All's Fair

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 1
Chapter 4

Chapter 2

Outside the school, the Crusaders waited and waited for Cottontail to make an appearance. One of the first things they started chatting about when they all met up that morning was wondering exactly how things went the night before with their sworn enemies. Could she really have gotten through to them when no one else had ever been able to? If so, what all did she say or do?

There was only a few more minutes before the first bell rang, but fortunately the trio wouldn't have to sit around any longer. "Hey girls. How's it going?" Cottontail greeted them, seemingly from out of nowhere, full saddlebag draped across her waist.

"Morning, Cottontail," Apple Bloom said. "H-how'd your visit go?"

"Couldn't have been better!"

The fillies shared a shocked glance. "Really?" Scootaloo muttered. "You can't be serious."

"I am. They've seen things in a whole new light." The young unicorn spotted something cautiously approaching the schoolhouse from the corner of her eye and turned toward it with a wide, hopeful smile. "There they are now. Why don't you go talk to them?"

The girls spun around and caught eyes with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, making the duo freeze in place. Their manes were as disheveled and raggedy as they've ever been. Their eyes were terribly bloodshot and carried large sets of bags. While they were usually joined at the hip when it came to their activities and insults, one would almost believe it was quite literal now as they huddled against each, trembling like leaves.

Their terrified appearance was more than easy for the Crusaders to see. Genuinely curious – as well as strangely concerned for them – they walked up to the petrified pair only to be backed away from by a couple steps. The troublemakers glanced at the glaring pink filly who stood behind the flightless pegasus and shook even harder.

The air couldn't have been thicker with tension as they stood there staring at each other, unsure who was going to break the ice. Sweetie Belle eventually had that honor.

"Uh...morning?"

"H-h-hello," Diamond Tiara whimpered.

Another awkward pause followed. Not being teased was great so far, but they certainly weren't expecting them to be so...oddly submissive, to say the least.

"Are...y'all okay?"

"Sure! Wh-why wouldn't we be?" Silver Spoon mumbled.

"Well...you kinda look scared at your mind."

They snuck another look at Cottontail. "Oh, that. It was...kind of a nasty storm last night and–"

"–a-all that thunder and lightning, it...sort of made it look like the walls came alive," Silver Spoon finished for her friend. "We d-didn't sleep well last night. It's nothing really."

Apple Bloom lifted an unconvinced brow. "That's it?"

"Uh huh." Diamond Tiara suddenly bit her lip and sheepishly hid her gaze. "Listen, we're...we're really sorry about all the grief we've given you. We were blank flanks too once."

"Yeah. It was really stupid that we kept harassing you all this time. Please don't hate us," Silver Spoon added.

Three jaws nearly hit the floor. As one, the Crusaders craned their necks and gawked at their new companion, who gave them a gleaming smile. Any questions they had remained unanswered by her very proud and rather inappropriate response. Turning back, a part of them almost felt sorry for their rivals, given how scared they obviously were at...whatever it was.

"Err...no, we don't hate you. We just wanted you to stop teasing us, that's all," Sweetie Belle said with warmth, trying to bridge any remaining gaps.

"We will. We promise!" Diamond Tiara blurted.

"Okay. Um, thanks?" Apple Bloom murmured, still completely puzzled by the sudden turn of events.

"Did you maybe, I don't know, want us to carry your books in for you or something?" Silver Spoon offered.

"No, that's okay. You girls go on ahead. We'll be in shortly." With grateful nods, the former terrors sped in the door in the blink of an eye and found their seats. Once they were likely out of earshot, the little farmer asked, "What in the world did you say to them?"

The unicorn was taken aback. "What do you mean? I thought you said you wanted them to stop bothering you. They said they would, didn't they?"

"Well, yeah, but...I guess I didn't expect them to be acting so...scared of...well, it looked like they were scared of you."

"I noticed that too," Sweetie Belle confirmed.

"Same here. What happened last night?"

Cottontail curled her lips as she told her side of the story. "I went over there, we talked for a bit. Her dad eventually came home and... Ohhhh." Her ears drooped as she continued. "I think I know what might have happened."

"What?"

"I sat down with Filthy Rich and talked to him about some of the things that they had been saying and doing. He didn't believe me at first, but I told him that Miss Cheerilee could confirm quite a bit. I don't think it was the first time he had heard such things about Diamond Tiara before. After a while, I think he started to believe me; I could see it in his eyes. He said he'd talk to her and thanked me, and once I was out the door, I could've sworn I heard some yelling through the wall." The tiny filly cringed. "I...don't really want to think about what might have happened afterward."

The Crusaders listened in horror, stunned at the revelation. Sweetie Belle was on the verge of tears. "You mean...Filthy Rich...?" Apple Bloom tried to say. "That just doesn't make any sense."

"Why do you say that?"

"Once a year, me and the family harvest this special apple called Zap Apples. He's our first and biggest customer; he always buys a few crates of the jam we make out of them. He just...he just never seemed the kind that would do something like that. He's always really nice."

"Oh. Guess you never know what somepony's like until you're around them in private," Cottontail said, staring forlornly at the dirt. "Probably shouldn't have been smiling back there. I just wanted to make sure they left you alone. I didn't want it to look like I was gloating or something."

"It's okay. We appreciate it, really. I guess it looked like they were scared of you since you talked to Diamond Tiara's dad and accidentally set everything off. Wasn't like that was your intention or anything." Scootaloo leaned in and whispered, "Do...do you think we should maybe tell somepony about this?"

"Adults tend not to listen to kids often because we're kids," Cottontail explained. "Some can have wild imaginations or blow things out of proportion; simply being scared of something may not mean anything. Unless an adult actually sees something like a bruise, it can be hard to convince some of them. I'm afraid Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are the only ones who are going to be able to do anything about it."

"Are you sure? It just seems–"

"Yes," the newcomer quickly snapped. "We've already ruffled enough feathers as it is. It'd be best to just...drop it. Something tells me that those two aren't going to come to you for any moral support either, seeing as how they bullied you for so long."

One by one, Cottontail's new friends looked toward the welcoming school door where their former enemies just entered, their spirits at an all-time new low. "I never honestly thought I'd feel bad for them. But it kinda makes a lot of sense."

"Yeah. Really makes you think. Come on, we don't want to be late for class."

With heavy hearts, the Crusaders slogged their way in with Cottontail bringing up the rear. They never once saw her glaring daggers at them and gritting her teeth behind her lips.

Their sorrow hadn't really left them all day in school. Considering their proximity to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, it was understandable. As implicitly suggested by Cottontail before the first bell, they decided not to question their rivals about what they were told. It would have been a bit difficult to, even if they wanted to, as the two did everything they could to keep their distance from them.

Even after they were finished with class, the Crusaders didn't have the motivation to go do anything fun. They just didn't feel right about it. Their usual trip to Sugarcube Corner was also put on hold for another time.

Despite the girls deciding to head back to their respective homes early, Cottontail still wanted to spend time with them. With some convincing, Sweetie Belle eventually took her up on the offer and brought her back to Carousel Boutique. The bell jingled overhead as they entered the luxurious shop, midway through a conversation about the white unicorn's family life.

"So, where'd your parents decide to go?" Cottontail asked as they went in.

"They're taking a trip around the country, seeing some sights here and there. They've sent us a postcard for every place they've visited so far. We've gotten about seven or eight since they left, I think."

"Sounds fun!"

"Yeah, I'd love to go with them, but all that running around would probably wear me out real quick. Who knows, maybe one summer they'll let me tag along, but it's nice being with my sister while they're gone. It's almost like having a second home, and I honestly wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."

Attracted by the bell and the prospect of a customer, Rarity eventually made her way down the stairs with a scaly, purple assistant a step behind her. "Oh, hello Sweetie Belle, Cottontail. How was school?"

"Fine."

"Alright. You won't believe what happened today," Sweetie Belle proposed.

"What's that?"

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon...apologized for bullying us all this time."

"Those two spoiled rich brats?"

"Spike!" Rarity scolded.

"What? It's just what they've told me," he retorted.

"Still, you shouldn't say things like that, even if they are true." The fashion designer looked back at her little sister. "They just up and apologized, just like that? Not that I'm not happy that they've decided to leave you alone – and I know how much you've complained about them before – but, what made them do so out of the blue like this?"

"Cottontail talked to them last night. Whatever she said seemed to do the trick." The young filly held her head up proudly.

"That's it? All they needed was somepony to sit down and talk with them?" Rarity asked, rightfully skeptical.

The two youngsters shared a glance, recalling they finer details Cottontail had shared about the tail end of her visit. The little mare shrugged and put on a false smile. "Yeah. We worked things out pretty well. Who knew that'd be all it'd take, right?"

With a warm smile, Rarity stepped forth and gave them each a tight hug. "Well, I'm very happy to hear it."

Sweetie Belle's cheeks flushed. "Come on, sis, you're embarrassing us."

The elegant mare giggled to herself. "Alright, alright. I'll leave you girls to play. Cottontail, feel free to help yourself to any snacks or drinks or whatever you like while you're our guest here. I'll be upstairs putting some of the final touches on a few new dresses I had been working on." She turned and nuzzled her smitten assistant's cheek. "Want to finish up with me, Spikey-poo, or would rather spend some time with Sweetie Belle and her friend?"

He was putty in her hooves, a big dumb grin stretching across his face. "I-I'll help you out, Rarity."

A scent suddenly tickled Cottontail's nose and she took a quiet, subtle sniff of the air. Her eyes lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree as she looked over the reptile.

"You're such a dear, Spikey-Wikey," she cooed. As she headed back upstairs, she waved to the fillies. "Let me know if you need anything, girls."

"Sure thing, Rarity." From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cottontail staring intently at the staircase, presumably with their host on her mind. "What is it?"

"Since when did you have a pet dragon?"

"Spike? He's not a pet. He's Princess Twilight's assistant, but he likes to spend time here helping my sister with whatever little thing she wants."

"He's in love with her, isn't he?" Cottontail guessed.

"It's that obvious, huh?" Sweetie Belle chuckled. "Yeah, he doesn't hide it as well as he thinks. It's kind of cute."

"Huh...interesting."

An idea started forming in her head, and the smallest of grins found her face. Her thought process was briefly interrupted when the pink filly felt a pat on her shoulder.

"Come on, I'll show you around," Sweetie Belle said.

"Sounds great!" As Cottontail followed her friend, her smirk returned. "Say, Sweetie Belle, you said you received postcards from your folks from around the country, right?"

"Uh huh. You want to see them?"

"That'd be wonderful!"

They made their way into the kitchen and to a small, ceramic basket sitting on the back of the counter. Several letters and small papers stuck out from the top. Sweetie Belle levitated them out and set them on the floor between them. At the back of the small pile were the postcards. Fillydelphia, Whinnipeg, and Las Pegasus were among the destinations in the pictures. Cottontail took several in her magical grip and looked over the photos that wished the recipient was there, admiring the vast, impressive sceneries depicted. She flipped them over and found that the script on some of them had faded. The post dates on those indicated they must have been from previous vacations.

"I like this one from Mareami a lot. The beaches look gorgeous," Sweetie Belle said, holding up the corresponding post card. Another one was held up. "This one's from San Prancesisco. Mom and dad said that was a pretty fun trip. Here's a card here from this place called Amsteerdam, but they've never wanted to tell me what that place was like. Neither has Rarity when I've asked her – which, of course, makes me want to know about it even more. Not even Twilight will let me look at a book about the place though. It's kind of annoying."

"These look like some fun places. I think my folks have always wanted to travel, but we could never afford it. Maybe some day."

"Yeah. I'm going to grab a drink. You want something?"

"Sure. Some apple juice would be fine. I'll put these back."

As Sweetie Belle got up to rummage through the fridge, Cottontail put the papers, notes and cards back in a pile and set them back where they belonged. However, while they floated back into the basket, the new filly kept a watchful eye on her ivory friend as she quietly slipped a recent post card into her bag.

It was starting to get a little late when Cottontail decided she needed to head back home. Sweetie Belle saw her out and closed the door behind her. Turning to leave, the filly grinned as she glanced at her saddlebag and its stolen contents. She had more than just homework to do now.

She happened to canter past a hopping pony popular to the town but paid her no mind. Pinkie Pie, however, did not share the lack of sentiment. Despite being ignored when she stopped to say hello, she decided to follow her back home to share some fantastic news for her, but not before debating with herself for a good ten minutes if she should.

Cottontail eventually returned home and tossed her saddlebag on the couch, letting the contents spill out. Her parents sat, like every other day, perched at the windows and watching the town.

"So, how'd it go with those three brats? Were they thrilled at what you did for them?" Curtain Call asked, not shifting her gaze from the window.

"Not like I'd hoped. I barely felt anything from them," Cottontail snarled. "Instead, they acted all concerned and worried about those two bullies when they saw them huddled in fear of me. Perhaps I overdid it last night."

"They still trust you though, yes?" High Note asked.

"For now, yes. But I learned something extremely valuable not three hours ago." With a burning rage, the little unicorn suddenly gripped her father by the throat and dragged him down to her eye level. "And I'm wondering how in Equestria you idiots didn't know about it!"

"Wh-what?!"

"The little dragon is infatuated with Rarity!"

"He...he is?" High Note wheezed. Cottontail released him, sending him tumbling into an end table beside the couch. The parents shared a confused look, shrugging and shaking their heads. "Somepony would have said something about that if they saw some evidence of it."

"Maybe he just doesn't display such affection in public?" Curtain Call suggested.

"...Maybe. But, even better, he's Twilight's personal assistant. He'll make getting to them even easier than I thought, more so than trying to manipulate their annoying little sisters."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" High Note looked through the peep hole and saw a pink mare rocking back and forth, waiting patiently for an answer. "Ugh, that one," he grumbled. The family put on smiles and greeted the bouncy, happy visitor.

"Hey there, everypony!" Pinkie Pie said. "I saw this little cutie walking home and I remembered that I wanted to let you know that I've got that super duper party all planned out in full for you now. I'm really sorry I couldn't come up with something a little more festive when you first got to town, but I've been running around like a loon lately and haven't been getting much of a chance to welcome folks to the town properly. So, I just wanted to make sure you got the invitation to stop by Sugarcube Corner after school tomorrow and I can show you how we get down in this town, yeah!"

"Oh, heh, thank you, err...Pinkie Pie, but if it's all the same with you, we're simply not the partying types," the father explained.

"Awww, are you sure? There's going to be all kinds of fun and games and cake and punch and pie and stuff."

"We're sure. We do appreciate the gesture though."

The disappointed mare kicked at the dirt but maintained a smile nonetheless. "I understand. I suppose it's not a total loss. At least I have a party ready to go should the need ever arise, and I do have to show a bunch of other new families a good time."

"That's one way to look at it," Cottontail added.

"Alright, well, I'll head on home then. Let me know if you ever change your mind, okay?"

"Will do, Pinkie. Thanks again."

As the happy-go-lucky party planner bounced away and High Note shut the door, Cottontail growled through her teeth. "I swear by all the gods, I hate that one so much."

"You and me both. She's going to be the hardest to break, you realize."

"On the contrary, she'll probably be the easiest."

"Why do you say that?" Curtain Call asked.

"What do we know about her? The thing that makes her the happiest is making others happy. So..."

"If she thinks she's making others miserable..." High Note concluded.

"Exactly. We won't have to lift a hoof, really."

"Should we tell the others to get started with that?"

"Not just yet. I wouldn't be surprised if her friends' happiness means even more to her. We need to wait until our plans are in full effect."

"You're assuming it's all going to work out smoothly," High Note muttered. He received an icy glare for his off-handed comment. "I-I mean...it will, it's just...uh...it'll take some time!"

"So, err, what're you going to do in the meantime?" Curtain Call stepped in to ask, hoping to disarm the situation.

Backing off – and leaving High Note with his skin, much to his relief – the filly went up to the couch and sorted through the papers until she found the post card she took from Rarity's place. She flipped it over and examined the note written by her folks closely.

"Homework."

Two days had gone by before Cottontail allowed herself to be seen in public after returning home from school. The only thing she'd tell the Crusaders is that she had some plans with her family and they left it alone for the most part. Stories about going out to eat or doing some shopping seemed to quell their curiosity as to why she didn't seem to want to spend time with them. At least they enjoyed each other's company during class. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon continued to maintain a healthy distance from them as well.

Cottontail had only spent about ten minutes at home before heading out that afternoon, and it wasn't to stop by the Crusader's Clubhouse; she hadn't even bothered to take her saddlebags off before she was out the door again. Instead, she made a beeline for a coffee shop in the heart of town where three stallions – two pegasi and one unicorn – sat in wait. Like her, they were relatively new to town and had kept to themselves, save for Pinkie Pie insisting she throw them a Welcome Party as well. They weren't having any of it either.

Without saying a word, however, Cottontail strolled up to them, pulled a large envelope from her bags and tossed it onto their table. They exchanged a subtle nod, and the filly was on her way again; she barely broke her stride before she started her trek back home. Once she was out of sight, the cream-colored unicorn undid the clasp and dropped Rarity's post card, a few bits, a pen and a note onto the table. He held the letter up for them all to get a good look at what it said.

"Everypony got all that?" the unicorn said. His companions nodded as he slid the contents back into the envelope. "Alright then. Let's go."

The next week was dreadfully slow for the pink filly. Before the first one had even finished, she hated being in that stuffy classroom talking to ponies whose names she would never bother to remember. One in particular that she did was Sweetie Belle's, and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were getting a little jealous of how much extra time they had suddenly been spending together after they were done crusading for the day. But they didn't let it bother them; they simply assumed that they connected better somehow and left it at that.

On one particular visit to the Carousel Boutique, the two young unicorns happened to find Rarity sitting at the kitchen table, sipping at some tea. The mail was in a neat pile before her, save for a post card that had been pulled from the group. She sat in obvious deep thought, her brow furrowed as she read and reread the letter.

"Hey Rarity."

The designer blinked back to reality. "Oh! Hello, Sweetie Belle. I didn't hear you come in."

"S'okay. What're you looking at there?"

The letter floated its way down to the younger sister. "Mother and father sent me a post card from Manehattan. It says they happened to meet somepony rather important in the fashion world and wanted me to come up to see them at the hotel they're staying at. But they didn't say who it was they ran into. Supposed to be a surprise."

"What are you going to do? Sounds like it could be a golden opportunity for you," Cottontail asked.

"Yes, it does, but I couldn't leave Sweetie Belle and Opal unattended, and I do have some things I've been working on. Still, if somepony would be willing to take you in until I return... Oh, I'm not sure what to do."

"What would you like to do?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Rarity curled her lips and looked away from the little ones, almost ashamed at her answer. "I'd honestly like to go. Meeting just the right somepony could really help my career take off to where I'd like it to be. Plus, I may bump into some friends I made the last time I was in town and see what they've been up to. Please, dear, I don't want you to get the impression that I don't want to spend time with you, it's just...well, like Cottontail said, this could be a golden opportunity."

"I understand where you're coming from, sis. It's okay," the filly said with a big smile. "It's still early yet. Want to head to Sweet Apple Acres and talk with Applejack? I can't imagine she'd mind having me over till you get back."

"Unless she has some things of her own going on. Still, I...don't suppose it'd hurt to ask. I guess I could talk to Fluttershy on the way over too. I can't imagine she'd turn down taking in Opal for the time being. You sure you're alright with the idea, Sweetie darling?"

"Sure. It's really no big deal, Rarity."

"Well...a-alright." The filly found herself hugged tightly, gratefully, by her big sister. "Hopefully, she'll be able to take you in tonight. I'd like to get packed up tonight and be on the way in the morning if I can help it. Cottontail, would you like to come or do you want me to drop you off at home on the way?"

"Home's fine, thanks. You don't mind, do you, Sweetie Belle?"

"Aw, I was hoping we could hang out some."

"Eh, I just remembered my parents asked me to come straight home this morning after school. Hopefully they won't kill me for being a little late!" Cottontail joked.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Your folks seem really nice."

"Yeah, they're swell!"

"They did seem rather pleasant when Pinkie introduced us. I honestly wouldn't mind getting to know them a little better at some point, but right now's not the time to worry about that," Rarity said as she put the mail pile back together. "Alright, just need to take care of a couple quick things and then we can go."

"Shoot, I don't mind looking after Sweetie Belle for you, Rarity," Applejack said as they sat in the living room. "You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. May not get another chance like this again, so you may as well take it. Besides, it's not like your sister hasn't spent an inordinate amount of time on the farm playing with Apple Bloom anyway."

"Oh, you have no idea how much I appreciate this, Applejack," Rarity sighed. As predicted, Fluttershy was more than happy to look after her fussy cat. Now, thanks to A.J., all her bases were covered with friends she could depend on.

"T'ain't nothing to worry about. Did you want to stay for dinner tonight? One last home-cooked meal before your big trip?" the farmer offered.

"That sounds lovely, thank you."

In the meantime, half a town away, Cottontail sat impatiently with her family, wishing the night would come and go as quickly as possible. While it wasn't a terribly thrilling evening for her – though few were – she ultimately preferred it to being around the Crusaders for any extended amount of time. Anything she had done up until that point was out of necessity. However, if things went down at Sweet Apple Acres that evening as she expected, tomorrow opened up a whole new set of possibilities.

"So, what are you supposed to do with the school now?" High Note asked, getting his daughter's attention.

With a roll of her eyes, she replied, "Y'know, you could go instead. It's not like it matters."

"You realize they'll wonder where you are. Those three are...tenacious."

Cottontail narrowed her eyes at her father. "That wasn't a suggestion."

High Note blinked then hung his ears as he got the gist. "Oh. Well, that isn't going to be fun."

"No, it's not. Deal with it."

"What if they ask me questions I don't have the answers to?"

"Just fake it! By the gods, do I have to do all the thinking for us?" Cottontail growled.

"N-no," High Note whimpered.

"See that that remains so."

As her father sulked his way out of the living room, Cottontail turned her attention back to the window she sat in front of and smiled venomously. Save for one thing in particular that she wasn't looking forward to, tomorrow was going to be a good day – she could feel it.

Chapter 3

It had taken Rarity a little longer than she would have liked when she went around town to briefly visit her friends and tell them she'd be out of town for a little while. She had gotten her packing done relatively early that morning, considering how many bags she was taking, but she kept wanting to kick herself for simply not getting it taken care of the night before. After all, she could easily sleep on the train ride north and catch up on any she would have missed if she would have stayed up a little longer.

Ah well. There wasn't any sense in worrying about it now. Sweetie Belle was in class, arrangements with Applejack had been made to watch her, the store was locked up with everything where it was supposed to be, and Opal was with Fluttershy. Hopefully there was enough room in the luggage car to hold the couple dozen bags she brought as well as everypony else's things.

The mare smiled as she watched her suitcases be taken away by the struggling train station employee and hovered the appropriate number of bits to the teller. After being given her ticket, she stepped aside and pulled the letter from her saddlebag, reading it again carefully. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together who all her parents could be hanging out with, forcing a giggle. Was it somepony she already knew? Was it the editor of a hot magazine or the owner of a chain of painfully expensive and ritzy stores who wanted to sell her stock for her? She had won that fashion show the last time she was in Manehattan. Surely that helped get her name out even more!

She glanced at the clock over the ticket counter – about twelve minutes before she was to depart. Might as well head inside and find a seat, maybe make a stop in dining car. A hot cup of joe would be nice.

As Rarity replaced the letter and trotted inside, a grey stallion and a dusty blue mare – both also relatively new to town – took note of the dressmaker's departure, all the while not breaking their hushed conversation. They watched through the windows and nonchalantly followed her from outside as she elected the next car and sat down at one of the small tables, eventually presented with a steaming mug and a biscuit with jam by presumably one of the waiters. After several minutes, the conductor shouted for all to board. Once the last of the travelers said their goodbyes to their loved ones and hopped on, the train blew its whistle and departed for its hours-long journey northeast – as did Rarity's shadows back into town.

A knock at the door managed to pry High Note's nose out of the book he was mindlessly looking at. Curtain Call stuck her head from the kitchen, her mouth full, just as curious as to who it could be. Leaving the comfort of the couch, the husband opened the door to find two expected visitors. The blue pegasus spoke first.

"She left about a half hour ago."

"Good. I wonder how she'll like the surprise waiting for her?" High Note taunted.

"Did you want us to do anything with the others yet?" the grey earth pony asked.

"Start making friends. Lots of friends. Preferably with ponies who have loved ones, families. Young loved ones in particular will work wonders for you. Tell the rest to follow suit. Might as well be ready to dismantle the pink one when I give the order. But once tonight rolls around, I can't be bothered until she returns. You know that part is inevitable, as much as I would like it not to be. If I have need of one of you for anything, I'll send word around."

"I honestly don't understand why you didn't simply have her killed now that she's going to be away from her friends in a city where that kind of thing happens all the time and she'd just become another statistic," the mare blasted.

"Because the genuine anger and hatred they'll all eventually have for each other will make it that much easier to destroy them when the time comes! That's why I need her alive!" High Note growled. "You and the rest know the basic plan! Now start acting like it!"

The pair exchanged a nervous glance. "Y-yes."

"Of course."

"Excellent. I'll be in touch." High Note closed the door and sighed heavily. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

"How do you think, err...Cottontail is doing right now?" Curtain Call asked from behind.

"Hopefully better than this," the exhausted stallion muttered.

"May I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

The actress walked up and leapt on the couch, stretching out lazily. "What should we do if those brats want to hang out here after school or randomly pay us a visit in the meantime? Might not be a good idea to let them think there's only two of us here."

"Tell them I went out with some friends or draw the curtains and don't answer the door if it's them or something. They're just children. Children are stupid and gullible. Not a bad question though." High Note rubbed his eyes and yawned. "I'm going to go take a nap. Very strange, I honestly didn't think I'd be this bored sitting at home waiting for the time to go by."

"Welcome to the past couple weeks," Curtain Call quipped, receiving a deadpan glare from her husband as he dragged himself toward the bedroom. He didn't get far before his wife spoke up again. "Y'know, you could always go out and do something. See a movie or whatever."

"Ugh, don't even joke about that. The last thing I want is feel like I'm turning into just another drone in this miserable town." The proudly lazy wife smirked angrily; High Note rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."

"It's better than sitting around here doing nothing all day. Even I went out occasionally. I know making friends isn't what your main goal is, but I've actually met a few ponies. I've been working my way in over the last few days rather nicely."

"Good, good. Keep that up." With a groan, High Note spun and twisted his neck around, feeling some relieving pops. "I'm still taking a nap. I'm going to need my energy for tonight."

Dusk was upon Ponyville before High Note realized it. He'd be up for only a couple hours but was rearing to go. Cottontail had yet to return home, likely out staying busy with the Crusaders. The clock on the wall read 6:40. Approximately nine hours had gone by since things had started to unfold. He reasoned it was enough time.

Curtain Call sat with the evening edition in her hooves, skimming over headlines. Seemed like just another dull day by all accounts. Why couldn't somepony randomly explode or something and stir things up? A better question would have been why Twilight and her friends had to live in such a podunk, backwater town.

High Note marched through the living room and up to the front door, drawing his wife's attention from the day's headlines. "Good luck," she said.

He turned and smirked devilishly. "Luck's not going to have anything to do with it."

As he opened the door, he paused and looked around for any signs of life. A couple ponies here and there were walking to predetermined places but took no notice of his presence. It didn't appear that being sneaky was going to be hard. Choosing his course, he headed on his way, closing the door quietly behind him.

Twilight Sparkle sat in her study, triple-checking the sorting job Spike had done earlier in the day. It still felt so strange to be examining so many brand new manuscripts. While it was generous of Celestia and Luna to provide her with new books and scrolls to occupy her castle, she still wished she had never lost her original works in the first place. Some of them had been irreplaceable. If only she hadn't chosen the treehouse to retreat to.

A distant knocking caught her ear, echoing through the large, crystalline halls. That was one thing in particular she had a hard time getting used to for a while – it almost had a eerie sound to it early on. Pinkie would probably love turning the place into a haunted house on Nightmare Night if she found out about that.

"Spike, could you get that?" she yelled out.

"You got it!" he hollered from the kitchen. He set the pot he was working with down and made his way to the entrance. Sweet Celestia, always during dinner – or at least while he was in the middle of making of it.

Upon opening the door, the most beautiful mare in the world greeted him. His fawning was immediately put down when he got a good look at her. Her mane was partially undone and she had a miserable, worn-down look on her face.

"Rarity?"

"Hello, Spike," she mumbled. "May I come in?"

"Of course." Ever the gentledrake, he took her by the hoof and led her inside, shutting the door behind them. "What happened? I-I thought you were going to be away in Manehattan for a little while."

"Yes, well...not everything went as I had hoped."

Before she could explain, Twilight's hoofsteps could be heard approaching from inside. She was certain she heard Spike say the visitor's name, leaving her just as puzzled as her assistant. "Rarity? You're home already?" she called out from a distance. Eventually, the royal mare saw her face to face and gasped in shock. "Dear Celestia, what happened to you? You're a mess!"

"Good evening, Twilight. I imagine I do look rather unkempt after everything I've been through today."

"Please, come sit down inside. We were about to eat soon, but that can wait. Let me get you something. Water, a cool washcloth, a blanket?" the Princess offered.

"Oh, I'll be alright. I'm just worn out, that's all."

"This looks more than just a little worn out, Rarity," Twilight said.

"What made you come back so soon?" Spike inquired as they walked to the comfort of the study. "Didn't you meet whoever it was you were going to see?"

"No, dearie. I didn't even get that far. Not by a long shot." Rarity sighed as they reached their destination and gingerly sat on a nearby chair. "I was on the way to the hotel my folks told me to go to in their letter to me. On the way, I...these three...bastards came at me with weapons, forced me down this back alley. I couldn't get away thanks to all the luggage I bought with me. I-I thought they were going to...to violate me or worse," she sobbed, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. Sniffling, she continued. "One of them threw something over my face – a rag or something, I think. It smelled funny and whatever was on it made me pass out. When I woke up, my bags were all gone, and so were they. I...don't think they did anything to me physically...but still!"

The scarred fashionista was embraced by two pairs of concerned, loving arms and forelimbs. "Rarity, I...I'm so sorry," Spike whispered. "Did you go the police after you came to?"

"No, I managed to scrounge up a few bits in some places I'd prefer not to think about as quickly as I could and came right back."

"What? Why didn't you go looking for the authorities?"

"I don't know my way around Manehattan, Spike – not really. I wouldn't know where to find them, and when I asked for help from others, they all just pushed me away and told me to get away from them. They probably saw how I looked and thought I was a vagrant or something. I just wanted to get home!" the mare sobbed.

The dragon's purple brow furrowed. If only he could have been there, he would have protected his beloved fashionista, no matter what. "Twilight, there's gotta be something you can do, isn't there? Those punks have to be found! You can, like, make some royal decree or something, right?"

"You know I'll do everything in my power to see that they're brought to justice. You have my word," she said firmly. "Grab something to write on for me." As the little drake obeyed, Twilight took Rarity by the cheek and gazed at her sympathetically, hoping to calm her friend at all. Not only was it not working, things didn't get any easier when the princess asked, "Do you remember anything about your attackers? Their coat color, eyes, anything?"

Twilight produced a handkerchief with her magic and floated it over to Rarity. The designer took it in her hoof and daintily wiped away a few tears and tried to dry her cheeks. Her eyes darted around as she recalled what she could, her mind racing a mile a minute. "Um...th-there were two pegasi, I remember that. One was a unicorn. I...I believe one of the pegasi had...hazel eyes? Maybe grey. He had silver hair, if I remember correctly, and a blue coat like Rainbow Dash's. The unicorn, he had...his coat was off-white...I-I think. Th-the other pegasus, he...um...oh, what did he look like? I just had it and now I can't remember! I don't remember any of their marks either!"

The few memories she could recall left her a sputtering, sobbing mess. Twilight embraced her tightly against her chest, letting her get out all the grief and pain she needed to.

"Shhh, it's okay. You don't have to do this all at once. It's a good start. If you remember anything else at any time, day or night, you let me know, alright? We're not going to let them get away with this."

"Thank you, Twilight."

"I'm here too if you need anything," Spike added.

Sniffling, Rarity smiled weakly and appreciatively rubbed his head. "I know, Spikey-Wikey."

"We should write to Celestia and Luna and inform them of what happened to you too. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to send some guards out there to get started looking for them," Twilight suggested.

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that, dear. Frankly, I'd like to...keep this private if at all possible."

The newest princess scoffed, almost at a loss for words. "What? Why? Celestia and Luna would be more than happy to help us."

Rarity shook her head and sighed. "They have so much else to worry about all day long, Twilight. I-I know this is probably going to sound horrible, but...well, let's be honest, it's not like this is the first time something like this has happened to somepony. They'd probably just leave it to the local authorities to investigate such a thing."

"Considering we helped save Equestria numerous times, I'd think they'd go out of their way to–"

"Twilight, please. If something like this got out...well, who knows how the media would handle it? They'd probably just turn into some overblown circus, and I really don't want to deal with that. I know you wouldn't either if they started bothering you about it too, and you know they would. Let's just keep this...situation amongst our little circle?" Rarity pleaded, her eyes growing big and her lips curving into a pout.

The purple mare went to rebutt her friend again but hesitated. She grunted defiantly, searching for a good counterargument, something to convince her that getting the highest authority in the land involved was a wise move. Still, Rarity did make some sense, and she did just go through some serious trauma.

The alicorn curled her lips, not happy at all with the decision, but she didn't want to argue any further about it. "Well...if that's what you want, alright. But, if you ever change your mind, you let me know. I'll drop whatever it is I'm doing and get in touch with them."

"I-I'll keep it in mind. Thank you."

"Did you talk to anypony else about it when you got back to Ponyville?" Spike inquired.

"No, I came straight here," Rarity answered. "I...I thought a lot about what happened on the train ride home, obviously. I also thought about what would have happened – or would not, in a manner of speaking – if those thugs had done more than just steal my things." Her eyes met with her fellow mare's, still wet from tears, and beamed wistfully. She glanced over at her scaly confidant and took hold of his hand, sniffling once more.

Spike briefly glimpsed at her hoof in his claw, startled at first by her actions, then gazed up at her weary face. Her sweet yet sad smile began to make him tear up as he put together what she was saying to them. A life without Rarity wouldn't have been one he wanted to live, and he quietly thanked his lucky stars she was, for the most part, alright.

"You know how much you mean to me," the unicorn stated. "I wouldn't have been able to see you one last time or...say goodbye."

"Of course we do," Twilight said, fighting not to cry herself.

Rarity sighed heavily, relieved to hear the obvious. Gradually but not completely, her nerves were beginning to calm. They wouldn't be back to normal for a while, but it was a start. "If it's alright, I'd...like to go home now."

"You can stay here for the night if you want, in case you need to talk some more," the princess offered.

"To be honest, I just want to crawl under the sheets of my own bed and forget today ever happened. I hope it's not too much to ask, but...would it be okay if Spike escorted me home?"

Twilight and her assistant caught eyes with each other. It was understandable that Rarity would want somepony beside her on the walk back to the boutique after all that had happened, and who better to make her feel safe than a fire-breathing dragon that would do anything for her? His hopeful look was enough for his surrogate mother to smile. "Sure."

Rarity's grin grew too – though not enough for either of them to really see it. "Thank you, dear. For everything. I'll see you later."

Before she could depart, she found herself wrapped in her friend's comforting limbs once again. "Try and get some rest."

The unicorn stole a look at the young drake beside her – and the hoof that was still his talons. "Yes, I'm...sure I'll be fine. Shall we, Spike?"

With a nod, they got up as one and were led outside by their royal friend, never letting go of each other.

Rarity and Spike were taking their time walking across town though the young bodyguard really didn't mind. He was diligent as they went, scanning their surroundings, making sure nothing was amiss. Spike wasn't about to let somepony else try and hurt her.

Occasionally, their eyes met and they smiled warmly at each other. However, whenever her escort was looking elsewhere, Rarity was making eye contact with others, most of whom would have been unfamiliar to Spike. What finally got her attention was a suddenly nervous dragon remembering he was still holding her hoof and letting go, clearing his throat as he did. Things like that weren't meant for the public to see, and Rarity didn't need to feel awkward on top of how upset she still was over her stop in Manehattan, especially given what he knew about her feelings toward him. Right now, she needed a friend, and he was going to be the most respectable one he could be.

Much to his surprise, she scooped up his claw again without missing a step, gazing at him longingly. "It's okay, Spike. I don't mind." He nearly drowned in her beautiful blue eyes but turned away at the last moment, his cheeks burning red. As much as he enjoyed holding her hoof, given the day's events, why was she acting like this? His anxiousness was easy for the mare to spot. "What's the matter?"

"I, uh...well, you were attacked earlier today and, now, all of a sudden, you're holding my claw and looking at me...that way as we walk back to your place."

"And?"

The baby dragon had a hard time looking at her in the eye. "You've never exactly looked at me like that before."

Rarity blinked in disbelief. "Really? Never?" she whispered to herself.

"Huh?"

With a quick, dismissive shake of her head, she jumped back to the conversation. "I-I mean...I suppose, err, failing to realize how good I have things is sort of a...quirk of mine."

It got a subdued laugh out of the youngster. "You mean like what you went through with Trenderhoof and Prince Blueblood?"

The upper-class pony shifted her eyes about, almost seeming confused at what he was referring to, before responding. "Uh...yes. Exactly." The pair walked in silence for several yards, enjoying the serenity of the evening with the boutique gradually coming into view. As they continued, eventually, so did Rarity. "I hope you understand, Spike, that what I said at the castle to Twilight...was really meant for you."

He very nearly forgot to breathe as a wish he always had suddenly was becoming true. "Really?"

She stopped their journey just before the door, staring soulfully into his eyes. He never felt his heart beating so hard in his life. "Twilight is very special to me too, but if I never got the chance to tell you how much you've always meant to me, it wouldn't have been fair to you – or to me." Before he could react, Rarity wrapped her free foreleg around Spike's head and kissed him passionately, taking him completely by surprise. After accepting his fate, he was putty in her hooves.

As they broke their kiss, she sighed into his ear. "Stay with me tonight. Please?"

The dragon perked up despite not completely understanding what she was hinting at. He glanced off in the direction of the crystal castle he called home, the decision bouncing around in his head. "All night? I-I really don't know if Twilight would let me do something like that. Not yet anyway."

Rarity giggled at his naiveté, a fresh idea already in her mind. "How about just for a little while then?"

He curled his lips and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I could do that."

"If Twilight asks where you were, just tell her you were spending extra time consoling me."

"What, you mean lie to her?"

"Not exactly. You will be helping console me, so it'll be true in a way."

The wheels in his head continued to turn, and piece by piece, they fell into place. He'd be spending quality time with the pony he loved – and now he knew she loved him back. There wasn't anything wrong with wanting to see the mare he practically worshiped coming to grips with what happened to her and knowing, through the comfort of his presence, that the world wasn't coming to an end because of it. Besides, he'd spent plenty of time with her doing everyday tasks for and with her in the past and Twilight never had a problem with it then.

"Okay, sure. It's still early in the evening."

The beautiful mare kissed him on his soft forehead. "Thank you." She turned her attention to the door. "Now, how am I going to get inside after they took my keys?"

Spike spun and examined the structure while Rarity fiddled with the doorknob with her magic. Melting it with his dragon flame could work, but then it'd cost money to replace, and his love may not have any to spare right now, especially after being robbed. The same went for breaking a window and crawling in that way. Plus, what would stop others from getting in too – pony, bug or otherwise?

That's when Spike noticed the window locks just overhead. While he didn't have magic like unicorns did, he did know that seeing what one wanted to use magic on helped immensely when it came to manipulating it.

"I have an idea," he proudly said. "Why not open the lock to the window and we can get in that way? Won't have to worry about breaking anything if we did that."

"Yes...yes, that could work." As Rarity approached the glass, Spike chuckled to himself, making his angel laugh too. "What is it?"

"You must be exhausted if you're willing to get dirt on your hooves to get to the window," the dragon joked.

Her puzzled blue eyes blinked and glanced toward the small flower garden she had already stepped in. It took a moment, but she eventually backed away from the grime and filth. "Oh! Y-yes, of course. How about I open the window and lift you in with my magic, hm?"

"Sounds good."

The small, swiveling lock turned on its own, allowing the window to be raised without a problem. As it was lifted, Spike noticed something peculiar and cocked his head with a single, curious brow raised. Before he could question it, he found himself hoisted into the air and carefully placed inside the spacious lobby. He shut the window, flicked the lights on and unlocked the front door for his sweetheart, stepping to the side and bowing as she entered. His chivalry made the unicorn smile.

"My hero," Rarity cooed. With a thought, both entrances were re-locked and the lights were turned back off. Only the shadow of a pony and dragon becoming one at the lips could have been seen by any potential passerby. "Shall we go upstairs?" she suggested once they parted.

"What's up there?"

A lust-filled look found her face. "I'll show you."

The moon was already high in the sky when Rarity opened the door and allowed her stumbling, light-as-a-feather suitor back out into Ponyville. It may not have been possible for him to smile any wider – or look more out of it. She gave him one long, final parting kiss for the evening, not caring that her mane was a wreck or that her coat was frazzled.

"Let's not tell Twilight about this just yet. It can be our little secret for the time being," Rarity whispered. "Come back as often as you can, okay?"

"S-s-sure," he mumbled as he wobbled on weak knees. "I'll see you later. Sleep well."

"You too, sweetheart."

The mare waved goodbye as Spike staggered away, practically bounding with each step. She closed the door once he was out of sight, sounding off the bell over her head. Once the jingling ceased, her body convulsed as if she had just been drenched with ice cold water.

"I need a shower," Rarity growled as she began her second journey upstairs. The normally sophisticated mare then suddenly flapped her lips in disgust and spat onto the floor. "And some mouthwash."

Chapter 5

Her purple hooves softly touched down on the balcony. Twilight didn't even remember the entirety of her return trip from Carousel Boutique. All she was able to do was stew in a wave of conflicting emotions, grit her teeth, and wonder if what she was doing was appropriate.

She desperately needed to undo the knots in her stomach. Despite being close to lunchtime, a desire for food wasn't what was causing her to feel a touch queasy. The worn-out mare sighed long and deeply before turning away from the doors in front of her and relaxing at a nearby banister.

Was a distraction ever needed. Twilight glanced down at the streets, studying the few ponies she happened to spot going about their day. From time to time, even long before she ever became a princess, she'd envy the common folks who didn't seemingly have the weight of the world on their shoulders. To be fair though, they likely had their own issues to deal with back home and probably envied her right back for various reasons.

A gentle breeze blew by, the crisp late morning scents filling her lungs. Looking up, the empty blue skies – save for an occasional cloud – greeted her. It relaxed her more than she expected. The sky didn't know how lucky it was, not having to worry about...well, anything really. Granted, it and the wind weren't sentient beings, so they wouldn't exactly have the capacity to feel anything to begin with and...

Ugh, there went her thoughts again, running around in random, nonsensical directions. At least she had calmed down some. Rolling her eyes and stifling a chuckle at her own...eggheadedness, as Rainbow would probably put it, she got back to her hooves, ready to head back inside and face whatever Spike was ready to give her.

Twilight stepped through the towering doors and found Spike sitting on one of the chairs in the particular study room, his arms folded and his eyes narrowed at the wall. Across the way, Rainbow was lazily stretched out over both arms of her own chair, her obvious boredom written on her face. It may not have been the most exciting favor in the world, but Twilight appreciated it nonetheless. Upon seeing her purple friend, the high flyer leapt into the air and glided over.

"Hey. So, how'd it go over there?" Rainbow Dash asked.

The momentary bliss Twilight was feeling evaporated as quickly as it came. "Not so good," she groaned.

"What happened?"

The princess curled her lips as she sauntered past the speedster and plopped down at the desk beside the first of numerous bookshelves. "I ended up telling her to stay away from him for now."

