A Cold Life

by gracial

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 11431

A blank-flank mare searches for her cutie mark. In doing so, she makes many friends (and a few enemies) along the way. Though, most importantly, she will learn the magic of friendship.

Snowi is a mare who lives on the street, travelling from town to town, trying to survive. One day, she is caught for thievery and sent to jail. Now, after almost a year in the big house, she is free and searching for her cutie mark once again. However, she will find something more than a cutie mark on her adventure.

*Takes place right after "The Crystal Empire". That means Discord is still in stone and Twilight is still wingless. So remember this as you read the story*

Published 2013-07-23 02:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-29 21:55:37 UTC

Introduction

Name: Snowi Lendant
Race: Earth pony
Born: 10/23/1991
Place of Birth: Manehattan, Equastria
Age: 21
Special Talent/Cutie Mark: N/A
Assigned Cell: C12
Date Arrived: 4/12/2012
Date Departed: 4/12/2013
Crimes: Breaking and Entering, Assault, Repeated Theft
Sentence: 1 yr
Current Status: Released

The Pegasus stared at the document. After a few moments he brought his gaze up to meet the mare in front of him. "Well," he said, "this all seems to check out, I'll just need to hand over the things you came in here with." She nodded and waited for a few moments before he came back with some familiar items. "Okay, let's see here," the Pegasus went on, "when you came in here, you had a saddlebag, a small amount of food which has been generously replaced due to expiration, a necklace, a map, and a compass."

The pony handed her the items, which she placed into the saddlebag and put on her back. "Well, I didn't know you were a traveler" the Pegasus stated.

"Yeah," she said in a dull tone, "I wish I wasn't."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry about that; I hope you find some place soon. It's that way for many ponies, though I think you'll fair better. You've been doing fine in the last few months, and I think you can make it out there" the Pegasus said, trying to cheer the earth pony up.

"Thank you," she said,"goodbye James, I hope life treats you well, too."

"Thanks Snowi," said James, "and try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

"I will." She walked out of the building into the sunlight, enjoying the taste of freedom. She trotted to a nearby park and sat on a bench. She recounted her past, thinking of how she ended up here, and what she did to deserve this.

````````````````````

She was born with a white coat, blue mane, and purple eyes. After thinking of many things related to winter, her mother named her Snowi. They had lived in the city of Manehattan, in a part filled with loving, happy, and healthy ponies. She lived a great foalhood, always surrounded by someone who would lend a helping hoof if you were in trouble.

Even though Snowi had such a good place for a foal to grow up, she never liked others. It wasn’t because she was bullied for anything, or that she didn’t have her cutie mark, it was the fact she couldn’t socialize with them.

They tried to talk to her, and she did the same, but she was always thinking the worst of other. “What if they laugh at me? What if they suddenly go from a smiling town to an angry mob the second I try to open up?” She grew up having these delusions, telling herself that they saw her as evil or insane. In a way, this was true. The other ponies thought that maybe she really just hated them and wanted to kill them. They wouldn’t have killed her if she had opened up, obviously, but sometimes they would step a little to the side when she walked by, which thus fueled her fear.

Though she did distrust them, she did not want to hurt them. Deep down a part of her knew she was exaggerating, telling her that she lived in a nightmare created because of her own actions and paranoia. That was the one she wished she would have acted on. If she had listened to it a little more, she may not have ended up where she is now.

The only real ponies she had talked to were her parents. They were the only ponies in the world that made her smile, and she loved them dearly. Once, when she was crying because she feared she would never get her cutie mark, her mom told her "Honey, you could become an mare before you get your cutie mark, and we'd love you all the same." these words made her realize that it didn’t matter to the ponies she loves when she gets her cutie mark. She knew then that they’d love her all the same.

On her tenth birthday, her dad gave her a necklace which adorned a heart-shaped amethyst in the center. “Just like this necklace” her dad said, “our love for you is priceless.”

"Actually," her mom said, "it was about 400 bits." They all laughed at this, and proceeded to enjoy the party and the cake.

As time went on, she didn’t find her cutie mark. She searched for ways to find it while still a foal, but when she grew up she stopped looking for it. She had other things to worry about, like surviving and finding a job. She had just left her parents (after much crying) and it was hard for her to get adjusted. She didn't want to go back to her parents out of fear of disappointing them, so she was on her own.

The job market didn't offer much work for blank flanks, as they are seen with little talent. She had gone to many job interviews and had had little success, and whatever job she got, she just got fired from for not doing it well. Because of all of this, Snowi was forced to move from city to city, never having a true home and living off of what she found for the most part.

It was hard to survive, so she soon turned to thievery. She stole food, blankets, hygienic supplies, bits, and medicine. She only took what she currently needed to live and nothing more. She was a thief who did not like most other ponies, but she still considered the well-being of others important.

One day, she was in Ponyville "getting supplies", as she called it, a pony sleeping on the couch woke up when she was in the kitchen. He heard a somepony going through the refrigerator, so he went to see who it was, thinking maybe it was just one of his foals. When he saw it was Snowi, he called for the guards. She panicked, knocked him out, and ran out of the house as fast as she could. A pair of guards eventually caught up to her, subdued her, and brought her to a chariot, in which she was escorted to a local prison.

She sat in there for a day before her trial. It did not go well. It turns out that there had been a search going on into several items stolen from homes in the last few months. They had, and used, the evidence to convict her of these crimes. Normally all the thefts would have just added up to seven months, but due to added charges of assault and several cases of breaking and entering, she was sentenced to fourteen months.

As she had done in her foalhood, she kept her head down, this time for good reasons. She never got into any trouble, nor did she ever do anything in prison that would require so. Due to this, she had an early release of only twelve months.

During the months she had been in there, she had had much time to think about her life, and how to improve it. She knew prison was not the place for her, so she had decided to turn over a new leaf and once again try to find her cutie mark. However, she did not know where to begin.

Off in the distance, she saw something that caught her eye. “That’s it,” Snowi said to herself, “that might just be the key to my cutie mark!” Snowi got up and headed to what just might be her chance at redemption.

Author's Note

You know, this is the first story I've actually ever written. I personally think it's good for a first time story, but that's up to you guys. Honestly, when I first submitted this it got turned down for the dialogue cluttering together in the same paragraphs. Well, you learn something new every day, huh? Anyways, since I'm still new to this I'd appreciate comments regarding errors in my writing. Really I want to get better at this so any constructive criticism is welcome with open arms!

A Friend

Snowi approached the library, content to find something that would help. She opened the door to find it had but a single purple unicorn in it. “Oh, hello,” the unicorn said, “my name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm the librarian, do you need something?”

Snowi thought for a second. “Twilight Sparkle, I think I've heard that name before, but I can't put my hoof on it.” She looked a Twilight for a few seconds, trying to think of where she had heard of her.

“Perhaps you have heard of the Elements of Harmony, we're well known considering we've saved Equastria about three times now. And we've saved Ponyville at least a dozen times now, so I'm sure you've heard about something we've done.”

