Sugar Valley

The radiant sun beats down on the vast fields, the earth pony farmer shielding his eyes with a hoof. The land appears to stretch endlessly, crops lining the expanse. The farmer’s wife, a young mare with an orange coat, canters toward her lover whilst quietly singing a tune sung by her mother before her.

“I know of a land; so sweet and full with fruit~”

The gray stallion turns his head as his wife approaches his side, giving the mare a small but earnest smile. The mare happily returns the favor, then continues her trek out into the fields, her song once again floating freely on the wind.

“...where metal spires and a thousand hooves, do clutter every route.”

The orange mare walks down a thin path surrounded by the tall stalks of wheat as her eyes wander above the crop, to the crooked branches of a dead tree on the horizon.

“And every mare, she dreams of a life the same~”

A creek can be heard gurgling softly as the mare nears the tree, revealing itself as she emerges from a thin wall of the crop. The pony gently lies down to rest before the bank, taking the opportunity to watch the small creatures darting about beneath the surface.

“...but I know where its secrets lie, of the beast that cannot be tamed.”

The mare extends a hoof down into the water, and creates a mesmerizing ripple. Only the sight of a small, black item draws her attention away from the reflection. She gingerly scoops the feather out of the creek, and studies it closely as her song comes to an abrupt end.

“Its claws grown sharp, its belly full, its maw ‘tis once to be seen...”

Confusion grows within the mare, as she looks upstream to find several other feathers just like the one before, intermittently floating down the stream. The pony rises to her hooves, then carefully walks along the bank as she follows the supply of black feathers.

Eventually, the mare finds their source to be a rather large object caught within a patch of tall grass. The orange pony freezes; and suddenly a tinge of fear rises within her. She cautiously steps toward the edge, a small cloud of dirt crumbling into the water under the weight of her hoof. With a squint and the drop of her heart, the young mare is finally able to identify the object. Her scream carries effortlessly across the open fields.

The rotting corpse of an adult griffon is nestled among the grass, the empty sheath where a machete once reside still strapped to his waist.

* * *

The three remaining elements of harmony trudge slowly through the mists of Sugar Valley. All eyes are cast downward, only coming up occasionally for their owner’s to avoid a collision. No one wanted to admit it, but the ponies hadn’t a shred of a lead to go on in their efforts to locate Rarity. And so they head East; and quietly hope an explanation would find them.

“Twilight—”

The princess turns suddenly, first watching the blue pegasus who had called for her, then the earth pony who grimaces, and places a hoof against a ride support beam.

“I’m fine… just need a moment, s’all.”

Rainbow Dash rushes to her friend’s aid, slinging the farm pony’s hoof over her shoulder. Twilight can see the look of hopeless under the brim of Aj’s hat, the freckled mare’s eyes tinged with a sense of shame.

“You should stay with her, Rainbow. I can go look for Rarity alone.”

Dash almost immediately condemns the idea.

“Like hell you will! If anyone should go, it should be me—I’m in the best condition.”

“All of our ‘conditions’ our beyond helpless, Dash. But I’m the one who got us into this, so it should be me.”

The pegasus angrily takes a step forward, nearly pulling Applejack along with her.

“Don’t you dare start that Twilight! Celestia asked all of us for help!”

“Dash…”

The cyan mare turns her head toward the pony slumped against her side.

“...let me down here.”

Carefully, Rainbow Dash releases her friend and helps her slide down into a sitting position against the concrete beam foundation. Twilight steps closer to the two, regarding the pegasus while her back is turned.

“Celestia told me about Lane! She confided in me what had been done to Pinkie, how bad things were—and I kept it all to myself!”

Silence ensues. A part of the alicorn hopes Rainbow would be mad; like getting ‘what she deserved’ would help comfort Twilight.

“...Well it doesn’t matter now.”

Rainbow turns so just a section of her profile is visible to Twilight.

“And it never did. Even if I’d known exactly how bad things were, I would have come. I would have tried.”

Finally, the pegasus rises from the earth and turns to face her friend.

“We’re here, now. And after Fluttershy—”

Rainbow Dash’s voice gets caught in her throat and she’s forced to look away briefly.

“You and I both know that saving Pinkie Pie is no longer an option. After Rarity is with us again, we end it.”

Twilight’s pulse quickens after hearing Rainbow’s plan. Even as her mouth hangs open, no words of refusal come from the princess.

“Brav-o!”

All of the ponies dart their attention to the sound of hooves clopping, the park owner herself standing on a ledge above the others, sickly clown-like figures standing on either of her sides.

“You’ve got quite a knack for theatre, Rainbow Dash! Have you ever considered it professionally?”

Dash ignores the mare’s comment, instead spitting her own inquisition at Pinkie.

“WHERE’S RARITY?”

In mock thoughtfulness, Pinkie Pie raises a hoof to her chin.

“Hmm… if I tell you, will you ‘end it’ right here? Are you capable of doing that, Dashie?”