"What?!" the dragon snapped. "You can't do that!"

"Well, I did," Twilight retorted. "Spike, what she's doing is wrong, I already told you that. You're far too young to be involved in such...activities."

"Oh, will you stop handing me that line?! How do you even know that?"

With growing frustration, the princess left her chair and marched up to her assistant. "What kind of question is that?! You're barely older than the Crusaders! I hatched you, remember?"

Spike hopped off his own seat, fuming harder with each step as he met Twilight in the middle. "But you've said it yourself – you don't know much about dragons! Heck, I didn't even learn that much about dragons when I went on that migration last year! Aside from when I got super big because of my greed, how do you even know when a dragon is considered mature, huh?! Maybe we hit maturity a lot earlier than ponies! Nopony seems to know around here, but at least Rarity found it in her heart to stop treating me like a child!"

"You are a child!" Twilight hollered, puffing her wings out in a display of dominance.

"Yet how many times have I had to step in and make sure you didn't go completely nuts over something stupid? Is that something a child is capable of doing?!"

"Whoa, Spike! Take it easy, bro!" Rainbow interjected. "She's just doing what she thinks is best for you."

A furious claw pointed at the pegasus. "Don't patronize me, Rainbow Dash! I'm old enough and smart enough to make my own decisions! Maybe if everypony stopped dumping on me for once, they'd realize it! And speaking of making my own decisions, I'm deciding to end this conversation. I'm getting out of here."

"And just where do you think you're going?" No answer came as Spike stomped his way to the door. "What, are you going to go see Rarity?"

His eyes narrowed at the name. How dare Twilight speak of her! "So what if I am?"

"Uh uh! You're not allowed to go over there either, Spike." Finally reaching her boiling point, the alicorn took to the air and landed right behind the young drake, snatching him by the arm. "I'm talking to you, mister!"

"Let go of me!"

It wasn't Spike's defiance that sent heart-stopping fear into the mares or how rudely he yanked his arm away but his display of razor sharp teeth and his deep, feral growl. As Twilight wisely crept back, Spike let out a threatening snort and continued out the door, leaving the stunned pair to ponder what in the world just happened. A few more slammed doors rang through the longs halls as the furious dragon departed.

"Do...do you want to go after him?" Rainbow whimpered.

It took a few minutes for Twilight to collect herself. Heartbroken at the sudden turn of events, she dragged herself over to the chair Spike had been sitting in and collapsed. "Let him go." The mare buried her face in her hooves, desperately trying to forget the last several days. "What did I do wrong, Rainbow Dash?"

"I don't think you did anything wrong. I've...never seen him like that before. Even when he was bigger than the houses around here, he didn't seem so...angry. He was just a mindless beast then."

"Frankly, I think the way he was just acting seemed a lot more terrifying. That must sound so ridiculous."

Rainbow fluttered over to her friend and laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Not at all. It even creeped me out."

"He...kind of does have a point though. Aside from that fact that a dragon's greed is instinctive and can cause growth spurts, we really don't know that much about his species." A horrible thought suddenly came to mind. "You don't suppose that...other instincts may have a similar effect?"

"You mean like how he reacts to love and stuff?" Twilight nodded timidly. "I don't know. I sure hope not. Rarity would probably just end up making things worse if that were the case."

"Ugh, what do I do about all this?"

Rainbow Dash curled her lips, not particularly happy about the advice she was about to give. It was all she could think of, and she was never a very good dispenser of sagely wisdom anyway. "For now? Just let him be. Let him get it out of his system. Then, maybe after he's calmed down, you may have to, err...talk to him, if you know what I mean. Can't really undo what's been done, so there's no real sense in worrying about it anymore, if you ask me."

"It's just...something just feels wrong about it. Wouldn't Rarity have come to me first if she wanted to start being serious about Spike?"

The pegasus shrugged. "I don't know. To tell you the truth, I don't think any of our friends know all that much about serious relationships except for, well, Rarity, and you probably don't want to talk to her right now, so..."

Twilight stifled a miserable laugh under her breath. "This is probably going to sound horrible, but...I never got a chance to send that letter to the Manehattan police department. Whenever I asked Rarity if she remembered anything else about her attackers, she'd blow it off. I'm not really sure I want to send it anymore. I mean, we've all had our differences, butted heads over things, but I don't think any of us have been so...irate with one another. A part of me is having a hard time forgiving her. I know I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship and all, but I don't think I've ever thought about what may happen to friendships if they go down a path like this. I'm not really sure what to do."

"Hey, you're Twilight Sparkle – you'll figure it out. It's what you do, remember?" The alicorn half-smiled at Rainbow's attempt to lighten the mood. At least one of them was attempting to stay positive. "As far as that letter to the police though, yeah, you really ought to send it anyway," Rainbow muttered with disappointment. "Have Spike do it once he's calmed down."

"That's the thing – I don't know the address."

"You've got tons of reference books in this castle. I'm sure at least one of them has it. And if not, why not ask around if somepony else knows? Maybe you could ask Celestia or Luna. I'm sure they've probably stopped by the city before." Her ruby eyes lit up as an idea came to her. It actually sounded like it might be a good one for a change. "You know what? Ten bits says they could help you sort out this whole thing with Rarity and Spike too. Think about it. They've lived really long lives. They've had to have been involved in a relationship or two at some point. Wouldn't be the first time you've asked them for some advice, and we both know they'd be more than happy to help. Again, you're going to probably have to wait until Spike gets back, but–"

"Actually," Twilight interceded, "Celestia showed me a simple spell a long time ago that allowed me to reach her directly when Spike was still very young. That's not a bad idea though."

"Really? Then why is he the one who always sent the letters to her?"

"He thought it was pretty cool and wanted to learn how to do it too, so Celestia cast a spell on him that allowed him to. He enjoyed it so much when he first started mailing her that I just let him be the messenger permanently." The Princess smiled softly as she reminisced, picturing the little dragon's excitement when he sent his first note. Her memory shifted to when his first belch-received letter returned and how he laughed when he said it tickled his tummy. It felt so long ago despite only being a short number of years, but she had the 'now' to worry about. "I better get to writing that letter. Thanks for your help, Rainbow Dash."

"No prob, Twi. I going to head back to my weather duties. They're probably wondering where I am. Things'll be okay, you'll see."

With that said, the daredevil glided out the double door and back to work, leaving her friend to her thoughts and plans. Sighing, Twilight willed a sheet of paper and quill from the desk and began writing. The words came slowly.

Hours had gone by. The sun was getting low in the sky. Twilight spent most of her afternoon pacing about the castle waiting for a reply and for Spike to get home. It wasn't like Celestia to wait so long to respond to a letter. Maybe she was just preoccupied with royal business of one form or another. After all, she and Luna were the rulers of Equestria and things are constantly happening in her courts.

What she didn't realize was that her answer had already come about an hour ago. Unfortunately, she was not the one who received it.

Spike laid in Rarity's bed, sprawled out and half-asleep as he usually was seemingly every day since her return from Manehattan. Meanwhile, Rarity herself was in the bathroom washing up behind a closed door and smirking at herself in the mirror. The peace and quiet they were both enjoying, however, was interrupted by Spike suddenly grabbing his stomach and letting out of a loud burp followed by a the appearance of a familiar scroll.

The bathroom door creaked open. "Spike, did you just...where'd that come from?"

"What do you mean? You've seen me receive letters before."

"Oh! Err...yes, of course. Thought you just had some indigestion. What's it say?" Rarity asked as she approached.

Spike unfurled the paper and skimmed it over briefly, mumbling Celestia's reply to himself. Upon finishing, the anger he felt toward Twilight started to return though not as pronounced as before. "Twilight must have sent a letter to the Princesses asking for some advice in dealing with...well, us. Been a while since she sent one on her own. Surprised she remembered how to do so. But still, why did it come to me?"

"I don't know, darling. Does it say anything else?"

"Only that Celestia and Luna are busy with some prior obligations today but are going to stop by the castle tomorrow afternoon so they can talk some." The scroll ended up a wadded, crumpled mess on the floor. "I know it's only been a couple days, but I'm already sick of everypony sticking their nose in our business! Why can't they just be happy for us?!"

"I wish I had the answer, Spikey-Wikey," the unicorn replied, giving her little dragon a kiss. "Perhaps I should stop by when Celestia and Luna are in town. Maybe present our case a little bit. It couldn't hurt."

"Yeah, I guess. I ought to head home. It's starting to get a little late," he said, hopping off the bed. A few feet away sat the ball of paper that was Celestia's letter. Rolling his eyes, he walked over and snatched it up. "Think I'll bring this with me, see what Twilight has to say about it."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow at the castle then?"

"You bet!"

Twilight stood over the stove in the kitchen and switched the oven off, skimming through the instructions in one of the many cookbooks she had for the nth time. The stuff in the pan didn't look very much like the spinach lasagna in the picture. Ugh, she was never very good at baking. She could always rely on Spike to make such delectable cuisine. Now he was spending pretty much all of his time at Carousel Boutique doing things she preferred not to think about lest she lose her appetite. At least the dish appeared edible enough. It'd have to to do for tonight.

The distant sound of a door opening and closing just barely caught her ear over all the noise of utensils and appliances. She hoped it was Spike. Considering the hour, it was likely, but it wasn't like she could see through walls.

In case it was, she fixed up a second plate with her culinary concoction and brought them into the dining room along with a bowl of mashed potatoes and a couple glasses of juice. May as well try and keep the peace as best as possible, even if she was still upset with him. They were still family after all, no matter how mad she may get. Hopefully he'll have cooled off as well.

Thankfully, the dish was nice and hot. It smelled pretty good too despite its appearance. No doubt Spike will come bounding in shortly asking what's for dinner, provided he wasn't already fed once tonight – not that that'd stop him likely. That dragon sure enjoyed his food, no matter his attitude.

As Twilight sat in her seat at the spacious dining room table, her assumptions proved to be correct. A familiar purple reptile strolled in, instantly eyeing the plate he figured was for him. However, Twilight could see it written plainly on his face that he was still peeved. What she didn't notice was the paper he had folded in his claw. A subdued, discouraged frown snuck across her face. She quickly hid it behind a warm greeting.

"Evening Spike. H-how're you doing?"

"Alright," he replied, sitting beside her. "Hm...what's this?"

The princess could feel her cheeks turning red. "Supposed to be lasagna."

"Oh." He took a greedy bite, not worrying about burning his tongue. Must have been nice to be a dragon in regards to that. "Not bad. Probably could use a little more cheese, but still not bad."

"Heh, thanks. I definitely can't cook like you, that's for sure, even using a cookbook."

"Eh, comes with practice."

Twilight helped herself to a scoop of potatoes before continuing. "Yeah. You, uh...you feeling better than you were earlier?"

The dragon shrugged. "Some, I guess. By the way, what's this?" he asked, tossing the letter on the table with a look of annoyance.

A purple glow grabbed the paper and unfolded it. "Oh, they decided to stop by. That's good." The mare blinked curiously. "Wait, why did you get this?"

"I don't know, Twilight. Why did I?"

She paused, picturing sitting her study and putting the letter together. Eventually, her hoof collided with her forehead. "I forgot to tell her to send it straight to me," she groaned.

"Twilight, why can't you just let this go?" Spike fumed. "You talk to me about lying to you and going over your head and now you try and go over mine!"

She went to answer, to defend her decision, but Spike had her by the horn. Maybe she taught him better in the ways of logic than she realized. "You're right," she mumbled. "It's...it's just that something doesn't feel right about all this. I said it before – Rarity comes home after being attacked and she's suddenly all over you without provocation? It doesn't make any sense to me and...I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how to handle it."

"It's love. Is it supposed to make sense?"

"Well...I would think on some level, sure. I just figured I could ask the Princesses for some input on the matter."

"You could just be happy for us and move on, y'know."

A glowing fork poked and scratched at the meal on Twilight's plate. Sighing, the mare explained, "I still remember the day you were born, Spike." Where he had a hard time looking at her thanks to his frustration, her sudden somber tone caught his attention. Some of his anger seemed to wither away as he listened to her story begin. "I was still young – a little older than you are now. I don't know how much you remember, but we played all kinds of games, always ran around together, that sort of thing. As we got older, I knew I'd eventually have to teach you about the world and what other ponies may or may not be like."

"All while we rarely ever left the library," he added with just the right amount of snark.

"Yeah, I know," Twilight agreed. "Coming here to Ponyville really was the best thing that ever happened to us, but so much has happened here that...I-I just worry that I never properly prepared you for it. You've grown up so fast in the last few years, Spike, and there's so much I never got a chance to tell you about thanks to one thing or another constantly getting in the way. I thought I still had a few years to go before I had to start telling you about...relationships and what comes with them. Although, considering I've never really been in one myself, who am I to talk?"

"Look at it this way: A year ago, did you think you were going to be a princess? Were you prepared for it?"

"Err, no. Why?"

"It doesn't matter how much you do or what you know. There's simply no way you can prepare for everything. Maybe me growing up is just...one of those things."

Twilight hunched over in her chair, feeling defeated for the first time in the recent chain of events. Perhaps Rarity was right all along. "Maybe. Maybe I just wish it didn't happen all at once...or at least not on somepony else's terms."

Spike went to take another bite of his pasta but it never made it to his mouth. Instead, he glared again and raised a brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, like I said, I wanted to be the one to talk to you about...things like sex and other grown-up things when the time came. I know you're not going to want to here this, but Rarity's really taking advantage of you here."

"Oh, come on, Twilight! Do we really have to go there again?" he snarled, slamming his fists on the table. So much for peacekeeping.

"Spike, did you even know what sex was before Rarity...showed you?"

The little dragon fidgeted and looked away. "Not exactly."

"That's my point. I have no idea what it is she wants out of you, but I don't think I have to explain to you what 'taking advantage of another pony' is all about, do I?"

"No," the drake growled as he folded his arms.

A gentle hoof wrapped around his shoulders. Spike glanced back to find Twilight out of her chair and sitting beside him. His angry frown hardened even more as he turned away again.

"Listen, what you two have been doing can be a fun and beautiful thing, sure, but if there's little to no connection–"

"But we do have a connection!" Spike argued. "Why can't you get that through your head?!"

"...Do you want to know how Rarity acted when I confronted her about it earlier?" His defiant silence said enough for her. "I've never seen her so blatantly arrogant before. It was like any of my concerns about you were nothing but a bunch of hot air! If you ask me, that sure doesn't sound like she has your best interests at heart!"

"Except nobody did ask you, and I'm done letting you try to answer for me!" he spat back, swatting her hoof away for the second time that day. He hopped out of his chair, grabbed his meal off the table and made his way toward the exit. "I'm going to my room." Just before he stepped out, he paused and spun around. "By the way, Rarity's stopping by tomorrow afternoon at some point, hopefully when the Princesses are here. Try not to embarrass yourself too much when she shows up."

Never before had the simple closing of a door been so heart-wrenching. It had seemed for a little while that Spike was going to come to see her point of view, and in seconds, what Twilight was hoping for had become completely unraveled; it was the late morning all over again, and if she didn't know any better, he probably hated her by now – just as Rarity predicted...again.

She suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore.

Chapter 6

A decent night's sleep wasn't something Twilight expected to get. She looked even worse than expected upon first glancing in the mirror when she got up and used the bathroom the next morning. She really wasn't sure what made the previous night worse – the way her talk with Spike caved in on itself, knowing what Rarity was doing or the eventual visit by Celestia and Luna. Granted, she hadn't any need to impress them with anything like friendship reports in quite a while but seeing her mentor still made her a bit nervous even to this day.

It was a lot later than anticipated when Twilight managed to drag herself out of bed. A faint hint of breakfast wafted through the air from the kitchen, but she didn't have much of an appetite. After finishing her morning routine, she headed downstairs, calling for Spike on the way. However, the condition of the kitchen told enough of a story.

There wasn't any dragon around; only a couple dirty pans, a single dish with some drying syrup on it and one lonely glass sat in the sink, all uncharacteristically dirty. Seemed Spike had already eaten and left, not even bothering to make anything for his caregiver or clean up his mess. One guess as to where he went.

With a heavy sigh, Twilight shuffled over to the refrigerator and decided on an orange, peeling it with a thought. In a couple hours, it'd be lunchtime and there was no reason to have anything terribly filling. As she gulped down the last slice, she turned her attention to the clutter begging for soap and water. May as well keep up appearances for when the royal sisters arrive, even if they never go into the kitchen to begin with.

Twilight's chore would have to wait, however. A distant knock came from down the hall, pulling her away. Ugh, all she needed was five or ten more minutes, but visitors came first. She shut off the water and fluttered to the entrance. A pair of opposingly-colored alicorns greeted her with warm, soothing smiles.

The young princess spent the better part of an hour going over in fine detail what had been transpiring with her ivory friend and scaly adolescent – the attack in Manehattan, Spike's behavior, Rarity's antagonizing comments. Any questions the sisters asked were answered to the best of her ability. Telling her story gradually made her blood boil as she went, especially while repeating the fashion designer's justification for her actions. Despite trying to hide her anger, the sisters had little difficulty noticing it as they sat on their plush couches.

"I...I just don't understand why she'd suddenly be acting like this. It's like she's a whole other pony!" Twilight fumed.

"I'm not entirely sure," Celestia said. "It does seem like both you and Rarity, and even Spike as well, have made valid arguments. It's definitely not an easy situation with an easy conclusion."

"It's always possible that the outcome may not make everypony happy," Luna added.

"But I'd like to avoid that," Twilight countered. "There has to be some kind of compromise that I haven't thought of."

"Would any of the compromises you've thought of be directed your own way though?"

"I...well, uh...n-no, not really."

"We can understand why you'd be protective of your kin, Twilight, and want to fight for him as fiercely as you are. Unfortunately, there are going to be times where they may not understand or want to accept why you're doing it," the nightly princess explained. "Even I'm not going to deny that...well, even after so long, I'm still a little bitter over Celestia not covertly sending a royal guard or two while the Changeling Queen wasn't watching to summon me and my thestrals before the battle had begun outright. It could have turned the tide early for all we know."

Twilight raised a curious brow and coyly smirked. "Y'know, I don't think I ever did ask where you were that day."

"I was resting in my chambers in preparation for the evening's events. While I can function fine during the day, it's not unheard of around the castle for me to sleep during it similarly to how my sister here sleeps during the night." Luna glanced at her solar half and grinned. "Either way, I wasn't missing the party after the wedding. I'm always up for a good party."

"What about last year's Grand Galloping Gala? I don't remembering seeing you there."

"Eh, to be honest, I was never a fan of the Gala, even before my banishment. They were always so terribly boring. Celestia opted to meet-and-greet on her own with the guests a long time ago and I simply...never went. We always made sure to have a plausible excuse handy, and the citizens seemed alright with it." Twilight nodded as the dark alicorn continued. "But my original point still stands about Celestia's decision at your brother's wedding. Every so often, I like to use it to poke fun at her when we're arguing about something unrelated just to get under her skin a little but I mean no hard feelings in the end."

The sisters shared a chuckle as Celestia continued for the nightly princess. "You see, Twilight, my reasoning was that, if something happened to me, Equestria would still need a ruler in place to govern the land. Both of our chambers are heavily guarded when we're inside them, and, despite their numbers, a significant portion of their forces would have been needed to get to Luna as she slept. Plus...well, you know where our rooms are in the castle from when you were still my student. It wouldn't have been feasible for them to fight their way so deep into the castle to capture her even if they tried. You weren't a princess just yet yourself and there would have likely been a lot of in-fighting over who believed they were the rightful heir to the throne if I called for her and something ended up happening to the both of us."

"And you heard my argument. My thestrals' unique physiology would have given them a couple advantages in sniffing out any changelings, even if they tried to hide amongst the populace during the attack - quite literally, might I add. They may have been able to mask their appearance, but I guarantee they don't smell like ponies. It's also possible that my guards may have been able to hear a difference in a changeling's heartbeat when compared to one of our citizens."

"I'm guessing you argued about it at some point, based on what you're telling me," Twilight queried, her ears hanging low. It wasn't an answer she was particularly looking forward to even though she suspected she already knew what it was. In all her years as Celestia's student, she just couldn't imagine her flying off the handle over anything; the Princess of the Sun always gave off a calm, cool demeanor no matter what, even during times of crisis.

Celestia nodded with a delicate frown on her regal face. "After everything had been cleaned up and we had some time to ourselves, I told Luna what all had happened. It...turned into a shouting match that lasted a little while."

"The guards were probably afraid that we were going to blow up the castle during our fight or something."

"In the end, neither of us was truly wrong for believing what we did."

"What upset me the most at the time was the issue of trust," Luna continued. "As the overseers of this land, it's our duty first and foremost to keep the citizens safe. By not coming for me, I felt it wasn't in Equestria's best interest. Plus, during our heated argument afterwards, I accused my sister of treating me like a child that needed to be protected even though we know that isn't the case. But that's water under the bridge now. However, trust is obviously the root of your problem here today."

"Yeah," Twilight sighed. "It still doesn't explain why she's acted the way she has recently. You both know that I think it's great that my friends are his too, but...well, as the closest thing he has to a mother, I just assumed I was supposed to be the one who helps guide him more than the others."

"Curious," Celestia chimed in, gently rubbing her chin, "did you by chance ever send me any friendship reports addressing a situation like this? Not like this one in particular, but one where you were having a fight with a friend and there didn't seem to be any resolution in sight? I honestly don't recall seeing any letters like that."

The young mare's eyes swiveled and twirled about as she thought long and hard. There had been so many reports! Still, things tended to work out for her and her companions more often than not, even in the worst of times. Call it diligence, call it dumb luck, whatever the case was; they always seemed to come out on top and any disagreements they had were sorted out with everypony happy at the end of the day.

"I don't think I ever did, no." The subtlest of smirks twisted her lips. "I suppose I can still learn–"

The squeak of a closing door and some gentle laughs swung her ear away from the conversation. Twilight and the elder sisters recognized the owners of both voices as they approached from down the long hallway.

"Oh good. I was hoping we could see them at some point today," Celestia said.

A few moments went by as the expected visitors got closer. Once it sounded like they were only a few feet from their gathering, Celestia gently made the door open from across the room, briefly startling Spike and Rarity. The royal sisters welcomed them with smiles where Twilight was much more reserved; it was difficult for the former unicorn to make eye contact. Spike, on the other hand, had no trouble glaring at her.

"Sweetie?" Rarity whispered into his ear. "Something tells me this is probably going to be a lot of girl talk you may not be interested in. Would it be too much trouble if I asked you to go fix us something to nibble on for afterwards?"

An eye flutter was enough to seal the deal. "Only for you, babe."

He added a wink for his girl and strutted down the hall toward the rustic kitchen. A sly grin made its way across Rarity's cheeks as she casually stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"So, you actually came."

"You do not seem surprised to see us," Luna said.

"Your prize student forgot to tell you yesterday that Spike was at the boutique most of the day. We got a little surprise in the mail, so to speak."

"I see. Then you're aware of why we decided to stop by today."

"Yes, of course. So you can pass judgment and condemn me like Twilight has," Rarity snarled, her words laced with venom. "I wouldn't be surprised if you already did so before I even entered the castle."

The sisters blinked at each, bewildered by such aggression. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but that's not–"

"For rulers who claim to care so much about the well-being of their subjects, I simply can't believe you'd want to destroy a pony's relationship with one she truly cares for! What difference should it make if he happens to be a dragon?!"

"Rarity, that's not what we're concerned about," Celestia interjected. "The fact that Spike is a dragon is the least of it. Don't you think he's a bit young to be doing the things with you that Twilight has told us about?"

"Oh, yes, because nopony ever did anything a little adventurous or dangerous or exciting or rebellious when they were young in the history of Equestria! Do you two even remember when you were young? When was the last time you touched a stallion, hmm?"

"Rarity!" Twilight snapped.

"Where is this hostility coming from?" Luna demanded. "And why are you trying to redirect this conversation onto us? Your actions with Spike are why we are here in the first place! This has nothing to do with anything we did at any time in our lives!" Her sister rested a hoof gently on her own, trying desperately to calm things down. "Well, it doesn't!"

"You're right, it doesn't." The midnight-colored alicorn snorted in a huff and let her elder take over. Celestia's lavender eyes met with Rarity's, calm but firm. "If you must know, our memories are almost as long as our lives, but not once did we ever wish to mate with somepony who, for all intents and purposes, is a foal."

"Except he's not a foal," the unicorn shot back, sauntering over to the sisters and meeting them with a smirk. "How much did you ever learn about dragons over the course of your long life?

"Thousands of years ago, Luna and I met with several dragon matriarchs that ruled over their respective broods. A peace pact was signed that has remained intact ever since. Occasionally, a rogue dragon did something that technically violated the treaty, but things never escalated to the point of war. Their actions were always dealt with quickly and peacefully."

"What about their own life spans? Did you ever ask them about that?"

"Rarity, stop badgering them!" Twilight hollered with a stamp of her hoof. "This is getting ridiculous! We're trying to talk to you about the 'now' and you're going on and on about stuff that happened long before any of us were even a thought! Stop trying to ignore the fact that you slept with a baby dragon, one that most ponies would call my child if they knew the circumstances behind his birth!"

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't addressing you. You'll have to wait your turn," Rarity droned, not even bothering to glance over at her sudden rival. The young princess' face blew up red with a rage she fought hard to keep in check. Celestia and Luna could barely contain their shock with every other thing that came out of Rarity's mouth. They knew from Twilight's letters that she could sometimes be a hooffull, sometimes downright melodramatic, but nothing ever suggested that she could be so insulting! "Now, did you ever ask them?"

The two ivory mares stared each other down, waiting for the other to crack. The Solar Princess had eons of patience behind her, but even she could be worn thin. It slowly seemed to be working its way there. "No."

"Hmph. You never really did learn much about them at all, did you? Well, it seems over the last couple weeks I've learned a thing or two more about dragons than you have in your excessively long lives. Isn't that something? Maybe you should crown me the Princess of Dragons! Then we can all flaunt our royalty around in this room like one big, happy family! Wouldn't that be special?" None of the actual royalty found Rarity's jab particularly amusing. While the Celestial rulers narrowed their eyes in disdain, Twilight ground her teeth behind her fuming lips. It was a wonder she didn't break any.

"Would you like to know what I've learned? Apparently, they tend to feel rather unappreciated and sometimes downright ignored, even by those who claim to care for him the most."

"Oh, that's a bunch of–!"

"I was guilty of this for a while myself until I opened my eyes," Rarity kept going, sticking her nose in each of the princess' faces. "There was also apparently more than one time where they wanted to come help who they believed were their friends on some excursions and they were constantly pushed to the wayside."

"He came on plenty!" Twilight yelled.

"The one thing that seems to bother them the most, however? An appalling lack of respect. I've given them the respect and compassion they deserve for being who they are, not what they are. Frankly, you all should do the same."

"This is preposterous! You know just as well as I that–"

"You know what your biggest problem is, Twilight?" Rarity butted in, poking at the mare's chest. "You can't stand the fact that Spike is changing and you can't control it. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you wished he could stay as tiny as he is for the rest of his life so you can dictate every last thing he'll ever do! Well, maybe you should take a page out of his book–" The indignant mare pulled away from her adversary and threw an accusing hoof at the sisters. "–even you two of all ponies, and grow up!"

"Alright, that does it!" the youngest princess hollered, stomping her hooves into her seat cushion before bounding onto the floor. A series of jabs was given right back to the room's antagonist, each one sending Rarity back another step toward the door as Twilight hammered home her disgust. "I don't know what happened to turn you into such a witch but I'm finished listening to you! Just where do you get off coming into my home and accusing me of not knowing the dragon I raised since hatching him?! You stand there and act like you know everything that goes through his head, and while there's always room to improve and strengthen our relationship, the only reason he spilled his guts the way he did is because you...you fucked him – an underage kid!"

Celestia and Luna leapt to their feet as Twilight shoved Rarity into the hallway with enough force to throw her to the floor. The unicorn barely got to her hooves before another violent push flung her toward the front door.

"Twilight, we know you're upset, but take it easy!" her mentor pleaded.

"There's a better way to do this!" Luna added.

The raging, spitting princess ignored the advice as they followed a few steps behind her. "And I'm not going to stand by while you throw one insult after another at the Princesses – not after everything they've done for us! And you know what else? If we were anypony else, you'd probably have been arrested for what you've done to Spike! Frankly, after what you've put me through personally, I'm considering it anyway!"

"You think throwing me out or threatening to put me in prison is going to keep Spike and I from getting together? He's already snuck out to my place before and he'll do it again if he feels like it!" Rarity spat back, fighting back as much and as frivolously as she could.

"I don't want to ever see you back here again! Do you understand me?!"

"You can't stop him, Twilight! Just accept it!"

"Get out!"

"And you two aren't stopping her! I knew you were against us!" Rarity shouted at the sisters.

"Get out, get out..." The exit flung open with the fashionista's body being used as the battering ram, one that barely managed to stay standing upright. "...Get out!"

With a final, livid snort, Twilight magically grabbed the giant double doors and slammed them shut, shocking nearby Ponyvillians with her behavior. Rarity glared at the barricade long and hard before turning up her nose and stomping away. Any citizens in the way quickly vacated her path as she assumedly headed home. Their attention swung back and forth between her and the crystalline castle, leaving them baffled beyond belief as to what just transpired. The Princess of Friendship screaming at one of her closest friends and telling them to 'get out'? What in Equestria could have happened?

While the populace tried to piece things together outside, inside the castle, Twilight stood staring at the door as her blood pressure slowly dropped back down to normal. Behind her, a pair of alicorns remained still with their jaws hanging silently open. Eventually, the purple mare spun about and crawled her way past them to parts unknown, her eyes falling toward the floor as she mulled over what just happened.

"Twilight," Celestia muttered after a moment, "she may have been abrasive, but...you barely even tried to iron things out."

Luna stepped forth and rested a hoof on her shoulder, forcing the young mare to stop. "What about your council? Without all of its members...there's no point to it. Equestria needs you all together."

"After everything the two of you have been through, you're just going to give up on her like that?"

The words sunk in, but they no longer mattered. "I guess I didn't know her as well as I thought. I'm sorry, your Highnesses."

Twilight would have continued on her path to wherever in the castle she wanted to go and stew if it hadn't been for a certain reptile racing in from the kitchen with panic in his eyes. "What's going on? I-I heard a bunch of yelling in here."

His surrogate took a deep breath. Was she ever not looking forward to laying down the law. "I threw Rarity out, Spike. You can't go see her ever again – and that's final."

He rolled his eyes and smirked. Like he hasn't heard something like that before recently.

"Don't give me that look! I mean it! I know you've snuck out, so there are going to have to be some changes around here. But one thing stays the same and that's what I say goes. I don't want you leaving the castle until further notice."

A fist was clenched, almost to the point where he broke through his scales, and he marched off, not interested in what he felt was just a bunch of empty nonsense by now.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Twilight growled.

"To my room – away from you."

She went to chastise him again, to try and drill a lesson about obedience and listening to her authority into his stubborn skull, but chose instead not to escalate the issue anymore for the time being. A kick of the floor and the grinding of teeth was all the frustration she could muster at the moment.

Once Spike was gone, Twilight's ears fell and she glanced behind her just enough to see the Princesses gazing sadly at her. Sighing heavily, she mumbled, "I'm sorry for wasting your time. You might as well head back to Canterlot."

"You're sure there's nothing we can do to help?" Celestia asked.

Her former student shook her head. "I...I just need to be alone for a while."

The sisters shared a somber look and honored her request, closing the doors behind them as gently as they could. Twilight's legs didn't want to move. Another sigh escaped her as her eyes again sagged to the floor and began to water.

Roughly twenty-four long hours went by, and Rarity sat at the table in the kitchen having a mid-morning snack. A knock at the door swung her ear about. Ugh, probably another stupid customer. Didn't they see the 'Closed' sign? Either way, she needed to put on a happy face. Instead of one of the few clientele she decided to do any sort of business with lately, much to her surprise, a dusty blue pegasus and a grey earth pony stood in her doorway, looking as serious as a heart attack.

The dressmaker blinked and raised a single blow. "Already? I honestly didn't think it'd be so soon."

"Mhm. We raced over as fast as we could. I'd say you have maybe twenty minutes."

"Oh, wonderful. Keep an eye out here."

The mare slammed the door in their faces and sprinted upstairs. Every last little thing that seemed out of place was returned to where it went. The bed was swiftly made, the curtains were closed, and the lights were killed. Downstairs, the first stop was the kitchen. The couple plates that were messed were scrubbed clean at the same time and just as quickly dried and put back in the cupboard. The trash was collected and taken out the back door into the refuse bin.

By now, she only had a hoofful of minutes to go. She locked the back door and took a fast look around. Everything looked in order. Like in the bedroom, she shut the curtains and hit the light switches as she raced into the lobby.

Things looked fine here too. It wasn't as if she spent much time there to begin with lately. A flick of the lights and a closing of the last series of drapes and things were all set. She yanked open the door and turned the lock on the way out, giving the place one last smirk as she departed with the two patiently waiting ponies outside.

The trio trotted in earnest across town, Rarity all the while keeping an extra eye out for any of her other friends. Neither she nor her escort happened to spot them at any point. Eventually, they came to a stop at a newer home with family of recent arrivals. The pegasus and earth pony took one last glance around before leaving, not seeing anypony particularly interested in their presence there. Rarity nodded as they took off and knocked on the door. A few minutes passed before there was an answer. Curtain Call opened the door and wordlessly let her guest inside.

Chapter 7

The door to Carousel Boutique creaked open, gently tapping the bell overhead. Rarity dragged herself inside and flicked the light on, shutting the door behind her and locking it tight. She had never been more grateful to be home, but her enthusiasm was nowhere to be found. With a thought, she removed her single, half-empty saddlebag – its only contents being the key to her home and a few small bits of sustenance she had brought with her from the train ride home – and tossed it to the side. With the heaviest of sighs, she fell to her haunches and collapsed up against the door, resting her tired head on it.

The dressmaker wanted to cry, to scream, but there was nothing at all left in the tank. At first glance, one would have thought she was simply tired from a lack of sleep the previous night, given that all that seemed to be wrong with her were a few bags under her blue eyes and some strands of hair that were out of place. In any other instance, if anypony had taken a second, long look at her, she probably would have wanted to throw herself off a bridge for being seen without make-up or a perfectly coiffed mane. It hadn't been that way for a couple weeks now; it would have been even longer if she hadn't managed to track Coco Pommel down and asked for some help in getting home. She'd have to send her something once she had gotten settled back in as a sign of gratitude. It was the least Rarity felt she could do.

If only something had panned out with the police when she told them she was attacked by a trio of hooligans. She would have loved to have seen their faces right before she...she...well, whatever she would have done was probably against the law anyway. They didn't even manage to find any of her bags they stole from her. It was practically a wagon's worth! How did her attackers manage to simply vanish so effectively? It didn't really matter at this point, did it? Any window of opportunity for justice was probably long since closed, but at least she was alive. Shaken up but alive nonetheless, and relatively unharmed. The things they could have easily done to her...she shuddered at the thought.

Several minutes went by as Rarity sat lost in those thoughts as well as the more relieved ones. She desperately wanted to see the girls and her sister, talk to them, tell them how much she loved them. But right now, a hot bath would be quite the relief too, breathe some life back into her. At least in Ponyville, she knew no one was going to suddenly jump out and attack her. Grunting as she got to her hooves, Rarity gave her neck a good stretch and slowly made her way across the lobby and upstairs, dragging the saddlebag behind her with magic.

On the other side of town, Spike paced back and forth in his room. He also found the time to sprawl out on the bed, stare at the walls, play with a few of his toys and pace back and forth some more. He had heard all the shouting and arguing as Twilight shoved Rarity out the door. If only he had gotten there just a few seconds sooner once he first heard the commotion. He could have stopped it! Rarity was never one to have someone else fight her battles for her, but he would have helped regardless.

He needed to see her. She was probably still distraught and angry but she'd calm down once he offers a strong pair of claws to hold her and an ear to listen. But there wasn't any way he could just waltz out the front door. No doubt Twilight would see him or maybe even hear him if he tried that. The window in his room, however, was easy enough for him to escape through, and he could just as easily dig his sharp claws into the outer, gem-like walls of the castle and climb down. But if he slipped up and fell, he could badly him himself and end up making Twilight panic half to death before she'd inevitably chew him out.

A better idea came to him in an instant – something he remembered seeing in a movie once. Granted, it was only a movie, but as he worked out a plan, it seemed much safer than jamming his talons into a wall and praying. With a sly grin, he quickly made his way out of his room and to a nearby linen closet. Constantly checking over his shoulders, he managed to snag several sheets and stealthily shut the door.

Once back in his room, it took him a little while to find the ends of the sheets and tie them in a long rope nice and tight, doubling the knots over so they wouldn't slip loose. Yes, they'd do well now. Unfortunately, he couldn't very well tie the end piece to an oversized basket. If only Twilight had splurged on the bed he really wanted when he was delaying her from seeing the wonderful job their friends did with the roots of their old home. Ah well, what could he do?

With narrow eyes, Spike skimmed around the room, searching for something sturdy to be his anchor. Without having an armoire or dresser or something similar though, it was proving a bit difficult. Thankfully, he didn't weigh much, so there was little risk of his sheet rope coming undone because of that. With that in mind, he decided to try something a bit risky – tying the sheets to his doorknob. Keeping the door closed would prevent his linens from being dragged around because of loose furniture the way it happened on the big screen. Perfect!

Chuckling deviously to himself, the little dragon shut and locked his bedroom door as quietly as a mouse. The end sheet was wrapped thrice around the knob but was left enough length to be knotted more than once. It sure seemed strong enough once complete. To test it, Spike took the rope in his grip and gently leaned back. The round, bronze anchor squeaked in defiance but ultimately remained intact.

Without missing a beat, the young drake run over to his window and flung it open. The sun was warm and toasty, but that wasn't his concern at the moment. He grabbed the wadded ball of bed sheets, dragged it over to his escape route and tossed it out. It came to an end a few feet from the ground, but he could easily handle a short jump. Forcing back any nervousness, he hopped onto the narrow windowsill and held tightly onto the silky coil. Heck, he climbed up and down a taller rock tower when Applejack wanted him to build one during that silly phase he was going through when he pledged himself to her. This would be a piece of cake, and after only a few feet of descent, it was proving to be just that.

The fluffy white towel hovered over its rack and set itself in place, surrounded by a sparkling, delicate blue hue. Its companion was sitting swirled around Rarity's sopping mane. The beautiful mare willed her mascara and eyelash comb to her, but as she gazed at her still-exhausted reflection, she couldn't bring herself to care enough to doll up right now. True, the bath was soothing and relaxing but otherwise did little to ease her troubled mind.

With a sigh, the dressmaker put down her cosmetics and shambled out the lavatory, switching off the light behind her. Maybe a good stiff drink would help. Couldn't make things any worse.

The drink would have to wait though. She heard a knock at the door as she got to the stairs. Ugh, if only she had more time to dry her hair. She wasn't about to let her guest in, but there wasn't any reason she couldn't take a peek to see who it was. A gasp escaped Rarity's lungs when she saw who it was – one of the only ponies she would let in right now...or, rather, the only dragon.

She bit her lip and grabbed the towel on her head, ready to toss it into the corner. But, Spike had seen her like this before. He wouldn't care if she didn't look her best. Heck, according to him, she always looked her best even if she didn't believe such a thing herself. Oh, what did it matter right now? There wasn't anything in Equestria that could erase what happened to her and bring her spirits back up, but a visit from one of her dearest friends would be a good start in that direction, towel or not.

An odd question came to mind as she put her hoof back down. She just got back to town and hadn't spoken to anypony. Spike knew she was away. How did he know she'd be there? Did he spot her from afar and she simply didn't notice? Surely he would have come up to greet her. Maybe he had been stopping by here and there to see if she had returned before then and it was merely a coincidence? She had been gone longer than anticipated and he had been known to worry about her. Eh, she can think about it later. There was a warm heart outside that she desperately needed right now.

There wasn't enough strength inside her to put up a wall she could hide her misery behind as she opened the door. There was enough, however, to let her smile. "Hello, Spike."

The young drake gazed at her loveliness with a notably sympathetic look in his eye. "Afternoon, Rarity. May I come in?"

"Please," the mare mumbled as she brought him inside. "Spike, I...I can't tell you how good it is to see a friendly face."

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked while slipping his arm around her shoulders.

Rarity nodded, leaning against his head as her eyes started to water. "It...i-it was the worst experience of my life. I never want to go back to Manehattan as long as I live! It was such a disaster! These hooligans attacked me and took nearly everything I had!"

Spike looked her over curiously but shrugged to himself. This again? Well...maybe Rarity and the Princesses mentioned her trip and the terrible memories started rushing back to the surface? Eh, whatever the case, he needed to be her rock.

"I'm sorry, Rarity. I know you're hurting, but I'm here."

The designer continued rambling. "I mean...I-I know there are ponies like that just about everywhere, but...I guess you never expect it to happen to you, y'know? I'm just ever so grateful that I was able to track down Coco Pommel and ask her for help. Otherwise, who knows how long it could have taken me to get back home? But, the one thing I don't understand out of all this is why Mother and Father would tell me to come to Manehattan and then not be there."

"What do you mean?"

"They told me in a letter to come see them, that they had somepony they wanted me to meet. Was supposed to be a surprise, but when I eventually reached the hotel they always stay at when visiting Manehattan, they had no record of them signing in anywhere. Coco let me use her phone and I called every hotel in the book, but nopony heard of them. Why would they do such a thing?"

"I have no idea," Spike said with a shrug. "Come on, it's been a rough day. Let's go inside, I'll make you some tea."

"That'd be...rather nice, dearie," Rarity sighed. "Thank you."

Little by little, the shaken up unicorn had settled down, partly thanks to the hearty brew her young admirer made for her, but mostly because of his presence. As they sat peacefully at the dining room table with their chairs up against each other, she practically talked his ear off about the steps she had taken to get out of that horrid city, and he didn't say much to interrupt her. It felt strangely familiar to the dragon that Rarity was going on and on about Manehattan again, but he had no memory of her explaining everything in such detail.

Why did she decide to wait until now to talk about it? Nothing she was saying would have made her feel uncomfortable in any way as far as he could tell. It was completely possible she had just blocked it from her mind and something triggered it. It had to have been something Twilight and the other Princesses said! She was fine up until that day! If they had a hoof in it, he'd never forgive them!

Spike gradually steered the conversation away from the trauma and into happier territory. Some of it was reminiscing, some was about fashion and what styles she had planned, but he made sure not to bring up anything revolving around any of the recent goings-on. Right now, the day belonged to just the two of them, and he wasn't about to set things off again.

"So, how have the girls been, Spikey-boo?" Rarity eventually asked.

Spike gave her the most baffled look. Why would she need to ask that?

"Uh...fine, I guess? Twilight's probably still angry, I'm sure."

The mare paused before taking another sip and set the cup and saucer on the table. "Angry? What's she angry about, dear?"

He blinked at her again, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. A deep breath subdued his rising anger as did a roll of his eyes. "I...really don't want to talk about her right now."

"Oh, did you two get into a fight or something?" the ivory beauty correctly guessed as she rubbed the scales on his head.

"Really?" he whispered to himself. "Look, can we just change the subject? Please?"

Her ears fell in addition to her jovial spirits. "Oh. Err, alright. If you ever do want to talk about it though, I'm here, okay?"

"I know, but I'll be fine. I'm just happy see that you're feeling better yourself. Well, better than you did earlier."

A gentle smile returned to her cheeks, and she couldn't help but appreciatively nuzzle his. "I wouldn't have if it weren't for you, Spikey-poo." Said cheeks turned a light shade of red when they received a sudden soft kiss. True, Rarity had given him one from time to time, but she had never been on the other end of the deal. It was a little unexpected but not at all unwelcome. "You always have been a little sweetheart, haven't you?" she giggled.

