What Comes Next

A loud roar blasted through Ponyville. To Applejack's best guess, it seemed to be coming from the direction of the Everfree forest.

"Ah hope that's not what ah think it is."

"I'm afraid it is." Rarity's voice wavered as she stepped inside, nodding her greetings to Lyra and Bonbon. "I was on my way home when I first heard it. I immediately ran back to Twilight. She told me to gather our friends and meet back at the library."

"Is there anything we can do?" Lyra asked. She was a bit shaken but anypony acquainted with her knew how determined she could be.

"It's not safe out there," Rarity said, a concerned note in her voice. "I simply can't ask you to put yourself in danger like that."

Lyra was undeterred. "The town is in danger, the six of you can do a lot, but surely we can do something"

"Hmm..."

"Fluttershy, we need you to find Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, standing in front of the checkout counter of Golden Oaks, "We need her if we are going to have a chance of using the elements against the hydra."

"Me an' Pinkie will make sure everypony is indoors, safe an' sound. We'll meet ya in tha town square when ya find Rainbow." Applejack gave a nod to Pinkie Pie before turning back to Twilight. With a motion towards Lyra and Bonbon she asked, "In tha meantime, what are these two doin'?"

Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin and thought for a moment before continuing, "You two go to Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle thinks that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo might have gone there after they left. If you don't find them in their clubhouse then you should head straight for the farmhouse or barn. Stay there until someone tells you it's safe."

Lyra and Bonbon nodded.

Rarity, who had been scouring the shelves for any books on hydras, paused her search for a moment. "Isn't there a way to lure it away from Ponyville? I would hate for anypony to lose their home, or worse...."

After a moment's thought, Twilight began, "From the last report I received, the hydra is still in the forest. We should be okay for a little while," her face took on a serious expression. "I'll distract the hydra. If worse comes to worst at least I can teleport out of there. And If I can't, I can always fly."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Are you absolutely certain you will be able to fly if it comes to that? Half the time you don't even remember that you have wings."

"I'll be fine, don't worry." Twilight said with a nervous grin. She wasn't about to let her friends know how frightened she was at the thought of going toe to toe with the giant reptile.

"If you say so..." Rarity was still skeptical, but she trusted Twilight. She turned her attention back to the bookshelf and continued her search. "Just be careful."

It was the first place Fluttershy looked. Rainbow Dash's cloud house. She could hear the wailing from the ground.

As she beat her wings, raising upwards towards the pillowy walls, she wondered what she would say to her friend. She was still uncertain while knocking on the door. Even more so when greeted by Dash's voice screaming "Go away!" from somewhere that sounded like it was just behind the door.

"E-excuse me, Rainbow Dash, but we really need your help." Fluttershy's voice came as a tiny squeak. She wasn't certain if Dash could hear her, but she was too nervous to speak any louder. "There is a giant hydra getting ready to attack the town, and they need us to..."

"GO AWAY!" Dash shouted through her door. "Twilight can handle it."

Fluttershy took a step backwards. She wasn't sure what to say, but she knew that she couldn't leave without her friend. "I-is something wrong? I don't want to intrude, but we really need your help."

"I'm not coming out." Dash shouted. "Besides, Twilight can handle anything. She's the strongest unicorn ever. I'm just…. Just go away."

Fluttershy thought for a moment, staring at her hooves. She didn't know what to say, but she knew that she couldn't just leave. "Rainbow, you're an important member of the team. We need all of us to deal with..."

"SHUT-UP! Don't pretend like you care about me! Nopony gives a flying feather about my feelings." Dash shouted through the still closed door. "You just want to use me for what you want, just like everypony else!"

Tears began to well-up in Fluttershy's eyes. Of all the things her anxiety ridden mind had thought-up for Dash to say, this was not one of them. "Dash, I… I…"

"Don't bother Fluttershy. I'm not coming out." Dash's voice was muffled by the cloud walls, but the scorn in her tone came through loud and clear.

Fluttershy sniffled. She wanted to run away, but her worry for herself was outpaced by her concern for her friend. She steeled herself for her next words and, after a moment's silence, spoke. "You don't have to come out. And you are right, Twilight is a very powerful unicorn… but I'm your friend… why don't you let me in so we can talk? It seems the least I can do to offer a shoulder after… you know…."

A silent moment passed. In it, a thousand thoughts flew through Fluttershy's mind. Worrisome thoughts about what Dash was thinking. Terrible thoughts about their friendship being scarred because she was being intrusive. All manner of awful scenarios manifested themselves to her.

The door slowly creaked open.

Hesitating briefly, Fluttershy cautiously stepped into the entryway.

"Rainbow Dash?"

Lyra and Bonbon raced toward Sweet Apple Acres. Their breath was ragged as their hooves pounded the well worn road. Neither spoke, both focused on their destination. Occasionally Bonbon stole a glance at Lyra, opening her mouth but unable to find any words.

As the Crusader's clubhouse came into view Lyra's pace slowed to a canter. Bonbon adjusted her speed accordingly. For the first time since they left her house, Bonbon heard Lyra speak to her.

"Why?" Lyra said between breaths, as they continued on the wide dirt road. Her eyes fixed on the clubhouse ahead of them, she refused to look at Bonbon, giving the impression that she may have been thinking aloud rather than asking a question.

"Why what?" Bonbon replied, hoping to Celestia that she didn't already know the answer.

"Why her? Why so soon?" Lyra's gaze never wavered.

Bonbon lost her breath. Her heart sank as she attempted to pull together a response. "Lyra..." she said as her hooves began to stumble over her thoughts. She suddenly found herself unable to muster even a slow trot. "I didn't… I mean, I'm not… It's just…"

Lyra stopped moving. She spun quickly around, tears pooling in her eyes, and faced Bonbon, "We just broke-up yesterday, have you been carrying a torch for her all this time too?" She wiped her eyes and tried with all her might to calm herself. "Am I not good enough for you?"

