Chapters Bitter Beginnings and a Collision of Flavor
Just over two years ago, behind the Canterlot castle, a young mare, with a white coat and a long, thick white mane that spiraled at the tips, was comforting a little filly, who was of similar appearance, but with a short straight mane, and flecks of black all over her coat. They had lost their parents two weeks beforehand. After witnessing the death of their parents through the crack of a closet door, the mare had been on her own to take care of her young sister. They left their house in fear, and when others found out of the death, they just assumed the two had died. Neither the mare nor her younger sister had known why or who killed her parents. They only knew that the killers...were not ponies.
The mare couldn’t get the memory out of her head. Those tall creatures, that stood on only two hooves, invaded their home in the dead of the night. She only caught a glimpse of them through a window before they knocked down the back door. She had grabbed her sister from the bed near her own, and ran to her parents bedroom. She begged and begged for them to wake, but they took her warning lightly.
“Frostinilla, it was only only a dream,” her mother murmured before turning over. She was too tired to notice the footsteps of the approaching invaders.
There was a bang on the door and Frostinilla pushed her sister into the closet and joined her. She closed the door most of the way, but left it open just a crack to avoid the click of the door shutting. Her parents had sat up in response to the banging against the door. It hadn’t even taken a minute for the door to finally fall to the ground with a loud thump.
Frostinilla had to cover her sisters muzzle to muffle her whimpers. She was shaking in her grasp. Frostinilla looked out through the gap of the door. Her parents were scrambling out of the covers and off the bed. The strange creatures had closed in on them, backing them into a corner where Frostinilla had a clear view of them. The taller of the two creatures had been carrying a large axe. Her parents cowered in the corner, holding each other. For an instant, their mother looked over to the closet. Frostinilla turned her sister’s head away to make sure she didn’t see, and covered the filly’s ears with her hooves.
The strange creature attacked the father first, decapitating his head in an instant. The deed was done before the stallion had a chance to scream. Frostinilla wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. She stared as her mother bolted to the side and onto her bed. She watched until her mother ran to the other side, where she could no longer see her.
A minute went by, without a peep from anypony other than the sound of light breathing. When the sound of footsteps broke the silence, Frostinilla held her sister tightly. She kept her hoof over her muzzle to keep her as silent as she could. She felt a bitter relief when the sound of their steps left the room. Still, they stayed in that closet for nearly an hour before they dared to escape.
When they finally ventured out of the closet, their parents were gone. Nothing was left of them but the blood smeared across the floors and splashed against the walls. Blood stains streaked their way through the hallway and to the back door. Their parents had obviously been dragged out of their own home. Frostinilla would never forget that day.
Behind the castle, she held her sister close, trying to forget the past events. They couldn’t go home now. It was a few days before anyone realized that Frostinilla’s home had been invaded and that her parents were missing. Everypony had just assumed that the whole family was killed or taken, and within a couple of days, the whole family was forgotten do to the approaching Grand Galloping Gala.
“We’ll be okay, Vanilla Bean,” Frostinilla told her sister, wiping the tears out of the young filly’s eyes.
Vanilla Bean looked up at her sister. Fear was heavy in her gaze. Vanilla Bean had been having nightmares every night since their parents were killed. Frostinilla had a hard time keeping her hopeful. Frostinilla was not hopeful herself, but her young sister was too young to be so crushed. She did her best to cover up her pain, fear, and anger. She did it for her little sister’s sake.
“I want to go home,” Vanilla Bean sniffed.
“We can’t go home,” Frostinilla told her.
The hurt in her little sister's eyes struck her heart like a blade. The little white filly was shaking again, tears in her eyes. She didn’t know what to do, but she wasn’t willing to show it. If Vanilla Bean knew how lost Frostinilla was, the young filly would panic. Frostinilla needed to make sure her young sister felt safe. That was all that mattered anymore. All else was lost.
“Don’t go alone!” Vanilla Bean begged. Her pout tugged on Frostinilla’s heart with a yank.
“I’m sorry, Nilly Bee.” Frostinilla used her nickname, in hopes of easing her. “I have to go, and you have to stay here. Just don’t move, okay? I’ll be back for you soon.”
“Why do you have to go back? What if they come again?” Vanilla Bean was holding her sister’s hoof.
“I’m sorrry Nilly Bee.” Frostinilla kissed her sister on the forehead. “Stay here.”
Frostinilla galloped towards their home, leaving her sister alone behind the castle. She slowed as she passed the market and shops. It was late, but they were still busy. Ponies all over Canterlot were preparing for the Gala. Frostinilla kept her head low and trotted silently in order to avoid any attention.
She approached her abandoned home with caution. She had no idea who it was that invaded and was worried that they may come again. She never did know why they were there. Anger flared when she noticed a for sale sign in front of the house. Canterlot hadn’t just forgotten them, they were moving on. They hadn’t put any effort into finding out what had happened. Nopony had even considered that somepony else could be attacked in the near future.
The door wasn’t completely closed when she reached it. The edge of the door was resting against the latch. With a soft push of her hoof, Frostinilla opened the door. Quietly, she entered her home. The dead silence was unsettling as she soundlessly made her way into the main hall of her home. It wasn’t normal. On a regular day, Frostinilla would be in her room reading, while her mother would be in the kitchen, singing as she cooked. Her father would be in his study, reading reports from work, while Vanilla Bean knocked on her older sisters door, asking to play.
A cry stuck in the back of Frostinillas throat but she didn’t let it out. She had something to do, she had a little sister to care for, and it wasn’t the time for her to brood over her lost life. She needed to keep control of her emotions. Frostinilla had never been a strong pony, nor did she ever think she would have to be. Strength was never something to cross her mind, but now it was something that she needed. She needed to take charge of herself so that she could lead a safe life for her beloved sister.
As she was checking the kitchen drawers for money, she heard footsteps coming from down the hall. Her heart rate doubled as the sound approached the kitchen. Her breathing began to shake, and for a moment her vision blurred. She shook her head and steadied herself as quickly as she could. Just as the the hoofsteeps reached the kitchen, she cowered into the corner below the counter.
“Has anypony checked the kitchen yet?” A young mare’s voice called to some other portion of what Frostinilla had previously thought to be an empty house.
Another pair of hoofsteps approached as another young mare spoke. “No, but I think Lemon Drop found something in the master bedroom.”
“Oh, really?” There was a hint of excitement in the mare’s voice.
“Yeah, you can go check it out if you want,” the other voice said. “I’ll look through the kitchen.”
“Alright.” The mare left with a rhythmic trot.
Frostinilla held her breath as she heard hoofsteps heading around the counter. She wasn’t sure how to react. On one hoof, she didn’t know who these ponies were or if they could be dangerous. On the other hoof, these ponies were in her home, they should be the ones feeling a need to hide rather than her.
Frostinilla pressed back against the cupboard door behind her as a unicorn came into view. The young mare, just about Frostinilla’s age, looked down at her as she tried to appear small. The mare had a brown coat, and a light brown mane and tale, with a few streaks of glittery white. Her tail spiraled down and spiked at the tip. Her mane was short and all fell to one side and spiked at the bottom, and her horn was a sparkling white. She gave Frostinilla a suspicious glance. The pony didn’t seem to know how to proceed, but she kept an air of calm. Questions lingered in her expression, but there was no surprise.
As afraid as she was, Frostinilla didn’t want it to be obvious to the stranger in her home. In hopes of seeming more controlled, she asked, “Why are you in my house?” Her voice was shaky as the words escaped.
A hint of confusion crossed the mysterious mare’s face. Instead of answering Frostinilla’s question, she called to the others, “Hey, you might want to get over here.” She kept an eye on Frostinilla, as if to make sure she didn’t try escaping.
Possibilities ran through Frostinilla’s mind. She had no idea who these ponies in her home were. She wasn’t sure if they were a danger or not. It was possible that these ponies were involved with putting the house up for sale. She was afraid, but didn’t really understand what kind of danger they could possibly be. She sat up straighter as two other ponies made their way over.
“What is it?” A mare, with a dull yellow coat and a bright yellow neatly kept mane, asked. Her question was answered as she caught site of the white pony sitting on the floor by the counter. She tilted her head to the side, as if calculating. Her mane was parted down the center and barely fell past her chin. Her simple, yellow tail swayed to the side. “Who is it?” she corrected herself.
“Who?” the original voice asked, in confusion and fascination. A milky brown coated pony trotted over to stand next to the yellow pony. Her dark chocolate brown mane was tied up into pigtails by multi-colored bows and her bangs fell messily over her forehead. When she looked down at Frostinilla, a crooked smile lit her face up. “Who are you?” she asked the frightened mare.
Frostinilla stuttered for a moment. She wasn’t comfortable with the situation. It felt all too conflicting to her already troubled mind. These ponies seemed to be holding her to questioning, when they were the ones breaking into her own home. They waited for her response, but the unicorn that found her seemed to be losing her patience.
“Well?” she asked. She stood tall, with an air of importance.
“Who am I?” Frostinilla managed to say. She gained her voice as she went on. “Who are you? This is my home. I have more right than anypony to be here.”
The brown, pigtailed pony gasped. “Really? You’re alive?!” She gave a slight hop, and her crooked smile stretched into a full one. “Everypony said the whole family was gone!”
“Well we aren’t,” Frostinilla said, defensively. Lowering her voice, with a hint of spite, she added, “not that anypony cares.”
The unicorn that found her rolled her eyes. “Nopony ever cares about these things. Not in Canterlot. They have a ball to prepare for.”
Frostinilla stood up, gaining a sudden confidence. The thought of being forgotten over a simple high class gathering infuriated her. She wouldn't be forgotten for the Gala. “The ball doesn’t change the fact that I still live here. It doesn’t change the fact that I have been victimized far more than enough without your interrogation.”
“Do you think you’re the only victim here?” the unicorn snapped back. “Don’t flatter yourself, hun. You’re nopony special. Nopony cares. Canterlot will continue on, with or without you.”
Frostinila backed up and bumped into the cabinet. Her ears drooped to the side. The anger in this strange pony’s eyes was enough to crush all confidence that Frostinilla had. She looked up at the ponies before her. Each one seemed much stronger than herself. They stood tall, and none showed any hint of fear. Frostinilla didn’t know why she even thought they would be scared. There were three of them and one of her.
“Who are you?” She asked in a soft broken tone.
“We are the Cupcakes,” the yellow pony told her.
“We are like sisters!” the chocolaty brown pony explained. “I’m Chippy Chocolate!”
“And I’m Lemon Drop,” the yellow pony added.
Frostinilla looked over at the unicorn. She was a little taller than the rest, but it was her expression that made her so intimidating. Frostinilla was expecting her to say her name, but it became obvious that she wasn’t going to oblige. Instead, she walked away and headed back down the hallway.
“That’s Cinnamon Twist,” the yellow pony told her. “So who are you?”
In a soft, inaudible voice she said, “Frostinilla.”
“Pardon?” Lemon drop asked.
“Frostini-,” she said louder, but her name caught in her throught and she coughed. “Frostinilla,” she repeated.
“Nice to meet you, Frostinilla,” Chippy chocolate said, as Lemon Drop continued to look Frostinilla over.
“So, you said this is your home?” Lemon Drop asked.
Frostinilla nodded.
“Where are your parents?” the yellow pony asked.
Frostinilla was taken aback by the question. She didn’t know the answer. She didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer. All she knew was that her parents were both dead, but she didn’t want to say it. She didn’t want to have to say it out loud to these ponies she didn’t even know. Even after witnessing the death, she didn’t want to believe it. Tears welled in her eyes and she held her breath to hold back her cries.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Lemon Drop began, but Frostinilla shook her head vigorously. She didn’t want the pity. She didn’t want sympathy. It was the last thing she needed. Sympathy would only make her weak.
Frostinilla took a deep, shaky breath. She took a couple more. When she was finally pulled herself together she wiped her own tears away, thinking of Vanilla Bean. Vanilla Bean was her life now. She was her sweet little sister that needed protecting. “I’m sorry,” Frostinilla said. “I just don’t know where my parents are.”
Discomfort was all over Lemon Drop’s face. “You don’t have to apologize,” she said. She didn’t know what else to say. She had questions to ask, but she didn’t want to push anything on the young mare. She could tell that she was pain. Anypony would be in pain at a time like this. That was something that all of the Cupcakes understood. Lemon Drop looked down at Frostinilla. Her forehead was creased in worry and thought. She seemed to be calculating again.
Frotinilla managed to bring out another question. “Why are you here?”
Lemon Drop snapped out of her thoughts. Now she was the pony to look confused. Frostinilla awaited an answer, but all that came out of the pony was, “well, you see,” and a few awkward laughs.
“I think you should tell her,” Chippy Chocolate said. Her face was all seriousness now.
“What?” Lemon Drop turned her head to the chocolate brown pony. She said nothing more, but there was warning in the way she glanced at Chippy Chocolate. Frostinilla felt uncomfortable. She felt as if she was treading into territory she didn’t belong in, yet, it was them that broke into her home.
“I-” Frostinilla stood up. “I don’t care anymore. I don’t live here anymore. I just need to check for something, and I’ll be out of here.”
“Wait!” Chippy Chocolate stood in front of Frostinilla, keeping her from moving forward. “Where do you live then?”
“I-uh,” Frostinilla was lost. She hadn’t planned on meeting anypony in her home, and she certainly didn’t plan on telling anypony about her living condition. She was on her own now. Nopony but her sister knew anything about them. How would three other ponies knowing of the situation affect anything? What if they told others that two ponies had been living on the streets? Frostinilla didn’t want that. She didn’t want a new family. She was old enough to live on her own, but just barely and it wasn’t herself that she worried over. She was worried that somepony might try taking Vanilla Bean away.
“You’re homeless,” Lemon Drop said, as if giving Frostinilla information that she didn’t already know.
Frostinilla said nothing in return. She simply looked down at her hooves.
“Come with us!” Chippy Chocolate suggested with a new smile.
“Chippy!” Lemon Drop snapped.
Chippy Chocolate’s smile vanished. “What?” she asked with a pout. It wasn’t as sad as Vanilla Bean’s pout, but Frostinilla still thought her face looked like a little filly when she used that expression.
Lemon Drop seemed conflicted. She was looking at Frostinilla with concern, but she didn’t seem to know what to do. She sighed heavily before saying, “I’ll be right back.”
“Wait!” Frostinilla put a hoof on Lemon Drop’s shoulder as the yellow pony turned around. “I really don’t need a place to stay. I’m fine. Really, I am.”
The pony looked back at her with sad eyes. “No you aren’t.” With that she walked away, and Frostinilla’s hoof slid off her shoulder and fell back to the floor. The pony walked down the hall.
“I really can’t stay with you guys,” Frostinilla told Chippy Chocolate. “I’ve already been here too long.” She knew that Vanilla Bean would be worried sick about her.
“Where do you have to go?’ Chippy Chocolate tilted her head. “You’re homeless.”
Frostinilla sighed. She evaluated the situation, wondering if telling this pony about Vanilla Bean would be alright. Deciding to learn more about them, she asked, “Where are you guys going, anyway? You all live together?”
“Yup!” Chippy Chocolate said cheerfully. “Like I said, we’re all like sisters.”
“Like?” Frostinilla asked. “So then, you aren’t really sisters?”
Her question slightly dampened the pony's smile, but she still had a cheerful tone when she said, “Well no, but we’ve been together for over a year now. At least, I’ve been with Cinnamon Twist for over a year. She’s been taking care of me for a long time. She isn’t much older, but she’s strong. She knew how to keep us both safe. Lemon Drop joined us about half a year ago. She’s a really great addition to our pack since she’s so smart.” Chippy Chocolate’s smile was wide again.
“Oh,” Frostinilla said, trying to piece it together. She was a little envious of how this pony spoke of Cinnamon Twist. She seemed to look up to her a great deal. Frostinilla wished she could be such a role model for her younger sister. “So, where do you all live?”
“At Cinnamon Twist’s place! It’s a pretty big place, but nopony bothered moving in after her parents disappeared. Everypony just thinks it’s haunted now. That’s part of the trick though. We want to keep-”
“Wait,” Frostinilla interrupted, “what happened to her parents?”
Chippy Chocolate went silent. She had obviously said more than she had meant to. She looked down at her hooves and fidgeted with them.
“Well?” Frostinilla pressed, feeling like she was finally learning something that would make a difference.
Neither pony spoke until Lemon Drop returned with Cinnamon Twist. The yellow pony looked uncomfortable and Cinnamon Twist was clearly frustrated. Chippy Chocolate looked back to see them, and stepped to the side so that the angry pony could stand directly in front of Frostinilla.
“You can stay with us,” Cinnamon Twist said, “but you will have to prove yourself useful first.”
“I can’t stay with you,” Frostinilla said again. “I’ve already been here too long. I’ve said that before.” Frostinilla was just thinking that she should have just left and gone back to her sister, but she felt powerless in the situation. It was as if part of her was holding her there, waiting to see what these ponies had to say or show.
“Too long? Where in Equestria could a homeless pony possibly be going?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
“It’s not about where I’m going!” Frostinilla snapped. Cinnamon Twist had a way of bringing sudden bursts of anger out of her. “It’s about who I’m going to!”
“Huh?” Chippy Chocolate put in.
Frostinilla went silent. She didnt’ even realize what she was saying until she said it. “Huh?” She said in return.
“Who is it that you have to go to?” Cinnamon Twist asked. She glared at Frostinilla with cold eyes.
Frostinilla didn’t know how to respond, but she didn’t have to, Lemon Drop did it for her.
“She had a sister,” Lemon Drop pointed out. “Probably still does.”
“Where’s your sister?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
“I have to get going,” Frostinilla mumbled.
“We could give your sister a place to stay,” Cinnamon Twist said. You aren’t protecting her by turning us down. We are being very generous here.”
Frostinilla thought it over, but she felt too pressured to make a decision. She wondered if a place to stay would cheer Vanilla Bean up. It probably would. Anything was better than the streets. Summer was coming to an end, and Frostinilla had no idea how she was going to keep them warm until the end of winter.
“It’s now or never,” Cinnamon Twist said. “How often do you think you will be offered a home with a warm bed and food to eat?”
“What am I supposed to do?” Frostinilla asked.
“Tell us anything strange that you might’ve noticed before or after your parents disappeared?”
“Why?” Frostinilla asked.