Rarity's seeming acceptance, and the heartfelt look she was giving him, made the young reptile smirk with pride and confidence. He had been overflowing with an abundance of it for a few weeks now – enough to allow his claws to make their own way onto his lady's thigh.

She chuckled uncomfortably. "Err, Spike, what are you doing?"

"What? You're feeling so much better, I figured you'd wanna...y'know." His arrogant grin stretched wider as he petted her leg.

The poor dear's heart skipped more than one beat and her stomach suddenly dropped several floors. Scooting across her chair, she mumbled, "Uh...err...I-I'm rather surprised you know about that sort of thing."

"Well, I did have a pretty good teacher!" he blurted, shuffling back up to her and replacing his talons.

His lust-filled stare leaned her away. Her nervous eyes followed suit as drops of sweat started to form on her brow. "Um...a-and who might that be?"

"Seriously? Uh, you, duh."

A well-placed slap left his cheek bright red. Rarity's face was nearly as red as surprise and rage and horror exploded from her lips all at once. "How dare you! H-How could you say such a thing?! I just come home and you see me vulnerable, so you try to take advantage of me?! What's the matter with you?!"

"Hey, you're the one that–!"

"And what do you mean I taught you?! I can believe you reading about it in a book at the library, but from me? What, have you been spying on me all this time? Did you ask around town who I've dated and ask them for tips while I was away or something?! I can't believe you, Spike! I thought you were different! I thought you were better than this!" she hollered, hopping onto the floor and backing away from an increasingly frustrated dragon.

"What are you going on about?! You never give me the time of day for as long as I can remember, then all of a sudden, you're totally fine with being together, and now you're not?!" he fumed, climbing off his own chair and stomping after her. With every step he took towards her, Rarity danced around the table, keeping it firmly between them.

"When have we ever been together, Spike?! If that's supposed to be some sort of joke, I don't find it funny, especially after everything I just got finished going through!" the mare snapped.

"It isn't a joke! What's gotten into you? All that time, all that effort...did it...did it mean nothing to you?"

"Spike, I...I-I thought it was cute at first, but if this is where you expected things to go acting the way you're acting now, it..." With her emotions running wild, her belly had tied itself in knots; the young drake's bizarre advances coupled with the events on her recent trip were affecting more than just her mind. Rarity's rump hit the floor with her face practically turning green and her breathing becoming labored. "Oh gods, I'm going to be sick."

As he usually did when she needed aid, Spike heroically rushed to the damsel's side and grabbed a forelimb to help her back to her hooves. "Rarity, I...I'm sorry–"

"Don't touch me, Spike," she hissed, yanking away from him.

"But–"

"Don't...touch me." They stared long at each other, not saying a word. Disappointment hung heavy in her gaze; confusion more than anything was in his. "You need to leave," Rarity finally said.

"I-I was just–"

"Go home, Spike. Now."

A subtle furrow of her brow got the message across as he stood there dumbfounded. This...wasn't really happening, was it? Things had been going spectacularly and...it falls apart in five minutes? What did he do wrong? Rarity enjoyed his company and his touch, didn't she? Ugh, what was the use? Whatever it was that set her off left him far beyond square one. Utterly defeated, the heartbroken little dragon turned and sulked out of the room, through the lobby, and left the establishment.

The mare of his dreams let out a pained sigh when the store bell rung and the door closed behind it. Her blue eyes flowed like rivers as she sobbed into her forelegs.

"Spike?" Twilight called out. She was hoping he had calmed down enough to answer a simple question about the placement of a particular book she had spent an inordinate amount of time searching for. The Princess approached the door to the most obvious place to look – his room. "Spike, you there?"

Her knock received no response either. Odd...she didn't see him anywhere around the lower level of the castle. This was where he usually went when he was upset. She grabbed the doorknob, hoping to peek inside. Maybe he was asleep? However, the door refused to open. Okay, he must still be really angry. Why else would he lock himself in?

"Spike? Look, I just have a quick question and I'll leave you alone." Still no answer. Something was off. Could he be hurt somehow? She didn't really have the strength like Rainbow Dash or Applejack to bust down the door since it was locked, but she did have one alternative.

In a burst of magic, Twilight appeared in the middle of Spike's dormitory. Everything looked in order – until she spun around and found a rope comprised of knotted sheets hanging out the window. It was nothing short of a miracle that her barely-subdued fury didn't give her a migraine. With gritted teeth, she pulled and pulled and pulled the linens back inside and unwrapped the other end from the doorknob, undoing the lock in the process.

The sheets were thrown into the corner and the door was whipped open and left there. There was only one place Spike was and Twilight knew it. Was he ever going to get it! She grumbled and fumed to herself, imagining laying into the pipsqueak when he got home, while she stomped back to the main halls of her large home. It would be so satisfying to speed over to the boutique and verbally blast them both, but she had done so to both a few times already, and frankly, if she never saw Rarity again, she couldn't have cared less – not after the stunts she pulled.

Twilight eventually made it to the map room, looking over the numerous locations and wondering what it held next for them. After some time, the sound of the front door opening and closing twisted a ear away. Ugh, she would have been happy being left alone for a little while, but she had to go play the gracious host for whoever the guest was, assuming it was a guest and not one of her other better friends.

She was pleasantly surprised and simultaneously irritated upon meeting up with Spike a few feet from her 'command center'. Strange, she expected him to be gone all day long again...and his eyes were really bloodshot. Has he been...crying? The alicorn's face softened, her motherly side creeping through past the anger. With a sniffle and a wipe of his nose, he looked up at her sadly.

"Spike? I, err...I found the rope in your room." His eyes shifted away. He was so dead. A hoof lifted his chin and she remained as calm as she could for him. "You can imagine how upset I am with you over that."

"Yeah," he sighed.

She caressed his cheek. No doubt there were a few dried tears on his scales. "Are...you okay?"

He choked down a sob and answered, "You were right."

"About what?"

"I...I-I shouldn't have gotten involved with her."

Twilight never had time for a relationship herself, but she had read enough stories involving love in her day to know what he was saying. "She dumped you."

He nodded as the tears returned. "Sh-she was acting like she couldn't stomach me being around her or wanting to h-hold her hoof or anything. We'd been doing so well too. I just don't understand!"

She hugged him tightly and chocked up another strike against Rarity. "I don't understand what she's been thinking either, Spike. I'm sorry for what happened. I...I know she meant a lot to you." His crying died down a bit when she pulled away, gazing at him softly. He deserved to be punished for sneaking out, but the Princess thought better of it; he'd been already punished enough as it is. "Did you want to come with me to the library wing? We can curl up and read a nice story together."

"S-sure," Spike squeaked.

It was fortunate for the mare that he, like so many other youngsters, could be easily distracted from their troubles. A short list of his favorite books came to mind as she walked with him inside. They had worked in the past to cheer him up when he was feeling down. She hoped it'd work today too.

Chapter 8

It may have been several minutes; it may have been several hours. The only thing Rarity knew as she laid against the wall, curled up in a ball with her eyes having poured out everything they could, was that the sun was still up. As if her out-of-town experience wasn't bad enough, Spike, who was one of her closest and dearest friends, had suddenly tried to assault her too. She once welcomed his gentle claws wrapping around her long neck and hugging her tightly; now the thought of those claws had sent a shiver up her spine multiple times that afternoon.

She didn't want to move from her safe place, but she also knew she needed to tell Twilight about what had happened. She'd understand and make sure Spike was punished. It left a twisted feeling in her stomach knowing that being in the same room as him now, instead of bringing happiness, would probably leave her jumpy and paranoid. Whether or not she could ever forgive him...well, that was even more difficult to determine.

Sighing heavily, Rarity staggered to her hooves and crawled her way upstairs. Despite the terrible things she was going to speak to Twilight about, the designer needed to pull herself back together and look somewhat presentable. She wasn't going to go too out of her way like she would under normal circumstances though.

The prim-and-proper pony generally lived by the idea that looking good helped make you feel good. This couldn't be farther from the truth as she carried on to the glittering castle at a snail's pace. The whole while she prepared herself in front of the mirror in her boudoir, she wondered how to break the news to Twilight. After all, the princess had hatched him! It was entire possible that she was going to be skeptical of the accusations to say the least.

Her train of thought, however, came to a sudden stop when a familiar, colorful streak flew by, high in the sky. The posh mare barely had the energy to wave hello when the sky blue pegasus dragging the multi-colored display behind her began to approach, let alone smile.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash," Rarity muttered as her comrade slammed her hooves into the ground, not noticing the scowl on the daredevil's face. "I can't tell you how nice it is–"

"Y'know, I really can't believe you'd have no problem showing your face around Ponyville again so soon after what you've done. Don't you have any shame at all?" the speedster growled.

The unicorn did a double-take, her eyes bursting wide in shock and mostly confusion. "Errr...what in the world are you going on about?"

"Don't try and play stupid with me," Rainbow snarled, jabbing the lady in the chest. "Twilight told me everything the other day. Y'know, at first, I was kinda sorta okay with it since we all knew he liked you and all, but then I heard about the way you've been acting about it and that was it for me, and let's not even get into what you did to Spike today."

"What?! What I did to him?!"

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "Uh, yeah. Twilight told me about that too when I stopped by earlier to see how they were doing. And fighting with the Princesses? Why in Equestria would you do that?"

"Fighting with...? What are you talking about, Rainbow Dash? I've been stuck in Manehattan for weeks trying to get home and I'd still be there if I wasn't able to track down Coco! Then I get back to Ponyville and the first thing that happens is Spike tries to assault me, and now you come along and start accusing me of doing such...nonsensical things!" Rarity shouted. Her cheeks began glowing red with increasing rage.

"Right, like you haven't been getting all lovey-dovey with Spike behind closed doors, or are you calling him and Twilight liars now too?"

A vein in the fashionista's head started to throb. "I'm not calling anypony a liar! This is ridiculous! Where are you coming up with all this?! I'm the victim here!"

"Yeah, Twilight told me about how you said you were attacked and came right home, about how you wanted to keep things quiet. But why keep it a secret at all? We would have helped you if you asked! Nothing you're saying makes any sense! You stand there telling me you were gone for weeks yet I saw you around town the entire time. Whenever I tried to talk to you about anything, you were always 'busy' and blew me off! For Celestia's sake, what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing's gotten into me! I'm telling you the truth!"

"Psh, Spike's sure gotten into you."

An angry hoof smacked her across the face, leaving Rainbow momentarily stunned. Not by any pain despite being a decently strong whack but simply by the act itself. She turned back and glared at Rarity, almost wishing she'd try it again. The tears coming from her furious blue eyes and the aggressive stance Rarity took made the speedster believe that a second swing was coming, but the unicorn's conscience was what took the next blow instead. The anger she put into her attack just as quickly subsided, morphing into regret – as well as fear of retaliation.

With her lips quivering, the designer mumbled, "I...I-I'm sorry. B-but you know I wouldn't do that! Even if I wanted to, he's far too young!"

"Oh, yeah, cuz that stopped you before. Why are you doing this? Just what did you hope to gain from...from using him the way you did?"

"I haven't used him or anypony else because I just. Got. Home! Why aren't you listening to me?!" Rarity shrieked as she stomped the ground, turning the tears on again. More than a few ponies took a curious glance at the increasingly loud scene.

Rainbow popped back into the air, hovering just overhead. "Ugh! You know what? If you're going to keep making up stories right to my face and going around in circles, I'm going to go waste my time somewhere else." She shook her head and sneered at who she had always thought was a close friend. "Really can't believe you. Sickening..."

Her cries for her high-flying companion to wait were futile as the prismatic pony zipped away in an instant, leaving Rarity in the dust with a multitude more questions than ever. Her scowl shifted back and forth between fury and misery. What could have possessed Rainbow Dash to chastise her with lies out of nowhere like that? They knew each other, didn't they? Rainbow could be crass sometimes, yes, but Rarity had never heard her say anything so...so hostile before.

Ultimately, wherever Rainbow Dash was getting her ridiculous notions was irrelevant for the moment. The fashionable mare would get to the bottom of it eventually, but now she had even more reason to go speak to Twilight. The pegasus did say she had been speaking to the young princess. Maybe she had experienced Rainbow acting peculiar recently and wasn't sure how to handle it either. She would definitely have to mention it.

Now, how to break the news to Twilight that Spike had just tried to molest her? The attack in Manehattan would be easy enough to share, as terrifying as it was, but Spike's...advances?

Sniffling in a most unladylike but frustrated way, Rarity trotted ahead to the castle, ready to rip anypony who got in her way in half.

If Rainbow Dash's tirade hadn't kept repeating itself through Rarity's head as she went, she wouldn't have been grumbling to herself as she came up to the castle's double doors. Before raising a hoof to knock, she took a deep breath that didn't do as much to calm her as she would have liked. A second breath helped quite a bit more. Quickly straightening her mane and making herself presentable, the designer rapped at the door and waited patiently. Sure, she could have join walked on in as she was always welcome with open hooves, but this was a more formal visit and she was going to approach this formally.

A moment or two after another knock, the mare she wanted to see answered. The princess' pleasant demeanor vanished in an instant – as did she, slamming the door in Rarity's face and leaving the posh pony momentarily stunned beyond words.

"Twilight! Twilight, open up, please!" she yelled, pounding at the entrance. "I need your help!" The door suddenly swung open as Rarity carried on, nearly causing her to fall on her face. Her distraught blue eyes gazed up at her glaring lavender friend. "...Twilight?"

"I thought I already told you to get lost," the princess snarled through gritted teeth.

Whatever response Rarity may have had on her mind escaped her. All she could muster was a blank, empty stare in disbelief until she was able to think somewhat coherently again. "Wha...but...T-Twilight, I...I-I haven't seen you since I went out of town! Please, dear, what's going on? I just saw Rainbow Dash a few minutes ago and I thought she was going to kill me and now you're–"

"At least Rainbow's honest with me. How dare you come back here after everything you did!" Twilight countered with a snort.

Tears started to form yet again. "What did I do?! I come home after being attacked by some...some thugs and then Spike tries to...t-to have his way with–"

"Ah ah ah! Don't you dare say another word, you...you...despicable harpy!" The furious alicorn marched the few steps forward with her wings puffed, forcing Rarity into a mortified, cowering ball on the ground. Under normal circumstances, Rarity could easily come up with a scathing retort and put the pony trying to slander her good name in their place, but what could she say when one of her best friends is the one attacking her? "You abuse Spike and then try to say it was his fault? What you've done to him was low enough, but trying to turn this all around on him? What kind of monster are you?!" The young princess shot her nose barely an inch away from the target of her wrath, glaring harder than Rainbow Dash wished she could. "You listen and you listen good. If you ever come back here again...if you ever come near Spike again wherever he may be, I'll summon the royal guard to come take you away and then you can tell everypony what you did to the poor kid from a cell. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Y-y-yes, your highness," Rarity squeaked, shaking like a leaf.

With the brutal point driven home, Twilight gave the dressmaker a dismissive smirk and stormed back inside, slamming the door closed again. Rarity's soft whimpers quickly grew into loud wails, leaving her a blubbering mess. Her chest started to ache from crying so hard.

"What is going on?!"

None of the small crowd that witnessed the squabble had an answer.

It was the only logical place to go after being eaten alive by the princess. For the first time all day, fate decided to smile on Rarity. If only it was something a little...grander than bumping into Fluttershy on the way to the market instead of booking it across town and meeting her at home. Still, with the way things were suddenly going for her, Rarity wasn't about to be picky.

Feeling like a broken record, she recanted her tale of terror to her introverted friend – the trip, the attacks by both the muggers and Spike, Rainbow Dash's and Twilight's reactions to everything...every last detail she preferred not to remember. All the while, Fluttershy remained quiet and absorbed the stories like a sponge. Rarity only noticed after they had gotten to Market Square and stopped in front of a familiar apple stand that the pegasus was looking a bit perplexed. She had been far too busy staring solemnly at the ground the entire way.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked the timid mare.

"Well, um...it's just that I've seen you here and there around town recently, but you always looked busy and I didn't want to impose if you were." Not to seem rude, she addressed her farmer friends, her cheeks reddening for the second one. "Hello, Applejack. H-hello, Big Macintosh."

"Howdy, y'all!"

"Miss Fluttershy, Miss Rarity."

"Good afternoon," the fashionista sighed. Throwing in a facehoof, she groaned, "Fluttershy, am I going to have to defend myself against you too? Everything I've said is true!"

"I...suppose it could be just a case of mistaken identity. I did always see you...or at least thought I saw you from a distance."

"Sorry for interruptin', but defend yourself against what, sugarcube?"

"Everypony I've talked to today has been accusing me of...some rather unspeakable acts that I don't want to repeat. And apparently, I've been home for weeks despite being stranded in Manehattan after some hooligans attacked me."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "That wasn't you I saw a few days ago?"

"No! For the hundredth time, no!" Rarity whined, stomping a hoof.

"Hmm." The farmer tapped her chin, trying to recall the everyday events. "It was kinda crowded around here that day. Eh, maybe I just seein' things. What about you, Big Mac? You happen to spot her? You have been workin' the stand more than me recently."

"Nnnope."

"And what about when you didn't set up shop? Don't suppose you've seen any other ghosts of me running around?"

"We really haven't had much of a social life recently, to be honest. Got a little behind when Big Macintosh here came down a bug a couple weeks ago. Been a pain in the flank tryin' to catch up, but we're almost there," the cowgirl explained.

"I still think you should have let me come over and help him get better a little faster," Fluttershy said with a firm but teasing nod. The big red machine uncomfortably shifted his eyes away and cleared his throat. He considered himself lucky that they couldn't see his cheeks becoming flush – he'd never hear the end of it. "Anyway, Rarity, it sounds like this is just a big misunderstanding."

"But why would Twilight and Rainbow Dash both accuse me of such...things? You don't suppose Discord is having some sick fun at my expense using our friends like he did before, do you?"

"It's always possible, I guess," Applejack added. "Though he hasn't been up to much trouble these days. I'd think if he was being obnoxious, he'd want us to know about it."

"He probably would, yeah. I can talk to him if you want."

Rarity shrugged tiredly. "It's up to you. I just...I just can't stand the idea that my friends aren't my friends anymore."

As tears started to form again in her sad, blue eyes, Fluttershy wrapped a foreleg around Rarity's neck and nuzzled her close. "Don't say that. I know they still care about you!"

"Then why did they yell at me the way they did?!"

The tight squeeze loosened ever slightly when Fluttershy quietly sighed. "I wish I had an answer for that." Suddenly, her face lit up. "You know, there is one pony we know who can prove your friends care about you better than anyone."

It almost felt as if Rarity's spirits couldn't get any lower despite her companion's best efforts. Under most circumstances, a small get-together among friends would be wonderful. Today, however...

"I know who you're referring to and I don't think Pinkie Pie's enthusiasm is going to cheer me up right now. H-how's she been anyway? Don't suppose she's hating me like everypony else all of a sudden?"

"Come on now, Rares, you know she would never do that."

"Of course not!" the animal lover agreed. "As far as how she's been, well...not bad, but she could be doing a little better as far as I know."

"What do you mean, sugarcube?"

"I stopped by Sugarcube Corner a couple days ago and talked with her for a bit. She's been having some difficulty convincing some of Ponyville's new arrivals to let her throw them a 'welcome' party like she usually does. She hasn't said anything, but I can tell she's pretty upset about it. I just hope she hasn't noticed that they seem to be getting along rather well with many of the other townsponies around here. It'd probably break her heart if she thought they were actively trying to avoid her." Fluttershy paused to bite her lip. "I...haven't said anything to her like that though. I'd hate to end up hurting her over what could very well be nothing more than empty rumors."

"Don't blame you for that," Applejack said while making a quick sale. "Thank ya kindly. But yeah, she can be a hoofful sometimes with all her energy and such. Not everypony can handle it like we can. Have you suggested to her to maybe ease up on them a bit? I'm sure they'll come around in time, but maybe they feel she's being too pushy or something."

"I've thought about it a couple times, but I doubt she would listen."

"Especially when it comes to trying to make new friends," Rarity interjected. Her lips curled. "Hmph. The irony is just wonderful, is it not? She's having trouble making new friends and...I'm having trouble keeping old ones. I just wish I knew what we did to deserve all this." The dressmaker turned to Fluttershy, Applejack and Big Macintosh with a gentle but exhausted smile. "Thank you for believing me. You have no idea how much I appreciate it – and for listening to all my rambling. I know I must have sounded like a damned lunatic at times."

"It's alright, Rarity. We always be here for you," Fluttershy assured her, nuzzling her again.

"You know it, girl. We'll figure this all out eventually."

"Eeyup."

"I hope so," the fashionista sighed. "If it's alright with you, I...kind of want to just head home and pretend this day never happened. Maybe pop open a bottle of your apple cider."

"Quick question before you go, hon," Applejack said. "Would you...want me to talk to Twilight or Rainbow Dash for you? If they're not speakin' to you for whatever reason, maybe they'll talk to me and I can help patch things up a might quicker."

It wasn't a bad idea, and she thought and thought about it for a brief moment. But what if the cowgirl's good intentions backfired and she ended up getting turned on as well? Rainbow Dash and Applejack always had a friendly but fierce rivalry, and it wouldn't take much under the right circumstances for things to escalate into something terrible. Twilight could be stubborn in some ways herself, and who knows what would happen if she and Applejack started butting heads in a contest to see who was more correct if they started arguing over Rarity's alleged actions? It'd devastate her to no end if she was responsible, directly or not, for their friends splitting up even further. The more she took it into consideration, the further her blue eyes fell.

"I don't know. I'll see you all later."

"...Bye," Fluttershy whimpered as the heartbroken unicorn trudged away, leaving the group in a funk.

While the anguishing quartet slowly disbanded, save for the Apple siblings at their market stand, a small pink unicorn foal sat at a nearby with her snout deep in a school book but her eyes focusing hard on the small gathering. Several others nearby had been keeping an ear in the air as well, eavesdropping as nonchalantly as they could and sharing the occasional glance among their conversations and business transactions.

As for the youngster, she had occasionally sniffed at the air, searching for a particularly interesting smell that had tickled her nose soon after they gathered together. The scent died down several minutes ago, but Cottontail knew it had been there. Terrible wheels began to turn. Who would have expected such a tragedy to produce such an unexpected gift?

Chapter 9

Fluttershy had been so lost in thought as she slowly made her way back to her cottage, it was a wonder she didn't bump into the door to alert herself of where she was. If not for Angel hopping up to her and tapping his oversize white foot as she closed the door behind her, she likely would have unconsciously wandered into the kitchen and put what she purchased away without a second thought to the bunny's angry stomach. Feeding time never seemed to end around her quaint little home.

Everything Rarity told the confused pegasus about made less and less sense as she repeated it in her head. Up and down, the posh pony insisted she was away, yet...she wasn't. She told terrible tales of Spike and Twilight betraying her in the most unexpected and unbelievable ways. Fluttershy was ready to escort Rarity back to the castle and sit down with her friends, figure out what was going on. But if what she said was true, bringing her over there could have reignited whatever fire had been lit all over again – not to mention the possibility of being screamed at herself. The last thing she wanted to do was be yelled at by her closest friends. Doing that very thing once herself left her in anguish for days over the guilt. Celestia only knows how terrible Pinkie and Rarity felt. If she could help it, she wanted to avoid such heartache at all costs.

Her friend's odd behavior had to have been over trauma. True, Fluttershy was no psychiatrist, but she dealt with enough emotional trauma as a foal to know what it could to do a pony's mind.

"Sorry I'm late, Angel. I know you're probably pretty hungry."

The tiny beast nodded. A fresh box of pellets was the first thing Fluttershy pulled from one of her saddlebags and set on her living room table, followed by some seed for her fellow flyers. In a single glide around the room, she scooped up the numerous bowls her critter friends ate from and gathered them together in a group. Her furry and feathery companions gathered as well, waiting more patiently than the pegasus' favorite pet for their inevitable feeding. She broke open the new boxes and liberally poured their contents into numerous dishes, a small but weary smile crawling across her cheeks. It always warmed her heart, even during the most stressful of days, to see the little dears happy. With her animal friends munching greedily on their dinners, she picked up both boxes and flew into the kitchen. Still had other things to put away. Angel followed his owner inside and hopped up onto the table, folding his minuscule forelegs at his chest. Would it have killed her to start making his food right away instead of sorting through the groceries and shoving them where they needed to go? The nerve!

"It's just...well, I bumped into Rarity on the way to the market – or more accurately, she bumped into me. Now, you've seen her recently around town when we'd go out, right?"

He shrugged and nodded again.

"I knew I wasn't seeing things! It was really weird! She claimed that she hadn't been around in weeks and that as soon as she came home from being away, Spike and Twilight were acting as if they wanted to wring her neck! They said she, err...did things with Spike. I-I just don't get it – any of it! Twilight wouldn't make up such outrageous stories, but I just don't believe that Rarity would do what they say she did to Spike. What am I supposed to do? I don't want to see them fighting, but how am I supposed to convince them there has to be some crossed wires or something when they're both claiming so fiercely that they're the one telling the truth?"

Angel received his delicious greens and took several large bites. Fluttershy's ears sagged as she took a seat and sighed hard enough for the bunny to pause between bites with mild concern. He hadn't seen her so unhappy in quite the while. Instead of continuing to eat, her companion chirped some supportive words and an idea or two.

"Maybe. They say time heals all wounds, but...these wounds seemed to go deep. I mean, how much time would we need before they'd just get over it on their own? A week? A year? We've fought alongside some of Equestria's worst threats and come out okay. I wouldn't want to believe some arguing would ruin our friendships."

As she tossed Angel's suggestions around in her head, the mare's stomach voiced its own painful complaints, making her wince. She wanted to get up and fix something for herself...but didn't at the same time. Even the rabbit's offer from his own bowl didn't interest her. His actions didn't go unappreciated though, receiving a loving petting.

"Thank you, Angel, but right now, if I try and eat something, I have a feeling it's not going to stay down. Been such a crazy and...upsetting day that I think it's making me a bit sick to my stomach," Fluttershy moaned.

The white rodent spoke up again, a simple suggestion that had cheered her up in the past before. It didn't take long for her to think of one particularly bright spot in her day, and half a smile formed on her face.

"Well...it was awful nice to see Big Macintosh again, even if it was only for a few minutes. Still as sweet and handsome and strong as ever," she swooned. "It's so infrequent that I get to see him at all, what with him always busy at Sweet Apple Acres and me doing my daily things."

Angel asked the question he had asked more than once, prompting another sigh from his owner.

"No. I just...I-I don't know how to tell him. It'd be so embarrassing if he said he wasn't interested, and it'd be even more embarrassing if I told him in front of Applejack. I mean, she's one of my best friends and all, but I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable telling him I liked him if she was there. I'd prefer to tell him how I feel alone with him, you know?"

Her little fuzzball facepawed and shook his head. He should have known better by now. Assertiveness has never exactly been her strong suit save for...that one time. Besides, why in the world did she think they'd do something that she probably thinks they'd do like make fun of her or laugh or something? He needed to know!

"It's not that I think they would," she replied. "I guess I'm just afraid of getting hurt...again. You remember how horribly things went with that one pegasus I tried to talk to a few years ago, right? I'd rather not have to worry about going through that again, even if it was with somepony I knew in this case. And before you say anything, yes, I know it seems silly that I'm panicking over some hypothetical situation that I don't want to get involved in even though I really like the stallion," Fluttershy muttered, sadly shifting her eyes. The mare got up from the table and put the last of her groceries away while Angel returned to eating between irritated groans and eye rolls of his own.

Angel and numerous other comfortably fed critters of all sizes laid about the living room of Fluttershy's cottage as well as their own hanging houses and holes in the wall, chattering among themselves about their days or snoozing peacefully. The soft-spoken mare sat on her couch, reading a good spy novel Rarity had recommended to her a while back. Quite the page turner! The sun was heading down for the evening, the last few of its warm rays poking out from behind the horizon.

It wasn't until a knock at the door stirred her and her companions from their activities. Who would be visiting at this time?

The answer nearly made her heart stop. It did shoot her wings into the air however. She struggled to find words to greet her guest, sputtering nonsensically, but fortunately, the task was done for her – and with only a bit more grace.

"Err...evenin', Miss Fluttershy."

"B...B-B-Big M-Macintosh? I...uhh..." She quickly cleared her throat and remembered to breathe. "W-what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

"I just, uh, wanted to stop by, say hello. You looked a bit upset earlier today. Thought I'd come see how you were doin'."

"Oh! I'm...fine," the pegasus mumbled as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "Oh dear, where are my manners? Please, come in. Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you. So, what have–"

Almost immediately upon closing the door and allowing Big Macintosh to sit down, Fluttershy's army began shrieking, snarling and hissing, taking the equines by complete surprise. Even Angel's fur was standing on end.

"What are–? Please, quiet down! You're all yelling–! Why are you–?" With diplomacy failing, she chose the only other option she knew...and preferred not to use. "Everypony, be quiet!" she screamed as loud as she could, silencing the crowd in an instant. "Why are you all acting like this?! We have a...very special visitor and you go ballistic? You know better than this! Heck, you didn't act like this when Discord was staying here! I mean, s-sure, you all ran off until things cooled down, but you know who Big Macintosh is!"

The animals weren't happy. One by one, they slowly vacated the area to their living quarters, growling under their breath and all glaring at the stallion. He reciprocated with just a puzzled look as Fluttershy. Eventually, the pair found themselves alone and confused.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Big Mac said.

"I have no idea. I-I've never seen them do that before. I'm so sorry if they bothered you."

"Aw, s'alright. No harm came of it."

"Yeah." The two sat there in momentary silence, only occasionally making eye contact. Fluttershy felt a burning in her cheeks whenever she tried to. "So..."

"So." Big Mac tapped his chin and sighed. "Eh, might as well play it straight." He shot her a sideways glance and a coy smirk. "I was wonderin' what was up with that look you have him earlier today. I-I mean me...gave me earlier."

Fluttershy stiffened up, her heart once more skipping a few beats. "The...uh...look? W-what look? I don't know what look you're talking about."

The farmer chuckled to himself. "If you say so. It's okay though, Fluttershy. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. But, with all the time I've spent at the stand, week in and week out, seein' other ponies goin' about their day, well...I've seen ponies give each other that look a time or two here and there." A gentle hoof rested on hers. "But you can talk to me if there's...something on your mind."

She squeaked and quivered at the delightfully amazing touch. As if she wasn't having a hard enough time trying to be honest with him as well as herself. His other hoof turned her head to face him. Her eyes shrank at seeing his soft face.

"I've...never seen you so, err...s-say so much. A-all at once, I mean," Fluttershy mumbled, failing at her small talk.

"Believe it or not, I'm fairly well versed in it...among other things," Big Mac whispered with a wink.

Her heart wouldn't have been able to stop racing by now, no matter how hard she would have tried to curtail it.

The big red stallion cleared his throat, blushed and turned aside briefly, his smile never leaving. "I'll be honest–"

"Like Applejack!" the mare blurted, only to bite her lip. "S-sorry, continue."

Her outburst startled Big Mac briefly, but he got over it quick enough. "Heh, yeah, like my sister. Anyway, I-I can't really deny that, err...I might have occasionally snuck a peek or two your way too. Just n-never really knew how to...how to say what I've felt for a while now. Been tryin' to put the words together for a while now and...heh, guess I'm still fumblin' my way through 'em a bit."

She clutched the hoof he had taken from her face. His nervousness was strangely relaxing her instead of worsening things. With all the times she had felt uncomfortable and afraid – including only a moment ago – to see someone else troubled over something they should be happy about was something she wasn't going to stand for. One way or another, she'd help him pick himself up. Plus, she found his familiar awkwardness rather charming. "I think you're doing just fine," she giggled. "A-are you saying that you'd, um...uh...y'know..."

He nodded, happy that everything seemed to finally be out on the table. "What about you? Would you ever want to...I don't know, do somethin' some time?"

"Y-yes. I'd like that very much!"

"Well, alright! How's about I stop by tomorrow and we go get some lunch, maybe spend the afternoon together?"

"Sure, I'd love that! But, um...what about your responsibilities at Sweet Apple Acres? Won't Applejack be upset?"

Big Mac waved dismissively, chortling. "Naw, we're, uh...actually a bit ahead of schedule with the harvestin' and all. Besides, it's a big farm and she can't keep an eye on me twenty-four hours a day. But, for now, what do you say we keep this between us just so we don't accidentally get on her bad side?" he suggested, nudging her gently. "Who knows? Bein' all secretive-like could be kind of fun!"

Fluttershy snickered behind a hoof. "I suppose it could be. I just hope you don't get in any kind of trouble."

"Don't you worry none about it. I'll be alright." The crimson behemoth hopped off the couch, ready to head back home. "Well, I've got a few things to do. I'm glad we had this chat."

The demure mare followed suit, seeing her wonderful visitor our. "Me too! You...y-you really have no idea how much I've been wanting to say to you what you've said to me tonight."

"I must admit I feel a little silly for takin' so long myself. I'll see you tomorrow, Fluttershy," he said, taking her hoof in his and giving it a soft kiss.

Her cheeks lit up again. "G-good night, Big Macintosh!"

Once her suitor was assumedly out of earshot, the typically quiet mare squealed with giddy excitement, hopping in place and spinning around like a school filly. Curious about the noise, Angel came out from his hiding spot and poked his head in. The atypical sight made him blink in disbelief; he had never seen his owner so boisterous.

She happened to notice him out of the corner of her eye and scooped him into the air with her, very nearly hitting their heads on the ceiling. "Oh, Angel! Can you believe he actually asked me out?! Ohh, I'm so excited! I know things are going to work out with Big Macintosh! I just know it!"

As she practically crushed her furry friend in a bear-hug, Angel worriedly glanced over at the door, thinking of who had just walked through it a moment ago.

As first dates went, things were relatively smooth. The only trouble the couple seemed to have was at the very start when Fluttershy's animals threw a fit when Big Mac entered the domicile and later again when he dropped her off. Over the next two weeks, the pair saw each other more and more frequently, each time during the day when Applejack would be too busy to notice her older brother was gone, each time a simple, traditional outing consisting of relaxing in a quiet part of town by their lonesome and enjoying the sun or having a private picnic...and each time with a group of furious critters making things difficult from the get-go.

After a while, the only other thing that calmed them down besides Fluttershy scolding them was Big Mac glaring ferociously at them – except when his date may have been able to catch him doing so. Any complaints her furry friends directed her way fell on deaf ears. They usually ranged from the stallion having an unusual odor to terrifying, whispered growls rolling from his mouth. Being lovestruck and not spending quite as much time with her tiny friends as she usually did, Fluttershy dismissed it all as acts of jealousy. She wanted to spend more time with them, sure, but why couldn't they just be happy for her? For once, it was her heart that was fluttering and not simply her name. Besides, she always made sure to leave food out for them if she was going to be gone half the day. What more did they want?!

They once more went out of their way to inform her that weekend what exactly it was that they wanted – for her to listen to them that something was off about her sweetheart. More nonsense, especially considering he worked with critters of his own for years and they never had any issues with him! She knew it to be the case, too! She had been over to Sweet Apple Acres plenty of times, but it was only her fuzzy friends who had any problem with Big Mac!

Enough was enough.

Saturday, in the late afternoon, the happy couple returned to her cottage home from another magical day to an eruption of shrieks, chirps and hisses. This time, Fluttershy was the one growling, silencing their hysteria in a second. "Alright, this has got to stop!" She turned and whispered in Big Mac's ear. "Hon, could you wait outside for just a teensy minute?"

"Uh...s-sure."

Once the door was gently shut, she flew to the center of the living room and then off the handle, snarling through her teeth. "I cannot tell you all how sick and tired I am of this! Every single time Big Mac comes over, you go nuts and you can't even tell me what it is about him you don't like! Just what is the matter with you all?! He visited here before we started dating and you never said a word then! You know how sweet and kind and affectionate and important he is to me, and if you can't even pretend to be happy for me, then...then I want you to head outside until Big Mac goes home and leave us in peace! Not once has he been able to stay later after he drops me off here because of the way you're all acting! Well, I'm inviting him inside today and I'm not going to let you stop me from doing so! Understand?"

Left without a word to say, the tiny armada filed toward the back door through the kitchen with Fluttershy following in the air. She opened the door and pointed her hoof, kicking her furry friends out. As they filed out in front of her, most gave her confused or heartbroken side glances. A few tears of her own formed in her eyes, but she shook them off, choosing to remain as firm as she could.

Angel was the last one. He went to speak but didn't know what to say that could possibly make her change her mind. Instead, he kicked at the floor and stomped out. With the cottage all to herself – for the moment, at least – Fluttershy took a deep breath, gradually pushing back down the frustration she had felt. She wished there was another way to go about things, but the animals were being completely unreasonable and uncommunicative. They saw how nice he was to her and how happy she was at the end of their dates, right? How could they possibly be against that?! No, it was all in their heads.

Her dainty hooves touched down on the tile floor, and she trotted off to her front door. Her guest was still waiting patiently outside, his back to her as he quietly took in the surrounding fauna and brisk air. The door's creak gave Fluttershy away, and he spun around to look upon her face to face. She forgot any concerns she had about her critters in a second, melting at the sight of his soft emerald eyes.

"S-sorry about that," Fluttershy squeaked. "Would you like to...come in?"

"What about your little friends?"

Her ears sagged as she answered. "I asked them to leave."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I can head out if you prefer. I know it must've been hard on you."

"Yes. I-it was, but...well, I wanted to invite you in and...if they don't like that, then I'm sorry, but I think I should be allowed to spend some quality time at home with somepony I...I really care for, y'know?" She took a hoof of his in hers and led her big, muscular guest inside, locking the door behind him.

A warm smile was his reply. Fluttershy could feel her cheeks turning red and hid behind her mane, hiding her own grin. Big Mac led the timid mare by the very same hoof over to the couch. They leaned back and got comfortable together with the stallion wrapping a foreleg around her and the pegasus snuggling up against his chest. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so blissfully content.

"Wish I could help you somehow with your animals," Big Mac said. "I work with plenty of animals and I know how they can be sometimes. You introduce a newcomer and they sometimes get all defensive – like they feel as if their home is being invaded or somethin'. It sometimes takes a little while, but they always get over it in time. Maybe that's just what's goin' on here."

"I hope that's all it is. I just wish they could see in you what I do."

The farm pony shrugged. "I'm sure deep down they do. Just be patient with them like you always are. They'll come around."

Fluttershy closed her eyes and sighed into his coat. His hoof delicately caressed her shoulder as they simply enjoyed each other's quiet company for a little while. She could feel his heart beating in his chest, and for a moment she could swear it was matching hers. She looked up at Big Macintosh, and, feeling her movement, he gazed down at her. Her longing aquamarine eyes made him giggle.

"What?"

Fighting her nerves, she leaned in and softly pecked him on the cheek. They quickly found themselves staring wantonly into each other's eyes. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Big Mac slowly closed in on her lips, his forelimb ever so slightly pulling her into his chest. An electric wave of passion coursed through her body as they finally kissed. She wrapped her forelegs around his broad neck, not wanting for the amazing moment to end. Big Mac felt her wings slowly extending as his hooves stroked and caressed her back, their breaths becoming increasingly heavy together.

Taking charge, the big red stallion laid her on her back, breaking away from her lips and tracing a path up and down her slender neck, occasionally nibbling at a sweet spot or two. She winced but not in pain. Behind closed lids, her eyes curled as a strong, free hoof found its way down her waist, across her cutie mark and back to its starting point. Her legs clenched just a touch, feeling something in particular she knew wasn't a leg brush against her, and Big Mac's wandering hoof eventually made landfall curled up together in hers. Their lips reconnected, and she felt as if she was about to explode.

Suddenly, the stallion pulled away, noticeably short of breath. "I just wanted to be sure if this was...somethin' you wanted to do. I know we haven't exactly been seein' each other terribly long and all. Only if you're comfortable, y'know?"

She glanced down for a second, panting heavily and spotting how ready Big Mac was. A sure nod was all she needed to give him.

As he took her there on the couch, a handful of worried birds, squirrels and mice, led by Angel, were peeking in through one of the windows near the front door. Unsure what to do anymore, and not wanting to be chastised by Fluttershy again by interrupting her, they gradually dispersed with the rabbit biting his lip as he let eventually them be. It was nothing they wanted to see anyway.

Chapter 10

A spring was in her step that she frankly had never experienced before, and nothing was going to get her down. A bright smile and even brighter eyes led Fluttershy down to her favorite breakfast nook that morning. The familiar waitress that tended to take her order when she stopped by nearly fell over when she asked for the strongest coffee they had, to say nothing of how easily and confidently Fluttershy zeroed in on what she wanted instead of finding any excuse in the book not to select this or that off the menu. A larger than usual tip was another pleasant surprise once the pegasus' meal was done.

The mare had another craving that she needed to satiate since late the night before, one that surfaced after her evening escapades. With a vigorous flap of her wings, Fluttershy took to the sky, heading for the towering crystalline structure at the west end of town. While it wouldn't quite be the same thing as what had gotten her in such a feisty mood, it would make for a decent substitute on the off-days. Now, as long as Twilight actually kept such novels in stock, it wouldn't be a waste of time. However, considering how much she adored books of any kind, it was practically a certainty that she'd be able to find something enticing hidden somewhere in her sea of literature – or at least, know where to get it if need be.

She shivered with glee as she glided to Twilight's home. Which ones would she choose? Perhaps one that could...give her some tips to help please Big Macintosh? Ohhh, the idea was so naughty, so dirty – and yet so enticing! It was amazing how things had turned around for her so much so quickly. She never would have believed she had it in her a month ago, but now it almost felt natural. Best of all, it felt right, it felt good! With any luck, it'd go on forever!

When she finally reached her destination, she touched down as delicately as a feather drifting toward the ground and knocked on the large door. Her young, scaly friend welcomed her. She was too high on life to hear the subtle misery he was still carrying.

"Hey, Fluttershy," the little dragon said. "Come on in. What brings you here?"

"Morning, Spike! So nice to see you!" she squealed, grabbing him a bear hug. "I was hoping to talk to Twilight about getting my hooves on some...particular books I hope she has."

"Oh, yeah, sure. She's in her study doing some reading as usual. Can I get you a drink or something?"

"I'm good, thanks. Very...very good."

He understood what the mare's blush and awkward posturing meant the moment he saw it. Granted, it may have been a few weeks since he last saw a particularly striking unicorn, but he still yearned for her, even with their split just as fresh in his mind as it was the day it happened. Spike's shoulders slumped as he silently led Fluttershy to the Princess.

Despite how jubilant she felt, the pegasus was easily able to recognize the dragon's misery, and it made her hone in her enthusiasm. She'd been there enough times herself. She recalled what Rarity had told her a couple weeks prior about what happened between her and Spike...at least what her side of the story was. Whatever really happened broke two hearts that day, and they were likely still in pieces. As much as she wanted to ask Spike if he was okay, she thought better of it, deciding to clam up and simply follow him to Twilight instead of risking hurting him more. So much for time healing all wounds.

After a brief walk, the two came to the door. Spike held it open for the pegasus like the gentledrake he was. Fluttershy nodded her appreciation and floated in, landing gently beside a very distracted princess. Neither heard their scaly friend leave though Fluttershy happened to notice when she looked back. If only she had the right words for him.

Either way, trying to figure out the least awkward way to ask for the kind of literature she was looking for was going to be a feat unto itself. Hopefully Twilight wouldn't think any different of her.

While the mare had started getting used to Big Macintosh visiting on a near-nightly basis, usually topped off with some carnal pleasures, it was actually a bit refreshing to just sit down on her couch and relax with one of the steamy novels she picked up at Twilight's. She could have done without her friend's little chuckle and sly wink, but Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle a little herself when she borrowed the books. One thing was for sure – expanding her horizons was certainly a lot more fun than she anticipated! Perhaps she could convince Big Mac to try a few things she read about?

