Angelswift

by Nevel

Rating: everyone
Tags: Drama, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Fluttershy, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 52353

A Story of a big brother living alone with his little sister in a house next to the Everfree Forest.

This is a story about a big brother, Lance Angelswift, fleeing his home with his little sister, Cherry Blossom, to protect her from their father. They travel to Ponyville and stay in a house that is on the edge of Everfree Forest. Lance starts hearing about the stories of the forest from the local residents and he begins to worry for the safety of his little sister.

Published 2012-05-27 08:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-15 14:42:10 UTC

Prologue

We had to get away. I couldn't let her grow up in a home like that.

The train rattled from side to side as it rushed along the tracks. Rain was pouring down the outside of the window. Nothing else could be seen at this time of the night. The heavy rain clouds blocked out the moonlight and the dim lights inside the tram shined against the window, making it impossible to see anything. Only his reflection was there to stare back at him. His ivory coloured coat a mess and light blue mane all ruffled up. Lance Angelswift couldn't bare to look at the mess of a pony he had become.

She deserves so much better.

The little pink filly with the yellow straight mane, lying next to her brother stirred slightly as the train hit a bump. She moved herself closer to him, trying to keep warm. She was still so young and small. Lance placed a foreleg around her and held her close.

Their mother died shortly after the little filly was born. Before she died, she named her foal 'Cherry Blossom'. Their father was a drunken gambler. He spent all of the families’ savings down at the Las Pegasus casinos. With all the families’ money gone, Lance was forced by their father to drop out of school and take a job at the local mall. Las Pegasus was a rough place and after years working on the till and stacking shelves, Lance had heard of a new job opening which offered better bits. It involved working at a casino as security. The city needed as many security guards as possible due to the influx of new ponies coming into the area. Lance Angelswift wasn't exactly the strongest earth pony, but he was determined to work hard. His dream was always to be a guard, but this wasn't what he had in mind.

Canterlot. The Royal Guards. That was his goal!

Ever since he first got his cutie mark of a shield, protecting a classmate at his school from bullies, he knew what he wanted to be. Over the years Lance Angelswift had saved up a small amount of bits to put aside for himself and his sister. All the rest of his money went to their father as he pissed it away on alcohol and gambling. Cherry Blossom was forced to keep the house cleaned and tidy. Their father would scream at her otherwise. It killed Lance every night to come home to their father, passed out on the sofa, stinking and leaving a mess on the floor. If it was there in the morning, Cherry would get the blame for it. She was only a tiny filly. She should have started school earlier this year, but their father refused it. She's still young and hasn't gotten her cutie mark yet. Lance feared that his sister would end up with a ball and chain as a cutie mark. He had to work harder, but he was already working two jobs. The store and security. He was always tired, and always hungry. Then in one night, everything changed.

Lance came home exhausted. Upon reaching the front door, he heard screaming. Lance opened the door as quickly and as quietly as he could. Lance heard his sister pleading with their father.

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THIS?!" Their father shouted. Lance hurried over to her bedroom where the shouting was coming from. He peeked in and saw his father, his sister and a small bag between them. He had found a stockpile of bits that Lance had been saving. Lance kept it hidden in his sister’s room believing it would be safe there, since how often his father would take any possessions from Lance's room. All Cherry had was a cot that was far too small for her. Their father had found the bits hidden there. He was shouting at her, saying she had been stealing from him. Lance saw him raise a hoof. He was going to hit her.

Lance charged into the room, then jumped on his father and they both crashed into the small cot. Their father hit his head very hard and wasn't moving. Lance stood over him and panic filled his soul. It felt like forever had passed and then Cherry Blossom nuzzled against her big brothers foreleg, her tears soaking into his white coat. He had to be strong. He had to make a choice. Lance gathered up all his bits, packed up only the belongings that were absolutely necessary and then they fled the house together. He knew exactly where they needed to go. Their mom had a home in Ponyville. He didn't have enough bits for anything more than the train journey, but neither of them could stay here any longer.

The rain began to stop outside and the clouds started to clear. The pegasus ponies were up early. The sun had just begun to rise and light shined through a few breaks in the clouds. A small town could be seen below.

That's our new home. Lance thought. That's Ponyville.

Chapter 1

The sun was high in the sky at this point and shining through the window. Lance had positioned his foreleg so the sun wouldn't shine into Cherry's face. He wanted her to sleep as long as she could. Lance hadn't slept all night. The images of last night kept creeping back into his mind, whenever he closed his eyes. Was his father dead? What if he had been home just a minute later? Would Cherry Blossom be lying in a hospital instead of right here with her big brother? Lance held back a tear at the thought. He had to be strong. For her.

"Ponyville!" The conductor shouted. He had shown up beside them and was shouting loud enough to wake any other passengers who may have fallen asleep. "Ponyville is the next stop!"

Cherry Blossom stirred and then looked up at her brother.

"Morning sleepyhead." Lance said to her with a smile. "How you feeling?"

Cherry said nothing. Instead she rested her head back down against his foreleg.

She's been through a lot. Lance thought to himself. It's a whole new world for her now.

She never got to go far outside at home. Taking the garbage to the bins outside was the furthest she had ever gotten to go. Now she was out in the big wide world with only her brother to protect her. She was scared, but she knew she was safe.

"Wanna take a look outside?" Lance asked her. "You can see our new home from here!"

Curiosity got the better of her. Cherry Blossom looked towards the window, then sat up and stepped over to see outside. After letting her eyes adjust to the light, she saw it. Ponyville looked magnificent. No large buildings, no giant signs or eye soars obstructing your view. No flashing lights going all day and night. Ponyville was a simple quiet town. Miles of open fields of grass, beautiful and unique houses. A farm with thousands of trees, some lakes and even a forest at the far edge. And above it all was a single mountain. A city seemed to be hanging off the side of it. Like it was floating just below the clouds. It looked like a princess’s palace. Cherry turned towards her big brother, her large hazel eyes alight with wonder.

"What's that big palace up there?" She asked with excitement in her voice.

"That's Canterlot." Lance replied. "That's where all the rich fancy ponies live. It's also home to the princesses."

"You mean Luna and Celetseia?" Cherry's smile was getting bigger at the mention of the Princesses. Lance smiled back as he corrected her.

"Celestia, yes. And remember when I told you that one day I was gonna become a Royal guard?" Cherry nodded at him. "Well, this'll make things easier. Ponyville is right in the shadow of Canterlot, so we won't have so far to go once I've saved up enough bits and we could then move to the city. Would you like to live up in that big palace with the princesses?" Cherry smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"Ponyville!" The train conductor was making his way back down the train. "Next stop is Ponyville!" Lance turned back to Cherry Blossom.

"Well, this is our stop. You ready?" The smile faded from Cherry Blossom's face. She had her hopes up about going to live in Canterlot and completely forgot that that wasn't where they were going. "Hey. Don't worry.“ Lance tried to comfort her. ”We'll be there one day. I just have to get a job and save up. It will take a while but I promise, you'll like our new home in Ponyville." Cherry raised her head up and nodded. "And besides, it's just you and me now. Together." Lance gave her his best smile and she returned it back, jumping down from the seat and ready to see her new home.

The train slowly came to a stop. The other few passengers began making the way off, but by the looks of it, no other ponies were coming on. With how early it was, it wasn't too surprising. They were lucky they could even get a train that late to take them to Ponyville. They stepped off the train and the sun shined down on the both of them. The clouds were mostly cleared, making for a beautiful day and a deep blue sky. The ground was still wet beneath their hooves and the wind had an early morning chill to it that made Lance wish he'd packed something warm for them both to wear. He looked down at Cherry Blossom and saw her shivering. Lance knelt down next to her, low enough for her to climb on his back.

"Come on, let’s find our new home." Lance smiled at her as she quickly jumped onto her brothers back, then they took off at a quick trot.

* * *

Every house in Ponyville was bright and colourful. Some houses even designed to look like sweets. All except this one. Walls of dark grey stone, a green door with paint peeling, dirty windows on either side of the door, overgrown vines clawing up the walls to the roof. The roof itself was in serious disrepair, faded red tiles were missing from the roof, and the chimney was cracked and beyond use. Lance Angelswift, with Cherry Blossom at his side, looked at the house in silence. Neither saying a word. Lance knew this house would be abandoned, since this was their mother’s birth house and after inheriting it, she moved out but for some reason, never sold it. The house was on private land, close enough to the Everfree Forest to have the shadows of the trees touch the back of the house at the suns lowest point, yet so far away from Ponyville itself, that no other home could be seen. Only one path led to this house and it was a small overgrown dirt path that had weeds all the way down it.

"Let’s take a look inside." Lance said quietly. He hadn't expected the house to be completely left to rot over the years. Surely somepony would have helped to keep it in repair. Beautify the landscape? Lance walked to the door. He pushed against the door and expected it to be locked, but to his utter surprise, it opened. The door creaked loudly and immediately stopped. Something was blocking the other side of the door. Lance looked down and saw letters. Years of letters all piled up. Lance gave a hard push and all the letters slid across the room. Many of them looked surprisingly new. Which meant someone was still sending mail.

"Well, looks like we'll have plenty to read." Lance tried to joke, but then noticed Cherry wasn't next to him. He turned around to see she was at the window, looking at a flower bed below it. Lance walked over and saw a row of weeds and small bits of litter and leaves that seemed to have blown over from the forest. But that wasn't what she was looking at. Among the weeds was a single white Calla-lily, drooping downwards but not touching anything below it. It looked like it was fighting to prevent itself from falling and touching the weeds and dirt below. Cherry looked at it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world and it was struggling to survive.

"Don't worry" Lance whispered "We'll have plenty of time to fix everything up and make it all look like a real home, you'll see." The little pink filly didn't respond straight away. She just kept looking at the lone flower.

"Can we help it?" Cherry asked, finally looking at her brother. Lance gave her a smile back.