“We think we know who might’ve taken them, and we also think they weren’t ponies,” Cinnamon Twist said.
Frostinilla was caught off guard, “What?”
Cinnamon Twist only glared at Frostinilla, waiting for her to give her the information she wanted.
“How would you know that?” Frostinilla asked, panic rising in her voice and striking her in the chest.
Lemon Drop was the next to speak. “Did you see something?”
Frostinilla didn’t say anything. She didn’t understand. How could these ponies know about that. Chippy Chocolate’s words came back to her. Cinnamon Twist probably lost her parents the same way. She wondered if they had all lost their parents to the same two hoofed creatures.
“We’ve been looking for these creatures. Your parents aren’t the first to be taken,” Chippy Chocolate explained. Her face was solemn as she spoke. “They come here and take ponies, and we don’t know where they go or where they came from. We are trying to find out. Nopony but us knows about these creatures. It was pretty obvious to us that the disappearance of your parents was related. We think that you can help us, so if you know anything, please tell us. We really want to find these creatures, and put a stop to them.”
Frostinilla mulled it all over. “And you will let me help you?” Frostinilla asked. “You will let me help you put an end to them?”
All three of the ponies nodded.
“Alright then.” Frostinilla told them of what she saw. She told them that one of the creatures had an axe, that they came and left through the back, and even told them about seeing her parents killed through the crack of a closet door. She went through every detail of it, and the ponies sat and listened. Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate cringed when she explained that her father's head was chopped off, but Cinnamon Twist was unfazed. Frostinilla kept herself calm as she spoke. She kept her tears and cries back even though it caused her throat to hurt and eyes to sting. By the time she finished, she realized that she was shaking.
“I’m sorry,” Chippy Chocolate said, her eyes glistened with the pain she felt for the pony she just met.
Frostinilla just took a deep breath. She didn’t have anything more to add.
“Go get your sister,” Cinnamon Twist said. “Bring her back here. We will finish looking around, and then we will all go home.”
Frostinilla did as she was told. She didn’t know these ponies, but what better choice did she have? They didn’t seem dangerous, and they would help her find out about the creatures that ruined her life. She said nothing to Vanilla Bean about the ponies. She only said that she found somewhere to live. She would explain the rest later.
When they reached the house, Vanilla Bean looked confused. “I don’t want to go back in there,” she said, choking on her words.
“You don’t have to, Nilly Bee,” she told her young sister. “We just have to wait.”
“You actually don’t,” Cinnamon Twist stepped out from the side of the house. “We finished not too long ago. We can go now. Follow us.”
Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate came to the front of the house as well. They walked beside Cinnamon Twist, and Frostinilla followed with her sister.
“Who are they?” Vanilla Bean asked, curiously.
“Friends,” Frostinilla told her.
Her young sister didn’t ask anymore questions. She trusted her more than Frostinilla knew. They took a back alley behind some houses. Frostinilla looked around in awe. This was the higher class side of Canterlot. Frostinilla had only been to this part once. It was when she was a young filly and she went along with her father on business. She didn’t much care for it then, but now, after being on the streets, each house looked like a castle to her.
The ponies led her and the filly through another back road. It was darker there, and the farther they went down, the fewer houses there were, but the bigger they got. The last mile was empty of homes, until they reached the very end. They stopped at a gate, and Cinnamon Twist went through the dirt. She found a key and unlocked the gate.
They walked another half mile. Dead trees were scattered across the land that they passed. The grass was long and twisted. Frostinilla could hear an owl from somewhere in the distance. Her sister pressed to her side as they walked down. She was shaking. Frostinilla gave her a reasuring, “we’ll be ok.”
Her little sister only nodded, but she continued to shake, huddling against her sister as they went through the dark yard. Frostinilla halted when they reached the house. It wasn’t a house, it was a mansion. Some bricks were cracked and vines grew up the walls uncontrolled, but beyond that, it looked magical. The mansion was made of beautiful white brick, and the roof was a sparkling brown. Hundreds of windows were scattered across the front of the home, and the main entrance seemed to be three stories high.
Cinnamon Twist pushed one of the doors open, and beckoned the rest inside. Inside, the home seemed even more magnificent, even with the dust and cobwebs. They had entered a large room, that really was three stories high. Frostinilla was sure, because two layers of balcony were before her. A spiralling staircase stood at the back, leading to each floor.
Cinnamon Twist looked to Lemon Drop. “There’s a double room on the second floor at the end of the left wing. That should be big enough for the two of them to share.”
Lemon Drop nodded, then turned to Frostinilla and Vanilla Bean. “Come on.”
They followed her up a flight of stairs and all the way down to the left. The home felt like a maze, but they only had to continue straight. Lemon Drop led them down and opened the door. She didn’t enter, only nodded to them. “You can go in, I’ll leave you alone for now.” She smiled. “We’ll wake you up for breakfast.”
Frostinilla thanked her, and entered the room with her sister. It was beautiful. The walls were white and the floor was carpeted in a soft pink fabric. Vanilla Bean smiled for the first time since the event two weeks ago. She ran right for the pink canopy bed at the right, leaving Frostinilla with the white one at the other side. Frostinilla smiled and enjoyed her sisters laughter as she jumped on the bed. For now at least, it seemed that she made the right choice.
Sprinkled With Trouble
“Frosty?” a little white filly whispered. “Frostinilla, wake up.”
Frostinilla’s eyes cracked open. She glanced at Vanilla Bean through the small gap she managed to stretch between her lids. It was late. She wasn’t sure how late it was, but she could see through the window. It was still dark. She was barely able to see the soft glow of moonlight reflecting off her sister’s white coat.
“Wha-?” Frostinilla mumbled.
“I’m thirsty,” Vanilla Bean said. She was looking at Frostinilla with wide eyes and a slight pout.
Frostinilla felt powerless against her young sister’s stare. She had never cared before, but it had become her weakness after recent events. Frostinilla was not known for being a loving sister. She used to spend much of her time with friends rather than family. When she was home, she was in her room, chatting with friends on her computer. But after losing her parents, Frostinilla treasured Vanilla Bean over all else. She lived to make her sister happy.
The filly tilted her head, “Can you get me some water?”
Frostinilla buried her muzzle into her pillow. She loved her sister, but she was too tired. She had spent the previous days following Lemon Drop through the city. Lemon Drop had been asking ponies around town about what they knew of Frostinilla’s family. She asked the neighbors if they might’ve noticed anything, and asked around for anypony who might’ve known the family.
The Cupcakes were looking for anything that might’ve been similar to any of their own individual circumstances. So far, nothing seemed to stand out in any of the situations. It seemed that the ponies were attacked by random choice, but if they could find anything of a similarity, they might be able to save other ponies.
Frostinilla was exhausted. She had worn herself out, both physically and emotionally. Canterlot had never seemed so large to her before. Now that she had followed Lemon Drop door to door, it seemed to be ten times the size of the Canterlot she had mentally mapped out beforehand. Not only was there a lot of walking, but there was quite a bit of explaining. Frostinilla had not spoken to anypony herself, nor was she around when Lemon Drop did.
Whenever Lemon Drop felt that she might’ve learned something, she asked Frostinilla about it. She asked if it seemed accurate, or if it fit her parents’ personality. Frostinilla had a hard time dealing with it. She had been trying to push her parents out of her mind. She felt bad about it, but she couldn’t handle the thought of them just yet. Since she moved in with the Cupcakes, she had been trying to toughen herself up, with little success. She had been able to refrain from tears, but her outer appearance wasn’t reflecting the boiling hatred and deep sadness that was continuing to build inside her. Talking about her parents and hearing what other ponies had to say about them was weighing down on her.
“Please?” Vanilla Bean whined.
Frostinilla turned to face her sister again. Her little face was tilted, and her light grey eyes shone through the darkness. Frostinilla lifted her head. It felt heavy. “Why are you awake?” She asked.
Vanilla Bean gave shrug. “I had another nightmare.”
Frostinilla gave a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry,” she said. She reached her head over and kissed her sister on the forehead. “I’ll go get you water,” she said.
Frostinilla let out a long yawn and stretched her hooves up. She slid out of bed, dragging her blanket onto the floor without meaning to. She grabbed it with her teeth and threw it back up onto her bed. Vanilla Bean hopped back towards her pink canopy bed and jumped in. She crawled under her blanket and smiled when Frostinilla turned to look at her.
“Thanks,” she said.
Frostinilla smiled back. “I’ll be right back.”
“Turn the lights on when you leave,” Vanilla Bean said as Frostinilla turned towards the door.
“Alright,” Frostinilla said. She already knew that Vanilla Bean had a slight fear of the dark. She could only handle it when somepony else was with her.
Frostinilla pushed the switch up with her muzzle before leaving the bedroom. She left the door open so that her bedroom could dimly light her way to the stairway. The moon shone through the windows across the spiralled stairway, lighting her way down. Still, she had to descend carefully. Her hooves tapped against the granite tiles of the main hall as she made her way to the the kitchen.
When she reached the counters, she stood on her back hooves to reach the higher cupboards. She grabbed a glass and scooted to the left for the sink. As she reached over to run the water, a shrill shriek startled Frostinilla. She jumped back and the glass slipped out of her hoof. It clanked against the white tiles, and shattered. Tiny clear shards slid across the floor in all directions.
For a brief moment after that, everything was silent. Then, Frostinilla heard something else. Somepony was crying. The cries were coming from the next room over. Frostinilla wasn’t sure how to respond. Her heart was beating so fast, it felt as if it would jump out of her throat. The crying continued, and there was another scream. Frostinilla backed away from the sounds, forgetting about the glass. She felt a small stabbing pain at the bottom of her hoof, and winced in pain. The stabbing became a stinging, but she wasn’t concerned about her hoof.
Words began forming through the cries. “No. Stop,” a familiar voice pleaded.
Frostinilla’s head spun. It was Cinnamon Twist. She knew it was Cinnamon Twist’s voice but what was going on? There was a crash and Frostinilla ran back, stepping on two more shards. She was shaking in fear. She felt that she needed to do something, but what? Why hadn’t anypony else come down? Frostinilla wondered if anypony else had heard at all. She wondered if anypony else was shaking in fear, in some corner of the house, just as she was. She wondered if Vanilla Bean could hear these screams.
Frostinilla’s thoughts stuck to Vanilla Bean. Frostinilla heard more crashing coming from the living room, just past the large wooden door that separated it from the kitchen. Frostinilla had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, she didn’t want it moving on to Vanilla Bean. She wasn’t sure she could put a stop to it, she wasn’t sure it was safe, she had no confidence in the matter, but she had to try. She would have to do her best to keep her young sister safe.
“Get your hooves off me!” she heard Cinnamon Twist yell.
The tone was different. The cries had died down. Cinnamon twist was yelling, making demands. She sounded as if she was finally putting up a fight. Still, Frostinilla couldn’t let her do it on her own. Frostinilla crept toward the door, slowly. She winced as stepped down, driving the shards into her hoof. She was careful to avoid anymore now, but she didn’t have time to concern herself with the shards already in her hooves.
She pushed the door open with her hoof. It creaked and Frostinilla froze, hoping nopony else had heard. Nothing seemed to change, but she could still hear Cinnamon Twist’s voice, demanding to be left alone. Frostinilla pushed forward and peaked her head out of the door. She couldn’t see anypony, but she could still hear her friend. She turned over, towards the couch where the voice was coming from. Frostinilla let out a sigh of relief.
Cinnamon Twist was on the floor near the couch, thrashing, yelling, and wrapped in the cord of the small lamp she had pulled off of the table. Nopony else was there. Cinnamon Twist seemed to be having night terrors, nothing more.
Frostinilla found the end of the cord, and tugged at it with her teeth, unjamming it from under the sofa. The cord around Cinnamon Twist loosened but she didn’t seem to relax. Frostinilla tapped the frightened mare on the shoulder.
“No,” Cinnamon Twist yelled out.
“Wake up,” Frostinilla said. She began to shake the sleeping mare.
With a battle cry that Frostinilla never would have expected coming out of a young mare, Cinnamon Twist jolted upward and tackled Frostinilla, pinning her down to the floor. She was awake, but startled. She was ready for attack. She had her teeth bared at Frostinilla, like a wolf ready to tear apart its prey. Within seconds, her expression softened, and the hostility was replaced with confusion. She jumped away from Frostinilla.
Frostinilla rolled onto her belly and looked up at Cinnamon Twist. Anger was reterning to her eyes. Frostilla couldn’t shake the feeling that the young mare wasn’t alright. Her dreams seemed to be haunted by something. Cinnamon Twist still seemed shaken. Frostinilla believed that if it was nothing more than a simple dream, the pony would have gotten over it in a matter of seconds.
“Are you alright,” Frostinilla asked.
“Yes!” Cinnamon Twist snapped.
“You don’t-”
“Well I am!”
Frostinilla stared at Cinnamon Twist.
“Why are you just sitting there like a stunned filly?” Cinnamon Twist questioned. “Go to bed!”
Frostinilla stood. She said, “You aren’t alright,” as she walked by and left Cinnamon Twist alone.
The next morning, Cinnamon Twist was abnormally grouchy. Frostinilla limped down the stairs followed by her sister. Vanilla Bean ran ahead once they reached the bottom. She trotted into the kitchen and took a seat next to Chippy Chocolate at the table. Chippy Chocolate smiled but Cinnamon Twist let out what sounded like a soft growl. Lemon Drop took a seat at the other side of Vanilla Bean and patted her on the head. Cinnamon Twist was searching through the cupboard of cereals when Frostinilla finally entered.
“What’s wrong?” Chippy Chocolate asked, noticing the limp right away. Her ears drooped
“Oh no,” she said, hopping out of her chair and cantering over to the white mare. “What happened? You were fine yesterday.” Lemon Drop gave Frostinilla a questioning glance.
“I just stepped on some glass,” Frostinilla informed her.
“When?” Lemon Drop asked.
Cinnamon Twist was sending boxes of cereal over to the table with her magic when she cut in. “When she was sticking her muzzle where it didn’t belong.”
“We weren’t asking you,” Lemon Drop said. “Are you alright?” she asked Frostinilla.
Frostinilla nodded.
“Sit down. Let me see your hoof.”
Frostinilla limped over to the table and took a seat across from her younger sister. She held out both right hooves so that Lemon Drop could take a look. She took a look at them and shook her head.
“I’ll go get the tweezers.” Lemon Drop left the kitchen and trotted back in minutes later, holding tweezers between her teeth.
“Is she going to be okay?” Vanilla Bean asked. She seemed to be scared for her sister.
Frostinilla smiled at the thougt of her sister worrying over such a simple matter.
“Of course she will,” Chippy Chocolate said, patting the little filly on the head.
Lemon Drop took Frostinilla’s front hoof in her own. “Hold still,” she said. She squinted her eyes, examining the size and placement of the tiny shard.
She got a grasp on the piece and, with a quick motion, pulled it out. There was a momentary sharp pain, and then nothing. Frostinilla looked at the bottom of her hoof. There was a small sliver and a little blood, but not even enough to collect into a single drop. Frostinilla looked over at her young sister. She had her head on the table and her hooves over her own eyes. It was a wonder to Frostinilla, that the young filly could be so sensitive to such minor detail after all that had happened. It only reminded her of how precious the filly was to her. She was still so young and vulnerable.
Chippy Chocolate was giggling. The chocolate brown pony had spent a lot of time with Vanilla Bean since they moved in. Vanilla Bean peaked at her sister, but covered her eyes once again once she noticed Lemon Drop taking Frostinilla’s other hoof.
“There are two in this one,” Lemon Drop said.
Vanilla Bean let out a soft moan, as if she was going to be sick.
Cinnamon Twist was pacing at the other side of the island. “Get over it,” she growled at the filly.
“Don’t be mean!” Chippy Chocolate called back at the angry mare.
“Don’t worry, Nilly Bee,” Frostinilla said. “It’s fi-Ow!”
Lemon Drop had just tugged on a slightly larger piece of glass, and on it’s way out, it had tugged on her hoof. “Sorry,” Lemon Drop said. “Just one more.”
Vanilla Bean let out another moan.
“I'm okay, really,” Frostinilla assured. “I was just a little surprised by that one.”
Lemon Drop yanked out the last piece without warning, and Frostinilla bit her lip. She took a deep breath and said, “See, Nilly Bee? I’m okay.”
“Yup,” Lemon Drop added. “All done.”
Vanilla Bean peaked again, and relaxed when she saw that the tweezers were now resting on the table. She smiled at her sister.
“Nilly Beeeeeeee.” Chippy Chocolate was rocking sideways in her chair. “Nilly Bee. Nilly Bee. Nilly Bee.”
The white filly looked up at the pony, who looked back at her with a grin. They both broke into laughter. Frostinilla and Lemon Drop were both staring at them. Cinnamon Twist finally joined them at the table.
“So are you ponies all done messing around now?”
“Lighten up,” Chippy Chocolate said.
Cinnamon Twist took a seat at the end of the table, using her magic to pour her cereal into her bowl. Everypony took turns filling their bowls except Vanilla Bean.
“Do you have oatmeal?” she asked.
“We’re out,” Cinnamon Twist answered flatly.
“Oh.” Vanilla Bean picked up a mixed berry flavored cereal and poured it.
“We should go get some!” Chippy Chocolate suggested, patting the filly on the head.
“We should get to work!” Cinnamon Twist said angrily.
“With what?” Chippy Chocolate asked, with a hint of her own frustration. Frostinilla found it a little odd when she showed anger or annoyance. It wasn’t completely rare for her, but it didn’t fit her personality.
“Getting more information on Frostinilla’s parents,” Cinnamon Twist said.
Lemon Drop sighed. “I’ve already asked everypony around. Nopony knows anything. The only piece of information that seemed at all out of the ordinary was that Frostinilla’s mother was at the castle that day. Even so, that isn’t really anything odd. Frostinilla said she had been going to volunteer with the preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala. There’s nothing strange about it; She did that every year.”
Cinnamon Twist glared at Lemon Drop. “You think that isn’t important information? And where exactly were your parents the night before they died?”
Lemon Drop stuttered. She was speechless for entire minutes before she finally pulled herself together. “That’s not the same thing. They-My mom-She worked there.”
If Cinnamon Twist felt sympathetic, she did a good job of hiding it. “Whatever the reasoning was, they were both at the castle before it happened.”
Lemon Drop’s lip quivered for a short moment. She was lost in her memories.