A toothy grin is shot toward the pegasus, who replies with a growing snarl. Pinkie Pie points at the three ponies, then turns to one of her assistants and demonstrates a hug to the air.

“Restrain them.”

The two creatures in makeup leap down the ledge, then gallop toward their victims. Dash manages to resist for a while, throwing punches at her attacker; but the sound of Twilight yelping as she’s stricken with a hoof interrupts the pegasus’ concentration, leaving her vulnerable for a grab.

“You fuckers!”

The smiling mare atop the ledge playfully leaps into the puddle formed at the base of the inclination, leaving her hooves to slosh across the field as she approaches the commotion.

“We’re doing a little bit of streamlining, girls. Your time here is running out, and there’s still a ton of stuff to see.”

Now that Pinkie Pie was close to them, Twilight, amidst her struggle, is able to identify the familiar necklace dangling against the earth pony’s chest. The enchanted item Princess Celestia gave to her; she was sure of it.

“You two will come with me. Applejack stays.”

The orange pony barely has the strength to lift her head at the sound of her name.

“We’re on a schedule now, and we can’t afford to be dragging her all around… by the looks of it, she won’t be with us much longer anyway.”

Twilight surges against her holder, crying out toward Pinkie Pie.

“Please! She needs help! You can still save her!”

The park owner sticks her muzzle up into the air, making a small ‘hmpf’ noise as she does so.

“Oh, noooow you want my help?”

Applejack’s eyes don’t move from the saddlebag in the grass, the wooden handle of the knife just visible from one of its pockets.

“I’ve done nothing but help! I tried to help Fluttershy when she wouldn’t stop crying! I tried to help Rarity with her stupid cut! Well I’m not trying anymore!”

The dangling bits of dirty mane covering Rainbow’s face are pushed to the side as she slowly raises her head to look at Pinkie Pie.

“...What did you say about Rarity?”

Pinkie’s bright eyes roll off to the side.

“Yeah, some seamstress she was. Couldn’t even sew up a her own wound!”

Something snaps within Rainbow Dash, who tosses her head back and breaks the nose of her captor, quickly using the moment of confusion to free herself and dart for the Element of Laughter. A smile breaks loose on the mare’s muzzle as she turns and sprints with frightening speed away from Dash and toward a large haunted house in the distance.

“Rainbow, wait!”

Oblivious to her friend’s plea, Rainbow Dash only interrupts her pursuit to duck near the saddlebag, and pull the knife out with her teeth. She then returns to a full sprint, carelessly entering the rickety old building behind Pinkie. Twilight watches helplessly as the last strands of Rainbow’s tail slips into the darkness.

“No! ...Please!”

The pitch dark shocks Dash, but her eyes only need a moment to provide enough functionality for her to navigate the corridors. A speaker somewhere crackles to life, playing cheesy high-pitched horror music, although not loudly enough to mask the sound of Pinkie’s laughter coming from deep within the house. Dash refuses to even take a look over her shoulder at entrance, its light drawing a long shadow in front of the pony that fades completely as she turns a corner, the lingering scent of sweets Rainbow’s only lead.

A mannequin draped with a tattered sheet spontaneously springs out in front of Dash, her shoulders tensing in response. She angrily pushes past one of its limbs as an exaggerated ghost call emits from another hidden speaker, the mare tightening her grip on the knife in her mouth.

The boards beneath Rainbow Dash’s hooves creak as she pauses before a perpendicular hallway, turning her head back and forth in an effort to track the distant laughter. Frustrated, Rainbow chooses the hall where light is coming from, just a short walk from the fork. Once near its source, she turns to look behind a corner, where the warm glow is discovered to be produced by a hoofful of candles—in addition to dried rose petals—placed haphazardly around two ponies. Rainbow cringes as she realizes that one of them was wildly humping the other; of whom which had clearly been dead for days, judging by the cloud of flies and the rancid stench. The still living creature turns and watches the pegasus with bloodshot eyes, panting like a dog amidst the sticky sound of its thrusts.

Rainbow Dash turns and presses onward, trying desperately to leave the image behind her. Once out of range of the sick sounds and smell, Rainbow’s ears perk in an effort to locate the fading sound of Pinkie Pie’s laughter. Eventually, it stops all together, leaving the pegasus to stand alone in the pitch black with only the buzzing speakers and their music to listen to.

Dash’s adrenaline begins to fade, fear and confusion taking its place. The sensation of a presence behind her draws the pony’s attention, but only darkness occupies the space. The realization that the room was too large for her night vision to even locate the walls sinks in, Rainbow Dash cautiously taking a step forward as the knife trembles between her teeth. For all she knew, creatures could be surrounding her, silently waiting for her to take a misstep. The pony freezes, closes her eyes and simply waits for her panicked breaths to subside. During this time, the music fades out, leaving the pony’s breathing as the last noise to listen to.

Rainbow’s ear flaps at the sound of a board creaking on her side. She quickly opens her eyes and spins her head to see what caused it, careful not to drop the knife she holds to dearly. Nothing greets her. Instead, the pegasus is left to wander the room aimlessly, her throat dry and her fur covered in sweat.