The day lazily turned to night with many, many pages being turned as Fluttershy lounged in the living room. Most of her critters were similarly relaxing, some of them napping. A rapping at the door stirred them all from their comfortable states. It was likely the mare's lover, but he wasn't expected that night. Didn't he say he had some plans? Eh, maybe something came up.

She set the book down and cantered to the door. Just as she was expected, Fluttershy opened it to find her favorite stallion smiling at her and invited him in. Almost as if he owned the place, Big Mac sauntered over to the couch – receiving numerous glares from the resident animals – and flopped down onto it, stretching his limbs out as wide as they could. Fluttershy giggled and glided over, softly touching down right beside him and laying her head on his massive chest.

"I wasn't expecting to see you tonight," she cooed.

"Yeah, I changed my mind and decided to come over here instead."

"Won't the ponies you made plans with be upset?"

"Eh, they'll get over it," he replied, wrapping a forelimb around her.

She hummed into his fur. "I was going to make dinner in a little bit, but I could always move it up. Did you want to join me?"

"Eeyup!" he chuckled.

"Great! I'll go start putting something together. Don't go anywhere!" Fluttershy joked as she trotted to the kitchen, giving him one last wink before disappearing from view.

One by one, the tiny animals scattered about sighed and started retreating back to their holes and hiding places. However, their de facto leader stood firm for once, growling at Big Macintosh. The stallion smirked back at him and leaned in nose to nose.

"You can get as mad at me as you want," the Apple whispered, "but at the end of the day, what she's been doing for me is simply delicious – and one way or another, I'm going to get exactly what I want. How do ya like them apples?" Big Mac rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself, "Gods almighty, I can't believe I just said that."

It was all Angel was going to stomach from the chauvinist, sinking his teeth into the stallion's snout, making it even redder. Yelping in pain, Big Macintosh recoiled, hissing through his teeth as he rubbed a hoof on the wound. He didn't notice any blood. That didn't stop him from baring his own teeth at the tiny terror. Angel's defiant look melted away when his victim turned his angry frown upside down and laughed to himself.

"You've got some balls on you, you long-earred rat." Quicker than the rabbit could react, a pair of strong red hooves snatched him up, causing the rodent to shriek and plead for help. Mice and squirrels and other allies peeked out from their nests, screaming as the situation unfolded in front of them. No matter how much Angel struggled, he couldn't squeeze loose from the death grip that brought him back to eye level with his grinning captor. "Just to be fair, I'm going to have to bite you back."

Just as his fuzzy, white skull was about to be shoved into the toothy cave that was Big Mac's mouth, a plate crashed onto the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Fluttershy hollered.

With the stallion frozen up, the rabbit slinked out from his hooves and raced over to his adopted mother. She caught him mid-leap and clutched him reassuringly, though it did nothing to stop his shaking.

"I was trying to play with him! You know how–"

"Play with him?! You looked like you were about to...about to..." Angel squeaked pathetically into her chest, holding onto her fur for dear life. She softly caressed down his back. "Shhh, it's okay, sweetie. I'm here." Fluttershy turned and fired the harshest Stare she had ever given anypony.

"Look, hon–"

"Don't call me that!"

Big Mac groaned, "Look, your animals always have this look in their eyes. They hate me for whatever reason! I just figured if maybe I made nice with Angel there, they'd eventually warm up too. But as I'm trying to play with him, he just goes and bites me for no reason!"

"Did you stop to think that maybe you were getting too rough with him or something? He's so tiny compared to you!" The bunny stuttered as he shared his side of things, barely audible even to Fluttershy. Her eyes went wide. "He what?" Angel continued, his owner's brow clenching as he spoke. "You're going to get exactly what you want, huh?"

"I never said anything like that!" Big Mac insisted.

Fluttershy looked around the room to see numerous little heads nodding in fear. A few voiced the same concerns Angel had, further refuting the stallion. A small group of birds reiterated their initial misgivings about the large country pony from the start.

"Funny, they say they heard you say that too. What, do you see me as...as nothing more than a piece of meat or something?! Was that what this was all about the entire time?! I thought we had something special!" Tears started to form in her aquamarine eyes.

"Oh, come on, I'm telling the truth! You know us Apples are honest folk! You're going to believe them over me? Why would I say something like what they're accusing me of saying?"

"Applejack embodies honesty. And I'm going to believe my fuzzy friends because I've known them longer and I know them well." Her lips – and the rest of her – started to quiver. It was her first attempt at a serious relationship all over again. "I...I-I thought I knew you well too, but...I guess I was wrong."

"Fluttershy–"

"Go away. G-get out of my house," she whimpered.

"But–"

"Go away!"

The two dueled in a contest of silence. Eventually, Big Mac shrugged and stomped his way out, forcing several animals to duck and dodge from his tree-trunk legs. Once he was gone, Fluttershy floated to the couch, bunny still in hoof, and sank into the seat. The first tear fell from her eyes. Through her blurring vision, she noticed the book she was reading sitting on the coffee table and angrily flung it across the room. A small army of small companions gathered around her, trying their best to make her feel better. Her sobs only got louder as the night went on.

Meanwhile, Big Macintosh crossed the short bridge in front of her cottage, smirking to himself. "All too easy. Just one more thing to do."

The following day was about as uneventful for Fluttershy as it could possibly be. Her novel still remained in a heap in the corner. Her animals kept her company whenever they could, not knowing exactly what to say to her. Any attempt at conversation they made received little to no response. The only things the mare seemed to move for involved food for either them or herself.

Her eyes were bloodshot and tired. She had barely slept the previous night, her mind replaying all the good times she and Big Macintosh had over the weeks. From time to time, memories of Fluttershy's first crush had popped into her head. What he had said, what they had done...they didn't help any. All they did was compound the issue. Fate apparently had decided love was nothing more than a cruel joke for her a long time ago.

Fluttershy's misery would take a back seat to a sudden jolt of surprise at the sound of a piece of glass being broken upstairs. It almost sounded like it was coming from her room. Curious, the mare hopped off her couch and carefully crept up the stairs, leaving her furry companions to ponder what was up on their own.

Once she reached the top, she paused and shifted her eyes about, worried that something was about to jump out and attack her. While she didn't live in Ponyville proper, the Everfree Forest was just a few paces away. Could something terrifying have leapt into her home? Was it nothing more than a bird who didn't see the window? Did a strong gust of wind throw something at just the wrong place? A million questions flew through her head as she took her first steps forward.

Eventually, shaking, she reached her bedroom and peered inside, mostly hidden around the corner. "He-hello? Is anypony there?" she asked. She received no reply.

Braving the unknown, she tiptoed in and found a small rock laying in the middle of the floor by her bed, surrounded by shards of glass; most of the window was gone. She picked up the stone and examined it. It was just slightly bigger than her hoof and weighed what she expected. There was no way in the world any breeze could have lifted it up and hurled it at her house. Perhaps if it was one of the Rainbow Dash's tornadoes, maybe. Did that mean somepony threw it? Who would? Why?

Her answer came in the form of violent noises and her animals shrieking from downstairs.

Dropping the rock, she sped out the room and down the stairs, coming to a stop a few steps from the ground floor. A gasp flew from her lungs. It was the only thing that stopped Big Macintosh from stomping one of her petrified critters into a puddle. He had only broken in a few seconds ago and had managed to splinter her coffee table into pieces. She could see a few small craters in her floor, no doubt from his attempts to flatten one of her friends.

He turned and smirked in her direction. With a mock salute, he sprinted out the door, leaving Fluttershy to tend to the frightened beasts. A quick scan of the group that didn't run out during his rampage didn't reveal any wounds aside from emotional ones. As she looked into their eyes, little by little, her dangerous temper because to climb to the surface until, finally, it burst at the seams.

Gritting her teeth hard enough to break them, she flew outside and took the sky, ready to destroy her target. Unfortunately, no matter how many times she circled her house, even going so far as to descend close to the evil forest nearby to challenge the darkness it held, she couldn't spot the giant stallion. Big Macintosh was probably fast thanks to having such powerful legs, but how could he have just vanished? The idea that he got away only fueled Fluttershy's rage further.

She narrowed her eyes and headed back to her doorway. Angel and his kin gathered in close, their gazes asking if she managed to find their attacker. Her face softened for a moment. The mare was relieved everyone was alright, but it wasn't long before her anger flared up again. While she may have lost track of him, there was only one place she could think of to get some answers – and hopefully some justice.

"I'll be back," Fluttershy grunted as she gently closed the door behind her. She spread her wings and, with a single hard flap, raced off to Sweet Apple Acres.

Why did Applejack's farm have to be so enormous? Even being a few hundred feet overhead, it was more than an arduous task finding the cowgirl. With the endless amount of trees, she could have been working from underneath any one of them and Fluttershy would never have spotted her. She had searched for more than an hour when her mission came to a partial conclusion. Only by dumb luck did the pegasus find the farmer gathering some baskets up by the barn. Figures she was in the easiest place to find her.

Fluttershy knew she could have just waited until that night to confront Big Macintosh when he'd inevitably be at home with his family, but her fury wasn't about to be contained by such things like rational thought. However, Applejack was a decent and logical place to start. She needed to know what her big brother had been up to. She had animals of her own on the farm. Fluttershy would have thought he'd be more sympathetic to her tiny friends just for that reason, but Celestia help him if he's treated theirs the same way he treated hers.

Never mind that while the animals are certainly important to Fluttershy, nothing compares what Big Mac did to her personally. Even if something else had eventually occurred that led to her throwing him out on his rump, there was no reason for him to be so disrespectful to her let alone to be doing what he claimed was 'playing' with Angel in the first place.

Her yellow hooves touched down hard on the dirt, getting Applejack's attention. "Howdy, Fluttershy! What brings ya 'round these parts?" The pegasus took a deep breath, trying desperately to stay as calm and rational as possible to her friend. AJ wasn't responsible for anything, after all. However, the livid mare did a bad job of masking her emotions. "Uhhh, you okay, sugarcube? Ya look like you're about ready to explode or something."

"We need to talk about your brother," Fluttershy replied with a stone cold voice.

The orange mare blinked at her tone. "Oh, err...alright. What'd you want to know?"

"Where is he?"

"He's in the barn putting a few things away." Applejack turned to the structure's open door. "Hey, Big Mac? Fluttershy's here to see you."

The moment the stallion came into view, before he could even say hello, the angry flier was in his face. "Just what in the world is the matter with you?! Were you trying to finish the job from yesterday and flatten some of my friends, you sick monster?! And don't you dare try and–"

"Whoa, whoa, Fluttershy!" Applejack intervened, pulling her to the ground. "What in Celestia's name are you goin' on about? He tried to what yesterday?"

"I caught him trying to...to...b-bite Angel's head off! And earlier today, he came back to my house and tried to stomp my critters to death! I saw it with my own eyes!"

The farms jaws fell open, and they looked at each other as bewildered as could be. Big Macintosh couldn't even begin to process a coherent enough sentence to defend himself from such an absurd and nonsensical accusation, choosing to simply shrug at his sister.

"Fluttershy...hon...Big Mac hasn't left the farm in nearly four days. He's been here the whole time working his butt off! I'm sorry about whatever it is you're sayin' happened to your animals, but whoever it was, it certainly wasn't Big Mac! Why would he do such a thing? You know how harmless he is!"

"It was him! Are you calling me a liar?!" Fluttershy fumed.

Applejack glared at her friend, getting nose to nose with her. She wasn't about to take such allegations lying down. "You callin' me one?"

The pegasus folded her forelegs in front of her chest. "Maybe! Were you with him the whole time those last four days? Hm?"

"Yes! Well...I mean, not every single minute, but yeah, I knew where he was the whole time!"

"That's not even possible for you to know where he is if you're not standing next to him all day long! You want to know where he was a little over an hour ago? My house – terrorizing my animals!" Fluttershy spat.

"What are you talking about? I was here!"

"Shut up!" the furious mare screamed, quickly silencing the stallion's argument. "Just...sh-shut up!"

"Hey! Don't you yell at my brother like that!" Applejack shot back.

"He's a big boy, A.J.! He can handle himself! Believe me, he can handle himself! You want to know what else he's been doing when you weren't looking?"

"Oh, this oughta be fun."

"Me – on and off almost every day for a few weeks! We'd go out, have a good time, maybe spend some time alone in a quiet place and...well, you can figure the rest out!" the pegasus explained, a pair of green eyes rolling at the notion.

"The heck's the matter with you? You want to go ask Granny Smith and Apple Bloom where Big Mac has been day in and day out? I already told you he's been workin' the farm like he always does!"

"No wonder he wanted to keep the whole thing a secret! You probably would have told him, 'Oh, Big Mac, we can't have you leaving and having a life for yourself. You have to stay on the farm and work like a slave all day!'" Fluttershy droned, mocking the farmers with a nasty tone.

"Why would I care if he wanted to date you? I mean, he'd be crazy to now, but–"

"He'd be stupid to ask again!"

"Hey!" Big Mac snapped.

The incensed mare zipped to the big red stallion, meeting him snout to snout and shocking him into submission. "I told you not to speak! You don't get to – not after how you treated me!"

After so much raving and ranting, Fluttershy's temper finally got the better of her. She began pummeling Big Macintosh, aiming first for his square jaw. He barely had a chance to throw his forelimbs up to protect himself from the sudden, surprisingly painful onslaught. Applejack's mouth fell open at the sight of arguably the most delicate and graceful of the group striking her brother with enough force to make him yelp and call out for help.

A brief moment later, a lasso tightened around the yellow mare's waist, knocking the wind out of her as she was tossed off her victim and onto the ground. Fluttershy sprang right back up and tried to go back in for more but couldn't get very far with Applejack holding the rope to the soil. Even though she knew her brother would never hit a mare, that didn't mean she was going to let him get beaten on endlessly.

"Criminy, girl! What in tarnation's gotten into you?!"

"Let me go!"

"The only goin' I want you to do is off of my farm!"

That wasn't good enough for Fluttershy. Somepony had to pay!

Narrowing her eyes, instead of continuing her charge, she spun around and let the rope take her, tackling a surprised Applejack hard into the dirt before taking back to the air, slipping out of the lasso. She snorted when the two made eye contact.

"You don't want to do this," Applejack warned.

"Sure I do."

With the flier dive-bombing her, A.J. twirled and kicked up a patch of dirt into the air, blinding Fluttershy enough to send her careening to the ground. The cowgirl was on her opponent's back in a flash, her hooves locking together around the yellow mare's chest.

"Will you stop it?! What are you tryin' to prove?!"

Shaking off the cobwebs, the once-gentle pony managed to stand and wriggled out of the deathgrip, using her wings and a few inches of air to spin loose and flop Applejack onto the ground. The pegasus fell face to face on top of the farmer, the two struggling for control as they rolled and rolled, swinging and battering at each other wherever they could. Most of the hits that landed didn't hurt too badly, but the scrapes and cuts started to add up on both ends quickly enough.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Big Mac hollered to no avail.

The two eventually split and stood up on shaky hooves, winded, sweaty with fur tattered. Applejack stood only a few steps from the wall of the barn and the still-angry Fluttershy noticed. With speed rarely seen from the timid mare, she launched herself shoulder first into her unsuspecting enemy, sending the earth pony flying into the beams of wood and crashing limply to the turf.

"Agh!"

Unfortunately, as Applejack tried to stand, she lost her footing, having landed awkwardly on one of her forehooves. She winced as she tried and failed to stand again. Upon flexing it, it didn't feel broken, but she wasn't about to try and put any weight onto it. Probably just a bad sprain. The pain was still enough to prevent her from glaring at her attacker and instead cradle her injury in her good hoof.

It didn't stop Fluttershy from snarling at her downed foe. Mercifully, somepony else managed to.

"Enough!" Her aquamarine eyes shifted over to a horrified, disappointed set of large green ones on the verge of tears. Seeing Big Mac's fear and concern for both of them snapped her somewhat back to reality. "Why are you doing this?"

As her pulse gradually returned to a more normal pace, she looked back at the wounded warrior and was met with a cold stare. Did...she really do that? The last couple minutes were a bit of a blur. She knew she was rather angry at the Apples – mostly at Big Macintosh – but she never meant to hurt anypony. Give them a piece of her mind, sure...not injure them. So why was she shaking?

She took a step toward Applejack to check on her but was immediately stopped by a soft voice. "You should leave, Fluttershy," Big Mac calmly spoke. "Now...please."

The pegasus looked back and forth between the siblings. Gritting her teeth behind her lips, she gently took off and drifted away, irritated with herself now just as much as the Apple family and left with questions she wasn't sure she wanted the answers to. As Fluttershy departed, Big Macintosh helped his sister to her hooves and into the house where he could look her over.

Fluttershy lightly closed the door to her cottage once she arrived, having left it wide open when she barreled out of it earlier. Most of the critters had waited for her, eager to find out how things went down. Angel was the first to ask. The way she flopped onto the couch told them a lot.

She leaned onto a hoof and rubbed it into her forehead. Her eyes sagged open, screaming with exhaustion. The hoofprints smashed into the floor were a wonderful reminder of why she was so upset with Big Mac. Still, not remembering much of what happened after getting snippy with Applejack was just as depressing, forcing a groan.

The hurtful words he said kept beating against the inside of her skull. Angry tears returned to run down her cheeks...tears that maybe she should have shed while at the farm. The sadness she felt as well the resentment and bitterness clashed in a seemingly endless battle in her heart with no clear winner in sight. She shook her head and huffed in disgust. Was it any wonder she was so hesitant to give romantic relationships another try?

Chapter 11

While it wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before – especially recently – Rainbow Dash was getting a bit flustered after listening to so many complaints about ponies she knew quite personally. Laying on her bed with her forelimbs folded, she sighed to herself as Fluttershy continued rambling off one frustration after another she had with her recent encounters the Apples though she could tell her yellow friend was hiding something. More than once she had suddenly let her words drift off or stop herself mid-sentence. Couldn't she have bothered Twilight or whoever just this once?

"I just never would have believed he would have been capable of doing such a thing if I hadn't seen it myself!" Fluttershy spat. "And Applejack? Yeah, I can understand how she'd stick up for her brother, but I...ugh, I wish I could remember what all happened. It's all a blur. I was just so...so furious, y'know?"

"Look, Fluttershy, Applejack can be stubborn sometimes. We all know this. Me and her have butted heads before a couple times and things always turned out fine. Heck, we got into a hoof-fight during the Running of the Leaves a few years ago and now we can laugh about it. But you're all about turning the other cheek and forgiveness and stuff. You say you don't remember what you did while you over there, right?"

The timid mare twisted her lips and looked away, ashamed. "I have a feeling I probably did some things I shouldn't have other than yelling at them."

"What, did you beat her up or something?" Rainbow chuckled. The daredevil received an angry smirk. Here Fluttershy was, spilling her guts, and Rainbow feels the need to laugh at her? The lack of any reciprocation quieted the joker up. "Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just that I can't see you of all ponies getting into any kind of physical altercation."

The gentle pegasus shrunk back again, recalling some things she did – also to some of her closest companions – after taking some particular advice too far. "It wouldn't be the first time if I did. I'd prefer if I didn't go down that road again. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop being upset at them for what they did. Not only to Angel and his friends, but to..."

And there she went again not telling Rainbow the whole story. Why was she being so hesitant? She knew she could tell her oldest, loyalest friend anything!

"To you, yes, I understand that. You said Big Macintosh attacked your animals, which...i have to admit seems hard to believe just based on what I know about him, but what the heck happened to make you think you may or may not have attacked them? It had to have been something pretty serious."

Fluttershy bit her lip and pawed at the cloud floor. She began to answer but quickly changed her mind. The speedster was losing her patience faster than her she ever fly.

"Come on, what is it already? This isn't helping!"

"He...I...w-we, um...we..."

Nopony could hear her mumbled reply no matter how good their ears were.

"You what?"

"I...I-I..."

"Fluttershy!"

"I slept with him, okay?!" she snapped, taking Rainbow Dash off-guard. "We...dated for a bit and...I slept with him. A lot. I'd rather not think about it if it's alright with you."

The blue mare laid there, mouth open, in complete surprise. Not at the fact that Fluttershy had been with another pony but more at how she practically yelled said fact at her. It wasn't something she was privy to often but it left her speechless every time, if only briefly.

"Oh. Uh...sure." Awkward silence filled the room...until Rainbow was her usual blunt self. "Was he good at least?"

"Rainbow!"

"What? I'm just curious."

The flustered mare huffed and rolled her eyes but answered anyway after a quick grumble to herself. "Yeah, he was pretty good."

"Well, at least there's that," the speedster replied with an added shrug. "But, yeah, still...doesn't excuse anything." Rainbow let out a long sigh. "Gotten kind of ridiculous recently. First Twilight comes to me complaining about Rarity, now you're here saying you and Applejack got into a spat."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "What happened with Rarity? She told me a few weeks ago that Twilight said she was...getting intimate with Spike."

"Yeah, that's it. He admitted it too. The way he acted about it when we talked to him about it was...kinda terrifying." Fluttershy blinked in surprise when she saw Rainbow fearfully bite her lip. It wasn't something she saw in her friend often. "For a minute, I thought he was going to try and tear us apart. Guess there's more dragon in him than we give him credit for."

"So Twilight and Rarity really are fighting," the delicate pegasus muttered. "That's what I was told, at least."

Rainbow Dash nodded with a disheartening smirk. "Yep. It's not even so much the fact that Spike and Rarity lied to Twilight about how they were seeing each other really, but what happened later."

"What was it?"

"Apparently, Rarity told Celestia and Luna off."

"What?! She wouldn't!" Fluttershy gasped.

Rainbow folded her forelimbs in a huff. "Mmhmm. Twilight was right there in the room, and even though I wasn't, after everything I've dealt with, I believe her. Does it really surprise you that they're fighting after that? I mean, sure, she's the Princess of Friendship and all, but she's still a pony with limits and buttons that can be pushed. I'd think chewing out her mentor would be one of those buttons."

The imagery of another of her closest friends mocking the Princesses made Fluttershy's ears droop. She wasn't sure what to think of Rarity's story and everything Rainbow had told her made things ten times worse. While she was aware that the fashionista and her high-flying friend didn't spend as much time together as she and Rarity did, she had always assumed there was a certain respect and appreciation they had for each other anyway. Apparently, that was all gone for reasons she wouldn't have believed in a million years.

Out of the corner of her ruby eye, Rainbow could easily see how bothered her yellow friend was. She wasn't aware, but the two of them were on a similar wavelength. Still, the last thing Rainbow wanted to do was talk to Rarity about anything – frankly, she could have fallen off the face of Equestria for all she cared. There wasn't anything Fluttershy would have been able to do or say to the clothes designer that would have changed things. However, the Apples were a different matter to the speedster.

"Look," Rainbow sighed, "I know you're angry with A.J. and Big Mac. I understand why – totally! Twilight asked me for help when it came to her issues with Rarity. Do you...I don't know, want me to go talk to Applejack for you? See if I can help straighten this all out?"

"It's alright. You don't have to go to any trouble for me."

"Hey, it's no big deal doing a favor for my oldest friend. Besides, me and Applejack have gotten into enough arguments that we could probably predict how we were going to make up for them before they even happen by now. She'll listen to me."

Rainbow Dash's speed always made hunting for anypony incredibly easy, even over an enormous farm like Sweet Apple Acres. Before she touched down to say hello to her competitive companion, she came to a quick stop at least a dozen feet from the ground, hovering overhead. It was a bit difficult to see what she thought she saw through all the leaves and branches, but a few choice gaps in the treeline confirmed her surprising suspicions.

It wasn't out of the ordinary to see the orange farmer dragging along a wagon with a few baskets ready to collect their harvest and bring them back home for cleaning. What was strange was to see the mare with one of her limbs in a sling. That...couldn't have been from Fluttershy, could it? Aside from that crazy comic book adventure she and her friends had, she'd never seen the timid pegasus do anything that would result in any kind of serious injury to anyone. Sure, she stepped on Rainbow's stomach as she ran away from when the girls wanted to drag her along to watch the dragon migration a while back, but Rainbow was fine within a minute or two.

The high-flying athlete never broke a limb before. A wing, yeah, a couple times, and while that was a drag and a half being unable to get airborne, at least she could walk where she wanted to go. Even while casually balancing on three legs, Applejack was wincing with every step she took. She couldn't even buck the trees with both hind legs if she wanted to stay upright. Rainbow couldn't imagine how much time her friend was losing by not being able to clear the trees in a kick or two.

Applejack's scowl caught the pegasus off guard the most. It wasn't the kind she'd have on her face during their more intense physical competitions. She looked as if she was about to rip a pony's head off. Rainbow bit her lip and nervously descended into the tree Applejack was struggling against. It took a moment, but a break in the action eventually came, giving Rainbow the opportunity to speak up without the possibility of causing Applejack to mess up in the middle of her work.

"H-hey cowgirl."

The farmer found the source. "Hm? Oh, hey Rainbow Dash."

"What's going on?"

"The usual. Just gettin' used to doin' half the work in twice the time for the next couple of days," Applejack muttered, showing off her injured leg.

Rainbow winced. "I saw from above. How's it feeling?"

"Eh, I've had worse. Just twisted it, but it should be fine in a day or two." The earth pony paused her work and angrily curved her lips. "Well, I didn't twist it, at least."

Blue ears sagged as did ruby eyes. "Fluttershy..." Rainbow mumbled.

Applejack spun about and blinked but the implication almost immediately set in. "Yeah! How did... She went and talked to you, didn't she?"

The daredevil dropped to the ground and kicked one of the full baskets onto her back and carried it to the waiting cart, hoping to win some quick points with her friend in case things went south. "Yeah. She said you guys got into a bit of an...argument."

"An argument, she says," A.J. harrumphed.

"Well, no, I'm saying that. She said she doesn't remember everything that happened, that it was kind of a blur to her."

The orange mare scooped up another basket, rolling her eyes and smirking. "How convenient. Maybe you should go find a camera and take a picture of my leg for her, see if she remembers then."

"Look, I'm just trying to get both sides of the story. I wasn't here. She says that Big Mac–"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Applejack interrupted as she loaded the cart. "Big Mac did something to her animals. Beat 'em up or whatever. Kind of funny how he was apparently able to do that from the orchard."

"So you're saying he didn't do anything."

"Course he didn't! Big Mac wouldn't hurt a worm makin' a meal out of my prized apple!"

"Then why would she claim that he did?"

"How should I know?" Applejack growled, turning around to find Rainbow only a few inches from her snout. It didn't do anything to calm her current disposition with such an accusatory action literally right in her face. "The girl showed up acting like a damned lunatic. You think I was gonna just let her spout off a bunch of garbage about my brother doing somethin' you and I both know he wouldn't do? You're out of your cotton-pickin' mind!

"And what about this, huh?" she asked, showing off her injury. "She attacks me and just when I think we've had it out enough, she sucker punches me and damn near breaks one of my legs! Even you and I know when to stop when we've gotten into tussles before!"

Rainbow backed off a bit, shifting her eyes away. Applejack did have a point.

The blue mare sighed. "I don't suppose I could convince you two to talk about it? Maybe get some apologies out?"

"Are you serious?" the farmer snarled, getting right back in her friend's face. "Why should I apologize when I didn't do anything? Listen, Rainbow, I know you've known Fluttershy since you were kids and all, but I'm gonna be honest with you – that girl's got some problems."

Dash's brow furrowed. The contest of wills between its two most common combatants had begun yet again. "Hey now, wait a minute!"

"She does, whether you want to believe it or not! She may not be afraid of her own shadow anymore like she used to be, but she still acts like everypony's out to get her half the time! And this whole thing with Big Mac now? Girl must be livin' in a fantasy land or something! Heck, why don't we ask Luna what's goin' on her head when she's asleep? Probably got the crazy idea that he's been screwin' her from a particularly vivid dream she had once and now she thinks it's real or...whatever."

"Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"

"I really don't care! I'm the one with the busted up leg and after the stunts Fluttershy pulled, it'd have to be one heck of an apology for me to look past everything she did. Celestia knows she's had plenty of practice apologizin' for just about everything else she's ever done."

"Okay, that's enough!" Rainbow growled as she poked the earth pony in the chest. "You can be mad at her if you want, but there's no need to start flinging petty insults around!"

"Petty?!" Applejack snapped, shoving back. "This is my livelihood she just put a damper on because she was an irrational nutcase! I really don't know how you can defend her sometimes!"

"Hey, don't start making this about me!" the pegasus retorted as she started to hover a few feet off the ground with their noses still warring.

"Why not? You came here."

"I was intent on trying to get you two to talk things out, but if you want to work on leg number two, that's fine with me!"

The country girl narrowed her furious green eyes. She rarely backed down from a challenge, and if she was going to have to get into another set of fisticuffs with only three limbs, so be it. But if she could avoid it just this once, it'd be preferable. "I am not in the mood for this, Rainbow. I suggest you get on out of here like Fluttershy did or she isn't going to be the only one with problems."

Their heated glares could have burned a hole into the sun itself, and neither mare was giving an inch. However, during the silent battle for supremacy, Rainbow came to the conclusion that there was always the possibility that Big Macintosh could retaliate if things got too out of hoof and he learned that she further injured his little sister. Attacking somepony who was already hurt was beneath her, no matter how angry she may be at them. It was the sign of a true coward, and Rainbow was no coward.

Quickly, she thought of a good excuse and rolled her ruby eyes as she backed off. "Bah! I dealt with enough of this kind of crap thanks to Rarity. I'm not dealing with it again." Rainbow started to leave but left a cold message before she took to the sky. "Do us all a favor and leave Fluttershy alone from now, you got that? I wouldn't want to have to put you in a sling all over again."

"Leave her alone? Fine with me as long as she leave us alone too."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

With a final sneer, the pegasus burst forth over the treeline and streaked her prismatic trail across the sky, heading back home to her floating mansion. Applejack grit her teeth in return and carried on with her work, thankful for the peace and quiet again.

As the speed demon disappeared, however, a small flightless fan of hers happened to notice her leaving out of the corner of her eye as she sat near the window of the Crusader's clubhouse. Was she just at the farm? Ugh, if only Scootaloo knew sooner! She'd never pass up a chance to hang out with Rainbow Dash and shoot the breeze! No doubt she stopped by to see Applejack. Perhaps the other Crusaders wouldn't mind if they interrupted their little meeting for a bit to hear what brought Rainbow to the orchard.

"Hey girls? Would it be a big deal if I headed out and hunted down A.J.? I just saw Rainbow Dash fly off. Maybe she could tell me...I-I mean us where she went in case we happened to...bump into her later or something."

"Uh...I guess so. Been kind of tough thinking of things to do today anyway," Apple Bloom said.

"Aww, I was hoping we could play some games I used to play back where I used to live," Cottontail whined.

"I'm sure we'll get to eventually. Maybe when we get back from Scootaloo's fangirling session," Sweetie Belle proposed.

It was fortunate that Scootaloo's orange coat hid her reddening cheeks so well. "Sh-shut up! What if she wants to hang out or whatever?"

"I'm just messing you with," the unicorn giggled. "Come on, let's go."

Apple Bloom took the lead out of the clubhouse, almost instinctively knowing where Applejack was going to be in the massive orchard though the muffled grunts and swears that could be hurt through the air thanks to the stress of working with one less limb made it a bit easier to hone in on her.

"So," Sweetie Belle eventually said, "how's your sister's leg doing?"

"Eh, could be better I guess. Could be worse too. She'll be alright."

"I still can't believe Fluttershy attacked her yesterday," Cottontail sighed. "After everything you guys told me about her, I would never have imagined she could do something like that."

"I know," Apple Bloom moaned, her ears drooping. "Applejack didn't go into detail as to what happened either. I'm not sure if I really want to know them or not. I really just hope this is all some big misunderstanding."

Several worrisome minutes later, the quartet caught up with the struggling applebucker. A few spare fruits laid on the ground, having missed their baskets. More sweat than usual dripped down her long neck, and she normally wasn't winded so easily. Amidst her labor, she spotted the four concerned fillies watching her.

"Hey girls. Thought you were hangin' out at the clubhouse."

"We saw Rainbow Dash flying away. Came out to see if she stopped by and what was up if she did," Scootaloo replied.

Applejack tightly curled her lips. "She did, and it's nothin' you need to worry about."

All but Cottontail exchanged a puzzled look. If A.J. was trying to hide her frustration, she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"Are...you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just don't want to talk about Rainbow Dash is all."

"Why not?" her little sister asked. "What'd she do?"

Her good hoof slapped into her forehead. It almost felt as if she was going to break her teeth behind her lips as she ground them. "Apple Bloom, just...just go play somewhere else, okay?"

The Crusaders hung their heads as one save for Cottontail. She instead laid a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. "Girls? I...kinda have to go. Mom and Dad are expecting me soon."

"Awww, okay."

"Yeah. I'll head back to the clubhouse and get my saddlebag."

"Alright. We'll see you tomorrow."

The little pink unicorn waved goodbye as she turned and left. The tiniest of smirks curved her lips once she was a fair distance away.

A long, tired groan came from the front of the house barely a second after the door was heard to close. High Note stomped his way to the living room with Curtain Call a step behind.

"About time they got home," Curtain Call grumbled.

"Shut up!" High Note snapped back. "You've had it the easiest out of all of us. Maybe you should go to that infernal school tomorrow, see how much you like it." Curtain Call stopped to lean against the wall in disgust – and stick her tongue out behind her spouse's back – while he approached the young pony. "So, what's going on?"

"Just as you predicted," Cottontail confirmed. "That hick of a pony could barely stomach hearing her friend's name."

"Pfff. So completely predictable with those two. You've done well."

"So, what's next on the agenda?"

High Note grinned evilly at the tiny filly. "Spread the word around – both of you. That pink pest is next on the list."

Chapter 12

The last customer at the sugar shack headed out with a scrumptious triple layer cake tucked away safely in a pink box that was just barely balancing on his back. A similarly pink employee waved goodbye and flipped the 'closed' sign with a relieved sigh. As always, it was a steady day at Sugarcube Corner – nothing Pinkie Pie couldn't handle, but even the most energetic of mares can get worn out from time to time.

Lately, however, the normally chipper pony had been reeling herself in more so than she was used to. Things around Ponyville had just been...different. She heard nasty rumors flying about involving Rarity and Spike. She was aware of how much the little dragon liked Rarity; he admitted it to her and Twilight a while back and she had kept his secret ever since. Whether or not it was a secret anymore was debatable at best.

But then, Rainbow Dash and Twilight had somehow gotten caught up in the whirlwind. All she really knew was there was a lot of yelling involved. Everypony had a different story as to what happened, including her friends. It was painfully obvious that they preferred to not talk about things either. Trying to get everyone together to hopefully patch things up had proven futile too. After a few attempts, Pinkie had decided to just let some time pass and hopefully whatever bad vibes there were will have calmed down or disappeared completely. But now, apparently Rainbow was bickering with Applejack recently or something? Hopefully the clientele who let that nugget of information slip out was wrong.

It was more than just some arguing among her friends that had the party girl so reserved recently. She recognized all of the customers she served. Heck, she knew pretty much everypony in town, including the newer arrivals that had moved to Ponyville over the last few months though not as well. No matter how cordial and nice they seemed when they stopped by the store, it'd be almost like they were a completely different pony if she tried to say hello after hours. Offering to throw them any kind of party since they first arrived had slowly been filtered out of her routine too as none of the new families wanted one at any time. The last time she had bothered to ask anypony, only to be told no, left her crushed for the better part of a week. Work was rough during those several days.

While they weren't what one would consider nasty, the newcomers always seemed to suddenly be pulled away or remember their oven was on or some other lame excuse. After how things happened with Cranky when he first came to town, Pinkie had decided to give the new folks some space for a bit and let them get to know the place on their own terms. Only a few families took the time to get to know her at all and even they seemed only mildly interested in what the baker had to say.

Strangely, even ponies she'd known for years were suddenly rather distant, particularly if they were spending time with some of the newer ponies when Pinkie would go to greet them. Some of the more familiar faces around Ponyville had blown Pinkie off more than once even without their new friends around at the time. It wasn't always like this either. Only in the last few weeks have the native Ponyvillians been so openly dismissive of her. It hurt a lot, considering how well-liked she thought she was around town, and it certainly wasn't easy for the happy mare to hide how devastated she was feeling.

Despite everything, she did her best to stay positive. Still, it was getting more and more difficult to put on such a happy face when only a few were excited to see her these days, and those few unfortunately weren't exactly excited to see each other anymore. Maybe today will be different. There was only one way to find out.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake," she hollered to the kitchen, "I'm going out for a walk now that we've closed up. Want me to pick up anything for you?"

The chubby blue co-owner stuck her head out through the double doors, a bright smile beaming on her face as it always did. "Oh, thank you Pinkie Pie, but I think we're okay. Sweetie-kins, Pinkie's going out for a little while. Do we need anything?"

Her husband spoke up from further inside. "Umm, I don't believe so, sugar lump."

"That's okay. Just wanted to check. See you later!" Pinkie said, feeling a bit warmer now. The Cakes were just the best! They could always cheer her up!

Mrs. Cake and Miss Pie traded waves goodbye as the bouncy mare left. Off to make the rounds again! Today was definitely going to be different!

"Pinkie, how many times do I have to tell you?! I don't care about your stupid parties and with you constantly bothering me, I really don't want to get to know you – ever! Now get lost!"

And their door was slammed in her face.

"Will you leave us alone?! Celestia almighty!"

Slam!

"Go away, Pinkie!"

Slam!

"I have plenty of friends already and none of them want to be around you – nor do I!"

Slam!

"No!"

"No!"

"Dear gods, no!"

Slam!

One last door nearly punching her in the snout was all Pinkie Pie could take. Any surprise she felt early on was gone. All that was left was the first of many forming tears, quivering lips and a deflating mane. Sniffling, the broken mare turned and crawled away, dragging her hooves several paces away to plop herself down on a nearby bench. She had hoped today would be different. Sadly, she got her wish.

The depressed party girl stared at the ground, begging for an answer that would never come. What happened with Cranky all that time ago could never compare to all this. At least with him, it only felt like her heart was utterly being crushed inside her chest for a few hours rather than weeks on end.

The murmur of a small group of ponies caught her ears, pulling her eyes away from the dirt. Blossomforth, Junebug and a newcomer named Crystal Clear were shuffling past the gloomy pink mare. They stopped and met Pinkie's gaze only to roll their eyes and snort in disgust as they continued on their way.

Once they were out of earshot, the brokenhearted pony buried her face in her hooves and openly wept. What did she do to earn such ridicule and scorn? Everypony used to call her a friend. Was it something she said or did? It simply couldn't have been that she inadvertantly bothered a few new ponies! Heck, even Twilight wasn't keen on socializing when she first came to town!

Twilight...maybe she had an answer. Friendship is her thing; it's why she became a princess after all. She had to have some advice...again. But, it was more than just a single donkey now – it was everyone.

In the distance, Pinkie saw the crystalline star atop her friend's castle looming high in the sky. She wiped the raining tears away and hopped off her bench, heading straight for it as fast as her sagging, heavy limbs would take her – which, tragically, wasn't very fast. Hopefully she wouldn't run into anypony else on the way. The last thing she wanted was for more ponies to scowl at her for no reason.

"I'm sorry, Pinkie. I haven't honestly noticed anypony acting terribly out of the ordinary...except for some ponies I don't feel like talking about," Twilight growled through her teeth. "Everyone I've talked to seemed decent enough. Why would they want to single you out?"

"I don't know. At first, I thought it was because I was being a bit too, err...forward and pushy." The party pony sank further into the couch her in friend's grand study hall as Twilight listened. "But even after weeks of leaving them alone and giving these new ponies some space, they didn't seem to come around. I tried and tried to be nice and courteous – I even toned down how super duper hyper you've said I can be sometimes – and nothing changed. High Note and Curtain Call don't even want to have anything to do with me anymore and they were one of the few families that seemed to get along with me. You remember them, right?"

"I've seen them around. They have a daughter, fairly small filly for her age. Cottontail, I believe." The princess raised a brow. "You introduced them to us a little while back. They seemed pleasant enough."

Pinkie's blue eyes started to water again. "Yeah, well, they all seemed pleasant enough at one time. You'd tell me the truth, wouldn't you, Twilight? Have I been...m-more annoying or assertive or whatever than usual?"

"I don't believe so," Twilight said, smiling happily for what felt like the first time in a month. "You're the same, lovable Pinkie Pie we all know. If the nopony else sees this, well, it's their loss." Her lavender ears fell as her jovial attitude quickly soured. "But, I'm not exactly one to be giving advice these days on how to be decent with others – at least I don't think so."

"What do you mean? Aren't you supposed to be a professional friend-maker or something now?"

"Just because I'm the Princess of Friendship doesn't mean I can't make mistakes from time to time. I made a few...really big mistakes not long ago. I'm sure you heard about–" The alicorn sighed heavily and twisted her lips. "–Rarity."

The party girl bit her lips and nervously twirled her hooves together. "That she and Spike...? I-I heard some things, yeah."

"Well, they're not just rumors. She...s-slept with Spike and then proceeded to lie about it. Did you hear what she did to the Celestia and Luna by any chance?"

Pinkie tapped at her chin, going over recent stories and whispers she heard around town lately. Most of them revolved around Rarity, Rainbow Dash and the Friendship Castle's residents. A few wove a tale involving Applejack and Fluttershy but the details were sketchy. Finally, the bubbly mare shrugged.

"She horribly insulted them over a bunch of trivial nonsense. I've never seen anypony chew anyone out like that. What made her do it I have no idea." Twilight snorted at the memory of the event. "I threw her out – screaming at her. Pretty sure I made a scene outside."

Silence took over the room. Twilight pawed at the edge of her seat while Pinkie's ears fell. It just couldn't have been the same Rarity that Pinkie had spent afternoons at the spa with and gone shopping with and relax at Sugarcube Corner with! But the high class unicorn wasn't the only party who Pinkie knew had come under scrutiny.

"How's, um...how's Spike taking things?"

A long, heavy sigh flew from the princess' lips. "He still resents me. He hasn't tried to sneak out since the incident. After how things went down, I think he knows better now. Plus, I...kind of put a spell on him that would let me know if Rarity wandered a little too close to him when he wasn't looking."

"Twilight!" Pinkie gasped in horror.

"I know, I know! Even though she broke it off with him in one of the most despicable ways, I just don't trust her – not after what she did! We both know how she's toyed with him in the past. Who's to say this all isn't just another game of hers?"

"But...she's one of your closest friends!"

"Was one of my closest friends," Twilight mumbled.

"Spike's like a son to you! It's wrong, what you're doing!"

The regal mare couldn't reply. A part of her knew Pinkie was right but it didn't matter. Like Applejack, she had a stubborn streak of her own. What the fashionista did was wrong – completely unacceptable! Spike was still young and needed proper supervision. She had screwed that one up herself and wasn't about to blow it again. It didn't mean she didn't feel any guilt over what happened though.

"Pinkie...you once talked to me about trust. That breaking it was the fastest way to lose a friend."

"Forever," the miserable party planner muttered for her. She remembered that talk. She remembered it well.

Silence briefly reigned again until Twilight spoke up. "Can I make a confession to you?"

A pair of pink ears popped up. "Uhhhh, sure."

Shamefully, Twilight averted her eyes, unable to look at her friend. "Lately, I've been thinking that maybe my title should've been given to somepony else."

"W-what?"