Snowi though about this for a moment, “No, none of that...” She suddenly realized, “Aha! You're that crazy mare who caused a bunch of ponies to fall in love with a doll!”

Twilight cringed, “So ponies still remember that, huh?” She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, “I really thought saving them from utter destruction several times would make them forget about that...”

“Oh, um” Snowi said, “actually, where I'm from I tend not to get up-to-date news, but I'm sure everypony else has completely forgotten about it.”

“Oh,” Twilight said, “that's reassuring, thanks. Hey, I never get your name.” Twilight knew that she should get the mare's name so she can tell Pinkie about her later.

“My name is Snowi Lendant, nice to meet you.”

Twilight smiled, “Well Ms. Lendant, is there anything you need?”

Snowi looked around, searching for something to help her. “Um,” Snowi said, “well do you have anything on finding a cutie mark?” she asked nervously.

“Oh my, no” Twilight said, “We have a documentary on cutie marks, and a few foal's books about what they are, if that's what you're looking for. However, no pony has written anything on how to find them. A few of the foal's books have encouragement about finding it, saying that it will come eventually, Other than that, it's up to the pony the find it his or herself.

Snowi hung her head in disappointment. 'Dang it” she thought to herself, 'I guess I'll just have to keep looking.'

“Thanks anyways Twilight” she said, “You wouldn't happen to know of anypony who could help with finding a cutie mark do you?”

Twilight thought at this, “No, I really can't think of anypony. Snowi, if you're worried that whatever foal you're talking about isn't going to get their cutie mark, I'm sure that they will find it eventually.” Twilight said.”Many parents worry that their foal isn't going to get their cutie mark, up until the point when they're a little bit older and they finally do.”

Snowi suddenly realized that she hadn't been completely clear with the unicorn. “Twilight, I'm the one who needs to find my cutie mark.” She turned to show Twilight her flank, devoid of any image whatsoever.

Twilight was stunned. Only a few instances in her lifetime had she seen a full grown pony with no cutie mark, and in these, they were in jail or doing volunteer work. “Oh...um...I'm so sorry, I didn't realize” she stuttered. She had not meant to offend Snowi, it was just so unusual.

“No, i-it's fine. Most ponies don't even realize until I turn around” she said sadly. “Well, I guess I'll be going then...” She started to head for the door, when an idea suddenly hit Twilight.

“Wait, I think I know some ponies who can help you, but their kind of...young.”

Snowi wondered on the last part. “How young?” she asked.

Twilight hesitated, “They're fillies.”

She thought for a second, “Well if it means getting my cutie mark I'll do just about anything.”

“Okay,” Twilight began, “but I'll have to talk to them about it, come back around three o'clock tomorrow.”

“Alright, thank you!” Snowi said before trotting out the door. Right after she closed the door she did a jump for joy. After all this time she might finally get her cutie mark, regardless of who helped her. She suddenly stopped when she thought of the fact that she still had nowhere to sleep.

'What am I going to do?' she thought to herself, 'I don't have a home, no pony who will take me in, and I don't have a clock to know when three o' clock is going to be...'

She pondered her situation and suddenly heard a familiar voice. 'Go to Twilight, she's the closest thing you have to a friend.' It was the same voice she had vowed to listen to from now on. What if she thought ill of her? What if she turned her down? 'No,' she shouted in her head, 'she's the only chance I have, I HAVE to ask her.'

She went back into the library, head held high. “Oh hey,” Twilight said, “was there anything else you needed?”

Snowi let out a sigh. 'You can do this,' she thought, 'just relax.' “Twilight,” she said aloud, “I actually need to talk to somepony, and you're the only one who I might be able to trust”

Twilight was surprised at this, having only known Snowi for a few minutes. “What's wrong Snowi?”

“Twilight,” she said, “is there somewhere we can sit down? I need to tell you something, and it's going to take a while.”

“Yeah, we can talk in the kitchen” she said before gesturing to a the next room. They went into it and took a seat a nearby table.

Snowi proceeded to tell Twilight her story, how her foalhood was, how she never got her cutie mark, even how she ended up in jail and had just been released that very day. “Wow,” Twilight said, “I'm sorry to here about all of that. You're welcome to stay here, so long as you're criminal past stays in the past.” She was glad to hear this.

“Don't worry, I won't be doing anything like that anymore. I've put that part of my life behind me and I don't plan on going back.”

Twilight started thinking for a moment, “I guess you can sleep in the guest bed. I'll go ahead and start fixing it up, you just make yourself at home.” She headed upstairs and began making the bed. Snowi went into the main room and dropped her bags by a nearby bookshelf.

She was about to head upstairs when the door suddenly opened and a voice shouted “Twilight! I'm back from Rarity's!” Snowi looked to see who it was. Seeing it was a baby dragon only made her say one thing,

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”

“What the-” was all the dragon could get out before being assaulted by a mutant bear hug.

“Oh sweet Celestia you are the cutest thing I have ever seen! I don't know and I don't care what you are, you're adorable!”

The earth pony continued her hug for a few moments before a faint voice said, “Can't...breathe...”
Snowi released her grip, allowing the dragon a moment to recover. “So,” he said, “who are you and why do I feel like this has happened before?”

“My name is Snowi, and I don't know the answer to the second part. What might you be little one?” She asked in an foalish tone.

“My name is Spike, I'm a dragon.”

At that moment, Twilight decided to butt in, “A BABY dragon, to be correct, and my wittle baby dwagon shouldn't be hugged so tight, he might just go “POP”” she mocked.

Spike blushed at this, “Well...you're...purple...” Spike attempted to retort, too embarrassed to think of anything.

“Aaaw my wittle dragon should get to bed now, cwause he needs his beauty sweep” she continued to mock, “Come on Spikey-Wikey.” Having seen that, Snowi burst into a fit of laughter. Spike went upstairs, cheeks red as apples. Twilight put him to bed and headed downstairs, where Snowi had managed to control herself.

“Yes, that was my most faithful assistant, Spike. He's very helpful around the library, and we've known each other since I was a filly and he was hatched.” She thought back to that day and told Snowi how it was the best day of her life. She told how she had discovered her special talent, how she got Spike as her new best friend, and how she became Celestia's apprentice.

“Woah,” Snowi exclaimed, “you're Celestia's apprentice AND and element of harmony? Twilight, you are the coolest pony I have ever met!”

Twilight blushed, “Oh, thank you,” she said, “I've never really had anypony tell me I'm cool before.”

“Really?” Snowi asked, “That's strange, you would think...” She trailed off, confused by why the purple unicorn had never even been called cool.

“Well, whatever, I have another question to ask.”

“Shoot”

“Is it okay if I have something to eat? I don't mean to pry, but I don't really have that much food on me.”

“Of course you can, you're our guest, just don't eat too much.”

