Rest for the Wicked

Chapters

New Life, Old Dreams
Parties, Lies, and Assorted Dramas
Plot Holes and Revelations
Kindness is a Myth.

New Life, Old Dreams

Embershade trotted quietly down the lane, making her way towards a small hovel nestled against the woods, alongside her a brook chitter-chattered down the road, pooling next to the house. The scene would be quite picturesque, if it weren't that, besides the sound of Ember's hooves and the creek, it was completely silent. No insects sounded their calls, no birds sang, there wasn't even the tiniest lick of wind. It was utterly, eerily silent. The silent seemed to become deafening as she reached the door of the humble cottage. She tapped at the door gently with one of her forehooves- a polite knock that sent the door toppling inward. A creepy, off-tone chuckle echoed through the hut, and Ember shivered, suddenly sickeningly aware of how mad the inside of the hut was. Shelves were upside down, the furniture was all two inches tall, and cups seemed to defy gravity, floating through the air aimlessly. In the corner, in the only normal-sized chair in the building, a familiar draconequus sat, his fingers steepled over his lap. His grin was wide and eerily fatherly.

"Why, if it isn't my favorite little pony." He said, grinning so widely that all of his ugly teeth glinted in the dim light from the windows. "It's been a long time, my darling little Embershade. The sight of you simply warms the cockles of my heart." The Lord of Disharmony crawled up the walls and stood upside down, mere inches away from the defiant face of the secretly quivering Embershade.

The reddish-orange colored pegasus pony ruffled her wings and snorted, looking anywhere but into Discord's face. "What do you want, Discord? Haven't you messed things up enough for me already?" She asked, her tone gruff. Her eyes, the color of sunset, were glistening with hurt.

The Draconequus laughed, suddenly upright, and put an arm around the pony's neck the same way he'd once put his arm around Twilight Sparkle. "Why, Ember my dear, I want you to help me again. You were so much fun last time, clearing the way for my awakening. If it hadn't been for Twilight Sparkle, you and I could've won." He said, whispering in that same coercive, almost seductive tone that he'd used when she'd first met him.

The pony shook her head violently, tossing a tear into his face without realizing it. "No! Stop it, Discord. Not again. Not after last time. You almost destroyed Equestria. You promised me nopony would get hurt, but it was a disaster!" She shouted at him, her voice full of hurt and accusation. "You lied to me!"

Discord shook his head angrily, grabbing the pony by one of her ears and jerking her head to the side the same way a mother would a disobedient child. "Now you listen here, Embershade. You needed Me to be your friend. You wanted Celestia to fall, because you thought she didn't care about her subjects. You wanted the job that Nightmare Moon started to be finished. I just played along. You owe me a favor, my silly little filly." He whispered into her ear, each word spat out of his mouth viciously, as if he thought he could hurt her with the ferocity of his words.

Ember felt her will weakening, and if she could look in a mirror, she'd see that her eyes were twinkling a color not at all their natural. "Fine, Discord... What do you want me to do?" She asked- all traces of her former anger gone, replaced by a sort of uncaring sleep tone.

Discord cackled and did a victorious arm pump, punching a hole in the ceiling of the hut in the process. "Well, My little master of deception, you're already on your way to Ponyville. Just make sure that the Elements of Harmony are out of commission... one way or another." He slowly faded away as he said this, leaving her with nothing but a dark, echoing chuckle.

The train screeched to a stop at the Ponyville station, jolting Embershade awake. Grumbling to herself, she peeled her drooling face off the window and looked out at the dark, country night that engulfed the little town of Ponyville. She recognized the little town from stories, postcards, and the description her elder sister Red Feather, who'd been a writer as well, had given her. She shook her head as she stepped off the train, her miniscule amount of luggage in the saddlebag slung over her back. To think that this little town is the home of the Elements of Harmony... It doesn't seem possible. She mused, looking around as she trotted quietly into the town square. She looked around, suddenly realizing she had nowhere to stay the night, and stomped one of her hooves angrily. Why hadn't she thought of that before she left Canterlot? She kicked up some dust and plopped down in the road, looking around for a place that would serve well enough.

Suddenly, she was nearly run over by a wall of pink mane. Dodging out of the way with a startled yelp, Embershade caught her first sight of her... attacker? Was that the right word? Attacker or not, the bright pink pony didn't seem to be, in any way, hostile. If anything, she seemed ridiculously excited to see the bewildered pegasus pony. She bounced around Ember in a circle, talking so fast that the poor Flame-colored pony could hardly make out the words. "Ohmygosh, you must be new in town, 'cause I've never seen you before and I've met everypony in pony-"

At this point, the already-annoyed pegasus pony slapped a forbidding hoof over the frizzy-maned pink pony's mouth, effectively silencing her. Or, rather, making her attempts to talk sound like grunts. "Okay. Speak slowly, and get to the point, please." Ember said, eying the ,obviously crazy earth pony with a mixture of distaste and apprehension.

The pony nodded her understanding, and spoke much more understandably when Ember removed her hoof. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville. When I saw you, all I could think about was how you looked lonely, and a little lost, and I just really, really wanted to help you, because I love making new friends and you look like you'd be a nice friend." The excitable pink mare said, all in a single breath. Ember just stared, an eyebrow arched high over a bright, burning eye.

"Uhm..." Ember began, not quite sure how to respond to the ridiculously over-the-top friendliness of the pink pony. Finally, she settled on inquiring after a place to sleep- she reasoned that, if the hyperactive pink pony knew everypony in Ponyville, surely she knew of a place that Ember could stay. "Look, Pinkie Pie, I'd just really like it if you could help me find a place to stay for the night. We'll see about all this friend-making stuff once I've had some rest, okay?" She asked, trying as hard as she could to be polite- she'd never been good with other ponies, so it was a true effort on her part.

The party pony stared blankly at Embershade for almost two full minutes, making the socially inept pegasus pony wonder if she'd accidentally broken her. Finally, Pinkie Pie breathed in deeply and spoke; "Oh my gosh, you can totally stay with me, like a sleepover! It'll be so much fun- We'll bake cupcakes, eat cupcakes, maybe even dress up like cupcakes! And you can meet my pet Gummy! and the Cakes! You'll already have three new friends all in one night! It'll be so much fun, I promise!" The excitable mare was literally bouncing with excitement as she outlined her plan to an instantly-dubious Embershade. But, before Ember could so much as raise a hoof in protest, Pinkie Pie had seized her and was dragging her down the street at top-speed toward Sugar Cube corner. The building was more than a stand out- decorated to the point that it looked like a giant gingerbread cookie; the sight of the building alone was enough to make Ember’s stomach rumble loudly.

After a moment, Ember simply gave up struggling and accompanied Pinkie peaceably, almost having to gallop to keep up with the hyperactive pink pony. They reached the front door of the sweet shop rather quickly, as a side effect of Pinkie’s excitable demeanor. The party pony in question hopped up the steps of the store and, if Ember hadn’t hurriedly pushed the door open, she probably would’ve crashed into it. The Pink Pony turned toward the stairs, peering up them as if checking on something. “MR AND MRS CAKE!!” She screamed, at what seemed to be the top of her lungs. Ember shook her head- this was not the way she’d intended to make the acquaintance of her shelter for the night. She heard muffled grumbling, and the sound of hoofsteps crossing the floor and the clip-clop of someone coming down the stairs.

A short, stout mare with the most ridiculous confectionary hat on her head sat at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing her hooves into her eyes and grumbling to herself. "What is it, Pinkie Pie?" She asked, hardly contained contempt dripping off of every syllable. She lowered her hooves and caught sight of Ember for the first time. "Oh, I'm sorry Dearie, I didn't see you there. How can I help you?" She asked, her voice becoming so sugary sweet that Embershade almost gagged in response. But, before Ember could so much as utter a greeting, Pinkie Pie cut her off again.

"Mrs. Cake, she needs a place to stay, and I offered to let her stay with me, but then I thought that I should ask you, because I'm staying with the Cakes, you you're Mrs. Cake, so you should have a say before I invite over somepony you don't know, so I yelled up the stairs and then down you came, and now I'm going to ask if-"

Mrs. Cake held up a hoof, somehow managing to silence Pinkie Pie. "If she can stay... Yes, I think I understand. Of course you can stay for the night, Dearie. Is there anything I can get you, miss?..." She asked, her face stretched with a polite, mothering smile. Her caring expression almost made the implied question about her name go right over Ember's head.