"Baby…" Bonbon's mind raced as she tried to put together a response. "It's not like that."

"Then what? Tell me, because I've been searching for an explanation and that's all I can come up with." The tears began to flow freely down Lyra's face. "I know we were broken-up and all but was it really that easy to forget about me? I know I said I'd forgive you but…"

"Honey, listen. I know this is going to sound a bit cliché, but it's not you, it's me. I love you, and when you told me that you didn't want me anymore, and I made such a fool of myself in front of Applejack, I panicked. I've always known that I don't deserve you, and now I've made everypony else hate me too."

Lyra sniffled, wiping away tears as she listened quietly to Bonbon.

"Rainbow Dash made me feel like I have worth. She questioned herself because of me. It reminded me of when we first got together, only she was me and I was you. If that makes any sense." Bonbon's heart had jumped into her throat. She sank low to the ground, ears pinned to her head as she bared her heart to Lyra. "She reminded me of how I was so unsure of myself at first. How I looked at you as a friend for so long until you said something and we gave us a chance."

"Don't I make you feel like you have worth? I love you more than anything Bonbon." A cold breeze rattled the leaves of the orchard and sent a chill up Lyra's back. Looking through teary eyes, the large apple trees, combined with the chill air and Bonbon's words made her feel tiny. "Don't I have worth to you?"

"Well that's the thing. The whole time I was with her I was thinking of you." Bonbon squeezed her eyes shut tight, attempting to stave off the tears. "She was so excited when I made dinner, it reminded me of the first time you cooked for me, and how that made me want to learn to cook so I could impress you. She was so happy with every little thing I did for her, it was just like watching myself fawning over you. It reminded me of how important you are to me. I was grasping at the feeling of being with you and coming up short."

Drying her eyes, a smile began to form on Lyra's face. "Honey, that is both the sweetest and stupidest thing I have ever heard." She turned again to the dusty path and began walking toward the Crusader's clubhouse once more. She continued, "I suppose I may just be able to forgive you after all. But if this ever happens again, the next thing I'll be cooking for you will be your own plot."

"EVERYPONY SETTLE DOWN! LISTEN TA ME, THIS IS IMPORTANT!" Applejack yelled, trying in vain to gather the attention of the screaming crowds in the town square. "CONSARN IT, STOP!"

A loud blast echoed across the square. The screaming came to a stop and the crowd turned their attention to the stage as bits of confetti and brightly colored streamers rained down on them. Pinkie Pie fanned the smoke away from her party cannon with a hoof and flashed a bright smile to Applejack.

"Thanks Pinkie." AJ nodded then cleared her throat. "Listen up everypony. Y'all no doubt heard the roaring going on. That roaring is coming from an adult hydra on the edge of the Everfree forest. Right now it don't pose a threat seein' how it's stayin' in the forest, but we need everypony to go back to their homes and close tha doors while we lead it away from Ponyville. We'll come 'round after it's gone and let y'all know it's safe."

A voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd, "Why is a hydra attacking Ponyville?" Applejack recognized the voice as Daisy, owner of the nearby herb shop.

"As ah said, it ain't attacking Ponyville. It's very close though and seems a might agitated so, jus' ta be on tha safe side, we're askin' y'all ta get ta shelter while we handle it." Applejack took a deep breath and slowly released it. She was never completely comfortable addressing large crowds.

Another voice joined in, Roseluck, "I heard a rumor that Fluttershy has a hydra at her cottage, but I didn't think it was true. Why is she allowed to keep such dangerous monsters?"

Applejack gave a short chuckle, "Now that's jus' silly, why would Fluttershy have a full grown hydra?"

"We all saw how she acted when Cerberus attacked the town, she LOVES huge monsters. And she lives on the edge of the forest, right where the roars are coming from." Lily added her voice to the now murmuring crowd.

"Well it's true that she loves all kinds of critters, but all that there is just coincidence. Y'all can't really believe that she would put the whole town in danger do ya?" Applejack started to sweat.

Another voice, one she didn't recognize, shouted, "She's just protecting her marefriend!" At that, the murmurs of the crowd grew thunderous.

"Woah nelly." Applejack whispered to herself. The familiar nausea she had felt so often the past two days returning in an instant. Her voice trembled as she replied, "Now that just ain't so. For one thing…"

It was too late, the crowd was too loud and rowdy for her voice to be heard.

Through the din Applejack could hear clearly every shocked voice saying "She has a marefriend?" and every mention of her and Fluttershy. She started to back away.

Pinkie fired her party cannon again, to no avail. The crowd had grown too rowdy. She turned to Applejack and motioned to the library. Together, they began a hurried gallop towards safety.

The two were nearly out of sight of the square when a ear-splitting roar echoed through the streets. The clamor of the crowd died in an instant. Looking over their shoulders they could just make out the mayor standing on her hind legs, directing everypony to their homes.

Pinkie, with a thoughtful smile, let out a small giggle and turned to Applejack, "Well, at least…"

"Not now Pinkie."

Twilight's knees buckled. She drew a heavy breath, closed her eyes and exhaled. "You can do this. You've done this before. Everything is going to be just fine."

As she opened her eyes she could see the trees shake as the booming footsteps grew closer. She ventured a glance back at Fluttershy's cottage before returning her gaze to the tree line. Her horn lit-up, glowing brightly as a brilliant purple flash enveloped her, and in an instant she vanished.

The trees shook as a dull green fog began seeping out of the forest.