“Well what about your parents and Chippy Chocolate’s parents?” Frostinilla asked, hoping that it would take the spotlight away from Lemon Drop.
Lemon Drop answered for her, “Chippy Chocolate doesn’t remember anything. She barely even remembers enough for us to be sure it was the same creatures that we all lost our own parent’s to. Cinnamon Twist’s own past is a mystery. Nopony knows what happened. She doesn’t remember.”
Cinnamon Twist’s face was unreadable. She had a stern and guarded expression as she looked away towards an empty wall. Frostinilla didn’t believe for a second that she couldn’t remember. She was keeping secrets, but Frostinilla wasn’t about to challenge her just after moving into her home.
“We should investigate the castle,” Cinnamon Twist announced.
“How?” Lemon Drop asked. “We can’t just trot into the Castle without reason. The guards would stop us at the door. They’ll ask what our intentions are and they’ll ask for names. The castle is heavily guarded. There’s no sneaking in.’’
Cinnamon Twist stood from her chair. “There is sneaking in. We go when everypony is occupied, and when the guards have too many ponies to watch to keep track of them all. We go during the Grand Galloping Gala.”
“Oh!” Vanilla Bean chirped in. “We can wear masks.”
“We can't walk into a ball with masks, silly,” Chippy Chocolate pointed out.
“Why not?” Cinnamon Twist asked, bringing all the attention to herself with her unexpected agreement with the filly.
“Because masks would attract attention and bring up questions,” Lemon Drop told her.
“Not if they fit the appearance,” Cinnamon Twist pointed out. “We will get masquerade masks. We should be hiding our identities anyway. Especially since the deaths of Frostinilla’s parents are still fresh.” Cinnamon Twist walked out of the kitchen, turning back to tell the others, “I’m going to the basement volt. We’re going to need to go shopping.”
The next three days passed quickly. Lemon Drop had collected all of the sizing information that she needed so that she could go with Chippy Chocolate in search of dresses. Vanilla Bean, of course, insisted on joining them. Frostinilla spent the days alone with Cinnamon Twist, who had lectured her on a few things she needed to know before the ball. She had told her what was and was not acceptable, how important it was to do exactly as she was told, and above all, nopony could know who she was.
Frostinilla was woken the morning of the Gala by her sister’s squeals of excitement. “It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!”
Frostinilla’s eyes cracked open to see Vanilla Bean hopping around the room. Her mane and tail rose and fell with each hop, and when she finnally stopped at her sister’s bedside, her mane was a frizzy mess. She smiled at her sister, but Frostinilla only sighed.
“Already?” she asked. “I feel like I just fell asleep.”
“Well you didn’t!” Vanilla Bean smiled.
With a groan, Frostinilla slid out of bed. She shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up, but it was no use. It only made her head spin. She sighed and left the bedroom, Vanilla Bean followed, hopping all the way to the bathroom. She stopped at the doorway, and her face disappeared as Frostinilla shut the door. Frostinilla felt a bit of relief to have the bit of solitude.
It was gone when she heard her sister’s muffled voice through the door. “The ball starts in three hours.”
“What?!” Frostinilla asked in shock. “Only three? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”
“I tried, but you weren’t listening.”
Frostinilla had barely slept the night before. She didn’t know why, but she had a bad feeling about the Gala. Cinnamon Twist had intentions of searching the entire castle. She seemed certian that they would find answers in the castle, but Frostinilla had no idea why. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to Cinnamon Twist. She wondered if her own experience had a deeper connection to the castle. Either way, something was off. Cinnamon’s gut feeling told her that answers lied in the castle, but Frostinilla’s gut told her that they were asking for trouble.
She looked at herself in the mirror, but she didn’t see herself. She didn’t see anything in the pony staring back, only a white coat and empty eyes. Her defenses had become rock solid, but her own heart felt frail and weak. She didn’t know who she was anymore. She was conflicted by what she felt and what she saw. She willed all of her emotion away. She willed it away but it only struck her back in the chest. The harder she fought her feelings, the harder they fought back. She couldn’t forget; She couldn’t go numb; She could only act like she could.
Frostinilla took a warm shower and dried her mane until it was no longer flat. She brushed it and let air drying do the rest of the work. She glanced at the pony in the mirror once more before leaving the bathroom with a sigh. Vanilla Bean was no longer in the hallway. Frostinilla walked down the spiral staircase in search of her. She was stopped at the bottom by Chippy Chocolate.
“I put your dress in your room!” she said with her usual smile.
“Oh,” Frostinila backed up a couple of steps. “Alright. Do you know where Vanilla Bean is?”
“She’s down in the living room with Cinnamon Twist, getting her hair done,” Chippy Chocolate explained.
“I’ll just go change then,” Frostinilla said, turning around. She galloped up the stairs and to her room.
She shut her bedroom door behind her and found her dress lying on her bed. It was a white dress, with yellow lace wrapped around the waist and the quarter sleeves. She slipped her head through the bottom and lifted it, letting it fall around her neck. She fidgeted inside until her hooves found their way through the sleeves.
She examined the dress in the mirror hanging from her door. The white of the dress blended with the white of her coat. She thought it looked a little odd, but the yellow lace did help. She made a complete circle so that she could examine the sides and back. There was a beige lace bow on her back.
She shrugged at her reflection and opened her door. She joined the other ponies down in the living room. Everypony seemed ready for the ball. Chippy Chocolate had her hair done in her usual pony tails and was wearing a white dress with brown spots on it. Lemon Drop wore a bright yellow dress that matched her hair, which was done up in a neat bun. Cinnamon Twist was wearing a dress that was black at the bottom, had a brown torso, and a sparkling white sash tied around her waist. Her hair was left the way it naturally was, only she clipped the side that her hair fell on, so that her face was clear.
“You look so pretty!” Vanilla Bean exclaimed to her sister.
Vanilla Bean was looking up at her sister with a sparkling smile. She was wearing a slightly greyed dress with a bright white bow below her neck and another on her back. Here hair was held away from her face with a thin black ribbon.
“Not as pretty as you, Nilly Bee,” Frostinilla told her sister.
Vanilla Bean giggled and hopped with joy. “Did you see the masks we got?”
“No I didn’t.”
“They’re all on the kitchen table,” Lemon Drop said.
The ponies all followed the filly as she trotted into the kitchen. She was giggling the whole way and Frostinilla felt warmed by her joy. Frostinilla coudln’t remember the last time she saw her little sister so happy. For the time being, she was able to forget about her troubles and gut feelings. For now she was able to enjoy the company of fellow ponies.
Five masks rested on the table. Cinnamon Twist placed one on her own face to rest on her muzzle. It was a black masquerade mask made of sparkling white metal. It fit snugly against her face, and the metal spiraled around, covering all the way down the sides of her face. Chippy Chocolate’s mask seemed to more closely fit the description of a colorful ribbon. She tied it around her face, and her eyes glittered through the eye holes. The edges were trimmed in a curving pattern.
One masquerade mask remained. Frostinilla thought it seemed almost too formal. Simple beige fabric was stretched over the butterfly shaped piece of plastic with two large holes for her eyes. Bright white pearls lined the edges of both the eye holes and the outside of the mask. Frostinilla lifted it, flipping it over in her hoof to examine it. She placed it on her face and looked around the room. Everypony was ready for the Grand Galloping Gala.
The orphans stood before the enormous castle. Frostinilla looked at it, remembering how her and your sister had just recently been taking refuge behind the castle, in the shadows of the glorious towers. Her sister was looking forward, but only forward. She hadn’t looked into the past like her sister did. She looked forward to the castle, giddy for what was to come. She had never been to a Gala, she was still probably too young to be let in, but Chippy Chocolate promised to get her in.
“Leave it to me!” Chippy Chocolate trotted over to the castle doors.
“Stay directly behind me,” Cinnamon Twist told Vanilla Bean. “Once I tap my back hoof, run in.” Cinnamon Twist followed behind Chippy Chocolate.
Vanilla Bean cantered forward to catch up, and stood next to Cinnamon Twist to better hide her little sister. Lemon Drop followed the example and cantered over to Cinnamon Twists other side.
Chippy Chocolate was already working on the distractions. “Excuse me!” she said, waving at the guards. “I’m supposed to be meeting my fiance here,” she said, trying to give on the appearance of a mare in distress, but not quite succeeding. “I can’t seem to find him. Have you seen him anywhere?”
The tone Chippy Chocolate used gave the impression that she was trying to sound seductive, so Frostinilla wondered why in Equestria she would say she had a fiance. Still, Chippy Chocolate continued on with her distraction, and the guards were giving her their attention.
“Well, can you give us a description?” one of the guards asked. The other went back to watching the door, which got a huff out of Cinnamon Twist.
“Well,” Chippy Chocolate thought about it. “He’s a stallion. A very,” Chippy Chocolate thought about it some more. “A very handsome stallion.” She started stepping from side to side, in concentration. “He has-He has a short mane.”
Losing patience, Cinnamon Twist found a pebble and lifted it with her magic. She strategically moved it under her friends hoof, and Chippy Chocolate fell to the ground.
“Ow!”
Quickly, and unnoticed by the guards, Cinnamon Twist used her magic on small portions of Chippy Chocolates stomach to push her farther down, making her fall appear to be more dramatic. Both guards cantered to her aid. Cinnamon Twist tapped her back hoof, and Vanilla Bean ran into the castle.
Lemon Drop was the first to trot over to Chippy Chocolate. “I’m sorry,” she said to the guards. “She ran off on us, she’s just a little over excited about her recent engagement.” Lemon Drop ended with a bit of an awkward laugh.
“It’s not a problem,” a guard told her. “Are you alright?” he asked the mare on the ground.
“Yup!” Chippy Chocolate hopped onto her hooves, good as new.
Both guards backed away from her. They seemed a little surprised by how quickly she recovered.
“Well we really should be going,” Cinnamon Twist said, looking directly at Chippy Chocolate. “We don’t want to keep your fiance waiting.”
Chippy Chocolate nodded and headed inside with Lemon Drop; Frostilla and Cinnamon Twist followed. Frostinilla kept an eye out for her sister. Vanilla Bean had just gone in Frostinilla already seemed to have lost her. Cinnamon Twist seemed to have the same idea. She was looking around the grand ballroom, in search of something, but Frostinilla then realized she was more likely looking for clues or strange behavior.
Frostinilla rolled her eyes in response to her own assumption. Aggravation was evident in her face, but it quickly cleared away once she caught sight of Vanilla Bean. She was already making friends, which Cinnamon Twist noticed as well.
“What is she doing?” Cinnamon Twist asked. “She’s going to blow out cover,” she said in a hiss.
“Relax,” Frostinilla said. “We’ll be fine as long as we act like we fit in. We aren’t fitting in if we ostracize ourselves during a party.”
The two ponies walked up to Vanilla Bean. She was talking to a pony, who could have passed for either a very young mare or an older filly. Her coat was made up of colorful patches that made Frostinilla’s eyes hurt. Her rainbow streaked mane was perfectly straight. The pony looked at Frostinilla and Cinnamon twist, with a defensive edge to her expression. She didn’t seem to like the approach of strangers.
“This is Sprinkles!” Vanilla Bean exclaimed cheerfully.
Sprinkles looked back at Vanilla Bean. “You know these ponies?”
“Yeah.” Vanilla Bean smiled. "This is my sister Frostinilla and our friend Cinnamon Twist!"
Cinnamon Twist was about to say something to Vanilla Bean but Frostinilla kicked her hoof, warning her not to let out any suspicious reactions. Cinnamon Twist corrected herself by putting on a forced and very uncomfortable smile. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
Frostinilla noticed that Chippy Chocolate was leaving the ballroom and heading down a hallway. Lemon Drop was going down a hallway on the other side. They seemed to have it all planned out. Frostinilla wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be doing. She wasn’t sure if the other’s were taking initiative on what they already knew how to do, or if they had set jobs with each other, without bothering to include her yet.
“Well, you two have fun,” Cinnamon Twist said to the two young ponies. She wrapped a hoof around Frostinilla’s neck and pulled her away. “Your sister’s fine, as long as she doesn’t go around introducing herself to everypony.”
“Alright, but what do we do?” she asked.
“Did you see where the other’s went off to?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
Frostinilla used her muzzle to point out the halls on each side of the room that she saw them leave through.
Cinnamon Twist nodded. “Stay here and wait for them,” she said. “Don’t let them run off again until I’m back.” With that, Cinnamon Twist trotted through the maze of ponies, finding her way to a door leading her to some other corner of the castle.
Not sure of what else to do, Frostinilla trotted back to her sisters. A couple of hours passed. Frostinilla hadn’t done much other than listen to her sister talk with her new friend, who didn’t really seem to talk much at all. Sprinkles just listened. A couple of stallions had approached Frostinilla while she waited, asking her if she would like to dance. Frostinilla denied them all as politely as she could
Finally, Lemon Drop returned. She didn’t have to leave her sister’s side, since the yellow mare found Frostinilla herself.
"Well, I got nothing.” She gave a shrug of admitted defeat.
“Well,” Frostinilla said. “You weren’t really sure about this anyway. Might as well try to enjoy yourself until the others get back.”
“I guess I could try.” Lemon Drop sounded uninterested.
It was only a few minutes later that Chippy Chocolate joined them. She looked disappointed. “Nothin.”
The ponies waited for Cinnamon Twist to return, but another hour passed, and she still didn’t show up.
“Where could she be?” Frostinilla asked.
“Well knowing her,” Lemon Drop said, “she’s probably putting too much attention to detail.”
“Well, the wait is over!” Chippy Chocolate announced, pointing to their friend, who was now trotting over.
Cinnamon Twist looked horrible. She looked like she had seen ghosts. Frostinilla’s gut feeling returned. She had thought they would run into trouble, and it seemed that Cinnamon Twist found just that.
“We should go,” Cinnamon Twist said. “I found something, but we need to go. It’ll be there another time, but right now, this is a bad place to be.” She was speaking quickly and quietly. She was barely audible, but the other ponies got the message.
Panic was creeping up in Frostinilla’s chest. She turned to grab her sister but she was gone, along with the Sprinkles. “Where is she? Vanilla Bean is gone.” She was too worried to care about how loud she was, but nopony showed any concern for what she was saying.
“She went that way.” Chipy Chocolate pointed in the direction that Cinnamon Twist had just come from.
“What?” Cinnamon Twist asked in an outrage. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
Chippy Chocolate shrugged. “She wasn’t alone. I thought it was okay. I didn’t know you wanted to get out of here.”
Cinnamon Twist and Frostinilla both galloped in the direction that Vanilla Bean had gone. Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate followed.
“No!” Cinnamon Twist exclaimed under her breath.
Frostinilla noticed Vanilla Bean following the colorful pony through the doorway. Cinnammon Twist rushed through.
“Stop!” She yelled when the door closed behind Frostinilla.
Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate had just opened the door again when Vanilla Bean halted. Everypony was standing still and looking at Cinnoman Twist. She was breathing heavily and her hooves seemed to be shaking.
“We need to go home,” Cinnamon Twist said, doing her best to control her tone.
“Oh.” Vanilla Bean looked confused but mostly disappointed.
“Well, see you later, Vanilla Bean,” Sprinkles said. “I’m going to go check out what your pony friends are making a fuss about.”
The pony galloped down the hall and Cinnamon Twist tensed. Frostinilla panicked when Vanilla Bean ran after Sprinkles.
“Wait!” the filly cried.
Cinnamon Twist shocked everypony when she dived for Vanilla Bean. She took her down, managing not to land on her. Still, Vanilla Bean had fallen forward and her mask flew across the marble floor, clinking against the tiles.
“No!” Vanilla Bean tried to stand but Cinnamon Twist wouldn’t let go.
Sprinkles had stopped running. She looked down at the mask, then back at her new friend. She picked up the mask and was just about trot back to everypony, but Cinnamon Twist’s eyes widened and she yanked Vanilla Bean away. The young filly screamed and Sprinkles froze up.
Frostinilla’s heart beat against her chest as a familiar creature grabbed the small pony. It looked Frostinilla straight in the eye before running off. “I got a live one!” she heard it yell. There was another voice, but it was muffled by the sound of screams.
“Sprinkles!” Vanilla Bean called out to her friend. She turned to Frostinilla, tears now streaking her face. “Don’t let them take her. You can’t let them take her!”
Cimmanom Twist stood, but gently pushed Vanilla Bean behind her. “Get out of here!” she said. “Go home and don’t come back here!”
“But-”
“If you want us to save your friend then leave!” Cinnamon Twist snapped.
Vanilla Bean galloped away, pushing her way through the door. Frostinilla watched her sister leave before following Cinnamon Twist. Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate weren’t far behind. Soon, the four ponies were catching up to the strange creature.
“Help!” Sprinkles screamed when she saw them.
The strange creature looked back to see that he was being pursued. He pulled out a little black box and yelled into it.
"Get it ready!” the creature yelled. “Get the Goddamn thing ready!” It ran faster.
Cinnamon Twist pushed forward and Frostinilla kept up. They followed the creature down the hall and into a nearly empty room. At the end of the room was a mirror. The mirror changed as they drew near. What was once reflective glass became a swirling purple fog.
The creature jumped into it and dissapeared. The ponies all stopped and stared at the glass.
“I’m going in,” Cinnamon Twist said.
“You can’t be-” Frostinilla started.
“I’m going!” she said. “I’m going to fix this. I won’t let those things keep butchering us!”
Cinnamon Twist didn’t wait for Frostinilla’s response. She ran forward and jumped into the fog, disappearing. The fog began to fade. Frostinilla didn’t know what to do, but she wasn’t going to sit around and do nothing. Knowing she didn’t have the time to think it through, she stopped thinking and jumped in. Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate were right behind her.
Frostinilla awoke, staring up at the blinding sunlight that shone through the space between parted clouds. She rose her hand to shelter her eyes from the damaging beams. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was staring at. It wasn’t a hoof. She didn’t know what it was. She sat upright, feeling that the action was oddly easy. She was able to sit up on her flank without the odd sensation of lost balance. Still, something was most definitely lost.
She extended her new arm out before her, turning it this way and that as she examined it. It was thin. Too thin for her liking. She wriggled the thin appendages at the end. She had never in her lifetime, seen a hand up close. She examined her pale skin. It was pale to the point that any human seeing her would assume that she was sick. It would be perceived as beautiful, but only after getting over the mild concern of such pale complexion. Frostinilla however, only perceived it with disgust. She didn't understand how anything so fur-less could be considered attractive in any sense. She felt naked.
