The Lion and The Unicorn

“Tufty. I got something for you.” Onyx said as she entered her home, it had already been more than a month since she and the lion bonded. She took a peek into the bedroom and kitchen to see she wasn’t there, which was weird, considering she would have usually stolen something, obvious by the mess she left. After confirming she wasn’t downstairs, she walked upstairs, wondering if she was in the bathroom or a room where she had some stuff stored, which was soon revealed she was in neither, she was staring at the door at the end, ears pointing towards Onyx. Staring at the same door she was curious about when she snagged her hat.

”Tufty. You better not be thinking about heading in there.” She said in a serious voice, getting up and heading towards her, giving her a lick in the face, she barely responded besides wiping the saliva off. “That room is off limits. It’s meant to be shut off because I-.” She paused, Tufty expecting it to be a dramatic pause of some kind, but she never finished her sentence. Her head cocking as Onyx put something around her neck, a reddish purple bandanna, comfortably tied across her neck. “Our accessories now have matching colours.” She said with a soft smile.

”What’s in the room?” Asked Tufty, looking at it with awe as she looked back at Onyx.

”Inside is something I’m keeping within. There are some secrets that need to stay hidden.

I-“ She was interrupted from her poem when Tufty went down the stairs, she followed on. Still curious on how this lion was talking, she thought they didn’t. She was snapped from her mind when she saw Tufty raise her hind leg near the couch, knowing exactly what she was about to do, she hurried to stop her. “Not the couch.”

The next morning Tufty yawned loudly as she stretched, getting up from the bed, noticing Onyx had left already, seemed she had needed to get up early for something, or whatever. She jumped up and looked around, wondering what she could do today, Onyx forbade her but was yet to punish her for stealing snacks in the kitchen, perhaps she should have a look there. But then she remembered she had finished all the good stuff the day before, meaning she would have to wait for Onyx to buy more. She couldn’t really hunt, she had only seen two mice in the one and a half months she had been here. Then she had an idea, she started to daydream what could be behind that door upstairs, why didn’t Onyx want her to go up there, was it something embarrassing? Or perhaps it was a room of food she was hiding, but why would Onyx hide anything from her, anyway, unless there was a malicious intention. Maybe she wasn’t as Innocent as she seemed, maybe all this niceness could be an act, she didn’t know much about ponies, besides the fact they taste bad. But no lion, or any other animal ever told her they don’t eat lions. This made her a little angry deep down, was this unicorn who cared for her in her injured state really what she seemed to be? But she didn’t exactly want to ruin that trust, but then again, she was keeping a suspicious secret from her. The curiosity of what’s behind that door getting the better of her, Besides, she was only going to take a quick look and leave immediately, she won’t even know. A quick peek shouldn’t hurt, right? Maybe if asked, a simple ‘I ran into it’ would surface, hopefully her speech wouldn’t go anytime soon, she made a wish for a reason, to get a pony to help her, but she still had to be wary and careful, but she still needed to get home to her cubs. She took herself up the stairs, creeping in a way a predator hunts down prey, she was sure Onyx wasn’t home. She bit the handle with her teeth, jolting it up and down, it seemed to be stuck, but perhaps it’d weaken overtime. So she kept going at it, getting more and more rough with a handle until her ears perked up at a click noise and the handle fell out, the door slowly opening with a creak. Looking down at the handle, she gulped, hoping her planned excuse would work, she walked into the room, heart racing but she kept going, pressing a button to turn on the lights, being familiar with it. The lights flickered for a few moments, however before completely turning on, revealing the room that Onyx kept her from. What was she hiding? Well, it was revealed to her, what seemed to be a normal young foal bedroom caked in dust. On the bed the dark blue space themed covers were still visible as being what it was, but the dust hid most of it. She noticed books and a few toys in boxes, looking as if she started packing things away and just left it. She gazed at some shelves near a desk, there being a photo frame with a picture of Onyx as a young foal, she couldn’t help bit stare at the cute, Innocent baby face. Something she wanted to take care of and protect, it made her think of her own cubs, her heart ached just thinking about them. She let out a sigh as her ears droop, soon to hear something frightening.

“What are you doing here!?”

”Oinks!” Exclaimed Tufty, jumping back into the frail set of shelves, sending it almost fallen over, Onyx just barely stopping it in her magic, saving everything on it except for one thing, another photo frame that smashed on the ground.