But, Ember caught it. "My name's Embershade, but just Ember's fine... and, beyond a place to stay the night, no ma'am. I've got everything I need." She said, smiling in spite of herself. She just couldn't help it, something about Mrs. Cake just made her want to smile like she was a little filly getting a gift.

Mrs. Cake nodded and walked back up the stairs, uttering a soft wish of a good night over her shoulder as she went. Pinkie Pie was, once again, bouncing with excitement. "This is gonna be soooo fun!" She cried, practically mashing a cupcake into Ember's face. Ember did her best to ensure that more of the cupcake was eaten than was smeared all over her face, and as a result, the mess was only have as large as it might have been.

Spluttering and wiping herself off, she cast the still-bouncing earth pony a glare. "Pinkie, as grateful to you as I am for getting me a place to stay, I'd really just like to go to sleep, if that's okay." She said, trying her best to keep from snapping on the silly pony. Ember was relieved to see that Pinkie seemed to get the message, and she nodded enthusiastically.

She bounced out the door and around to the entrance of her room, with Ember following a safe distance back. "Okie dokey lokey, new friend!" She called over her shoulder. Ember found herself blinded by the bright, overpowering... pinkness. The room was a maddeningly bright shade of pink, and the light from the lamps did nothing to ease it. Pinkie bounced from lamp to lamp, blowing them out one at a time until only the dim light of Luna's moon lit the room. Pinkie hopped up on the bed and gestured to the other side. "Go ahead! I promise I'll be quiet." She said, then made a range of complicated motions with her hooves that Ember didn't even bother questioning.

She simply laid down, pulled the blanket over herself, and wished Pinkie Pie good night- barely avoiding being sung a lullaby in the process. She closed her eyes, and was whisked away by sleep.

Embershade stood before Celestia, head raised defiantly, her flaming eyes scorching the Princess's. The Princess looked at her with a mixture of sadness, disappointment, and even traces of anger. "Embershade, do you know why I've called you here?" She asked, the conflicting emotions coming through in the deep, breathy sadness in her voice.

Ember snorted and glared at the Princess even more forcefully, eliciting an angry rustling from the platoon of Royal Guards surrounding her. "Because I fought you, and got closer to winning than you can bear." She spat, stomping a hoof in frustration. Celestia merely looked at her, her expression almost serene- her indifference only served to infuriate Ember.

The Princess shook her head in disappointment, and turned to convene quietly with her sister, Luna. After a moment, she turned back to Ember, who was ruffling her wings agitatedly. "Embershade, why don't you tell us about the part you played in Discord's return?" She asked- though it was more of a soft order than a question. Ember smiled proudly.

"He spoke to me in my dreams, o Mighty Princess. He promised me a better life... all I needed to do was sow enough disharmony for him to be free. So, I did. I lied, forged letters, incited violence between ponies. Then, there he was. Everything turned upside down. Chaos reigned, the entirety of Equestria went mad... and I loved it." she ranted, pure adoration laced into every word. She stopped to take a breath and examine the effect her words were having on the Princess. She remained apathetic. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she went on with her tale. "But Discord failed. You and your Elements of Harmony defeated him again, restoring Equestria to it's former... glory." She grimaced around the last word, as if it disgusted her to say it. Sighing, she sat down heavily. "and now I'm here. That's all there is to tell." She finished, pulling back her unfurled wings and settling down, waiting for the Princess to respond.

Princess Celestia merely shook her head, again disappointed. "It hurts me to know that I've failed you so, Embershade. It pains me to think that even a few of my subjects are unhappy with my rule... but I can't help you if you don't tell me the truth. There's more to the story. I can tell, my little pony. Please, let me help you. Tell the truth." She pleaded, a note of something Embershade mistook for pity in her voice.

The flame-colored pegasus pony snorted and shook her head. "There's nothing more to tell, Celestia. I'm sorry, but for once, you can't do anything to make things better. Just pass judgment on me and be done with it, Princess." She murmured wearily, her entire body now drooping with either sadness or genuine exhaustion.

The Princess merely shook her head, tears forming in her eyes, and left the room. Princess Luna stepped into the light, taking Celestia's place. Unlike her sister, her face was very readable... and it was furious. She looked at Ember with contempt, and stomped one of her forehooves. "Tell me, Embershade, if you can, You have destroyed so much. What exactly have you created? Can you name even one thing?" She asked, and, barely pausing for a response, continued; "I thought not. I've considered punishing you so many different ways, but it boils down to the fact that merely living with the pain of your defeat- or your guilt, if you are secretly repentant- is punishment enough. Your only punishment is that you shall leave Canterlot, and never return. Rest assured, the Ponyfolk of Equestria will not shun you.- We've told no one of your crimes, despite how much I wanted to. Now, be gone from here, Pony. Leave Canterlot by the end of the day, or else prison will be the least of your worries." Luna commanded, her loud, powerful voice echoed through the hall so much that Ember was sure that everyone knew now. She turned, head bowed, and left the building. She stepped out into the sun, and could swear she saw Celestia's face mocking her in the sun.

Then Embershade woke to Pinkie Pie's cheerful exclamations wishing her a good morning.

"Gooood morning sleepyhead!" Pinkie shouted, jumping up onto the bed and bouncing a bewildered Ember clean out into the floor. Pinkie rolled around on the, laughing so much it was almost maniacal. Ember found herself worried that her host may be quite insane. Making polite excuses, Ember managed to escape from Sugar Cube Corner without significant incident, thanking Mrs. Cake along the way and apologizing for Pinkie having woken her up the night before.

Before long, Embershade found herself looking upon Ponyville in the light of day- the town was slow. Relaxed. As she walked meanderingly down the city streets, she found herself quite at ease for the first time since she'd left Canterlot. It was nice, here... No loud city ponies, no shady characters stalking the alleys between the buildings... most of the ponies here seemed tranquil... even happy. Ember hadn't seen happiness much before- really, she'd never experienced it for herself. Her heart ached as she watched a couple of friends giggling and laughing together as they walked away from a Spa, looking quite refreshed. The ache was like a hole in the center of her being- but it was a familiar one. She and the ache were old friends, and they'd been together since she'd been just a little Filly whose parents didn't love her. It was a painful mixture of loneliness and jealousy, and Discord had used it to his advantage when he'd corrupted her.

Now, the same old wound ached as she saw just how at ease and happy the ponies of Ponyville were. She didn't want to be here- no, she didn't belong here. All she could feel was ANGUISH. Loneliness so great it encompassed her entire world, like a dark cloud blotting out the sun. She needed to leave, she had to be away from all these happy ponies. She just couldn't take it. Choking back sobs, she turned and started to gallop out of town, not bothering to look where she was going- she wouldn't have been able to see past the tears in her eyes, anyway.

WHAM. Pain, confusion, dirt in her eyes and the feeling of another, a warm body whose limbs were entangled hopelessly with hers. Stirring slowly, shaking off the shock of the sudden collision, she blinked until the spots vanished from her vision and looked around. She was lying in the dirt, tangled up with a lithe, pretty looking violet-colored Unicorn. The Unicorn stirred as Embershade extracted herself from the awkward tangle of limbs. She nudged the nearly-unconscious unicorn with her hoof, worried that she'd caused serious damage.

"Excuse me," She mumbled, keeping her tone quiet so that her voice wouldn't show how close to tears she was. "Are you okay? Excuse me, Miss?"

The violet pony still took a few moments to rouse, even with Ember's persistent prodding. When she did awake, she seemed very confused. "Wha? Where? Who?" She asked, looking around, her eyes bleary. Ember couldn't help but be struck by her voice- smooth, articulate, with a kind of lilting cadence that sung to her nerves- even when the poor unicorn was half-unconscious, her voice had a way of soothing Ember.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention and ran into you. Are you okay?" She asked again, examining the pony carefully for injury. She eyed the Unicorn's horn apprehensively- she was lucky she hadn't badly injured herself on that thing.