"Of course we can." He looked around, seeing if there was a watering can or anything like that nearby. Lance told cherry to wait there while he went around the house. There wasn't much to find, just a large open space. No garden, just weeds, long grass and the forest trees about a hundred yards away. No, there was something else. Near the forest edge was exactly what he was looking for. Lying on its side was a small metal watering can. Lance went over to it and leaned down to pick it up in his mouth. It was quite rusty at first look but the handle looked safe enough to grab. Biting down on the handle, he lifted it up and turned toward the house. But something pulled on it, forcing him to look back to the forest. Some vines had grown around the spout and were tightly wrapped around it, going into the ground beneath the long grass. Lance pulled hard on the watering can and the vines pulled tight. Lance pulled again harder and this time the vines tore off. He stumbles a step, just managing to keep his balance. Then he heard a moaning sound coming from inside the forest. Lance stared into the forest. Surely it was just his mind playing tricks on him. That forest didn't just moan in pain. Did it? Lance blamed it on a lack of sleep then shook his head. He carried the watering can back towards the house, turning his head slowly one more time, back towards the forest.

"Is something wrong?" Cherry made Lance jump right out of his skin, dropping the watering can. Cherry had been wondering what took her big brother so long and came to check on him. Lance caught his breath then turned to her.

"No. No, nothing’s wrong. Just...“ Lance turned back to the forest once more, not finishing his sentence.

"What? What is it?" Cherry started to sound nervous. Lance turned back to her and then laughed at himself.

"It's nothing. Your big brother's just a little tired, that's all." He kneeled down and then picked up the watering can in his mouth. Lance headed over to the front door and went inside.

* * *

The house wasn't in the best shape. Dust had settled on every surface. Mould and mildew spread out from the windows, cobwebs covered every corner and hung between every open doorway. On the bright side, the house still had running water. Lance had let Cherry Blossom water the flower in the garden, and told her that the other weeds would have to be cleared out soon. She had asked to do it right away, but without the proper tools, it would just be a waste of time. They had checked every room in the house, seeing what could be kept and what needed replacing. Food was top of the priority list.

There was no fridge and the cupboards held nothing but a few rotten pieces of fruit and a few expired cakes. All of which were now lying in the bottom of the bin outside. Everything in the house was completely covered in dust. There was only one faded blue cushion in the house and a small bed. Other than that, there was nothing else here. While food was a top priority, there was an even bigger problem. Money. Lance had spent all his bits getting them here and that may have been a foalish move. No money means no food. He wasn't about to let his sister starve. They were both pretty hungry by this point and it looked like they would have to make do with what they could find. Being ponies, they could eat grass no problem and there was plenty of it outside. But it looked quite unhealthy. This grass hasn't been trimmed down in years and most of it had been touched by all kinds of small animals from the forest. The colour of the grass was a bit off too. Instead of a healthy green, it was lighter, almost going yellow like it was dying.

A lot of work was going to be needed to fix up this house. Lance went outside and picked up the healthiest looking pieces of grass he could find. Even just in his teeth the grass felt brittle and stale. He used the watering can to gather the grass in and planned on washing it in the sink once he was back inside, just to be safe. There were no plates or tables in the house, so Lance cleaned off the side counter for them to eat off of. They ate slowly, Cherry protesting the taste of the grass. But there was nothing Lance could do. This would have to do for at least one day.

* * *

The rest of the day, they spent cleaning up as much of the house as possible. It was a horrible and filthy job, but they kept at it. Lance eventually got to the letters on the floor by the door.

Maybe some of these are for mother? Lance thought to himself.

There were a lot of letters, but what surprised him wasn't that these letters were addressed to all different ponies, but they were all delivered to the wrong address.

What kind of mail-pony would make a mistake this bad? Repeatedly!

He scooped up a large number of them, mostly those that hadn't faded over the years and looked at them. The one that grabbed his attention the most was a bright pink one which was addressed to “Mr and Mrs Cake”

Sugercube Corner? I think I saw that while walking through the town.

Lance stared down at a few other ones. Most looked like junk mail, but he saw another pink envelope. This one was addressed to a pony named Miss Cheerilee, Ponyville Elementary School.

An elementary school? That's perfect. I can ask her if Cherry Blossom can enroll there.

Lance had a plan. First he'd head to the Sugercube Corner, to deliver the letter, and then ask for directions to the school. Looking outside, Lance saw that it was only the mid-afternoon. Plenty of the day to go.

“Cherry?” Lance called out to his sister, she came around the corner looking like she had been rolling around in the dust and dirt.

“Yes?” Lance couldn't help suppress a laugh seeing how silly she looked. Cherry saw her brother trying not to laugh, then tilted her head, dust drifting off her mane. That was it. Lance broke out laughing as she looked even more confused. “What's so funny?” she asked innocently. Lance composed himself, as he looked back to his sister, wiping away a tear with a hoof.

“We're going out,” Lance said “but first we've gotta get you all cleaned up.” Cherry looked down at herself and noticed how filthy she was.

“Well, you’re not exactly Mr Soaps either!” Cherry replied with a smile. Lance gave himself a look over. He was just as filthy as she was. Cherry giggled when she saw his face, and then poked her tongue out at him.

“Oh no you didn't!” Lance started her down.

“Oh yes I did!” Cherry responded, and stuck out her tongue again. Lance chased her and she ran into the next room, Lance jumped at her but Cherry screamed and then she moved swiftly out the way, laughing as ran for the door again, looking for a place to hide.

“You can't escape me!” Lance gave chase again right into the bedroom. She was clearly hiding under the bed and Lance stopped. He then slowly began walking around the bed. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Lance called out in a sing song voice. “I know you're here.” Lance mock looked in all the silliest places. Behind dusty curtains, on the bed itself. But with very few places to actually look before being forced to go where he knew she was, that part of the game had to end quickly. “I know where you are. You're. Right. HERE!” Lance shouted as he dropped to his belly and was face to face with her under the bed. She screamed and turned to crawl out the other side, but he grabbed her by the tail and dragged her out, she was screaming between fits of giggles as he began tickling her!

“S-STOP! HAHA! STOP!” She cried out between breaths and screams. Tears forming in her eyes.

“Do you give up?” Lance kept tickling her as she rolled and squirmed on the dusty and dirty floor.

“YE-YES!! I-I GIVE UP! I GIVE UP!!” Cherry stopped screaming as he stopped with the onslaught of tickling but she continued to laugh afterwards none the less. Lance pulled her up and held her in a tight hug. They both stayed there for about a minute holding each other and catching their breath.

“Come on, we need to get cleaned up.” Lance set Cherry Blossom down. She still had tears in her eyes, but they were the kind that wouldn't break a heart, but rather melt it. They had both been through a lot in the last twenty four hours. Their father, the long trip leaving them with no money, a practically empty house on the edge of a creepy forest. But as long as they had each other, they knew everything would turn out fine.

Chapter 3

By the time Lance and Cherry had left Sugarcube Corner, it was night time. They had stayed and enjoyed the party, as well as help themselves to a few extra cupcakes. Cherry had fallen asleep towards the end and Lance decided it was time to go home. She was now resting on her brothers back as the ivory pony made their long walk home. Lance looked up towards the moon, enjoying the nights air. He could see Canterlot far away, lit brightly against the dark shadow of the mountain.

One day, we'll be living up there.

Lance still didn't have a job though. He had asked Cheerilee if the school needed a caretaker or anything, but sadly the school didn't need anypony like that. He had also asked the Cake's if there was a job available at Sugarcube Corner, but again he was turned down. Getting a job was gonna be harder than he thought.

But at least next week Cherry will be starting school.

Unfortunately Lance had to get her some school supplies, which meant more money. The good mood that Lance had been in faded quickly. Everything depended on him. Food, living, supplying. Tomorrow he'd have to search every place in Ponyville looking for a job.

Maybe the market will have something? Their all farmers, right? Lance thought to himself. Surely there must be somepony willing to take on an extra pair of hooves.

Lance had a plan for tomorrow. Before he realised it, he was on the dirt path that led to their home. The path was still overrun with weeds, and being outside the edge of the town, no pony seemed to dare come here. He thought back to the party and everyponies reaction to when he told them all where they were living.

Cherry Blossom was rolling a ball on the floor towards the two foals. First to Pound Cake who would bounce it back, if not a little too hard, and then after Cherry would get the ball back, she'd roll it to Pumpkin Cake. Who would immediately pick the ball up and begin sucking on it. Mr. Cake was always there though to take the ball from her and help her to roll it back to Cherry.

“They look like there all having so much fun, don't they?” Mrs. Cake had said to Lance. They had been talking about if he could get a job working at Sugarcube Corner before she had gently let him down.

“Well, Cherry's never really- I mean, yeah. Yeah they do.” Lance almost said something that would have brought up too many questions. Cherry's never had friends before, being kept inside a house working day and night. He was glad that that part of their life was over and he'd never see her like that again. Lance took a quick sip of the fruit punch he had on the table next to him. The song on the record player just changed to something a lot more lively and Lance heard Pinkie say something about jam before bouncing to the dance area she'd set up.

“So tell me deary," Said Mrs. Cake, getting Lance's attention again. "Where exactly in Ponyville are you staying?” Lance knew some pony would ask this eventually. Maybe he could just sugar coat it and not exactly say what the place was like.

“Well, it's just a little place outside the town. Nothing special. It's just on the edge of the forest.”

Needle Scratch!

Everypony had stopped where they stood. All conversations went quite, followed up by whispers. Lance couldn't help but notice all eyes were on him. Mrs. Cake shakily touched a hoof to Lance's shoulder.

“De-Deary. Surely you don't mean the old house by... Everfree Forest, do you?” Mrs. Cakes sounded a little worried.

Just then the Cake's foals began crying loudly. Mr. Cake picked them both up saying he was taking them to bed. Lance looked back to Mrs. Cake.

“Look, I know that the house in currently in a state of disrepair, but as soon as I can find a job-” Mrs. Cake cut Lance off.

“Deary, it isn't the house we're worried about. It's the forest!”

“Wait, what?” Lance asked confused. Just then, a unicorn with a mint green coat and the same colour mane with a white stripe stood forward.

“That forest isn't safe.” The mint unicorn said. Then another pony that was next to her stepped forward. She had a cream coloured coat and a blue and pink curly mane.

“All kinds of monsters live in there!” Then suddenly each pony at the party were stepping forward one after the other.

“The forest is hexed!”

“Haunted!”

“Evil!”

“And Spoooookie!” Pinkie appeared behind Lance. “You can't stay there. Everypony that's lived there has mysteriously disappeared! They say the house is like an evil monster that welcomes you in and when you fall asleep, WHAM! It'll trap you inside and crawl away and spit you out into the heart of the forest where the wicked enchantress of the forest will take your soul and use it to put on a puppet show, and the only guests are the monsters of the forest!“

Suddenly there was the sound of crying and everypony looked to the source. Cherry Blossom was running across the floor and jumped into her brother, holding him tight while she cried her heart out. She was terrified. Lance looked at Pinkie with a scowl on his face.

