Prologue
They never expected her to do the dark accomplishments that lay before the small unicorn that which gazed in horror at the darkness that lay littered on the floor of her old friend's cabin. They all thought of it as a simple illness, but instead it was pure heartless killing. She played them all into her false sense of remorse and kindness. Sweetie belle peeked once more from her shut eyes and closed them shut immediately, to afraid to see the thing that lay dormant in Fluttershy's kitchen. Fluttershy was gone now, but her darkness would forever penetrate the souls of every pony that dared now to call her a friend. Sweetie belle remembered the time of her old friend. She rembered the time where she had to work for her when her sister rarity was out of town, or at least she thought was out of town. She wished that she never had to go to her house on that day. That one day, out of all the other days, it had to be that one day she went to her house, not knowing that one day would be the day she would see Fluttershy's true soul.
***
It was a crisp blue morning at the carousel boutique. Sweetie belle yawned as the early birds chirped softly. With her magic, she took the sheet off her bed and got up. She then galloped downstairs and captured a whiff of delicious eggs and toast with a hint of oats. She turned the corner, and saw her sister rarity cooking with her magic. She looked over and smiled at sweetie belle.
"Good morning sis, what's the occasion. You never make breakfast this early." Sweetie belle yawned as she sat down at the table.
"Oh I know dear, it's just last night, I got a very important invitation from manehattan. They want me to do a vintage fashion design for a world renown photographer, but sadly I only got one ticket. So, I asked some of my friends if they could watch over you while I was gone, and fluttershy was the one that reluctantly agreed to the matters." Rarity spoke as she raked the food onto the plate that was placed on the table set out for sweetie belle.
"Fluttershy?" Sweetie belle cooed questioningly.
Suddenly there was a soft ring at the door.
"Ooh, that's probably her." Rarity said quickly.
Rarity and sweetie belle then went out of the kitchen and toward the door. With her magic, rarity opened the door quickly to reveal a yellow Pegasus with soft green irises and a pink flowing mane.
"um, hello." The Pegasus spoke softly while looking at the ground and back at them with her hoof slowly grazing the dirt.
"Why, hello fluttershy. Sweetie belle's luggage is in my room, already packed, and my keys are under the doormat. Oh, and I almost forgot!" Rarity said surprisingly as she ran back into the boutique.
She came back to the door with a white silky cat with a cute little bow trying to pry itself from rarity's unicorn magic.
"Opal, be a good kitty with fluttershy and sweetie belle. Sweetie belle, be a dear and go get your luggage in my room. I'll be waiting right here." Rarity finished happily and quickly.
Sweetie belle then ran inside, upstairs, and into rarity's room. She spotted the one purple satchel on rarity's bed and threw it on her back, huffing and puffing from the heaviness of her luggage. She strolled slowly down stairs and toward the door where she saw fluttershy struggling with opal.
"Here I am." Sweetie belle puffed to rarity. Suddenly, a small chariot pulled by two stallions strolled up to the boutique.
"Wonderful, sweetie belle. I shall be on my way to the friendship express. I love you." Rarity cooed as she kissed sweetie belle. "And I love you too, opal!" Rarity cooed as she kissed opal on the forehead.
Opal growled as rarity kissed her and as rarity galloped into the chariot. She waved goodbye as the chariot strolled toward the direction of the train station and waved until the chariot was out of sight. Sweetie belle stood there with fluttershy struggling to hold opal in a deadly silence.
"Well, um, I guess we should go to my house now." Fluttershy squeaked softly.
"Okay!" Sweetie belle shouted impatiently, startling fluttershy.
Sweetie belle thought she detected some impatience with fluttershy as well, but she ignored it.
***
The cabin glowed softly in the morning light as the two ponies, who were now both struggling with the cat, neared toward it. Once there, they entered the cabin, relieved to set the cat down onto the floor of the cottage. Sweetie belle looked up and noticed the many different animals inside Fluttershy's house. A small little white bunny hopped toward sweetie belle and sniffed her hooves.
"Hey, angel!" Sweetie belle shouted in her ear causing her to jump and fall on the ground.