The Unicorn slowly roused herself and sat up, blinking herself into full awareness as Ember spoke. "Ugh.. Uhm.. ow." She said, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. After a moment, she turned look at Ember- and the flame-colored pegasus pony was lost in her eyes. The Unicorn smiled, a sweet expression of concern mixed with embarassment. "Oh, I'm sorry.. I was caught up in a scroll, and wasn't really watching where I was going. Are you all right?" She asked, and Ember was amazed and touched to hear real concern in her voice.

Ember blushed lightly as the unicorn's question snapped her to attention. "Oh I'm fine," Ember began, already wanting to reassure and make happy the beautiful purple pony. "But are you okay? It's my fault, I was running with my eyes closed like a stupid filly.." She said, facehoofing herself.

The unicorn smiled and started to reassure Ember was all right, but then frowned. "Hold on a sec'." She said, then closed her eyes. Her horn glowed with a violet light for a minute, then it faded away. Suddenly, it was much easier for Ember to focus and think- the magical mare was still breathtakingly beautiful, but less intoxicating. "Sorry," She began, blushing slightly. "I was experimenting with a new spell. So, you knocked me over and I bewitched you... I'd say we're about even. I'm Twilight Sparkle." She stuck out a friendly hoof as she finished her sentence, and Ember took it and shook politely.

"Embershade of... Well, just Embershade." She said, cutting off before saying she was from Canterlot- because she wasn't. Not anymore. She smiled at Twilight- her first honest smile in some time.

Twilight nodded and started picking up her now-scattered things. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Embershade." She said, and nodded her thanks as Ember helped her gather together her books and scrolls. "So, you're new in town?" Twilight asked as Ember helped put her things back in the saddlebags.

Ember nodded, suddenly less cheerful. "Yeah. Spent a long time on the move... stopped here to take a break for a day or two." She said, trying her best to sound like she was just a cheerful wanderer, not an exile.

The magical mare didn't buy it. "You sound lonely." Twilight noted, eyeing Ember with friendly concern. "Maybe you should spend more than just a day or two here. Make some friends." She suggested as they walked back towards town together. "Hey, you might even decide to settle down." The Unicorn joked- yet, Ember felt at the same time that it wasn't entirely a joke.

"I don't know... I've never been the best at making friends." Ember said, ruffling her wings uncomfortably. She looked over at Twilight, sighing. "To be honest, I don't have any." She said, knowing that this response would either elicit pity or concern- either way, attention that upset her.

Much to Ember's surprise, Twilight's reaction was neither. "Well, then" The Unicorn began, stopping and turning to face the fiery pegasus, "You should come with me to a party later, and I'll introduce you to my friends. Trust me, there a good place to start." Ember wasn't quite sure she liked the idea, but it intrigued her nonetheless.

Maybe... Maybe she could have friends after all.

Parties, Lies, and Assorted Dramas

Embershade looked around carefully as Twilight ushered her into Sugar Cube corner. The place, already cheery and bright, had been spruced up even more- with all the confetti and ribbons and other decorations around, it looked almost like a cannon had littered the room with color. She recognized Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down cheerfully in the corner, talking with a stylish white unicorn and a pink-maned pegasus pony that looked quite nervous. She cast her eyes around, checking out the other guests as well. Most of them weren’t too interesting, save for a blonde earth pony wearing a cowboy hat and a cyan-colored pegasus mare with a brilliantly multi-hued mane and a lithe, athletic body that almost made Ember drool.

Twilight pointed them out one at a time, naming them; The unicorn was Rarity, the local fashionista, the shy pegasus was called, quite aptly, Fluttershy, and was a master with animals. The cowgirl pony was Applejack, the honest and hardworking head of Sweet Apple Acres, and the rainbow-maned pegasus was Rainbow Dash- who, according to Twilight (and Dash herself, who proclaimed it loudly from across the party) was one of the best fliers in all of Equestria. Ember made a note of their names- she was quite sure she wouldn't have any trouble keeping track of which pony was which, as they were all quite unique.

As Twilight led her over to where Rarity and Fluttershy were talking to Pinkie Pie, she ran over a few key details about them so that she wouldn't be tossing Ember into a creek without a paddle. "Fluttershy's a little timid, but very kind. Give her time to adjust to you, and I'm sure you'll like her alot." She advised, keeping her voice low so that it didn't carry to the subjects of her hurried conversation. "As for Rarity..." Twilight began hesitantly, poking Ember's carelessly messed mane with a hoof; "Well, you may have to adjust to Rarity. She's a little overbearing when it comes to style and neatness." The violet unicorn finished, rolling her eyes as a punctuation to the statement. "As for Pinkie..." Twilight began to speak again, but Ember cut her off.

"We've met." She said, a look of dread clear on her face. Twilight almost fell flat for laughing so hard. Ember gave her a hard look, not amused at being made fun of. "What's so funny?" She demanded, taking a few angry steps back.

Twilight took a few moments to compose herself before answering, and even then she was still shaking from laughter. "I'm s-sorry Ember. Look, I promise that Pinkie isn't that bad, just a little bit... eccentric." She assured, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. Ember shook her head and rolled her eyes, but followed anyway.

Fluttershy, as Twilight had predicted, shied away when Ember approached. Rarity and Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, were eager to say hello. Rarity, while pretty, had a kind of obnoxious tone that Ember had long since come to associate with Canterlot- and home. It was a painful association, so Ember tried to focus on bringing out Fluttershy.

The yellow pegasus pony took a lot of work to adjust, it seemed, so Ember made small talk with the other three ponies while she waited for Fluttershy to become accustomed to her presence. Or, rather, she made small talk with Rarity and Twilight whilst giving Pinkie Pie the occasional confused look. Ember had reached the conclusion that the excitable pink pony was fun to be around, despite how overwhelming her presence could be. Just when she thought she couldn't bear another second of Rarity's fashion talk and was considering leaving, Fluttershy opened up a little bit- or, at least, she decided to finally start talking.

Her first words to Embershade were a compliment; "I like that necklace, E-Embershade. It's nice." She said in a soft voice- the first words Ember had heard from her that weren't a tiny squeak.

Of course, Ember's first words to Fluttershy were a lie. She eyed the necklace with deeply hidden distaste- it had been forced upon her by a spell. The spell, cast by Luna, made Ember incapable of removing the necklace. Only a learned pony would recognize the symbol, as it hadn't been bestowed for decades. The symbol marked it's wearer as a traitor, a committer of high treason. "Oh, yes." Ember murmured. "A... I... It was given to me, a long time ago." She almost blushed at how bad her lie was, and looked around in vain to try and find a new subject.

Fluttershy, of course, didn't take the hint. "Ooh. By who? It's so pretty." She said, gushing just the tiniest bit. Twilight eyed it suspiciously, and Ember finally made the connection between Twilight and the scrolls in her saddle bag- Twilight was a learned pony. Ember did her best to casually obscure the necklace while she hurriedly came up with another lie.

"My sister, Red Feather, gave it to me." She said, doing her best to appear nonchalant. Twilight tapped her chin with one of her forehooves, and Embershade bit her lip nervously.

The lavender unicorn raised an eyebrow and eyed Embershade carefully. "I know I've heard that name before. What does your sister look like?" She asked, "Where's she from?"

Ember relaxed a bit, satisfied that the necklace was, for the moment, forgotten. "Well... she was a deep, vibrant color of scarlet, and her mane a midnight colored blue-black." She said. "She lived in Cant- err, Fillydelphia." Ember finished, catching her mistake just in time.

All three ponies gave her an odd look, and Ember knew they'd noticed her foul-up. Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder. "Um.. what do you mean 'was', Embershade?" She asked, her voice soft and kind and a look of deep concern on her face.

Ember heaved an internal sigh of relief- yet another bullet dodged. Then her heart sank- she didn't like to talk about Red Feather. "Uhm... She's... I don't wanna talk about it." She said, averting her eyes from Fluttershy's kind face. The yellow pegasus pony only got more concerned.

Then Twilight put her hoof on Ember's other shoulder, and she knew she was trapped. "Well... Are you sure? Maybe it'll help to talk about it." She said, a look of concern that mirrored Fluttershy's now covering her face. Ember sighed, and resigned herself to her fate- she was going to have to make up another lie.