At the moment of that thought, she jumped up and felt around her stomach, making sure that she wasn't. She wasn't sure why, but she felt uncomfortable. Luckily, she was still in the dress. It was the dress she was wearing at the Gala but, somehow, it was different. It had changed during her own transformation, and now fit snugly against her newly shapen body, hugging her curves but falling away in waves below her waist.
She looked down at her feet. She was standing on only two legs without a problem, and that scared her. She grabbed a handful of the white material and pulled the dress up to examine what was beneath. She stared at her legs in horror. They were much longer than her arms. Flashes of the creatures that broke into her home ran through her thoughts. Bile rose at the back of her mouth as she realized what she had become.
“Frostinilla?” The voice broke into the once pony’s concentration.
Frostinilla turned to see that her friend had also changed. Lemon Drop was standing feet away from her. Her complexion was similar to Frostinilla’s, but not nearly as white. Her yellow eyes were now small. Her yellow hair was still in a bun, but it was falling out. Strands fell to the side of the girls round face. The dress she wore was covered in dirt. Frostinilla took in the image but her stomach was screaming to throw it back out, so she did.
Lemon Drop ran to Frostinilla’s side as she bent over, throwing up. She didn’t think she’d ever eaten enough to let out as much as she did. Lemon Drop tentatively patted her friend on the back. She was hesitant, as if she was afraid that she might break either one of them. Frostinilla finally stopped and clutched her stomach, grimacing at the feel of her own fingers digging into her belly.
Another wave escaped and Frostinilla bend forward once more. Lemon Drop was now stroking her long white hair and pulling it away. Frostinilla’s palms were against the hard ground, and her fingers dug into the dirt. She panted heavily, pulling in the fresh air and hoping that it was over. She wanted it all to be over. She wanted to be back in Canterlot, back to her own self, but she didn’t dare sit back up.
“Are you alright?” Lemon Drop asked, her voice gentle. She hand’t stopped stroking her friends hair.
Frostinilla nodded. She clenched her eyes shut and wiped the remaining residue away with the back of her hand. Her arms were beginning to shake and her throat was now burning. Everything about that moment was completely off. She didn’t understand what had happened or how it happened. She couldn’t remember a thing about passing through that mirror.
“We need to find you some water,” Lemon Drop said.
“I’m fine,” Frostinilla finally managed to spurt. She took in another gulp of air before asking, “Where are the others?”
“Chippy Chocolate is right here,” Lemon Drop said, picking up the white mask that had been lying near Frostinilla the entire time.
Frostinilla looked up past Lemon Drop and for the first time, realized that Chippy Chocolate was behind her. Her dark brown hair had fallen out its ties. Her hair framed her thin face and fell messily around her shoulders. Tears spilled from her eyes and streaked her mocha colored skin. Her dress had been ripped at the bottom and at her waist. She was holding the other three masks and picking at the edges.
“What happened?” Frostinilla asked.
Lemon Drop lowered her voice to a whisper. “When she tried to wake Cinnamon Twist, she got attacked.”
“By what?!” Frostinilla asked in shock. She had been so caught up in the aggressive changes that she hadn’t even considered the fact that they might be in possible danger.
Lemon Drop put an arm around Frostinilla. “By Cinnamon Twist.”
Frostinilla froze and looked into Lemon Drops eyes. Concern was clear. “What do you mean?” Frostinilla asked as she averted her gaze to Chippy Chocolate.
“The minute Cinnamon Twist saw Chippy Chocolate in this form, she attacked her.”
Frostinilla was speachless. She felt horrible for Chippy Chocolate but at the same time, she wasn’t sure if she could blame Cinnamon Twist. She had experienced first hoof what Cinnamon Twist’s night terrors could bring out of her. The fact that she woke to see, well, to see what her friend was, had no chance of setting her off in any good way. Cinnamon Twist wouldn’t have known what she was doing, or that this thing was Chippy Chocolate.
Chippy Chocolate was wiping tears away from her eyes with a clenched fist. She looked so young to Frostinilla. She looked vulnerable. Frostinilla wasn’t quite sure what young did or didn’t look like in these new forms but Chippy Chocolate looked lost. When Chippy Chocolate finally cleared the tears away, she gave a small half hearted smile. Frostinilla jumped to her feet to give her a hug, tripping forward and almost knocking her friend down.
Chippy Chocolate let out a laugh. The cheerful sound lifted Frostinilla’s spirits for a brief moment and she smiled as she clutched her friend. This new form made the simple gesture feel oddly intimate. She stepped away to see that Chippy Chocolate’s face brightened slightly. Frostinilla smiled before turning to Lemon Drop.
“So where is Cinnamon Twist,” she asked.
Lemon Drop pointed, with all of her fingers outstretched, towards the side. There were a few trees. Frostinilla spotted someone sitting at the bottom of one. She headed over to check on Cinnamon Twist.
Cinnamon Twist was sitting with her back against the trunk of a tree and her knees pulled up to her chest. Her arms were resting on them and her face was hidden. Her long brown hair fell to the sides. She still had her sparkly white streaks. Her skin was tanned, but as far as Frostinilla knew, it was simply a tone somewhere between Chippy Chocolate's and her own.
Frostinilla stat on her knees at Cinnamon Twist’s side, feeling more sorrow than she expected to. She could see that Cinnamon Twist was shaking. Frostinilla reached out to pat her back, but retreated. She didn’t want to startle her, and she didn’t think she would like being touched by anyone in this form. Out of all the grudges the Cupcakes held against these creatures they were yet to learn about, Cinnamon Twist’s dug the deepest.
“Are-” Frostinilla trailed off.
Cinnamon Twist looked up at Frostinilla. Her hate filled eyes pouring with what Frostinilla could only assume to be frustration. Frostinilla didn’t dare move as Cinnamon Twist bared her teeth. It was an odd expression now. The teeth were so small and in no way threatening but it was never Cinnamon Twist’s teeth that instilled fear; It was her eyes. The eyes that held an endless pool of hatred, and revealed an unnatural willingness to find her revenge. Frostinilla never fully understood what it was that made her like this, but it scared her.
Frostinilla waited for Cinnamon Twist to finally ease down. Cinnamon Twist burried her head in her arms once again. Frostinilla stood, wondering if she should stay or go. Cinnamon Twist obviously didn’t want company, but Frostinilla felt that she still might need it. She looked back at Lemon Drop in hopes of some sort of suggestion but her and Chippy Chocolate had kept their distance.
Frostinilla looked back down at Cinnamon Twist. “Are you alright?” she forced out.
Cinnamon Twist didn’t bother looking up. She just shook her head. Frostinilla bent down and placed a hand on Cinnamon Twist’s shoulder. Her body went stiff but she didn’t react otherwise. Frostinilla patted her back, wishing she could help but knowing that she coudn’t. She was powerless.
Cinamon Twist lifted her head and looked to Frostinilla again. Tears still streaked her face but this time the anger was gone. Frostinilla didn’t know how to respond. She froze up. Cinnamon Twist pushed Frostinilla’s hand away and curled up again.
“You guys we should probably find somewhere safe to hide.”
Frostinilla turned her head to see that Lemon Drop had approached them. “Where would we go?” Frostinilla asked.
“I don’t know, but I doubt staying put is a good idea.” Lemon Drop looked worried. “We have no idea where those other,” Lemon Drop trailed off. She didn’t know what they were and settled with, “things went.”
Frostinilla hadn’t thought about that. Even so, she still had no idea where they could go. She looked around. There was nothing but trees and empty grassland, but farther down she noticed something. Tall structures stood in the distance. Frostinilla had no idea what they were for, but had a feeling that life would be found there and where there is life, there is sustenance.
“We should head that way.” Frostinilla pointed with an outstretched arm.
“We don’t know what those are,” Cinnamon Twist said.
“Well we can’t exactly say heading over there is any worse than staying here. What would we eat? Where would we sleep? What if it get’s cold or starts raining?” Frostinilla looked at Cinnamon Twist as if waiting for answers but knowing she wouldn’t be able to give any.
Cinnamon Twist sighed. “I can’t see anything dangerous here,” she pointed out.
“Can’t see anywhere to hide if something dangerous shows up either.”
Cinnamon Twist glared at Frostinilla. She wasn’t sure if she was upset by the idea of heading right to the unknown, or having Frostinilla take over some sort of leadership.
“I think we should go,” Lemon Drop put in.
Cinnamon Twist’s gaze shifted to Lemon Drop, who took a reflexive step back.
“Sorry,” she said. “I just think we need to hurry.” Her gaze was behind Cinnamon Twist, who turned around. The sun was setting behind them. “We really should find somewhere to hide before it’s dark.”
Cinnamon Twist gave in. “Alright,” she said, brushing past Frostinilla and taking the lead.
The other three followed her through the grass fields. The shadows of the trees they past seemed to stretch toward them, as if wanting to grab them. Chippy Chocolate seemed particularly frightened during the walk. She had been clinging onto Lemon Drop’s arm with both of her own. Lemon Drop had tried taking the masks from her, trying to make it easier on Chippy Chocolate, but for some reason, Chippy Chocolate refused to part with them
Frostinilla was too worried over other things to care for the surroundings. All she could think about was the scared pony that was taken off. The scream of the young mare was almost as clear as the scream of her mother. The two voices together would haunt her for countless nights to come.
She wondered if Cinnamon Twist was thinking of Sprinkles as well. She had been the one to chase after her through the mirror. Frostinilla thought the act was admirable but wasn’t so sure about the intentions. She wasn’t sure if Cinnamon Twist was driven to save the stranger or simply to get revenge. Frostinilla watched Cinnamon Twist ahead of them. She was silent during the hike, walking at a fast and keeping her arms crossed at her chest.
They walked in silence until the finally reached the outskirts of a huge city. The sounds escaping it put all of them on edge. Cinnamon Twist looked back at Frostinilla.
“Any more bright ideas?” she asked.
Frostinilla didn’t say anything. She was staring ahead of her. They hadn’t even reached the buildings but they looked huge. Many of them seemed to be made of mirror. The darkened sky and grey clouds reflected magnificently off of the glass surfaces, but not everything was pretty. Machine like carriages were whizzing around at what Frostinilla was sure to be an unsafe speed. How had anyone been able to survive this?
Not only were they rushing through the city and past each other, but they were also letting out smoke. The larger the carriage, the more smoke it had to give off. Some of them, the ones that were obviously meant for transporting large amounts of goods or perhaps just large goods, gave out thick black smoke. Frostinila hoped she would never have to breath that in directly. Frostinilla found herself wondering if those fumes were poisonous or harmful. Either way, she didn’t want to have to breath any in.
“So what do we do now?” Cinnamon Twist snapped.
“I-” Frostinilla tried taking it all in, feeling like it might try coming back out again but she held it back this time. “I don’t know.” She didn’t understand any of it. “Maybe we should see what others are doing?”
“Maybe we should go back,” Cinnamon Twist said flatly. She still had her arms crossed.
“I think we should just check it out,” Chippy Chocolate said. “I mean,” she looked at her feet, “we do look like them, don’t we? We’d fit in.”
“We don’t know that we would,” Cinnamon Twist said.
Lemon Drop decided to take a different approach. “I thought you were always one for risk. If it’s for the greater good, why not?”
Cinnamon Twist’s cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.
“And let’s not forget we all followed you here,” Lemon Drop added.
“I was following-”
“We know!” Frostinilla interjected before Cinnamon Twist got too out of hand. “That’s not important right now! Right now, we just need to get out of here. We have to find someplace to sleep, where we will be warm and safe for the night. Can we all just agree on that for now?”
Frostinilla had surprised herself with her firmness. She had apparently surprised the others as well. They had all gone silent, including Cinnamon Twist. Frostinilla stratched the back of her head, feeling nervous. The others were now watching her, waiting for something more. She wasn’t sure that she liked it and wasn’t at all comfortable with it.
“So what do you want us to do?” Chippy Chocolate asked, putting a voice to the question that had been hanging in the air.
“We should-” Frostinilla looked towards the city. She didn’t want to lead any of them into danger. Those carriages didn’t look safe in the slightest. “We should avoid those paths.”
“So now that we know what we aren’t doing,” Cinnamon Twist chirped, amused at Frostinilla’s inability to give an order, “what is it that we are going to do?”
Frostinilla didn’t say anything. She just didn’t know what to tell them. She wasn’t a leader. She was a lost mare, on new lands and in a new body. She couldn't handle more than herself. She could barely handle herself at all in this state. She scratched at her arms as the others looked at her expectantly. Her nails dug into her skin. The sensation was odd. Painful, but in a way that somehow calmed her.
Lemon Drop finally broke her gaze from Frostinilla, realizing that she really wasn’t sure. Lemon Drop didn’t want to put her under pressure. She looked back at Frostinilla, apologetically. Chippy Chocolate let out a sigh as she realized the same as Lemon Drop. She wasn’t as subtle in her disappointment.
A knowing smirk crossed Cinnamon Twist’s face, but it vanished in an instant. She had gotten over her illogical arguments against Frostinilla, but she was still determined to reinforce her leadership. With her arms still crossed, she began walking towards a busy road at the edge of the city.
Frostinilla wasn’t sure about the idea, but the other two followed immediately. With a sigh, Frostinilla ran after them. She didn’t see any other options. The best bet they had was to stick together. For now, Frostinilla could just hope that they would be able to find a way to survive. Cinnamon Twist may have been too gutsy for her own good, but she had a better chance of getting them all through the situation.
They hadn’t quite reached the road when they made a turn and walked alongside it. Chippy Chocolate had once again linked herself to Lemon Drop. They found themselves walking near a sidewalk. Crowds of people made their way along the roadside. The Cupcakes had stopped, feet away from the sidewalk.
Chippy Chocolate had begun shaking. Cinnamon Twist stood, frozen. Lemon Drop’s face showed a mixture of fear and the pain of having her arm so tightly gripped. Frostinilla’s stomach churned and she clutched it with her hands. Lemon Drop rested her free hand on Frostinilla’s shoulder for comfort. Frostinilal gave her a smile of thanks.
Cinnamon Twist shot forward. The others watched her leave. Frostinilla wondered, for a second, if it would be alright to split up but that wasn’t an option. They ran after her before she reached the sidewalk. The tall creatures were walking in herds. It looked near impossible to get through. Lemon Drop had grabbed Frostinilla’s hand as they neared the sidewalk. Frostinilla understood the reasoning and immediately and tried to take Cinnamon Twist’s. Cinnamon Twist just shrugged her away and kept walking.
She was swallowed by the crowd and Frostinilal struggled to keep up. People were walking this way and that, pushing anyone in their way. Someone had even walked between Frostinilla and Lemon Drop, breaking their link. Frostinilla piveted around on one foot, looking for her friend. Luckily, the bright yellow hair stood out from the crowd. There were a few blondes, but no one had hair as bright as Lemon Drop.
Frostinilla ran back and grabbed her arm. She pulled her friend in the direction she had seen Cinnamon Twist head off to, but she wasn’t quite sure anymore. Everything was so hectic. How did such a large herd fit on such a small pathway?
“You guys are impossible,” Cinnamon Twist said as she let Frostinilla go. She crossed her arms again and shook her head.
She had dragged them into an entirely cement building. There were no walls on the sides, but there was a roof over their head. A few of the mechanical carriages were scattered across the otherwise empty area. A glass room stood at the center, and past the glass door, Fristinilla noticed a stairway as well as a metal doorway.
“Where are we?” Frostinilla asked.
“Shelter,” Cinnamon Twist said simply.
“Are you sure?” Lemon Drop asked.
“Where would you suggest we go?” Cinnamon Twist asked, looking right at Lemon Drop.
Lemon Drop held her tongue.
“How about we check over there?” Frostinilla asked, already walking towards the glass room.
She sped up to a jog and examined the door. The knob was strange. She tried pushing it open, but it didn’t work. She tried pulling on the circular handle, but that also didn’t work. She gave up and walked around the glass walls, looking for another way out. By the time she made a full circle, Lemon Drop was holding the doorway open.
“You had to turn it,” she said.
The four took the stairway up two stories, where they found arrows pointing in multiple directions. One of the arrows had “food court” written at the end of it.
“Oh!” Chippy Chocolate hopped. “Theirs food!”
“Well, that’s,” Lemon Drop said hesitantly, “good?”
Chippy Chocolate was skipping in the direction of the arrow before anyone had a chance to add any more input. Cinnamon Twist rolled her eyes as she strode after the her, but all they came to was a door. On the other side were multiple rooms and rows of tables, but it was deserted, and the lights were all off. Frostinilla tried turning the handle like Lemon Drop said to, but it woudln’t budge.
“You should try,” she told Lemon Drop.
Lemon Drop tried, and got the same results. She tried applying more pressure, but it didn’t make much difference.
“Why won’t it work?” She kept fidgeting with the handle and even tried kicking the door. She shook the door and tried turning it again. Frostinilla could tell that she was putting a lot of force into it.
Slowly, Lemon Drops hand began to glow. She herself didn’t seem to notice, but the others were backing away. The doorknob slowly turned red, and Lemon Drop finally realized that something was wrong. She stepped away from the door. The handle that she had been trying so hard to turn, was now melting. As it did, a soft click was heard.
Lemon Drop gazed down at her hands. The light had faded, but there was still a soft yellow glow. Within a couple of minutes, they were back to normal. None of them said a word. They just looked down at Lemon Drop’s hands, as if they expected them to glow again.
Chippy Chocolate was the first to break away and try the door again. The mishappen handle gave in to her grip and the door opened.
“Huh.” Cinnamon Twist looked genuinely impressed.
Frostinilla, however, was beginning to worry. If Lemon Drop could do something like that, what could the others do? Once again, her thoughts were broken off. Chippy Chocolate had grabbed her wrist and pulled her into what seemed to be an indoor market. The only problem was that everything was closed. She wasn’t at all surprised considering it had been getting late.
“Should we look for food?” Chippy Chocolate asked.
“I don’t know,” Lemon Drop said. “Shouldn’t we wait until everything is open? We shouldn’t steal.”
“Are you really concerned about stealing from the very beings that took our lives away from us?” Cinnamon Twist asked in a harsh tone.