“Thank you!”

Snowi went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich. After she finished it she headed to bed, Twilight having already gone to sleep. She got into her bed and almost instantly fell asleep. That night, for the first in many, she had sweet dreams.

Author's Note

Remember that thing I said last chapter about separating that dialogue and whatnot? Well this chapter was TERRIBLE with that! It was left and right with those errors GOSH I'm glad I didn't release that!

Also, Stormcloak reference anyone?

The Meeting

Snowi woke up to the smell of pancakes. She got up and trotted to the kitchen, stopping at the doorway when she saw that instead of Twilight, it was Spike who was cooking, “Aren't you a little young to be doing that?” she said.

The baby dragon turned his head around to face her, “Well look who's finally up. You sleep later than me, and that's saying something” he stated, “What exactly tires you out so much? I heard about you going to jail and stuff, and you don't have to do much there. So why exactly are you so tired?”

She shook her head, “Spike, jail is no walk in the park. You have to go through some pretty exhausting things that I'm not sure Twilight would want you knowing about. And you still haven't answered my question.”

Spike looked back to the pancakes for a moment, then put them on a nearby plate, “Hey, I cook for Twilight all the time. She can't cook for her life. Because of that, I'm actually a pretty good chef.”

Snowi raised an eybrow, “Well, guess it can't hurt.” She took a bite and her eyes turned to saucers, “This is the best thing I've had in...forever!” She took the entire stack of pancakes and trotted over to the table.

She was about to to devour them when Spike spoke up. “Hey, those are for all of us!”

Snowi blushed, “Uh, yeah I knew that. I was just, uh, bringing them to the table. You know, so you don't have to after cooking this wonderful meal!” she lied.

Spike rolled his eyes, “Yeah, whatever. You can have four, that's how many me and Twilight usually get. I cooked a few extra for you so that it's even.”

Snowi's face lit up. She took four off of the stack and began to chow down. “Twilight, they're ready!” Spike called and the purple mare came trotting in.

“Ah,” she said, “I see our guest is finally awake...and enjoying the pancakes!”

Snowi lifted her syrup-covered face from the plate and nodded, quickly returning to her meal. Spike and Twilight joined in just as she was finishing. “Darn it, I wish that could've lasted longer” Snowi said sadly.

“It might have had you not completely pigged out” Spike snickered, quickly earning him a jab in the ribs from Twilight.

“Ignore him,” she said, “do you want some orange juice?”

“Yes please.”

Twilight fixed her a glass of orange juice, which she also quickly consumed. “Wow,” Twilight said in surprise, “what did they feed you in jail, grass?”

Snowi shook her head, “No, but it might as well have been. After every meal I felt just the same as I had before I ate. I tell ya, they really don't take it easy on criminals of any sort in Equestria.”

“Celestia, I'm sorry about that” Twilight said, “I do hope, though, that you've learned your lesson because of it.”

Snowi nodded, “Yes, well I wouldn't have wanted to go back regardless. I'm not meant to be a criminal, so I've given up that life for good.”

Twilight smiled, “Glad to hear that! Also, we're going to go see those fillies I mentioned earlier in a few minutes. I just need to finish up here.” She looked up to see Spike putting his and Snowi's plates into the sink. “Is everyone obsessed with finishing before I even get a bite? Spike, what did you put in these?!”

Spike shrugged, “Milk, I guess.”

Twilight laughed, “Oh Spike, I'm just kidding!”

Spike rolled his eyes, “It's too early in the morning for this.”

“Well someone's grumpy” Snowi said, “Anyways Twilight, you probably need to get to eating.” Twilight looked at her meal, levitated a fork over to it, and dug in. Snowi walked into the living room and read one of the many books she had. She didn't bother with the title, as it was apparently the first in the series. It was about some pegasus named Daring Doo, who was trying to get an ancient artifact but was stopped by a giant cat. She read as Daring Doo went through some silly adventure, and eventually beat the cat and obtained the artifact. She couldn't really tell if the cat was a bad guy, or just defending his property, but she didn't honestly care. She looked up to realize that she had only been reading for about thirty minutes.

“Not the longest or most interesting book, but it occupied my time” Snowi said to herself. She looked around to see if Twilight was waiting on her. “Twilight?” she called.

“Yes?” came an answer from the kitchen.

“Are you still eating?” she asked, thinking that either Twilight was a slow eater, or she was a fast reader.

“No, I just finished.”

Snowi got up and walked into the kitchen to find Twilight putting her plate away, “You ready to go?” she asked.

“Ready as I'll ever be. Spike! I'm gonna be gone for a while, so be good while I'm away!” Twilight shouted right before they stepped out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two mares walked up to the barn, “Before we go in there,” Twilight said abruptly, “I need to tell you something.”

Snowi looked at her, “Is it about the fillies?”

Twilight shook her head, “No, their families. You see, I'm not sure if they'll be okay with your criminal record. I'm not saying that you should lie about it, but maybe you shouldn't bring it up. Some of them are very protective and may not ever let you near their foals if they found out about it. Just tell them about your situation, make a good impression, and if all goes well they may let you join their little group.”

Snowi nodded in understanding and Twilight knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a red stallion. “Oh hello Big Macintosh. Is it okay if we come in?”

Big Mac looked at her and then at Snowi. He gave a quick “Eeeyup” and they stepped in.

An orange mare trotted down the stares, “Howdy Twilight, who's your friend?”

“This is Snowi, she's staying with me for a while. She needs some help getting her cutie mark.”

Applejack snorted, “That's funny Twi, but she doesn't look THAT young.” Applejack looked at Snowi's flank to see what her cutie mark was, only to find that it was blank. Applejack's eyes widened in surprise, suddenly realizing her friend wasn't kidding. “Oh, Ah'm sorry, it's just Ah've never actually met a mare without her cutie mark. Ah'll be happy to help in any way.Ah can.”

“Thank you” Snowi responded.

“I think she might need the help of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, that group that your sister and her friends made.” Twilight stated.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Ah don't know Twi, they might not even accept her. I don't really know what their rules are on age. Ah'm also not sure if it would look...good for a mare her age to be hanging out with a bunch of fillies.”

Twilight nodded her head in agreement, “I thought of this, but it's worth it if it may help a pony who's gone through so much to finally get a normal life.”

Applejack nodded “That is true, I guess if they'll have ya then there's nothing Ah can say. They're in their clubhouse, planning one of their crusades.”

Snowi smiled when the mare told them where they were. She was worried that she would turn her away. “Thank you Applejack, it means a lot” she said.

“No problem sugarcube, ya'll take care now.” The two mares left the barn, leaving the two siblings. “Ya'll don't think she wants trouble, do ya Big Mac?” Applejack asked after they were out of earshot.

Big Mac looked at her with a blank expression, “Nnnope.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight and Snowi arrived at the clubhouse. It appeared to be fairly quiet, which concerned Twilight. “Well, good luck. I'll see you back at the library.”