"Umm.." She began eloquently, casting her eyes about for inspiration. She settled them on a plate of cupcakes. "It was a few years ago in Fillydelphia- I was in bed sick, and Red Feather was going out to get some food and medicine and things." She said all this in a low voice, taking to her tale and making a convincingly miserable spectacle of herself. "She didn't come home all day. Or the day after. Eventually, a couple of police-colts came knocking on the door. Some crazy mare kidnapped my sister and cut her all up... and baked her into cupcakes." She said, looking down and faking a sob quite well.

Fluttershy and Twilight hugged her, murmuring consolations while Rarity seemed to have lost her appetite. Pinkie Pie had mysteriously vanished from their little group, which to Ember was a relief- that pony was crazy. After a few moments, she heaved a breath and assured the girls she was alright. They released her from their embrace just as Rainbow Dash tumbled into the group and almost knocked Ember into a snack table.

"Um. Oops?" She said, rubbing the side of her head and grinning ruefully. Behind her, Applejack was rolling around on the floor, laughing so hard that it was infectious. Before long, everyone was laughing. Rainbow Dash looked around, an angry eyebrow raised. "Hey! Knock it off!" The cyan pegasus demanded, her expression starting to go from joking to hurt.

Eveypony stopped laughing, but Twilight giggled on for a few more seconds. "Tell me, Dash" She began, already giggling more. "Do you crash into every new pony you meet?" She asked, and everypony gave another lighthearted chuckle, even Dash.

"Naw, Twi'. Just the ones that look like they'd cushion the impact." She said, snickering. Both ponies stared, affronted.

Ember recovered first. "Did you just call me fat?" The reddish-orange pegasus pony asked, poking a hoof into the rainbow-maned offender.

Twilight, on the other hand, was more dignified. She used her magic to drop a plate of cupcakes on Dash's head. The end result of that was that Rainbow's mane and tail were now not the only parts of her that were... well... rainbows. The resulting glare she gave Twilight was so powerful, Ember almost felt the heat as it flew past her. Rainbow turned and flew out of the party so fast, the cupcake icing seemed to just slide off of her.

Ember looked around, concerned, but Applejack caught her expression and waved a hoof, as if saying 'don't worry about it'. Then she did. "Don' worry about Rainbow, sugarcube. That happens about once a day 'round here." She reassured Ember, still laughing a bit. She finally managed to compose herself, and held out a hoof. "Anyway, Ah don't believe we've met. Name's Applejack." She said, and shook vigorously when Ember took her hoof.

"Embershade. It's a pleasure." Ember replied, slightly jostled by the country mare's enthusiastic hoofshake. She didn't really find it a pleasure. All the ponies in this town are crazy! She thought to herself, eying them all somewhat nervously.

The orange mare laughed, releasing Ember's arm. "Likewise, friend, likewise." She said, backing off and settling down. She grabbed a cupcake off the nearest tray and took a large bite out of it. She tried to talk around the mouthful of cupcake, but Ember didn't catch a word of it. Instead of saying anything, she just raised an eyebrow and hoped that the country pony would catch the hint.

She rolled her eyes, swallowed the large bite of cupcake, and repeated herself; "So, what brings ya to Ponyville, Embershade?" She asked between bites of her cupcake.

Ember shrugged and looked around. "Just exploring Equestria. Twilight convinced me to spend a few days in town." She explained, regretting the decision. Applejack smiled.

"Well Sugarcube, ya couldnta picked a better town to stop in. Ya oughta come by Sweet Apple Acres sometime before ya leave. Pretty as a picture, and lotsa delicious apple treats, too." She advised, sounding suspiciously like an advertisement. Ember just nodded and smiled agreeably.

Suddenly, Pinkie dropped from above- how she managed to be above the other ponies a mystery- and crammed a cupcake in Ember's face for the second time since she'd come to town. "ENJOY!" She yelled brightly, hopping in circles around the spluttering pegasus pony. For the second time since Ember had come to the party, everyone in the room was laughing.

Ember gave the party pony a stern look as she wiped her face off. "Why, Pinkie Pie, do you keep doing that?" She demanded, poking the pink mare in the chest angrily.

The crazed pony poked Ember in the side with one of her forehooves, her smile never wavering. "'Cause you're looking a little thin in the skin, silly pony! You should eat more cupcakes!" The baker advised, grabbing another cupcake off the tray. Ember snatched it out of her hand before she could receive another icing makeover.

"Fine, Pinkie, fine." She said, devouring the cupcake in the vain hope that it would make the wild-maned earth pony leave her alone. For once, the pink pony complied with her unspoken wishes and bounced away cheerfully. Ember flashed Twilight a look.

The unicorn shrugged, apparently just as confused as she was. "Pinkie... there's just no explaining her." She said, shrugging. "Believe me, it drove me crazy trying to accept that." She said, and Ember was inclined to believe her- she was crazy, as far as the flame-colored pegasus pony was concerned. After a few moments of awkward silence, the group of ponies lapsed into small, unimportant conversations and mingled away the rest of the night.

Twilight shut the door behind her, leaving Embershade in the makeshift guest room she'd set up in the library- She'd offered to allow Ember to stay with her for the remainder of her stay, to protect the pegasus pony from overexposure to the madness of Pinkie Pie. Her real motivation was getting a closer look at the necklace Ember'd been wearing- she was sure it was some sort of Royal Canterlot insignia, as she'd seen it before in the Palace while visiting Celestia. So, during their walk to the library, Twilight had committed the symbol to memory. She felt bad for deceiving her new friend, but she had an itching feeling that Ember had already told her many lies, and she wanted to know why- surely there was a good reason, right? So, Twilight used her magic to pull her copy of Equestria's Crown: A History of Canterlot; the book had an excellent chapter on royal insignias and markings, complete with detailed illustrations. She flipped through the book, quickly finding the chapter she'd been looking for. She browsed through it until she spotted the symbol she'd been looking for. A cloud with a smooth, almost beautifully written letter X in the center The entry was quite interesting, and Twilight hissed through her teeth as she read it.

The "Lying Cloud", more commonly known as the Equestrian Mark of Treason, was first created and used five hundred years after Nightmare Moon's banishment, when Hagar Thorn abducted and impersonated the Mayor of Cloudsdale with magic. The facade carried on for thirty years before Celestia uncovered his treason and freed Cloudsdale from his tyrannical grasp. Rather than imprison or banish Hagar, Celestia instead took away his ability to use magic and bestowed upon him the Mark of Treason- a brand over his cutie mark that would forever reveal him to be a traitor. In modern times, the Lying Cloud takes the less barbaric form of an irremovable necklace, though it hasn't been bestowed more than twice since the days of Hagar Thorn's Mayoral Simulacrum. For the most part, Equestria doesn't remember the true meaning of the Lying Cloud.

Twilight was stunned, and had numerous conflicting emotions- disbelief and anger were having a no-holds-barred wrestling match in her stomach, whilst annoyance at how poorly the article had been worded had her concern for poor Embershade in a headlock. She... well, Twilight didn't know what to think. This was new for Twilight, so she did the only thing she could do- she had spike take a letter to Celestia.

Dear Princess,

I have stumbled across something that not only disturbs me, but leaves me quite confused. A pegasus pony named Embershade recently arrived here in Ponyville, bearing a most interesting symbol. She is staying with me at the Library for a few days, and I'd like to know... well, I just need your advice.

Your Faithful Student,
Twilight Sparkle

Twilight bit her lip and tapped her chin with her hoof for a moment, trying to think of anything else to add to the letter. Coming up with nothing, she had Spike send the letter and delved back into her studies, researching all the times the Lying Cloud had been forced on somepony- none of them were good, and almost all of them had changed Equestria forever. She wasn't surprised that the old book had no record of Embershade- the pony was probably a year younger than Twilight, and Twilight hadn't been eighteen very long. She was surprised to see that, of the seven ponies that had received the mark, six were murdered afterward- the magical mare hadn't realized that ponies were such a violent group.

Before long, Twilight had a stack of almost sixteen books surrounding her and the sun was just starting to peek in through the windows. She heard spike belch upstairs, and her exhausted, exhausted heart lifted- she'd recognize the sound of a letter from Celestia anywhere. She turned around and watched as Spike trudged down the stairs, grumbling about overwork, a scroll in his hand. Twilight simply pulled the scroll from his grasp with her magic and told him to go back to bed, turning her attention almost immediately to Celestia's reply.