”No!” Onyx hurried towards it and picked it up carefully, hugging it close, actually looking worried as her ears drooped down. She didn’t even look at Tufty and only spoke with a cold voice. Looking rather hurt and betrayed as she stood there. “I told you not to come into this room…” She muttered before slowly turning her head to glance at her. “Get. Out….”

”I-“

“Get out!”

“I-“ Tufty grumbled about to nuzzle her in the shoulder.

“Get out!” Onyx exclaimed out loud for the first time in ages, heart racing as she looked at the surrounding room, thoughts entering her mind, she never wanted to enter this room. She heard Tufty run put the room and down the stairs.

”What is this place?” Dapple asked.

”My foal bedroom…” Onyx muttered. “The trauma I’ve been hiding forever…” She looked down at the photo, there were three ponies, one scribbled out with red crayon. The other pony was a green mare, the other was a dark blue stallion with a dark blueish black mane. At the bottom was Onyx as a young filly, mane styled in piggytails. “This was taken the last week I saw my parents.” She said in a spooky, dramatic tome of voice. “It was a rainy day when my… Parents left me.” She said, her voice cracking as the weather outside started to match Onyx’s flashback. Dapple put a hoof on her shoulder with concern as he heard her story. “I had nowhere to go…”

“That’s when we met…” Dapple said softly, remembering how he found her that night, outside the house and his mother agreed to take her in foe a while. Till they returned for her, only to leave Onyx alone… He knew she wasn’t going to tell him everything, and that was fine. “Oh, Tuft ran outside, by the way…” He said, Onyx immediately gasping in shock as her eyes widened. “Oh no.” She said before galloping outside her house and into the storm, Dapple not far behind.

“Tufty!” He cried out, Onyx running behind him, looking for any sign of the lion.

”Tufty! I’m sorry!” She cried out, both unicorns pausing as they looked around, Dapple’s heart was racing as fast as hers was.

“Let’s split!” He suggested, Onyx agreeing before they both galloped separate ways, looking for the lion. Searching any sign of them before they both headed back to Onyx’s house when it got too stormy and cold for the both of them. Onyx was in her home first, a towel wrapped around her, ashamed that she let her trauma get the better of her, she let out a small gasp when Dapple returned, sopping wet.

“Did you find her?”

”No…” Dapple responded, “I just hope Bounty hasn’t gotten to her already.” He said, Onyx looking to the door before heading out into the storm, Dapple wondering where she was going in a storm this heavy, he watched on with concern. She eventually stopped under a tree, soaked to the skin as she gazed at the spot where she found Tufty trapped, it felt only last week, but it was just over a month, maybe two. Now she was back in danger again, Bounty was still around to hunt her down.

“I’m sorry Tufty. I shouldn’t have shouted… I just wanted to help…”

The next morning Onyx was laying a poem in the tearoom. Trying to ignore her worries for Tufty, maybe she went back home. Or maybe Bounty got to her and she is gone, dead and used for whatever Bounty wanted to do with her/

“Saying goodbye is a pain when it’s forever

But it’s sometimes for the better

Even apart, you’ll still be friends

Don’t let a goodbye be the end…” She said, finishing a poem that didn’t really make sense. Only one pony out of seven clapped as she gazed into the audience, she sighed a little before there was a loud crash at the doors, alerting everyone. A lioness running in, most the unicorns gasped loudly and ran to the other side of the room, one screamed. But Onyx only gasped, in surprise to see her again, relief she was okay and in concern considering the situation, so she made it her duty to approach the lion, she jumped from the stage.

”Tufty, what are you doing here?” She asked, only for her to tackle her to the ground and nuzzle her heavily, she quickly pushed her head up. Hoping no unicorn had jumped to conclusions just yet.

“H-Hey, you know I don’t play rough.” She said before getting up and petting Tufty on the head. The other unicorns besides Dapple and Alphabittle where cautiously in the corner of the room, watching. “She’s harmless, don’t worry.” She said calmly, hoping to convince them. Hoping that Bounty would not be informed, she could not lose Tufty yet, she had come so far and she was a mother.

The unicorns looked at the lion with awe, one opening his mouth. “But how?”

