Pawsteps

Laughter encased Twilights library as a bundle of ebony, ivory and sea green flew across the room towards a lavender mare. It had been a year since Vevalon was taken in and renamed. Twilight was teaching the cub hunting skills (like a wild chimera mother would do) so that she could let her go. The thought of sending Vern into the forest after saving her life and caring for her as if she was her own child hurt Twilight, so much so that she had already taught the adopted pet hiding and camouflage so that they could meet in secret. Whenever another pony entered the tree, Vern would zip off to the closest hiding spot she could find and was not caught, however, that changed today.

"Twilight! Look out!" a Southern accent yelled as the purple mare's leg got bit. With a grunt and loud squealing, an orange pony had the small creature under her hoof, flailing madly.

"What in tarnation is this critter doin' here? I'm sure you know what happened with the last chimera who met a certain little filly!" Applejack grunted, picking up the miserable cat. Twilight was lost for words at her friends sudden hostility to the defenceless animal, she placed a hoof forward and explained the story of finding a small box with her inside. The apple horse was still eyeing Vevalon, who had managed to discover her tail and was biting it madly, before pulling at her wings and asking

"So she is a lion laced with a dragon? Pfft, that ain't a chimera, that's a manticore without a scorpion tail." Twilight intercepted with:

"Chimeras have a range of combinations, they originally breathed fire and had wings, just like her until they changed and adapted to different places. So she has no other heads, big deal!" Applejack took a step back, considering her words and was about to reply when Fluttershy walked in.

"Oh, um. Did I disrupt something? If I did, I am terribly sorry and- Is that a genetically modified chimera?!" She said softly, not wishing to scare the cub as she took it out of AJ's hooves. It squeaked and threw her paws around in distress before eventually calming down and purring contently with her sudden kindness and the gentle air that hung around the pony. A lock of pink mane drooped down, launching the cat into play mode again as she batted it with her tiny paw. Fluttershy chuckled softly as it brushed across the kits' nose and it let out a tiny sneeze that sent it flying into a gap in the bookshelf. They all laughed as it pretended to run and popped out, landing face-first into one of her books. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie burst in, laughing as clothes dye dripped from their manes.

"Rarity's going to be so pissed off!" The rainbow-maned pony chuckled to the pink, hoof-bumping each other before greeting the other three ponies and hiding under the stairs and not noticing the small furball in Fluttershy's hooves. Another pony stormed through the doorway screaming bloody murder (this means yelling a lot in an angry way directed at certain people, for those who did not know).

She asked her three friends where Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were.

"They ruined my latest fashion line, now I have to start again! It took me months to find the fabric and gems and now look!" The snowy mare pulled a white dress out of her saddlebag, stained with reds, greens, blacks, oranges and more.

"Why, it's not even good enough for Opal!" she cried, hurling it onto the floor and stamping on it until her gaze moved to Fluttershy. She trotted over to the cream mare, inspecting the bundle of fur she was holding. A gasp covered the room as she remembered the cub and forgot about her ruined dresses.

"Twilight... I thought you would take care of her yourself, you know how many animals she has to cope with already!" She winced, feeling a hoof on her shoulder.

"I didn't know about this lil' cutie until now!" Fluttershy corrected her friends wrong thoughts, handing the cub to Rarity.

"So what did you call Vevalon?" Rarity asked eagerly, not hiding the fact that she knew about where she was from.

"I called her... Vern." Twilight piped up, ushering Pinkie and Rainbow out from their hiding place and told the story of how they found the cub and the struggles of naming it.