My Dearest and Most Faithful Student,

The issue regarding Embershade is delicate, and can not be fairly handled via letters. It is my wish that you come to Canterlot for a few days so that I may explain things to you. It would be most convenient if you would leave immediately and tell nopony why you're visiting.

Princess Celestia

Twilight's magic was already packing her suitcase by the time she was done reading.

Embershade stood alone in the streets of Canterlot, drenched in the Chocolate Milk that was pouring from the fluffy, sweet pink clouds... and then someone was there, holding an umbrella over her. Her elder sister, Red Feather, stood watching her with a twisted mixture of concern and disgust. Her eyes, precisely the same multi-shade sunset as Ember's, were sparkling with tears.

The umbrella was the extent of Feather's kindness. "What were you thinking?" She demanded, her nose inches from Ember's. "Don't you see what you've done? Look around you, Ember! Equestria is falling apart!" She shouted into Ember's face, tears flowing freely now. Ember just stood there- and that only served to further Feather's rage. "What's wrong with you, Ember? Why won't you look me in the eyes?" She asked, lifting Ember's chin up with her hoof. Her eyes, once the color of a vibrant sunset, were a blank, lifeless gray. An eerie chuckle echoed through the air, and Discord seemed to step from nonexistence.

He put an arm around Ember and ran a finger up her cheek affectionately. "Like the changes I made, Red Feather?" He asked, eating the paper plate out from under a handful of apple slices. "It's much more efficient than making them completely gray." He gushed, hopping up and down excitedly.

Red Feather had sat down heavily upon seeing Ember's lifeless eyes. Her body shook with sobs. "What... What did you do to her?" She managed to stutter between sobs, her anger with Embershade all but forgotten. Discord let out a deep, throaty laugh and thunder shook the fluffy pink clouds above.

"I made some improvements." He said simply, shrugging. "She wasn't playing by the rules anymore, so I... re-taught her the rules." The master of chaos chuckled as he said this, and Feather's heart sank. Discord caught her expression. "Aww... Don't be sad, my little pony. Your sister's happier now!" He said, gesturing towards her. She smiled as he did so, a vacant expression. "Look! Now she doesn't have to worry about how you abandoned her to work in the palace, or how she's spent the past three years in an orphanage, being picked on by the other ponies! So, don't be sad, Feather." He said, patting her head.

Feather looked up at him, a look of resolve hardening her face. "What do you want? In exchange for her?" She pleaded, looking on helplessly as Discord ran his fingers through Ember's mane.

The lord of disharmony snapped to attention, eying the red pegasus pony carefully. "How about you? I'll trade her for you. She goes free, and you get to my new favorite little pony." Discord waggled his eyebrows as he finished his offer, and Feather grimaced... but nodded

"Fine, Discord. Fix my sister first... and then I'm all yours." She replied, standing up and bracing herself. Discord chuckled at her expression. "What?" She spat, stomping a hoof.

He tapped Ember in the middle of her forehead, and her eyes slowly got back their color. She blinked slowly and shook her head. "Wha- where?" She mumbled, looking around. After a moment, she recognized Red Feather. "Red? What's going on?!" She asked, a note of panic entering her voice as she took in the grave expression on her sister's face.

Red Feather took a moment to smile serenely at her younger sister; "I love you, Embershade. I'll miss you." She said, just before Discord tapped her on her forehead, and her gaze was stripped of all it's warmth.

Ember shook her head as the hysteria set in... Why the fuck did her sister have a dramatic streak a mile wide?

Embershade woke up in a cold sweat.

Plot Holes and Revelations

Twilight was jolted awake as the carriage lurched to a stop outside the Palace in Canterlot. She yawned deeply and stretched as she clambered out of the carriage. She used her magic to hand a bag of bits each to the two regal looking pegasus ponies pulling the carriage and started her trek up the stairs and too the palace's main doors. In spite of the serious circumstances, Twilight couldn't help but feel a little giddy- she always did when it came to Princess Celestia. Something about her mentor's presence gave her a warm feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite grasp. That wasn't to say she didn't like the feeling, though- it was similar to the warm, content feeling she got after reading a good book, except that it made all the nerves in her body feel like they'd been kicked into overdrive. The magical mare's thoughts were interrupted by a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see Princess Celestia watching her concernedly.

"Twilight? I've said your name three times. Are you feeling alright?" She asked, holding a hoof against the lavender unicorn's forehead as if checking her temperature. "Maybe we should run a few check ups... I'm sure I have a spell somewhere..." the powerful alicorn said, tapping her chin with one of her hooves.

Twilight gently removed Celestia's hoof, smiling. "No, I'm okay Princess... just a little tired. It was a long ride." She said, doing her best to reassure her mentor before any flurry of worry could put off her Q&A session for a few hours.

The solar alicorn nodded, not entirely convinced, and nodded her head toward the stairs. "So... Why don't we head to the study for this? Embershade is a delicate matter..." The princess said, giving her best impression of a Canterlot Royal Guard- stolid and expressionless- if it weren't for the glimmer of sorrow in her eyes, she may have been mistaken for a stern schoolteacher rather than a kind mentor.

Gulping and thinking that perhaps bringing this before her mentor hadn't been a good idea after all, Twilight lead the way to the study, her heart beat almost louder than their combined hoofsteps. Once they'd arrived in the quiet, stifling, bookshelf-lined study and arranged themselves across from each other, Twilight finally decided to break the silence. Only to have Celestia shush her.

Celestia took a breath, as if composing herself, and slowly began her tale...

Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, sat alone in the throne room, a manuscript held inches in front of her face by her magic. Her eyes sliding from word to word with so much focus that she didn't notice Luna sneak up behind her, nor the pair of cymbals hovering above her head. Biting her lip to hold back laughter, Luna slammed the cymbals together over Celestia's head, causing the regal mare to leap into the air so fast that the Cymbals were again bashed- by the ruler of Equestria's head.

Luna then proceeded to show amusement in her most regal and controlled manner- rolling around on the floor, filling the hall with her musical, resonant laughter. "Hah! The look on thy face!" She said as her eyes began to tear up. "It was without price!"

Celestia did her best rendition of an 'are you fucking kidding me?' face as she rubbed the newly forming sore-spot on top of her head gingerly. "Luna, please, I understand that you feel the need to play jokes, but can you not hurt me so often?" She pleaded, wincing as her new headache settled in.

The night princess slowly giggled herself to a stop, then looked around at the scattered pages of the manuscript. "We are sorry. We- er, I- Was just interested in what you were reading." She said hurriedly, improvising an excuse for interrupting- other than the prank itself, of course. Luckily for her, her transparent distraction attempt worked.

The Sun Princess gathered the pages back up and straightened them out, smiling even as she looked at them. She turned to her sister and gestured to the manuscript, a kind of glow kindling in her eyes. "This? This is a delightfully written little story I got in the mail." She gushed, trying to rediscover her place in the now-jumbled mess of pages. "Some young author named Red Feather sent it to me. It's something you'd call a 'FanFic'." She said, finding her place and settling down again.

Luna looked on interestedly, peering over her sister's shoulder. "Really? What is this... 'fanfic' about?" She asked, and suddenly found herself enjoying a lovely face full of Celestia's hoof.

After taking a moment to get her eyes straight, she realized that Celestia was blushing. The regal princess was as red as a filly after her first kiss- and on top of that, she was stuttering. "It-it's about me..." She murmured in a small voice, hiding the pages behind her back. Any other time, Luna would have remained curious- but the look on her elder sister's face was enough to make it quite clear that, as dirty as the dark mare's mind was, this wasn't something she wanted to read. Blushing almost as furiously as her sister was, she made her way out of the throne room and left Celestia to finish reading in peace.

Celestia shook her head, grinning, as she put aside the latest note from Red Feather. She'd quickly sent off a letter requesting to meet the author in person when she finished the story- the sun princess was more than interested in commissioning another story from her. The author- Celestia had neglected to ask if it was a mare or stallion- was supposed to arrive within a few minutes. Celestia had been delighted to hear that Red Feather lived in Canterlot, and had requested that the pony visit her as soon as possible- that ASAP, funnily enough, was approaching with every tick of the clock.