“Look what you've done!” Lance gave a nasty look to everypony in the store. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Making up ridiculous ghost stories. Let alone believing them!” Lance then held the filly tight to himself.

“I-I d-don't w-wanna go back t-there!” Cherry spoke between sobs.

“It's okay,” Lance whispered to the little pink filly. “You've really got nothing to worry about.” Everypony in the room hung their heads in shame. Their fear, paranoia and over reacting had just terrified a little filly. Pinkie stood frozen. She, worse then everypony else, with her over-active imagination had perhaps caused the most damage. Mrs. Cake walked around to Cherry Blossom and got down low to Cherry's eye level and began speaking in a very gentle voice.

“It's all right deary. There's really nothing to be scared of.” Cherry's crying had quieted down. The mint green mare then stepped closer.

“Y-Yeah, we're sorry. It was all just... a bad joke.” Each pony murmur'd in agreement. One by one the ponies came forward and began saying they were sorry both to Cherry and to Lance. All but one pony. Pinkie had disappeared.

It had been a really rough end to an otherwise good day. Cherry had fallen asleep shortly after the trouble with the ghost stories. When Mrs. Cake had saw Cherry was asleep she leaned in close to Lance.

“I'm sorry about all of this deary. But I'm serious when I say, stay out of the forest.” She had told him. “And if you do ever have to go in, do not leave the path for any reason.”

Lance had wanted to argue again about the ghost story nonsense, but stopped himself when he saw the serious expression on her face.

They were close to their home now. Lance could see the candlelight in the window.

Candlelight? We never lit a candle before leaving? Lance thought to himself.

“Cherry. Cherry, wake up!” Cherry Blossom was still on his back, she looked at him with her eyes half closed. “I need you to get down for a minute.” She looked puzzled as he knelled closer to the ground for her.

“Why? What's wrong?” Cherry noticed the worried expression on her brothers face. Lance looked back to the house.

Father wouldn't have tracked us down would he? Lance thought to himself. Oh Celestia, how could I have been so foalish? Of course he would think to come here first.

What was he going to do? He couldn't fight him! His father was twice his size. Lance looked down to his sister.

“Cherry. I need you to promise me you'll stay here.”

“What? But-” Lance cut her off.

“Promise me!” Cherry heard the worry in Lance's voice. She knew something was wrong when she looked over to the house. Cherry nodded as she stepped away from her brother.

Lance slowly made his way to the front door and noticed it was slightly ajar. Lance peeked in and saw no pony in the immediate hallway. He pushed the door open without a sound and then stepped inside. The kitchen was to his left, living room to the right, further down the hall on the left was the bathroom and the bedroom on the right. Lance stepped into the kitchen first.

There was a bunch of candles lighting up the whole kitchen, and Lance saw the watering can right in front of him. This would have to do, if he was forced to defend himself. He knew there was nothing else in the house so he headed toward the living room across the hall. A floorboard creaked as he stepped into the hall. It echoed throughout the house and suddenly everything instantly became quieter. It was already silent, but the sudden noise made it feel like the world had stopped moving altogether. Not a sound could be heard inside or outside. Lance thought he saw a darker shadow coming from down the hall, to the right.

He's in the bedroom.

Lance steadied himself, creeping down the hall as silently as he could. The door was only slightly open and he could see the light of the candle, flickering and coming through the crack of the door. He'd have to open the door quickly. Almost twenty four hours later and it seemed he was in the same situation as last time, back at his home in Las Pegasus. Only this time Cherry was safe outside. But was their father perhaps waiting for them? Just waiting for the door to open, before jumping out.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to just bull rush in. With the watering can held in his mouth, Lance quickly charged forwards into the room, knocking the door open with a loud bang. Lance looked around the room quickly seeing only the bed and two candles on the windowsill lighting the room. He saw no other pony here. Lance hesitated as he put down the watering can to check under the bed. Nothing. Lance stood up and turned around.

Something then suddenly dropped from the ceiling hanging upside down.

“SURPRISE!!” Lance screamed with shock as he jumped backwards from the intruder and he tripped over the watering can. He landed hard on his flank as he heard giggling. He looked up and saw Pinkie Pie drop from the ceiling.

“What!? P-Pinkie!?” Lance regained his composure as he stood up.

“So, what you think? Is it nice? Do you like it?" Pinkie was bouncing up and down on the spot.

“What's going on? What's with all these candles? What are you doing here in my home?”

“OH! Well, you see at first I was all sad because I'd made you mad for making Cherry sad, so I thought that the best way to turn those frowns upside down was to make this creepy house into a SUPER MAGNIFICENT AMAZING WONDROUS FANTASTIC HOUSE!” Lance looked around the room properly this time and saw that the bed had been completely cleaned off, the sheets had been replaced along with the blankets and pillows. The floors had be dusted and washed, as well as the walls.

“Pinkie. Did... did you do all of this?” Lance asked, stunned.

“Yep, I did every room from top to bottom!” Pinkie said with a proud smile.

“But how? You've only been gone from the party for like an hour.”

"Silly. You think I'd give away a pinkie secret?" Pinkie giggled as Lance walked out into the hallway to check the other rooms. The bathroom was spotless. The kitchen sparkled. The living room was completely devoid of dust and cobwebs now. Lance even saw that all the letters had been stacked into three piles and another small tiny pile of pink letters sat to the side.

“Those are all my old party invitations. I was just gonna reuse them for next time. I think I should just hoof deliver them myself. That way I can see all my friends more and no pony will ever have to worry about missing out on a Pinkie Pie party!” Lance looked at the other letters. They were all in order. Not just by how close the houses were, but each pile represented dates of how old the letters were. The third pile was a mess, but it was all junk mail that was completely worth tossing outside in the garbage. Just then Lance remembered something as he looked out the window.

“Cherry!” Lance then rushed to the door and looked outside to where he left his sister. She was gone.

Chapter 4

Cherry waited outside as she watched her big brother go into the house. It had been about ten minutes she waited and it was getting darker. The wind picked up and had a bitter icy chill to it. Her hooves were wet from the grass caused by the cold night air, but she didn't move. She waited like she said she would.

SNAP!

Cherry jumped as she heard the noise of a branch breaking. She looked over to see where it came from. A small white rabbit was running towards the Everfree forest.

“Mister Rabbit, wait!” Cherry called after it, but it didn't stop. She struggle against herself as she saw the rabbit getting closer to the forest. “Wait, it's dangerous in there!”

She took a step forward and then before she knew it, she was running. She didn't want the rabbit to get hurt. As it reached the edge of the forest, Cherry called after it again.

“Wait, Please don't go in there!”

The rabbit stopped and turned towards Cherry Blossom. The rabbit then seemed to shake its head at her, then quickly turned back and hopped into the forest. Cherry stopped right on the edge, where the rabbit had been just a second before. The pink filly stood there shaking. The ghost stories from the party remained in her head, but they all said it was just a joke. Yet the forest still looked monstrous.

The trees looked like they had long arms and sharp claws, with each branch reaching out towards her. The cold wind blew against her from behind, making it feel like she was being pushed in. The bush in front of her shook and then she saw the rabbit going deeper into the forest. Cherry wanted to call out, but couldn't find her voice. She wanted to help the poor rabbit. If everything they said about the forest was true, then she just couldn't leave the poor animal. Cherry put her head down low and walked into the forest.

The ground felt softer. Wetter. Colder. She focused on the spot the rabbit had jumped over to and followed it. Cherry couldn't understand why the rabbit would want to go into the forest in the first place. It was horrible. The air tasted stale, the plants looked ugly and disgusting.

Animals would never eat this, would they? Cherry thought to herself.

Cherry kept heading deeper. There was another rustle of a bush and Cherry hurried over to it.

"There you are Mister Rabbit. We should get you outta here." But as she leaned down to the bush, a bird flew out of it, making her scream and jump backwards.

Cherry fell over a branch that was sticking out and she fell down a long slope. She rolled to the bottom, but luckily she wasn't hurt. When she opened her eyes, her vision was blurred by the tears that had started to come. The little filly tried to climb back up but the grass was too wet and she kept slipping. Cherry sat down, wiping her eyes with the back of her hoof. She couldn't sit there now. She had to find a way back up. Cherry walked back towards the way she thought was back home. But in the dark, she wasn't sure.

It had only been about five minutes, but it felt like forever. Cherry had lost the rabbit and also gotten herself lost. She walked back the way she thought she came in, but that just seemed to make her go deeper into the forest. Cherry had been crying silently but that wasn't going to help her. She called out for her brother but stopped when she heard something in the forest. It was up in the trees and sounded too large to be that same bird. The noise of the forest echoed around her with every step. The darkness left her blind. She couldn't even see her own hooves at the ends of her legs. Cherry bumped into something and was about to scream, till she realized it was only a tree. She sat down next to it, sobbing.

“I-I want my brother. I w-wanna g-go home.” She kept her voice low to barley an audible whisper. She didn't want to be found by any of the creatures in the forest. Cherry heard rustling noises coming from beside her. She looked to her side and could barely see the bush next to her.

“M- Mister Rabbit?” The filly stood up and moved closer to the bush next to her and knelt down low. She didn't want another bird flying at her again. Cherry could hear the animal breathing heavily and deeply. It definitely wasn't a rabbit. Cherry's instinct told her to run, but she was frozen to the spot.

THUD!

Something large landed behind Cherry. She didn't dare turn around, she just screamed and ran. She ran as fast as she could, but she couldn't see in this darkness. Something was behind her, it was making a low noise but she didn't hear it over the sound of her heart beating. Her hoof caught on something and she tripped, falling to the floor. She looked up and saw a gap in the trees with the moon was shining through it. The creature that had been chasing the filly landed right next to her. She felt the creature grab her and saw in the light of the moon, the feathery wings of the creature surround her, bringing her into a tight embrace. Cherry panicked and started kicking her hooves to fight the creature off.

“Please, calm down!" It said in a soft and gentle whisper. "It's okay. I promise I won't hurt you.” Cherry stopped fighting and then looked at the creature as the moon illuminated it. It was a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane, and she smiled down at the little filly as the white rabbit that Cherry had followed into the forest appeared on top of the pegasus's head.

