, she hadn’t forgiven you for anything… but it was a start. You moved it to where your things were, leaving it for some evening reading.

Berry was busy in the kitchen making breakfast for her guests, which consisted of you and a young couple. You smirked at the mare’s blush as the stallion whispered sweet nothings to her, and turned back to the inn keeper. You were going to offer your assistance, but she clearly had it all in hoof.

The food was set down in front of you, and you thought about your checklist of myths and legends. You had already proved that manticores were creatures of flesh and bone, so that could be dealt with. Next on the creatures of the Everfree Forest… timberwolves. You assumed it was just territorial behaviour on their part, but there was only one way to test it.

Hoping your gift from the previous day may have allowed the mare to calm down some, you thanked the tavern owner and trotted out of the building. The sun was just rising in the east, Celestia’s warmth flowing over your body, and with that you moved off.

It didn’t take you long to reach the town library, and your hopes swelled as a smiling mare came trotting out, a large tome poking out of her saddle bag. Clearly Princess Sparkle was in a more amicable mood, so you slipped in through the doorway, seeing the alicorn mare looking over the bookshelves. You trotted up and stood behind her, but she seemed to not notice you, and you just gave a polite cough a few moments later. “Er, Princess Sparkle, could I…”

You were cut off as she gave a startled scream, her horn flashing brightly. You suddenly had something hit your back, along with the sound of shattering glass, and you slid along the ground until your head hit something solid. Thankfully the torture ended there, but your vision began to blur, and then faded to complete blackness.

Author's Note

Damn... see? You shouldn't have been a bully, should you?