5

"What?" Twilight stared in surprise. "That makes no sense!"

"Have you seen Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked. "Her husband's abusive! And it's Rarity's fault!"

"How is anything Sandstorm does Rarity's fault?"

Pinkie stood up. "Last year, I saw them talking to each other. And Rarity said, 'Don't be afraid to assert yourself to your wife.'"

"I'm sure she didn't mean anything harmful," Twilight replied. "This is all just a misunderstanding."

"No, it isn't!" Pinkie insisted. "Because when Sandstorm started abusing her, Rarity did nothing about it! She just watches!"

"Rarity told me she hasn't seen you in a year. Is that the only reason you're so mad at her?"

Pinkie glared at her. "She looks like a helpless hobo, but she has something against Fluttershy. She has a reason to hurt her. She just wants revenge. She blames Fluttershy for her homelessness when she was the one to give up her home for her."

Twilight looked over at the twins. "Do you two know if this is true?"

"I don't know a lot about her," Pound replied. "But I think I have seen her tell Pinkie something mean about Fluttershy."

"Like what?"

"That's not important." Pinkie looked at the twins. "Um, you don't have to stay and listen if you don't want to."

"Y-you want us to leave?" Pumpkin asked, looking apologetic.

"It's fine, we'll leave." Pound gestured to Spike. "Should he come with us?"

"No, Spikey's important too." Pinkie smiled a little at Spike. "No offense, but he was missing from existence for ten years too."

The twins proceeded to head upstairs, both of them leaping over the missing stair as if it were instinct by now.

Twilight looked back at Pinkie. "So, um..."

"You didn't give Rarity money, did you?" Pinkie asked suddenly. "Because she uses it for gambling."

Rarity gambling? The mere concept was laughable, but under these circumstances Twilight had to believe Pinkie. After all, Rarity was homeless. Of course she'd try to get extra money. "But it'd be reasonable for her to gamble," Twilight pointed out. "She kind of needs money."

"She cheats. And she gambles with other hobos."

"But what does this have to do with Fluttershy nearly dying?"

Pinkie didn't respond. She didn't look as if she had no answer. Rather, she looked as of she had an answer she didn't want to share. She had a fearful glimmer in her eyes.

Twilight shook her head. "Never mind, okay? I think this is something we should discuss later."

"What happened to Ponyville?" Spike asked suddenly.

Pinkie glanced at him. "It was ruined by invaders. Didn't anyone tell you?"

"Well, Rarity told us that, but it's kind of vague."

Twilight nodded. "Who were they? Are they still here?"

"Apparently they were waiting to attack us. And they said something like, 'You fools are too weakened by grief to defend yourselves.'" When she did her impression, she made her voice as raspy and villainous as possible. "They were kind of right. Even Celestia wouldn't leave her room for a week straight."

Twilight looked away. "So...this is my fault."

Pinkie looked alarmed. "N-no, I didn't mean it like that! You're not the ones who tried to kill everyone!"

"But I somehow messed up the spell and left you all in the dark for an entire decade." Twilight looked at Spike. "And I brought you into this mess."

Spike smiled at her. "You'll figure it out. For now you should probably just get information."

"Information about what?" Pinkie asked. "I don't know anything about the invaders. Other than what one of them looked like."

Twilight tilted her head. "Just one?"

Pinkie nodded. She glanced at the stairs where the twins had gone up. "Did they tell you about the thing that happened last week?"

"Yes." Twilight was somewhat afraid to talk about it with Pinkie. She was afraid of what she would say. She knew that Pinkie had a close bond with Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They were like family to her. It actually surprised Twilight that Pinkie was even able to mention the incident. Although, she's not exactly happy-go-lucky right now. But in a place like this, that's not too surprising.

"The killer was one of the invaders that ruined this place," Pinkie continued. "I know because he came in through my room and woke me up."

"Do you know his motive?"

"No." Pinkie looked away, as if ashamed of herself. "He was posing as some kind of therapist. He said he heard I was depressed and he wanted to help me."