* * *

Lance ran around the outside of the house panicking. Cherry had disappeared and he had absolutely no idea why.

“Cherry! Cherry Blossom!” Lance called out her name repeatedly. But there was never any response. Pinkie Pie ran over to him after coming back from Sugercube Corner.

“She never ran back to the party, so I have no idea where she went. She's really good at hide and seek.” Lance stared daggers at Pinkie. This wasn't a game. His sister was missing. What if it was their father? Or just a complete stranger took her? Lance turned his ferocity onto himself.

I never should have left her. I was so stupid! What kind of irresponsible brother am I?

Lance looked around and then thought about the forest.

Cherry isn't stupid. She would never go in there. Not after everything that was said before.

Lance's panic was getting worse. Then he heard Pinkie shouting.

“Ahhh! Up in the sky!” Lance turned is head up to above the Everfree forest and saw a dark silhouette of a pegasus with its wings stretched out and flying with the full moon behind it. "It's Batmare!" Pinkie screamed and then ran off. Lance looked towards Pinkie as she ran back to the town, and then back to the pegasus. On the pegasus's back, Lance could see a small filly.

“Cherry!” Lance galloped over to where the pegasus was coming down to land. Cherry was okay. Lance felt such a wave of relief rush over him as the pegasus landed and Cherry got down and jumped into her brother. Lance sat down as he held her close to himself.

"Big brother!"

“Cherry! I'm so sorry I left you alone.” After a moment, Lance then slowly pulled out the hug to look Cherry Blossom in the eyes. “What happened to you? How'd you end up in the forest?“ Cherry looked away from him at first. She knew that it was a silly reason.

“I-I'm sorry.” Cherry was trying to fight back the tears. She didn't want her brother to be mad at her.

“...Umm, ex-excuse me?” The voice was so quiet and timid, they almost didn't hear it. Lance looked over to the yellow pegasus. “I... I'm sorry. It's umm... my fault she was in there.” Cherry turned her attention to the pegasus too. “You see, Angel here came in to get me when I had spent too long in the forest. I... I was with my friend Zecora and didn't see how late it was, and Angel was worried about me coming home in the dark, so he came to get me. And, well, Cherry saw Angel going into the forest. And she's such a little dear for worrying about Angel and she wanted to help him. But Angel got too far away and she got lost. So I... I'm very sorry. Please don't be mad at me.” The pegasus looked down at the floor, hiding behind her mane. Lance thought to himself.

How could anypony be mad at her?

“No, it's- it's alright. I just...” Lance couldn't find the words. He wanted somepony to be mad at. Himself for leaving Cherry? Cherry for disobeying him? This gentle yellow pegasus?

“Umm... are you okay?” The pegasus looked concerned. “If- If you are mad, I'll just go.” She turned to leave but Lance called out.

“No, wait!” Lance jumped up and walked over to her. “I wanna thank you. Thank you for helping Cherry get out of the forest.”

“Oh umm... that's okay.” She backed away timidly Lance was struggling to find the words.

“Can I do anything to repay you, Miss...? ”

“Umm, I'm Fluttershy” Fluttershy had now become incredibly quiet. Was Lance making her uncomfortable?

“I'm Lance Angelswift. And you've already met my sister Cherry Blossom.”

“Oh yes, we had a nice talk on the flight back.” Fluttershy was smiling now and talking a bit louder. Cherry came over and stood next to Lance.

“Fluttershy has lots of animals, and she said that I could go see them any time!” Cherry had a smile on her face that made her look an awful lot like Fluttershy. Anypony would have guessed that they were related.

“Well, if Fluttershy is okay with you visiting her, I don't see a problem.” Lance smiled back to the both of them. Cherry turned around to Fluttershy.

“Can I come over tomorrow? Please, Miss Fluttershy?” Cherry asked with a pleading look on her face. Fluttershy just looked down at her with the same smile.

“Oh yes, that would be wonderful.”

“Excuse me, Fluttershy.” Lance interrupted “But umm, where exactly do you live?”

“I live in a little cottage just down there.” Fluttershy pointed a hoof off to the left from their house. They couldn't see anything due to it being night time, but Lance figured he could find it in the morning.

“Well, we should be getting inside now. It's late.” Lance said politely. He would have invited her in for a drink, but the house was still completely empty. “Thank you again, Fluttershy”

“Oh, umm... that's okay. Goodbye, Mr. Angelswift. See you tomorrow, Cherry.” Cherry waved a hoof.

“Bye Fluttershy! Bye Angel!” Cherry called out as they walked off. Lance saw the little white rabbit wave a paw at Cherry Blossom. He then nudged his sister and directed her towards the house.

“Cherry,” Lance started. “You know you broke a promise to me, right?” Cherry's smile fell.

“I...” She was about to apologise when her brother cut her off.

“I know you wanted to help that rabbit, but if anything were to have happened to you... If Fluttershy hadn't found you...” Lance didn't finish his sentence. He didn't need to. Cherry understood.

They both walked inside and Lance took his sister directly to the bedroom. It was very late and after everything that happened in this one long day, she needed some sleep. Cherry suddenly noticed how clean everything was. Lance explained that somehow, Pinkie had cleaned up the entire house and she did it as an apology for making her cry. Lance then made Cherry climb into the bed.

“Now, you lie down and go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning, okay?” Lance turned around and blew out the candles. He drew the curtains shut and then began walking towards the door.

“Wait!” Cherry called loudly. Lance turned to look at her in the dark. “Can... can you stay with me tonight?” Lance shook his head.

“There's not enough room for-”

“Please?" Cherry pleaded. "I... don't wanna be alone.” Lance's heart hurt. He walked over to her bed and took hold of one of her hooves.

“Cherry. You'll never be alone again. I promise." Lance nuzzled the side of her neck. "Let me put out all the other candles first. Then I'll be right back.” Lance left for each of the other rooms, blowing out the candles and locking the front door. As Lance went into the kitchen he saw a pink box on the side. Walking up to it he saw a card on top.

'Welcome to Ponyville, Lancie and Cherry.
You newest and bestest friend, Pinkie Pie'

Lance opened the box up and inside was a large cake with yellow and pink frosting. The word 'Welcome' was written across it in blue icing.

Well... I guess I know what's for breakfast.

Lance closed the box and then blew out the last of the candles. He headed back into Cherry's room and saw she was sitting up, waiting for him.

“I thought you might have fallen asleep.” Lance said quietly. Cherry shook her head.

“I couldn't sleep. T-The dark...” Cherry sounded like she was holding back tears. Lance understood that she had been lost in those woods and couldn't imagine how scary it must have been in there. Lance climbed gently onto the bed and Cherry immediately hugged him tight before he'd even gotten comfortable. He said nothing about it though.

“Cherry. I want you to make a promise to me, and this time you have to keep it. No matter what. Okay?

“Uhmm.” Lance could feel Cherry nodding against him.

“I want you to promise that no matter what. You won't go into that forest again, alone. You understand?”

“Uhmm”

“Promise me, Cherry.”

“I Promise.” Cherry said it quietly, but it was enough. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. Cherry then gently lifted her head up to say one more thing before resting her head down again.

“I love you, big brother.” Lance felt like somepony had just squeezed his heart. He smiled down at the little filly.

“I love you too, lil' sis.”

Chapter 5

"-And she said that I can help her with feeding the animals, and looking after them, and-" Cherry had been talking non-stop since breakfast. They both had a slice of Pinkie's cake and while the cake was delicious, Lance hoped that he would be able to buy some proper food soon. All these sweets can't be too good for a pony’s diet. They had just crossed a bridge over a small stream and were now walking along a well-kept dirt path, up a hill, that led towards a cottage that was so dressed up, that it looked like it was just another part of the environment. The roof was covered in grass, there were at least a dozen bird houses all over the house and even more hanging from tall thin trees along the pathway. There were also holes in the hill itself where lots of underground animals were nesting. Lance adjusted the saddlebags that he had on his back before raising a hoof and knocking gently on the door. Fluttershy answered the door seconds later.

"Oh, good morning." Fluttershy said as she stepped back. "Please come inside." Cherry jumped ahead of Lance in front of Fluttershy.

"Hi Fluttershy!" Cherry was super excited to see the yellow pegasus again. Lance stepped in, walking around his little sister who was half blocking the way in.

"Good morning, Fluttershy." Lance said politely. "Thank you for inviting Cherry over. It's all she's been talking about all morning."

"That's alright. I've been looking forward to it." Fluttershy said with a smile. "Umm, would you like some tea or a cold drink?" It was a tempting offer, and all Lance had to drink that morning was some water from the tap.

"Thank you, but I have to be going. I just wanted to make sure that Cherry got here okay." Cherry was looking at a small birdhouse that was hanging from the ceiling. Small blue birds were flying in and out of it gathering food from the bird feeder hanging just outside the open window. The entire house was full of small animals. There were mice, chipmunks, ferrets, and lots of other animals that Lance didn't recognise. The cottage was extremely well kept, considering all the animals walking along the furniture. Cherry jumped up to the window and looked out the back.

"Wow! Big brother, look at this!" Cherry shouted a little too loudly and the animals had fled, hiding themselves back in their little homes.

"Cherry." Lance cautioned. "I know you’re excited, but remember. You're a guest in Fluttershy's house and you’re scaring the animals." Cherry looked around and saw all the animals that were happily scurrying around had hidden away. Cherry slowly came down from the windowsill and then headed over to Fluttershy, with her head hung low.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fluttershy." Cherry had, in a heartbeat, sunken back into her shell and was again shy and quiet. Not making any eye contact. Fluttershy walked over to Cherry and lifted her face up with her hoof.

"That's okay, sweetie. Now don't you worry about it, okay?" Lance could tell that Fluttershy had had experience talking to children. Or maybe she just spent so much time talking to animals that she was a natural at being comforting. Cherry smiled at Fluttershy.

“Well, I've gotta head off.” Said Lance. “Cherry. You behave yourself and do everything Fluttershy tells you. Okay?” Cherry nodded. “Good.” Lance walked over to Cherry and gave her a quick hug. “I'll be back later. Thank you again, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy nodded and smiled back to Lance.

“That's okay, Mr. Angelswift. It's my pleasure.”

“Please, call me Lance.” Lance smiled back to her.

“Oh, umm... I'm sorry, Lance.” Fluttershy had gone quiet again.