“Well-”
“That doesn’t matter,” Frostinilla said. Cinnamon Twist glared at her and lemon Drop gave her a questioning look.
“Well, even if we did wait, we wouldn’t be able to pay.”
Cinnamon Twist’s expression changed to an approving look. “So, lets look for some food.”
“Hey, look what I found!” Chippy Chocolate exclaimed. She had a large purse wrapped around her shoulder. She was fitting the masks into it as she walked back over to them.
“Where did you find that?” Lemon Drop sounded concerned.
“It was just hanging on a chair over there.” She was searching through the purse and pulled out a wallet. Inside she found green paper and a few coins. “I think we might be able to pay, but I’m not sure. We should eat now just in case!”
Chippy Chocolate ran off. She found a sandwich shop and hopped over the counter. Within minutes she had piles of breads and ingredients on the counter in front of her. The others joined her in putting together a dinner. They made the most of the night, finding what they could and filling up the bag with food. Cinnamon Twist had found a larger bag with two straps under a table. She had to take out a large rectangular device, which all they found when they investigated it was buttons with letters and numbers, to make room for more food.
After the night passed, they left the shops and went back outside. They decided staying anywhere near the area wouldn’t have been a good idea. They left quite a mess and wouldn't’ want to be found sleeping too close to what they had broken into. They managed to find a large empty shed behind a larger house that had been left unlocked. Chippy Chocolate fit herself into a wheelbarrow, Lemon Drop hid under a wooden table, and Cinnamon Twist and Frostinilla settled for the floor. They would find something cozier later, but for the meantime, they were safe.
Sweet and Sour
Frostinilla was back home, back in her pony form. Vanilla Bean was sitting in front of her smiling at her mirror. Frostinilla was had a brush in her hoof and combed through her sister's hair. They joked and laughed about senseless things. Frostinilla was happy to be home, happy to have her sister. She would never take anything for granted again. With as little as she had, she had everything she needed.
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Frostinilla’s mother called.
Frostinilla’s snapped up at the sound of her mother’s voice.
“Hey,” Vanilla Bean whined. “Why’d you stop?”
Frostinilla looked down at her little sister. “Didn’t you hear that?”
“She said it’s almost ready.” Vanilla Bean said. “We don’t have to go right away.”
“But,” Frostinilla was confused. How had Vanilla Bean not realized? “It was mom. She was just talking. Mom died. How could she be talking?”
Vanilla Bean wrinkled her forehead. “What are you talking about?”
Frostinilla stared at her little sister. “Don’t tell me you forgot.” Frostinilla’s head was spinning. How could her mother be back? The more she thought into it, the less it made sense. She realized that she wasn't even sure how she got to that point. How had she gotten home?
“Forgot what?”
Frostinilla’s mother called out to them again. “Girls! Dinner’s done!”
Frostinilla ran towards her mother’s voice. Everything in the past must have been part of some twisted dream. The past events didn't even make sense, so why would she believe that it had really happened? What made sense to her now was that she was home. Her mother was waiting for her just around the corner, and she would give her the biggest hug she’d ever had.
A white pony with a white mane tied up in a bun was setting the table. She looked up at Frostinilla and gave her a bright smile. The smile seemed to show that she missed Frostinilla just as much as Frostinilla missed her. Frostinilla ran over to her, her mother was about to speak, but her voice was lost.
A sudden bang erupted and the house began to shake violently. Frostinilla caught herself on the table and look up to see her mother fall to the floor. There was another bang and Frostinilla’s vision began to fade out. Her head was filled with the sound of her mother’s scream as her mother disappeared from before her.
“Wake up!” Cinnamon Twist’s voice broke into Frostinilla’s subconsciousness. There was another bang and a muffled yell of a male’s voice. Cinnamon Twist snapped. “Get up!”
Frostinilla felt herself being tugged and was ripped out of her dreams. Blinding light stung her eyes but they widened in fear when another bang was heard.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing in my shed?” A large burly man boomed. He had a shotgun in hand and was shooting in the general direction of each of the girls taking shelter in his shed. Whether he was only aiming to scare them or he simply had bad aim wasn’t certain, but the girls were scrambling to their feet and Cinnamon Twist was doing her best to pull Frostinilla up to hers.
A bullet whizzed past Frostinilla’s leg and dug itself into the wooden floor beside her, leaving a small hole with blackened edges. Frostinilla, still dazed and confused, stared at it with complete shock.
“By Celestia! Pull yourself together!” Cinnamon Twist snapped.
“Hurry!” Frostinilla heard Lemon Drop’s voice from behind.
Lemon Drop pushed Chippy Chocolate forward and past the other two. Lemon Drop ran ahead and gave the large man a shove. A gunshot fired through the roof of the shed as the man was shoved back. The girls let out squeals of panic. Chippy Chocolate and Lemon Drop rushed out but the man had blocked the door again before Frostinilla and Chippy Chocolate could make their escape.
The man took a step inside and Cinnamon Twist grabbed a hold of Frostinilla’s shoulder. She pulled her back as the man approached and stood in front of her defensively. Frostinilla could hardly believe that Cinnamon Twist would do such a thing. She knew she was brave, but didn’t realize that she was selfless.
As the man continued forward with his gun pointed at the two frightened girls, Cinnamon Twist backed away, pushing Frostinilla into the wall. When there was nowhere else to go, Cinnamon Twist raised her hands before her as if they would protect her. Her eyes clenched tightly shut as she prepared for the worst.
“Hey!” the man shouted. “What the fuck is this? What do you think you’re doing you little bitch?”
Frostinilla watched as the man’s anger transitioned to fear. He was suspended off of the ground, his feet dangling. He writhed in frustration as if he thought that he could break loose, but Frostinilla knew better. Cinnamon Twist’s magic had apparently transferred over to this world along with her.
The man pointed his gun at Cinnamon Twist. Frostinilla’s stomach churned and she shoved Cinnamon Twist forward. They flew forward below the man floating in the air, but her magic lost connection. Luckily, they had fallen on the other side by the time the man hit the ground.
“Get up!” Frostinilla yelled as she tugged on Cinnamon Twist’s arm.
They got up and ran out of the shed. Chippy Chocolate had been waiting at the other side of the large house in front of the shed, their heads poking around the corner as they waited. Relief was obvious on their faces as they joined and ran off down the street.
“You better run!” the man hollered from behind. “You fucking cowards!”
The Cupcakes ran as fast as they could, barely paying any attention to their surroundings. They crossed a few empty streets as they headed down town. When they reached the crowds, nobody paid attention to them as they pushed through. They all kept their hands locked together to avoid separation.
“Watch where you’re going!” a tall man with a phone to his ear snapped when Frostinilla brushed by.
They ignored him and he scowled at them as they continued to run away. No one knew whether or not the man with the gun had followed. They were too afraid to look back and realize that even if he had, it would have been near impossible for him to keep track of them through the crowd. None of them had any idea as to where they could possibly hide.
Frostinilla felt Cinnamon Twist’s grip tighten on her wrist. After a few minutes of constricted circulation, her fingers began to tingle. She kept a firm grip on Lemon Drop, who was right behind her, but made sure not to squeeze too tightly. They were lead by Cinnamon Twist around corners and eventually down an alley. Cinnamon Twist came to a sudden stop and the others ran into each other.
Cinnamon Twist was looking down the alley as the others callapsed to the ground, struggling to catch their breaths. Frostinilla sat on the black pavement and leaned her back against a brick wall. She pushed her hair back away from her face and whipped away the moisture clinging to her face.
“I think we’re safe,” Cinnamon Twist said through heavy breaths.
“Safe?” Chippy Chocolate asked. “How are we safe? We don’t know where we are? We are surrounded by these things! We are these things!!”
“Well the only important thing now is that we are still alive,” Lemon Drop told her.
“Yeah, but what now?” Chippy Chocolate asked. She removed the strap from over her shoulder and threw the bag at Cinnamon Twist. “That’s all we have left.”
Cinnamon Twist looked at the bag with a grave expression. “We’ll figure something out,” she said, sounding unconvinced of her own claim. “We always figure something out.”
Frostinilla took the bag and placed it on her lap. She undid the simple clasp and rummaged through the little that they had. They still had the masks. Frostinilla thought that they should probably get rid of them; They were nothing more than extra baggage, but she knew that Chippy Chocolate was attached to them. She couldn’t blame her; They didn’t have much else left from home.
Under the masks, Frostinilla found only two sandwiches. “We should probably share these later today,” Frostinilla said as she showed the others that they did have some food.
“We’d be better off eating them now so that we could have the energy we may need to get more food,” Cinnamon Twist said.
“I don’t know,” Lemon Drop intervened. “I think Frostinilla’s right. If we eat that now, we can’t be sure we’ll find anything else. We should save those until we know of a way to get more.”
“Can’t we go back and get more from where we got those?” Chippy Chocolate asked.
“I don’t think so,” Cinnamon Twist. “If we left any traces the last time, we’d just be walking into trouble.”
Chippy Chocolate pouted and averted her gaze to Frostinilla, as if expecting her to give her support.
“She’s right,” Frostinilla said. “We shouldn’t go back there. If anything, that should be a last resort.”
“Do you think we could find anything similar?” Lemon Drop asked.
“We might as well look around,” Cinnamon Twist said. “We’re more likely to find food doing just about anything other than sitting around here.”
Just as that was said, Chippy Chocolate looked down the alley with a sudden jerk of her head. “I smell something,” she said, sniffing the air, “and it smells amazing.”
“I smell it too,” Lemon Drop said, following Chippy Chocolate’s gaze.
Chippy Chocolate hopped back up onto her feet.
“Wait!” Cinnamon Twist called out as Chippy Chocolate dashed down the alleyway.
Frostinilla jumped up and ran after her, followed by Lemon Drop and Cinnamon Twist. Chippy Chocolate made a sudden right turn. Frostinilla made the turn and immediately crashed into Chippy Chocolate, who fell forward into someone else. Frostinilla managed to catch her balance, but Chippy Chocolate fell onto a man who lost grip of a cardboard box.
“Ooww,” the young man groaned.
Chippy Chocolate let out a scream and smacked the man across the head with a closed fist. He didn’t see it coming and his face jerked awkwardly to left and his red hat flew off as he lost consciousness. Frostinilla took hold of Chippy Chocolate and helped her up. They both staggered backwards, afraid that the man would come back to life and attack them. He didn’t; He simply stayed on the ground, completely immobile except for the slow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
“Did you kill it?” Lemon Drop asked in shock from behind.
“I-I-” Chippy Chocolate didn’t say anymore.
Frostinilla wasn’t sure herself, but she pointed out, “It’s still breathing.”
As the three stared at the strange creature lying unconscious on the sidewalk, Cinnamon Twist walked passed them and stepped over him. She walked over to the cardboard box that had slid down the sidewalk and picked it up. She examined the sides and bottom before picking at the tabs, releasing the lid so that she could peek inside. She smiled at what she had found and brought the pizza over to the others.
“Looks like we have food,” she said.
Chippy Chocolate smiled at the thought, but Lemon Drop was otherwise concerned. “What about-”
“It deserved it,” Cinnamon Twist said bluntly. “They all deserve that.”
“But-”
“But what?” Cinnamon Twist dared Lemon Drop to challenge.
Lemon Drop still went on. “We don’t know that that particular one deserved it. What did it do?”
“What kind of creature do you know that would kill ponies in the dead of night and take them away for no apparent reason?” Cinnamon Twist questioned.
“None,” Lemon Drop said with a look of both defeat and understanding.
Frostinilla looked down at the odd and still somewhat revolting creature. She wondered if it was any different from the ones that had broken into her home and dragged her parent’s lifeless bodies away from her. She wondered if he was possibly involved.She couldn’t think of any sort of justification for such sickening crimes. She felt a compelling urge to kick the man as he lie there, but held back.
“You coming?” Cinnamon Twist asked, tapping Frostinilla’s back.
Frostinilla looked away from the man and to her friends. They were all waiting for her to join them.
“Sorry.” Frostinilla sighed. “I guess I’m having hard time keeping my mind straight after all of this. She gave the man one last glance before following the others back down to the end of the alley.
They sat together around the box and each grabbed a slice. The cent filled Frostinilla’s nostrils and she suddenly understood why it had driven Chippy Chocolate to take off in such a rush. It was wonderful. The first bite had her taste buds dancing.
“By Celestia!” Chippy Chocolate said. “It’s so good!”
Lemon Drop laughed at her friend as she chowed down on her slice. Cinnamon Twist enjoyed her own in silence. Between the four of them, one slice each had taken half of the pizza. It didn’t take long at all for them all to devour their food. At the end of their pieces, they all looked back down at the box.
“We should probably save this for later, huh?” Chippy Chocolate asked.
“Well, we don’t exactly have anywhere to keep it,” Cinnamon Twist said. “Carrying around a box could become a burden.”
Chippy Chocolate’s eyes lit up and she grabbed another slice. She didn’t need any more convincing than that. “I hope we find this again soon,” she said with full mouth.
“I’m sure we’ll reach a point where any food will be great food,” Lemon Drop said as she reached for another piece of her own.
“Most likely,” Cinnamon Twist said reaching for one as well.
“Well,” Frostinilla grabbed the last slice. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
They enjoyed their surprisingly wonderful meal. By the end, they were all smiling and ready to take on what the day would throw at them. They decided that the best way to survive was to see how others survived. In order to fit in, they needed to know how these creatures lived. They walked hand in hand, through the bustling city.
They weren’t exactly sure how to respond to any of it.
There wasn’t much to observe from their point of view. Everyone was just rushing past, off to Celestia knows where, to do Celestia knows what. What they did see, were people talking to strange devices, people getting into large mechanical carriages, and people walking in and out of many shops. No one seemed to communicate with each other. The strange mechanical carriages seemed to ignore all the possible casualties they all seemed likely to cause. No one seemed to care about anything besides wherever they were off to.
They did, however, notice three girls walking together and laughing. Frostinilla was slightly appalled by how little they were wearing. The lack of a coat was bad enough. It was like walking naked. Clothing was a must with so little fur to cover the body. These girls didn’t seem to care. They walked with short tube tops, and shorts that, well, didn’t seem to be more than undergarments.
“This is an odd place,” Cimmanon Twist said, noticing the same thing that Frostinilla had.
“Very,” Frostinilla agreed aloud.
The girls that they were watching walked into a shop with an assortment of clothing lined up along the windows. Frostinilla looked down at her dress. It was slightly ripped at the bottom and it had been ravaged by dirt and, as of recently, pizza sauce.
“Do you think our lack of hygiene is going to attract unwanted attention,” Frostinilla asked Cinnamon Twist as quietly as she could.
Cinnamon Twist looked down at her own dress. It wasn’t in as bad a condition, but it wasn’t exactly clean either. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I mean, if you look around, it seems like there are quite a few that don’t really care about hygene. Still, it seems that the females do put more effort towards it.”
Frostinilla nodded her head. “Any suggestions on what we do about it?”
“Steal,” Cinnamon Twist asnwered.
“You sure about that?” Frostinilla asked.
“Well, I don’t see why not.” Cinnamon Twist was beggining to sound a little aggrivated. “We seem to have fallen into a world lacking morality, so why should we live by it?”
Frostinilla looked around. She couldn’t come up with a single argument against that. “I guess, but whether morality is an issue or not, what do we do if we’re caught?”
Cinnamon Twist was quite for a bit. “Well, what do you suggest then?”
“I suggest we figure out how the others here take care of things. Maybe we can somehow fit ourselves into the equation.”
Cinnamon Twist thought it through. “And if we can’t?”
“We steal,” Frostinilla said, simply.
They spent the day observing more. They ventured into a few stores. They seemed to run the same way as they did at home, only the currency was a little different. Dollars as well as coins of different sizes and a couple different colors. Once they realized how goods and needs were payed for, they just needed to figure out how to get a hold of the needed money. Cinnamon Twist had gone back to her suggestion of stealing, but Frostinilla didn’t think one form of stealing would make up for another. By the time the sun was setting, everyone was exhausted from a full day of walking around.
“Can we eat now?” Chippy Chocolate asked as they walked down another empty alley.
“We already ate today,” Cinnamon Twist said.
“But we were walking so much!” Chippy Chocolate complained. “I’m starving!”
Cinnamon Twist sighed.
“Well, we don’t really know how long these sandwiches will last,” Frostinilla said.
“I guess you’re right,” Cinnamon Twist admitted grudgingly.
Chippy Chocolate handed Frostinilla a sandwich and split the other with Lemon Drop. Frostinilla ripped hers in half and handed one of the halves to Cinnamon Twist. She took a bite of her half and cringed. It didn’t taste bad, but the bread had gotten soggy and it was like mush against her tongue. She shivered at the feeling, but forced herself to finish the rest.
“You can have it,” Chippy Chocolate said, handing her half to Lemon Drop.
“No, you need to eat,” Lemon Drop told her. “You were the one that wanted to eat now, so eat it. Besides, we have no idea when we will be able to eat again.”
Chippy Chocolate sighed and nibbled at her sandwich half.
“Should we sleep here?” Frostinilla asked.
Cinnamon Twist looked around. “I don’t think so. It’s too open.”
“But what if we end up making someone angry again?” Chippy Chocolate asked.
“What if something else ends up walking around as it gets dark?” Cinnamon Twist asked. “What if there’s something worse than these creatures we’ve been around.”
Chippy Chocolate stared at Cinnamon Twist with a look of horror. She wasn’t handling the new world very well, and hearing that there could be worse only made her spirits sink lower. Frostinilla thought she noticed her eyes water, but no tears spilled from them.
“If we’re going to get moving we should do it now,” Frostinilla said.
“Let’s go then,” Cinnamon Twist said.
They continued on again. They walked through the night hand in hand. The crowds had thinned out immensely, but they still worried about getting separated. Chipy Chocolate was once again attaching herself to Lemon Drop’s arm. Cinnamon Twist had dragged her fears back to the surface.
Frostinilla observed the surroundings. There were more instances like the mostly naked trio of girls that they noticed early, only these women seemed at least a bit older. She noticed one woman, wearing a leather jacket and short leather skirt, speaking seductively to a man sitting in one of the mechanical carriages. Her jacket was zipped up only enough to cover her lower belly. Her red bra was showing through the gap at the top. Frostinilla cringed at the sight of the woman leaning over the door.
“Do you think we’ll find anywhere tonight?” Chippy Chocolate asked.