Suddenly, one of her generally-statuesque Royal Guards stepped in from outside the Throne Room. "Your Highness, we have a... Well, there's a 'Red Feather' claiming to have an audience scheduled with you." He said, and Celestia wondered at the hesitation in his sentence.

She nodded and made a 'go on, then' motion with her hoof. "Yes, she does. Let her in, Tank." She said, curious to see the pony that had written so well- and had caused such an odd reaction in one of her usually emotionless guards. She heard the soft hoofsteps first, and was surprised at how quiet they were; they were almost silent, and the only reason Celestia could hear them was that the sound bounced off the smooth marble walls in resounding echoes. Then the source of the quiet noise emerged, and the Alicorn understood immediately.

Before her stood the thinnest, dirtiest, and altogether angriest-looking mare Celestia had ever seen. The mare was as striking as she was filthy, though- a tall, red pegasus pony with black hair, eyes like Celestia's own sun, and a pen-and-notebook cutie mark that conveyed her talent as a writer. But, what struck Celestia most about the red mare was the first words out of her mouth.

"So, I finally get to meet the Queen Bitch of Equestria." She said in a cool, almost aloof tone. Her words were met with a stunned silence that resounded through the hall like a gunshot. Celestia gaped for a moment, and the much-younger red mare smirked at her dumbstruck expression. "Well- It's a miracle. I've silenced royalty. Tell me, are you really that used to ponies bowing and scraping before you?" She asked, her every word dripping with sarcasm.

One of the guards made to seize her, but Celestia held up a hoof to stop him- once again, everyone was struck silent. Celestia was laughing, tears of mirth gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Oh, my my." She giggled, eying the now-angrier red mare with newfound respect. "What, might I ask, provoked that?" The sun princess asked, crossing her forehooves and struggling to contain her giggling.

Red Feather eyed her furiously for a moment, expletives chasing each other around in her head. Finding none that would suffice, Feather decided to simply tell her tale. "I don't know, O Princess, maybe it was spending the majority of my life in a run-down orphanage in the capitol city of Equestria. That tends to breed cynicism into the most carefree of fillies." She said, rolling her eyes and brushing dirt off her leg in a vain attempt to appear dignified. Instead, she seemed like a sad, dirty pony- which, incidentally, was exactly what she was. Go figure.

The Princess sighed, her mirth forgotten- she'd read and agonized over the latest reports on the economic state of Equestria already. Two out of five families were homeless, unemployment was up fifteen percent from the year prior, and there were too many parentless foals for the orphanages in Equestria to keep up. The angry mare interrupted her thoughts before she could even voice her slowly-forming idea.

"Though, my regal princess, I doubt it matters much to you- here you sit, aloof and free from the troubles of us little ponies." She spat, her words full of spiteful contempt. "I am curious, though... Why am I here?" She asked, arching an angry eyebrow so high it almost brushed her hairline.

The princess shook her head, gathered her thoughts, and spoke softly- reassuringly. "Red Feather, I called you here because I read the..." Here, she coughed and cleared her throat elegantly. "Story you sent me. I rather liked it, and called you here because I recognized the talent." She explained, doing her best to keep any type of insulting tone out of her voice- this mare was a fiery one.

Feather scoffed. No, that's an understatement. Feather made such a grand gesture, it went down in the history books- a dramatic scoff, partnered with an eyeroll so fierce her entire head moved. "That filthy clopfic? I sent that to you as an insult." She said, her face flushing red (unnoticeably, due to her blood red coat) at the memory of the vivid detail she'd written into the story. "Anyway, why would you call me here just to tell me I've got talent? To waste my time?" She asked, performing another quite impressive eyeroll- she really had a talent for that particular expression- and stomping one of her forehooves.

The Princess had to bite back a stinging retort- this mare was unnervingly similar to how Luna had been shortly before she'd become Nightmare Moon. "At first, I called you here to commission another piece from you... But, perhaps... Would you consider joining me here at the palace?" She asked, holding out her hoof in a gesture of offering. Feather was silent. A miracle! Thought Celestia, I've silenced a commoner! She mused, giggling internally.

Red Feather was having a fierce internal argument with herself- On one hoof, she hated the princess and everything her castle of hypocrisy stood for. On the other hoof, this was her chance to get out of the thrice-damned orphanage for good, and maybe even gain some respect and bits for her work as an author... and then there was Embershade. Sure, Feather and her younger sister hardly ever saw eye to eye, but she wasn't sure she could abandon her. No, of course she could- Ember hated her guts. The last words between the two of them had ended with both of them wishing for the other's death. Maybe it would be better if she just stayed here... "Very well, Princess Celestia. I'll take you up on your offer." She said, taking the Princess's hoof in her own and giving it a single decisive shake.

The Princess smiled- and, upon examination of her now thoroughly dirty hoof, pointed towards a door off to the right. "The showers are that way. Welcome to the Palace." She said, giggling slightly at the incredulous expression on Feather's face..

"Wait, Wait." Twilight said, jolting Celestia back to the present. "If you pretty much adopted this Red Feather, how come I never heard anything about it?" She asked, feeling more than a little hurt. Celestia shook her head, placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"Let me stop that train of thought right there, My faithful student." She said, a knowing smile forming on her lips. "Nopony was told because Feather didn't want Embershade to find out that she'd abandoned her. She even had me call her Bookcase and dyed her mane white- I found it rather funny at the time, but she was very serious." Celestia said, smiling to herself at the memory of their argument.

After a few moments, Twilight cleared her throat and knocked Celestia out of her reverie. "Celestia... how does this relate to the symbol? What happened next?" She asked, shifting restlessly where she sat.

The Princess took a moment to compose her thoughts once more, before launching back into the tale. "Well, for the sake of time, I'm going to skip forward a few months..."

Celestia was trying very, very hard not to pull out chunks of her mane. Equestria was falling apart at the seams- Discord had returned, and was wreaking havoc upon the entire Queendom. Twilight's friends had already been reached by Discord's influence, and for the first time in a millennium Celestia was afraid that she was about to be beaten. Her royal guard was doing it’s best to halt the chaos lord’s progress, and she had the best minds in Equestria working to find an alternative means to defeat him- as it seemed Twilight was going to fail without her friends.

The sun princess had just finished sending back the last of Twilight’s letters in the hopes of reaching her when Red Feather strode into the throne room, a grim mixture of sadness and anger etched across her face. “Princess Celestia.” She said simply, bowing. When Celestia gestured for her to stand, she didn’t bother to wait for further acknowledgement before speaking. “I’ve found out who’s responsible for Discord’s return, My Lady.” She said, scuffing a hoof against the ground angrily. The Princess waited silently, knowing that Feather would rather continue at her own pace. “My Sister, Embershade. She started the riots in downtown Canterlot, broke up Prince Blueblood’s engagement, and set fire to the Griffon embassy. The resulting strife was enough for Discord to break out of the spell.” She explained, looking down and avoiding the Princess’s gaze.

Celestia shook her head, confused. “Your sister? You never mentioned a sister... Why?” She asked, looking at her second-favorite pupil with hurt stirring in her eyes. Red Feather simply shook her head.

“Because, Celestia, if you’d known I had a sister that was relying on me, would you have let me come stay at the castle?” She asked, an angry eyebrow raised just as it had been on their first meeting. She shook her head once more before Celestia could even form an answer. “It doesn’t matter. Discord has her under some kind of trance, so I’m going to do my best to free her. Maybe I can buy your precious Twilight Sparkle some time to get her friends straightened out.” The red pegasus said before turning and leaving the hall, leaving Celestia alone once more. Celestia watched her go, her heart heavy. Something told her that this wouldn’t end well for anypony.

Celestia brought herself back to the present forcefully, and turned to look at Twilight. “But that’s as much as I know, Twilight. After that, Red Feather disappeared, you defeated Discord, and Embershade was arrested trying to leave Canterlot. Luna set the Lying Cloud spell to activate as soon as Embershade left the city- and, apparently, it did, or you wouldn’t be here now.” She said, giving the story a quite anti-climactic ending.