"Think about it. Part of what I'm supposed to do as the Princess of Friendship is to work out differences, forgive transgressions, come to understandings, be patient, all that. So what do I do to someone I've known for years who I've be able to confide in as if she were my own blood? I snap like a twig at her and give up after a few disagreements, however big I think they may or may not be. I've treat the dragon I hatched and have raised since birth like a criminal under house arrest instead of considering his feelings. I wonder where else I might have messed up along the way." The nerve finally returned to look at Pinkie Pie. Both of the mares could feel each other's hearts breaking where they sat. "Let's be honest. Being able to make friends and hold onto them has always been your greatest strength. I constantly had relied on books to figure out this and that. Social interactions, though...those are things no book can teach you about – not really. You had that gift long before I came along."

"Even ones as strong as ours need work, Twilight. You're the most magical pony I know and there's no magic out there that can instantly solve friendship problems. But you're wrong about your title. You got it because you've been able to learn how to overcome those obstacles." With a deep breath, Pinkie wrapped her forelimbs around herself, squeezing tightly. It was her turn to hide her gaze. "I did it once, maybe twice, and I know I could have gone about it better. I simply haven't had as much experience as you with that. Now, everypony hates me and...and I have absolutely no idea why. I've tried everything I know! What am I supposed to do? Please, you've gotta help me!" Pinkie begged as she slid up to Twilight, kneeling before her with wide eyes.

Perhaps Pinkie Pie had been taking lessons from...a particular unicorn on how to act melodramatic. Whatever the case was, Twilight couldn't help but feel terrible over her friend's dilemma. Out of the group, Pinkie had always been the most child-like and, some may argue, naive. The few times she had been removed from her comfort zone resulted in her soul practically being crushed. True, Fluttershy also felt pain and sorrow rather easily, but she was used to dealing with it over her life; Pinkie not so much since she moved away from her old home.

A soft, purple glow encompassed the frantic young mare, lifted her up and set her on back on the couch. Twilight's brow creased as she plunged deep into thought as to what she could do to earn her wings again – in a manner of speaking.

One idea after another came to mind only to be immediately shot down before she could even suggest them; Pinkie had already stated that tried most of what Twilight thought of. Unfortunately, the few that were new to the table didn't sound plausible either. Trying to talk to some of the ponies who have lived in Ponyville a while without any of their friends around probably wouldn't work if they were suddenly hating her too. Finding common ground to break the ice with seemed out of reach. Doing something nice for their children – if they had any, of course – may result in the parents pulling the foals away and telling them not to associate with her again.

"Was I the first one you came to?"

"Yeah. Who better to give friendship advice, right?"

"Alright, not a problem. Was just curious if anypony else had given you any suggestions so I wouldn't have to bring them up again myself. Let's see now...perhaps a simple gift related to their special talent?" Twilight proposed.

"Tried it a couple times. Never worked."

The princess tapped her chin. "Maybe help them find some work in town?"

"I tried to help a couple of mares named Sweet Tooth and Candy Cane set up a stand in Market Square for their goods. They weren't interested."

"Did anypony need help moving in? That's always a great way to meet new ponies."

"Tried that a few times too. I was really surprised when the Pocket brothers didn't want any."

"Who are they again?" Twilight asked.

"Side and Corner Pocket. They're pool sharks. Who would've thought a couple of bachelors would turn down having a mare come in and set up their home with them?" Pinkie sadly joked.

The purple mare was quickly running out of suggestions, her eyes shifting around in thought. Nervously biting her lip, Twilight took to the air and skimmed over the countless books sitting on the numerous shelves and the few scattered about the floor. Here and there, she selected a text and quickly looked through the table of contents, growing more and more desperate to find a reasonable answer to Pinkie's dilemma. Eventually, she found herself surrounded by a veritable army of books and blowing through their pages like tissues.

Below, Pinkie saw Twilight's ever-increasing urgency as clear as day in her large purple eyes, quickly stifling any hope the party pony may have had. Eventually, she found herself depressingly staring at nothing, the only thing that barely registered to her being the steady sound of book after book being replaced on their shelves, signaling one failure after another.

"Well, offering to pay them would be just as ridiculous as it sounds," the alicorn badly quipped as she shut another text.

"I'm not faking friendship, Twilight," Pinkie whimpered.

"I know. I...just don't understand why this is suddenly so difficult." The aerial pony softly touched down beside her miserable friend. "I don't suppose any of these ponies have any long lost loves that may be living here like Cranky did?"

"Even if they do, I can't imagine they'd tell me." Her blue eyes began to water again. "Maybe...maybe it's simply not meant to be." At this point, it was the only thing Twilight could think of as well, even if she didn't want to admit it. Her crestfallen face and drooping ears gave her away regardless. "I only wish I knew what I did to upset everypony else who had been living here for so long. I thought I knew them so well! I...I-I guess I was wrong."

A lavender hoof rested on a pink shoulder. "Pinkie, if you want, I can try talking to some of them. Put in a good word for you?"

The poor mare sighed. "I have a feeling if you mentioned you were doing that for me, they'd probably brush you off too. Can't afford to be associated with me, y'know."

"You know I'd never think that way about you – and if that's how the rest of them feel, then...then they can go to Tartarus for all I care."

"Don't say that. I'm sure they have a good reason for hating me even if I don't know what it could be."

"Whatever their reason, it's wrong. I promise you that."

Smiling weakly, Pinkie squeezed her friend's hoof. Maybe only having one friend was better than having a thousand fake ones – but it still hurt either way. Her other hooves hit the floor with a whisper rather than her usual bounciness. "I'm sorry we couldn't figure things out. Thanks for your help, Twilight, but I-I'm going to go home. I just need to think about things, I guess."

The princess frowned. "I understand, and I'm sorry too. If you need something – anything at all – you know where to find me, okay?"

"Yeah. Th-thanks."

Finally, Pinkie let her friend go and limped away, barely making a sound as she dragged herself out of the castle despite its propensity for echos. Discouraged by their lack of results, Twilight plopped herself back in her chair and sighed. She knew that Pinkie Pie was hurting; whether she was disappointed in Twilight as well for not giving her an answer she perhaps only wanted to hear was up in the air. The Princess could only hope that wasn't the case.

Chapter 13

The walk back to Sugarcube Corner was one of the longest, most sluggish walks Pinkie had ever taken. As it had been when she made her way to see Twilight, nearly everypony she passed by gave her a glare or a snide side glance, practically disgusted with her existence. The weight of all the looks slowed her down even more.

After what felt like an eternity, Pinkie made it back home and dragged herself up the world's longest staircase to her bedroom. There hadn't been any call of concern from either of the Cakes, so it stood to reason they hadn't seen their resident Pie. They'd be the only ones as of late that were happy to see her anymore. She closed and locked the door to her room, climbed up onto the bed and cried softly into the pillow.

With her sad blue eyes staring firmly at the dirt, Pinkie missed seeing a small, white-maned unicorn watching her intently before trotting off to her own dwelling. Once inside, she leaned her back against the door and burst out laughing, calling the attention of her parents from inside.

"What's got you going?" Curtain Call asked.

"Just everything commencing wonderfully...no thanks to you." With a silent sigh, the mother mare rolled her eyes and turned back around. "Don't you dare give me that! I've told you to go out and do something to help our cause and all you've done is lay around day in and day out!"

Cottontail's horn lit and yanked her elder in from across the house, hanging her upside in front of its owner's face. "Consider yourself fortunate that things are going as well as they are. Otherwise, you'd be nothing but a smear on my hoof!"

High Note stood aside, holding his tongue. He wasn't about to anger the little one. Besides, he had been obedient.

Curtain Call shook in horror and gulped down what fear she could. "R-r-right. No problem! I'll g-go out right now and do...whatever you want!"

"Don't patronize me!" the filly growled as she flung her mother into the couch, knocking it over. "Go ahead and stay here for all I care. Keep things looking presentable. But when I call on you...this next time, you're going to do as I say. Got it?!"

The mare peeked over the toppled furniture, shaking like a leaf again. "Unders-stood."

A throat to the side was cleared. "So, um," High Note interjected, much to the relief of his wife, "what's your next move?"

Cottontail smirked and sauntered over to her loyal father. "Let them stew for a day or two. But, this next step is going to require a little...coordination."

"Coordination, huh? How so?"

A beige hoof tapped daintily at the large crystal double doors. Before any answer came, Mayor Mare snuck a peek over both her shoulders, not noticing any potentially spying eyes on her. Just another average day in Ponyville, it seemed. Nearly a minute passed and still nopony had greeted her. Quickly checking around again and once more finding nothing out of the ordinary, the bureaucrat tugged at the door and creaked it open just wide enough for her to slip inside the castle.

Her ears swiveled around, searching for any sounds of life from deeper in the castle. Seemed quiet, but then again, Twilight could have been lost in studying or reading. As the mayor started her trek, she called out, "Hello? Anypony home?" No response came. "Hell-oooooo?"

A whispered flapping of wings suddenly appeared from behind her followed by hooves landing on the shiny floor. Their owner's smile practically sparkled almost as much as her name. "Mayor Mare! Good to see you. What brings you here?"

"Twilight, there you are. I hope I'm not intruding or interrupting anything."

"Oh, no. Sorry I couldn't get to the door sooner. Was in the bathroom. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

The mayor motioned Twilight in close. She wasn't sure what was going on, but the princess complied nonetheless. There were barely a few inches apart when the old mare hissed, "Something rather important has come to my attention at Town Hall that may affect just about all of Ponyville, but...I'd like to keep it under wraps."

"You don't have to whisper in here, Mayor," Twilight chuckled. "Nopony can hear us, even with all the echoing."

"If it's alright with you, I'd rather not take that chance. If somepony happens to be eavesdropping because the two of us are talking and they think there could be some juicy gossip, it'd ruin how quiet I need you and your friends to be about this matter."

The alicorn blinked and jerked away, standing rigidly in place. "My...friends?"

"Err...well, yes. The six of you seem to handle so many crises, I thought it best if you all came."

"I-I don't know if that's really such a good idea right now. Haven't you...heard the rumors that have been spread around town?"

Mayor Mare tapped at her chin, thinking and thinking. Eventually, she shook her head and shrugged. "I try not to pay attention to rumors. Who knows how many of them may involve me? Hah! Honestly though, you know how it can be for somepony in my position. Always having to dismiss ridiculous things ponies may hear that none of them can prove – it gets boring and repetitive, so I pay them no mind."

"But these aren't exactly–"

"I really do appreciate it, Twilight. I'll head back to Town Hall and have some of my representatives fetch your friends. Come by in about an hour, okay?" the mayor interrupted, turning and quickly heading toward the exit. "Oh, and if you could bring Spike too so he can take some notes for you, that'd be great. See you then!"

"But–!"

A loud creak and quiet boom signaled the bureaucrat's departure. Why the princess didn't catch up and try to talk some sense into her instead of just standing there with a stupid look on her face Twilight wasn't sure. It was a little odd that Mayor Mare just turned and left, but it wouldn't be surprising it that wasn't the first time she had done something like that. She was probably used to getting her way thanks to her position and likely figured the matter was settled.

And she was right. If something was amiss in town that only she and her friends could solve, then they had a responsibility to help, whether they wanted to be around each other or not.

That didn't mean she had to like it. With a sigh, Twilight spun about and dragged herself toward's Spike's room. She figured he'd still be there, likely still stewing over everything. Hopefully it wouldn't be hard to convince him to join her and the others at Town Hall. If nothing else, it'd get him out of the castle for a little while.

Several small fuzzy critters sat around the cottage, waiting nervously for their midday snacks. Their yellow friend was still as grouchy as she had been for the last few days, but fortunately she hadn't taken any of her frustrations out on them. Instead, Fluttershy chose to mope around with a seemingly perpetual scowl and leave her house even less than usual.

As she sat on her sofa skimming the day's headlines, one of her squirrels gently tugged on her mane and chirped at her the general consensus that they were all a little hungry.

With a blink, she came back to reality. "Oh. I suppose it is getting to be about that time. Sorry about that."

She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a few bowls to lay out. A second trip allowed her to bring the large bag of pellets she kept for her woodland critters. Halfway through filling the dishes, a knock came from the door.

"One second!" As the final bowl got some attention and the animals dove into their food, Fluttershy set the bag against the wall and glided over to see who it was. "Oh, hey Twilight. What brings you here?"

"Afternoon, Fluttershy. Wish I could stop by with some better news, but the mayor asked me to get the girls together at Town Hall."

"Why? What's going on?"

"She didn't say. I'm figuring it's something pretty secretive if she didn't want to tell even me what all was up and didn't want anypony else to know about it either."

"I guess," the pegasus replied, tapping her chin inquisitively. From the corner of her eye, she saw her munching friends and their bag of food right where she left it. "Give me just a minute to put a couple things away and I'll head out with you."

"Take your time," Twilight said with a weak smile. "I have to go make the rounds anyway and let the others know. I'll see you there!"

"Sounds good." As her royal friend took off in a hurry, Fluttershy went to grab the pellets only to stop after a step or two. It just occurred to her that everypony was going to be there, including...

Ugh, great. Well, if they had something important to do for Ponyville, she figured she could stomach being around an Apple for a little while so long as she didn't start any nonsense. Maybe whatever the mayor wanted would distract her enough to allow them to get the requested job done.

"You're sure she wanted all of us to come to whatever this shindig is?"

"That's what the mayor said, Applejack," Twilight repeated. "Wish I knew exactly what was going on, but it's probably pretty important." As the farmer dug in and bucked the tree she was working on again, the princess glanced over her previously injured leg but didn't comment about it.

"Sure would've been nice if she said somethin'. Anything new at Casa de Twilight lately?"

The alicorn replied, her ears sagging, "I've been distracted by a lot at home. Much of it revolves around Spike, but there have been some royal duties here and there as well."

"Spike, huh? And Rarity too, I'm assumin'?"

"Afraid so. Any rumors you may have heard about them...well, they were true. Even after she broke away from him, he's still rather upset with the both of us. Can't say I really blame him, but it hasn't been easy on me either, y'know? What do you think about it, if I may?"

With a sigh, the country girl moved onto the next tree, double checking the placement of the baskets she had left on the ground. Everything seemed alright. "I've been too busy myself to give it much thought." She continued after a quick buck. "But, if I had to throw in my two bits, I'd be happy for them if they hadn't rushed into things so fast, considerin' Spike's age and all. Would be like if Apple Bloom wanted to date, like, your brother or somethin'. T'ain't right."

"My thoughts exactly. A-anyway, I need to head out. Gotta make the rounds and let the others know. I'll see you by Town Hall in a bit?"

"Yeah, I'll finish putting these bushels away and start heading over," Applejack confirmed as she scooped up one of her baskets.

Twilight took to the air and saluted her friend as she started her glide away. "Sounds good. I'll see you there!"

The princess knocked a second time. Perhaps the dressmaker wasn't home, but there weren't any signs anywhere that indicated she was out, and the day wasn't near done yet. Either way, the inevitable encounter was going to be less than fun.

Before she could try a third time, the door finally opened and the cheerful look on the resident's face immediately soured. "What do you want?" Rarity growled.

Twilight glared right back. "I don't want to be here either, but the mayor asked us to help her with something at Town Hall."

The ivory mare raised a disbelieving brow. "Why didn't she just come over herself? I'm right up the road, you know."

"Look, she asked me to do her this favor, alright? If you want to go complain to her later, that's your business. Just keep in mind that you'd be digging yourself deeper into a hole that's already got you buried under certain rumors and stories by whining at Mayor Mare about some perceived slight against you. I'm sure that'll go over really well," Twilight rebutted with a nasty sneer across her face. Sticking her snout an inch away from Rarity's, close enough to feel her rival's breath, further boiled the dressmaker's blood.

Unfortunately, the royal mare had a point. Rarity had already felt the effects of such scandalous words thanks to her business taking a hit. She didn't need even more unwanted, wholly inaccurate press. Best to swallow her loads of pride than make things worse. "I'll be over there shortly. Just need to put a few things away in my studio first," she snarled through her teeth, hoping Twilight didn't see the throbbing vein on her neck.

"Alright then." With nothing left to jam down the unicorn's throat, the princess backed off and took to the sky.

How Rarity didn't cause her lips to bleed by gnawing on them as hard as she was was a feat unto itself. Twilight was barely out of sight when the flustered mare slammed her door closed. "Why do I continue to stay here?" Rarity grumbled to herself.

"No offense, Twilight, but I'd really rather not go to this thing," Rainbow Dash protested as she glided around her visitor. "Rarity still makes me want to wring her neck and now A.J.'s got a stick up her flank. You're royalty! Can't you do this thing on your own? I mean, isn't that part of your job title now or something?"

The princess shrugged. "Sorry, Rainbow. She wanted all of us. I know how you feel about Rarity though, and I completely understand where you're coming from with her, but they weren't my words. I tried to argue with the mayor the same way, but she wasn't budging."

A blue hoof draaaagged down her scowling face. "Ugh. Fine. When does she want us there?"

"About fifteen or so minutes from now. I have to go make a couple more stops and get the others rounded up."

"Alright, whatever," the speedster groaned, rolling her eyes. "Guess I can go punch a wall for a few minutes to pass the time and blow off some steam. I'll probably still beat everypony there even if I'm late. Or maybe I'll be late on purpose this time, I dunno."

"Whatever floats your boat. I'll see you then."

And with that, Twilight took off again, heading for her next stop. Barely floating in the air outside her cloud mansion, Rainbow slowly hovered over to a nearby pillar, forelimbs folded before her chest, and gave it a goof swift kick. Unfortunately, she forgot how solid they were compared to most of the rest of her home. Biting her lip and wincing in pain, she jerked her head around and confirmed that nopony was around to see her not being her usual tough self. Couldn't let her reputation take a hit or anything. With a growl, she carefully opened her front door and went inside, most likely to pout on her bed for a little while.

In the center of town, the day was going on as it usually did. Stallions and mares running their stalls with others thoroughly inspecting and purchasing their products. A few cantered on through, chatting with friends about common pleasantries. Some sat on some nearby chairs and benches reading the papers while snacking on some midday grub.

Among the citizens, however, sat an impatiently purple alicorn and her young assistant who passed the time by scratching things into the dirt only to unmake them once he was bored with them – which typically didn't take long. The doors to Town Hall teased them by being perpetually locked. Could Twilight have simply picked the lock or torn the doorknobs off? Sure, but that wouldn't be becoming of a princess. The thought had crossed Spike's mind once or twice but he figured Twilight would probably scold him and then proceed to lecture him on pony's private property and such.

At least she hadn't bothered to try and talk to him about recent events or his feelings in a little while. The peace had quelled his anger and resentment down a few notches, but there was still quite a distance to go. Who knows how long it would take before his blood had stopped boiling – or stopped being a low simmer.

After what felt like forever, a pair of hooves softly touched down a few feet from the two. A buttery yellow pegasus greeted them rather blandly, the look in her eyes evidence enough that she preferred not to be there. "Hello, Twilight. Hey, Spike."

"Hey, Fluttershy," the dragon mumbled. "What's going on?"

"Nothing really. Just wondering what all we're expected to do here."

"Yeah, us too. Haven't seen the mayor anywhere either. Don't suppose you spotted her on your way over here?"

The gentle mare shook her head. "Maybe she got tied up with something inside."

"Eh, maybe. Things do pop up unexpectedly when you're a politician," Twilight agreed.

"That does tend to happen, yes," a familiar, snarky voice said from behind them. The princess' brow immediately curled. It took quite a bit of effort to not grind her teeth together. A pair of reptilian eyes glared through the new arrival as well. "Hello, everypony."

"Rarity," Twilight mumbled through pursed lips.

The two horned mares stared at each other, practically challenging each other to make a move. Fluttershy desperately wanted to try and talk some sense into them, but the anger she could see on their faces told her she would be wasting her time. Instead, she sat down between them enough so they didn't have to look right at each other.

Rarity skimmed over the denizens and the political halls. "Wonder where the others are?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be along shortly," Fluttershy commented. Twilight chose to remain silent.

The next several minutes were mostly silent too save for the timid mare splitting herself between two awkward conversations that never intersected. It wasn't long after a brief, frustrating sigh that she joined the alicorn in a fairly foul mood.

"Alright, so what are we doin' here?" Applejack complained, walking up on strong, healed legs. It barely took a second for her green eyes to find her adversary.

Fluttershy didn't need to glance at the farmer to know she was being stared at and folded her forelimbs in response, choosing to look off into the distance with the hardest of frowns. A particular fashion designer took note of this.

"What's going on with you two?"

"You didn't hear about Fluttershy almost snapping my leg in two?" the cowgirl asked as she brushed past a large wad of pink hair and sat beside Rarity. The other direction into the distance suddenly looked more interesting to the animal lover.

"What?!"

"Wait, what happened?" Twilight added.

"You didn't hear about it neither?" Spike and his surrogate shared a confused glance. "Guess Rainbow didn't stop by to brag about it then."

"I haven't seen her in a few days. Did she visit at any time when I was out, Spike?"

"No, I haven't seen her either since...that one outburst of mine. I've been spending all of my time indoors, don't forget."

Her purple eyes shifted away. He was never very good at hiding his passive-aggressiveness.

"Anyway, yeah, somepony nearly broke one of my legs. Was only a sprain but it still didn't feel very good. Only healed up yesterday."

Everypony who wasn't an Apple was suddenly gawking at the silent pegasus.

Rarity was the first to say what was on everyone's mind. "But...w-why would she do that?"

Fluttershy's brow furrowed harder. If she could stuff something into her ears to silence the noise she was hearing, she would have.

"Because my brother was dating her, apparently."

Everypony was equally confused. "That...doesn't make any sense, dear."

"It shouldn't because he wasn't."

"Gods, you Apples are such terrible liars," Fluttershy growled under her breath.

"Oh, get over yourself already."

"Okay, will everypony just stop arguing?" Twilight suddenly blurted. "Dear Celestia, I can't tell you all how sick and tired I am of hearing about all this squabbling over the last several weeks! I mean, yeah, I've been guilty of it too, but can we please knock it off? It's getting old!"

"Didn't seem like it was getting old earlier," the designer complained.

"Do you have any idea how hard it's been for me to try and get past everything you did to me? To Spike? It's been exhausting!"

"Considering I didn't do–!"

The unicorn was quickly cut off by the next visitor.

"You think you're tired of it, Twilight?" Rainbow said as she landed next to the princess. "I've been in the middle of everything just as much, y'know." Her narrowed ruby eyes darted between Rarity and Applejack. She received exactly what she gave. However, instead of immediately insulting anypony, she quipped, "Hmph. Guess I sat around longer than expected. Now where's Pinkie Pie so we can see what the mayor wants?"

"Yeah, you're usually the first one here at these get-togethers," Twilight pointed out. "Must be slacking or something."

The daredevil shrugged and quickly glared again at her targets. "Got a lot on my mind. The sooner we can get this over with, the sooner I can get back to not thinking about it."

"For once, we agree," Rarity muttered.

"Don't talk to me."

Sneering, the fashionista quietly slung some more mud. "Yes, I'm sure not thinking about things isn't terribly hard for you anyway." She suddenly found a pegasus in her face.

"I'm sorry, you wanna speak up?"

"Heeeere we go," Applejack groaned.

Rainbow turned to her other challenger and poked her in the chest, turning a bit of mild sarcasm into another bomb ready to blow. "Don't you start too, blondie! Or do you want another busted up leg?"

Swatting the jab away, she countered, "Pfff, you wouldn't have be able to handle me before if you were gonna start somethin', so get off your high horse, missy!"

"You couldn't even handle me, Applejack. Remember? Timid, quiet, unassuming, little old me? How'd that go for you?"

"Fluttershy!"

"Don't even go there! You sucker punched me and you know it! That still don't change the fact that you went off the deep end for no reason!"

"Will you all stop it already?!" Twilight suddenly hollered.

It was Rarity's turn to throw her two bits in. "Why should they? I always thought it was supposed to be healthy to get your feelings off your chest!"

"Oh, like that's something you'd understand so well!"

The ever-increasing voice levels eventually started to gather a small, perplexed crowd. Whatever they may have been screaming about seemed less interesting to some of the ponies than the fact they were at each others' throats to begin with. While their once-subdued anger started coming to a head all at once, a pink filly hurried off to Sugarcube Corner a few buildings away.

Within a minute, Cottontail burst through the bakery door. A short line was in front of her but that wasn't a concern. The little unicorn hopped past the other customers, receiving an annoyed look or two for her efforts. However, instead of receiving a boisterous welcome from Pinkie Pie upon arriving at the counter, Cottontail was greeted rather somberly.

"Hey there, kiddo. You really shouldn't cut in line."

"No, no, I'm not here for any sweets. There's something going on with your friends outside. They're all fighting for some reason."

"Fighting?" Pinkie waved at her dismissively, half a smile on her face. "Come on now, if what I've heard around town was true, then yeah, they've had a few disagreements recently, but it's nothing they haven't dealt with before."

"Uhhhh...I don't know them as well as you do, but they were getting pretty loud."

The party girl shared a curious glance with her next customer. Even she had been involved in some arguments but they never got to a point where somepony not involved would be concerned. Maybe she should check this out just to be safe.

"Mrs. Cake?" she turned and called out to the kitchen.

"Yes, Pinkie?"

"Could you take over up front for a minute? Something seems to be going outside with my friends."

"Sure, go ahead. I'll be out in just a second."

"Thanks!" Quickly excusing herself to the patrons, she trotted out, darting past Cottontail and seemingly leaving her behind.

However, even from a distance, it sounded just like the filly said. She recognized the voices of the ponies screaming at each other even before she started making her way through the crowd. With every half-step Pinkie took as she slipped past the sea of bodies, her ears slowly, slowly fell and each step felt harder and harder to take. When she finally reached the front, her closest friends didn't even see her arrive. Even the mayor had come out from Town Hall – also without being noticed – wondering what all the shouting was about, but quickly went silent when she saw who was at the heart of the fighting, just as surprised as everypony else.

"–just proving the only way to get through to you is a shot to the head!"

"Well, I'm right here! Why don't you just show me what you're made of?!"

"Try not to hurt her too badly. Goodness knows her poor ego wouldn't be able to handle it!"

"My ego?! You've always used every trick in the book to get whatever you wanted!"

"I've never forced anypony's hooves in anything!"

"Except when you forced dragon claws in something we won't mention!"

"Oh, you're disgusting!"

Finally, a heartbroken mare's voice brought a hush down over the other Elements. "Stop it! Stop it!" It proved immediately effective, stealing their attention away from each other and onto Pinkie, her eyes watering.

"I...I didn't want to believe the things that I had been hearing and keeping to myself. I thought it was just some nasty ponies spreading rumors and lies, but...but look at you! You're supposed to be better than this! We talk out our problems in private and forgive each other! We don't do...this! You aren't the ponies – my friends – who've saved the world on multiple occasions! This isn't you! This is just wrong! This...you're..."

Her tears finally ran down her face, and it was more than she could take. What more could she say to them? Would they even listen? Utterly crushed, she turned and ran back home, sobbing the whole way and ultimately locking herself upstairs in her room.

Once the shock of her lecture subsided, Rainbow was the first to speak up, her jaw clenching in anger once again. "Great! Nice going! You made Pinkie Pie cry!"

"What? Who?" Applejack asked.

"Any of you! All of you! I can't deal with this anymore!"

"What did I do?!" Twilight snapped. "She came to me a few days ago because everypony else seemed to be treating her like dirt! I didn't do anything to upset her!"

"Me either!" Fluttershy added.

"You're here screaming with the rest of us! Doesn't seem like that really helped her either, y'know!" The speedster threw up her forelimbs and turned away, scowling and folding said limbs in front of her. "Ugh, why did I ever get involved in all this in the first place? Every other thing that anypony's said to me in the last several weeks has been nothing but one giant headache after another!"

"I had a legitimate issue on my hooves thanks to that whore over there!"

A boiling Rarity snarled, "How many times do I have to say–?!"

"Shut up!" Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs. With the unicorn left steaming and gritting her teeth, the princess returned her raging attention back at the blue pegasus. "So, what, everything you did for me, everything I trusted you with was too much for you?"

Rainbow's ruby eyes very nearly bulged out of her head as she spun around, nose to nose, and continued her tirade. "Yes! Well...not at first, but it's gotten to that point, yes! You happy now?! I've got problems too! You want to know what my biggest one is right now?! Having to absorb everypony else's! Dear Celestia, even I have my limits!"

"Well, if I would have known you were going to eventually tell me to go buck myself, I wouldn't have bothered asking you for help in the first place!"

"Fine! Whatever! Just...deal with your own crap from now on. I'm done."

A prismatic streak was all that was left after she sped off. The remaining mares watched, stunned, as the multicolored streak became a distant dot in the sky. Her last words gradually sunk in, resulting in four ponies with wrinkling brows glaring daggers at each other. Spike, though upset from the sudden turn of events, stood there with his jaw limply hanging open in shock until he too joined the others in anger and frustration.

Rarity was next to turn around and head home, sticking her snout in the air with an audible 'hmph!'. Applejack glowered at Fluttershy from the corner of her eye and followed the dressmaker's lead a few seconds later. Although the normally soft-spoken pegasus had no personal beef with the alicorn, her temper was riding high, and with a contemptuous sneer, she too took to the air and left.

Though she would never admit it, a very small part of Twilight was almost glad the others left, especially if that's how they all had felt for a while now. As she calmed down, she suddenly felt the weight of at least a hundred eyes staring at her, their owners at a loss for words over what just transpired – as was she. Eventually, hers met with the bewildered Mayor Mare's, snapping her back to the embarrassing reality. With resentment and bitterness guiding her hoof, she kicked at the ground and started her long shuffle home.

"Come on, Spike. Let's go."

"Y-yeah. Right."

The crowd parted, giving the alicorn and her assistant plenty of room just in case one of them still felt like attacking somepony else. Near the end of the make-shift hallway stood a glaring pink filly with a curly white mane sporting the tiniest of smirks.

Chapter 14

The mostly-blank paper, decorated with barely a quarter of a new dress design, stared back at Rarity as she sat in the lobby of the boutique. In the few days since her so-called friends all blew up at each other, every time she'd take her quill and try to get started creating again, any and all desire or ideas she may have had vanished in seconds, leaving her scowling at the parchment and eventually tossing the utensil aside in disgust. She hadn't felt so uninspired and apathetic in a long, long while – and last time it was over a stallion. As if it wasn't bad enough that business had been beyond lousy ever since those nasty rumors got around town. Without customers, however, what was the point of designing anything new?

Before she could stomp her way into the kitchen for another glass of wine, there was a knock at the door. Now what? Couldn't everypony just leave her alone to wallow or at least eat the lunch she was going to be making in a little while? Plus, considering how little she had prettied herself up in the last couple days, she couldn't be sure who'd be more horrified by her appearance – herself or her guests. Quickly straightening her mane as best she could, she sauntered to the door and opened it only to gasp at her visitors and their thick accents.

"Hey, Rarity! We're back from vacation!"

"Oh, dearie, it's so good to see you! How've you been?"

They each exchanged a hug with their flummoxed daughter as they let themselves in. "Err, welcome back, Mother...Father." Rarity closed the door behind them, fumbling for the right words in her head to properly express the anger she suddenly felt boiling up. How could they just walk on in and act all nonchalant after leading her on some wild goose chase which almost got her killed?! Granted, it was by pure chance that she happened upon some muggers, but that wasn't the point!

She stared through them in disbelief and disgust as they gabbed on and on, back and forth, about some of the sights they saw on their months long vacation. Eventually, Cookie Crumbles paused upon seeing her daughter's disinterested face. "Rarity? Honey, what's wrong? I thought you'd be happy to see us."

Behind her furious, curling lips, her teeth ground together. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't hold her tongue. "Happy? Oh, maybe if you hadn't asked me to come see you in Manehattan only to find out you weren't there after getting attacked by a group of ruffians barely after stepping off the train, I may be a little more happy to see you!"

Mid-stride, the couple ground to a screeching halt.

"Wait, what?"

"Attacked in Manehattan? Honey, are you okay?! What were you doing up there?"

"I'm fine, thanks to Coco Pommel...and with no thanks to who I thought were my friends," Rarity snarled. "Why did you send me that postcard?! Why play such a...a s-sick joke on your own daughter?!"

Cookie and Hondo glanced wide-eyed at each other, both at a total loss.

"But, we never sent you one from there."

Hondo added, "Yeah, the last one we sent out was about a week and a half ago from Japon."

"Is that a fact?"

Glaring hard, the designer pointed toward the kitchen. It took a second, but eventually, her parents complied and led the way. Once by the table, Rarity brushed past them and stomped her way to the little ceramic basket she kept her letters and other various bits of mail, including said greetings from tourist towns. At front of it all, though, she had kept the catalyst that seemingly started her woes and snatched it up with her magic, floating it right into her parents' faces.

Cookie took the small card in her hoof and stared at the correspondence. Strange, it looked like hers – nearly exactly like hers. She glanced up at the corner where the stamp was and noted the post date. Lifting a brow, she muttered, "What in the world? Where did you get this?"

"What, does the signature not tell you?" she growled.

"But, sweetie...we didn't go to Manehattan this time."

"Then where is that from?!"

"Baby, you know we keep all the receipts we get when we go on these long trips to make sure everything matches our next bank statement. You know this!" Hondo mentioned. "Would you like to come back home and go through all our receipts? We don't have any from Manehattan."

"But...you..." Her folks shrugged and shook their heads, not sure what else to tell her. She rolled her bright blue eyes. "Oh, wonderful. I suppose now my own parents are going to think I'm a liar or...o-or stark, raving mad or something too just like everypony else has for the last several weeks."

"Rarity, what are you talking about?" Cookie asked.

"I don't want to go into it, but the short version is that ponies think I...had relations with somepony I didn't and no one wants to believe me," her ears sagged along with her eyes, "including my...friends." She stomped a hoof hard on the tile floor. "I'm just so furious with them! And yet...I miss them. That probably sounds ridiculous and stupid."

"No, not really. Your friends are good ponies and sometimes friends fight," Hondo said, resting a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "You'll move past it eventually."

"It's been weeks. Plus, a few days ago, we...all kind of had it out with each other. I haven't spoken to any of them since. Haven't seen them either." The unicorn nodded angrily at what the postcard. "It all started soon after I got that horrible thing."

Her mother raised a brow as she skimmed it over once more time. "Whoever sent this really knows how to mimic my hoofwriting, but...there's something missing here. It's how I knew it was a fake right away...well, if I didn't know we didn't write it ourselves, of course."

"What's that?" Rarity asked as she trotted up beside her elder.

Cookie tapped at a small empty space right beside her signed name. "I always leave you a little heart right there whenever I send these to you. This one doesn't have it."

"What do you mean?"

"You've never noticed?" A slew of other, saved cards flew out of their little bin, circling around and into the fashionista's view. Each one that went by, sure enough, had one last small note of love drawn out beside 'Mom', each met with a pointed hoof. "See? Every last one. I'm a bit surprised and, well, a little disappointed that you didn't catch that my heart was missing."

Rarity blinked in stunned disbelief. She was usually so good with details – her clothing line said as much. How did such a small, seemingly insignificant thing slip past her? "I...I guess it just...got lost in the background or...o-or something."

"It was always there, so you eventually stopped seeing for it," her father suggested.

"Maybe." Her blue eyes fell. She could have died from embarrassment right then and there. Instead, she gradually perked back up, as confused as her folks. "But, if you didn't send this, then who did? And why?"

"Did you ask Sweetie Belle?"

"Believe me, her hoofwriting isn't this clean. Besides, why would she want to send me away? She loves spending time with me."

"I don't know," Hondo muttered. "There anypony you know out there who may not be your biggest fan?"

The cards were collected in a light blue aura and carefully replaced. "My friends and I have saved the world a few times. I'm sure we've made some enemies. But I haven't seen anypony acting suspicious around here. Though...we had a large number of ponies moving to town a while...back..."

The mare peered out toward the town through the kitchen window, numerous terrifying possibilities suddenly racing through her mind. She never really got a chance to know any of the newcomers. Could somepony have been stalking her or her friends? Who's to say if any of the newer townsfolk were a little...disturbed or unbalanced? Her stomach turned itself in knots as she thought more and more about it.

"You alright, hon?" Cookie asked.

Rarity bit her lip. "Yes. I-I'll be fine."

As she turned away from the window, a cream-colored unicorn – having already once had an eye on the fashion designer – was already hustling towards a particular pink filly's home with some news firmly on his mind.

Cottontail answered the knock at her door and brought the spy inside. The two took a seat in chairs opposite each other. He wasted no time in getting to the point.

"Rarity's parents are home from their vacation. I saw them stop by Carousel Boutique not a half hour ago."

"Not unexpected. They live here in Ponyville. They were bound to return home some time, and it doesn't change anything. I do appreciate you getting back to me as quickly as you did though."

"They've probably already started asking questions. You know Rarity probably places some of the blame on them for that postcard we wrote."

Cottontail shrugged. "If we're lucky, she'll fly into a fit of rage and stop talking to them completely. Perhaps with enough push, we could force her out of town altogether. Wouldn't that be nice? Her little group is already fractured; splitting them off entirely would just be a bonus."

"So, what do we do now?" the unicorn pondered.

"Assuming Rarity is shaken up all over again about her little...trip, now that her folks are back into the picture, she probably would want somepony she trusts completely to lean on for support – and I know just who that'd be." The youngster craned her neck around the side of the chair and shouted into the house. "Curtain Call! Wake the hell up and get in here!"

"Is that all she's done since we got here?"

"Basically. The lazy twat..." The sound of galloping hooves curtailed Cottontail's insults. Her mother skidded to a halt right beside the chair.

"Y-yes, I'm here! Ready for anything!" she mumbled with a salute.

"Good. I've got a simple job for you, starting tomorrow." The older mare suddenly found herself lifted up, nose to nose with the youth and shaking like a leaf. "And if you find a way to screw this up, you'll be nothing more than a smear on my hoof."

"N-n-no problem! What's on the agenda?"

Several days had gone by since Rarity's folks had returned and she had spilled the beans about the bizarre events that had occurred. The designer had thought about what they said more than once and was left with just as many questions as she had answers. The last couple of days, however, she had decided to stop thinking terribly hard about their talks. It wasn't getting her anywhere, it wasn't helping draw customers in, and, most likely, an answer would come to her when she wasn't thinking about it. That's the way it always worked, no?

The day had crept quietly along with nary a sound from her door or its bell. Several of her creations sat untouched on their racks, begging to be taken home by some lucky patron. Meanwhile, Rarity sat in her inspiration room, again mulling and pondering over a blank parchment with a quill hovering overhead for several straight minutes, not moving an inch. Dragging out a sigh, the mare set the quill down, her ears sagging.

It had been at least a few weeks since she had come up with anything to draw out. Every time she thought she invented something just right, the designs ultimately ended up balled in the trash for one reason or another. How could she be inspired when business was dead as a door nail and she hadn't spoken to those who used to be her friends since they all screamed at each other?

She wiped away a tear that threatened to roll down her cheek before it got going. It would have been difficult to admit it to anyone else, but she missed them. They had argued plenty of times before even though it had never gotten quite so personal. Were any of the others having similar feelings?

Pinkie was likely a wreck. Making friends was almost like a goal in her life, and seeing her closest ones fighting the way they were was undoubtedly causing her to cry herself to sleep. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were probably still fuming. Fluttershy probably was isolating herself with her animals the way she used to. Twilight...considering she had studied the concept of friendship, which eventually allowed her to ascend to princesshood, maybe she was wishing she could give back her wings, believing she had ultimately failed or something. Rarity couldn't quite be sure. No doubt the alicorn was just as confused and upset as everypony else either way.

The sound of a jingling bell downstairs caught her attention, snapping her out of her funk. A customer maybe? That'd be fantastic! She could use the business. She was fairly well off and was in no danger of going under, but the income was still important. She quickly trotted downstairs, putting on a happy smile, only for her hopes to die down just as fast. The visitor was still welcome though.

"Oh. Hello, Sweetie Belle."

"Hi, Rarity!" The little one lunged at her older sister with a big hug. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much. Been quiet as usual around here." Their embrace broke, letting the youth head toward the kitchen. "I thought you'd be off playing with your friends today. Did something happen?"

Sweetie came to a sudden stop and bit her lip out of Rarity's sight. "Err, Apple Bloom had something come up, yeah. She was needed at home."

"Oh. What about Scootaloo?"

"We just...we wanted to go hang out altogether. It wouldn't have felt right without Apple Bloom, so we called it an early day."

"Hm. Fair enough." With a smile, Rarity took the lead to the fridge, correctly figuring what Sweetie Belle was after. "Want a snack or something?"

"Some apple juice would be great, thanks!" she answered, sitting at the table like a good filly.

"Alright." As Rarity grabbed a juice box and floated it to her sister, she joined her and said with a sigh, "I must say, Sweetie, I'm...happy to know that, just because my...friends and I have...grown apart in these last several weeks that you and yours are still going strong. In a way, it...kind of gives me hope that maybe some day we can put our differences aside and try to work through everything, but..." She shifted her eyes away in shame. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't dump this on you."

"What would happen if you...couldn't?"

After a moment of thought, the designer shrugged. "I don't know." She fidgeted uncomfortably and quickly changed the subject. "S-so, um...how was school today?"

Sweetie Belle downed a mouthful of juice before answering. "Eh, same as always."

"Heh, yes, I suppose school doesn't really change much from day to day. Probably quite similar to what they were teaching me when I was your age. What about 'Twilight Time' yesterday? How'd that go?" The youngster nearly choked on her drink. "Oh my! Are you alright?"

She managed to reply between coughs, "Yeah! Fine! Twilight Time...um...you mean with...?"

Rarity blinked. "With Twilight, dear."

"Right! Twilight, yeah. Um...it was, I mean...it was okay, I guess."

"Did she teach you anything new?"

Her young stomach was suddenly tying itself in knots. "Err, Rarity, can I be honest with you?"

"Of course you can. What is it?"

"I...I'm not sure if I should be going to this thing anymore."

"What? Why not? You've always loved learning new things from the princess."

It was Sweetie's turn to shrug. "It's just that you guys have hated each other for a little while now. I don't understand why I should have to go hang out with her when you need the love and attention here more."

Rarity rolled her blue eyes. "Listen, even though we're not on speaking terms right now, you can learn a lot more from her than you can from me. She was always far more magically inclined than I could ever hope to be." A smirked trailed across her cheeks. "Feels rather strange paying her a compliment after everything that's happened, but it's true nonetheless. Besides, you couldn't stop gushing last week about your little get-together."

"Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool seeing Scootaloo try out that new flying trick."

Before the conversation could continue, a breath escaped Rarity's lungs. She stared at her sister briefly, completely confused. "W-what do you mean? I thought she couldn't fly."

Sweetie's plump cheeks turned a bright red. "Turns out she was...faking...the whole time."

"What?! Why in the world would she do that?"

"Attention. Sympathy."

"But, that doesn't make...sense."

The nonsensical notions played through her head. She had hung around with Scootaloo plenty of times, and she knew for a fact thanks to Rainbow Dash that the little daredevil couldn't get off the ground. Everypony who knew her at all knew this to be the case. So, why was Sweetie of all ponies lying to her? Any fibs she ever told were childish white lies that she used when she didn't want to get in trouble but knew she was going to anyway. The dressmaker questioningly glanced into her sister's soft green eyes as she gulped down the last of her juice.

"What?" Sweetie asked.

Rarity shook her head and whispered, "N-nothing. I'm going to head back upstairs, see if I can put something down on paper that I can start working on. Care to join me?"

"Sure!" she said, hopping off her chair and leaving it untucked under the table where it's supposed to go. Her juice box sat there, unmoved, as well.

"Ahem," Rarity interjected, causing the filly to halt. She nodded at the mess. It was enough to get the idea across. With a penitent smile, Sweetie hovered it over to the trash can and tossed it in. Another clear of the elder mare's throat stopped Sweetie Belle once more, and a glance at the chair told the story. The filly pushed it in and huffed out the kitchen.