“Yes,” Cinnamon Twist assured.
They walked past the car pulled over by the sidewalk and kept going forward. They kept their eyes peeled for anything that might make good shelter. They found themselves nearing another large garage.
“That looks about as safe as we’ll be able to get for now,” Cinnamon Twist thought aloud.
“It doesn’t look very safe,” Chippy Chocolate said. “It’s so open on the sides.”
“It’s better than sitting out here all night,” Cinnamon Twist pointed out.
Chippy Chocolate groaned. “Can’t we look around a little longer?”
“We’ve already been out here too long,” Lemon Drop said. “We were pushing it already.”
“Hey there girlies.”
They all turned around in shock to see a sickly looking man.
“What are you doing out here so late?” he slurred. “Don’t you have a curfew?”
Chippy Chocolate squeezed Lemon Drop’s arm and Cinnamon Twist’s expression hardened as they all backed away.
The man stepped toward them with a wicked smile on his face.
“Do your parent’s know you’re out here?” he questioned, still advancing towards them.
Cinnamon Twist’s eyes filled with anger when the strange thing asked them about their parents.
“They aren’t around anymore,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“Oh?” The man stumbled forward. Frostinilla breathed in the awful stench of alcohol all over him. “Why’s that? You’re a little young to be all alone.” The man chuckled.
“Back away!” Cinnamon Twist snapped raising her hands before her. They were both glowing with the sparkling white aura of her magic.
“The fuck are you doing little girl?” The man laughed. “What kind of tricks are you playing?”
The man lunged forward and grabbed Cinnamon Twist’s wrists. She tried to wrestle her hands back but he was stronger. She shot her magic at him, but he then pulled her arms up and she missed. He held her wrists and lifted her off of the ground.
“Let go of me!” Cinnamon Twist shrieked as she kicked.
Chippy Chocolate let out a cry and backed away, pulling Lemon Drop along with her.
“Did you know you smell like cinnamon rolls?” the man said, spitting in Cinnamon Twist’s face. "I love cinnamon rolls."
Cinnamon Twist struggled to get away but it was hopeless. She wasn’t strong enough. “Let go!” she screamed.
Without time to think about what she was doing, Frostinilla launched forward at the man. She threw all of her force at him but he barely budged. All she managed to do was distract his focus long enough for Cinnamon Twist to pull free. She yanked her hands back and fell to the ground.
The man gave a growl of annoyance and turned to Frostinilla. “You think you can push me around, huh?”
Frostinilla backed away, too afraid to turn her attention away from the man walking towards her. Her heartbeat quickened and she felt her fingers begin to tremble. The man began laughing as Cinnamon Twist sat up. She lit her hands again and hit the man hard with a burst of light.
The man flew back and Frostinilla let out a shaky sigh of relief. The man was thrown through the air and landed in the center of the street. A large semi truck honked its horn and the sound of screeching and the cent of burning rubber attacked their senses. The semi truck tipped over, but not before driving over the drunken man, splattering bright red blood across the pitch black pavement.
The Cupcakes covered their ears as the man screamed in out in pain. Chippy Chocolate let out another cry but they didn’t have time to sit around in fear. Cinnamon Twist grabbed the wrists of Frostinilla and Chipy Chocolate and started running again. Lemon Drop was dragged along by Chippy Chocolate, who hadn’t once let go of Lemon Drop.
They didn’t stop until they entered the garage. This one was darker than the last. There were no lights or vehicles on the inside. As far as they could tell, they were completely alone, so they relaxed and slowed down.
“It’s not very warm in here,” Chippy Chocolate pointed out with a whimper.
“It’s the best we can do for tonight,” Cinnamon Twist said. She wasn’t any more pleased with the situation, but she knew that leaving to look for something better could just as easily stick them somewhere worse.
“Why don’t we go somewhere at the other end and get away from the openings?” Frostinilla asked Cinnamon Twist.
“Probably the best we could do right now,” Cinnamon Twist said.
They carefully made their way to the other end. They had a difficult time seeing and needed to walk slowly to avoid tripping over anything. Frostinilla’s eyes were beginning to adjust to the lack of light, but she still didn’t feel comfortable in the darkness. Her vision was returning, but it was only a sliver of what it should be.
The huddled into a corner with their backs against the walls, getting all the warmth that they could from each other. None of them were comfortable enough to lie down, but they were definitely more comfortable when they sat so closely to each other. They only comfort that any of them had anymore was in each other.
Frostinilla closed her eyes, but couldn’t give in to sleep. Each time she started to drift off, visions of her past dream flashed within her mind. She would wake up with a gasp of breath each time she saw her mother’s limp body lying on the ground. When she finally managed to push her mother out of her thoughts, her sister would creep in. Her sister, who she hoped was still very much alive, was still in Equestria, where Frostinilla was sure she wasn’t.
Nopony in equestria seemed to know anything of this world that they found themselves in. What would they think if they knew there was a creature such as these in existence? Would they hate them as much as the cupcakes did, or were the Cupcakes simply holding too tightly to a grudge. Grudge or not, the hatred was justified. how could anypony forgive such awful creatures? Even without thinking of the loss of their families, their experiences in this new world were nothing but bad and worse. The closest they found to happiness was in simple pizza that they had stolen from an unconscious person. They had escaped a lunatic trying to kill them, and another with Celestia know’s what intentions were held.
Frostinilla focused intently on an image of her sister in her head. The little filly was so precious to her. She had just realized how important her sister was to her, and they had been aggressively taken from eachother. She could only hope that her young sister was safe at home. Frostinilla knew that she would find her way back to Cinnamon Twist's mansion, but how long would the food last? Where would she be if Frostinilla ever returned home. A foster home would probably be for the best of the young filly, but would Frostinilla be able to find her or get her back when she returned, if she returned?
Tears spilled from her eyes, but she held the sobs deep in her chest. It ached to hold them back, but she wasn’t about to concern the others over simple emotions. They needed to survive, and she was thankful that the darkness hid her soaking cheeks. The tears slid down and over her lips; A few salty droplets managed to fit between her lips. Frostinilla wiped her face clear and leaned her head against the stone wall. She closed her eyes, clenching them until all she could see was darkness and white splotches.
Hours passed but she finally managed to fall asleep without waking to the shock of horrific images that her mind produced. She slept, un-peacefully, through the memories of her parents, both good and bad.
“Hey.” There was a gentle nudge on Frostinilla’s shoulder as the whispers continued. “Wake up.”
Frostinilla woke to see Cinnamon Twist looking at her questioningly.
“You alright?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
Frostinilla stared at her. “Fine. Why?”
“You were whining in your sleep,” Cinnamon Twist told her.
“I was?” Frostinilla propped herself up to sit straight up against the wall behind her. “Where are the others?” she asked, realizing that there was no one beside her.
“Chippy Chocolate was getting nauseous so Lemon Drop took her to get fresh air. She wasn’t handling the odd carriages very well either.”
Frostinilla realized that there were many of them in there, sitting in rows against walls. “When did all of those get in here?
Cinnamon Twist shrugged. “They’ve been going in and out since I woke up, and when I woke this place already seemed full. They don’t seem to be too happy about us staying here by the way. We should really get out of here before one of them decides to do something about it.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” Frostinilla asked.
“Tried,” Cinnamon Twist told her. “You wouldn’t budge. I even slapped you.”
“Why would you-”
“Sorry, next time I’ll leave you here to get crushed like that thing from last night ,” Cinnamon Twist said with a cold glare. “You should be appreciative of the fact that we actually waited around for you.”
“Alright, I get it.”
Frostinilla stood up and wiped dirt out of her clothes. Her dress was beginning to grey now. “We really need to find a way to get cleaned up,” Frostinilla said.
“You’d think food would be a first priority,” Cinnamon Twist said.
Frostinilla shrugged. “Well we’ve been doing okay on that so far.”
“I heard a few of those things talking about cheap hotels in the area. Maybe we could find a way to pay for that.” Cinnamon Twist said.
“Pay with what? We have no way of getting our hooves on currency.”
“What hooves?” Cinnamon Twist asked holding her own hands out before her and examining them with an odd mix of disgust and intrigue.
“Well whatever these things are,” Frostinilla said, “but that’s not the point.”
“Well, I was thinking next time we kill someone, we take whatever they have,” Cinnamon Twist said nonchalauntly.
“What?!” Frostinilla stared at Cinnamon Twist, wide eyed.
“Well I’m not saying we go around doing it on purpose,” she said, unconvincingly. “I’ve just noticed that freak accidents seem to happen a lot around here. We might as well make some sort of use out of it.”
Frostinilla didn’t even want to try finding any sort of sense in that. The thought of killing seemed wrong, but the more she thought about all that she’d seen, the more she wanted to kill. These things were demented on so many levels, that she didn’t even know how to comprehend any sort of morality that they seemed to live by.
“So are we ready now?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
“It’s not like we have anything to bring with us,” Frostinilla said.
They walked out of the garage and found Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate both sitting on the sidewalk. They looked up and Chippy Chocolate gave a weak smile. It broke Frostinilla’s heart to see how deeply affected Chippy Chocolate was by the whole ordeal.
“Should we go look for food,” Cinnamon Twist asked her, showing that she too didn’t like
Chippy Chocolate just shrugged and played with the strap of her bag.
“Well we can’t just sit around here,” Cinnamon Twist told her.
“Why not,” Chippy Chocolate asked. She opened the bag and pulled out her own mask.
“We need food, we need clothing, we need to somehow find a way to pay for stuff because I don’t think life is going to keep handing things over to us,” Cinnamon Twist said.
Chippy Chocolate stood with the the mask in one hand and the bag in her other. “Can’t we hang out here just a little longer?” she asked as she walked back into the garage. “I’m tired of walking around. I’m tired of seeing more of the same thing. This place is horrible, there’s nothing more to see.”
She walked into the garage again and the other’s let out synchronized sighs before following her. Chippy Chocolate sat near a pillar by one of the cars. The others joined her but didn’t sit. They simply stood around her. Cinnamon Twist crossed her arms.
“We don’t have time for this,” Cinnamon Twist complained.
“Says who?” Chippy Chocolate asked. “Where do we have to be? Who do we have waiting for us? We’re lower than we started. There’s nothing here for us. We’re useless here.”
“Useless?” Cinnamon Twist asked. “How are we any more useless here than we were back home. Back home, all we did was look for clues to where we could find these things. We tried learning as much as we could from the little we could find. We tried figuring out how they got to our world! Now we’ve found them. They are all around us for us to observe. We are now just like them. We could learn their weaknesses without even having to touch them. Not only that, but we also have half of the story behind finding those things.”
“But now that we’re here, what are we supposed to do about it?” Lemon Drop asked.
Cinnamon Twist looked each one of them with her cold set eyes. “We get our revenge.”
They all looked at Cinnamon Twist, speechless. Frostinilla wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She wasn’t sure where to start. Who was it that deserved the blow of their revenge? Did they all deserve it?
Chippy Chocolate looked down to her mask again. She turned it over in her hands. “I wish we could just go back,” she said. She closed her eyes and leaned her head forward against the mask.
A bright light shone between her face and the mask. In a matter of seconds, the mask was pulled towards her face, as if it was a magnet, and stuck to her. The glow spread across her face and down her neck. It wasn’t long at all before the glow had spread all the way down her body. The glow began to morph in shape.
First, the length of her body shrunk but the glow grew in width until it eventtually took the form of an orb. Then, the orb grew and shrunk in different places until it eventually took the form of a pony. The glow receded and Chippy Chocolate stood before them, in her original form, wearing her dress and mask.
Frostinilla stood with her jaw dropped as she stared at Chippy Chocolate. The brown pony was standing before them, looking confused and scared. Cinnamon Twist and Lemon Drop were staring, just as speechless as Frostinilla was.
“What?” Chippy Chocolate asked. “What happened?!” The shrill pitch of her voice rose with her panic.
“You’re-” Cinnamon Twist couldn’t seem to find her words.
Chippy Chocolate rose her hoof to her face and froze. She looked down at her hoof and a smile broke loose. She giggled and hopped in excitement. “Oh my god! I’m me again!” she squealed.
“Sshhhhh,” Cinnamon Twist hissed. “Take that off! This isn’t the place to look like that. Do you want to attract attention.”
Chippy Chocolate’s smile vanished but she obliged. She removed the mask and as she did, a white light seemed to stretch away from her face and engulfed her once the mask was away from her face. The process reversed itself until Chippy Chocolate was standing in front of them, once again, in her human form.
“Will that happen with all of us?” Frostinilla asked, staring at Chippy Chocolate as if she didn’t believe the girl before her was real.
Chippy Chocolate shrugged, but dug through her bag to find another mask and handed it over to Frostinilla. “See for yourself.”
Frostinilla took the white, pearl bordered mask from Chippy Chocolate. They all rearranged themselves so that they could hide Frostinilla from any passerby. Frostinilla took a deep breath and brought the mask to her face. She felt the light heat up her face and the mask snap into place. The heat spread through her body and sent a tingling sensation through her. Soon, her whole body was numb. The feeling passed and she was standing again, standing on all four hooves.
“Stop! Stop it!” Sprinkles screamed. She tried to break loose of the cuffs holding her down to the cold metal table. Her bare back seemed to stick to the metal surface. The icy feeling stung the fresh wounds along her back as she struggled against her restraints. The thin sheet that was pulled up over her chest hadn't provided the slightest bit of warmth. Her rainbow streaked hair fell in messy heaps over the table she was held captive on. Even though she was freezing, her pale skin was covered in sweat.
“Hold her still!” a short man in a long white coat snapped to two other men. The little hair he had left was graying and his face reminded Sprinkles of a hairless cat. “I said hold her still!”
He was trying to stick a needle in Sprinkles arm, but she wriggled as much as her restraints would allow. Two men were doing their best to keep her from doing so. One was holding her shoulders down, while the other tried to force her arms still from across the man with the needle. The needle found her skin and dug in with a sharp pinch and Sprinkles let out a scream.
“You useless idiots!” the man yelled as he pulled the needle back, realizing he missed the vein. “Girl, I suggest you hold still. This is going to be a long night otherwise,” he hissed.
“Fuck you!” Sprinkles spat at him, using the language she learned from all those that had been working around her. She gave them all a hard time. Not a single one had been able to finish their jobs with her as simply as they expected. Cursing had become a norm in the little dungeon they kept her in.
If it was a dungeon, that is. She didn't have a clue where she really was. The room they kept her locked up in seemed to be a cross between a prison cell and a hospital room. The walls were built up of concrete slabs and the floor was just a simple layer of flat concrete. The metal table she was kept on now was all she had to sleep on. Besides that, all they left her with was a bucket for waists and little bits of food every now and then.
“Watch your tongue you little brat!” The man in the lab coat boomed as he swung his arm, back handing Sprinkles with full force.
The collision jerked her head to the side and left her cheek a puffy pink. It stung, tears welled in her eyes, but they did not spill. She didn't dare let them spill. Another scream broke loose when the man holding her shoulders jabbed her arm with his elbow. He applied pressure below her elbow and with each movement that she attempted, he applied more pressure.
When she finally stopped moving, the needle once again pierced her skin, this time finding the vein it was looking for.
Sprinkles clenched her eyes shut as her blood began to find its way through and fill a small syringe. The crooked smile spread across the man’s face as he got what he was waiting for.
“The boss'll be happy,” the man with his elbow jammed over Sprinkles arms said.
“Depends on what we find from this,” the other said as he removed the needle from Sprinkles’ arm. “We should have had this done two days ago; He’s not about to cheer over us finishing our work late.”
Sprinkles absorbed all of the information that she could. “The boss” had been mentioned a couple times before, once in a threat. One of the men had said, “We’re going to have to let the boss deal with you if you don’t quit this shit,” when they first tried collecting samples. They hadn’t managed to get her strapped to the table until then.
“Lets go,” said the man with the coat. “I need to start running the tests.”
“Should I unlatch the restraints?” one of the men asked.
The man in the white coat looked at Sprinkles for a moment before saying, “No, leave her.”
Sprinkles writhed on the table and tried pulling her arms loose. The edges of the cuffs dug in, but she still tried to resist their hold.The cold metal broke her skin and stung her raw flesh.
The others only laughed as they left her alone to struggle. She heard their muffled voices as they disappeared. The clanking of their steps echoed through the hall before they slammed her door shut.
Sprinkles stared at the closed door, wishing she could somehow escape. She had no clue as to how she would escape, or even how she had gotten there for that matter. All she remembered was a mirror, and watching those others ponies fall.
They had landed in some strange grassland. That memory was clear.
“I’m out!” her captor had yelled in the black box, that she later learned was a cell phone. It was much larger than the ones she later saw used around her. The one he had was built specifically for the purpose of working at the other side.
“Where the fuck are you?” she heard someone scream from the cell.
“The park, just above you I think,” the capture said as Sprinkles looked around in a daze.
It was only a couple of moments before she started to kick and scream. The capture thew her over his shoulder and realized that she hadn’t remained the same.
“Shit,” he said.
“Shit? What shit? Why the fuck are you up there? You should have returned back down here!” the phone boomed.
“Something went wrong! I’m on my way.”
The man pocketed his phone and tightened his grip on sprinkles before he started running. Her vision was beginning to blur. She wasn't sure if the next thing she saw was real or if it was just some hallucination that her mind had managed to come up with through all of the trauma.
A break seemed to form in the sky, leaving a thin black sliver. It twisted into a spiral and seemed to suck the clouds into itself. After a moment it expanded into a small hole. Four girls fell out. Four girls that seemed to her, to be the strange mares that chased after her.
They fell to the ground. All lie limp in the grass, except for one. A girl with brown hair and white streaks sat up. She looked around, then forward. She seemed to notice Sprinkles being carried off and stood.
Everything past that point was blank up until Sprinkles woke to find herself in the strange dungeon-like room. She spend days alone, cold, and with nothing but the thin sheet to cover herself. She would sit in a corner wrapped in it, too afraid to move. Whenever someone entered, she would push herself against the walls, wishing they would cave and give her an escape.
Now that she was stuck to the table, she felt vulnerable. She was vulnerable. It wasn’t only the situation that made her feel so, it was her new body. It was so sensitive to temperature. At first she didn’t understand how anyone could survive with such delicate sensitivity. Eventually, she realized that it was the clothing that kept them comfortable, and that was all that kept them comfortable. If it wasn’t for that, they’d all freeze.