Twilight was about to turn around when Snowi spoke up, “Wait, you aren't coming in with me?”

Twilight shook her head, “No, I have my studies to complete. Even if I didn't, you need to do this yourself. I wouldn't be able to say anything that would change their minds anyways.”

Snowi lowered her head in disappointment, sad that her (technically) best friend wasn't coming with her. “I guess you're right, well seeya.” She walked up to the door of the clubhouse and began contemplating running away.

'No,' she thought to herself, 'no more running away. You are going to go in there and get this done, no matter what!' She knocked on the door and heard a quick shuffling of hooves on the inside.

A filly opened the door and stared at her with a raised eyebrow. “Can I help you?”

Snowi gulped in nervousness, “H-hi, is it okay if I come in?”

“Well I don't exactly know you. For all I know, you're one of those business ponies trying to get us to spend a bunch of money. We don't have any money, so go away.”

She tried to close the door, but Snowi stopped it with her hoof. “I'm not a business pony, I need your help.”

The fillies eyes widened in shock, “You need OUR help? Hey maybe we can get our cutie marks in helping people! Yeah, come on in.” The filly opened the door to reveal two fillies standing in the center of the room. “We've been trying to come up with something to do ALL day, I think you might be the answer. That's Applebloom on the right, Sweetie Belle on the left, and I'm Scootaloo.”

“Howdy”

“Hiya!”

“It's nice to meet you girls, I'm Snowi and I-”

“Woah, girls come look at where her cutie mark is supposed to be!” Scootaloo gestured at her flank. The other two crusaders trotted to her side and gasped when they saw that she had no cutie mark.

“Oh mah Celestia, she doesn't have a cutie mark!” Applebloom shouted.

“Oh my gosh, you poor thing! Getting so old and not having a cutie mark!” Sweetie Belle joined in, neglecting the fact that calling ponies old is mean. “Oh, Oh, I have an idea!” she continued, “What if we let her join the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

“Yeah, that's a great idea!”

“Yeah! Hey Snowi ya wanna join our club?”

“Please!”

“It'll be awesome!”

Snowi couldn't distinguish the voices from each other because they were moving so fast, but she heard the offer and that was all she needed. “Oh yes, I'd love to join!”

The three fillies jumped for joy at their newest recruitment. “Yay, now you just have to take the oath!” Scootaloo said while still bouncing.

“Oath? What oath?” Snowi asked

. “Oh,” Scootaloo stopped her bouncing to answer, “right this way and you can take it.” She walked over to and podium at the other side of the room and Snowi followed. She stepped up to it and pulled and abnormally long scroll. “Do you solemnly swear.....”

-ten minutes later-

“I do” Snowi said after the speech of her lifetime.

“Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” the three fillies shouted in unison.

Author's Note

Yeah, you saw this coming, right? The CMC were predictable, even if you didn't look at the character tags. If you didn't see it coming, well that was fun, eh? Anyways, once again I had to fix a TON of errors, jeeze that took a while!

The First Crusade

“So what do you girls think we should do first?” Snowi asked the other crusaders.

Applebloom was the first to answer, “Well, Ah think since we've been at this all day that we've done everything we can think of at the moment. So why don't we go back to some of the old things to see if you can do 'em?”

“Yeah, I'd be interested in seeing what you can do. Being a grown mare and all it might actually be a bit easier for you.” Scootaloo said in agreement, “Why don't you try baking?”

Snowi thought for a moment, then smiled, “That's a good idea, I've never actually tried cooking any of my own food!”

“Alright let's do it!” Sweetie Belle shouted, and the four crusaders ran out the door, Snowi bumping her head on the way out.

“We gotta get get that raised” she said as they were running towards Sugarcube Corner.

“Ah'll remember to tell mah sister” Applebloom replied.

“Sorry girls, but after what happened last time I don't think you will get your cutie marks in baking” Mr. Cake said, recalling the event that transpired last time.

“But Mr. Cake,” Sweetie Belle said with the dreaded pouty face, “we don't need to use it, Snowi does.”

Mr. Cake raised an eyebrow, “Now who might this Snowi be?” Suddenly, the bell rang and Mr. Cake looked up to see a mare come in, out of breath.

“Sorry, I (huff) couldn't k-keep up. You guys (huff) are way too fast!”

She took a moment to catch her breath, and Scootaloo pointed at her, “Thats Snowi, she's the newest crusader!”

Before he could question it, Snowi turned to show her blank flank to Mr. Cake. “Oh my, well then you can ju-”

“(gasp) Oh my gosh, new pony!”

Snowi looked up to meet the eyes of a very pink pony. “Um, hello” was all Snowi could say before she was blasted by the pink pony's banter.

“Hiya my name's Pinkie Pie, nice to meet ya. Oh my gosh, you don't have a cutie mark! You should go see the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Oh no, you already met them, wait how did they meet you before me?! I usually meet everypony first! Oh wait, there was that time with Twilight. And I guess the Apples were here before me so they had to greet ME! Oh I forget if they threw me a part or not, but I don't think they did. Hey that reminds me, I have to throw a party for you. It'll be a 'Welcome to Ponyville, I'm sorry I didn't greet you first' party! Hey did I already mention my name's Pinkie Pie? I think I did I just-”

“Pinkie!” Mr. Cake yelled, “I think the mare has had enough, and you're going to wake the kids if you keep shouting like that.”

Pinkie looked at Mr. Cake apologetically, “Sorry Mr. Cake.” She backed away from Snowi to give her her space. “Anyways,” she continued, “I need to get to planning the party, were are you staying?”

“At the library with Twilight.”

“Twilight greeted you before ME?! Wow, THAT'S backwards! Anyways, seeya later.” Pinkie walked out the door and

Snowi looked at Mr. Cake with a confused expression, “What's with her?”

Mr. Cake shrugged, “She's just being Pinkie. Now, as we were saying before that happened, you can go ahead and use the kitchen. Just don't mess it up, please. We really don't have the money to repair anything right now. And if you do get your cutie mark in baking, we could always use an extra hand around here.”

Snowi smiled and thanked him. The four crusaders walked into the kitchen, put on some aprons and chef hats, and got to work. The three fillies tried to help Snowi by telling her what things they had tried before that ended up cause an explosion of some sort, but she didn't do too well regardless. She tried to bake a cake and ended up with sludge. She tried to make cookies and got a new set of throwing stars. She tried to make ice cream and got a cake that tasted terrible.

After her many failures, Snowi and the other crusaders confirmed that she was not cut out for baking. They put away the supplied, apologized to Mr. Cake, and headed back to the clubhouse. By the time they got back the sun was beginning to set. “Well crusaders, it looks like Snowi's havin the same troubles as us...” Applebloom said as she drooped her head onto the table.

“Hey, at least she got some throwing stars out of it, we got nothin'!” Scootaloo complained.