Angel got up and bounded away with a snobbish expression on her face, though not as snobbish as the stern gaze opal gave to the other animals. Sweetie belle then sat her luggage on Fluttershy's couch, when the saddle bag accidentally popped opened, making a small piece of parchment roll out onto the sofa. Sweetie belle unrolled it and it read in bold letters: WHATEVER FLUTTERSHY TELLS YOU TO DO, YOU MUST LISTEN TO HER AND FOLLOW HER COMMAND. Sweetie belle noticed fluttershy peering over and grinned while fluttershy blushed.
"So, what can I do for you!" Sweetie belle grinned once more.
"Well, um, I guess, maybe you could, possibly help me with the animals, they need some feeding." Fluttershy whimpered.
"Perfect, I will run to the store and get some!" Sweetie belle grinned.
"Oh, no need, I have started feeding my animals some special food I have in my pantry." Fluttershy said happily as she went to her pantry and came back with a burlap sack full of a peculiar mush.
"I don't ever feed my animals that artificial food. This is one hundred percent organic mush!" Fluttershy said joyfully as she fed a scoopful to opal.
Opal licked it, spat it up immediately, and stalked off into the kitchen.
"Don't worry, it takes time for them to eating this new food." Fluttershy cheered patiently. Suddenly, Fluttershy's animals all dug into the sack, gnawing at the food.
"Well, your animals seem to enjoy it!" Sweetie belle giggled.
Suddenly, a knock came to the door. Sweetie belle answered the door, and out popped one orange Pegasus and one yellow earth pony. Both fillies.
"Hello apple bloom and scootaloo!, I completely forgot about the cutie mark crusader meet up! You see, I had to help fluttershy with the animals, maybe we can do it some other time?" Sweetie belle questioned sadly.
"Oh nonsense, you three go on and enjoy yourselves." Fluttershy said joyfully.
"Really? Thank you fluttershy!" Sweetie belle squealed delightfully.
The three friends then went out the door, and headed straight toward sweet apple acres where there clubhouse lay. As they were heading toward there headquarters, sweetie belle looked back, and saw the door slam shut immediately. Sweetie belle rolled her eyes and joined her friends back in galloping.
Dusk had come to its dawn. Sweetie belle trotted back gleefully to Fluttershy's cabin when all of a sudden, she saw its door hanging from its hinges with all the cabin's lights all turned off. Without hesitation, she raced toward the cottage's entrance and gasped in horror at what she saw. All of Fluttershy's animals scattered dead on the floor. Sweetie belle saw opal cringed up in a corner growling with a blood soaked pelt. Sweetie belle picked her up gently and petted her.
"Who hurt you?" Sweetie belle questioned.
Suddenly, a grinder sounded from the kitchen. Sweetie belle peeked in and saw fluttershy about to drop her pet angel into a grinder with a burlap sack at the end of it that had that mush in it.The mush was the meat of her animals!
"Don't touch him." Sweetie belle shouted.
Fluttershy looked over and threw angel to the floor, making angel spit up mucus.
"Well, well, well, it seems as if some pony learned something new today." Fluttershy chuckled. "I would expect some pony to find out sooner or later, I just expected it to be some pony with a sense to escape as soon as possible. You really believed that I was kind, that poor little fluttershy is a guiltless pony, that she would never have the integrity to kill the animals! They all thought it was an illness, and I expect them to keep believing that!" She laughed darkly while backing sweetie belle and opal into a corner.
"What are you going to do?" Sweetie belle questioned while clutching opal even tighter.
"I am going to have lunch! That's what I'm going to do, any last words?" Fluttershy questioned. Sweetie belle closed her eyes, peeked open a single eye, looked behind fluttershy, and smiled.
"Yes, it is a rarity to find your true soul!" Sweetie belle smiled.
"Wha.." SMACK. Fluttershy landed on the floor and found herself being tackled by rarity.
"Take that!, you ruffian!" Rarity screamed in her ear.
They scrambled and fought each other for minutes until rarity picked a medical shot with fluids inserted in it from the counter, stabbed it into her, and injected the fluids that were in there. Fluttershy then wobbled and collapsed to the floor. She closed her eyes and never opened them again. Sweetie belle placed opal gently to the floor and galloped to rarity.
"I put her to sleep, just like you do with an animal." Rarity spat. "Come sister, lets go back home." Rarity commanded.
"Wait, how did you know this would happen. I thought you were in manehattan?" Sweetie belle questioned.