The purple-maned unicorn raised a brow as her younger sister turned a corner and made her way up to the second floor. She didn't remember the last time she had to tell Sweetie to clean up after herself. It had become so ingrained in her head that it was second nature to her by now. A momentary lapse? Possibly, but it didn't seem likely.

But she certainly wasn't acting herself, and she was most certainly lying – badly so – all of a sudden. Why would she feel the need to lie about Scootaloo or Twilight Time? She wanted to confront her about things a little more in-depth, but the last time she tried that, everything completely blew up. She'd prefer not to have that again – especially with her own sister and possibly the rest of her family, if the arguments were eventually to make it their way. She'd have to be cautious.

But first, she got herself a quick glass of water before heading up to her work room. A crazy idea had been concocted.

Sweetie Belle wasn't waiting long by the time Rarity showed up. Her nose was poking about the half-made dresses hanging from their respective ponyquinns and scrunching in disgust. Setting her drink down by her workstation, Rarity returned to her quill and paper. This time, however, a dress design wasn't the first thing on her mind though she played the part for a few long minutes.

She glanced from the corner of her eye. Sweetie Belle's back was still turned. It was almost as if the tyke was studying the fabrics around the room like she had never seen them before. Rarity ground her teeth behind her lips. She was going to hate herself in the morning for the stunt she was about to pull, but she needed to know.

"Oops!" she cried, knocking her glass over and spilling the water onto the floor. The mare rubbed her forehead. "Ugh, isn't that par for the course lately?"

"You okay?"

"Yes, I'm just...so unfocused these days," she replied as her hoof found her 'tired' eyes. "Here I am acting like a clumsy baffoon. Sweetie, dear, could you conjure me up a wash rag please?"

"I-I don't know how to do that. Want me to run to the bathroom and grab a towel?"

"No, that's alright. Please, go ahead and try. I know you can do it!"

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat and looked away sheepishly. Taking a deep breath, she focused her magics hard, but all the effort and concentration afforded no results.

"Hm. That's alright. I'll go..." The fashionista suddenly bopped herself on the head and chuckled. "Wow, I'd lose my head if it wasn't screwed on. I very nearly forgot that I have something...personal to attend to."

"Oh! I can head home then."

"Oh no no no! Mother and father are...errrr, out. Yes, they went out for dinner tonight. They mentioned it to me earlier."

"Then I can come with you. We can spend all day together!" Sweetie Belle said with a bounce.

"I can't, really. What I can do is–" Rarity internally cringed, "–leave you with Twilight until I return. I shouldn't be terribly long, but I do have to take care of this issue."

"Awww, okay. I hope you're not long. Spending time with you is always fun! But, really, why can't I–?"

"Come now, Sweetie Belle, off we go," the designer interrupted, trotting quickly out of the room. As she expected, Sweetie followed a few steps behind, but not before grunting her disapproval.

Dodging the numerous glares and sideways glances from the Ponyville populace was an impossibility, but Rarity couldn't be concerned about their opinions at the moment. With Sweetie Belle in tow, she cantered through town with a purpose, nearly exhausting the filly as she tried to keep up. Eventually, the two managed to find themselves in front of the large crystalline castle that only recently filled Rarity's mind with such terrible memories of fighting and ostracizing over lies and pure nonsense.

A confident yet still nervous breath steeled her nerves as she reached up to the double doors and knocked. A few minutes passed before a familiar, scaly host answered. His scowl was immediate upon seeing Rarity but was tempered just enough when he saw her sister.

"Hello, Rarity. Sweetie Belle," Spike mumbled. "What can I do for you?"

"Good afternoon, Spike. Would...Twilight be available? I need to speak to her."

"I don't think she wants to see you."

"Please?" she leaned in and whispered. "I know she can't stand me right now, but it's rather urgent. I hope it's not, but..."

He rolled slitted eyes and sighed loudly. The toying and manipulation just never stopped with her, did it? "Give me a minute."

Rarity nodded as he closed the door. Not long after, they reopened thanks to an unamused alicorn. "This had better be good."

"M-may we come in? Please?" the designer pleaded.

Twilight pursed her lips. Against her better judgment, she agreed, but they didn't go in far. "What do you want?"

"Is it alright if Spike were to take Sweetie Belle inside for a few?"

"Y-yeah, sure. Spike?" the princess hollered.

From a nearby study, the dragon appeared. "What's up?"

"Could you go play with Sweetie Belle for a moment? We need to talk."

"Sure." With a claw, he led her down the hall until they were out of sight, giving Rarity one last glare from a distance as they rounded a corner.

"You've really got a lot of nerve showing up here," Twilight growled.

"Will you just stop it and listen to me for a minute?! There's something really...odd going on with Sweetie Belle."

The royal mare rolled her eyes. "This again? Everypony's still out to get you? I thought this was played out by now."

"Look, think what you want about me or what we've said to each other or...or whatever, but...ugh, I need your help with something."

"Why should I give you any?"

"Because it involves her," Rarity fumed, nodded in Sweetie's direction.

Twilight turned away, scowling. She always had a soft spot for the youth. They were innocent, so she always believed. "What is it?"

"Thank you," the fashionista sighed. "Tell me...last week, when she came here for Twilight Time...what all did she learn?"

"She, um, was studying conjuration magic. It's not the easiest magic to master, but some of the more basic things that can be produced are rather simple. Even unicorns with a rudimentary understanding of magic could learn how to conjure things like quills or paper or tissues."

"Or rags and towels?" Rarity suggested.

"That too, yeah. Why?"

"I knew it. Sweetie Belle couldn't stop practicing and demonstrating being able to do such things last week when she stopped by my place. Earlier today, I asked her to create a towel for me to clean up a spill and she acted like she couldn't."

"Maybe she was playing a prank on you," Twilight said.

"No, no, she loved showing off for me last week. But that's not the strangest thing – at least, I don't think it is."

"What do you mean?"

A hint of hesitation almost stopped Rarity in her tracks. What she was about to suggest was probably going to sound ridiculous to Twilight. "She said that Scootaloo was performing flying tricks – and from you, of all ponies. Not from Rainbow Dash, who you'd think would be the one teaching her such things."

"What? You're making this up. She knows Scootaloo can't fly. And...you're right, Rainbow would teach her that, not me."

"But I'm not making this up, that's the thing!" Rarity hissed with a stomp. "When I asked her where she got that idea into her head, she said Scootaloo has been claiming not to be able to fly for the attention!"

"So, then, why would she use her scooter the way that she does? Granted, she probably does enjoy the attention it garners–"

"That's what I'm saying! Something's not adding up, and to top it all off, she said she doesn't want to come to her studies with you and her friends anymore. She couldn't even tell me what she studied yesterday!"

A single, lavender brow was lifted. "We reviewed some of the conjuration magic and then moved onto splitting her focus between more than one object the way...the way you can so well. I've seen you juggle over twenty items at once. That's not easy to do."

The pair turned and gazed down the hall, curious and uncertain. "I don't suppose mind control is terribly common."

"Not unless you enjoy studying forbidden magics," Twilight answered. "And I doubt Discord would have anything to do with it. He's not the same draconequus he used to be."

Rarity narrowed her eyes as a terrible idea came to mind. "Twilight...could I ask you to keep an eye on Sweetie Belle for a short time?"

"Err...I suppose. Why? Where are you going?"

She explained as she headed toward the doors, "Sweetie Belle tends to hang out with her friends after school. She claims that something came up with Apple Bloom and came right to my place instead of going straight home with Mother and Father. There's...something I need to check. I just hope that I'm wrong."

"Wrong with what?"

Rarity paused upon opening the exit. "Missing what was right in front of me."

Why did Sweet Apple Acres have to be so big and cause one to generate so much sweat? Even under the numerous apple trees, it felt like ten saunas you didn't want to be in. Thankfully, Rarity's goal wasn't too far into the enormous farmland.

Wiping her brow clean with a freshly-conjured towel, she came across the small clubhouse built into the heart of one of the larger trees on the estate. She hadn't even started up the first ramp when she could hear chatting and playing from inside. It was a quiet but steady cacophony of noise that required a more direct investigation.

She tip-toed to the wooden door and placed her ear against it, doing her best to focus. It only took a second for her eyes to grow wide. Horrified, she pulled away and stared at the entrance, almost not wanting to look inside. But, she had no choice. She needed to see it for herself.

Gulping down her fear and putting on a pleasant smile, she knocked and opened it up a second later. It took all of her willpower not to gasp out loud.

Chapter 15

"Oh, hey Rarity! What are you doing here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The only answer came in the form of a frozen white mare. Rarity's lips quivered as she tried to form a coherent sentence while staring in horror at her younger sister. One by one, the Crusaders and their newest member shared an awkward, confused look amongst each other.

"Errr, you okay?"

Blue eyes blinked, and the unicorn shook off her stupor. A crooked smile forced its way across Rarity's cheeks.

"Oh, um...h-hello, darling. I'm glad I found you!"

Sweetie Belle hopped to her hooves and trotted up to her elder. "Why? What's up?"

"If anypony says we did anything, they're lying," Scootaloo quickly added, hoping to dodge any potential activity-related trouble.

As Sweetie rolled her eyes at her friend, a nervous hoof grazed her shoulder. "Oh no no, nothing like that," Rarity insisted. "It's just that...Twilight wanted to speak with you. She...s-stopped by my place looking for you, but I figured you'd be here."

"Why didn't she come herself?" the youth wisely asked. "And aren't you guys kind of...fighting?"

The dressmaker bit her lip and quickly thought up a decent excuse. "Well, she, um...was short on time and didn't want to run around all day looking, so I volunteered...and, we're...not on the best of terms right now, no. Let's just leave it at that."

"Oh." The little one's ears sagged. "I wish it wasn't that way."

"Yes, well...life can be funny sometimes," Rarity sighed. "Come now. We shouldn't keep her waiting. Twilight said it was important that she see you right away."

"Can we come too?" Apple Bloom spoke up just as their ivory friends were about to turn to leave.

"It would be best if you girls stayed here. Besides, she only asked for Sweetie Belle."

As Rarity took the hurried lead, her sister paused momentarily to wave goodbye. "I'll catch up with you later, okay? Don't have too much fun without me!"

"No promises!" Cottontail said with a wink.

Rarity shared next to nothing on her way back to Twilight's castle. A bit of nervous small talk about what her sister had been up to that day was about all she could muster, leaving Sweetie Belle frustrated and curious. Did she do something wrong? Her sister seemed upset, but as usual, she wasn't sharing.

The filly did note that as they got back into town, Rarity suddenly – noticeably – began staring long and hard at just about everypony they passed by and inspecting every corner of every building nearby. Did she think somepony was following her or something? Sweetie Belle even caught herself occasionally glancing at random townsfolk but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Everypony seemed to be just...going about their business.

As they finally approached the castle, the mare took one last suspicious look around, narrowing her eyes. Satisfied, she quickly pulled them inside and shut the door behind them, pausing again to glimpse around the empty hallway. Each open door they passed as they marched to where the others were waiting made Rarity stick her nose inside and inspect the place, never explaining why to Sweetie Belle despite the nervousness written all over her face. Why wouldn't she just spill the beans already?! Maybe Sweetie could help somehow!

At last, they arrived at their destination. Taking a deep breath, Rarity knocked and Twilight received them, cracking the door just enough to see them. Her lavender eyes widened when she saw the younger sibling but she still kept silent. Grimly, she exchanged a nod with Rarity and allowed them to enter. Once they were a few steps inside, Twilight slammed the door closed, holding it shut with her magic.

"Jeez, Twilight, you scared the....uh oh," a familiar voice squeaked.

With her ears perked hard, the new-arrived filly turned and found her staring at herself. 'What the–?' was all she managed to blurt out before she found herself and her twin violently engulfed by light blue magic and held hostage up against the wall.

"Rarity, what are you doing?!"

"Sis, it's me! Come on, stop!" they argued, but she wasn't giving an inch.

Somehow managing to keep her boiling blood under control, she growled to Twilight, "So how do we figure out which is the real one?"

Spike, who had been waiting back a distance, walked up to them. "Why not ask them something only the real Sweetie Belle would know?"

"Makes sense," his guardian admitted. "Go ahead."

After a moment of tapping at her chin, the designer cleared her throat. "Alright. What is the most important thing in the world to me?"

"What? What kind of question is that?" the dragon groaned.

"Just trust me, Spike," she replied, smiling gently at him.

The filly who had been at the castle already went first. "That's an easy one! Your friends! You've, like, saved the world a bunch of times and stuff, right?"

"Oh, what a cliched answer," her doppleganger said. "I'm the real one and can prove it. You didn't listen! She said 'thing', not ponies. Plus, she and her friends are kind of fighting right now, so that answer wouldn't make any sense anyway." Sweetie didn't notice her elders fidgeting uncomfortably as she rolled her eyes. "It's her fire ruby necklace! She told me so herself! She polishes it once a week even if it doesn't need it and has told me more than once that it was a very special gift from a very special pony....err, dragon. I have a feeling if anypony ever tried to take it, it'd probably be the last thing they'd do."

The latter found herself floating over to her big sister and embraced tightly, their cheeks nuzzling together.

"R-really?" Spike muttered, his eyes wet. "That's the most important thing in the world to you?"

"Of course, dearie," Rarity answered as she set her sister down. "Everything she said is completely true, and like I've been saying, you know I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you – and if I ever have, I'm truly sorry."

Sniffling, Spike ran up and threw his arms around Rarity's neck, and she returned the gesture. His eyes suddenly flew wide open. "Wait a minute."

"What is it, darling?"

"If that wasn't really you that whole time, then that means..." His covered his mouth and almost collapsed. "O-oh gods. I think I'm going to be sick!"

In a flash, Twilight lifted him over to a nearby chair and gently set him down as he began to hyperventilate. "Easy! Easy!"

"Tw-tw-twilight! I-I think I–"

"I know, Spike, I know." She lovingly brushed a hoof across his forehead. "Just try to relax. I'm here."

With the ponies distracted, the phony Sweetie Belle started up her magic and grabbed a book off a nearby shelf and another off the center table, slamming them in her enemies' faces and knocking them to the floor. Finally free of Rarity's own magical grip, the fake bolted out the door and took off toward the exit.

The mares shook off the blows and got to their hooves, a furious Rarity first turning to her sister before sprinting away. "Sweetie Belle, stay here with Spike. Try to calm him down if you can."

Twilight took to the air once she recovered, stopping before the filly. "Go further up the hall. The next right and then your first left. It's a storage room. One of the few rooms in this place without any windows and only one way out. Get in there and wait for me to return."

"How will I know it's really you?!"

"Ruby!" the alicorn yelled as she jetted away.

"Ruby? Oh, a password!" Sweetie spun around and ran over to Spike, grabbed his limp arm. "Come on, we gotta go!"

Mustering what strength he could, he flopped weakly to the floor, barely able to stand. His stomach was doing just as well. He draped an arm across the filly's shoulder and hoped she could help carry him better than he could do on his own. As they stumbled past the book Twilight took to the head, the young dragon paused. "Wait."

"What is it?"

"You were right about one thing – Twilight and her friends fighting. If that other Sweetie Belle really is a changeling, they may need help." A small stack of papers and a quill sitting on the table stared back at him. "Plus, I'll bet somepony else would like another crack at them if there are others around."

Twilight stopped just outside the castle and scoped out her prey. It would have been nearly impossible to tell where they went if she didn't spot Rarity galloping down the road. Zipping over, the fashionista yelled to her, "Dark blue, white hair!"

With a nod, the princess climbed higher, taking a shortcut over nearby houses. Looking down, she saw Rarity hang a right between a series of homes and small shops, hot on the trail. At the next street, the dressmaker slammed on the brakes, suddenly not sure which way they went. She knew the shapeshifter came that way, but finding someone that could change their appearance was already proving difficult.

"You go that way, I'll go this way!" Twilight called out from above.

Rarity continued straight ahead as the alicorn turned toward the south. After barely flying a block, a scream came from where they parted ways. They found Junebug with her back to the wall, shaking like a leaf.

"What happened?"

"Th-this...b-b-box just suddenly turned into a pony and ran away after it saw me!"

"What'd they look like?" Twilight demanded.

"Uh...i-i-it was, um...biege. Brown hair."

"Which way?"

"There!" she whimpered, pointing back the way they originally came.

Resuming their double-sided chase, Twilight took the lead, skipping past the buildings. A few alleys behind her, she eventually noticed a pegasus below that matched the description and appeared to be breathing hard, almost as if it had just finished running.

"Hey!"

The stallion looked up and gasped, quickly diving into the building next to him – Bon Bon's sugar shack. He barreled his way through the customers and forced his way around the counter, raising everypony's ire as he went. A second later, the door flew open again, an irate princess in tow. As she forced her own way through the small crowd, he grabbed a nearby jar of jawbreakers and flung it onto the lobby floor. Candy and shards of glass littered the place as he threw Bon Bon out of the way and scurried out the back. With little room to fly, Twilight had to watch every step she took despite shoving what she could see to the side with her magic.

Finally in the clear, the stallion, now with a greyish coat and a black mane, slammed open the side door and took off again, tossing a mare to the ground and bumping into another. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware that the loud rattle had stopped somepony else dead in her tracks at the far side of the building. Rarity had just ran past the place and quickly turned back, spotting the perpetrator racing away. She knew it was him! Rarity sprinted past the door, and only few seconds later, was joined by Twilight once again, having made it past the simple trap.

"He's heading toward the shopping district!" the fashionista shouted. "If he gets there, it won't be hard for us to lose him for good!"

Twilight took off again, slowly gaining ground. The chase was starting to become exhausting for everypony. A block ahead, the grey stallion took another left.

"Go on ahead!" Rarity called out as she ducked an early left herself.

Staying low, the princess hugged the same corner the shapeshifter took, her darting eyes finding nothing but a few citizens, one of whom stood with her cart and a few baskets of apples, curiously eyeing the next alleyway. Following their gaze, she glided around the house and past a few more puzzled onlookers. Unsure which way to go at that point, she paused to glance around, including overhead.

To her left, however, a block over, she spotted Rarity hiding out of sight, scoping for any signs of anypony acting odd. Seeing nothing, she quickly crossed the street, silently nodding at Twilight to take a right and continue. While the alicorn did so, the designer hid once more. At the other end of the building, she happened to spy a maroon unicorn filly taking a heavy sigh as she watched Twilight fly out of sight and then proceeding to peek around the far corner. She didn't hear any screams from before, so if this filly was the one she was looking for, it was possible nopony saw it change.

The youngster spun around, still seemingly searching for something, and met eyes with the ivory mare. Her stunned response was enough to give her away and Rarity resumed the chase. The youth's hooves got tangled, forcing her to lose several steps of distance. There wasn't any way she was going to be able to round any more corners and get away now. The only choice she had was straight ahead into the open shopping plaza and hope to the gods she could simply outrun the angry mare or get lucky that a random passerby would see the situation and take pity on the poor child being chased by a crazy lady.

"Stop that filly!" Rarity screamed as fatigue started to take its toll.

The little one wasn't running for long before she found herself suddenly off the ground and surrounded by a pinkish glow. As she kicked at the air, Rarity managed to catch up with her and violently tackled her, knocking the last of the wind out of each of them while Twilight landed next to them. With her full weight behind it, the fashionista ground a forelimb into the filly's chest. No escaping this time!

While the bizarre scenario unfolded in front of everypony, Applejack left her post with a confused and disgusted look on her face. Did she really just watch Twilight and Rarity gang up on some kid? What was the matter with them?! And why were they suddenly working together? Didn't they want to wring each others' necks?

"What in the world are you two lunatics doin'?" the country girl snarled.

"Not now, Applejack," Rarity wheezed.

A forceful shove launched the unicorn off the small pony. "You're stranglin' a filly, for Celestia's sake! Get off her!" Twilight quickly took her frenemy's place, further baffling the cowgirl. "What is this? What's the matter with you?!"

"It's not quite what it looks like, A.J.," the alicorn said, staring daggers at the child. "There's a bug going around, you could say. Now, why are you here, changeling?!"

"Changeling?"

"This one's mine, Twilight," Rarity interjected, snagging the filly out from under the princess and getting square in her little face. With how hard she was gritting her teeth, it was surprisingly that the posh mare didn't crack any. "It tried to take Sweetie Belle's place, and from it appears, mine too before this whole fiasco started. I'm taking what I'm owed!"

Slowly, a rather small crowd had started to gather around them, most of whom were just as upset and stunned as Applejack. Weren't these supposed to be Ponyville's protectors?

Just as Rarity was about to begin her version of an interrogation, the filly let loose an ear-piercing, inequine-sounding shriek.

"Whoa nelly!"

Half a town away, in her lonesome little cottage, Fluttershy was busy sweeping up the gathered dust and dander. Though she adored the critters who frequented her home, they could sometimes leave a mess whether intentional or not, and while she wouldn't have cared if she never had any other visitors over ever again, it didn't mean she had to live in a dirty place.

She returned from the kitchen after dumping a dustpan's worth of hair and fluff into the garbage to find a gathering of animals staring curiously in the direction of town with Angel in the middle of it all. All of their ears were turned hard, focused on a truly bizarre yet somehow familiar noise coming from the distance that Fluttershy didn't hear. If they didn't know any better, they'd swear it was insectoid somehow. Still, it didn't sound like any of the bugs they knew to stop by their caretaker's place from time to time.

Angel muttered a question at the pegasus and thumbed toward town.

"Huh? No, I didn't hear anything. Why?" She received a quick reply that still didn't tell her much. "You're sure it wasn't just another little friend of ours? You know how most ponies feel about bugs."

Things started to get ugly. Angel turned his attitude up a few notches, just under normal levels. "Oh, don't bring him up!" Fluttershy snapped. "What does he have to do with what you thought you heard anyway?"

Her hard features gradually softened as the bunny argued his and the other animal's case to her about her large, red mistake. It became quite a bit clearer in the last few minutes what made them feel so uneasy about and sometimes downright hostile with Big Macintosh when he used to stop by and fool around with their caregiver.

"Come on, he was probably just growling under his breath at the time or...o-or something." The fluffy demon stamped a foot and pointed out the window, insisting she go see what was going on. The others agreed. "I really don't see why I should. I'm sure...Twilight's got a handle on things," the mare grumbled.

They stared each other down, not giving an inch. However, Fluttershy wasn't using her patented intimidation technique and eventually lost the battle, rolling her eyes as she turned to leave. "Alright, fine. I'll go check it out just so I can say I told you so and that there was nothing to worry about."

Only a few blocks from where Rarity and Twilight had been trying to catch up with their culprit, a bummed out party pony slouched over her balcony, staring miserably at the goings on below and the ponies new and familiar trotting about. On her backside sat her toothless pet. He didn't have much to say, but at least he was keeping her company.

Despite the warm day, the cool breeze and the happy sunshine, Pinkie had little to feel upbeat about. If anything, it felt like the world was mocking her lately. The only ones that had any words to say to her over the last few days were the Cakes and Gummy. The pastries she had been baking for her customers didn't seem have the oomph they usually did. She could have sworn her coat had taken on a slightly grey tone, which terrified her. Thankfully it wasn't as muted as it was when Discord first showed up and had his fun, but it was still there whenever she'd look in the mirror.

Sighing, she turned to her reptilian companion. "I don't suppose you have any ideas on what to do?" His unsynchronized blinks gave her no answer. "I guess I could head down to the swimming hole and go for a dip. Alone. It's not like I really need anyone else to...have some fun with, right?"

Any entertaining thoughts were quickly shelved when a bizarre shriek echoed through the air, causing her fur to stand on end. However, it was Gummy's hiss that caught her by surprise the most.

"What the...? I've never heard you do that before."

His usually wandering eyes bore down on a trio of ponies to their left who took a particular, stone-faced interest in the wail where everypony else around them seemed just as perplexed as Pinkie was. The gator hissed again. What was his problem with them? Eventually, they trotted off to the source with purpose in their steps. Once they were out of sight, Gummy snorted and growled under his breath as he fidgeted there on her rump.

She knew he wasn't stupid. If the little lizard was acting so strange over those ponies, there had to be something strange with them.

Her butt hit the floor and the reptile slid down. "Stay here, Gummy. I'm not going to put you in a bad spot if there really is something off about those guys." As she turned to leave, Pinkie felt a tug at her tail. It was rather endearing to the mare seeing her scaly companion trying to stop her from going. Giggling, she pulled her tail from his mouth. "Don't worry! I'll be home before you know it! It's not like it'd be the first time I'd have been involved in something crazy – assuming something crazy does happen, of course."

As she headed out her bedroom, Gummy blinked and took a second glance at the street. Here and there, another pony or two marched on ahead, just as sternly as the first three he saw. Clicking nervously, he hopped inside, found Pinkie's favorite chair and shuffled under the seat, pulling his tail in for good measure.

"Cottontail? Hellooooo?" Apple Bloom spoke up.

"Errr, huh? What?"

"I asked you three times if you wanted to maybe go to the park before it gets too late. What's going on? You've been distracted ever since Rarity came and picked Sweetie Belle up."

The little pink filly glanced yet again out the window toward Ponyville. What in the world had gotten the designer's feathers so ruffled – metaphorically speaking? For all of her supposed eloquence, she sure stuttered like a fool.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just felt like Rarity was up to something."

"Why do you say that?"

Cottontail shrugged. "She was acting weird, that's all."

"Eh, she's like that from time to time," Scootaloo admitted. "Could we ever tell you stories!"

A devious smirk crawled across her cheek. "I may be up for hearing some one–"

In an instant, her ears practically yanked her head toward town yet again, her cockiness replaced by equal parts curiosity and anger. Her lips curled in increasing fury, causing her two remaining friends to share a perplexed look.

"Uhhhhh, you okay?" the young farmer asked. Instead of answering, Cottontail bolted for the door and threw it open, nearly taking it off its hinges. "Hey, wait a minute!"

By the time Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had gotten to their hooves and made it through the door, Cottontail was already passing the nearby treeline.

"Wow, she's quick," the young daredevil blurted.

Despite their best efforts, the tiny unicorn was pulling away with every step, their concerned cries being drowned out by her stomping hooves. Whatever they were hollering didn't matter anyway. If she heard what she thought she did, there were bigger things on the horizon – things that she wasn't ready to deal with just yet. Still, it was likely that those damned fillies would be screaming in other, less annoying ways soon. That'd be a welcome change. Either way, somepony was about to be in an immense amount of pain, and she suspected she knew who it was.

Chapter 16

Rarity and the others had nearly jumped out of their skins as the accused screamed into the heavens. The half second of freedom he gained from his horrifying cry for help was enough for him to get out of the furious unicorn's grip but not enough to find his way back into the gathered crowd of ponies to disappear yet again. A bluish glow grabbed him and dragged him back to the middle where the fighting friends stood, rubbing the pain out of their ears.

"I don't think I'm gonna hear right for a week," Applejack moaned.

"No matter," Rarity countered. "This monster isn't going anywhere." Foregoing her magic, she snatched him by his shoulders and leaned into him, their snouts barely an inch apart. "I know Twilight here can undo your disguise with a thought, but instead, I'll opt to break you apart piece by piece until we get some answers."

None came, which set off the dressmaker even more.

She raised back a hoof, ready to strike. "Tell me, can you shapeshift new teeth?"

A purple hoof snatched her white one just as she was ready to learn. "Last time, there was a swarm of them. This is only one. We should be able to handle this better!"

"I don't know, I'm pretty down for some butt-kickin'," Applejack added.

"Oh please, Twilight! How much trouble was it to catch up to just this one? We know what they're capable of! This one was pretending to be Sweetie Belle just to get to me and who knows...who...else?"

Slowly, she lowered her ready foreleg and scanned over their larger audience, dread washing over her face. Only a handful of ponies around she recognized – customers, neighbors, friends, but most she had never gotten to know. In a small town like Ponyville, that simply didn't happen.

"What?" Applejack queried, looking around herself. Eventually, she noticed the same thing. The only ones she knew were gawking in shock at the aggressive display, but the others seemed utterly indifferent. Perhaps it was only because they were...new to town? Yeah, that's gotta be it. "Uh...girls? Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

As the trios' minds raced, Pinkie had arrived at the back of the crowd, doing her best to see what they were all staring at. It had to have been whatever made that screaming sound a few minutes ago. Normally, Ponyvillians would have run away from such things, so why were so many running toward it? Probably curiosity, just like her.

Amid the murmuring, she asked, "Hey, what's going on over here? Anypony know?"

No one bothered to answer, but they simply may not have heard her. Frustrated, she perched herself on somepony's back in a single hop, much to their annoyance, but it was still difficult to get a good look at anything. Growling under her breath, she jumped and jumped from one pony to another until there was nowhere left to go and face-planted on the ground next to Applejack.

Though slightly dazed, Pinkie shook it off as quickly as she typically did. Horror overcame her the second she saw Rarity about to assault whoever the pony was underneath her. What was she doing?! She always preferred to fight with words more than anything – even though she wasn't bad in a tussle either.

"Uh, what are you doing, Rarity? And why aren't you all trying to stop her?"

It may have looked and sounded like Pinkie, but they couldn't be sure. Applejack and Twilight planted their hooves defensively, just in case.

"What? What'd I say?" Pinkie asked, easily noticing their posture.

Narrowing her eyes, Twilight spoke up. "How do we know you're you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell me something only you would know!"

Pinkie racked her brain for a second, careful to choose her words. No reason to get her head torn off – maybe literally. At least, she hoped not literally. "It...involves quesadillas?"

With a hint of embarrassment, Twilight backed off, smirking at herself.

"It's her," Applejack confirmed. "Get over here, girl!"

"Why? What's going on?"

Stretching almost as far as Pinkie sometimes can, the country girl snatched her in. "Just c'mere!"

Normally, Pinkie didn't mind being the center of attention. However, with so many dead-eyed stares bearing down on them, it was one of the few times she would have passed on it. "Uh, hi, everypony," she whimpered, not really expecting any positive results. "Wh-what are you all looking at? Huh? ....Heh. Applejack?"

"Changelings."

"What?! How do you know?"

Rarity cleared her throat. Her blue eyes met with their counterpart's and nodded down at their prisoner.

"You sure?" she gasped.

"We had two Sweetie Belles on our hooves, Pinkie. We're sure," Twilight said.

Turning back to the crowd, Pinkie's suspicions skyrocketed. "Hooooooo boy."

Cottontail stuck her snout in the air as she galloped ahead. Her constant, animalistic sniffs guided her way through the town toward the commotion that had been brewing. Nearly half a block behind her, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were having a hard time keeping up. Their lungs burned but they pressed on anyway. Whatever suddenly made Cottontail race off must have been super important, and they were going to get to the bottom of it.

Eventually, the tiny filly arrived at the back of the crowd. With a hard jab on their legs, the ponies in front of her stepped aside, providing her safe passage to the middle where the source of her problems laid on the ground beneath an anxious dressmaker and her allies. The opening behind her sealed itself back up. By the time the remaining Crusaders caught up, she was nowhere to be seen.

Scowling fiercely, she snatched Rarity's target out from under her, dragging him harshly across the ground to her hooves. "I just knew you were going to do something stupid to ruin everything! You've always been an idiot! I suppose this is what I get for putting any amount of faith in you!"

Apple Bloom quickly halted their pursuit and spun about toward the onlookers, prompting Scootaloo to do the same. "Hey, I think that was her!"

If she had kept quiet, Cottontail may have given them the slip. Despite their complaints and trying to shove their way to the heart of the matter, the crowd wasn't letting them through. The little redhead doubled her efforts upon hearing her sister.

"Kid, what are you doing?! Get away from that thing!" Applejack hollered.

A quick blast of magic mowed the country girl over. "Oh, shut up!"

"AJ!"

"You okay?!"

Rubbing her shoulder, the orange mare got to her hooves, a bit shaken but unharmed. "Yeah, I'll be fine." As one, Applejack and the others turned and stared in horror at the tyke. Was she one too? The Crusaders had gotten real friendly with her! Could they be in similar trouble?

Those questions would have to wait when a dark green light erupted from Cottontail. Her small pink form was consumed and transformed into a towering black one, complete with buzzing, translucent wings and a crooked horn. The Queen glanced to her side, smirking at four stunned mare. Here and there, a few bystanders gasped and shrieked at the revelation.

"You!" Twilight snarled. "You were Cottontail?!"

"Among others. You sound surprised to see me," Chrysalis remarked. "Did it really not occur to you that I may be nearby after you figured out what this buffoon really was?"

Behind the wall of ponies surrounding them, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo suddenly came to a dead stop, their eyes bursting open in terror upon hearing the changeling queen's distinct voice.

"Is...that who I think it is?" Scootaloo muttered.

"Oh Celestia, I hope not."

While the Crusaders tried to process what was happening, beneath Chrysalis' hoof, a subject of hers, still in camouflage, cried out for mercy. "Please, your highness! I'm sorry! I did everything you wanted! I don't know how they figured it out! Give me another chance! Please!"

Narrowing her eyes, the royal bug-pony leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I told you what would happen if you screwed up, and I'm a mare of my word."

To his horror, Chrysalis slammed a hoof down onto his head and drove down with her full weight. His scream was brief before his skull gave way. With a disgusting crunch, a viscous, green paste splattered onto the Queen's foot. Only a handful of their audience bothered to flinch even a little, taking in the gruesome murder with casual indifference as she shook off what little was left of her victim's brains.

Her primary targets, on the other hand, could barely keep their lunches down.

"It's so annoying," Chrysalis groaned. "If it wasn't for that fool, we wouldn't have had to speed things up. No matter. We can wing it from here. All we need now is Fluttershy and Rain–gahhh!"

The Queen crashed hard onto the ground as a vicious hoof connected with her face, speeding away just as fast as it came. Overhead, the blue blur came to a stop, ready to attack again.

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered.

"You two! Get out of here! Now!"

Before they could make a break for it, several ponies in front of them spun and showed their true forms, hissing and spitting.

"AHHHH!"

"Horseapples!"

With lightning speed, Rainbow swooped down and scooped them out of harm's way a second before the shapeshifters could pounce. With the two fillies clinging on for dear life, the high flyer banked over the crowd and came to a rest among her friends.

As Chrysalis got back to her hooves, Twilight pulled the speedster in close and whispered, hoping their enemy wouldn't hear her, "Rainbow, you know the castle's downstairs storage closet?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Spike and Sweetie Belle are holed up there. Get these two there and tell them 'ruby' sent you."

"What?"

"Just go!"

Rubbing her cheek and shaking off the nasty blow, the changeling queen watched as Rainbow raced off. "Get her! Bring her back here!" Several more changelings revealed themselves and took to the sky in a hurry. "And find Fluttershy! Bring her here too!"

In the worst of coincidences, Chrysalis' minions wouldn't have to look terribly hard. As they pursued Rainbow Dash as fast as they could, a few happened to notice below – halfway to the crystal palace – that the timid yellow pegasus was marching her way through town, searching all about for whatever it may have been that spooked her critter friends. Three of the pack cut off from the rest of the group and dove toward her, slamming down on the ground and surrounding her. Fluttershy jumped back with a shriek, her eyes shrinking to pinprick size.

"What in–?!" was all she could get out before they tackled her.

Seconds later, Rainbow finally arrived at Twilight's home, busting through the giant double doors at breakneck speed. The narrow hallway forced her to slow down significantly, much to her passengers' relief. Not far behind her, half a dozen changelings swarmed in, pausing at each doorway to do a quick scan of every room. While they delayed, Rainbow continued her race toward the requested closet, coming upon it barely a moment later.

Dropping Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, she pounded on the door, attracting the attention of her enemies. "Guys! It's Rainbow! Open up!"

"How do we know?!" Spike yelled.

"Uh...oh yeah! Ruby sent me!" The lock clicked open. Spike quickly waved the remaining Crusaders inside where a tight hug greeted them. "I'll be back, alright? Don't open the door for anypony!"

With a nod, Spike slammed the door closed again and locked it. A few impact noises told the pegasus that they must have tossed some barricades against the door just in case she and the others failed to stop the swarm. Anything to slow them down, even a little.

Several sets of holed hooves touched down around Rainbow, snatching her attention away. Their owners stood there challenging her with hisses and sharp-toothed grins.

With a smile of her own, she twisted and cracked her neck. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

In the center of town, the Queen paced about, stealing an occasional sideways glance at Ponyville's resident heroes and smirking, waiting patiently for her party to return, no doubt dragging a beaten and ragged blue pegasus. Then, the set will be complete. Twilight had thought once or twice about blasting Chrysalis and hopefully giving the rest of her hive reason to retreat, but she had taken hostages and used them as leverage. She even had to watch when one particular changeling feel it necessary to drag its disgusting forked tongue up the side of his captive's neck, mocking their helplessness. None of them were going to attempt a thing as much as they wanted to.

"Shouldn't be long now, Twilight. Once we've taken care of all of you, it will be the simplest thing to march back into Canterlot and get to the Princesses. City after city will fall, and your brother and his precious wife won't be there to-OOF!"

A blue wrecking ball cut off her monologue, smashing shoulder-first into her ribcage and knocking her hard to the ground. Rainbow took to the air and swung back around, a solid left hoof connecting with Chrysalis' cheek. Stunned but not out of it, the Queen caught up with Rainbow's speed and quickly froze her in mid-air just before a right was about to break her snout.

"Well, well, ask and you shall receive."

The Queen's snark was punctuated by slamming Rainbow Dash into the dirt. As if controlled by a lasso, the pegasus was ragdolled two, three, four more times for good measure and unceremoniously lobbed into the middle with the others. It took some effort, but Rainbow managed to sit up. The world was spinning and she'd no doubt have some bruises later, at worst. Good thing she was as durable as she was.

Putting aside better judgment, the speedster readied another frontal assault when Applejack grabbed onto her shoulder. "Rainbow, don't! She's got hostages!"

It takes a minute, but Rainbow does acquiesce, snorting defiantly. It's just as well – she could still barely stand up straight.

"Mmmm, yes, if you're smart, you should really stay put. I assure you, this won't take long," Chrysalis boasted, licking her lips. "I must say, it was far easier to sick you on each other than I originally anticipated. I honestly wonder how much more resentment you must have had brewing beneath the surface after I started pushing your buttons. Still, thanks to that moron," she grumbled, pointing at the remains of her former broodling, "we may never know. Not that it matters. What you fed to me was delectable! Practically as delicious as what Shining Armor gave me when I was impersonating Cadance."

"What are you talking about? When did this happen?" Twilight demanded.

Laughing, the shapeshifting queen suddenly changed merely her voice. "Come now, darling, would you like to hear the truly sordid details? Though I can't say how many baths I've taken and still don't feel cleansed from that disgusting little dragon."

Twilight's face fell limp in horror. Rarity, however, flew into a rage and charged ahead screaming. "You witch! I'll kill you!" Like with Rainbow, Chrysalis magically grabbed her, holding her just out of reach from the dressmaker's thrashing hooves and smiling. "Spike hates me because of you!"

"I can imagine! Isn't it wonderful?"

With a violent mental shove, Rarity was sent flying back at her allies. Not to be deterred, she quickly got back to her hooves and resumed her attack only to be grabbed by Twilight this time.

"Rarity, stop! You'll never get near her!"

"Let go of me, Twilight!" she snarled through her teeth.

"And just for that..." Two stomps of her hooves and light beige mare with red and orange hair was dragged by four servants through the crowd to her highness' hooves, fighting helplessly the whole way, and tossed before the Queen. Her pulse raced even harder when looked up at her royal captor. "This one has a foal, yes?"

"She does. A little son."

"Wonderful," she hissed through a smile. "Find him. Feed."

"No, please!"

As the entourage left, the terrified mother found herself lifted up to Chrysalis' evil face. "Ah, the love a mother has for their child. It's so pure...satisfying."

A scream erupted from the mare's lungs as she felt the warmth in her heart being torn away, its essence being literally eaten by the changeling Queen. Once it was consumed, the young mother fell to the ground, shivering and pale.

"Take this one away. We can eventually feed off her again if we let her see her foal, hahaha!"

"P-p-please don't h-h-hurt my baby," she whimpered as she was carried off.

Chrysalis giggled and continued mocking her enemies. "Anyway, it wasn't just Spike. There was another among you who gave me such strength – and, even better, it put most of you at each other's throats! I'd say even Discord would be jealous of the kind of chaos it caused."
Smirking, she left the safety of her swarm and confidently approached the furious Elements. "Tell me, was it as good for you as it was for me? I have a feeling I know what you'd say." Leaning in, staring down the yellow pegasus, the Queen's voice became rather deep. "Eeyup."

Horror washed over the group. Applejack turned to her friend. "Fluttershy?"

Her face had gone white and her ears collapsed. Her eyes were as wide as plates and it looked as if she stopped breathing.

The changeling Queen laughed again. "How's the leg, farm girl? You don't need to be put down or anything, do you?" Suddenly, from the sky, a blast of golden magic flattened the monster, sending her reeling into her large audience. "Nnnngh, what is it now?!"

All but Fluttershy – still broken from the terrible revelation – turned their attention to the heavens to see Celestia, Luna and three dozen royal guards floating overhead.

"What?! How did you even know we were here?!" Chrysalis demanded.

Luna explained, "We received a letter. All it said was 'Changelings. Friends fighting. Help.' We got the idea."

"Nice job, Spike," Twilight whispered proudly.

As the Princesses landed in the center by their friends, Chrysalis rose to her hooves. "You should have brought more guards with you. You're hopelessly outnumbered!"

"There are many more on the way," Celestia said. "This is what we could get in a moment's notice. But I assure you, it will be enough to delay your plans until reinforcements arrive."

A smirk curled across her face. "Really?" The Queen turned to her minions. "Go! Tear this town apart! Feed where you can!" Next to her, several dozen took to the air, ready to sack Ponyville with the other hundreds in her army. "You all stay here with me. Things are about to get interesting."

While a majority of the swarm fanned out through the town, numerous bugponies went straight for the royal guards. Thankfully for Twilight and the others, they were able to hold their own long enough to break formation and chase after the rest.

"Your armies will be wasting their time if they think they're going to hide from our guards this time," Celestia bragged. "Soon after your first attack in Canterlot, my sister and I put together a spell and enchanted their helmets with it. They'll be able to see right through their disguises."

"No matter. We'll finish you off either way." Several chuckled murmured from the buzzing bugs.

"Last time, you fought only myself. What hope do you have against the both of us?" the solar princess asserted.

"Sister," Luna said, resting a hoof on her elder sibling's shoulder, "go help the guards. I've got this."

Nearly everypony – even Chrysalis herself – blinking in disbelief.

"What? Luna, we can bring her down together with minimal problems, even with the ones she's kept by her side."

"Be that as it may, but I do not wish to see harm come to you again at the hooves of this savage. Besides, I have a plan, and it shall guarantee that she will never harm anypony anywhere ever again."

"A plan?"

"I have had one ready since the days when you told me of your first encounter with Chrysalis, in case we ever dealt with the changelings again," Luna explained.

"Why did you never tell me about it?" Celestia huffed.

"Because I knew you would try and stop me."

"Luna, if this about...y-your pride or if you're trying to prove yourself, you don't–"

The dark princess turned to her sister. "You say you kept me hidden before out of fear for my safety even though I could have helped. I had faith that you would be alright and you nearly died. I do not want to see that happen here with my own eyes."

"But, now with you here–"

"Sister...how many times have you disregarded what I've laid out on the table before? Your student and her friends will be here with me. I have faith in what I need of them. Have faith in me for once." Luna's fierce scowl wasn't about to budge. "I assure you, I will be fine – and my plan will work."

As Celestia contemplated Luna's decisions, the Queen sarcastically cleared her throat, amused at their bickering. "Whenever you're ready, ladies, I'd like to get started burying at least one of you now."

The Princesses exchanged a look with the younger nodding once, firmly. Protesting further was just going to be a waste of time and Celestia knew it. There was a swarm attacking Ponyville, and having a Princess thrown into the mix could easily smash their onslaught. With a heavy sigh, the solar deity took to the skies, much to the delight of the enemy.