Is she like this around everypony, or do I seem intimidating to her?

“Well, I'm gonna go now. Bye! Be good!” Lance said to his little sister before waving a hoof and then walking out the door. Cherry waved and said goodbye as she watched her brother leave. Lance shut the door behind him and took a deep breath of the cool spring air. Fluttershy sure did live in a much nicer area. He hoped maybe he could beautify his home like this soon after he'd finally gotten a job.

* * *

Lance had reached the market and it was very busy in the morning. Ponies from all over Ponyville were shopping for their weekly supplies. They all had their saddlebags full of fruits, vegetables, jams and other items, like pots and pans. Seems this was the place you could buy just about everything you ever needed. Lance walked over to the first stall he saw. A mare with a light yellow coat, green eye shadow and a brown curly mane was selling tomatoes.

“Yeah, what can I get for you?” She said, sounding bored.

“Hi, I just moved to Ponyville and I was wondering if you needed any workers? Maybe someone who can-” The mare cut him off.

“Listen sonny, I don't need any more workers back at the greenhouses. My kids pick 'em. I sell 'em. I don't employ people. Now, unless you’re buying, I suggest you move along.” The mare gave a look to Lance that screamed 'Get Lost'. Lance moved away without another word. He then approached the next market stall. There was a grey stallion with an orange mane behind the stall, selling pears.

“How do, friend! What can I get for ya?” The pony asked with a smile.

“Hello,” Said Lance. “I'm new in town and I'm looking for work. I was wondering-” Lance was again interrupted.

“Wait. Ain't you that new fella that Pinkie had that party for yesterday? T-That's living near the ol' forest?” said the salespony.

“Err, well yes, I'm-”

“Well, 'taint much I can help ya with.” Said the salespony, in a rush. " 'Fraid we got all the help we need back home. You best just move along. Good day!” Lance looked down at the ground then back up to meet the stallion’s eyes.

“Okay. Well thank you for your time.” Lance walked away.

What was that about? He seemed fine till he-

Lance realised that the Pony only got flustered after recognizing him.

Were the ponies really so paranoid that they won't even talk to a pony who lives NEAR it?

This turned out to be mostly true. Many of the ponies were quick to make up excuses to get Lance away from their stalls and one pony even turned hostile. Shouting and telling him to leave 'Or else!'. Lance couldn't believe it. The ponies in this town thought he was cursed or something. The ivory coloured pony walked with his head low, avoiding a few stares he was getting.

"Get your delicious and nutritious apples here!" Lance looked up and saw he was walking past a salespony he hadn't been to yet. An orange mare wearing a brown cowpony hat over her blonde mane, tied back in a ponytail. She was in front of an Apple cart full to the brim with delicious looking apples. Lance headed over to her and she greeted him with a smile.

"Well howdy do there mister. Names Applejack! What can I do ya fer?" Applejack asked.

"Hello," Lance spoke politely. "My name's Lance Angelswift. I'm new to Ponyville and I’m looking for a job." Applejack didn't lose her smile but her eyes said the same story everyone else's did.

"Well, I'd like ta help ya out an' all. But I'm afraid that we don't really need any more help over at Sweet Apple Acres." Lance hung his head low. Applejack saw the rejected look on his face and couldn't help feeling guilty. "But err... look. We've got cider season coming up soon and I reckon we sure could use the help then." Lance looked back up to Applejack.

"That's very kind, but that still doesn't help me and my little sister survive until then." Lance said, sounding depressed.

"Ya'll have a little sister?" Applejack asked, concerned.

"Yeah, she's being looked after by a friend at the moment." Lance said. "But, I've tried every market stall and everyponies rejected me. Most of the time, I could tell they were lying and just wanted to get rid of me. But... Well, thank you for your honesty." Lance turned to walk away.

"Now hold on there." Applejack stopped him. "Now look, I really can't offer you a job, but if you keep looking, there's bound to be one somewhere. Don't give up! An 'ere. Take some of these with you." Applejack took a small bag of apples and placed them into Lance's saddle bags. Lance smiled up at Applejack.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly-"

"Now don' you 'freat. These here are on da' house.

"T-That's very kind of you. Thank you!"

"And remember. You've always got friends up at Sweet Apple Acres. You should drop by sometime once you get settled in. And bring your sister! I'm sure she'll get on well with Applebloom, my little sis'." Applejack seemed like a really nice pony. Lance thanked her again and promised to take her up on her offer, one day. Lance walked away, waving a hoof. His spirits lifted higher now that he'd made a new friend, but if she knew about where he lived, would she have given him such a warm reception? The free apples that Applejack had given him, weighed heavy in his saddlebags. Then he remembered.

The letters!

Lance had the letters in his saddlebags and he wanted to take them to the local post office. He didn't know if it would do any good. Most of the letters were years old but some were recent. Though it did seem like that there hadn't been any post from the past few weeks. Lance assumed that maybe the mailpony had just simply stopped coming by the house seeing as how terrified everypony was of it. Lance headed though the town and eventually reached the Ponyville Post Office. He walked inside and was quite surprised. It was empty, the floor was dirty, the rope that you would have ponies stand behind while waiting in line was lying on the floor. It was like nopony cared. There was a pony behind a counter but she looked like she was asleep. Lance walked up to her.

"Umm, excuse me." Lance said to the old blue mare behind the counter. Her grey mane was a mess and she wore thin half-moon spectacles. She awoke with a snort then looked up at Lance, blinking a few times trying to get her eyes to adjust.

"Oh sorry. Err... yes dear. How can I help you?"

"Hello. I've got some letters here that-" The old mare jumped up from her seat.

"Oh! Really? Well, then hand them over and we'll get them all done for you." She held out her hooves expectantly. Lance felt like the Post Office never got customers anymore.

"Well, the thing is..." Lance hesitated and then pulled out two stacks of letters. The first stack was made up of letters that were less the six months old. The second, much larger stack was held together by string. These letters were much older than six months. Many going back several years. "These letters were all delivered to my house mistakenly over the years. I wasn't sure what to do with them, so I've brought them back here." The old mare lowered her hooves, losing the smile from her face.

"I see. Well, just leave them on the counter then." She looked so crest fallen as she sat back down. Just then the door from behind her slammed open, making Lance jump. But the old mare just seemed to ignore it.

"PENNY!!" A brown pegasus stallion burst into the room. He looked a mess. His black mane looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. In fact, HE looked like he hadn't washed in weeks. He had rough facial hair all around his mussel, he looked slightly overweight and he sounded very rough. "I told you that I wanted my coffee twenty minutes ago! Where is-" The stallion stopped mid-sentence when he saw another pony in the room. "Who the feather are you?"

"I- I..." Lance stammered.

"He's just come to return miss-delivered letters." The old mare said, sounding bored.

"Oh really?" The pegasus sounded annoyed. "Well lemme tell you something young colt. We don't give a hoof about giving rewards or compensation for you taking your 'precious' time having to come all the way out here to return these damned letters!" The pegasus' temper was rising.

"Wait, rewards? No, I just-" Lance started, but wasn't heard as the stallion kept shooting off at the mouth.

"And you think this is at all easy? Delivering hundreds of letters when no other ponies will help?" Lance gave a look to the old mare. She was just sitting there, looking down. "And all you ponies wanna do is complain. None of YOU ever take the time to help! I'm constantly stuck with you small brained parasprites that cause me nothing but trouble!" Lance took a few steps back.

What is this ponies problem?

"And with the mailponies constantly quitting on us, we're stuck with the complaints from little foals like you complaining about 'Oh I never got my letter'. And I’m fed up with it!" The pegasus' impression of a little filly wasn't very flattering. Lance had to stop him.

"Now look here! I've done nothing to provoke this. I just moved to Ponyville yesterday. My home was full of letters mailed to the wrong address, and I brought them back here. I'm not looking for any reward. I just did it because I thought it was the right thing to do!" Lance met the pegasus' cold stare, neither of them blinking.

"Well, the little Colt-scout has done his good deed for the day. Well, you might as well forget it. These letters aren't ever getting delivered. The last mailpony quit weeks ago and no one else will take the damn job!"

"I can't imagine why?" The old mare said quietly, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe somepony would take the job if you didn't shout at everypony that came in here." Lance said, as the Pegasus turned his back to him.

"Well I don't see YOU volunteering for the job?"

"Well..." Lance didn't like this Stallion. He was rude, a bully, a jerk. But Lance was desperate. "Maybe I am!" The stallion spun around on the spot.

"You serious?!"

"Yeah!" Lance stepped up to the counter. "Look, I need a job and you clearly need a mailpony." The pegasus looked Lance up and down.

"What's wrong with you?" The pegasus asked suspiciously.

"Excuse me?" Lance replied, offended.

"Every mailpony over the years has had something wrong with them. That derpy mare, and also that near sighted foal. What's your problem?" Lance really didn't like this stallion.

"Nothing. I'm exactly what you see." The pegasus huffed, and then flew over to a small door, opening it.

"Get in here. Let's talk."

* * *

Lance was wearing his new blue mailpony jacket along with a small blue hat. He had been given a not so simple task of delivering all the letters that he himself had brought in and there was also another task.

"I have to WHAT?!" Lance said stunned. He was in the office with his, soon to be, boss.

"You have to go to each house, knock on their door, hand them their mail and then tell them that you're sorry for all the issues that Ponyville Post has had over the years and that changes are being made to its staff members. All mailponies are going under training to insure that they are competent enough to deliver the mail." The pegasus sat behind his desk, with a cigar in his mouth. He seemed pleased with the idea.

"You going to make me, the mailpony, look the fool to try and get the post office off the hook?" Lance said.

"Quick as a whip, kid." The brown stallion blew out a puff of smoke. The room stank of it.

"This is-" Lance was quickly interrupted.

"I hate this as much as you do." The pegasus clearly lied. "But the company is losing money fast and we need to get the money up. I hate this place, but I ain't letting it go under."

"If you hate this place, why don't you quit?" Lance asked, not hiding his dislike for the pegasus very well. The stallion then jumped up.

"Are you kidding me?" He turned and pointed at the cutie mark on his flank. It was an envelope with a pair of legs. "With a cutie mark like this and my parents calling me 'Post Pony Pete', how could I be ANYTHING ELSE?!"