“Well at least it was kinda fun, I mean it was just hilarious when Scootaloo tried that ice...cake...whatever it was, and started talking about how she had fingers!”

“I don't know what you put in that thing Snowi, but let's NOT do that again!” Scootaloo remarked, still remembering the event.

“Yeah,” Snowi said as she plopped down on a nearby beanbag, “but Sweetie's right, that was pretty fun”

“Yeah”

“Uh-huh” the other two crusaders replied.

For the rest of their time there (about ten minutes) Snowi told the crusaders about her past and herself. They said that they felt awful for her, but that they'd stick by her regardless of her past. When they saw that it was getting dark they said goodbye and headed home.

On the way back, Snowi looked to see the sun setting. Since she wasn't a filly like her comrades, she didn't have to worry about a curfew. She stopped in the park she had been to earlier to admire the sun disappearing beneath the horizon and the moon rising along with the stars appearing in the sky. She always preferred the night over the day. It was a time of peace, while the day was a time of work. She relaxed for an hour before continuing to the library.

When she arrived at the library, she was greeted by a blast of confetti and a loud “Surprise!”. She looked around to see a bunch of ponies with Pinkie directly in front of her.

“What the hay is going on?!”

Pinkie giggled at the surprised ponies face, “It's a surprise party silly! Don't you remember me telling you I was going to throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville, I'm sorry I didn't greet you first!' party?!”

Snowi blinked twice in confusion, “Yeeeeah,” suddenly remembering the eccentric pony's rant from earlier. “So, I have still have to introduce you to all the other ponies!”

Snowi gulped when the pink pony started pointing out ponies and their names, afraid of how long this was going to take. Luckily, Twilight stepped in after only a few ponies. “Pinkie, I don't think she'll be able to remember all those pony's names. Maybe we should introduce her to just a few first?”

Pinkie turned to face her, “That's a great idea Twilight! Who did you have in mind? Oh how about Lyra and Bon-Bon and-”

“Pinkie!”

“Yes?”

“I meant our closest friends.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!”

Twilight turned to face four ponies that Snowi hadn't noticed earlier. “Oh, hi Applejack, good to see you again!” she said when she noticed the orange mare from earlier.

“Howdy sugarcube.”

“Super, you already know Applejack!” Pinkie said, “anyways, to the left of her is Fluttershy..."

“H-hello.”

“...to the right of her is Rainbow Dash....”

“Good to meet ya.”

“...and to the right of HER is Rarity.”

“Hello darling.”

“And now you know all my super-duper, fantastic, best friends forever!”

Twilight smiled, “Yes now you know ALL of the elements of harmony.”

Snowi smiled, “It's nice to meet you all.”

Pinkie suddenly pulled her into an embrace, “Oh if you wanna know everyone then I can go ahead and-”

“Pinkie!” the ponies shouted simultaneously.

“Whoopsies...”

Snowi had a good time for the rest of the party. She soon found out, like the rest of the town already knew, that Pinkie was the best partying pony in Equestria. She also got to know the rest of the elements really well. She even dared to challenge Rainbow Dash to a game of Twister, which she lost. By the end of it, she was so tired that she fell asleep on the couch. Twilight put a blanket over her, then went to bed. Spike had fallen asleep halfway through the party, so she just jumped in.

Right as she was about to fall into a deep slumber, she heard a knock on the door. “Party's over, go home!” she shouted. Instead of ceasing, it got if louder and faster. “Ugh, what could somepony want at this time of the night?”

She trotted to the door, annoyed by the knocking. “What do you- Rainbow Dash?” Before her stood her rainbow maned friend. “Rainbow Dash what is it? And...oh my Celestia what happened to you?!”

The cyan pegasus had a black eye and several cuts and bruises. There was even a huge gash on her leg. “Ohhh, Twi...light.” she said before collapsing onto the ground. “Rainbow Dash!” she shouted. Twilight picked up her friend and brought her inside, closing the door behind her.

“What happened?” Snowi had woken up due to the noise.

“I wish I knew...” Twilight said grimly.

Author's Note

Conflict! This is my favorite chapter so far (even the next one) because THIS is where my story started falling into place! You guys might not appreciate it as much as me, but that's because...well...I'm the one writing it.

Shadow in the Distance

Nurse Redheart had had an exhausting day. It had been a regular morning until a mother, her husband, and their two foals came in. At first, they seemed like regular ponies. The father had come for a regular check-up. He was lead into the back room, and the other three sat down quietly. That's when it began.

Apparently, the kids didn't like having to sit still for too long, so for the entire time they were waiting, they were horseplaying. The played leap frog, duck duck goose (which was just basically tag, but they kept saying 'goose' whenever one touched the other), and wrestling. She shivered at the memory of the two wrestling until they had practically destroyed the entire waiting room. Nurse Redheart had attempted to calm them down, but got scolded by the mother for 'surpressing their creativity' or something. The woman had been sputtering complete nonsense.

So, after the father came out, they left, having not paid for the damages. Redheart had to spend the rest of the day cleaning up the waiting room. Luckily, it was a slow day, so she didn't have to worry about anything else.

When she was finished, the day was over. She lounged in her chair for a few minutes before heading home, deciding that she had earned it. Right before she was ready to get up and leave, there was a loud 'bang' and the hospital doors swung open. She looked to see two mares, one with another pony lying on her back. “We need a doctor, NOW!”

Forgetting her weariness, Redheart sat up and called for a doctor. There was a quick response, and the cyan pegasus was wheeled off to another room. The three other ponies followed quickly, Redheart having adorned her mask.

The two ponies stood off to the side, allowing the doctors to do their jobs. “Oh I hope she'll be alright” Snowi said with a worried expression on her face.

“Don't worry,” Twilight said, “she's a tough mare, she'll be back to flying in no time.” In her heart, she knew that a gash like that wasn't enough to bring down Rainbow Dash. It was only a few inches, Dash had gone through much worse.

Regardless of what she knew, however, she still hated to see her friend like this. 'Whoever or whatever did this to her,' she thought to herself, 'is gonna pay.'

Snowi was not so sure about what Twilight said. Gashes like that can still take a pony's leg, if hit by a disease. 'What if whatever did that to her was diseased? What if it had a poison on it?' She didn't know what to think.

Twilight placed her hand on the other mare's shoulder, "Stop worrying so much. The doctors will treat it with antibiotics so it won't get infected, and if there is anything they'll find it before it gets her." This seemed to calm her down and the two watched as Rainbow Dash was treated.

After about an hour, the doctors told them that she was going to be fine. They said that she had head trauma, and that it was remarkable the she even managed to walk far enough to reach them. They put her on some medication, and said that she needs to get some rest. The last thing they said, however, deeply disturbed them. They had never seen the kind of gash she had on her leg. Sure, they had seen gashes like it, but the unicorn doctors said they felt some slight dark magic emitting from it. Dark, they had no other way to describe it.