Tears finally ran their way down Sprinkles's face. She weeped, afraid for herself. She had no idea what they wanted from her. She had no idea what they were. She had no idea what she was anymore. All she wanted was to get out. She didn't care if she ever found her way home. Nothing waited for her there. She just wanted to get out of the cell. She wanted to survive. As much as she hated her life, as much as life proved to her that it could be so much worse, she didn't want to die.
The night passed and no one came to check on her. There was no food, there were no visits, and there was no leaving the table. She had spent the night staring up at the ceiling until she lost herself to her dreams.
She was awoken the next day by another prick. She tried to yank away from the surprising pain, but her arms were held down by the restraints.
“Quit it, you little brat!”
The man in the lab coat had returned. This time, he was alone. He pressed firmly down on her upper arm as he let the blood flow into a fresh syringe. Sprinkles gave in. Her arm still hurt from the night before, and she didn’t want to worsen the pain any more. All she could do was let it happen. There was no fighting it.
The man was mumbling under his breath as he finished. “I can’t believe I have to do this again. Just because you don’t like the results, doesn't mean another test will make it all better.”
“What?” Sprinkles snapped. She wasn’t sure what they were testing for, but she aslo wasn’t sure what they wanted out of it. “What results? What were the results?”
“Quiet!” the man snapped.
Sprinkles writhed against her restraints. She was getting restless. “It’s my blood! You have no right to take it! You have no right to keep secrets about it either!”
The man smacked her across the face, causing her to bite the side of her tongue. Warm blood slid down her throat and she coughed it back up. Small droplets of blood trickled down her lip and over her chin.
“Shit.” The man grabbed her chin and turned her head from side to side to see if there was any visible outer damage.
He grabbed a used tissue from his pocket and began wiping the blood away. She tried to pull back, but there was nowhere to go and all she could do was push back against the metal table.
“Hold still, dammit!”
“Stop!” Sprinkles yelled at the man.
“Little brat,” he muttered as he pocketed the bloody tissue.
He took the syringe and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Sprinkles wondered if she should have gone along with everything as they wanted her to. Maybe he would have let her off of the table. Thinking that she should give in to what they wanted of her, made her think less of herself. It didn't matter what luxury they gave her; None of it was even really luxury. The choice she had was between a metal table and a cement floor.
The day passed by and no one had brought her any food. At least, she thought the day passed. She had no real way of telling, but her stomach definitely felt that it had been a day. She was beginning to feel light headed from the lack of nutrients.
Hours dragged on and she was falling in and out of sleep. She had finally fallen into a comfortable unconsciousness when a bright light shone in her face. She reflexively pulled on her arms to cover her eyes, but again, her arms were held down by the restraints.
“Morning,” someone had said as they nudged her arm.
Sprinkles slowly opened her eyes to see someone new. This man looked to be younger than the others. His face smoothed, unlike the wrinkly faces of the others she had seen earlier. His hazy blue eyes were staring directly at her. His hair was dark his glasses rested crookedly on his nose. He smiled at her and she almost caught herself smiling back, but managed to hold back.
“You sleep good?” the man asked.
Sprinkles shook her head.
“Well that’s too bad.” The man turned to a small cart that he brought with him, and lifted yet another needle. “We’re going to need to get another blood sample, ok?”
Sprinkle said nothing, but her whole body tensed. She wanted to know how many more tests they planned on running with her blood. She had no idea what they were looking for, but she did know that the likelihood of the third sample being any different than the first two supposed failures was very slim. She didn't like the idea of being stuck with needles every day. She was even less fond of having her blood taken when she hadn't even been fed for Celestia knows how long.
The man tied a strip of cloth tightly around her upper arm and held the needle up to her elbow. He examined it.
“Well this won’t do,” the man said under his breath.
“Huh?” Sprinkles looked down at her arm.
“When was the last time you’ve had water?”
Sprinkles thought about it. Her last few meals before they decided to punish her didn’t even have any water with them.
“Five meals ago, maybe?” Sprinkles said.
“So, yesterday morning?” the man asked.
Sprinkles didn’t really answer. She gave a little shrug, but she knew for sure that it wasn’t that recently. The thought of food had unsettled her stomach again. It gave out a loud grumble, begging for nourishment.
The man looked at her with a questioning expression. “When was the last time they fed you?”
Sprinkles didn’t respond. She only stared into his hazy eyes. They were mystifying. She shook her head and looked away. She could probably assume that it had been days without food. She was clearly losing her mind.
“Wait here,” the man said, placing the needle back on the cart.
Sprinkles raised a brow. Where else would she be going? She was tied down to a table.
The man noticed and let out a light chuckle. “Sorry,” he said.
Sprinkles almost believed the apology to be sincere, but she knew better.
The man left her alone again. She was surprised by the soft clink of the door falling into place. She was used to hearing a louder bang. It hadn’t been long before the man returned, pushing the cart in front of him. On it, in addition to the needle and syringe, were two bottles of water and a plate of food, mashed potatoes topped with roast beef and gravy.
Sprinkles mouth watered at the smell. She hadn’t had real food through the entire duration of being held captive. The food looked wonderful. Too wonderful. She felt as though she was dreaming. Seeing such wonderful food was such a wonderful sight that she couldn't even believe it was real.
The man grabbed the end of her table by her feet and twisted it around before pushing it up against the wall. He moved over to the side of the table and felt below it, searching for something. Within a couple of seconds the latches around Sprinkles’s wrists snapped open.
“Sit up,” the man said, pulling the cart to her side.
Sprinkles obliged, holding the sheet close to her chest as she sat up. She rested her back against the rough walls. The man lifted a tray with the meal on it and rested it on her lap.
“Drink one of the waters first,” he told her.
She didn’t need to be told twice. She unscrewed a bottle and flipped her head back as she brought the bottle to her lips. The cold water rushed past her lips and she gulped it down greedily. The cooling liquid eased her parched lips and soothed her dry throat. She could feel the water sloshing in her empty stomach as she drank.
She emptied the bottle and let it fall to the floor. Without waiting for permission, she grabbed her fork and dug into the roast beef. She barely took enough time to chew. She knew that she would be giving herself a stomach ache, but she didn’t care; She was too hungry to waste her time chewing.
As she finished her meal, the man took the other bottled water and opened it. When Sprinkles put her fork down, he handed her the second bottle. She took her time with that. Enjoying it, wanting to save it for later, but needing the hydration. When she finished, she placed the bottle next to her plate and sighed.
“So what’s your name?” the man asked.
“Well, my name’s Andrew.”
Sprinkles looked up at him, but didn’t say anything. It was a funny name. What did it even mean? Still, she didn’t want to say her own name. They were already collecting enough information on her. All of it was against her will, so why would she just give them more?
“Well, I guess I don’t have to know,” he said, picking up the needle and syringe. “This should go pretty easily now that you have food and water in you.”
Springles lifted her sheets up to her shoulders and hid her arms under it. “Why should I let you take any more?” she asked.
“If you just let me do this, it will be a lot easier on you,” Andrew said. “There’s nothing either of us could do about getting you out, so you might as well get it over with. If you don’t let me, they will do this by force.”
“They’ve been doing this by force,” Sprinkles said. “Just because I don’t have a say, doesn’t mean I should make this easy for you!”
Andrew scratched the back of his head. “Look, I don’t like this either. I can’t say I have it as bad as you, but I really don’t want things getting more difficult for you. I’m not worried about whether you give the other guys trouble or not. I just think that you’ll have it a lot easier down here if you don’t fight it.”
Sprinkles looked Andrew in the eyes. She met his gentle blue gaze with a cold stare. She wasn’t going to budge. She decided before, and was going to stick to her decision, that she wasn’t going to give them an easy time, no matter how hard it was for her. They had no right to her. She wouldn’t hand herself over on a silver platter.
Andrew sighed. “Sorry, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Andrew left the room, closing the door behind him. Sprinkles wrapped herself up in her sheet and sat at the end of her table. There was nothing more to do. She was trapped. She wondered if maybe she should have just let him take the blood. He was at least nice about it. She could have just once, gave them what they wanted.
She looked around her room, wishing she had at least one window, but she didn’t. The best she had was the small barred hole in the door. There was nothing to see on the other side but hollow darkness.
A while later, the two men that had helped the man in the white coat before entered. The older looking of the two walked over to the cart that andrew had left. He pushed it a bit away from the table. The other man noticed the plate on the cart.
“Did the boss approve of that?” he asked.
“Doubt it,” the other said as he walked back to sprinkles. “Alright girl, you could either lie down, or have us force you to.”
Sprinkles shook her head and tried to scootch closer to the wall. The men sighed. One of them grabbed her ankle and pulled her down so that she was lying flat. Her head banged against the metal surface hard and she let out a loud yelp. She kicked the man in the chin with her free leg. He took the hit hard, but he didn’t let go. He grabbed her other ankle and pulled again.
Sprinkles screamed but the other man clamped his hand down on her mouth. With his other hand, he grabbed one of her wrists and placed it in an open clasp. He removed his hand from her mouth to search for the button on the bottom to shut it. Sprinkles gave up on trying to free her legs and leaned upward. She bit his arm and he yelled, but the clasp had closed just before he pulled his arm away from her.
“Fucking hell!” the man yelled, rubbing the bitemarks. “Just leave her here for a while, we can come back later. Let her suffer alone!”
“We can’t,” the other said. “The boss wants this down. He said to use whatever force necessary, so just suck it up and get this done.”
Sprinkles bared her teeth at the man she just bit as he took a step closer.
“What?” he asked. “You think you’re going to bite me again?”
He smacked her forehead and pushed her head down onto the table. She fought against him, but he put all of his force onto her head, keeping her pinned. She tried to smack scratch at his arm with her free hand, but he grabbed her wrist.
“Come here and lock this arm down,” the man said.
The other man let go of her ankles and quickly jumped back. He pushed the table away from the wall just enough to fit through. He reached her arm and took it from the other man. He forced her arm down and into place. “Lock it,” he said.
“Now what?” the man she bit asked.
“Take her blood.”
Sprinkles tried pulling her arms free, knowing that it wouldn’t be of any use. She let out a scream when she finally stopped moving. Her skin felt sticky now. She hadn't bathed once during her imprisonment. Her rainbow hair was now tangled and frizzy. She tried using her feet to pull the sheet back up to cover her bare legs, but she couldn’t reach it. Her chest was still covered, but barely.
The man she bit took the needle and held her arm down. “You want to do this?” he asked. “I really don’t know how to work this shit.”
Sprinkles could feel her stomach now wanting to reject her last meal.
“What? It’s easy. Just stick it in her arm.”
The men looked at each other and to her arm.
“Well if you’re going to have me do this crap, the least you could do is hold her arm down.”
“Right.”
The other man joined the one holding the needle near the cart. He held Sprinkles arms still and the other observed her elbow a couple of moments before continuing.
It had taken him six tries to find the vein. When he finally did, he smiled as if he had accomplished a great feat. He laughed as he took the needle out of her arm and put the syringe on the cart. The men left her alone once again, not bothering to let her free or cover her any better.
Once again, she was left to her thoughts, and to the throbbing pains of her repeatedly jabbed arm. A bruise had formed around the large bump that they had left. It was itchy and the skin around the bruise was now turning red. She had a horrible urge to scratch it, but she couldn't move.
She screamed in frustration. She wanted to pull her arms free but didn’t even attempt. Too much more movement would easily send her sheet to the floor. Frustration took over and she screamed again. Hot tears poured down her otherwise cold face. She was colder than usual. More so than the simple fact of being covered less would explain. Even with the cold feeling, she was sweating. She let out another scream.
Minutes seemed to stretch into hours. She didn’t know how much more she could take. It would have been nicer of them to kill her. She wondered how long they would starve her this time.
The door opened again, and she lifted her head. Andrew shut the door behind him and walked to her with another cart. He looked at her with a small level of concern showing. Before bothering to speak to her, he walked up to her and covered her better. He tucked the sheet under her feet and pulled the top over her shoulder. She didn’t move.
“You have a fever,” he said.
Sprinkles shrugged and closed her eyes.
“I brought food,” Andrew told her.
Sprinkles opened her eyes and looked over to the cart. Two more bottles of water and a large bowl of mac n cheese. Her face brightened.
“Really don’t think you should be eating this, but I can’t really get you anything else. This was what I had, so, I just brought this.”
“It’s fine,” Sprinkles said.
“Well, that’s good.” Andrew found the button to release her clasps and she sat up, holding the sheets to her chest.
Andrew handed her a bottle of water, and she drank it just as she did with the first one he gave her earlier.
“Hey,” Andrew said, as he pushed the cart up to her table.
“What?” Sprinkles asked, stopping halfway through the bottle.
“I have to go. I have stuff to do, so I can’t stay and wait for you to finish. I’ll probably come back to clean up but right now I’ll just leave this for you to eat.”
“Oh,” Sprinkles said. She shrugged and finished her water.
“Well,” Andrew said. “See you. By the way, save the other water. You’ll probably need to spread it out with that fever.”
He left the room and Sprinkles took the bowl of macaroni. She took her time, savoring the taste and the warmth of the meal She was halfway through her bowl when the door opened again. Only one of the men, the one she hadn’t bitten, was there this time.
“So, we heard you got some food. Sadly, the boss doesn’t think you deserve it right now,” the man said.
“What?” she asked. “Then why’d he send it?”
“Don’t ask questions, just hand over the bowl.”
“No,” she said, hugging her bowl.
The man rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this, you little shit. Just put the bowl down and we don’t have to play games.” He walked in and slammed the door behind him. “Hand it over.”
Sprinkles head spun. She was about to say something, but before she did, she felt her stomach wanting to reject her meal again. The man looked at her with a strange expression, both confused and annoyed.
“Well?” he asked, walking over to her.
Sprinkles looked up at him. She dropped her bowl onto the floor, and clenched the sheet.
“Hey!” the man yelled, sounding confused. “What are you doing.”
He took another step forward, and Sprinkles bent over the edge of the table, hurling out her food all over his shoes.
“What the fuck!” he yelled as he jumped back.
Sprinkles vision blurred and eventually went back. Then everything went cold and silent.
When sprinkles woke up, she was restrained again. She didn’t bother opening her eyes, but she tried pulling her hands up to rub her face. She groaned as she realized that she wouldn’t be moving anytime soon. She still felt cold. At least she could feel the sheets tucked around her.
“You awake?” she heard someone asked.
She opened her eyes and noticed that Andrew was back.
She groaned again.
“Sorry,” he said. “You still need a fever.”
“Never would have guessed,” Sprinkles said sarcastically.
Andrew looked genuinely surprised by her comment. “Well, at least you can still talk,” he laughed.
Sprinkles grimaced at him.
“Sorry,” he said again.
“Whatever,” she said, closing her eyes again, wishing she could just fall back asleep.
She was a little annoyed at his presence, after being given food by him that was just taken away. Why would he give her food that would be taken away? She wondered if it was possible that he did it without permission, or if he might have even done it secretly.
“Do the others know you gave me food?” she asked quietly, looking at him.
“Huh?” he asked, taken aback by the question. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Because, right after you gave it to me, they took it away, saying that I couldn’t have any food right now,” Sprinkles explained.
“Oh, well.” Andrew went quiet.
“They don’t, do they?”
Andrew shook his head.
“Oh.” Sprinkles closed her eyes again. “Well, thanks. I guess.”
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“Was waiting for you to wake up,” he said.
Sprinkles looked at him, her cheeks had gone red.
Andrew pulled a thermometer out of his pocket. “I just need you to hold this under your tongue. I need to check your temperature. They can’t really do anything with you while you’re sick.”
“Oh.”
Sprinkles was too embarrassed to resist as he took her temperature. They waited silently for the beep. He pulled the thermometer away from her and read the results to himself.
“Shit,” he said.
“What?!” Sprinkles asked.
“104. We need to get a doctor here.”
“Can’t you just take me to one?” Sprinkles asked, both scared and hopeful.
Andrew looked at her, worried, but shook his head. “Sorry, can’t.”
Andrew pulled out a cell from his pocket and made a call. He put the phone to his ear and waited.
“Hey,” he finally said. “I need you to-. Yeah I’m down here...No, it’s fine just let me finish. You don’t need to- Ugh.” he moved the phone away from his ear and looked at it. He put it back in his pocket. “I should get going,” he told Sprinkles.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” she asked.
“I’m just going to go tell them to get you a doctor. Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.”
“Why can’t you just take me to one?” she asked, feeling her head start to spin again.
“Last resort,” he told her. “We’d be better off getting one here for you. You shouldn’t be moving,” he said.
“But-”
“Hey boss,” someone interrupted.
Andrew looked over to see another man at the door. “Hey,” he said. “I need you to go fetch a doctor,” he said. His tone had changed. He was more serious now.
Sprinkles head spun again He was the boss? It didn't’ make sense to her. The boss was the one calling all the shots. He was the one sending them to take her blood and giving them permission to use force against her. Andrew was nice. She thought that he was. He gave her meals when he wasn't supposed to give her meals. He gave her meals and took them away. What kind of sick twisted man did that?
“Are you alright?” Andrew asked, noticing that something was wrong.
Sprinkles didn’t say anything. Once again, everything went black.
“Can’t we go find something sweet to eat?” Chippy Chocolate asked with a pout.
Cinnamon Twist rolled her eyes and Lemon Drop let out a soft chuckle.
“I really don’t think that’s a great idea,” Frostinilla told her friend.
“Why not?” she asked. “We could use these paper bits we found!”
“What if we need that for something else?” Lemon Drop asked.
Cinnamon Twist was walking with her arms crossed, shifting uncomfortably as they walked away from yet another garage. . “Is something wrong?” Frostinilla asked her, turning her attention away from Chippy Chocolate.
“No, I’m fine,” Cinnamon Twist said. Her lip twisted into an odd frown as she spoke.
“Don’t try being tough all the time,” Frostinilla said. “If you got issues, just let us know. We can help you.”
“Oh really?” Cinnamon Twist asked. “Well then. Why don’t you just lead us right back home.”
Frostinilla’s face heated at the sarcastic response. She looked away, rubbing the back of her neck. “Sorry,” was all she mustered.