“It’s a long story…”

“But how did you manage to-“

“I can read body language…” She said with a slight smile as she looked at Tufty, noticing her snarl at the ponies but soon softening and watching them worryingly move away from the corner. Keeping an eye on the lion, but seemingly finding comfort of one of their own kind having trust in this creature. She would have killed Onyx by now anyway. Dapple watched on from the stage, he was a little worried at first, but calmed down, soon gasping as his ears perked up, pointing towards the door when a certain stallion came in, Agate. He cringed a little as he watched on concern, hoping Agate wouldn’t try anything stupid at this moment, his heart actually started racing as he watched him approach her.

”Hey, Onyx, can you come over here for a moment?” Agate asked, walking away and sitting at a nearby table, the lion cocking her head and taking a few steps while Onyx went to join him, sitting down next to him, looking rather bored.

“What is it?” She asked, noticing Tufty gaining some liking towards Dapple as she watched him recoil when she licked him in the face and laid her head on his bongos, refusing to get off. She regained her focus back on Agate who also gazed at the lion, a bad feeling now entering her as she eyed his smirk, Bounty wasn’t around was he? He seemed pretty mischievous and did things against her and Dapple, so there would be no surprise if he did it again.

”Would be a shame if that lion killed somepony, she would have to die.”

“Why would she?” Onyx wondered, once she softened up, she came rather caring, a little tough, but she wasn’t blood-thirsty like many unicorns believed lions were. “The worst thing she’s doing right now is annoying Dapple…”

”You are shedding big cat hair all over my bongos!” Dapple exclaimed soon he exclaimed, “Hey! Don’t you start drooling on them!” Tufty soon flopped on the ground, obvious to many she was more interested in messing around than hurting anypony. She rolled over and got up, rubbing herself against him until he fell on the ground. “I’m good!” He raised a hoof before she walked off the stage towards where Onyx was, stopping in her tracks and cocking her head upon seeing her talk to Agate, who looked a bit suspicious to her.

”I got a game. The prize is a certain cat…” He said with a suspicious smirk.

Onyx looking at Tufty and back at him, knowing what he was trying to do. “I’d rather risk losing money…”

”Too bad, because we are playing, right now…” He said, smirking at the unicorns, seeing how chill they were getting about the lion, still wary, but not so tense. “Let’s see how well you can hold up to… This!” At the blink of an eye he bucked Onyx with his hind legs sending her crashing to the ground, hitting her head on a table before faceplanting the ground, she groaned a bit as she got up with an unamused expression, looking more offended when he glanced at his chuckling face, blood coming out her nostril. She quickly wiped her muzzle and gazed at the blood.

“I was right! You can’t take a buck! I won once again!” He boasted and teased. “Like I always do against you and green curls.”

”Didn’t expect to see this today…” She said, not sounding worried before she gazed at Agate. “What was th-“, She said eyes widening as soon as she heard a growl. The unicorns looking worried as Tufty got angry, eyeing him, she ignoring her pain as she watched on, seeing her leap on the table.

“Tufty, no!” She tried to shout, but it came out quiter that wanted. Watching in terror as she pounced on Agate who screamed as he smashed on the ground.

“Help! Help! Dangerous Lion! She want’s to kill me!” He fake cried, only half scared, as Tufty raised a claw, Onyx quickly touching her with a hoof, to calm her down gently, about to tell her to stop before being clawed right on the face herself by her, almost falling to the ground with stinging pain on her cheek as she put her hoof on it, looking at Tufty’s wild, angry eyes with betrayal and fear, lifting her hoof to see a familiar red liquid again. She was now primal, she didn’t know how to deal with this, but it would be crazy hard to calm her down. She gulped helplessly as Tufty looked back at Agate and roared loudly in his face.

”Tufty, please listen to me.” Onyx begged, trying to stay calm. “You- You don’t need to do this, chill out. He only pushed me…” She tried to assure her, lifting a hoof. “I’m fine, you don’t need to be the m- Threat just because he pushed me, please chill.” She asked, Tufty gazing at her just seconds before Alphabittle quickly bucked her, sending her crashing into a nearby table. She got up and got angry again ready to pounce on the pony that bucked her, only for Agate to grab her tail with an agressive yank and throw and cause her to fall on the ground. Within seconds of her standing back up and roaring, Tufty was shot by something, she let out a loud roar and stumbled around before fainting. ”Tufty.” She whispered with worry, heart racing, hoping the dart wasn’t from who she thought, she gulped as she looked towards the doors.