They brought a barely conscious Rainbow Dash back to the library. She hobbled most of the way, Twilight eventually insisting that she get on her back so that she could carry her. She didn't bother arguing, she was far too tired.

When they arrived back at the library Twilight put Rainbow Dash in the guest bed, Snowi choosing to sleep on the couch again. While Snowi found sleep with ease, Twilight was not so fortunate. She spent half the night just laying in her bed, unable to stop thinking about what may have left that dark magic behind. The doctors had healed the wound, so she was unable to study it herself.

She eventually decided to write a letter to Celestia, though she would have to send it later when Spike was awake. It only told about the events that had transpired over that night and not much more than requesting some enlightenment on what it may have been.

For the rest of the night she looked through several books on creatures of the Everfree. She come up with nothing that used so-called “dark magic” or anything like it. It began to worry her that whatever attacked her friend was something unknown and thus posed an unknown threat.

When the sun rose, she was so tired that she wanted to go back to bed. However, she had things to do, and they required her to be awake today. She had a cup of coffee then went for a walk, knowing that the others wouldn't be awake for a while.

On her walk, she noticed a few ponies up at the crack of dawn. 'Early to rise ponies, should've known this walk wouldn't be completely lonely' she thought. “Wait a minute,” she said to herself, “Applejack's probably awake already! Well, at least I'll have someone to talk to.” She darted towards Sweet Apple Acres, hoping that her friend didn't sleep in today.

When she arrived, she saw Applejack moving some stuff out of the barn. “Well howdy Twi, what brings you up here so early?” The orange mare greeted her with the warm welcoming she had come to expect from the hospitable farm pony.

“Applejack,” Twilight started, “last night, Rainbow Dash got hurt by some...thing. None of the doctors could figure out what it was, and I wasn't able to study her wounds to see.”

Applejack gasped in surprise, “RD got attacked? Is she okay?”

Twilight was still trying to catch her breath from the run. “Yeah,” she said through her gasps of air, “the doctors fixed her up and she's resting at my house right now.”

Applejack exhaled in relief, “That's good to hear. Now, why are ya tellin me about this thing that ya'll can't seem to figure out?”

Twilight shrugged, “I guess I need somepony to talk to. This creature is on the loose terrorizing ponies. I'm a bit concerned as to whether it's really a threat or not.”

“Well, right now only Rainbow can tell us that. Ah mean, she IS the only pony who actually saw the thing.” Applejack stated.

Twilight lifted her head, “Yeah, I know that. I'm just a little anxious right now I guess.”

Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder, “Why don't ya head back to bed Twi? Ya'll look a little tired.”

Twilight smiled, “Well, I did stay up all night, so that's predictable. Seeya later Applejack!” The purple mare pulled away and headed back to the treehouse.

Applejack went back to the tools she had been moving earlier, when a giant shadow was cast over her, “What the?” She turned around to see something out of a horror film, “Oh mah lor-”

Author's Note

You know, after writing this chapter I liked AJ a lot more. I realized that she's actually a real nice pony, and it feels dishonest (see what I did there?) to say otherwise. Too bad about what happened at that last part though, makes me feel kinda bad.

The Image

“No, stay away from me!” Snowi screamed as she ran from the horrible beast.

“You can't escape your destiny, fool!” it shouted after.

“You think that's going to slow me down?!” she continued running. Suddenly, her hoof got caught on a root jutting out of the ground. “Agh!” she shouted as she tried to free herself. She got it out, but her leg was too twisted to keep running.

Within seconds, the beast was looming over her. It pinned her to the ground, and she shreaked in terror. “Aaaaaah! Somepony help me!”

As she looked into its horrid eyes, it only said three words, “Wake up, Snowi.”

“Huh?” she stopped squelling

“Snowi, wake up!”

Suddenly, the world around her crashed, and she opened her eyes to meet those of a certain baby dragon. “Oh Spike, it's just you, phew.” She had never been so relieved to be awake.

“You seemed to be having a bad dream.”

“Yeah, they usually aren't THAT bad, though.”

“Oh jeeze, are you okay?”

“Yeah, j-just give me moment.”

“Okay then.”

With that, Spike went upstairs. Snowi recapped on what she just saw, 'Okay, so first thing, that was the scariest dream I've ever had. Second, that thing looked like it crawled straight out of Tartarus. Third, I'm not completely sure it was just a dream...”

She thought about how it felt so realistic. She usually forgets her dreams when she wakes up, but she could remember every part of this one, even how the road felt. “Maybe I shouldn't pay to much attention to it.” she said to herself, “ I can just ask Twilight if it was some kind of reaction to my life suddenly getting better or something.”

She got up and looked at the clock to see what time it was.

12:44 PM

“Great, overslept again.” she muttered to herself. She headed to the kitchen to fix herself something to eat. After she ate some cereal, she wondered something, “Okay, why is it so quiet?” Usually, there was the sound of birds birds tweeting outside, or the clip-clop of ponies passing by.

She went upstairs to ask Spike what was going on. When she go up there, she noticed that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were still sound asleep. “Jeeze, I would have figured that Twilight wouldn't be a late sleeper.” She looked around for Spike and spotted him looking out f the window. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Come over here, I need to tell you something.” he said in a hollow tone. She walked over to where he was and sat on the ground beside him. “Somethings wrong, and I mean really wrong.”

Snowi looked out the window to see that Ponyville seemed to be completely deserted. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you feel kinda...sad? For no reason?” She was starting to get worried.

“Yeah, we need to wake up Twilight, she might be able to help. The only thing is, she's a heavy sleeper. Once she's asleep, it's nearly impossible to get her up.”

“Is there someone else who might know about this?” Snowi asked, reasoning that Twilight couldn't possibly be the only pony who might have a clue.

“Well, Twilight left me a letter to send to Celestia Thing is, I sent it over an hour ago and still no respon-” At that very moment, Spike burped up a sealed scroll. “Well speak of the devil!” Spike opened the scroll and proceeded to read it aloud, “Ahem,

To my most faithful student,

I'm afraid I do not know what could have been the perpitrator, as there are too little details to say with certainty. There are several types of magic that are dark in the way you describe them, though they are uncommon.

I ask that you tell your friends and the rest of Ponyville to remain indoors until the situation is resolved. I will send some of my guards to assist in the investigation. Until then, stay safe my little pony.

Princess Celestia

The dragon finished the letter with a sigh. “If there are a lot of these things that use dark magic, then this is going to be a lot harder.”

Snowi looked outside to see if there was any movement. Nothing, as she expected. She heard a yawn from behind her, and spun around to see the cyan pegasus getting out of bed. “Well hello sleepyhead, feeling well?”

Rainbow Dash turned her head slowly to face the blue haired pony, “No, I feel horrible. I had a dream last night about some monster attacking me, and I wake up to find that I must have blacked out during the party. I never do that, I know how to keep myself awake! Worse, I feel as if someone beat the lights out of me. What exactly happened last night?”