Lance had an understanding now as to why Post Pony Pete was angry all the time. His entire life he'd been pushed into something that maybe he didn't want to be. Lance stared back at his own cutie mark. A Shield. Lance believed it was his destiny to be a Canterlot royal guard. Since getting his mark, that's all he's dreamed of. But was that his dream or what he thought he had to be?

Lance had been to a few houses already. Delivered their mail and, although he hated it, apologised for the mailponies failures of the past and from this day forward they would undergo special training. Lance knew there would be no training, but if there was, it would be stuff like 'learning to read addresses'. It was humiliating to let the ponies of Ponyville think he was an idiot. Lance came to a small house with grey walls and a straw roof. Lance knocked on the door and stood back. The door was answered by a light brown stallion with a dark brown mane that was brushed backwards behind his head, yet it still remained a little spiky.

"Hello there." The brown pony said.

"Good afternoon," Said Lance. "I have a letter here for 'The Doctor'?"

"Ah, Yes that's me." Lance pulled the letter from the mailbag and handed it over. Lance noticed it said on the front 'Open immediately!'. The letter was old from the look of it, so whatever was in there was most likely not going to be of any use. Just like most of the old letters. The doctor took it and then said, with the letter in his mouth. "Huh? Ain' 'ah s'range" The Doctor began opening the letter and Lance began his forced apology.

"Sir, on behalf of the Ponyville Post Office, I'd like to apoli-" While Lance was making the same apology for what felt like the thousandth time that day, The Doctor had opened the letter and began reading it. His eyes shot open and then he grabbed Lance and pulled him to the floor. Lance was surprised and instantly lost his balance, falling face down to the floor. Lance noticed The Doctor was lying over him and before he could ask what he was doing, there was a loud explosion from inside the house and a large object flew over both their heads, landing in the garden with a loud metallic clang. Lance took a peek and saw the smoking front of an oven door.

"Oops! My bad!" A mare called out from inside the kitchen. The Doctor got off of Lance then called back into the kitchen.

"Derpy? Are you okay in there?" The Doctor sounded only half concerned, like this happens all the time.

"Yeah! And the muffins are ready!" The voice called from the kitchen.

"Ah, splendid. Would you care to join us Lance?" The Doctor offered a hoof and helped Lance back up.

"No... No thank you I-" Lance then realised. "Wait, how'd you know my name?" He asked, curious.

"Oh, it was in the letter you sent me." The Doctor showed Lance the letter.

'Dear Doctor,

Grab Lance and duck.

Love,
The Doctor.

P.S. Isn't that face priceless?'

Lance looked up, and The Doctor started laughing.

"Haha. Yes, it certainly is."

Wait, what?

Lance's mind was completely fried.

Who wrote that letter? How did they know that was going to happen? That letter was written months ago! WHAT IN THE HAY IS GOING ON?!

The Doctor patted Lance on the shoulder.

"Relax my fine fellow. I'm sure you'll learn the truth someday. Or not. Now come have some of Derpy's delicious muffins." Lance couldn't think of any response. A near death experience. A letter from the future, or the past? Nothing made sense.

* * *

"-and she has squirrels, and cats, and a pink flamingo, and she let me feed her chickens and-" Much like the journey to Fluttershy's house this morning, Cherry was talking non-stop as they left it. Lance was exhausted. He'd walked all around Ponyville and met just about all its citizens. Including a few unfriendly faces he'd met at the market this morning, but at least he'd gotten to meet a few nice ponies. The Doctor and Derpy were two of the strangest ponies he's met since Pinkie Pie, but they were very friendly, even if Derpy was a bit ditzy. Lance found out that Derpy was a former mailpony herself before she quit, to become The Doctor's assistant. The Doctor never told Lance his name. Always insisted it was 'The Doctor'. Lance expected him to have a doctor's cutie mark, just like Post Pony Pete had a cutie mark of a running envelope. But instead he had an hour glass.

What kinda special talent is that? Does he always know the time?

Lance never asked. He'd finished delivering all the mail and returned to the post office. Pete had gone home early, but he left the old mare, Penny, with Lance's pay for the day. Lance had swapped his mailbag for his saddlebag before leaving and noticed that a few of the apples that Applejack had given him were missing, leaving only three. He'd ask Pete about this tomorrow morning.

Lance and Cherry reached their house just as the sun was setting and the moon was ready to rise into the sky. Lance and Cherry had an apple each for dinner that night, then another slice of cake for dessert. Lance had some bits now and a job. Tomorrow he'd be able to buy some proper food and a lot more necessities. Cherry was also smiling a lot more and talking constantly about Fluttershy and her animals. Things were starting to look up for them both.

Chapter 6

Cherry Blossom had barely touched her breakfast. She had a knot in her stomach that made her feel like if she ate anything, she'd be sick. Lance was rushing around the house, gathering the last things that Cherry would need. Her sandwiches, pencils, paper, books. Lance placed all these items into her new sky blue saddlebags with a red heart on the strap. Today was Cherry's first day of school and as any filly or colt would be, she was nervous. They'd been in Ponyville for five days now and everything had been going well for them. Lance was working and bringing home enough bits to pay for almost everything they needed. Food, plates, cups, and other household items needed for everyday living. Though the house was still mostly bare from the lack of furniture, they did manage to get a table and chairs for the kitchen very cheap.

Fluttershy had been a big help looking after Cherry while Lance worked all week. Lance only ever got Sunday's off work and he had to use that free time to do the shopping. Cherry continued to look at her daisy sandwich and orange juice, as the same nervous thoughts came to her head. Lance had put the last item in her new saddlebags then turned to her.

“Okay, you're all set to go.” Lance then noticed she had barely touched her breakfast. “Cherry, what's the matter? You okay?”

“I feel sick.” She replied quietly. Cherry never moved her head. She just kept staring, as if the food or the table in front of her wasn't there. Lance walked over and gave her a gentle smile.

“Cherry. I know you’re nervous. Every pony is on their first day. But you've already met Miss Cheerilee and she was nice, wasn't she?” Cheerilee had come by a few days ago. She just wanted to drop off a list of items that Cherry Blossom would need for the first day of school. She was nervous of the forest, that was clear, but when Lance invited her in for tea, she graciously accepted. She was a good, kind-hearted mare and Lance knew she'd make sure Cherry was looked after in school.

“Do I really have to go?” Cherry asked, turning to look at Lance.

“Yes. Everypony has to when they get older.” Lance said, in his most comforting voice. Cherry looked back to her breakfast. “Eat a little more. You'll feel better.” Lance gave his little sister a quick hug. As he pulled out, Cherry grabbed him and pulled him back into it. They stayed like that a moment longer. Then Lance glanced up at the clock. “It's time to go.”

* * *

The school bell rang, signalling the start of the school day. Fillies and colts that were playing around on the playground now picked up their saddlebags and ran into the classroom. The school was a large red building that looked like it could have once been a small church with a bell tower above it. Cheerilee was stood at the doorway and she waved a hoof at Lance and Cherry, who was wearing her new saddlebags. Lance returned the wave but Cherry barely moved.

“I don't want to go!” Cherry whined. “I wanna stay with Fluttershy!” Lance looked down as Cherry started tearing up. He then got down to eye level with her.

“Cherry. I know school can be a very scary experience when you first go. But let me tell you something. You're going to have lots of fun here. You'll make so many new friends, learning together and you'll have a great teacher who'll be there to help you, should you ever have any problems.” Lance reassured her. Cherry didn't look up at Lance, her own fears weighing too heavy on her mind. She heard hoof steps. Lance and Cherry both looked and saw Cheerilee as she approached the school gate where they stood.

“Everything okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Said Lance. “She's just incredibly nervous.”

"Well don't you worry about a thing, Cherry." said Cheerilee. "We were all nervous on our first day of school."

Cherry looked back down to the ground. Lance had already told her that but it didn't help. Lance gave her one more look. “Cherry,” Lance spoke gently. “Do you remember why I had to leave school early?”

"I-It was because dad told you to?" Cherry whispered quietly.

"Not exactly." Lance said back. “I did it for you. It was so I could keep a roof over your head and put food in front of you. So that one day you could go to school, have a good education and a better life.” Cherry looked up at Lance.

“But what if he comes, while you’re gone?” Cherry said, a bit louder then she intended. Cheerilee looked confused at this. Lance gave a sideways look to her. He hoped she wouldn't bring this up later.

Is this why she's so nervous?

Cherry had felt safe with her brother and with Fluttershy, but here at school... She trusted no one.

“He won't. He's not coming back. Miss Cheerilee will look after you until I arrive after school to pick you up. Won't you Miss Cheerilee?” Lance asked her. Cheerilee brought herself back to the conversation.

“Of course I will. Just like I would any of my students. Now we really do have to get inside. Class has already started.” Cheerilee gave Cherry a confident smile.

Lance gave his sister another hug and then pushed her gently to Cheerilee. They both walked down the school path and arrived at the classroom. Cheerilee offering what encouragement she could. Most of the students were sitting down and talking loudly. A few others were still playing around as Cherry Blossom walked into the room. She instantly felt the eyes of a few students turn to her, and then heard them as they pointed her out to their friends next to them. Cheerilee called out to her students.

“Okay everypony, let’s take our seats.” The ones out their seats all rushed back as everypony fell quiet. “Now, today I want to continue our talk from last week about the study of wildlife, but first I want you all to welcome our newest student. Cherry Blossom.”

Cherry kept her head down as she felt the eyes everypony looking at her. She wished she could just turn invisible and hide. A few students said 'Hello', but she wasn't looking and didn't see which ones. It sounded like a murmur to her. Cheerilee then whispered to Cherry to go have a seat. She looked up and saw a seat at the very back. As she headed towards the seat, Miss Cheerilee began talking about something called homework and a review of plant life.

Cherry placed her saddlebags under her desk and then sat down, she risked a glance around her and she saw everypony was focused on only Miss Cheerilee. Cherry then looked towards her too. She was talking about plants found around Ponyville and how they grow. Cherry then saw on the chalkboard a picture of a Calla Lilly, just like the one in their front garden.

Cherry had been trying to look after it. Keeping it watered, pulling away the bad weeds, but they kept coming back and the flower itself didn't seem to be getting any healthier. She'd even cut herself on a thorn once. Lance had promised to buy something to protect her from the thorns, stingers and thistles. Cherry quickly reached into her saddlebags and pulled out some paper and a pencil. She copied as much as she could down. Her big brother taught her how to write back in the late nights, when they lived in Las Pegasus. He had taught her so much while she should have been in school. But instead was kept home. She believed that Lance could just keep teaching her from home, but even he didn't know about plant life. There was a lot he missed out on from leaving school early.

