9

Someone was shaking her awake.

Quite violently.

Twilight opened her eyes slightly. It was Pinkie, unsurprisingly. She didn't seem to notice Twilight was already awake and kept shaking her. So Twilight blinked and gently pushed her away.

Pinkie only then noticed Twilight's open eyes. She walked back over and said, "You slept really late and I got worried."

Twilight sat up, rubbing her eyes. "How late?"

"It's already twelve thirty."

"That's not too late." Twilight glanced around. The room was still somewhat dark, but some of the sunlight managed to come through the cloth over the broken window. It seemed pretty nice out. Which would definitely be contrasting to Ponyville's state.

Pinkie shrugged. "I got up at five." She turned toward the door. "Just get out of bed."

She seemed pretty urgent for Twilight to get downstairs with her. It could just be how lonely she's been. Or she might want to talk about something. Either way, it was probably best, for Pinkie's sake, that Twilight listened to her.

Once Twilight climbed out, the two of them remade the bed before Pinkie hurried out of the room. Twilight looked after her before she quickly reappeared. "You coming?"

Twilight followed her downstairs, this time careful to step over the gap. She noticed Pound, Pumpkin and Spike already up; the twins were having a conversation and Spike was near the foot at the stairs. He looked like he'd been waiting for them.

"Hi," Twilight greeted him.

Spike waved, but didn't say anything. Twilight suddenly wondered if Spike had told Pinkie about what happened at the prison and the asylum. That would actually kind of make sense, since Pinkie seemed so eager to talk to Twilight.

But apparently Pinkie didn't know, because as they approached the counter she turned and asked, "Are you okay?"

Twilight blinked, having unexpected her to say this. "Why do you ask?"

Pinkie lowered her voice a little. "Well, uh...I think I heard you crying last night."

Twilight glanced back at Spike, who watched curiously. Pound and Pumpkin had stopped speaking and were now watching as well. Twilight looked back at Pinkie and nodded.

"What was that about?"

Twilight hesitated, then looked downward. Well, I guess I'll have to tell her at one point. The longer I keep this hidden, the more she'll be hurt. But... "I'd rather not say in front of children," she replied softly.

"Hey!" Pound protested. "We can handle it!"

"Are you sure?" Pumpkin asked her brother. "I-I mean, she's older than us, so maybe--"

Pound ignored her. "What is it, then?"

Twilight sighed. She really didn't want to say this. She looked back up at Pinkie and said softly, "At the asylum...somepony hung herself."

Pinkie gasped as the twins exchanged confused looks.

"Hung herself?" Pound repeated.

"Pinkie, what does that mean?" Pumpkin asked. "How does someone hang themselves? What does that even mean?"

"Who?" Pinkie asked, looking afraid to know. "Is it somepony we know?"

Twilight glanced back at Spike again, unsure if it was a good idea to tell. He nodded before she turned back and said, "It was Scootaloo. Spike and I found her body."

"H-her body?" Pumpkin repeated. "So is hanging yourself...killing yourself?"

"So you're saying..." Pinkie looked incredibly unsure of how to react. "Scootaloo's...dead?"

"I didn't want to tell you last night because I hadn't quite gotten over the shock yet." Twilight edged a little closer to Pinkie. "And I really didn't want to upset you."

Pinkie nodded without responding. She wasn't looking Twilight in the eye anymore. Twilight doubted she was able to. So she went on. "And when I found her body, when I found out that a young pony died because of me...I wanted to give up."

"You shouldn't give up," Pinkie replied quietly.

"I can't do anything to fix this." Twilight had started crying again. "Equestria is going to be stuck like this forever."

There was a short silence before Pinkie took Twilight's hoof and started pulling her along. She was leading her upstairs. Twilight glanced up, her eyesight blurred, and asked softly, "What are you doing?"

"I want to talk to you."

-

Spike watched as Pinkie dragged Twilight upstairs. He had no idea what to do at first. Scootaloo's suicide was what finally broke Twilight, he was sure of it. But Spike still had some faith. Twilight had been in hopeless situations before and still managed to find a way. This time, she needed Spike's help.

One of the first thoughts that crossed his mind when thinking about where their friends had ended up was, How could Fluttershy stand someone like that? Maybe now was a good time to find out. Fluttershy said that Sandstorm gave her food and shelter, but that couldn't be the only reason. It would be a good idea to check on her.

As he approached the door, Pound asked, "Hey, where are you going?"

"If anypony asks," he told him and his sister, "tell them I went to Fluttershy's house."

Pumpkin gasped. "Isn't she the one who gets hurt by her husband? You can't go there!"

Spike ignored her warning and walked through the door.

The sunlight seemed dimmer than it did ten years ago. Now that he thought about it, the moonlight the night before seemed a little oddly dimmed as well. Perhaps it had something to do with the apparent deaths of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Twilight's theory made sense; their spirits still possessed the same magic, and so they were still able to control the sun and moon. Maybe the light was dimmer because they couldn't put as much power into it.

Ponyville was still a wreck. It was somewhat hard to believe that it hadn't been cleaned up in the past ten years. Some buildings were completely destroyed, the rubble lying there. It wouldn't be surprising if some of it hadn't cemented into the ground by this point. The houses that were still up were pretty quiet, despite it being so late in the day. Even Fluttershy's home was lacking the angry shouts of her abusive husband.

As Spike approached the house, he was somewhat afraid to knock on the door. He doubted he would be able to stand up against Sandstorm. Thankfully, he didn't need to, because when he turned around Fluttershy and her son were standing behind him.

Fluttershy smiled weakly. "Hi, Spike." Some of her bruises had faded a little, which was a good sign.

"Where were you?" Spike asked, trying not to be too attentive to her hurt body.

"Sandy's sleeping late, so we got to leave the house for a while." Fluttershy seemed relatively happy about this fact.

"Where's the princess?" Dusk asked.

"Twilight?" Spike hesitated. "Well, uh...she's not exactly mentally stable right now, I don't think."

Fluttershy gasped. "Did something happen?"

Spike nodded. "Twilight saw something really bad last night. She's with Pinkie Pie right now."

"And Pinkie's okay?"

Right, the last time we saw her she thought Pinkie might've been murdered. "I wouldn't say she's completely okay, but she's alive, at least."

Fluttershy sighed with relief, then said quickly and softly, "You better go. I don't want Sandy to hurt you."

"Can I just ask one thing?" It felt a little too straightforward to ask this, but he did anyway. "Why do you stay with him?"

Fluttershy sighed and glanced sadly at her son, who looked pretty confused by the situation. She looked away and said, "He needs me as much as I need him."