"I knew it was a trick all along. I have been given the same letter for months. I knew it was some pony trying to keep me from you. I never asked my friends if they would watch you, fluttershy said she would watch you, but the wired part was that she did not know that you would need watching or that I was going somewhere in the first place. So, I spied on you two and stopped her before she killed you and opal, or angel for that matter." rarity finished as she motivationally nudged angel to stand up.
Rarity then took opal and angel by the scruffs and tucked them in her saddle bag and she and sweetie belle strolled toward the door.
"Wait, sis!" Sweetie belle stopped.
"Yes, dearest." Rarity answered.
"Thank you." She cooed.
"Anytime." Rarity said as she nuzzled sweetie belle.
"One more thing rarity, I think I forgot some luggage in the kitchen. I'll be back." Sweetie belle said quickly.
Rarity nodded in approval and sweetie belle quickly galloped back into the kitchen. She looked and closed her eyes, to afraid to see her like this. The body of fluttershy strangely lay dormant, and sweetie belle could not help but walk over to her and cry over her.
"The things that you could of done, the works that you could of achieved, why did you have to waste them on this?" She cried softly.
Suddenly sweetie belle peered over, and found an old parchment entangled in her mane. She picked it up with her magic and read:
Dear sweetie belle,
If you have found this letter then good. I have been kidnapped by impostors. No, not changelings, something worse. Something smart enough to know the strongest powers of equestria, your heart. it is the heart of friendship. You and your two friends share this forgotten element. An element that not even starswirled the bearded himself could figure out. Don't tell no one, not even your sister about this. They all think that this element is gone and that it was only used as a part of the hearth's warming eve story. It is only something you and your two friends should know about. If someone says that you can trust them, then you should run. Don't ever let this darkness get to you. Always remember that they will never hurt you. They will never take you. They will never break you. For as long as your light stands, they will never dim you. Your heart has something powerful. Something that the world will never grasp and stow away in its darkest of darkness.
Sincerely,
Fluttershy
Sweetie belle stared at the letter for a long time and cried. She looked at the stars through the window and remembered the last part of the letter. She smiled.
"I swear fluttershy. I will find you. I will bring back this forgotten element, and destroy this darkness. We will be the deciphers of equestria.
Chapter 1
The sun had finally rose over ponyville. Canterlot guards stood outside of the cottage of Fluttershy's investigating and guarding last night's incident. sweetie belle and rarity were told to stay and explain the stories of what happened.
"She betrayed us! She wanted sweetie belle dead so she could feed her to her innocent animals." Rarity cried.
Sweetie belle stood silent. Tucking the parchment deeper into her satchel. If it were not for this parchment, sweetie belle too would believe rarity's story. The only hard part was on how she could tell her story to her friends. All of a sudden, she heard the galloping of two sets of hooves coming toward her. It was apple bloom and scootaloo.
"Sweetie belle, are you okay!" Scootaloo cried.
"you heard already?" Sweetie belle questioned.
"The whole town heard! I can't believe that fluttershy would kill defenseless animals!" Applebloom shouted.
Sweetie belle stood silent for a long time until she gained the courage to speak.
"You think that maybe later today we could talk about this at the clubhouse?" She cooed.
"Of course! Until then, good luck." Apple bloom spoke softly.
Sweetie belle looked on as they disappeared in the distance. "If only I could tell rarity." Sweetie belle spoke softly to herself.
* * *
The clubhouse loomed in the distance as sweetie belle sweated from galloping. She was thankful that rarity allowed her to go to the clubhouse, even though she said that she would never trust anyone ever again. It kind of didn't make much sense to sweetie belle that rarity would let her only sister go somewhere right after an attempted murder. Sweetie belle shook the thought off, and kept galloping.
As she entered the clubhouse, a sweet aroma of baked apples filled the room. Sweetie belle looked, and saw her two best friends standing side by side an orange farmer pony with a blonde mane and tail that were both tied up in a red cherry band. She was holding a tray of apple tarts in her mouth, and a gleaming smile was shimmering on her face.
"Hey, sugar cube! I baked these goods for you three. I thought that it would be the least I could do, because you know, that dumb animal slaughter." The farmer pony clearly mouthed through the tray.
"Thank you, applejack." Sweetie belle spoke softly.