Snowi and Spike looked at each other with nervous expressions, wondering which one should tell her what really happened. Finally, Snowi looked back to Rainbow Dash. “It wasn't a dream,” she said, “it really happened.”

Rainbow Dash recoiled in shock. “Tha-that thing was real?!

“Yeah, and you're the only one who knows what it looks like. We need you to tell us so that we can know what it is. If we know that, we might just be able to find it and beat it.” Spike said.

Rainbow Dash was still in disbelief at what she had just heard. 'A monster like that...being real?' she thought to herself. 'I sure do hope that we can even hurt it.' She took a deep breath before explaining what it looked like, “It had the body of a mare, but trust me, it wasn't a pony. She had tentacles coming out of her back and sides. She had a horn that was jagged, kinda like Chrysalis had, but it was flat like a knife. her entire body was a strange type of red that hurt my eyes to even look at. her eyes were black with red...center. What do you call it?”

“The iris?” Spike said.

“Yeah, an iris that was the same as the rest of the body. The weird thing was, it was as small as when we do that thing where our eyes get really big, but the eye itself was normal size. She also appeared to be crying some sort of black tears, but she was smiling as wide as Pinkie when she's made a new friend. It was really freaky. She also had a mane that looked like Twilight's, but it was black with a red highlight. That's pretty much all I can remember.”

“Gosh Rainbow, that must have really been scary.” Spike said in concern for his friend.

“Nah, I fought her. It was all a punch here and a buck here, that beast didn't even know what hit her!”

Spike stared at Rainbow for a few second with a blank expression, “You ran away, didn't you?”

Rainbow Dash lowered her head in disappointment, sad that the truth was so obvious, “Yeah, not before it landed a few blows, though. I'm glad I made it here, I'm not sure I would be in such good condition had I fainted in the middle of a road.”

“Hey, did you happen to see her cutie mark?” Snowi asked.

Rainbow Dash thought for a few moments, “Yeah, now that I think about it. It was some sort of spike ball. No wait, it was like a...thing. A pointy thing. Darnit, it's on the tip of my tongue!” She shouted in frustration. “I got it!” she suddenly shouted, “It was a star surrounded by smaller stars...just like Twilight's.” Rainbow looked wide-eyed at her sleeping friend and started shifting in the opposite direction.

“Oh Rainbow, don't be like that” Snowi stated, “Twilight was with us all last night, it couldn't have been her! Besides, she's your friend, she would never do that to you.”

Rainbow Dash relaxed, “Yeah, you're right. Maybe it was a changeling or something.”

Snowi raised an eyebrow, “What's a changeling?”

Rainbow Dash turned to Snowi, “They invaded Canterlot. Seriously, where have you been?”

“Jail.”

Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise, “Oh, um, yeah. They're these bug-like pony-ish things with horns and wings and can take on the appearance of another pony.”

“Wait, you said they invaded Canterlot?”

“Yeah, but we stopped 'em with the power of love.”

“Oh, nice.”

“Anyways, it was probably just one of those little pests trying to get me to turn on Twilight. Well, it's not gonna work!” Rainbow Dash shook her head, trying to free herself of the thought of Twilight being the beast that attacked her.

“Wait, Rainbow,” Spike said, “the changelings could only alter their appearance, they wouldn't be able to grow any tentacles like that.”

Rainbow Dash thought about it, and then looked at Twilight again, “I'm still not going to believe that was Twilight, or anything to do with Twilight.”

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. “I'll get it.” Snowi immediately said, quickly running down the stairs. She opened the door to reveal three royal guards. “Man, that was fast. We only received the letter a few minutes ago.”

“Never mind that, is there anything we can help with?” one of the guards asked.

“Actually, I think we may need the other elements. Can one of you go and get Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack for us?” She had memorized their names at the party, something of which she was proud.

“Yes ma'am.” the guard at the front of the group said, immediately flying off to retrieve the four ponies.

“As for the two of you, I need you two to go out and tell anypony who's on the streets to get inside. We don't know where this thing will strike next, but we don't want anypony just wandering the streets. Report back here when you've covered the entire town.”

“Yes ma'am.” the two replied, quickly flying off to do their duties. Snowi closed the door and headed back upstairs to see her two friends sitting in silence.

“So,” Rainbow Dash said, “what now?”

Snowi shrugged, “I don't know about you, but I'm starving.”

“Yeah, me too.” Spike agreed.

“I guess we could have something to eat, but after that we need to wake up Twilight. She's the only one in here who could figure this all out.”

“Well, I guess I'll fix us something.” Spike said before getting up and going down to fix something for the group.

Author's Note

UGH! I'm mad at myself, and this chapter. It took WAY too long for me to get to it, and it's way too short! On top of that, my dialogue is a bit scratchy in places, and I obviously need some help on RD's personality. Really sorry about that.

Anyways, now that I've given you hints, can anyone guess who the monster is? He's pretty common on the internet, though I would hope that any of the younger readers wouldn't know him.

(sidestory) A Guard's Troubles

(sidestory) A Guard's Troubles

A lone royal guard flew through the sky's, searching for the four ponies. 'Okay, first,' he thought to himself, 'is Pinkamena Pie.' He looked around, and suddenly realized he had no idea where she lived. In fact, he didn't know where any of them lived. "Why do I not know"?! Hay bells, I should have asked before flying off like that. If I go back I'll just look like a fool.' He looked around to see if he could ask any of the ponies around if they knew where she lived. He spotted a filly who was standing by a donation box. He flew over and landed in front of her.

"Hello mister!" She said with glee, "would you like to donate to a good cause?"

"No, I'm afraid I'm busy right now. Could you tell me where Pinkamena Diane Pie lives?" The guard said with his usual 'business only' demeanor.

"Oh, I know where she lives."

"So where is she?" The guard asked, wondering why she wasn't telling him outright.

"If I tell you, will you donate?"

The guard nodded his head, "Yes, if it will move this discussion along. What, may I ask, is this going towards?"

"Ex-royal guards who were handicapped during the line of duty" the filly said with a smile.

His eyes widened in shock. "Oh,um, keep up the good work." He dropped a few bits in the box and gave a salute, which she promptly returned.

"Thank you! Now, Pinkie Pie (that's what she goes by) lives at Sugarcube Corner. That's the huge gingerbread house a few blocks to your left." She managed to say it all with a huge grin on her face.

"Thank you, have a nice day" he said before galloping towards his destination, leaving the filly by herself.

"Wow, for a royal guard, he's not that bright" she said with a smirk. She looked at a small heart above the box that read 'filly scouts fundraiser'. "Well at least it's still going to a good cause!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guard walked into Sugarcube Corner to find that it was empty. He walked up to the counter to see if there was anypony working. He rang a bell that was between a novelty cupcakes and the cash register. There was a hurried "coming" from upstairs and some scurrying noises. A blue mare came down with her mane in a mess. "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner" she said, "Sorry about that, it's been a slow day." She rubbed some grime out of her eyes and suddenly realized who she was talking to. "Oh my, a royal guard! Does Celestia need our services again?"