"You know, I had always assumed your sister was the smarter of you two. I guess I was right."

Luna's eyes narrowed. "Believe what you will. But I promise you'll see things differently when this is all over. Girls, to me!"

Twilight and her friends jumped back and readied themselves for battle, flanking Luna on both sides. However, Fluttershy was still frozen in between the two armies, her trauma still not having worn off.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy, get back here!" Rainbow Dash hissed.

She got no response, much to the worry of the others. They glanced up at Luna, who hid her concern behind an unflinching exterior. Never looking away from her target, the princess gently retrieved Fluttershy and set her down beside them. The few nudges they gave her did nothing to snap her out of it.

"Keep her safe as best you can until she comes to."

"If she comes to," Twilight added, biting her lip. "By the way, what's the plan?"

"Your part in the plan is simple – keep them off me. Chrysalis is mine."

Done with her speeches, the alicorn charged straight for the Queen with her subjects a step behind her.

An array of insectoids went on the offensive as well, flying beside their dark mother. "Keep them off me! Luna is mine!"

Chapter 17

Rainbow sped out ahead of the others by a few feet, her forelimbs stretched out, plowing straight into the black swarm. Several clotheslines met their marks, but the numbers quickly started to overwhelm her; no amount of enthusiasm for fighting was helping her kick and shove off the growing number of tackles and bites and kicks.

Fortunately, in just as quick a fashion, several blasts of magic fired from an angry purple alicorn did the trick, giving Rainbow just enough edge to shake loose from the pile and get to higher ground. Twilight may have been annoyed with Rainbow Dash lately, but there were bigger things to worry about at the moment.

As Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack collided with their own targets, overhead, Chrysalis and Luna had come together themselves with the insect Queen tackling her smaller counterpart. They spun several times midair until Luna slid her hind legs between them and violently shoved herself off, following up with a quick blast of turquoise magic. It grazed Chrysalis' shoulder, a snarl erupting from her lungs. Luna simply smirked but it didn't last long, quickly erased by a return shot. She spun head over hooves to avoid it only to have Chrysalis slam into her with full force.

Below, Rarity's rage was unrestrained. Twice now, a random drone thought it to be a good idea to grab the fashionista from behind to try and knock her off balance and eventually swarm her into submission. The first received a bloody, blackened eye. The second sank its teeth into her foreleg, but without missing a beat and barely feeling it anyway, she grabbed his ear and twisted him off. Before he could left himself off his stomach, several vicious right hooks cracked several of his ribs.

She looked up and saw another charging her head on. Before he could react, Rarity leapt off her punching bag and snagged his jagged horn, yanking his head side to side with such vitriol behind her swings, he feared she'd snap his neck any second. Fortunately for the changeling, she decided against ending him and eventually slammed his skull into the dirt. Several nearby observers took a step back, stunned at the horrific display. Rarity didn't act so violent the last time they battled her in Canterlot!

"You shouldn't have made me so angry," she hissed.

Suddenly, Twilight touched down behind her, back to back. Half-expecting another attempted ambush, the dressmaker spun about ready to slug another insectoid. Thankfully, the lavender wings and two-toned tail stopped her. Unfortunately, as she turned her attention back to her enemies, her initial thoughts proved themselves true; their toothy grins gave themselves away.

With a sneer, Rarity twirled around again, socking the alicorn hard in the jaw as she moved in for an attack. As the princess dropped, four more changelings brought the furious designer to the ground, barely managing to hold her down. They would be just as quickly lifted off of her thanks to the real Twilight flying overhead and tossed away.

Rarity quickly got to her hind hooves and looked up. Their eyes met and she knew this alicorn was the real one. Why would she have helped if she wasn't? She glanced back down at the imposter, still in disguise. He came to, woozy from the punch, and glanced up. A quick kick in the teeth knocked him and a few teeth out cold, forcing his costume to come undone.

"You okay?" Twilight asked.

"None of this would be happening right now if you had listened to me in the first place!"

"Is this really the time for that?"

The answer wasn't needed. With a grit of her teeth, Rarity barreled her way into another small crowd of changelings as Twilight dashed away herself.

"You're welcome!"

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had taken out a handful herself, just not with such brutal tactics. Most of it involved a small swarm fruitlessly chasing her as she hopped and hopped around. As they pursued, she'd occasionally pull a pie or a rubber chicken from her bottomless mane and launch it in somepony's face. It may not have put them down for good, but as long as she kept them busy until they either wore themselves out or came up to somepony else who was more of a fighter than she was, so be it.

Quickly turning left, the silly mare juked out her would-be captors just as they were about to reach her. With a giggle, she bounced her way to a nearby tree and reached behind it. The half dozen changelings arched around and closed in. Unfortunately for the lead, Pinkie pulled out a mallet complete with a smiley face from nowhere and smashed it square on his head, leaving him face first in the dirt groaning in agony.

The other five came to a screeching halt and stared at the assault victim. The tapping of the hammer's shaft in Pinkie's hoof got their worried attention.

"You really shouldn't have done what you did to my friends," she growled, rare anger in her eyes.

"Ah shi–"

One swing later and another changeling turned into a deep fly ball over the rooftops.

Near the outskirts of the brawl, numerous shapeshifters were licking their wounds, almost two dozen. A few noticed a nearby paralyzed pink-maned pegasus still lingering in place, not having moved since the fight began. Several exchanged nods and grins. Even if they managed to grab one of the Elements and drag them off, it wouldn't be a total loss if things ended up going completely south.

The group took only a few seconds to surround her completely, both in the air and on the ground. Smiling wickedly, they inched their way forward, cautious after the light beatings many of them had taken so far. Pausing for a moment, the head changeling blinked and glanced to the fellow drone to his left. They exchanged a shrug and looked back at Fluttershy. Still no response.

Her eyes then shifted to him.

He took a defensive stance, ready for anything. Nothing came. He raised a single eyebrow, unsure what to make of things. If he didn't share another look with his comrade, he may have seen the hoof that grabbed him by the throat coming.

Several yards away, Applejack barely ducked below another dive-bombing bug. The jerk almost took her hat with him! No matter. She had concocted an idea a minute ago to help level the playing field a bit for her. It was sometimes annoying not being able to get airborne, whether by wings or magic, but she had a few tricks of her own – one of which was sitting in the wagon by her apple stand across the street.

Bucking another incoming drone away, she took off. Just as she left it, her trusty rope was sitting waiting for her. She snatched it from its resting place and wove it expertly into a lasso as she ran back into the fray, almost immediately wrapping it around the midsection of a nearby enemy and taking him for a ride. Suddenly, she stopped on a dime and swung her head around, smashing the changeling into an unsuspecting clump of his friends, flattening most of them.

The make-shift wrecking ball's troubles didn't end there. The rope tightened, and Applejack yanked him back in. His eyes widened, almost as if he knew what was coming. Just before he was to collide with the farm girl, she spun about and drove her hind legs into his chest. He fell limp and unconscious several feet away.

"Eleven!" Applejack cheered.

The victor trotted up and undid the lasso, ready to get up close and personal with another bug. It took all of a second to pick her next target. However, as she twirled her lasso, Rainbow Dash suddenly zipped in and drove a nasty kick square into the changeling's jaw, sending him rocketing to the ground.

"Hah! Sixteen!"

"Dangit, Rainbow, that one was mine – and this isn't a competition!"

"Oh yeah? Then why are you counting?"

"I just feel like it, okay?" Applejack snapped.

"That sounds like something the loser usually says," Rainbow countered, sticking her tongue out as she landed.

Their bickering would take a back seat to the horrific shrieking nearby though it didn't sound like it was coming from anypony they knew. Instead, a terrified changeling was crawling its way toward them, seemingly begging for help and dragging a limp hind leg. Suddenly, Fluttershy slammed down beside him, grabbed him by the head and battered him repeatedly into the gravel until he stopped moving. He wasn't dead but likely wish he was.

Mouths agape, Rainbow and Applejack stood there gawking at the normally timid mare who was seething like a rabid animal. Shaking, she found their eyes, her own watering. They tried to speak but utterly failed.

"What?!" Fluttershy screamed.

"N-nothin'!" Applejack muttered.

"That's right, nothing." The yellow pegasus floated past them, fury still pasted on her face. "Twenty-seven."

The pair glanced off to the left and spotted a scattered pile of beaten and broken changelings. Several were crying in pain and even more had obvious fractures and deep lacerations. Once Fluttershy was out of earshot, Rainbow whispered, "Remind me never to get on her bad side."

"You have no idea."

Above the brawl, Luna and Chrysalis rushed toward each other and crashed their hooves together, each alicorn testing the other's strength. Despite the size difference, the nightly princess was holding her own. The leaders snarled as neither gave an inch, every last ounce of physical strength being poured into their battle for dominance.

"I took your sister down the last time we met!"

"After stealing power!"

"I do what I have to to win!"

"And yet you still failed!"

"What makes you think you can handle me when Celestia couldn't – especially after feeding off numerous ponies this time?!"

"Because I am not my sister!"

Luna's horn glowed brightly. Chysalis' quickly followed suit. A pair of powerful beams of magic collided mere inches from their wielders. The combatants leaned in hard, trying to force the other back and hopefully down for the count, but once again, neither lost ground. However, as their horns gradually got too close for comfort, sparks began to erupt from the center little by little until an explosion of energy launched the fighters away. Even those on the ground felt the blast as the two were sent flying.

The Queen lazily glided down until her hooves touched the floor, and Luna followed right behind. The rivals stared each other down, both a touch short of breath. It wasn't anything they couldn't handle, but the small war they were creating was clearly starting to effect them.

The dark princess smirked. "What's wrong, Chrysalis? Getting tired?"

"I'm not tired! You're tired! I can do this all day!"

"I see. I wonder then," Luna gently glided a foot off the ground, lighting her horn and dramatically raising her forelimbs, "can you do this all night?"

Her teal eyes burst white. The moon suddenly crawled out from deep behind the horizon and made its way toward the sun. As its slow trek became complete, the town and its inhabitants were gradually cloaked in shadow.

The battle around them came to a screeching halt with the Element bearers succumbing to wordless horror. Even Fluttershy had been momentarily snapped out of her seething rage. The only changeling who seemed to fully understand what was happening towered over her minions and stood in stunned silence as a ball of blackness and lightning swallowed Luna completely.

Several blocks away, Celestia had turned another corner in hot pursuit of a small cluster of enemies. Overhead, numerous drones buzzed past her, more promising targets on their minds. A few steps behind her, a barrel suddenly exploded in green flame and shrieked at her, getting the attention of over a dozen fellow fiends. Its lunge was cut short by a swat of her wing, but it didn't stop those that heard him from pouring out of nearby shacks and stores and divebombing her above.

The annoying insects swarmed the much larger pony, hoping to overpower her. Though they did manage to get a few good swipes in and knocked her slightly off-balance, a single powerful blast of magic tossed them off like rag dolls.

As the alicorn bared her teeth and lit her horn, ready for round two, the world suddenly became a few shades darker. Curious, she looked around and watched a shadow make its way across the ground and consume everything in its path. Surely it was just a...very large cloud formation, right?

Celestia turned her gaze skyward, and she gasped loudly at the blotted-out sun. She took a step toward where the main fighting was but stopped just as fast. Her younger sister said she had a plan; she said she could handle it. She was handling it, right? The solar princess bit her lip.

"Luna, I hope you know what you're doing."

Chapter 18

The brawl with their shapeshifting enemies had come to a sudden halt when the shadow overtook the land. Twilight had once seen Luna transform in a vision. It took her friends barely a second to piece together what was happening, and although she and her hive had spent years underground and away from the world in their hive planning for ages, Chrysalis knew what she was witnessing as well.

Eventually, the ball of dark energy burst away, revealing the midnight black-demigod inside. Her armored hooves slammed onto the ground, and her narrowed, teal eyes glared hard at the changeling queen.

Chrysalis blinked a few times before shifting her gaping mouth into an arrogant smile. "You needed to become Nightmare Moon to fight me? I am honored," she said with a bow.

"I give you one chance to surrender. Take it and I'll show mercy."

"Are you serious? The mare who wanted to bring eternal night and was, at one time, ready to kill her only sister wants to show mercy?" the bug queen scoffed. "I thought you were made of sterner stuff."

"That was a lifetime ago," Nightmare Moon countered.

"A wasted one then!"

The dark alicorn's charity was refused with a sudden blast of magic – one she easily avoided by quickly swapping to her intangible puff of purple smoke and then back to her normal form. The carrot stand far behind her didn't fare as well. Neither did the Queen's pride. She raised a brow and took a single caution step back. Perhaps it'd be a little more difficult to bring down this sister than she anticipated. Still, she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Suddenly, Nightmare Moon shifted her gaze just left. A few aggressive changelings decided to take advantage of how distracted their enemies were and went after a frozen Twilight. Before they could grab her however, the lunar ruler squinted and blasted a massive stream of magic their way. The young princess threw up a desperate shield and waited for the beam to hit. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and her ears caught behind her the sounds of agony. Five whimpering insects were laid out in a heap with one trying and failing to get back to his hooves. She dare not drop the shield yet though, instead turning her attention back to Nightmare Moon, unsure of what to expect next. Did she intend to hit her or was she actually trying to...help?

Nightmare Moon focused on Chrysalis once again. "Call off your army. Leave the others alone. This is between you and me."

With a perplexed blink, the Queen looked across the battlefield at the Elements. "You're defending the ponies who put a stop to your original plans too? Why? They're just as much your enemies as mine!"

"Like I said, that was a lifetime ago."

Chrysalis smirked. "And if I refuse?"

"Then things will not go pleasantly for you."

Through with talks, the shapeshifter shrieked and clicked in their foreign language. Half of those that were left spun toward Nightmare Moon while the rest continued their assault on her allies. Her attacks took off and swarmed at her, but instead of attempting to bring her down, they encircled the princess like a school of bloodthirsty sharks. The constant barrage of black insects across her field of vision heavily masked her friends' locations as well as Chrysalis changing into...something.

Nightmare Moon didn't seem worried about the pests; the others appeared to be a bigger concern to her. She barely saw any glimpses of them as the black, buzzing whirlwind spun about and took an occasional swat at her. A mere annoyance.

However, after a moment of being distracted and desperately searching for the Element Bearers, Chrysalis morphed out of her disguise – one of a simple drone – wrapped her limbs around her adversary and drove her fangs hard into her flesh. Nightmare Moon howled in pain and tried and tried to shake and claw her off but got nowhere fast.

An idea came to her. It was going to take a bit of strength and having fangs driven into her neck was sapping her energy pretty badly. Snarling, Nightmare Moon snagged onto the Queen's crooked horn. Her teeth dug in deeper, but it was never the lunar ruler's intention to try and simply pry her off. Instead, summoning what power she could, she launched herself into the sky, fifteen feet up, and with a powerful flap of her midnight wings, spun them both around, sending them rocketing to the ground.

Chrysalis immediately figured out what Nightmare Moon was up to, but she was unable to break away, instead finding herself violently crushed between the earth and a slowly bleeding princess. The dust that flew into the air upon impact sent most of the insectoid cyclone scattering. Shaking off the cobwebs, the moon goddess stumbled to her hooves and dabbed at her wound. Eh, could be worse. Hopefully she wasn't infected with any type of poison or something. Changeling physiology was still a bit of a mystery.

Either way, Chrysalis was down for a moment but certainly wouldn't stay out – and now she could see the others a lot better. Unfortunately, Pinkie needed a bit of assistance. She turned ethereal and took off.

Pinkie's six opponents weren't terribly intimidated by her boxing gloves. She wasn't going to be stinging like a bee either, especially against real bug-ponies. The first of the group moved in only for all of them to be flattened by a single beastly shoulder check. The least-stunned gathered his bearings and snarled at his attacker...and immediately ran away when the large midnight alicorn growled right back, her wings in full, intimidating display.

"Wow! Talk about a one-hit wonder!" Pinkie quipped. She put aside her humor once she remembered who was standing in front of her. Was Nightmare Moon even capable of laughing in a non-evil way?

"Are you alright?" the Mare in the Moon asked.

"Uh...yeah. I'm good." A beat passed. "How are you?"

"Better now. Stay close to your friends."

Pinkie nodded, allowing Nightmare Moon to check on the others. Rarity could use a quick helping hoof. Halfway there, however, green magic from several small horns grabbed her hind legs and halted her progress. They certainly were persistent.

"Good job, minions!" came from just above. Seemed their queen had recovered.

Her own jagged horn lit up and took over, swallowing Nightmare Moon and rendering her immobile. Chrysalis slammed the alicorn's snout into the dirt and decided to take her for a drag. A nearby coffee shop looked like a good target. Grinning maliciously, Chrysalis sped toward the store, practically shaking the princess' brain loose as she went. It wasn't quite enough though. She took immense pleasure in smashing the princess through one stand after another after another, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. With only a few feet left to go before hitting the house, the queen slowed and swung her head around, launching Nightmare Moon at the wall. Just before she was to hit it, the green glow surrounding her dropped. Despite her best efforts, the dark princess couldn't completely shield herself and plowed hard into the plaster and wood. Most of the wall and half the roof collapsed on top of her, burying the mare. Chrysalis figured it wouldn't be enough to put her down for good, but hopefully it hurt...a lot.

Ever cautious, the queen backed away and slowly touched down, narrowing her eyes at the wreckage. The dust began to settle and there didn't seem to be any movement at all. A few bits of debris rolling down the pile of broken wall chunks was the only noise Chrysalis heard as her senses heightened in anticipation of any potential retaliation.

When nothing seemed to come, she took a few creeping steps forward against her better judgment. Did she actually do it? Did she really knock Nightmare Moon out?

Not according to the teal blast that suddenly clocked her in the chest.

As she flew back and landed in a crumpled heap, an eruption of magic sent the remnants of the storefront flying. Nightmare Moon stood, battered, bruised and breathing heavy.

Once again, however, something else drew her attention away. Rainbow Dash had taken to the air with several changelings chasing after her, one by one being swatted away. Their numbers, though shrinking, eventually caught up with her. One bugpony snagged onto a wing and twisted down on it with their full weight. Rainbow's scream as she started plummeting stole a gasp from Nightmare Moon's lips.

With fangs baring, the black princess charged hard, straight at the still-dazed metamorph. Seeing an angry alicorn, wings flared, barreling at her brought her somewhat out of her stupor. She struggled to light her horn and prepare some kind of last-second defense, but when Nightmare Moon vanished in a burst of magic a few feet in front of her, it left the queen desperately searching for her, fearing another nasty attack.

Several yards away, Nightmare Moon reappeared beside Rainbow Dash just as she hit the ground. Her three remaining attackers spun about in surprise and cringed at the towering mare. Even Rainbow was briefly taken aback. With a thought, she hoisted the changelings up and cracked their skulls together, instantly knocking them out.

"Let me look at that," the princess insisted, gently spreading the speedster's wing.

Rainbow winced at the pain, but fortunately it didn't look like anything was broken. Just a bad sprain. Nightmare Moon's horn activated, saturating her friend's injury with healing magics. After several seconds, Rainbow flapped her wings, good as new. The small, blue mare's eyes met with her medic's. It baffled her that the once-terrifying Mare in the Moon was helping her.

"How is it? Can you fly?"

"Errr, yeah. Thanks," Rainbow muttered. With a nod, Nightmare Moon raced off to help a struggling Applejack. "Did I just thank Nightmare Moon?"

While her enemy had been tending to the Wonderbolt, Chrysalis managed to get back to her hooves and come to her senses. Once she finally spotted Nightmare Moon, instead of charging straight back into the fight, she took a moment to watch her out of curiosity. This wasn't the first time she seemingly abandoned their little war to help her cheerleader squad. Why was she doing this? They could handle themselves, couldn't they? Her swarm had told her how viciously they fought in Canterlot, and they weren't even at each others' throats back then.

Did she genuinely care about her adversaries? Were they her adversaries anymore like she suggested? A bizarre but strangely, suddenly plausible notion came to mind and she sniffed at the air. Her eyes went wide. She mouth watered and she licked her lips.

A bigger target had never been painted on anyone. Grinning sadistically, Chrysalis focused her energies and launched a shot of concentrated blast of magic. It barely missed a few of her drones, but smashed Nightmare Moon hard in the back before she could reach the farmgirl, sending her tumbling into the gravel. It was a bit of a struggle, but the Mare in the Moon got to her hooves, the center of her back smoking for a moment.

Their eyes met. Still smiling, Chrysalis turned just to the right, aiming at Fluttershy. In an instant, another shot of magic flew, barely missing a pair of her soldiers. Just as it was to hit the normally timid pegasus, a beam of aquamarine knocked it harmlessly off course.

That only encouraged the mad queen. Another blast came for Rarity, then Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and another for Nightmare Moon's face. All but the last were redirected. Instead, magic caught magic, Chrysalis' energies hovering mere inches from the princess' face. That could have gone worse. With the immediate threat subdued, Nightmare Moon simply sidestepped and let the beam fly past.

Chrysalis repeated her attacks with even more aggression, sending the threat of death to each of her enemies multiple times. Twilight was the only one who Nightmare Moon had little worry for; the young alicorn blinked out of the way more than once, letting a few changelings take the intended hits, and erected her own barrier for the rest. Knocking away so many volleys was beginning to take its toll on the lunar ruler.

It would only get worse. While Nightmare Moon was distracted, a piece of the demolished wall suddenly fell a few feet to her left. She barely had a second to look up and see the rest of it on its way onto the battlefield, intent on crushing anything in its way.

Summoning as much strength as she could as fast as she could, the princess fired a jet-black beam at her rival. Chrysalis ducked out of the way at the last second, but it gave Nightmare Moon just enough time to catch everything one piece at a time and toss it away. The queen righted herself and lit her horn again, prompting a defensive position. Strangely, nothing came for several seconds.

"Behind you!" Rarity suddenly yelled as she was tackled.

A nearby, uprooted tree, surrounded in a green aura, was floating overhead and ready to smash the black alicorn. As it dove at its intended target, a lavender slice of magic split the tree in twain as Nightmare Moon caught the leafy weapon. Twilight received a grateful nod and resumed attacking the dwindling changeling numbers. Focusing, Nightmare Moon turned the tree into a flock of birds that fluttered away.

Such a spell forced her to catch her breath. Transmogrification on something so large was never easy. It certainly didn't help that she was already exerting herself like crazy trying to protect her friends. It got even worse when Applejack's cart suddenly landed square on top of her.

Lifting debris off without the use of magic seemed like a feat unto itself, but Nightmare Moon was hurt and nearly spent. With a single, exhausting flap of her wings, she pried herself out from under the woodpile and landed just beyond it, more scrapes and cuts all over. She had no time to relax, however, as a shrieking changeling queen barreled right at her.

There was no time to mount a defense. Chrysalis slammed hard into Nightmare Moon, sending them both rolling through the dirt. The two swatted and clawed at each other with their forelimbs as they fought for control, but eventually, Chrysalis came out on top and managed to pin her enemy down. With a sinister laugh, she lit up her jagged horn, held the princess' head in place and began consuming her strength, much to her friend's horror. Chrysalis was right! She really did care for them!

From the corners of her eyes, Chrysalis noticed the Elements breaking free from their fights one by one and making a beeline for them, but it only halted her meal momentarily. Before they could lay a hoof on her, she managed to grab the six mares and freeze them in place. The increase in strength was already evident, even after only a few seconds; she held them all off and continued feeding unabated.

Nightmare Moon could feel her energies rapidly being depleted, and she didn't have nearly the strength to fight back. But there was one thing she could do. She looked straight into the queen's eyes and smiled arrogantly. Chrysalis blinked but only doubled down feasting. The fool was losing her mind! With the last bits of strength she could muster, Nightmare Moon's body suddenly glowed and forced the last of her spirit down Chrysalis' throat, reverting her back into Princess Luna.

It was enough to finally get the shapeshifter off her, but the damage was beyond done. The queen's heart raced as the insane amount of power coursed through her. Her lungs nearly burst as she started to hyperventilate and snarl through her teeth. Eventually, she managed to calm down.

Through exhausted eyes, Luna managed to look up and see sparks of lightning flying off a wispy green mane that now flowed on its own. Chrysalis looked upon her victim with a wide, fanged grin. Her laugh pierced the air.

Chapter 19

"Luna!" Twilight hollered. Focusing, she popped away from her antagonists and reappeared a few feet behind her towering enemy. Chrysalis didn't even need to glance in her direction to swat her away like a bug with her own green magic.

The others had the same idea though it was a bit more of a struggle for them to break away from their current battles. As Twilight's friends charged blindly, one at a time, they too met the same fate. The entire time, Chrysalis stared straight at the nightly princess, smirking in delight. The Elements tried again and again, losing strength with each attempt. Even the normally energetic speedster couldn't continue flying at the monster after being tossed aside for the fourth time.

Luna slowly rolled over, straining, and glared at the queen. She received a chuckle.

"Look at it this way, Princess," Chrysalis jeered. "You'll be dead soon. You won't have to worry about watching me annihilate your sister next and finishing what I began at the Royal Wedding or razing this city and all its inhabitants to the ground. You also won't have to worry about my hive swarming the Crystal Empire and destroying Shining Armor and that tart Cadance and the rest of that damned place, and no amount of love is going to save them this time! Just lay back and accept it. It'll go so much easier for the both of us."

The battered alicorn could only muster a smirk, but it was enough to set the changeling leader off. Just as Chrysalis wound up for a brutal kick, Luna threw up a quick, thin barrier. The strike sent her tumbling several meters, but little damage was ultimately done. A few of her ribs would probably disagree, but she'd live.

Chrysalis lifted a single brow and began her slow march forward. "Odd. You should be totally deprived of magic. No matter. I'll simply take the rest once I'm done having my fun."

Luna's mischievous grin returned. "Oh, I think you've had enough fun for one day."

"What, do you think you have any hope of putting me down after I stole so much of your energies? You must be going mad!"

"Oh, I'm not going mad." Her eyes suddenly glowed brightly. "But, you will be."

In a rage, Chrysalis leapt into the air, prepared to crush Luna's skull beneath her hoof. However, just as she was about to connect and possibly end the battle once and for all, her enemy suddenly melted into the ground before her eyes. The queen jumped back in shock at the bizarre development. She reasoned that Luna could blink away, but...doing whatever this was seemed off.

"What the...?" Her fiery temper rapidly came out again, and she threw her back screaming. "Luna! Where are y-"

Everything was black. The only evidence she even existed was her echoing voice. No matter which was she spun, there was nothing except whatever she was standing on. It felt grainy, coarse. She desperately tried to light her horn, but it was a monumental struggle. Eventually, she was able to see the green aura reflecting off something. It shimmered strangely in the darkness, and even more curious, she couldn't see her face in the mirror-like object before her.

She turned again, and all around her, it was the same. She approached one of the surfaces. It looked smooth. The queen went to caress it and she caught a glimpse of her foreleg. It was withered and tight, nearly skeletal in appearance. Her gasp echoed in the chamber. Looking over herself, she saw that the rest of her was in just as bad of shape. Her ribs could be counted at her sides. Every strand of what was left of her muscled twisted and bent as she moved. Worst of all, she suddenly realized how unspeakably hungry she was. If she didn't escape from wherever Luna sent her, she'd be dead within days!

But how did Luna do it? Did she somehow send her through time and displaced her to wherever she was? That couldn't be! She had eaten practically all of Luna's magic! She wouldn't be able to summon the strength to do such a thing! And even if the dark alicorn could, why would she be starving?!

Panicking now, Chrysalis felt her way around the strange surfaces, looking for a weak point. Odd that the formations suddenly looked...really familiar. She tried to flap her wings, maybe find an exit above, but her malnourished body wasn't having it. Gradually, her magic began to fade too and the darkness slowly closed in on her again.

There was something different now. Overhead, in the approaching blackness, she swore she could hear...music. The muffled sound of ponies talking. Bells? What?

Finally, the changeling's jagged horn gave out. The nothingness barely lasted a second when an enormous visage of Cadance illuminated the room from front of her, a wide, nasty smile on her pretty, pink face.

Chrysalis suddenly realized where she was.

"Well, well, look at what we have here!"

Shining Armor joined in on the right. "Did somepony catch a bug in their net?"

"The biggest," Cadance added from behind. "I couldn't find a jar big enough for it, unfortunately. You think it'll be okay, sweetie?"

"Oh, I'm sure. It's not like anypony's going to miss a stupid bug or anything."

"Nah! Though it looks a little hungry. What do you think we should feed it?"

Yet another image of Shining Armor appeared on the left and above. "Feed it? Don't be silly! Isn't the point of keeping something so small and insignificant to see how long it takes for it to wither away and die for no good reason?"

The entire room was littered with the laughing faces of her most hated of enemies. She had never felt such unspeakable rage and hatred in her life. Defying her weakness, she charged at the nearest crystal and began pounding on Cadance's face.

"I'll show you how small and insignificant I am when I get out of here! You'll wish you were never born once I get my hooves on you!"

Her fifth swing suddenly shattered the crystal wall, but instead of breaking free from her prison, she found herself falling into another one. Thankfully, it was a short distance to the new floor she found herself crashing onto chin first, slamming her eyes shut and groaning at the moderate pain. Whatever she was laying on felt similar to the what she was just standing on. Chrysalis struggled to her hooves and slowly opened her eyes.

Wait.

This looked like Ponyville.

She looked up and behind to see a large crystalline castle with a hole punched out the side, probably from where she fell out. But...how was that possible? She was just in the caves where she left Cadance when she assaulted Canterlot all that time ago!

Half a step forward and Chrysalis came to a screeching halt. Her swarm appeared out of thin air and had her surrounded – and where did Twilight's castle go? Well...w-whatever happened, her army was with her. All was going to be fine.

"My children," she cooed. "I knew you could overtake those damn ponies! For a while, I was beginning to worry. They were fighting well against you. But, tell me, what became of Princess Luna? Where did she run off to?"

The only response she got was an endless wall of dead-eyed stares and countless smiles that made her more and more uncomfortable with each silent, passing second.

"Well?! What happened?!" she eventually hollered.

The first of the enormous group flicked green and became Twilight. One after another, the others morphed into more copies of her and her friends.

"What ever do you mean, mother?" the first Twilight asked.

"Gah! Switch back to normal this instant! I couldn't stand looking like Rarity and I can't stand it when you look like them either!"

"But we are normal," a fashionista replied as they reached out for her queen.

"Don't touch me!"

"We just want to be your friend!" Twilight chanted.

"Won't you come with us?" Fluttershy begged. "Ponyville is so wonderful!"

"It is pretty awesome. Just not as awesome as me!"

"Or me! Or me! Or me! Or me! Me! Me!" the other Rainbows echoed.

An orange hoof latched onto Chysalis' leg – the first of several. As hard as she tried to pull away, another two replaced the ones she managed to shake off. Even trying to fly away was proving impossible as they managed to grab her wings and hold them down while slowly overtaking her.

"Play with us."

"Sing with us."

"Party with us."

"Dream with us."

"Get...get off of me!"

An explosion of green energy stopped Chrysalis from drowning in an ocean of disgusting saccharine and a cacophony of unsettling friendship requests. Between ragged breaths, she looked up and found herself alone in a barren field. Several yards ahead of her was the beginning of some greenery, a few shrubs and trees. Where was she now? What was happening?!

A gasp left her lungs when she spun around. In the distance, her hive stood proud and tall at the center of the wasteland.

She stepped forward slowly and scanned the surrounding areas. There didn't seem to be any signs of her swarm anywhere. Usually, there were patrols flying around the structure and some hoofing it on the ground. Her trek forward came to a sudden stop when a familiar-sounding laugh came from above the tower.

High over the changeling home, the sun shone brightly. Did...it somehow grow a voice? Bah! Preposterous!

The ground beneath her began to shake and a near-inaudible hum filled the air. The source of both crawled out from below the horizon, far beyond the hive and climbed to the heavens. The moon was far larger than before, utterly masking its solar companion by leaps and bounds. Luna laughed again and appeared on the moon's face as shadow overtook the land.

"I control one of the celestial bodies. Did you truly believe you could beat me?"

"I had you at my mercy!" Chrysalis fired back. "You turned tail and disappeared!"

The princess smirked. "Did I?"

"Stop wasting my time with your stupid games! Come down here and we can finish this!"

"What for? You're already finished – and you've got bigger problems than me."

With that, Luna's visage vanished and the moon fell from the sky, pulverizing the changeling tower – and the moon itself –
into dust. Chrysalis' horrified scream was barely silenced by the sounds of carnage. Gale-force winds and violent shock waves flew from the impact in all directions. It took nearly all of her strength not to be blown over, and the typhoon of sand nearly tore her skin apart.

Several short but agonizing seconds raced by. The raging storm went away as fast as it came. Chrysalis' lungs burned as she coughed up the bits of dirt and soil that managed to find their way into her mouth. Finally, she was able to look again at the devastation but immediately regretted that she did. The winds hadn't simply pelted her and everything around her with sand and earth; they revealed that just beneath the ground laid a veritable ocean of skeletons – ones that she recognized to belong to changelings. The fangs, unique horns and overall structure were unmistakable to her.

Her heart raced. Her breaths became short and panicked. She was as still as stone yet trembled like a leaf.

"Oh, Chrysalis."

Her shrunken eyes shot toward the sun. She knew that voice too.

"You should consider yourself lucky that you revealed yourself in public among so many of my subjects," Celestia said. "If you had been stupid enough to face me alone instead of at the Royal Wedding, you would have ended up a smear on my wall, no matter how much strength you may have siphoned from anypony. But, in case you don't realize what an insect you truly are to me, allow me to demonstrate."

As the solar princess faded out, the sun suddenly began descending upon the landscape. The heat skyrocketed for every foot it got closer. The bones surrounding her burst into tiny flames, seemingly awakening the corpses from their slumber. They reached for their queen, screaming in agony.

Though she tried to shield her eyes, the light was incredibly blinding. The first of her own screams came when the hoof badly protecting her vision lit on fire mere inches from her face. Soon, her mane and tail followed suit. The flames crawled along her body, almost entirely bathing her. As she screeched in horror, the first bits of skin peeled away from her skull.

Glass-eyed, Chrysalis laid still on the ground, shivering and twitching as a small puddle of drool collected below her mouth. Any changelings that were still conscious and fighting had decided it best to turn tail and ran off, especially after their queen's first ear-piercing shriek.

Above her stood the princess of the night, her horn and eyes glowing. Around them the former Element Bearers had gathered, curious as to the goings-on. After a moment, the alicorn's eyes returned to normal; her horn remained lit. With a gentle tug from her magic, a strange dark cloud emerged from Chrysalis' gaping maw and hovered before Luna. She sighed in relief and brought the pulsing form into her chest, wincing ever so slightly as it sank into her skin and restored her mane and tail to its naturally flowing state. In the skies overhead, the moon made its way beneath the horizon, exposing the warmth of the sun onto everything it touched once more. She settled her magic back down as the most obvious question was asked.

"What...what just happened?" Twilight inquired.

"Her worst nightmares."

"Is it...over?" Fluttershy spoke up.

"Yes. She won't be hurting anypony anymore."

Pinkie hopped uncomfortably close to the unconscious queen and darted a single eye along her mouth. "What all was that that you sucked out of her face?"

Luna shifted her gaze away. "It was...the Nightmare."

"But I thought we banished the nightmare when we first encountered you as Nightmare Moon. But that begs the question, how did you turn into her again?" Rarity asked.

"The Nightmare was born from my jealousy of Celestia, as you know. Though you did destroy Nightmare Moon back then...well, jealousy is an emotion, and you can't simply banish it. Not in the traditional sense, at least. Even to this day, I've had to control my emotions regarding such things. However," Luna shared a smile, "thanks to all of you, especially, it has not been a difficult task."

"Why'd you turn into her here then? Shoot, I didn't even know you could do that."

"It wasn't my initial intention to. It was more of a 'Plan B' that I had put together on the way to Ponyville. I...didn't tell Celestia about it. I was afraid she'd prevent me from doing what I did. In any case, thanks to Spike's letter, before we began making our way here, my sister and I assumed that she had somehow managed to pit you all against each other, most likely to break you up and then deal with you individually rather than as a group."

"You figured that all out in that short a time?"

"And correctly too, I must say," Rarity added.

"Even though we haven't dealt with changelings much, it sounded like something Chrysalis would do, given their abilities and how they gain strength. What we weren't sure about was if she was gaining power at the same time somehow. If she wasn't, I could have easily overpowered her. But, in case she was, I needed a back-up plan."

"How'd you even know how strong she was anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"It became clear to me when we were face to face, but not up until that point. I was able to sense how much power was behind her energy beam. We were nearly equal though she wasn't quite as powerful as I was. However, she was close enough to me in strength that I felt it necessary to call upon The Nightmare. My plan was to bait her into absorbing it into her being and then ending this struggle from within."

Twilight blinked in mild disbelief. "So, all those times you saved and protected us...?"

"Was to get her to realize that Nightmare Moon was compassionate and loving of you all as I am."

"No offense, Princess, but that plan sounded incredibly reckless from the beginning! What if Chrysalis was able to figure out how to use it herself once she consumed it?!"

"I assure you there was no danger of that at all." Luna glared hard at the fallen queen. "The Nightmare is a part of me. It always will be. Besides, I had a thousand years to learn how to control it, how to manipulate it in every conceivable way. Chrysalis did not."

"So, what'll you do with her now?" the younger alicorn wondered.

"We have special cells in our dungeons where somepony as power as she can be held. These cells have magical fields placed upon them that negate any spells cast while inside them. She will not be a threat, even once she comes to. Once we've finished up here and Celestia has returned to Canterlot, we will discuss what to do with her then." Luna craned her neck toward the distant royal city and spotted a group of what appeared to be royal guards heading their way. "I believe the reinforcements we asked to be gathered are on the way now."

Rainbow took to the air and squinted in the same direction. "Looks like it, yeah. Should be here in a few minutes. Guess they're going to help round up the remaining bugs."

A light blue aura surrounded the limp changeling and lifted her into the air. "I'll have a few of them escort me back to the city just in case Chrysalis awakens sooner than anticipated. It shouldn't be a problem, but it doesn't hurt to take precautions." She rested a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "I'm just glad to see that you're all alright."

"You too, your Highness."

"Once Celestia and I have ironed this all out, I'll stop by to see how you're doing. I can imagine that whatever she did to you must have been terribly painful. If there's anything either of us can do until then, please let us know."

The girls took a quick look at each other only to hide their eyes. They gave Luna a nod, allowing her to fly off with her prisoner and meet the approaching guardsponies halfway. Eventually, they each stepped forward – and Rainbow Dash landed beside them. The momentary silence was thick.

"So."

"Yeah, that was..."

"Something."

"Something alright, yeah."

Another beat. Rainbow decided to break it – with a good point.

"Well, I mean...come on, girls. It was Chrysalis the entire time! Doesn't that sort of mean that all the stuff we said–"

"We meant every word," Twilight sadly confirmed.

They returned to staring glumly at the dirt.

"So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked.

Ever the pillar, Applejack was the first to do what she knew needed to be done, making sure to adjust her hat before extended a firm yet proud hoof. "Say we're sorry and move on."

Fluttershy caught her gaze first, and they shared a smile. Her yellow hoof found her friend's, followed by a blue one and a then a purple one. Though Rarity was hesitant for a moment, seeing them all smile at her apologetically was enough for her to join in. A second later, it felt as if all their ribs were about to break when Pinkie squeezed them together for a hug.

Once the silly mare let them go, the fashionista cleared her throat. "Um...now that we're mercifully past all this, w-what do we say to Spike about what happened?"

Twilight hissed through her teeth. "I have a feeling that's something we're probably going to have to both sit and talk with him about. I can't imagine what this whole ordeal has done to him."

"Yeah."

A small ruckus in the distance turned Twilight's ear. Must still be a few pests left.

"In the meantime, though, um...we could go see if Celestia would like any help in cleaning up whatever mess is still left."

"I wouldn't mind crackin' a few more changeling heads," Applejack agreed.

"Heh, we better hurry or we'll never get a chance to beat Fluttershy's score!" Rainbow Dash joked. "How many did you end with, anyway?"

Her yellow cheeks flushed. "Thirty-nine."

The speedster jabbed a gentle elbow in her friend's side. "Jeez, leave some for the rest of us, why don't ya?" The girls shared a welcome laugh.

"Yeah, let's go kick some more butt!" Pinkie cheered.

Six determined grins and nods later, they raced off toward the distant commotion. Those remaining changelings won't know what'll hit them.

Chapter 1

The simple hair brush floated down in its basket next to the bathroom sink, the soft purple glow fading away. Twilight looked over her mane meticulously, checking for any split ends or out of place hairs. It may have been just a brunch get-together with her friends, but there wasn't any reason she couldn't look reasonably presentable in case anypony that happened by felt like taking a picture of her.

Even after so many months of being a princess, there were some things she doubted she'd ever get used to. As she nodded to herself, content with her appearance, she wondered for a moment if Celestia or Luna ever felt a bit overwhelmed by their royal stature. It was likely so – one doesn't rule for thousands of years without feeling some weight that came with the stresses of royalty – but Twilight never once felt it was polite to ask such a thing in the time she had known them.

She swung her head around and checked the clock beside her bed – just after ten. Whoops! Better get a move on.

Deciding to pick up her pace, she gave the mirror one last smile and quickly trotted out the bedroom, opting to leave her crown on the night stand. There wasn't going to be any royal business or summit going on, and she wasn't any better than anypony else anyway, so what harm could it do?

On the way down the castle's spiral staircase, she heard a certain dragon going through the fridge, probably looking for a late breakfast. No doubt he appreciated being allowed to sleep in that morning and have the day off. Something told her he'd appreciate her next gesture even more as she rounded the corner and came to a stop by the kitchen.

"Morning, Spike!"

"Hey, Twilight. What's going on?" he asked, putting his rummaging on hold for a moment.

"Not too much. Just heading out to brunch with the girls. Did you want to come?"

"Really? What's the occasion?"

"Come on," she egged him. "You've been cooped up in the castle far too much lately. Nothing wrong with having a lazy day every so often."

He closed the refrigerator, smirking proudly. "Those are my favorite kind! Alright, sure! I didn't have many plans to begin with today. So, where are we going?"

The pair continued out the large double doors, greeted by another average day in Ponyville. "The little bistro by Stirrup Street and Fourth."

"Oh yeah! Place isn't bad." Spike jokingly gave her a little poke with his elbow. "Maybe you can get the food for free, what with being a princess and all."

"You know that isn't going to happen, Spike," Twilight retorted while returning a wave to a passerby.

"Eh, worth a shot."

The food was passable today; the last time they were there, it seemed to have a bit more flavor. Ah well, maybe the usual cook was out sick or something. What was more of a concern to the girls and Spike was where Pinkie Pie was. It wasn't like her to be late when it came to hanging out with her friends. Probably just got distracted by...well, that list was long.

A few minutes went by before they finally saw their bubbly friend staggering toward them. "Oh, here she comes now," Fluttershy said.

Their happiness gradually became concern when the baker flopped down hard on her chair. She blinked one eye at a time and it looked like her hair hadn't been brushed in a week. "Hi, girls! Sorry I'm late. Busy morning!"

"Obviously," Rainbow muttered.

"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "You look like you're about ready to pass out."

"Oh, yeah, heh. A new family stopped in to Sugarcube Corner this morning and I had to throw them a Welcome Party. I just wish I had the–"

In mid-sentence, the exhausted mare promptly fell asleep, snoring loud enough to disturb a few nearby customers. Her friends shared a look and an embarrassed grin with their fellow patrons.

"Uh...Pinkie?"

"–time to throw them a proper one," she continued without missing a beat. "It doesn't feel right to give them such measly little parties."

