Product of Friendship (My Little Pony)

11 Animal Sanctuary (3/4)

"Aw, you're so adorable," Luster cooed at a piglet she coddled in her hooves. She tickled at the small creature's nibble upon her hoof as she rubbed its fur of brown and gamboge. "I'm going to call you Chester."

Georgia scratched her cheek. "Not a name I would think for a piglet. Then again, I don't make a habit of naming my food."

"Just look at him." Luster gestured the piglet before her friend. "Doesn't he look like one big chestnut?"

Chester squealed at the griffon's carnivorous eyes. Georgia snickered. "You're lucky I don't like chestnuts."

Luster frowned, smothering the piglet in her embrace. "Georgia, stop scaring him."

"Oh, I'm not the one he should be afraid of. I'm pretty sure Chester will figure that out fast when you-know-who starts the pandemonium."

"She's learning, Georgia. How do you expect her to change if none of you are willing to give her the opportunity?"

Georgia shrugged. "Yeah, well, I'll consider that when she gives me a good reason to."

The ground beneath Luster and her classmates rumbled when a sudden roar echoed loudly through the sanctuary. The birds flocked into the air and animals hid atop trees and dens.

Trixie hid behind Fluttershy, her body quivered wildly. "What was that? What was that? What was that?" Trixie swiftly repeated.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said. "Calm down students, it's okay. I will take care of it." She attempted to ascend to the air but was weighed down by Trixie's grasp. "Um, Trixie, would mind letting me go?"

Trixie caught herself when noting the befuddled eyes of her students. She pushed away from Fluttershy and coughed into her hoof. "Oh yes, Trixie can handle things here. You can go ahead and resolve whatever that was."

Fluttershy veered from the group, earning concerned eyes from the students. "So, are we just going to let her deal with that alone?" Georgia asked. "That definitely sounded like something big."

"Of course not," Luster said, whisking the piglet on her backside. "I'm going to help anyway I can."

Georgia grinned. "Well, aren't you the brave one. I knew I like you for a reason."

Luster and Georgia followed Fluttershy into a forest she disappeared into, but then Trixie interjected, "And where do you think you two are going?"

"We're going to check if Mrs. Fluttershy needs any help," Luster answered, keeping her pace. "We'll be right back."

"You don't get to make that decision." Trixie harnessed her magic, ready to reel her students back in the herd. However, another roar shook the grounds and sputtered Trixie's magic to a halt. "Trixie shall permit this only once but be quick about it."

Luster and Georgia trailed behind the direction Fluttershy went, dashing through shrubs and rounding trees in their path. They discovered a clearing where a large cave carved inside a small mountain. Fluttershy had descended inside.

Luster climbed up to rocks to reach the side of the entrance. Georgia was the first to get a peek inside and her mouth hung and gestured to Luster to have a look. Luster shared her friend's astonishment when she discovered Fluttershy with an Ursa Minor coated in white.

The curious piglet tried to climb over Luster's head to get a peek, but Luster pulled him back with her magic. She could not risk any rash actions to startle the large creature.

"Woah," Georgia whispered. "I didn't think those rumors about an Ursa Minor being here would be true. Mrs. Fluttershy is kind of a badass."

"Did you have another bad dream?" Fluttershy whispered soothingly to the Ursa Minor, rubbing its face riddled with angst. The Ursa Minor whimpered, shifting back to retreat from the sunlight. "It's okay."