The guard shook his head, "No ma'am, I'm actually looking for Pinkie Pie."

"Oh, she's right upstairs. I'll go get her" she said before trotting back upstairs. A few minutes later, she came down with Pinkie Pie at her side. "Well here she is. Now, before I go back to bed, was there anything you wanted to eat?"

"No" he said bluntly.

"Alright then, just remember to call Mr. Cake if you need one of us because I'm getting tired of those stairs" she said before going up once again.

Pinkie turned to the guard. "So," she said with a smile, "what's up?"

"I need to take you to Golden Oaks library. There's an emergency and-"

She put a hoof over his mouth. "Say no more, this kind of thing happens all the time. What is it this time? Big meanie wanting to destroy to world? Creature from the Everfree Forest terrorizing Ponyville?"

The guard took the hoof off his mouth. "The species and the motive is unknown."

She started bouncing up and down. "Oh boy, that's a new one!"

"So are you ready to go?"

Pinkie nodded her head. "Uh-huh, I'll go ahead and go to the library."

The guard shook his head, "I'm sorry, but the roads aren't safe to walk alone. You'll have to come with me to get the rest of your friends."

Pinkie rolled her eyes, "Okay."

The two headed out the door to find the rest of the ponies. 'At least I'll have somepony to ask for directions" the guard thought. He turned to Pinkie Pie. "So," he said, "I'm afraid the residences of your friends has slipped my mind. Where do they live again?"

Pinkie started giggling, "You forgot to ask, didn't you?" The guard shook his head in disappointment. "Nice job" she said before bursting into a fit of laughter.

The guard hung his head in shame. "I'm new to this job, but I guess I'm not cut out for it."

Pinkie stopped laughing and stood up straight. "Hey," she said, "don't be like that. Everypony had their problems when they're just starting out. You can't let it keep you down!"

The guard raised his head and smiled. "Thanks, I guess I just need to try harder."

Pinkie smiled, "There you go! Now follow me, we'll get Fluttershy first". With that, the two set off to get the rest of the ponies.

When they came to Fluttershy's cottage, they found her outside playing with some ducks. When they asked her to come, she just said yes and sent the ducks back to their pond. Next, they went to Rarity's boutique to find that she was still asleep. When they woke her up and asked her to follow, she said she needed some time to fix herself up before going out. The other three ended up sitting in the living room for and hour before she came out. Finally, they headed for Sweet Apple Acres.

The four ponies walked up to the house and Pinkie knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Big Macintosh. "Hiya Big Mac!" Pinkie said, "Can we talk to AJ?"

"She isn't home" he responded.

"Oh, well where is she?"

She went to go raise the door at the crusader's clubhouse a few hours ago."

"Alright, thank you!" Pinkie said before turning around to walk away. Big Mac shut the door behind them and the others started following Pinkie.

They were just about to leave when Rarity noticed something. "Hey, why is that barn door just open like that? Couldn't that let vermin in?" she asked.

They all turned to look at it. "Yeah she's right" Pinkie agreed, "Applejack must have forgotten to close it! I'll go do it for her, you guys just wait here." She trotted towards the barn with the usual spring in her step. She stepped in front of the barn and suddenly let out an ear-piercing screech. The others galloped over to where she was to see what was going on.

"Pinkie, are you alright?" the guard asked, having been the first to arrive. She pointed a shaky hoof into the barn and he looked to where she was pointing. The guard facehoofed in annoyance. "Pinkie, it's just a wooden statue that looks exactly like Applejack. There's nothing to be afraid of." The other four looked around the corner to see what was causing all the fuss. They were surprised to see that the statue looked a lot like their orange friend.

"I know this now, but that cold, wooden face caught me by surprise! Talk about jeepers creepers, that was freaky!" Pinkie shuddered to emphasize her point.

Rarity sighed, "Pinkie darling, you must not scare us like that. We thought you were in trouble."

Fluttershy flew up to the statue and gently tapped it out of curiosity. It stood perfectly still for a few moments, then suddenly its jaw dropped and a scroll rolled out onto the floor. Fluttershy squeaked in shock and backed up. She stood still as the statue for a few seconds before she started slowly inching towards the scroll. She picked it up and brought it over to the rest of the ponies. She gave it to the guard and trotted next to Rarity.

"Wait, why did you give me the scroll?" The guard asked.

"I'm, uh, not a very loud reader" she murmured.

He shrugged and opened the scroll to read it. "What the? I can't read this!"

"Aw, why not?" Pinkie asked.

"It's just a bunch of scribbles. What's the point of this?" He continued to look over the scroll to see if he could find anything.

Rarity was finding this day to be weirder and weirder by the minute. "A strange monster on the loose, a wooden statue that looks exactly like Applejack, and a scroll that makes no sense coming out of that same statue? What's going on in this town?"

"Oh, I found something!" the guard shouted before anypony could respond, "It isn't just scribbles, it's a bunch of letters jumbled together in a random order. Though, I can see a few words in there."

"Do they say anything?" Rarity asked, hoping it might help make sense of all this.

He nodded his head, "Yeah, a few phrases here and there. Mostly just saying things like "run" or "there is no hope", but I did find two that are interesting. The first I saw said "night and day will end forever", and the second said "twilight will fall"."

The four other ponies gasped in shock. "H-how can the day and the night both end?" Fluttershy asked weakly.

"And if day and night end, wouldn't twilight end with them?" Pinkie asked.

The guard suddenly had a very bad feeling in his gut. "We need to get back to the library. Fluttershy, you carry the scroll. Pinkie Pie and Rarity, I need you two to help me with carrying this statue."

"Wait, what if that statue belongs to the Apple family?" Pinkie asked.

Rarity shook her head, "Pinkie, I promise you that thing doesn't belong to them."

"Hey," the guard interrupted, "we can talk later, but right now we need to get back to the library. You two get the front, I'll get the back." As he finished, he walked over to the statue and motioned for them to hurry up. The two mares looked at each other, shrugged, and went to help carry the statue.

Author's Note

Darn school, made me take almost a month to get back to this story. I submitted the last chapter right before I started school, then everything took forever to get used to. Now that I've found a way, I'll be able to continue with this without taking a month. Now I'll be getting one up about every weekend (or more if I manage to finish on the bus).

Fun fact: Remember a few chapters ago when Spike said that he and Twilight had known each other since her exam? Did you notice he didn't say that they had been together since the exam? That's because they weren't. After the exam, Celestia took Spike into her care and raised him for a few years. Then, when Twilight was old enough, he was given to her to be her assistant. Reason I didn't say this before? I don't really know.