Twilight shook her head, annoyed. “That’s it? That’s all that happened?!” She asked incredulously, an irritated frown already starting to stretch across her face. “So.. should I chase Embershade off? She did help Discord.” She asked, composing herself. The Sun Princess brought a hoof up to her chin, contemplatively.

“No, my faithful student. As much as your history with Discord may make it difficult, you should at least make an effort to be kind to her. If her life was anything like Red Feather’s was, her choice to help Discord wasn’t made lightly.” The Princess counseled, putting a comforting hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

Embershade staggered back to her feet, directing her weight away from her injured foreleg. She blinked and tossed her blood-soaked mane out of her eyes with a quick shake of her head. She was in a sorry state- she was covered in bruises, a long and jagged cut ran down her flank, and her left wing was almost definitely fractured in a few places. But the other pony, the one whose throat was pinned to the ground by her uninjured hoof, was in a lot worse condition. Both of it’s wings bent in unnatural directions, one of it’s eyes swollen shut and black, and a puncture wound in it’s throat was spurting blood in tune with it’s frantic heartbeat. Embershade eyed the other pegasus grimly- after a moment though, the grimness was replaced with humor. She pulled a handkerchief out of her saddle bag and threw it on the beaten pony before her. “Wipe yourself off. You’re bleeding.” She said, giggling slightly to herself.

Anger glowed in the other pegasus’ rosey-violet eyes, but everything from her bleeding nose to her once-colorful, blood soaked tail screamed that she couldn’t do anything about it. Suddenly, a rustling from behind Embershade had them both directing their attention to the bushes behind them. A buttery-yellow pegasus pony with a bright pink mane emerged from them, humming to herself. She stopped with a quiet “Eep!” When she noticed Embershade. “Oh my! Oh no! Embershade are you all ri-” She noticed the pony pinned beneath Ember’s hoof, and her eyes widened and teared up almost instantly. Embershade looked from the pony beneath her hoof to Fluttershy and back.

By the time Fluttershy got her voice back, Embershade had already sprinted off into the woods and was nowhere to be seen. She stared at the injured pony for a moment, in a state of shock. “R-Rainbow Dash?”

Kindness is a Myth.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to a painful, blinding wall of white that obscured her entire field of vision. Then she blinked, and her eyes adjusted to the early afternoon light. She started to look around, but stopped with a shout when one of her injured wings was jostled. Wait a minute. Injured Wings? She looked over to each side frantically, ignoring the pain the action caused, and saw both of her beloved wings bound and splinted- they’d been broken. Dash closed her eyes again and prayed that it was a horrible dream and that this wasn’t happening. But, when she opened her eyes, the proof was still right there in front of her. She was strapped to a bed, her wings were broken, and she felt like she’d been hit by a steamroller.

She looked around, and slowly started to panic- she didn’t recognize this room at all. Where was she?! Before she could start to thrash against the covers and wriggle free, Fluttershy walked in and gasped. “Ohmygosh! Thank goodness, Rainbow Dash, I was so worried!” She said, practically launching herself across the room (and into mothering mode) to start fussing over Dash. Now Dash realized where she was- She’d never seen Fluttershy’s bedroom before, but it made sense now. The minimal decorations, the subdued colors of the bedspread, and the big windows letting in lots of sunlight- it all pointed quite clearly to Fluttershy. Speaking of the kind pegasus, she was staring at Rainbow Dash with an expression of concern.

Dash raised an eyebrow at her. "What? What's wrong?" She asked, looking at herself again in panic. But, upon hearing her speak, Fluttershy immediately began to look relieved.

She put her hooves on Dash's shoulders gently to keep her from jumping out of bed and smiled reassuringly. "I was worried you weren't able to talk anymore..." She said, prodding gently at the bandage on Dash's throat, making her wince. Fluttershy immediately began murmuring apologies and backed off, now satisfied that Dash wasn't going to try and take off.

Dash checked herself over again, trying to seem nonchalant as she went. "So... What all's wrong with me?" She asked, lifting up the blanket with the foreleg that wasn't splinted to look down at herself. Her entire midsection was bandaged, and she was pretty sure she could see a bandage on her tail, too- it certainly hurt like it needed one, at least.

The yellow pegasus ran a hoof through her mane nervously, looking down. "Um... Both of your wings are broken, your right foreleg might be broken too, you have at least two broken ribs, and it looks like somepon- er, something bit your tail. As for your throat..." Fluttershy shrugged helplessly, looking for all the world like she had been the one beaten. "I don't even know. It's like something stabbed you." She murmured, scuffing a hoof against the floor. Dash shook her head, stunned- she hadn't been hurt this bad since Flight school, when she'd missed the clouds and plummeted to the ground.

With a grim smile, she remembered that Fluttershy had been her doctor that time too. Suddenly, she remembered just what (or, rather, who) had put her into this situation, and snarled out loud, prompting Fluttershy to dive under the mattress with a strangled "eep!". After a moment of Dash staring at the foot of the bed, making her best "are you bucking kidding me?" face, Fluttershy reemerged, watching Dash carefully. The cyan colored pegasus took a moment to calm herself before she spoke. "So... did you find her?" She asked simply, knowing that Fluttershy would know to whom she was referring.

The kind pony shook her head, looking down. "I didn't chase her. I was so worried that you were gonna die..." She murmured, tears starting to run down her face at the memory. Dash reached out to comfort her- and found that she couldn't reach. Grumbling angrily to herself, she motioned for Fluttershy to come closer. When she did, Dash wrapped her unhurt foreleg around her and allowed the sobbing yellow pegasus to cry into her shoulder, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"Please, 'Shy. Like some chump's gonna kill me that easy." She boasted playfully, nuzzling into Fluttershy's mane comfortingly. "Besides," She said, pushing the still-shivering yellow pegasus away so that she could lock eyes with her. "With Doctor Fluttershy on the case, there was no way I wouldn't get better." She grinned, and after a moment, Fluttershy smiled back. The tears were still falling, but she was calming down so Dash patted her on the head awkwardly and pulled her foreleg from around the kind pony's shoulders.

Fluttershy stood and looked at Dash for a moment, then, as if she'd suddenly been hit by a train of realization, she shot up and out of the room, leaving Dash bewildered and alone. Then, as suddenly as she'd left, Fluttershy was back- with a bowl of assorted leafy greens and other vegetables. She sat it down gently and pushed it towards Dash, looking embarassed. "I'm sorry, Dash. I'm supposed to be making you feel better, not the other way around." She said, looking thoroughly embarrassed. Dash just shook her head and started eating- rather messily, one might add- until Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder again. "Slow down, Rainbow Dash. With your body like it is, you'll make yourself sick eating that fast." She advised, giving Dash what appeared to be an attempt at a stern look- though, it looked more like a pleading stare to Dash.

Sighing mightily, the cyan pegasus slowed down obediently until Fluttershy thought her eating speed more appropriate and removed her hoof. Dash grumbled to herself as she ate, cursing everything from the food in front of her to Celestia herself that she had to have a mother figure for a doctor. Fluttershy merely averted her eyes and hummed a song loudly enough to drown out Dash's mutterings- she'd dealt with an injured Rainbow Dash more than once, and was used to the verbal abuse... and she knew (or hoped) that the athletic blue pegasus didn't mean what she said. After awhile, Dash sat back and pushed the bowl of food away, turning back to face Fluttershy once more. "So, how long am I going to have to stay in bed this time?" She asked, dreading the answer- she could feel in her battered body that it'd be longer than any hospital stay she'd had before.

Fluttershy winced a little at the question, and Dash really knew she was in for a long haul, even before the pink-maned pegasus spoke. "Um... well... about two weeks.." She mumbled, and Dash almost wished that she had a reason to yell at the shy pegasus. Fluttershy caught the look on the cyan pony's face and looked down, her eyes starting to fill with tears again. "I'll just... um... go get some of Twilight's 'Daring Do' books for you..." She said, leaving the room with her head down. Dash heard her start to sob before the front door shut, and she slapped a hoof into her own face.

Way to go, Dashie... She thought to herself, shaking her head in frustration. Just hurtin' your friends feelings. No biggie. The little nagging voice in her voice continued, prompting Rainbow to scowl. "Shut up, me." She muttered aloud before struggling her way out of bed and staggering to her feet. She walked slowly over to the window and looked out- she knew that Fluttershy would freak if she knew Dash was out of bed, but the athletic pegasus couldn't help it- sitting still for two weeks would kill her. Anyway, she was injured, not dead.