"You know you could always tell them that you'd like to throw them a bigger one at a later date, right?" Rarity suggested.

"Oh no no no, I couldn't do that! If I don't throw them a Welcome Party right away, they may think that Ponyville isn't a super-duper-riffic place to live and that the ponies here are a bunch of meanie pantseses and that we really don't want them as our newest, bestest friends, especially with Twilight being the Princess of Friendship and all! How well would that go over, am I right?"

"But, sweetie, look at yourself! You're clearly exhausted. You need to have some time for yourself to get your strength so you can throw those parties of yours properly."

"Don't you worry about a thing, Rares! I'll be alright. I had a few cups of coffee before I got here, so once they kick in, I'll be ready to go!"

"You've been throwing an awful lot of parties lately, haven't you?" Twilight asked.

"I have! I thought I was the only one who's been noticing how many new ponies there are in town recently. It's been going on for at least a few weeks now. This week, I've thrown..." She pulled out an old-fashioned adding machine and a tossed on a visor, tapping away at the buttons and pulling the lever when needed. The strip of paper hanging out the back nearly stretched across the table when she was finished. "...eighteen parties alone since Monday!"

Meanwhile, their waiter visited their table and set a dish of pastries and a few light breakfast snacks in front of the rambling mare along with a glass of orange juice. "Your friends ordered this for you before you arrived, miss. Enjoy."

"Thanks!"

"Eighteen? What's been bringing so many ponies here lately?" Fluttershy wondered. "Were there a bunch of new job openings around town that we weren't aware of or something?"

"I don't know. The mayor hasn't informed me of anything like that. In fact, I haven't heard any of new kind of legislation being passed for the town that'd make ponies want to come here in droves like they have been."

"Maybe it's something to do with your castle or the fact that you're a princess," Applejack suggested.

"What would that have to do with anything?"

The cowgirl shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if, when Canterlot was built, more than a few ponies with money moved there just to be closer to Celestia. Be something of a status symbol to be her next door neighbor, right? Could be something like that going on here, just that Ponyville is easier to move to since the cost of living around here isn't too high."

"But my coronation was months ago," Twilight pointed out. "Why would this be happening now?"

"There was more than one time that I went to a small town for some farming-related competition. Frankly, I was amazed they had half the conveniences we have here. Wouldn't surprise me if news of your coronation took a little longer to reach them."

"Months later just sounds a little too long though."

"Eh, I don't know. Just a thought."

"Well, whatever the reason, all these new faces around town could definitely have some perks," Rarity said. "They'll be a boost to the local economy if nothing else, and it's always nice meeting–."

Hopping in her seat, Pinkie Pie redirected the conversation, pointing at a family of three walking in their general direction. "Hey, look! Here come some new folks now! I threw them a party three days ago. They didn't really seem into it though. Not sure why." The pink pony bent backwards over her seat, practically folding herself in half, and waved obnoxiously at the new arrivals. "Hell-ooooo! It's me, Pinkie Pie! Come on over and meet my friends!"

The family couldn't help but hear her, even from a distance, and cringed at each other. The father, a lilac unicorn with a navy blue mane, took the lead with his red-coated earth pony wife right behind. Next to her was a tiny, light-pink unicorn with a curly white mane and tail of her own. She narrowed her green eyes and held back growling to herself. But, they had to go say 'hi' now. It only took one meeting, but they quickly assumed when Pinkie Pie wanted to talk to you, you were going to talk to her whether you wanted to or not. She took a deep breath and put on a timid smile as they got closer, as did her parents.

"Uh, hello there," the stallion said.

"Hey, everypony! How've your first days in Ponyville been?"

"Err...great! It's a...really quaint little place."

"Glad you like it! Oh, where are my manners?" Pinkie said, bopping herself on the head for her rudeness. "Girls, this is High Note, his wife Curtain Call and this little cutie here is Cottontail. These are my bestest friends in the whole wide world: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Princess Twilight!"

As the other former Element bearers said their hellos, Cottontail blinked and shook her head in shock. "I'm sorry...Princess Twilight?" She hopped onto her hind legs and half-climbed onto the table, finally getting a peek at Twilight's wings.

"Mhm! I was crowned several months ago. My castle kind of sticks out over the horizon. You can even see it from here." They all turned and noticed the large, crystalline star towering over the town. "But I didn't receive it all on my own. If it weren't for my friends here, it would never have been created. It's...a long story really."

The small filly rubbed her chin, deep in thought. "Interesting. They really weren't kidding," she mumbled to herself.

"Who wasn't kidding?" Fluttershy inquired.

"The, uh, newspapers," High Note quickly answered. "We hail from a really small town and news tends not to travel too fast out there."

"Sometimes we can be a little behind the times," Curtain Call added.

"What do you know, A.J.! You were pretty on-target for once," Rainbow Dash joked as she chomped into a bagel.

"Ha ha."

"We were just off to enroll Cottontail here for classes at your school starting Monday."

"Oh, that's great!" Twilight beamed. "Cheerilee's a wonderful teacher."

"I have a feeling you'll probably end up meeting our little sisters," Applejack added. "Apple Bloom's mine, Sweetie Belle is Rarity's sis, and Scootaloo is...well, she's not officially R.D.'s sister, but close enough."

"Why do you say that?"

"They formed a club a while back called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Those three are always running around trying to figure out some way to go about getting their cutie marks."

Cottontail glanced back at her own blank flank and smirked. "Oh. I see. They don't have theirs either. I-I'm sure they're nice enough though."

"Don't let their passion scare you away if you do happen to talk to them, sweetie. It's just very important to them that they figure out what their special talents are, that's all."

"I understand," Cottontail said meekly as she got off the table.

"We better get going. Don't want to late for signing her up," High Note chuckled. "It was nice meeting you all."

The small family walked away, happily waving goodbye only for their pleasurable tone to turn sour once they were out of earshot. Cottontail was particularly irritated, letting out a repulsed groan. "Wish we could just hide out in our house until Monday morning instead of dealing with all this nonsense."

"As do we, but this is something that needs to be done."

The filly snorted in disgust. "Three more days," she grumbled. "Threeeee more days."

It was roughly twenty minutes before her first class started. The new filly waited patiently in the playground, kicking gently at the dirt below her swing and scanning over her surroundings. She had been getting a good look at the other students. Nothing about any of them seemed particularly interesting or noteworthy. A few came up and introduced themselves and she was as pleasant as possible. It must have been enough for those she met as no feathers seemed to have been ruffled by anything she said. Still, she would have liked nothing more than to levitate these two particular colts and toss them into class through the window. Gods, were they ever annoying!

Time had slowed to a crawl and she wanted to get the day over with as fast as equinely possible. Still, the school was a necessary evil she just had to accept – for now. The relative peace and quiet quickly evaporated when she heard two unfamiliar voices grumbling from behind.

"Great. Just what we need – another blank flank."

"As if we didn't have enough around here."

"What do you think, Silver Spoon? You think she'll be as big a joke as the other ones around here?"

"Probably even bigger!"

Before Cottontail could tear into them properly, however, another group of children spoke up in her defense, the first with a familiar twang in her voice. These must be them.

"You two really need to come up with something more original. It's getting kinda played out, y'know."

"Maybe they could if they were a bit smarter."

"Cut them a break, Scootaloo. It's not their fault they were handed everything and never learned any real skills on their own."

The rivals stepped up to each other in front of the newcomer, getting nose to nose, though the former pair were clearly more agitated by the exchange. "Oh, whatever. You idiots have been doing your little Crusader stuff for how long and you still don't have your marks? You're so pathetic," Diamond Tiara chastised.

"Even with all the time you've spent with Princess Twilight, you still haven't gotten any better at those lame skills you've been trying to learn," Silver Spoon chimed in.

"And yet we're the ones who have friends and loved ones that actually care about us, even without our cutie marks," Apple Bloom fired back.

The apparent leader of the duo rolled her eyes and backed off, choosing to head inside to class instead of continuing the argument. "Because that really matters in the end. Come on, Spoon, let's get out of here before we catch a case of the stupids from them."

Her charming friend shuddered, following a step behind. "Ew, don't even joke about that."

The trio glared daggers at their enemies as they left. Once they were gone, they approached their new acquaintance, the one with the bow speaking up. "Sorry about those two. They're just a pair of jerks."

"Yeah, they'll never learn."

"We're–"

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" Cottontail said first, stunning the fillies.

"How did...?"

"I met your sisters a few days ago. They said I'd probably bump into you at school today. Just put two and two together. I'm Cottontail."

The final bell rang and the floodgates opened, spilling dozens of kids out into the town. Taking their time behind most of the group was the trio-turned-quartet, getting to know their new companion further.

"We usually head back to our clubhouse in Sweet Apple Acres and try and figure out what to do after school. I know this is only your first day, but you're welcome to come if you want," Apple Bloom offered.

"Sounds like it could be fun."

"I don't know how much we'd be able to do later though," Scootaloo interjected. "Rainbow Dash told me yesterday that they had to schedule a heavy rainstorm tonight. Kind of puts a damper on things."

"Ah shoot."

"Good thing too, because that's just what Ponyville needs. Another one of you running around causing problems," a familiar shrill voice said.

The Crusaders stopped in their tracks, various levels of annoyance plastered on their faces. "Don't you two have anypony else to harass?"

"I suppose we could show your new friend what they're in for as a stupid blank flank," Diamond Tiara teased.

"Leave her alone!" Sweetie Belle demanded. "She hasn't even said anything to you all day!"

"You haven't done anything with your magic all day either," Silver Spoon goaded. "So much for all that training you've been doing. Too much of a challenge for you?"

"There wasn't any reason for me to use it today!"

"Sure there wasn't." Growing ever bolder, Diamond Tiara jabbed at the tiny pink unicorn's horn. "I'll bet Cottontail here's just as bad at it, aren't you?"

The newcomer hadn't given much credence to anything the bullies had to say until now, instead choosing to let them spew their childish ideas at will. She narrowed her eyes and lit up her horn. An emerald glow took hold of a nearby tall tree, one almost as high as most of the houses in Ponyville, and effortlessly tore it out of the ground, causing the ponies around to jump at the crazy sight.

Even the terrible two blinked in surprise, but still acted unimpressed. Perhaps if Cottontail could will money into existence out of thin air, they may have complimented her. "Hmph! Seems that horn of yours has some life, after all. I guess it doesn't really surprise me that you're better than Sweetie Belle at it. She's always been a bit slow."

"If I was a unicorn as lousy at magic as she was, I know I'd simply die of embarrassment. But honestly, if these idiots want to waste more of their lives with their stupid crusading, who are we to stop them, D.T.? We've got more important things to do."

"Yeah, you're right. See you later, blank flanks!"

Once the hecklers were out of earshot, Cottontail replaced the tree while her friends growled under their breath. "Really wish they'd find something better to do with their time," Sweetie Belle eventually said.

"No kidding. Frankly, I'd love it if somepony put them in their place for once," Scootaloo growled.

Their pink companion raised a curious eyebrow and swiveled an ear around. A decidedly coy smirk crept across her face. "Really?"

"Pretty much. They've been doing this for years. You'd think they'd have gotten bored of it by now."

"Well, it so happens that, err...at my last school, I was something of a mediator," Cottontail explained.

"What's that?"

"Basically, if two groups of ponies are arguing about something, I'd step in the middle and try to settle their differences for them. I was told I was pretty good at it." The confident young mare rubbed a hoof on her chest.

"What, you think you can convince those two to stop bothering us all the time?" the doubting farm girl asked.

"You give me twenty-four hours and I can guarantee it!" Cottontail boasted, tapping the yellow filly on the shoulder.

The little pegasus guffawed at such a ludicrous idea. "Sister, if you can pull that off, we'll make you a Crusader for life!"

"Heh, thanks. Now, I'm curious, where do those two usually go after school? Do you have any idea?"

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat and bit her lip, remembering things she'd prefer to forget altogether. "Not all that long ago, some...things happened and we thought they were genuinely being nice to us, but they were just using us to get close to Princess Twilight. Most days we'd go hang out at their house up in the north end of town." The other two shifted their eyes away or kicked regretfully at the dirt. Were they ever glad the humble alicorn was so understanding and forgiving when she found out the truth.

"Then that's where I'll go talk to them."

"Err, I don't mind you trying to get through to them for us, but isn't going right to their house about this kind of...personal?"

"They probably act like this because of something personal. It only makes sense to go to the source," Cottontail wisely suggested.

"I...suppose so."

"Besides," the little pink filly continued, "I can understand why you would be hesitant going there, but you don't have to worry. From what I've experienced, uh...well, it seems to be more effective when I...talk to both parties individually! Since you haven't really done anything, you're off the hook. I just need to speak to them!" She wrapped a foreleg around her fellow unicorn's shoulders. "Now, you said they lived on the north end of Ponyville. Which is their place?"

"They have a large gate out front and a shrub fence," Sweetie Belle answered. "Good luck getting to the front door, though. If Diamond Tiara doesn't want you in there, you're not getting in there."

"I'll figure something out. In fact, I'm going to head home right now and start putting together what I want to say to her."

"Wait, you were thinking about going over there tonight? What about the storm?"

"Look, you're my first friends in this new town and your...happiness is my primary concern – and I'm not worried about some silly old rain. I'll be fine!" Just as Cottontail was about to take off, she came to a stop, barely getting a hoof in the air. "I just thought of something else. What about her family? Will they be there? I only ask in case I need to talk to them too about this little...problem."

"Her parents aren't together anymore, at least that's what my granny's told me. I'm not sure where her mom is, but her dad, Filthy Rich, owns Barnyard Bargains near the center of town," Apple Bloom clarified.

"Oh yeah, I've been by that place." Cottontail tapped her chin, going through a mental checklist for that evening. "Hmm, is there anything else? I...think that might be everything. Alright, well, I'm going to head home now. I'll let you know how it all went when I see you tomorrow, okay?"

The filly was already several yards away from her friends before they even had the chance to say goodbye, sprinting off as fast as her little legs would carry her and leaving them rather puzzled that she'd leave so abruptly. But hey, if she could actually make Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stop bugging them, more power to her.

As she raced through town, Cottontail occasionally made eye contact with other foreign faces, exchanging quick nods with them as she dashed by. Eventually, she reached her house and threw open the door with surprising strength, startling her parents out of their stupor.

High Note had been sitting by the window, meticulously inspecting ponies as they trotted by. Curtain Call had been sprawled lazily on the couch taking a nap, an errant limb draped casually over the top of the furniture and a string of drool hanging from her mouth. Upon their foal's arrival and consequent slamming of the door closed, they staggered up to her and stood patiently like a pair of Wonderbolts waiting for orders.

Cottontail approached with a wide smirk on her face. "It seems I may have found another way in – and this one's going to be fun."

"Is that so?" High Note asked, grinning just as fiendishly. "Is there anything you want us to do?"

"As a matter of fact, there is."

The evening came earlier than usual thanks to the severe overcast. The moon barely had any time to show its face before it was hidden away behind the dark clouds decorating the sky, resulting in the street lamps here and there along the cobblestone being some of the only light the town had to offer. Most ponies took the opportunity to stay inside and curl up by a warm fire or fix themselves a nice, hot meal rather than going out and living it up a bit; the only ones out seemed to be stuck at work, hoping the final tick of the clock would come despite the inevitability of getting soaked on the way home.

One exception to the rule was a small, pink unicorn who was new in town. Without a hint of caring about the impending storm and the heavy winds that had already made their presence known, she marched toward Diamond Tiara's house, her head held high and a whimsical smile on her face.

Meanwhile, in the arrogant filly's bedroom, located near the front of the house, she and Silver Spoon were doing each others make-up, taking care of their luxurious locks, and occasionally playing with her extensive collection of dolls. It was a fairly typical night for the girls but that didn't mean they weren't enjoying the peace and quiet that came with being left alone.

The solitude would only last so long though as there was a knock at her boudoir. Randolph, the old family butler, stuck his head in. "Miss Tiara, your homework is complete."

"It's about time," she groaned. "What took so long?"

"Apologies, my dear. I wanted to make sure everything was done properly and took the liberty of triple-checking my work."

"Good. Daddy would simply hate it if my grades started to slip."

Randolph knew that tone well and subdued a wince. The last thing he needed was Diamond Tiara to whine to Filthy Rich about something that ultimately didn't exist. On his own, Mr. Rich was decent enough; getting his daughter involved in anything usually resulted in something painful, be it emotionally, mentally or financially. The old pony didn't need any more nonsense that night.

"I assure you you will receive an 'A' with this assignment. Now, if there isn't anything else you require, Miss Tiara, I'm going to draw myself a bath and prepare for bed a little early tonight."

She glanced over at the clock on her night stand – 8:16. Good. That meant Filthy Rich closed up about fifteen minutes ago and would probably be home pretty soon. "I'll be fine."

"Very good. Have a good night, little one," Randolph said as he closed the door, not expecting – and not receiving – the same pleasantries from his young employer.

Once his hoofsteps on the pristine marble floor faded away, Silver Spoon piped up in annoyance. "I can't believe he's so slow with your work. I mean, it's elementary school stuff. Shouldn't he know it already? He's only, like, a million years old."

"Yeah, I don't get it either. Makes me wonder what we pay him for sometimes."

While they bickered and whined, a banging noise echoed softly from somewhere in the house, adding to the their grievances. After a minute or two of the gentle rapping, Diamond Tiara grit her teeth and yelled at her servant. "Randolph! Go see what's making that noise already!" They sat in silence a short while longer, listening for activity that never happened; whatever was rattling around wasn't stopping. "Ugh, always have to do everything yourself around here. Randolph!"

The girls stomped deeper into the spacious, expensive house, flicking on a light or two as they went and endlessly calling for the hired help. The old stallion never answered, but the living room's center window swinging against the outside wall did. They paused and exchanged a perplexed look. Sure, the winds had been picking up over the last hour or so, but how'd they blow the windows outward? Maybe a particularly strong gust spun around and yanked it open like a twister would? Either way, they always kept their windows locked. It was secured in the first place, right?

Grunting in frustration, Diamond Tiara looked around and picked a cushy nearby chair to use as a make-shift ladder. It was a bit of a struggle to get a good grip on the frames, but eventually, she was able to get both halves back together and replaced the latch nice and tight, all at the cost of her coiffed mane. It was a bother, but at least the banging had stopped and it was easy enough to re-restyle her hair anyway. With a snort, the filly hopped back onto the floor and put the chair back in place. At least it hadn't started raining yet. Her dad would be furious if the pricey fabric was ruined.

Just as the girls were about to return to Diamond Tiara's room and get back to playing, there was a knock at the front door. The filly growled under her breath. There wasn't any use in calling for Randolph for such a trivial matter. He didn't respond with the window and they weren't far from the door as it was. "Who in the world could that be this time of night?"

They answered the door to find a cheery little unicorn with a poofy white mane on the other side, smiling brightly at them. "Hello!"

Oh great, one of the resident blank flanks. Diamond Tiara sneered and asked, "What do you want?" A realization suddenly came to her as the newcomer stood there. With several confused blinks, the wannabe princess darted her eyes back and forth between their 'guest' and the fence behind her. "And how did you even get past the gate in the first place? You can't fly."

"Oh, that's nothing you need to worry about. I came by to talk to you two about the Crusaders, see if maybe we can work something out so you'd stop teasing them all the time. I hope that's okay."

"Are you serious? Those three babies deserve every harsh word they get!" Silver Spoon snapped.

"You're new around here and may not understand just yet, so I'll just spill it about them," Diamond Tiara interjected. "Nothing they do results in anything useful. All they ever seem to accomplish is giving everypony around them headaches. They run around playing their stupid little games trying to get their cutie marks and cause nothing but disaster everywhere they go. At the rate they're going, they're never going to earn their marks and they're never going to amount to anything in society, and neither will you if you stick around with those losers."

"So, there isn't anything I can do to change your mind about them?" Cottontail tried again.

"Get it through that head of yours – no! Now get off my property!"

The tiny filly took it all in stride, never losing her smile. "I was hoping you'd say that. Bye!"

Diamond Tiara slammed the door in her face, pausing as soon as she started to take a step. "She was hoping we'd say that? What's that supposed to mean?" She flung open the entranceway again. "Hey, what'd y...?"

She instantly found herself at a loss for words as Cottontail was nowhere to be seen. They blinked and stuck their heads outside, braving the first few heavy drops of rain as they searched high and low for the strangely spunky filly.

"Where is she?" Silver Spoon wondered. "She was here two seconds ago. She couldn't have just vanished."

"Ah, who cares? Was just a bunch of hot air from a stupid blank flank," Diamond Tiara growled, shutting the door again. A clap of thunder bellowed as they took their first steps back to the bedroom, making them fillies jump. Here came the downpour, no doubt.

They paused mere inches from the chamber, a familiar banging sound coming from inside again. Slowly, the girls craned their necks with confusion written all over their faces.

"Is that the window again?" Silver Spoon asked.

"It sounds like it."

"I thought you locked it."

"I was sure I did. This had better not be some kind of prank," Diamond Tiara huffed, taking the lead into the living room.

Like before, the center window had somehow been thrown open, the silk curtains flowing violently in the strong winds and being soaked by a torrential rain. The carpet and any nearby furniture was already just as drenched.

"Oh no no no no! Daddy's going to have my head!" The filly dragged the same chair over as quickly as she could and slammed it against the wall. "Come on, help me here!"

Obeying like a lap dog, Silver Spoon climbed next to her friend, desperately reaching for her window pane in spite of the overpowering gusts. Just as they were about to finally get their hooves on the structures, the opening slammed itself closed, launching the waterlogged pair onto the floor.

Almost as if it had a life of its own, the latch almost appeared to wait until they looked up before sealing itself closed. A flash of blinding light tore across the stormy sky, making the children wonder if they really did just see the hook glowing emerald for a second. Slowly, they got to their hooves and took a cautious step toward the strangely animated inanimate object.

Suddenly, the light bulbs in the lamps on the two end tables burst out of nowhere followed by the ones overhead in their extravagant chandelier, raining thin shards of glass onto the carpet. The fillies jumped out of the way, not wanting to step on something painful. Another series of pops rang throughout the hallways closeby, leaving the house to be slowly consumed by darkness. Even the bulbs that hadn't been on suffered a similar fate. All that could be seen in through the windows was a faint street lamp across the muddy path, partially masked by the heavens having opened up and the occasional burst of lightning that came with it.

"Th-th-the lights," Silver Spoon whimpered, crawling up against her friend.

"I-it's nothing. Probably just a blown fuse," Diamond Tiara mumbled.

An angry roll of thunder shook the house as well as the fidgeting fillies. If they didn't know any better, they'd swear there was a chuckle in the air. They wrapped themselves in each others quivering forelimbs.

"Did...d-did you hear that, D.T.?"

"Y-you mean the thunder? Of course! Don't be silly!"

The last of their calm turned to shrieks when an unseen entity flung the love seat across the room like a toy. Only a few feet away, the sofa was then thrown against the far wall, leaving a nasty dent. The end and coffee tables soon followed, flinging their lamps and crystal centerpiece aside and smashing them all on the floor.

Another bolt of lightning let them see enough of the destruction around the room so they could make a break for it. Screaming and with tears in their eyes, they ran for the front door as fast as they could. They would have been home free if not for the bookcase that yanked itself in front of their escape route, groaning loudly as the stubby wooden feet dragged across the marble and forcing them to come to a screeching halt.

They turned and sprinted off to the side toward Diamond Tiara's bedroom, but it was just as in vain. Every hallway, every door the fillies tried to use was sealed off just as they arrived, barricaded by random pieces of nearby housewares – side tables that spilled their expensive vases, a large stone statue, storage shelves. Whatever was hunting them gradually forced them back into the demolished living room, the last possible exits around the den eventually being cut off. Their hearts threatened to burst from their chests as they panted for breath from all the hollering and racing from the apparition.

The pounding deluge beat steadily against the windows, stifling the girls' voices as they huddled together in horror. "Randolph, help!"

"Somepony! Anypony, please!"

A distinct laugh echoed through the cavernous abode, drowning out their cries. Where exactly it was coming from was anypony's guess. "I'm afraid he's currently...indisposed."

Diamond Tiara recognized the voice instantly. Her fear transformed into seething, spitting rage. "C...Cottontail?! You...y-you miserable little witch! Come out so I can bury you!"

"Awww, such tough talk is almost adorable in a pathetic sort of way."

"F-fine! Just wait until my daddy gets home! I'll tell him everything you did and then you'll be sorry!"

The hidden unicorn cackled even louder, unfazed by the threats. Diamond Tiara shrank back at the wordless rebuttal, her brash confidence quickly evaporating. "Go ahead," Cottontail hissed. "He'll never believe you."

"W-why not?"

"Yeah, it's our word against yours and there's only one of you!" Silver Spoon added.

"That would be telling. Just think – we may have the night all to ourselves. Isn't that just lovely?"

"Shut up! Just...just get out of my house! Go away!" Diamond Tiara shouted. The fillies began to slip into panic mode, shaking again as they searched the shadows, desperately trying to find Cottontail's hiding place.

"What's the matter? You said you were going to bury me. Lost the nerve?" Almost as if floating on a cloud, the curly-maned unicorn silently approached them from behind. The twin terrors froze up and slowly turned around when her green magic gradually lit up, revealing a wickedly smiling young mare. "Now, about that talk..."

Another flash of lightning erupted, leaving Tiara and Spoon to witness a snarling monstrosity suddenly lunging for them. "RAAAAUGH!"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Chapter 4

As quietly as he could, Spike crept into the castle's front door, hoping the loud creek from the hinges didn't give him away. It had gotten later than he expected. It was likely that Twilight was still up and about doing whatever, and he had been told more than once that, if he was going to be out so late for one reason or another, she preferred to be with him at such hours. Still, she knew he was with Rarity, a friend she could trust. How much trouble could he get into?

It was so much farther to the bedroom in the castle than it was at the library. Spike constantly found himself looking over his shoulder for signs of his guardian and peeking into the few rooms he passed by only to find that he was thankfully alone. As he came to the study, however, the gentle flickering of candlelight made him freeze up. He hugged the wall and held his breath. Barely sticking his head around the corner, he saw Twilight with her nose in a book and a quill floating near her; she must have been taking notes, maybe writing something pertinent down about Rarity's situation and how to handle it.

Throwing caution to the wind, Spike took a few tiptoed steps past the doorway, but it was for naught. Whether by coincidence or Twilight noticing some movement from the corner of her eye, the alicorn turned and spotted him right away.

"Oh, hey Spike. Didn't hear you come in." She checked her overhead clock and blinked in surprise. "Were over at Rarity's quite a while."

The young dragon approached her, nervously tapping his claws together. "Y-yeah, time kind of got away from me. Sorry, Twilight."

With a smile, the mare got up and met Spike halfway, wrapping a tender hoof around his shoulders. "It's okay. You were with Rarity, and she needed a friend. How is she doing?"

It was hard keeping his cheeks from reddening. "Err, alright. She just...needs some time, y'know?"

"Understandable. Either way, I know your company meant a lot to her."

He stiffened up and bit his lip. Did Twilight somehow already know? How would she know? No, no, he was just overthinking things. He took Rarity home and they just talked...and nothing else.

"Y-you think we'll find who did this to her?" Spike asked, composing himself and staying focused on the conversation at hand.

"I think so. It'll take some time, but we have a lot of friends in a lot of places. We'll get them."

Spike nodded and shifted his eyes away. There was a second bed calling him that night. "Would it be okay if I turned in? I'm pretty tired."

"Of course. I'll be up in a little while. Still got some things to do." Twilight nuzzled him affectionately, no doubt appreciative of what she believed his efforts were toward their traumatized friend. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night."

He was freed from his surrogate's hug and headed off to his basket, waving as he left the study. Once he was out of sight, he let out a sigh of relief that he was able to keep it together. Trying to keep such a secret was harder than he expected, but Rarity was the one who asked him to do so. If it were anypony else, he may have slipped. But he'd do anything for the world's most beautiful mare, especially keep quiet.

Spike slept incredibly well that night, probably better than he ever had in his short life. He breezed through his morning chores and practically inhaled his lunch when it came time. In the meanwhile, Twilight had gotten back to work, looking feverishly over legal books and procedures that came with capturing and trying criminals. It may not have been a bad idea to get in touch with the police in Manehattan and see if they had any mug shots based on Rarity's descriptions too. Perhaps they had been caught already or, quite possibly, had been arrested before.

Before she even realized it, lunch was upon them. Spike had, as per usual, gone out of his way to fix them something simple yet delicious. If only there was more time in the day. Her original plans were to go around town and stop by their friends' places before it was time to eat and inform them of what happened, keep things among their group of friends, as Rarity oddly requested. She supposed it was typical that time got away from her once she started reading, even if it wasn't solely for entertainment purposes.

Before Spike's plate was even dry after being washed, he started marching proudly for the door, completely unconcerned if his guardian had anything else to do for him or what her initial plans were.

"Twilight, I'm going to head over to Rarity's, see how she's doing."

"Oh. O-okay, Spike. I kind of wanted you here today in case I needed to send a few letters around regarding Rarity's situation, but she probably still needs someone to lean on," the princess remarked. "Just don't be too late, alright?"

"Sure. I can send whatever you need when I get back. Sound good?"

"That'll work. Listen, if you happen to run into any of the girls on your way, could you let them know what's going on for me? I wanted to touch base with them in a little while."

"I will if I see them."

While Twilight had managed to speak to the rest of their friends, Spike had spent a majority of his time at Rarity's. At first, his guardian didn't mind much, but there were things he still needed to do around the castle and his work was beginning to pile up. Perhaps if Sweetie Belle hadn't been convinced to leave her big sister be for a little while longer, it would have given Spike a reason to head home earlier than he was.

It upset the little filly immensely to hear about Rarity's horrible experience, but she understood Twilight and Applejack's point – the Crusaders could sometimes be a hooffull and the unicorn needed some quiet time to recuperate and hopefully avoid any unnecessary stress. How having Spike around every day was amounting to quiet time was anypony's guess, but over the days, things seemed to be turning around well for the fashionista – and at a rather surprising speed.

Strangely, whenever one of the other Elements would pay her a visit to see how she was or attempt to cheer her up, Rarity essentially shooed them away as quickly as she could most days instead of inviting them inside to talk. None took any real offense to it; she was probably still not in her right frame of mind, and they couldn't blame her.

After several days of neglected chores, however, Twilight eventually had gotten rather peeved at her friend for constantly snatching Spike away from his duties. She hadn't seemed to make any new headway as far as describing her attackers went. The few times the princess stopped by the boutique to check on Rarity, she wasn't in the process of making any new clothes, even if it would have only been in an effort to take her mind off being robbed. Plus, most of the time, Spike looked utterly exhausted like he had been trying to win a race against Rainbow Dash and would promptly fall asleep when he would return home, skipping out on dinner more than once.

Finally, Twilight had had enough. She heard the telltale sounds of a certain dragon's claws skipping their way toward the front door that Tuesday morning in the echoing crystal halls and took to the air, speeding up to catch him before he left. He was just about to reach for the doorknob when he paused thanks to hearing her hooves clop against the floor and her wings folding in.

"Morning, Twilight," Spike greeted her. "Was gonna head over to see Rarity."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you before you left," she said firmly. His back-talk took her by momentary surprise.

"Ah, come on, Twilight! Rarity said last night she had some things for me to do today and I want to get started early!"

As he started to open the door, a lavender light took hold of it and slammed it closed.

"No, Spike. We're talking now."

Her sudden shift in tone made him cringe. He had heard it more than once and feared it every single time.

"Err, o-okay. Wh-what'd you want to talk about?" the dragon asked, shifting his gaze away from hers.

"You've been spending an awful lot of time over there. Ever since Rarity returned, you've been there all day every day. I have things for you to do here, and when you do come home, you pass right out half the time. This is getting a little ridiculous now, don't you think? Surely she'd like some alone time here and there. I know Rarity's probably still hurting, but what exactly is going on that she needs you to stop by every single day?"

"Nothing!" Spike quickly snapped back. "We just talk and I help her out around the boutique and stuff!"

"Don't lie to me!" Twilight growled. "When I went over there a few days ago, there wasn't any evidence of any work being done. There were no new dresses on display in her lobby and there was nothing being put together anywhere else in the shop! If I didn't know any better, I'd say she hasn't done anything work-related since she got back."

"She was attacked not even two weeks ago! You think she can just get back to her life like nothing happened?!"

"Well, no, but it'd be a good distraction if nothing else after a little while, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know!" The little drake folded his arms and snorted in frustration, still avoiding his guardian's angry glare like the plague. "Why don't you just get off our backs already, huh?!"

The princess narrowed her eyes, done with pulling punches, and leaned in close, putting herself snout to snout with the youth. A gasp escaped his lungs. There wasn't anywhere for him to look away to without her being in his viewpoint now. "Spike, what's going on?"

A bead of sweat started to form on his temple. He tried to spin around, but Twilight simply took him in her magic and held him firmly in place. "N-n-nothing."

"Stop it! Tell me what's going on!"

No matter how hard he tried to look away, her purple eyes were like magnets to his. More trickles of sweat raced down his forehead.

Gulping, he muttered, "Sh-she made me promise not to."

Twilight lifted a puzzled brow. What in the world could Rarity have made him not want to mention? The alicorn knew that Spike had a thing for her ivory friend and was incredibly devoted, and while Rarity occasionally did some things she didn't really agree with, it was exceptionally rare when anything bad came about thanks to her...convincing nature. At least she was able to finally get him to start spilling the beans.

"What is it she doesn't want you to say?" the princess demanded.

"I...I-I can't!"

"Tell me!"

Fluttershy would have been proud of the stare that Twilight was burning into his soul. He shrank away as hard as he could in spite of the magic he was held in.

"Okay, okay! It's...um...well..."

"Just spit it out!"

Any townsfolks who happened to be walking by the enormous castle a couple minutes later nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard Twilight hollering.

"What!?!?"

Twilight flung the upstairs balcony door open, nearly cracking the walls from the impact. Floating behind her, struggling against the air, was Spike, still coated in a soft, lavender glow. She took off as fast and furiously as she could, dragging her horrified assistant along with her. Whether or not anypony else could see her racing off in such a state from the ground was something she wasn't concerned with. But before she was to head to Carousel Boutique, she needed to find somepony she could leave Spike with for a little while, and there was only one pony she could think of who'd be able to do the job right now.

The princess sped to the large cloud mansion hovering over the outskirts of Ponyville. She had no idea what Rainbow Dash's normal work schedule was like most days, and it was still early. For all she knew, the daredevil was going to punch in at noon and quit only a few hours later. Unfortunately, when she arrived, there was no response at the door and peeking in the windows revealed that she must have already left.

Gritting her teeth, Twilight and Spike bolted back to town. The dragon couldn't help but keep his eyes glued to the ground far below, waiting for his livid keeper to lose her focus and accidentally drop him. Eventually, Twilight spotted somepony she knew worked for the weather crew. Certainly she'd know.

"Cloudkicker, have you seen Rainbow Dash? I was hoping to ask a favor of her."

The young blonde nearly forgot to answer, too distracted by the terrified drake mouthing 'Help!' at her. "Uh, yeah, she's at the south end of town today."

"Thanks." With that, she left the confused pegasus in the dust.

As Twilight approached the area Cloudkicker mentioned, it wasn't hard to spot the high flyer thanks to her rainbow contrail as she cleared the sky. What would normally have been a welcomed surprise visit from Twilight had Rainbow Dash just as perplexed as Cloudkicker when she saw Spike. The obvious anger on Twilight's face had the speedster scratching her head too.

"Uh, hey guys. What's...going on?" Rainbow asked while staring at the flightless captive.

"Hello, Rainbow. I was wondering if you could do something for me for a little while."

"I'd love to, Twi, but I'm kind of on the clock right now."

"If somepony gives you any lip about that, send them to me, alright? I just could really use your help right now."

Rainbow blinked, thought for a moment and shrugged. "Okay, why not? What's got your feathers ruffled?"

She replied by swinging Spike around and sticking him between them. The dragon gave her a wide, toothy grin and nervously tapped his claws together.

"I need you to watch Spike back at the castle for a little while. There's somepony I need to talk to and I don't want him leaving the premises."

She looked at him once more, puzzled by such an odd request. "That's it?"

"It may not seem like a big deal, but it is to me. I would really appreciate the help."

The pegasus looked over Spike's obvious facetiousness and folded her forelimbs. She recognized guilt when she saw it; it was something she was familiar with on more than one occasion across her life. "Somepony's in serious trouble, huh?" she asked Twilight.

"You have no idea."

The young drake fell limp in defeat as the pair soared back to the castle.

"So, what happened, if I may ask?"

"I'm not sure I even want to repeat it. I'm just...so upset with him, I can't see straight!"

"Ouch," Rainbow winced.

"I just don't see what the big deal is!" Spike argued. "It's not like it's hurting anypony!"

"Spike, for Celestia's sake, you're just a kid! A pony your age isn't supposed to be doing something like that! And to top it all off, you lied to me about what was going on with her!"

It was Rainbow's turn to raise an eyebrow. "With who? Rarity?"

The princess groaned long and hard, practically giving herself up. She needed to face facts that Rainbow probably wasn't going to stop inquiring about it. As long as she promised to not say anything to anypony else, maybe the situation could be salvaged. "Yes," Twilight grumbled.

"Come on, you can tell me."

"It's just...well, you know what happened to Rarity a couple weeks ago. We talked about it. She wanted to keep things quiet, and I can sort of understand why, but now what she did to Spike? I...I know she's our friend and all, but I just don't understand how she could do something like this! I mean, why would you not want ponies to help find your attackers but have no problem with...well..."

Twilight leaned in and whispered in Rainbow's ear the more lurid details. The pegasus' wings almost froze in place.

"Whoa! You serious?"

"Mhm!"

"Uhhh, no offense Twilight, but we know how he's felt about her for a while. I...kind of have to agree, what's the big deal?"

"You see? Thank you!" Spike interjected.

"Look, if Spike was older, I wouldn't have a problem with it, really. But think about it this way, Rainbow – what if, like, Soarin did that to, say, Scootaloo? Even if he was being genuine, how would you feel about it?"

The speedster stared into the distance, the imagery playing around in her head. Little by little, her lips curled in disgust. "Yeah, I'd probably want to kick his flank."

"Exactly! Now, Rarity's our friend and I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and pray this is all some...colossal misunderstanding. But if it's true, I seriously don't get it. If this got out, it would be career suicide, and we know how much she values her career. Why would she do such a thing?" Twilight rambled.

"I don't know. Maybe what happened in Manehattan left her with some problems...y'know, up here?" Rainbow suggested, pointing to her head. "I'm not a shrink or anything, but I suppose it's possible."

"Maybe. Let's try and keep this under wraps until we get to the bottom of this, alright? I don't want to accidentally make things worse by throwing wild, possibly untrue accusations around."

"No, no, I hear you." Rainbow glanced over at Spike, frowning in disappointment. "That goes double for you, kiddo. You know Rarity wouldn't appreciate it if you went around bragging. She'd probably say that what goes on behind closed doors in a pony's own home is nopony else's business."

"I understand," he sighed.

The trio descended onto the castle's second story balcony and stepped inside. Spike finally was allowed to put his feet down on something solid, but he wasn't about to run off anywhere. Not like he would get far to begin with.

"Thanks again, Rainbow," Twilight said. "I'll be back in a little while. And no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, don't let him out of the castle."

"You got it."

The doors closed as Twilight took off toward the boutique, leaving Spike and Rainbow Dash to look each other over in awkward silence. The high flier eventually broke the ice.

"Well...on one hoof, way to go, Spike. On the other...when she gets back, you're kinda dead."

"Gee, thanks."

Twilight practically tore Rarity's door down. The bell overhead rang angrily for several long seconds. As was typical on her other visits, the alicorn was met by an empty lobby, and like before, it took a few minutes for her white friend to make her way down the stairs.

"Oh! Hello, Twilight. I thought you were Spike."

"Yeah, I'll bet you did," the princess growled under her breath.

"What brings you here?"

"We need to have a talk, Rarity – a serious one."

"What about, dear?" the posh mare asked.

Twilight bit her lip, wanting to cut right to the chase, but at the same time, not wanting to offend. Still, Rarity must understand that she'd only be looking out for Spike's best interest as well as hers, in a way. With a hard sigh, the princess explained, "He told me you and he have been...doing things all this time when he's been visiting these last several days."

Rarity let out a whispered guffaw. "Well, that doesn't exactly narrow it down, Twilight. You and I are doing things right now, technically."

"You know what I mean, Rarity! 'Adult' stuff? It's...not true, is it?"

"Adult stuff like what? Working, cooking? I'm still not entirely sure–"

"Have you been having sex with him?!" Twilight finally blurted, glaring daggers at her friend.

The prissy mare rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "I suppose it was only a matter of time until he slipped up," she mumbled to herself.

"You mean he was telling the truth? You've been sleeping with him?!"

Rarity willed over one of her many couches and laid down comfortably, propping herself up in an almost seductive pose. "I wouldn't say there's been much sleeping involved, dear."

"How could you?! He's...he's just a kid, Rarity! How would you like it if some old stallion did something like that to Sweetie Belle?"

"I'd like to think she's learned how to be smart in her own decision-making, but this doesn't involve her. Just like I told him, after what happened to me in Manehattan, I realized that there are things in life one stands to lose if you don't seize the day and take hold of them – important, precious things. How long has Spike been smitten by me again?" she asked.

"Since he first saw you. You've known this. You also know he's never stopped caring about you like that."

The designer's ears fell as did her face. "Yes, well, it was stupid of me not to give him any consideration all that time. I suppose I simply wasn't realizing how good things were right in front of me. Frankly, I think he deserved to be rewarded for how patient he's been with me and then some."

Twilight's eye twitched. She could feel her blood pressure rising with each passing second. "Rarity, if he was a little older and he still felt the way he feels about you now, I wouldn't have minded! But you didn't even come to me and talk about any of this! You both just...went over my horn!"

"Oh come now, Twilight, do you honestly believe that he hasn't gone behind your back from time to time to do something you would have told him not to do? I have no doubt Sweetie Belle has done so. You can't be with him twenty-four hours a day, and if you tried to do so, he'd hate you for it. Whether you want to admit it or not, he was going to grow up eventually." A coy smirk crossed her face as she mocked the princess with a fluff of her pristine mane. "And I dare say that he hasn't been much of a kid for the past week and change, no?"

The alicorn's jaw nearly came unhinged in revulsion and anger. It took a lot of effort to subdue the tirade of insults and belittlement she suddenly wanted to hurl at her friend. A deep breath did just enough to keep them on the back burner for now, but her indignant fury was plain as day on her face nonetheless. "There have been a lot of times where I thought you were leading Spike on, using him to get something you wanted. I never said anything because nothing bad ever seemed to come of it in the long run, but this crosses a line. I have no idea what's come over you lately, but if you consider me a friend in the least, you'll honor my request that you stay away from him until further notice. Understood?"

Rarity was taken aback with shock and disappointment. The two sat in silence, sizing each other up, but the fashionista wasn't going to win this battle of wills. Her eyes fell sadly to the floor. "Alright, Twilight. If you insist."

"Yes. I insist," she snarled as she turned to leave.

The door came open on Twilight's mental command. Just as she was about to step outside, she paused and took a long glance behind her at her downtrodden fellow Element. Her face softened briefly. She didn't want to be so hard on the high-class mare, but she left her little choice. Spike was young and Twilight had deliberately kept that kind of stuff away from him. She was essentially his mother, having hatched him, and she felt he simply wasn't ready to deal with such grown-up material – not yet anyway. She was doing the right thing...right?

With a sigh, she left the boutique, closing the door gently behind her. A quiet swish of the wind told Rarity that Twilight had flown off. Her blue eyes shifted toward the window and a satisfied grin twisted across her cheeks.

"But, is he going to stay away from me?"