"But doesn't it seem a bit suspicious," Twilight pointed out, "that some stranger would just break into your room in the middle of the night and offer you some antidepressant?"

"He didn't give me an antidepressant. Because I don't have depression."

"Then what was that whole heard-you-were-depressed thing?"

Pinkie hesitated. "Well, I guess I kind of was a little sad because I was thinking about what happened to you ten years ago, but..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. It's kind of like her to be in denial about something like that. But...it is pretty sad. She moved on. "What did he give you, then?"

"What do you think?" Pinkie was still looking really ashamed of herself. "It was a cupcake. Which was really small for some reason."

Twilight blinked. "So this stranger just barged through your window in the middle of the night and offered you a cupcake to ease depression, and you believed him?"

Pinkie's eyes began brimming with tears. "I-I'm sorry! He was really convincing!" She looked sideways at Twilight. "Y-you're not mad at me are you?"

Twilight hesitated. She hasn't seen you for ten years, and she just lost ponies who were essentially her second parents. Go easy on her. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. How long did it take?"

"To what?"

"The cupcake was drugged, wasn't it?"

"I actually don't remember a lot," Pinkie admitted. "I think after I ate it, I told him that it tasted funny and I asked what flavor it was. But I don't remember what he answered. Probably some snarky comment revealing that the cupcake was drugged." She now looked straight at Twilight. "Why do you want to know?"

"I might need to know," Twilight replied. "Information is always important."

Spike glanced at the door, then back at Pinkie. "No one told us about Applejack."

Pinkie thought for a moment. "It's been a long time since I talked to her. Before she went to prison."

"Wait, what?" Twilight gasped. "What in Equestria would somepony like her get arrested for?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't talk much to any of our old friends anymore. The most I've done is have some occasional conversation with Fluttershy when I sneak food into her saddlebags."

Twilight paused for a moment to get over her surprise. Okay, so Applejack's in prison. She's been in prison. She glanced at Pinkie. Then again, if someone like her can get depression from this mess, then I guess someone like Applejack can commit a crime. As in, physically able to. "Um...you think I'd be able to visit her?"

Pinkie nodded. "Oh, and if you're wondering, I can tell you where to find Rainbow Dash."

"We already know." Twilight took a moment to recall Rarity's words. "She's in the asylum, right? How did she manage to lose her sanity?"

Pinkie's eyes shimmered with sorrow. "I don't know. She's been stuck in there for five years."

Twilight sighed. "It...it doesn't have anything to do with me leaving, does it?"

Pinkie didn't answer.

I take that as a yes. Twilight stretched her forelegs; they were starting to ache from just standing around. "I guess I'll go see Applejack, then. And then I'll try to check up on Rainbow Dash."

"Are you sure?" Pinkie took a few steps toward the stairs. "It's getting kind of late, and you'll probably need somewhere to stay."

"She's right," Twilight said to Spike. "We're probably going to be stuck here for a while. If not for, you know, forever."

Spike sighed. "Twilight, you need to stop being pessimistic."

"I can set things up for you," Pinkie offered. "If you want to stay with one of your friends, I'm the only one you can stay with."

Twilight thought for a moment. She was right again. She and Fluttershy were the only ones with an actual house, and staying with Fluttershy was out of the question.

It broke Twilight's heart when she remembered how helpless Fluttershy looked, pinned to the wall by her husband with tears streaking down from her exhausted eyes. There has to be a way to help her. But for now, I can't. She started heading for the door. "Okay. I guess, if you don't mind. We'll be back after we see Applejack and Rainbow."

Pinkie nodded, smiling. "And I'll be sure to make something for you guys, too. I never want to see somepony starve to death."

"Thanks." Just as she and Spike were about to walk through the door, Twilight turned her head and said, "Oh, Pinkie?"

The pony was just starting upstairs. "What is it?"

"I'm probably going to tick someone off for saying this...but I'm so glad the victim wasn't you."