She hummed a dark little tune under her breath as she turned and started walking to the kitchen. "Now a Rainbow's tale isn't quite as nice as the story we knew of sugar and spice..." She sang to the same tune she'd been humming a few minutes earlier- rifling through Fluttershy's cupboards as she did so. She gave a triumphant little exclamation as she extracted a box of Cheerilio's cereal and a bottle of milk from the clutter and set about preparing a bowl. Pouring the milk was especially difficult it was hard to grasp the milk jug accurately with hooves, but Dash managed to do just that after spilling only half of the bowl's worth- much better than her usual three quarters. Eventually, exhausted from the uphill battle that preparing the cereal had been, Dash settled in front of her bowl and started enjoying her snack. While she ate, she thought back to the night before, trying to make sense of what she'd seen before she'd fought Embershade.

Rainbow Dash had never been happier- except on other occasions, when she'd been happier, of course- than she was when she alighted on the roof of somepony's house after successfully pulling off her best trick yet (with the exception of the sonic rainboom, of course). She yawned and stretched, now thoroughly exhausted, and cast about the sky for a good napping cloud. Just as she was about to take off, she heard voices in the alley below her- voices that sounded angry, maybe even violent- so naturally Dash needed to take a peek, just to make sure everything was okay. Stealthily peering down over the edge of the roof, she spied two pegasus ponies, one red with a black mane and the other a vibrant orange, with an almost equally vibrant orangey-red mane. They were almost nose to nose, tails bristling and wings tense, and their words were muttered and fierce; the red one spoke first.

"Enough, Ember! You started this, you could at least see it though with me." She said, shoving the pony that Dash now remembered was called Embershade. "Discord has shown me just how beautiful chaos is, and it's worth the things we'd lose!" The red pony continued, almost pleading with the pony she'd shoved just a few seconds prior. Embershade shook her head.

She turned away from the red mare, and scuffed at the dirt for a moment. "No, Feather... It's not. If it was, you wouldn't have sold yourself over to Discord just to free me from him." She said matter-of-factly, further confusing Dash- what did these two have to do with Discord? Why did they sound like they knew him personally? She was so lost in thought, she almost missed the next- and perhaps most important- part of the conversation.

The red pegasus- Feather, Dash reminded herself- grabbed Ember's fluffy red tail in her teeth and pulled her back before she could leave. Dash's tail twinged in sympathy as she remembered the many times Applejack had done that to her, and she again almost missed the words of the conversation. "Hypocrite!" The red mare hissed into Ember's face, almost spraying spittle. "You're the one that freed Discord in the first place, and now you're on the moral high road? You disgust me." She spat, for real this time, and launched herself into the air, leaving Embershade alone in the alley. At least, alone for a moment.

Dash hopped down into the alley way and into Red Feather's place, confronting Embershade. The orange pony blinked, confused, and took a moment before she spoke- either to find her voice or remember Dash's name. "Rainbow Dash, right? What're you doing here?" She asked, trying for all the world to appear innocent. Dash, for obvious reasons, didn't buy it.

"What did she mean, 'you freed Discord'?" Dash asked, subtly getting to the point- and also into Ember's face. The pony's sunset-colored eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and fear and she backed away from Dash slowly, only to have the cyan pegasus follow her nose-to-nose. Dash shoved Embershade roughly, causing her to stumble, and got even further up into the orange pony's personal space. "Well? What was she talking about?" She hissed viciously, causing Ember to wince.

But now, the orange pony's eyes were filled with a flaming anger that made her eyes' impression of the setting sun even more believable. "What does it matter to you?" She asked, prodding a hoof into Dash's chest. "What difference does it make? I don't even know you." She growled, shoving the blue pony back and turning to leave- only to have someone's teeth seize her tail for the second time in an hour, yanking her back. She spun around to yell at the nosy pegasus- only to come, quite literally, face-to-face with her.

Rainbow Dash was mad now- she wanted the truth, not avoidance- and she wasn't thinking quite clearly when she shoved the orange pony onto her back and pinned her down. "It matters because it was me and my friends that had to beat that psycho!" She practically shouted into Ember's face. She was quite amazed when the pony beneath her began to laugh.

"You're one of the elements of harmony? Oh, that's hilarious." Ember giggled, somehow managing to growl at the same time. "I'm sorry, but I just can't tell... are you the element of brutish stupidity?" She asked, her angry frown smoothing into a self-satisfied smirk. Dash saw red- and not in the literal sense, though there was plenty of red in the bit of her mane that was hanging down in front of her face- and reared back. Ember barely had time to realize she'd gone too far before a cyan hoof smashed into the side of her face, knocking the rest of her snide remarks clean out of her head- along with a fair bit of her cheek.

"Hmm..." Dash mused, coming back to the present just as she finished the last of her cereal. The rest of the fight was a blur, right up until the point where Ember had dive-bombed an already downed Dash (probably the reason for her broken ribs, in retrospect) and proceeded to pin her to the ground and make fun of her. When Fluttershy showed up, Rainbow Dash had been so relieved that she passed out. Now thoroughly sure she'd caught up with the present, Dash limped into the sitting room and settled down in one of Fluttershy's chairs, deciding she'd rather deal with Fluttershy's fit sooner than later. No sooner than she'd gotten comfortable did the door ease open, revealing Fluttershy's silhouette outlined by the light of Celestia's sun behind her.

The silhouette spoke, but there was something oddly wrong about her voice. "Hey there, Rainbow Crash." She said in a small, cruel voice.

Fluttershy was walking down the dirt road to her cottage, a 'Daring Do' book tucked under each wing, when she noticed the abnormal shape lying on the side of the road in the distance. Picking up speed in curiosity, the shy pegasus soon recognized the prone form to be a pony and was galloping toward it at full speed. Oh no, Oh no, Oh no! She whimpered internally as she reached the prone mare- a deep, scarlet coated mare with a blue black mane- and saw that she was unconscious. Carefully, she examined the mare and, finding nothing visibly wrong with her, slowly tried to prod the pony awake with her hoof. It took a few tries, but the red mare stirred and blinked her eyes open.

Fluttershy gasped at her eyes- they were an unhealthy shade of yellow, with bright red irises. Fluttershy waved a hoof in front of the pony's face. "Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay." The frightened yellow pony said, hopping anxiously from hoof to hoof, almost doing a nervous little dance. The mare nodded and smiled- somehow, the expression seemed sinister on her face.

"I'm just wonderful, Fluttershy." The strange red mare assured, in a strangely familiar and strangely male voice. "Frankly, my dear, I'm more worried about you. You give up your bed, food, and hours of sleep to take care of Rainbow Dash, and all she does is get angry and make you cry." The mare whispered in a strangely hypnotizing tone, staring directly into Fluttershy's eyes. The normally-timid pegasus found herself nodding in angry agreement, utterly taken in by the red mare's every word.

Finally, Fluttershy slapped a hoof over the red mare's mouth, having heard enough. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go give Rainbow Dash a piece of my mind." She said simply, before turning back and resuming her course for her home, albeit with a faster, more determined spring in her step.

Rainbow Dash shifted uncomfortably in her seat, wincing at the sound of her old school nickname. "Come on, Fluttershy, I know you told me not to get out of bed but is that really neces-" She started to ask before two buttery-yellow rear hooves smashed into her broken ribs and launched her halfway across Fluttershy's living room. She lay there in a pain-filled, breathless daze for a moment, staring up at the ceiling in shock. Suddenly, her entire body was wracked with agony as somepony deliberately stood on her already broken wings. A familiar face appeared over her, looking down at her as she screamed. The normally kind face was twisted into a sadistic sneer, and every time Rainbow screamed, Fluttershy stomped on her wings again. Eventually, Rainbow couldn't even scream anymore. She just stared up at Fluttershy in shock and pain, and just as she was about to pass out, her vision swimming with tears and exhaustion, Fluttershy smiled.

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. I'm going to take good care of you." She whispered into the cyan pegasus's ear as she drifted into unconsciousness.