Outside, the princess remains restless against her assailant, fighting to see a glimmer of her friend’s colors. She pauses only to squint at the sight of smoke rising from the roof, black against the blue-gray night sky. Its appearance distracts the clown holding Twilight as well, leaving it open to be elbowed in the chin by the alicorn. Finally free, Twilight Sparkle gallops for the building, crying for her friend as she draws nearer.

“Dash, get out of there!”

The surprisingly agile creature catches up to the mare, lunging for her neck. Twilight ducks under the attack, the clown tearing up the grass as it slides past the princess. The violet pony back-peddles slowly, raising her hoof to defend against the creature making a second attempt to subdue her. But before the two crash into one another, an ear-splitting explosion sends both flying backwards.

Twilight cries out in pain as she lands awkwardly against her head, vision blurred and ears ringing. Slowly, the pony lifts her face from the earth, bringing up a mask of dirt with it. Splinters of wood lace the ground around the mare; and on closer inspection, the body of the creature who lies motionless in front of her. The next thing she looks toward is the mansion, which is naught but a smoldering pile of ash and rubble.

“RAINBOW!”

Tears begin to pour from Twilight’s eyes, who struggles to even hear her own screaming. She’d collapse to the earth again, were it not for a single item shimmering in the distance that spurs her on. Slowly, the sobbing mare begins to crawl toward her amulet Princess Celestia had given her, which landed among the splinters and ash. One forearm in front of the other, again and again, as she makes the long journey over the corpse of the clown and across the field. With one last outstretched hoof, she reaches for the necklace before her, only to watch it disappear beneath a pink hoof.

“You know, I can’t remember the last time I saw you with jewelry, Twilight.”

The alicorn lies facedown into the grass, Pinkie’s words coming to her as a muffled, unintelligible mess. The park owner lifts the amulet with her other forehoof, bringing it close to her face for inspection.

“What is it? Some kind of magic protection spell? Oooh, wait, don’t tell me—a way to contact the princ-ess!”

Twilight finally manages to lift her head up from the ground, watching Pinkie’s smile grow as she holds the necklace up to the sky. With a few spins around her hoof, and a playful ‘hup’, Pinkie Pie hurls the item into the distance. Twilight doesn’t even try to follow its arc, instead resting her head back against the mud.

Pinkie suddenly cocks her head at the horizon, raising a hoof toward the remaining clown-pony.

“Hey! Bring it here!”

The ringing in Twilight’s ears finally begins to subside, and she’s able to hear the quiet hoofsteps of Pinkie’s assistant just before they stop in front of the fallen alicorn. She watches Pinkie’s hoof lift up and retrieve something from the creature’s mouth, looking over it whilst murmuring to herself. Finally satisfied with her inspection, she drops it into the mud in front of Twilight, allowing the pony to get a good view of the item.

Before the princess lies Applejack’s hat, torn and frayed. Pinkie kneels down so that she can talk to Twilight face–to–face.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, Twilight!”

The alicorn closes her eyes without a word, her lips quivering as she expends the last of her tears. Pinkie Pie returns to her original stance, leaving the hat to rot in the mud.

“...And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I need a little bit of time, but soon the grand finale will be prepared and the two of us can witness its splendor together!”

Twilight’s crying briefly pauses, the mare holding her eyes shut tightly as she opens her dry mouth just enough to mumble a single request.

“Kill me…”

“Leave the orange one, Bradley! We’ll come back right after our most important guest is warm and—”

“Kill me.”

Pinkie leans her head downward, watching the still pony at her hooves. A smile creeps across her muzzle.

“Ah…”

The pink mare leans down again, this time bending all four of her legs.

“Death does seem rather easy to embrace, doesn’t? This is good—you’re close now… enlightenment lies just beyond the hill of desolation.”

Every word Pinkie utters floats unheard abroad the wind, Twilight’s mind gone as numb as it could have without turning off completely.

“Do you know why I was captured? Why… I was freed without effort, or why I could walk into Hollow Shades in hoof-cuffs, and leave with an army?”

Pinkie turns her head off to the side, away from the pony on the grass.

“...Why you’re lying here before me, your life in my hooves?”

The mare’s voice grows quiet as she looks off into the distance, staring at nothing in particular.

“It’s destiny.”

The three ponies remain motionless as the remnants of the haunted house burn brightly behind them.

“It’s lead you to me; just as it lead me to ‘them’.”

A single tear forms in the corner of Pinkie’s eye, and her most genuine smile since the park’s opening appears on her face.

“I’m a prophet, Twilight.”

Pinkie’s voice is shaky and hushed, her speech almost driven entirely by emotion. After a moment of drawn out silence, the mare slowly rises to her hooves, and nods at the horizon.

“I’m a prophet.”

Twilight remains amidst the dirt and rubble, with no intentions of moving. It’s not the crackling of the fire, the quiet whispers of the wind, nor even the fading buzzing in her ears that she listens to—but the rustling leaves and chirping birds of the Golden Oak Library.