Cherry finished copying down all the information on the Calla Lilly and then looked at the next flower. It was a pretty red Rose. She thought it would look lovely in their garden and she began copying down the information for that too. Then the flower after that, then another. Cheerilee was talking about how the different flowers also had medicinal uses but Cheery was purely focus on what her home would look like if she made a garden with all different types of beautiful flowers. Suddenly the bell rang and everypony put there things away. Cherry wasn't sure what was going on, she just remained seated for a moment watching the others. Two colts began talking loudly to her right.

“Come on, Snails! We gotta get to the See Saw before anypony else!” A short heavy looking green colt said to a taller yellow colt.

“Eeeeh, 'old on. I'm coming. Wait up, Snips!” The colt called Snails chased after Snips as they ran out the door.

Cherry watched them leave and then saw Cheerilee walking over to her.

“It's recess time, Cherry. Aren't you going to go outside and play?” Cheerilee asked. Cherry hadn't really thought about it. “Go on outside. Just leave your things here, I promise they'll all be here when you get back.”

Cherry slid down from her desk and without a word went outside. It was a little cloudy this morning. The sun had been shining all week, so rain would have to come soon to balance it out. She walked among all the other screaming foals as they laughed and played together. Cherry saw a pair of fillies on the swings and it looked fun. She hadn't really been to a playground before. She watched the two as they swung higher and higher. One of them was yellow with a long red mane tied back by a large red bow. The other was orange with a shorter purple mane. Cherry saw how they swung their hind legs in front of themselves and then tucked them under the seat as they went backwards. The two fillies jumped off of the swings a few moments later and the orange one got significantly more distance then the yellow one, since she used her wings for an extra push.

“Hey!” The yellow one yelled. “Ya cheated!” The orange Pegasus looked back, with an annoyed face.

“What? I didn't cheat!” She retorted back.

“Yes you did! Ya'll used your wings!” The orange Pegasus looked back as she flapped her tiny wings quickly.

“Yeah? Well... you never said I couldn't use them!”

“I didn' think I need to, to tell ya'll ta play fair! You're jus' like Rainbow Dash when she cheated to beat my sister.”

“She never needed her wings anyway!”

They both walked off, continuing their argument as a third white filly, a unicorn, ran up to them and tried to stop them fighting. The swings were empty. Cherry went over to them, sat down and held onto the ropes. She then kicked her legs backwards and began to swing, but before she had the chance to kick forwards, somepony shouted at her.

“Hey! What do you think you're doing?” Cherry looked at who the voice was coming from. Two other fillies were standing right behind her. If she had swung backwards any further, she would have hit them. One of them was dark grey with blue glasses and a light grey mane with a braided pony tail. The other had a white mane, with a purple streak and a tiara on her head. Cherry also noticed that her pink coat was just like her own. The pink filly looked at Cherry with disgust.

“How dare you cut in front of us? We were next to use the swings!” She said. Cherry jumped down quickly and stepped away.

“I'm sorry. I-” Cherry started to apologise but the grey one interrupted her.

“Seriously. Did you, like, not see us standing right here?” Cherry was positive that neither of these girls were stood there before she got on the swings herself.

“I didn't-” She was cut off again. This time by the pink one.

“You better watch yourself. This is our playground. When you see us coming, you leave. You got it?”

“Yeah, got it?!” the grey one chimed along. Cherry backed away from both of them. Walking away from the swings, doing her best not to cry. “Hey look. She's crying!” They both laughed and she couldn't hold the tears back any longer. She fell to the floor and covered her face as they made fun of her.

“Come on, Silver Spoon. Let’s swing before recess is over.” Said the pink filly.

“Right behind you, Diamond Tiara” Silver Spoon followed her to the swings. They swung back and forth leaving Cherry Blossom on the floor, wiping her eyes. She hated it here. She wanted to go home. She got up and walked over to the classroom. Maybe Miss Cheerilee would let her spend the rest of recess inside? Just then, the class bell rang and Cherry went inside before anypony else. She sat down and just wanted to bury herself in her saddlebags, hiding away till her brother came to pick her up.

* * *

Cherry didn't pay much more attention in class the rest of that day. Cheerilee had asked her to stay behind after class. She wanted to know if she was okay, but Cherry wouldn't talk about it. She didn't want the horrible fillies to have a reason ever again to bully her. She went outside and walked over to her brother who was waiting by the gate.

“Hey Cherry. How was your first day?” Lance asked with a smile that quickly faded as she walked right past him, heading towards home. “Cherry?” Lance asked, with worry. “Cherry, what's-” The little filly screwed up her face and then broke down.

“Ju-- Just ta- take me h-h-home!!” Cherry was fighting back the tears again. She'd been holding them in all through class. Lance's heart was breaking at the sight of this. He leaned down to hug her, but she just ran off towards home. Lance looked back towards the school and saw Cheerilee standing at the doorway. Even from this distance he could see her concern. What Lance didn't see as he turned to run after Cherry, were two little fillies, a pink one and a grey one, laughing. Proud of themselves.

Chapter 7

The school bell rang, meaning it was time for recess. Cherry hated it. Everyday when she went outside, the two bullies were waiting for her to go and play on something. Cherry always waited her turn, and when she finally got onto something, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would come over and tell her to get off of it. Saying it was their turn. Always calling her a 'Crybaby' or 'Loser'. Their favourite taunt was 'Blank flank', making fun of her for not having a cutie mark. For not being special. Today's recess, she went outside and sat on the steps in front of the school house. She didn't want to even try to have a turn on the swings or anything. The laughter of the other fillies and colts made her feel worse. How could they all be so happy when life was so horrible? Her brother had been a shining light to her. He would always have been there when she needed him most. But here, she felt so alone, so vulnerable. This last week had been horrible but last night, had been the worst.

Cherry had another horrible day at school. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made a habit of making sure that Cherry was always as miserable as possible. Since the first day of school she had always gone home, ran into the bedroom and stayed there. Lance tried everything to cheer her up but she was just too distant. He asked Cheerilee one day after school if she'd noticed anything was wrong. Cherry had told neither her brother or Miss Cheerilee what happened during recess. Diamond Tiara even threatened that if Cherry told the teacher or anyone, they would make her life a whole lot worse. So, Cherry never told anypony anything. She bottled it up as best she could and just avoided the fillies any way possible.

Then last night, Lance came home with a gift for Cherry. It wasn't her birthday or anything, but when Lance saw Pinkie Pie that day and she became curious about what he had been up to, he told her about the present he'd gotten for Cherry. Pinkie then insisted she wrap it up for him. Lance wanted to say that it wasn't necessary, but it was almost impossible to tell her 'No' when it came to parties and presents. She had it wrapped up in a red box with a yellow ribbon on top, she told him to make sure that Cherry was the one to open it. Lance thanked Pinkie and brought the larger then necessary box back home.

Later that day he had picked up his sister from school but as always, she seemed distant and unresponsive. Lance asked her questions like 'How was school?' and 'You wanna talk about it?' but he would only get one word responses like 'Fine' and 'No'. Lance asked if she was mad at him and she shook her head, but only slightly. Lance really hoped that the present waiting for her at home cheered her up. Once they got home, Cherry had once again thrown her saddlebags down and ran right for the bedroom.

What was going on at that school?

He planed on talking to Cheerilee again if this continued. It hurt so much to see her this way. Lance hoped that the present he brought for her might cheer her up. He carried it into the bedroom and placed it onto the bed, where Cherry was laying down, facing the wall away from her brother.

“Cherry, I know you've had a hard week, but I want you to know that I'm still here for you. You're the most precious pony in my life and I'll do anything to make you happy. So I got you a little something.” Cherry looked over her shoulder slowly and saw the present. It was almost as big as she was. But instead of getting excited, she turned back to the wall. “Cherry, come on. It's something that I know you'll love.” She didn't move. Lance didn't know what to do. “Aren't you even curious?” Still nothing. “Look, here I'll show you, it's-” Lance had removed the ribbon and then...

POP!

WHIZZ!

“SURPRISE!!”

THUD!

The lid had exploded off the box. Balloons, confetti and streamers flew out across the room. Pinkie Pie had popped out of the box, right into Lance's face, causing him to fall backwards off the bed, hitting the floor hard. Cherry had jumped up to look over as all this happened. Pinkie jumped out the box looking at Lance in disappointment.

“Tsk tsk, Lancie. I told you to let Cherry open the box!” Lance's heart was pounding. He hadn't jumped so hard in his life. Pinkie then turned around to see Cherry on the bed, covered in confetti. “Hey, Cherry! I heard you were blue, but you're all kinds of colours now!” Pinkie giggled and Cherry looked at herself confused. She was covered in blue, yellow, red, orange, purple and lots of other coloured confetti, and even a piece of purple streamer in her mane. Cherry then for the first time that week giggled at herself, and then Pinkie laughed with her, which made her laugh, which made Pinkie laugh harder. Soon they were both rolling on the bed holding their sides, and kicking their legs. Lance got up off the floor rubbing the back of his head.

How'd she fit in that box? NO! WHEN DID SHE GET IN IT!?

Those questions faded immediately as Lance saw Cherry and Pinkie, rolling on the bed, laughing. This warmed his heart immensely. Cherry had been so depressed all week and was glad to see she was back to normal. After they had calmed down, Lance showed Cherry the gifts he got her. It was all kinds of gardening equipment, including some seeds so she could grow a few flowers of her own. She had jumped into Lance and given him a huge hug, knocking him backwards onto the bed. They spent the rest of the afternoon out in the garden. Pinkie even decided to stay and help. She mostly spent it messing around though, using the hoe as some kind of weapon and pretending to be fighting invisible monsters. This made Cherry laugh, so Lance didn't mind her wacky antics so much this time. They had cleared out most of the weeds, pulled out the thorns and thistles and made everything look much tidier.

Cherry had been focused on one area in particular, where the single white Calla Lilly grew, it was drooping closer to the weeds below, and Cherry had so many times tried to clear out the weeds, but they all grew back quickly during the night. She now had better tools to help her, she cleared out every weed, right down to the root. She had just pulled out the last root when Lance came over to her.