Applejack nodded in welcome and placed the tray gently down on the floor.
"Well, I guess I should be on my way. I gotta go help Big Macintosh with plowing. You three be on your best behavior." Applejack spoke softly.
The three synchronized there nod of approval and watched as applejack trotted out of the clubhouse, and shut the door behind her. With her magic, sweetie belle picked up a tart and took a large bite from it. She then used her magic to grab a parchment out of her satchel. She then waved the parchment in front of her two friends' faces.
"Read this." She mumbled through her tart.
Scootaloo then grabbed the parchment from sweetie belle's magic and leaned in closer to applebloom so they could both read along. The longer sweetie belle waited for there response, the redder her face had gotten. She waited for a couple of seconds until she heard the parchment fall on the floor. She looked and saw the faces of her two best friends. Both were staring in confusion.
"Sweetie belle, what the hay?" Applebloom shouted.
"Well, that was not the reaction I was expecting." Sweetie belle cooed.
"What reaction were you expecting? Fluttershy is found guilty of attempted murder, and all of a sudden you come up here and shove this thing in our face! What the hay, sweetie belle?" Scootaloo demanded.
A tear formed in sweetie belle's eye, and soon enough she began to cry.
"Listen girls. I don't understand this either. I didn't want to be dragged into this as well as you. I know we just figured out about Fluttershy's plots, but look at this! This letter could be from the real fluttershy!" Sweetie belle exclaimed as she picked up the parchment with her magic.
Scootaloo and applebloom looked at each other, and then back at sweetie belle.
"Yeah, but what about that whole forgotten element thing" scootaloo questioned.
Suddendly, a loud screeching noise erupted from under the tree. So loud that it made the three friends all go deaf for a few minutes, making every sound be replaced by a huge loud ringing in there ears. Once there deafness had cleared up, they heard total peace. Without a moment's hesitation, they all ran down to the bottom of the tree and stood frozen with horror. On the tree was a huge carving of words saying "read this", and next to the words was an arrow that was carved into the tree with them. The arrow pointed to a parchment that looked as if the ink was blood. They sat in horror as they read:
Dear, homely fillies
Did you enjoy that little gag? That was delicious was it not? I just can't believe that she would have the GUTS to kill animals. Get it? Too bad we can't have more fun like that. Oh wait, we can. I know what your probably thinking about this. You three are probably wondering what good of a use you all are. You three are probably wondering on how to stop this madness. Well, obviously you three have not read the note your little friend left behind. Oh wait, you already have. I have your friend fluttershy, in fact I have ALL of them. You know your little friend applejack that just went out to help her dimwitted brother? Well, I just napped her! I slaughtered a calf just to let you know what I did. So, I guess that means I have your sister rarity, sweetie belle. Next time, tell her where you are going! Hahaha! How do you like them apples, maybe with your apple tart? Haha! So, I am assuming you want to know where they are? Well, I'll tell you three where your friends are, but in the form of a riddle. Lets see if you can decipher it!:
to go where the moon showers the land, you must first consort with the sleeping monstrosity that swallows our kingdom. then afterwards you shall delve into the forgotten thrones of the star and the satellite. afterwards, you shall then travel through the world's whose seeds were never sewn.
Well, hope you will enjoy this quest. I know I will!
Sincerely,
The forgotten king
Sweetie belle then grabbed the message in her mouth and jammed it into her saddle bag.
"Let's go check on applejack!" Sweetie belle shouted.
The three friends then ran from the tree of there clubhouse, and delved deeper into sweet apple acres. They ceased there galloping when they heard a wail of agony in the corral next to the red barn where apple bloom and her family lived. Turning around, they sprinted to the corral to find a cow gasping in pain with its left leg cut open. They ran up to the cow slowly as a signal of peace so the cow would not take them as a threat. They all gazed at the cow in oblivious shock. The blood was seeping from the cow's leg so fast that it turned the very hay at which it sat on red. The cow then gasped a heavy sigh of pain, and closed it's eyes forever.
"Who could of done this?" Apple bloom questioned melancholically.
"Look!" Scootaloo cried as she pointed to the barn wall at the end of the corral.
On the barn wall written in bold bloody letters was the words: I TOLD YOU SO
"It really did capture them." Applebloom whispered.