”Seems I came just in time.” Bounty said, wearing a cowboy hat and a belt he put his dart gun in, having just walked in with it. “I knew the monster never left. I still saw her tracks and specks of fur… I was never going to quit, and now I finally got her!” He exclaimed and grinned, laughing as Onyx watched on, not sure what to do, her heart racing, this is not what she wanted, she was supposed to not let her be discovered and now here she was. “I have the perfect location for you, sweetie.” He said, putting a hoof on the lion and looking at Agate. “Thanks for your help.”

”You’re welcome, do I get my reward?”

”We will discuss that later.” Bounty smirked.

”Leave her alone.” Onyx said softly as they started dragging her out, running over, only to be stopped by Alphabittle who raised his hoof, causing her to faceplant into it. Her took a breath in, trying to keep is rage down.

”Are you crazy!?” He shouted back at her, pushing her slightly, using his magic to push her away from the lion while Agate and Bounty dragged her out, unconscious. It was clear he was furious, she felt much smaller against his massive size now. Unicorns already walking out, Dapple watching on with shock and worry.

”Sh-she was just-“

”She’s a wild animal!” Alphabittle exclaimed, taking a moment to realise what he had just said when an armadillo rolled past him, “She’s a predator! We can’t Bond with wild predators like giant cats or ravaging wolves! Unless you are Hitch, or an expert in animals are you Hitch, or n expert in animals?” He asked. “But that was a blood-thirsty beast!”

”N-no?”

”Well you are only that happened! You were extremely foolish trying to bond with a wild predator without any sort of professional advice at least, an attack was due to happen and it could have been anypony! I never thought you’d ever be so reckless.” He snorted in anger and followed along with a few other unicorns. “Agate nearly got killed, you put so many lives in danger to try and keep this thing as a pet just because she wasn’t in the right place!?” He asked before he slammed the doors behind him, he was in so much rage that even Onyx was shook. Putting Bridlewood in danger really angered him, and this time he felt the whole village was in danger because of her.

Dapple watched Onyx, soon standing by her side as ashe sighed. “Of course Agate had to ruin everything.” She muttered to herself before she walked to a table and sat down, feeling so much shame that she felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there. Wanting to be alone, she tucked herself underneath one of the tables the best she could , leading up against the stand in the middle and putting a hoof on her scratched cheek. While laying there she just thought about what she had done. She should have told Hitch, or anypony knowledgeable on animals, but she didn’t want to let her go. If she had, then she wouldn’t have sneaked into that room and she wouldn’t have shouted at her, then she wouldn't have tried to attack Agate and this wouldn’t have happened. There was only one thing she could do now.

”This is not what I wanted…” She asked, soon realising her cubs would never get to see her again. Now she failed, Tufty was going to die and it was all her fault. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for all of this…

”Are you okay?” Dapple asked as he sat down with her. Putting a damp cloth on her cheek to try and clean the wound, she winced a bit from the stinging pain, must be some sort of wound disinfectant on the cloth. She couldn’t blame him, there could be all sorts of germs and bacteria in those claws, but she still would have been fine, she thought.

“This is all my fault…”

Dapple looked at her and back at the cloth and thought about what to say. “Well, yeah, that’s true. You took on a job you weren’t experienced for.” He shrugged, taking away the blood-stained cloth and checking the wound out. It looked like it would not leave any permanent scarring, thankfully, but it would take at least a week or two to completely heal and disappear.

”That hit.” She sighed, looking at the ground, thoughts just running through her mind on what she could have done or said instead. Perhaps Hitch could have given her some animal caring advice if he was unable to take her under his hooves. Or she could have gotten that wildlife vet on the outskirts of the Bay, that family has a mailbox, right? Or she could have even asked Sunny, Zipp has a cool jet, she could have flown her home. But they were pretty busy the week she found Tufty, who had bonded with her as time went past. She worriedly looked out the window, hoping Tufty at least will have a quick and painless death, even if it meant her cubs would never see her again. Her heart ached at the thought of those poor cubs just losing their mother, as a pony who had lost her parents as a young filly, she couldn’t bear to allow that pain on anyone else! She had to at least save Tufty!

”Did this give you an ideas?” Dapple asked, “I wonder what poetry this inspired.”

“No. No ideas, but I need to fix my mistake…” She said quietly, getting up.

“Fix it?” He asked, puzzled on what she meant before seeing her run out the doors. “W-wait!” He exclaimed, running after. Leaving only one stallion behind, who looked around, confused, it felt a little awkward thanks to the fact he just walked in.

”Oh? Uh… Wait for me!?” Jasper said, running after them.