When Apple Bloom woke up the next morning, she was still wondering if the 2 fatalities she watched last night were not a dream. "But it is a dream," the filly thought to herself. She gave a sigh of defeat. She got off her bed and walked downstairs to the smell of apple pastries for breakfast.

"Applejack, was everything that happened last night a dream?" Apple Bloom asked her sister.

The orange pony sighed. "Sadly, no. It was all real. Wish it was a dream," she replied.

Apple Bloom finished her pastry and walked to the CMC clubhouse to look at the memories she had with her two late friends: Thinking about how to get their cutie marks, running away, the time the same clubhouse was stolen by Babs Seed, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara, how the Cutie Mark Crusaders fixed up the treehouse to make it their HQ. Apple Bloom had realized that with the final moments of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came the final moments of the Crusaders. She started to sob. The waterfall of tears went on for roughly 2 minutes. When the tears stopped, Apple Bloom walked out, still reminiscing about the CMC's past adventures.

"Uh-oh! The court ruling is today!" she suddenly realized, and ran back to the farmhouse.

As one would guess, the ruling was full of anticipation and suspense, with Apple Bloom tense the whole time. Oddly, the Cutie Mark Hunters were there, and were asked a few questions about Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Apple Bloom was clearly asked why and how Diamond Tiara was murdered, and answered more than honestly.

The ruling went on for roughly 30 minutes, but for Apple Bloom, it felt like 30 days. When it was done, the judge found the young filly not guilty, and kept her under the care of the Apple family. She ran and embraced her two older siblings, some weight finally taken off her back. With the exiting of the courthouse, Apple Bloom could return to her normal life, albeit a little sadder and without two of her best friends.

Apple Bloom went back to school the next day. Silver Spoon came up and finally apologized to Apple Bloom and begged the yellow filly to forgive her for what she and her late cohort did. Apple Bloom forgave her, and simply walked off.

Cheerilee came up to her. "Apple Bloom, I understand you're failing English. However, I can give you a chance for some extra credit, if you'd like," the teacher said.

"Oh! Sure!" Apple Bloom replied.

"OK! You'll have to write an essay for an upcoming optimist contest. If you can turn it in by next Friday, I'll pass you with a C-grade. At least, that is," the older mare implied.

"You can count on me!" Apple Bloom concluded and walked off.

The young filly had visited the graves of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Rarity was there and bawling her eyes out at her sister's grave. After her first visit, Apple Bloom vowed to return to those graves every day for the rest of her life to revisit her fondest childhood memories.

Apple Bloom trotted home, and went straight to her room to get started on her essay. She noticed a book similar to the one the CMC read while in hiding. She opened it and found a note. It was Sweetie Belle's hoofwriting.

Apple Bloom, if you're reading this, there's some things I wanna get off my chest before we won't see each other anymore. First off, thanks so much for being the most awesome friend and Cutie Mark Crusader a mare could ever have. I told the nurse to give you this book to let you finish reading it. Second, I know there's still a lot of good left in the world. I thought about that poem Rarity read me, and the guy who wrote it. He meant that you're gold when you're a kid. I remember the sunset we looked at while in hiding, while Scootaloo was trying to sleep. That was the big kicker for me. Tell Scootaloo these words, and tell her to look at a sunset for once; I don't think she's seen one yet. Well, here I go. Thank you, Apple Bloom.

Your friend,
Sweetie Belle

Apple Bloom smiled at this note and said, "So long, pardner." She went on, trying to think of how she should start her story...

She thought of these first words: "When I stepped out of the movie theater one afternoon, I had only 2 things on my mind: Paw Newmare and how to get my cutie mark."

Author's Note

IT'S FINALLY DONE, GUYS!!! THE WAITING IS NOW TRULY OVER!!! Good Celestia, getting this up was a huge pain in the flank. Not because of time or anything, but because of all the distractions I got. My fault.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! Hades, out!