Cinnamon Twist sighed, but didn’t say another word on the topic. The Cupcakes walked on in search of food. They no longer bothered holding hands as they walked through the crowds. They had finally grown used to the heavily populated sidewalks and rude behavior of those that insisted on pushing passed anyone that was in their way. Now they all just shuffled through, uncomfortably, but with more determination. They stuck close together and never lost sight of eachother.
“So,” Chippy Chocolate broke the silence. “How about some cake?”
The others sighed in unison.
“How much do we have?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
“I don’t know,” Chippy Chocolate admitted.
Frostinilla lost her footing as she walked behind her friends and hurtled forward. She brushed past Cinnamon Twist and crashed into a short man with messy black hair and a scruffy beard.
“Watch it,” he snapped as he pushed Frostinilla back.
She stumbled backwards and barely caught her footing while people pushed passed her from around. The man gave a huff of annoyance and walked away.
Cinnamon Twist stormed after the man, but Frostinilla grabbed her shoulder.
“Just forget it,” Frostinilla said.
Cinnamon Twist shook Frostinilla’s hand away and kept walking. “Hey!” she called after the man. “Hey,” she said a little louder when he didn’t respond.
She followed him through the crowd. The others glanced at each other, worried, and went after her. Frostinilla noticed flecks of light pass between Cinnamon Twist’s fingertips. This wasn’t good.
“Wait,” Frostinilla called out to her friend.
Cinnamon Twist ignored her friends and followed the man. “Get back here!” she demanded.
The man didn’t hear her, or at least, he acted like he didn’t hear her. He continued to walk on and Cinnamon Twist continued to follow him. Frostinilla grew increasingly worried as they went after the man. The longer they followed him, the more she wondered exactly how far Cinnamon Twist would go. The magic hadn’t stopped dancing along her fingertips.
The man made a turn into an alley way and Cinnamon Twist broke into a run.
“No!” Frostinilla called out as she ran after her.
Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate were right behind her as she followed Cinnamon Twist around the bend. Frostinilla barely caught sight of Cinnamon Twist disappearing behind another bend. Frostinilla sped forward in an attempt to keep up. She couldn’t afford to lose sight of her over another turn. If they lost each other, Celestia knows whether or not they’d find eachother again.
Frostinilla stopped. She had come to a brick wall and two possible choices of path. Frostinilla looked both right and left, but didn’t see Cinnamon Twist or the man. She wasn’t sure what to do.
“Should we split up?” Lemon Drop asked.
Chippy Chocolate grabbed Lemon Drops arm at the thought.
“I don’t-”
There was a scream and they all looked to the right, where the sound had come from. It wasn’t Cinnamon Twist’s scream. It the scream of a man.
The Cupcake’s ran after the sound and only had to make one more turn before finding them. Cinnamon Twist had the man she had chased held tightly in her magical grip. He was suspended high into the air, surrounded by the sparkling white aura. Cinnamon Twist’s expression was cold. She was clenching her teeth as she elevated the man even higher.
“What is this? What are you doing?!” the man yelled.
Cinnamon Twist said nothing. She only looked at the man with her cold and angry eyes.
“Cinnamon Twist! Put him down!” Frostinilla yelled as she reached her.
Cinnamon Twist turned to see Frostinilla approach and stand next to her but she didn't put the man down. “Why? Why should I show these disgusting creatures any mercy?” She looked back at the man. “Every single one of them deserves to die!”
“You don’t know that!” Frostinilla said, trying to ease her tone.
“They killed our parents! They hurt us! They almost killed us even here! Even now, now that we are one of them, they are still a threat to us! How can you defend these things?!”
“I don’t-” Frostinilla stammered. She racked her memeories for some sign of good, some small sliver of hope to show that these things weren’t pure evil. “I-” Frostinilla’s voice lowered in defeat. “I can’t.”
“We are in a world of monsters,” Cinnamon Twist said. “We were thrown into a world of demons.”
The man was writhing in the air, trying to fall away from the aura. It seemed foolish to Frostinilla. Why would he try to get out when he was so high? At this point, a fall would kill him, or at the very least, leave him permanently crippled. The man began screaming again.
“Let go of me you little brat!”
A small, crooked smile crept across Cinnamon Twist’s face. “Are you sure you want me to let you go?” she asked.
“Of course I want you to let me go! Are you stupid? Why would I not want you to let me go?!” the man yelled.
“As you wish,” Cinnamon Twist said.
Keeping her hand outstretched, Cinnamon Twist unclenched her fist. The aura disappeared in an instant and the man was released into a freefall. He fell several feet, screaming the whole way down. He covered his face with his arms, but it was a useless effort.
His body hit the ground with a snap. Frostinilla took a step back, staring at the limp body lying, face down, on the ground before them. Blood began pooling around him. There wasn’t a single sound. He had died.
Cinnamon Twist hadn’t moved from her spot. She stared at the man with a blank expression. Frostinilla wondered if she had felt any guilt. She wondered if she felt anything at all. Was she proud? Did she feel some sort of relief?
Frostinilla heard a sniffle from behind them. She turned around to look at Chippy Chocolate. She was clutching the bag to her chest. Tears streaked her cheeks and Frostinilla could see that she was shaking. Lemon Drop took her into her own arms and tried to comfort her. Chippy Chocolate hid her face against Lemon Drops Chest and Lemon Drop patted her back.
“It’s alright,” Lemon Drop soothed.
“We should go,” Frostinilla told Cinnamon Twist.
Cinnamon Twist nodded and looked away from the man’s lifeless body. She walked past the others and took the lead once again. They followed her, Frostinilla right behind her. Lemon Drop was still trying to comfort Chippy Chocolate, who was still crying.
Cinnamon Twist didn’t pay attention to the others. She walked at a quick pace and didn’t bother looking back to see if they were keeping up. She seemed to be walking with a purpose, but there was nowhere she could possibly be trying to go. They had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no one to see. Frostinilla jogged ahead to catch up to Cinnamon Twist.
“Do you think you could slow down?”
“We need to get out of the area,” Cinnamon Twist said.
“We need to stick together,” Frostinilla rebuttled.
“Then keep up.”
Cinnamon Twist sped up, and Frostinilla needed to jog continuously to stay behind her. Lemon Drop grabbed Chippy Chocolate’s wrist and ran up to the others.
“Where are we going?” Lemon Drop asked when they caught up.
“Away,” Cinnamon Twist put simply.
“She just wants to get us away from,” Frostinilla trailed off, not wanting anyone overhearing.
“Oh,” Lemon Drop said, understanding immediately.
They followed Cinnamon Twist in silence. She led them through the city, somewhere to the other side. They had no clue as to where they could go. Cinnamon Twist led them into a clothing shop, the first she noticed.
“What are we doing here?” Frostinilla asked.
“We should change,” Cinnamon Twist said quietly.
Lemon Drop gave a slight shrug as if to say, “she does have a point.”
Chippy Chocolate’s eyes brightened as she looked around. The bright colors and new items had lifted her spirits just enough to wipe her frown away. She let go of Lemon Drop’s arm and went off to look around. Lemon Drop was right behind her. Even if Chippy Chocolate didn’t seem to need support, Lemon Drop didn’t feel comfrotable letting her roam free on her own.
Lemon Drop’s protective instinct brought Vanilla Bean to Frostinilla’s mind. She missed her younger sister. The thoughts were maddening. How could she have ran after Cinnamon Twist? She should have stayed back to protect her sister. Frostinilla only hoped that one day she would see her young sister again. The filly needed her.
“Start looking,” Cinnamon Twist ordered, smacking Frostinilla’s shoulder with the back of her hand.
Frostinilla sighed and walked over to a shelf of clothing to browse. She went through a pile of jeans. She wasn’t sure how to tell what would fit. She lifted a pair and turned it around, trying to analyze the sizing.
“Can I help you?”
Frostinilla turned around. A woman with short black hair was standing with her arms crossed and hip leaning out. She looked impatient. The tapping of her foot just verified that.
“Um.” Frostinilla wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t communicated with any of these things since they arrived. She was nervous. “I uh-”
“You know this is the men’s section, right?”
Frostinilla laughed awkwardly. “Well, I-uh.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “You might want to check over there.”
She pointed behind her with her thumb, but Frostinilla looked up, misunderstanding the motion.
“Over there!” The woman reached her entire arm behind her to point to the women's section at the other side.
“Oh.” Frostinilla blushed.
“Haven’t you ever shopped before?” the woman asked.
“Yeah,” Frostinilla said. “Just not-Just not here.”
“Oh, right. This place is just sooo different from where you’re used to shopping,” the woman said sarcastically. “Although,” she looked Frostinilla up and down. “This must be a huge step up from the garbage cans you usually visit.”
“What was that?” Cinnamon Twist asked, walking up to Frostinilla’s side.
Her cold expression had returned. There was violent intent shining in her eyes. The intent gaze threw the woman off. She didn’t seem to know how to respond to it. She even looked a little scared. Frostinilla wasn’t sure, but it seemed that Cinnamon Twist was pretty intimidating to these things. It wasn’t surprising. She was pretty crazy.
“Is there something wrong?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
The woman shook her head. “Just trying to help this girl out.”
Cinnamon Twist looked at the woman suspiciously, then turned to Frostinilla. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Frostinilla shrugged. “I’m looking at the wrong stuff, I guess.”
“What are you supposed to be looking at?”
Frostinilla extended her arm and pointed with a close fist to where the woman had pointed earlier. The woman looked at the expression with a raised eyebrow.
“Then get over there,” Cinnamon Twist said, as if she should have already gone.
Frostinilla obliged and Cinnamon Twist followed her over. “So what are we getting?” Frostinilla asked.
“Oh my god!”
Frostinilla ans Cinnamon Twist both turned to the sound of the woman’s outburst. She was walking past racks and shelves. Cinamon Twist and Frostinilla both went after her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the woman asked in outrage. “We have fitting rooms for that!”
Frostinilla poked her head over the woman to see Chippy Chocolate wearing a dress much too big for her. Her own dress was lying in a heap on the floor. Her expression was dazed and confused. It was like that of a filly that had just woken up where it had not fallen asleep. Lemon Drop stood in front of Chippy Chocolate like a protective mother.
“You can’t just change out in the middle of the store!” the woman raged.
“Back off!” the woman said as she spun around on her heal.
“Stay away from her,” Lemon Drop said thorugh gritted teeth.
“Are you kidding me? She just undressed in the middle of the store!”
“I could put my own dress back on,” Chippy Chocolate said under her breath, undoing the zipper in the back of the dress she was wearing.
“Stop that!”
The woman reached out to stop her, but Lemon Drop grabbed her wrist. She held it in a tight grip and the woman started to yell.
“What the fuck is wrong with you people?”
People? Frostinilla mulled the word over in her mind. Is that what they were? It must have been. What else would it refer to. She just called them people, didn’t she?
The woman almost slapped Lemon Drop, but Lemon Drop grabbed her other wrist before she managed to hit. Lemon Drop’s expression became fierce and the woman tried to pull back.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the woman asked.
“Leave her alone,” Lemon Drop said sternly.
“Alright!” The woman yanked her arms free and backed away. She looked around and to each of the girls. “Get out of hear! All of you!”
Chippy Chocolate ran past and left the shop. The woman didn’t even care that she still had the dress. The others followed her. Cinnamon Twist managed to catch up to her and pulled her back to slow down. She stayed by her side and Lemon Drop walked on her other side. Frostinilla walked from behind, looking back to see if the woman would follow them for any reason. She wondered if anyone would bother them later for taking the dress.
Cinnamon Twist pulled Chippy Chocolate around a corner and down another alley.
“Let me see the bag,” she said, pulling her to a halt.
Chippy Chocolate obliged and handed her the bag. She didn’t say a word, only nodded. Cinnamon Twist went through the bag and pulled out her own mask.
“What are you doing?” Frostinilla asked.
“Getting us some new clothes,” Chippy Chocolate said, putting the mask on.
Her body glowed bright and morphed into a glowing orb. The light morphed into the form of a pony and Cinnamon Twist was standing before them in her original pony form.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, bolting away.
“Wait!” Frostinilla called, but it was useless.
She picked up the bag that Cinnamon Twist dropped and found her own mask. She put it on and let the light take over and change her back into the form she was more used to.
“You wait here!” she told the other two before running off.
Luckily, they hadn’t gone far and finding the shop wasn’t difficult at all. She had no issue getting through the crowd either. Poeple just ran out of her way. Shocked looks and squeals were everywhere. People just stepped away and stared at Frostinilla, not sure how to react. Some jumped away with obvious fright, others backed away in what seemed to be disgust.
“Cinnamon Twist, stop this!” Frostinilla yelled.
“What’s going on?” someone asked from the entrance.
A man had entered, along with two others. They were looking at the ponies, confused. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked.
“Can they even understand us?” another man asked.
“Get rid of them!” Cinnamon Twist demanded.
The men looked shocked when they heard her speak.
“What?” Frostinilla asked. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“Figure it out!” Cinnamon Twist snapped.
Frostinilla trod over to the med. She wasn’t sure where to begin or what to do at all. They looked back at her.
“We aren’t going anywhere,” the man said. “Not ‘till you let that young lady go.”
Frostinilla sighed. “This would go so much easier if you’d just leave.”
The three men advanced towards her. At first she backed away, but then she stood her ground. Her expression hardened and she bared her teeth. The men stopped and condsidered the situation. After a moment, the leading man laughed. Frostinilla turned her head to the side, wondering what they thought was so funny.
“It’s kind of cute, isn’t it?” the laughing man asked.
The other two looked at eachother, unsure of whether they should be agreeing or not. Frostinilla didn’t give them a chance to decide. She galloped at full speed, right for them. They scattered, avoiding getting run over. Frostinilla ran into the door and fell onto her flank. Her head spun and she rubbed it with her hoof.
“Shit! She broke it.” A man was pointing at the door she ran into.
A crack trailed its way down the center.
“Forget the door,” the first man said.
He ran toward Frostinilla, ready to strike her with his fist. Frostinilla quickly spun around on her flank and lied down on her back. Before he managed to strike, she kicked him hard in the stomach with her back legs. The man went flying back and crashed into the shelves against the wall. He fell to the floor and the shelves fell right onto him.
“Holy crap!” another man said.
The other two both ran to him. While they put their combined effort into lifting the fallen shelf off of the man, Frostinilla hopped onto her hooves.
“Leave,” she said sternly.
The two men lifted the shelving and shoved it back up against the wall. The other was holding the back of his head and groaning in pain. He sat up, but immediately curled back over and clutched his stomach. He began coughing aggressively. Blood splattered the flooring before him. He looked up at Frostinilla once the coughing had ceased. Blood streaked the lower portion of his face, dripping from his lips.
Frostinilla’s stomach churned, but she choked back the uncomfortable feeling rising in her thought. “Leave!” she said again. The other two grabbed the injured man by each arm and helped him to the door. Frostinilla stepped away and let them leave. One of them looked back as they left, but Frostinilla met his gaze with the coldest stare that she could manage. He looked away, carrying his friend. She saw him pull out a tiny device and start pressing buttons.
“I think they might be alerting someone!” Frostinilla warned Cinnamon Twist, who was stuffing bags full of clothing. She still had the woman up against the cieling.
“What?!” Cinnamon Twist asked. “Why didn’t you kill them?”
“What?! You just said to get them out of here!”
“I told you to get rid of them!”
“I did!” Frostinilla argued.
“Yeah and now we might just be getting a lot more. You should have just killed them!”
"Not all of us are so easily able to kill!" Frostinilla burst.
The woman in the air began to wail. “Let me go!” she screamed, her face was glistening from her tears.
“We need to go!” Frostinilla said.
“We need to take care of this one,” Cinnamon Twist said, pointing at the woman, who let out another shrill cry.
“We don’t have time! Just forget it,” Frostinilla pleaded. “What’s more important? Getting back at someone for something very minor, or getting out of here alive? Honestly, if you’re so determined to find revenge, save your life for the ones that really deserve it!” Frostinilla didn’t know where that came from, but it worked.
Cinnamon Twist let the woman fall with a thud and ran for the door. She couldn’t push it open, so she turned around to kick the glass into pieces with her hind legs. She jumped over the broken glass and galloped away. Frostinilla followed her. People screamed as they pushed through the crowd.They ran past the alley that they had left Lemon Drop and Chippy Chocolate in. They didn’t want to lead anyone to them.
They ran about four blocks past the original before they turned behind an alley. Cinnamon Twist lead Frostinilla around another turn before halting. Frostinilla crashed into her and they fell to the ground. They rolled onto their backs and caught their breaths.
“Now what?” Frostinilla asked.
“We get these masks off and change. We should take the dresses off first and leave them. They shouldn’t find it in any form of their own.”
Frostinilla nodded and stood up. She ripped the dress off with her teeth. She was too tired to maneuver her way out of it. Cinnamon Twist did the same. They took their masks off and and sat on the cold pavement. Frostinilla hugged herself. She was so cold. Cinnamon Twist was doing the same. She was hugging the back to her chest, as if trying to hide something.
“Pass me something,” Frostinilla said.
“Oh,” Cinnamon Twist opened the bag and tossed a white cloth over to Frostinilla.
Frostinilla lifted it up and looked it over. It was a simple dress with spaghetti straps. Frostinilla threw it on, not wanting to spend another second feeling so open. It fit a little snuggly, but it wasn’t too tight. The dress fell down past her knees and the top lined nicely against her collarbone.
“You think you could go around the corner?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
“Huh?” Frostinilla asked.
Cinnamon Twist was still on the ground hugging the bag to her chest. She didn’t seem willing to move.
“Thanks,” Cinnamon Twist said quietly.
Frostinilla went around the corner and sat against the brick wall of what she assumed to be the side someone’s home. The buildings around her were very tall. She was surrounded by about four buildings and all of them were about the height of the town hall in ponyville. Why was everything so big here?
Frostinilla began growing impatient after a while of waiting. Cinnamon Twist seemed to be taking an odd amount of time putting on some clothes.
“This isn’t the time to worry about your looks,” Frostinilla said. “There’s nopony here to be pretty for. Can you hurry up?”
“Sorry,” Cinnamon Twist said, walking around the corner. “I’m done now.
She was wearing a pair of jeans that seemed ofly tight. Frostinilla didn’t see how anyone could possibly be comfortable in them. Besides the seater, she was wearing a huge and extremely big grey sweater.
“Ready?” Cinnamon Twist asked.
Frostinilla nodded. They went off to find the others, carrying the bag but leaving the dresses behind.