“I think we're done for today. The sun is setting and it's starting to get a bit cold.”

“Okay, I'll just do one last thing.” Cherry said, as she moved a few tools over towards the bag they all came in.

“Okay then, I'm gonna head inside and make us a few drinks. Pinkie! Would you like one?” Pinkie was doing a hoof-stand, just a little way away, where the grass had been cut down.

“Sure!” Pinkie called back, while still being upside down. Lance laughed quietly to himself and then went inside. Cherry looked around and saw the watering can by the door. It was half full of water already and she brought it over to the Calla Lilly. The watering can was too big for her and the water inside made it heavier then she'd expected. She lifted it up in her teeth struggling, then poured a few drops over the flower. That wouldn't be enough, so she tipped it a little more and then the shift of weight caused it to slide in her mouth. It caught one of her teeth and it caused her a lot of pain, making her drop the watering can. She held her mouth screwing up her face. Trying to block out the pain. She opened her eyes and they widened in horror.

“No...”

She gave a short sob and then she began crying loudly. Instantly Pinkie stopped what she was doing and Lance came out outside. He ran over to Cherry looking to see what was wrong. Lance then saw the watering can lying in the newly cleared flower bed. Lance picked it up gently and moved it to the side. The Calla Lilly laid squashed into the now soggy flowerbed where all the water had spilled out. Cherry cried harder now, saying repeatedly to herself 'I killed it! I killed it!' Lance held her tight, telling her that everything would be okay and that she could just grow more. But that didn't help at all.

They had spent the rest of that night playing board games. Pinkie's attempt at cheering Cherry up. It didn't work, no matter how many times they let her win, she just couldn't stop thinking about what she had done. In her mind, she didn't deserve to have her own garden.

She sat on the school house steps, feeling numb. Then Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked over to her. Cherry didn't care though.

“Hey!” Diamond Tiara called out to her. “I heard my daddy say that your living near the Everfree Forest!” Cherry didn't look at either of them. “Oh my. It is true! Hahaha. How's a crybaby like you not get eaten by those monsters?”

“She, like, probably just cries and they think she's not even worth a single bite.” Silver Spoon jeered.

“Or maybe she is a monster!”

“She sure smells like a monster!”

“When was the last time you took a bath?”

“Maybe that's why they don't eat her?”

“Yeah, Smelly Cherry!”

They both laughed and then sang “Smelly Cherry! Smelly Cherry!”

Cherry expected their insults to cause her to cry, but she had no more tears to shed. This was the worst week of her life and she just wanted to be done with it. Go home. Lock herself away and never come out again. Suddenly there was a noise of a loud scrapping on the floor. She looked up and saw a cloud of dust covering the pair of bullies. Cherry saw an orange pegasus filly on a blue scooter was between herself and the two bullies.

“Hey! You two wanna gang up and pick on somepony, how about you pick on us now it's two on two!” The orange pegasus looked determined as if she was ready so a fight.

“Ugh! You got dust all over me! I'm telling the teacher!” Diamond Tiara whined.

“Go ahead.” Dared the orange pegasus. “In fact, while your at it, maybe we'll come with you and tell Miss Cheerilee exactly what you were doing to her.” She gave a nod towards Cherry. Diamond Tiara thought about it then gave a dirty look to the pegasus.

“This isn't over!” Diamond Tiara threatened and then turned and left with Silver Spoon. The pegasus filly exhaled a breath she was holding while staring down the bullies. She then turned to face Cherry.

“Are you okay?” She asked her. Cherry nodded and then stood up as the pegasus climbed off the scooter. “Names Scootaloo.” She extended a hoof to Cherry.

“I- I'm Cherry Blossom” Cherry shook hooves with the pegasus.

“I've gotta admit, been seeing you in class, but not so much during recess.” Cherry had been trying to keep to herself, so she could avoid Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Hey, you wanna go play on the See Saw?” Cherry couldn't find the words, she still wasn't feeling up to playing any games or anything. “Come on, it'll be fun.” Scootaloo rode over to the See Saw on her scooter and Cherry slowly made her way over. They both climbed on and Cherry took a moment to get comfortable. “You ready?” Cherry had seen the other ponies playing on the See Saw. You just had to kick your hooves off the ground and go up.

Cherry started. She kicked off the ground and went up into the air a little bit and then found herself falling a lot faster as Scootaloo kicked off the ground. The pink filly then kicked her hoof off the ground again, going up higher then last time. Scootaloo kicked and went up into the air. Cherry was starting to enjoy herself, then the orange pegasus called over to her.

“You ready for this?!” Cherry was confused as to what she meant.

“Ready for what?” She asked. Scootaloo then tucked her legs in and then bucked the ground causing Cherry to fall much faster. She screamed and only just managed to hold on. The See Saw bumped as it hit the bottom and she wasn't ready to kick off. They lost a lot of momentum and Scootaloo called out to her.

“Come on! Keep up!” Cherry regained her balance as she went back up into the air.

“O-okay!” She said back, a little scared. She was ready for Scootaloo this time. She bucked off the ground and even used her wings it get a little extra speed. Cherry screamed again but just managed to kick off the ground. They picked up speed, going up and down on the See Saw. She kept screaming as she went down at super speeds and then began laughing as she went flying into the air. They kept this up until the school bell rang, ending recess, but Cherry didn't hear it. She couldn't hear anything. It was like the rest of the world stopped existing beyond the See Saw. Scootaloo then began to slow it down and Cherry was still laughing as they came to a stop.

“That's enough, Girls. Class has started you know?” They both looked over and saw Miss Cheerilee standing in the class doorway. Cherry looked around and saw that they were the only two fillies left in the playground.

“Sorry, Miss Cheerilee!” Said Scootaloo as they both climbed off the See Saw. They ran into the classroom and Cherry couldn't help but notice the kind smile on her teachers face, which put a bigger smile on her own. All her troubles were forgotten, and now Cherry couldn't wait for the next recess to begin.

Chapter 8

Lance was late for picking up his sister from school. It was only by a few minutes, but he hated not being there for her. His boss had made him stay behind and help Penny carry a heavy parcel into the back. Lance didn’t mind helping the old mare, but why didn’t Post Pony Pete help her himself? He’d been there all day! As Lance made his way towards the school, he told himself that If Cherry was still as upset as she had been all week, he might consider pulling her out and finding a way to home school her or get an extra job, working day and night like he’d been for months back in Las Pegasus, just so he could afford to have a private tutor. Lance reached the school gate and had expected Cherry to be waiting either by the gate or on the school house steps, but she wasn’t at either of those places. Most of the other ponies and fillies had already left. Lance instantly walked onto the school grounds, worried.

Maybe she's just waiting inside? Lance thought to himself.

His attention was then brought over to the swings where he heard one of the two fillies yelling.

“Come on, Cherry! You can swing higher than that!” Lance turned towards the swings and couldn’t believe it. Cherry was with an orange pegasus filly and was swinging on the swing set, laughing.

“This is as high as I can go!” Cherry called back between laughs. Lance had almost never seen her this happy. The pegasus was swinging so high, that the swing was almost level with the bar. Cherry was only swinging at half the height. She was kicking forward wildly, not quite getting the hang of the timing of the swing. Lance stood over by the classroom watching them for a moment, swinging backwards and forwards. Cherry then made eye contact with Lance and she quickly brought herself to a stop. She galloped over to Lance and looked up at him with a huge smile on her face.

“Hey big brother! Were you watching? Did you see how high I got?” Cherry asked excitedly.

“Yes I did, well done!” Lance was so happy seeing she was in much better spirits now. “So, who’s your friend?” He asked. Cherry turned around and saw that her friend had come over to join them.

“This is Scootaloo. Scootaloo, this is my big brother, Lance!” Cherry said. Scootaloo looked up at Lance.

“Hey there!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Scootaloo.” Lance turned back to Cherry. “So you’ve had a good day today then?” Cherry nodded then looked up to her brother.

“Can me and Scootaloo stay and play for a little while longer?” Cherry asked.

“Well I dunno,” Replied Lance. “I mean, doesn’t Scootaloo have to get home too?” Cherry looked at her, but she just shook her head.

“Na, I can be home at any time.” Scootaloo said. Lance then smiled at Cherry.

“Go on then, but only for five minutes.” Lance gave them both a smile as they ran off towards the slide. Lance watched them having fun with the entire playground to themselves. Cheerilee came outside and saw Lance watching the girls playing.

“It seems she’s finally getting used to it here at school.” Cheerilee said, smiling. “And all it took was a friend.” Lance never took his eyes off the two fillies as they played.

“I’ve been getting really worried about her. But it looks like everything’s gonna be okay now.”

* * *

It was Saturday morning. The clouds were being cleared from the sky after a night of rain. Lance and Cherry were sitting down at the table having a daisy sandwich. For the first time, Cherry was disappointed that she didn’t have school today, which Lance found himself laughing at. After they finished eating, Lance took the plates over to the sink and then there was a knock at the door. Lance looked around, a little worried. He wasn’t expecting anypony today and he didn’t have to go to work till later today. Lance approached the door and unlocked it. Then slowly, he opened it a crack.

“Hey, Mr. Angelswift, is Cherry home?” Lance exhaled a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. It was Cherry’s friend. The orange pegasus from her school.

“Oh, yes, umm… Scootaloo, right?” Lance asked. The filly nodded her head, smiling up at him. “Please, come inside.” Lance opened the door wide and let her in. Cherry came around the corner from the kitchen, to have a look at who it was. She jumped excitedly when she saw her newest friend.

“Scootaloo!”

“Hey Cherry. You wanna come outside and play?” Scootaloo asked. Cherry looked overjoyed at the idea.

“Sure! Can I, big brother?” She asked Lance. There was no way he could say no, seeing her face all lit up like that.

“You can, but do remember that I’ve gotta go to work this afternoon, so I’d like you to be home before then.”

“Okay!“ Said Cherry and immediately she and Scootaloo ran out the door. Lance watched them as Scootaloo put on her safety helmet, picked up her scooter, then they both went off together, with Cherry running alongside her to keep up.

I do hope she’ll be careful.

* * *

Cherry and Scootaloo travelled for a while, along the edge of the forest. Scootaloo had promised to show Cherry something really awesome, but wouldn’t say what it was though. They soon reached the top of a hill and in the area below them were all kinds of custom built ramps.

“So, what you think?” Scootaloo asked. Cherry wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It was like a poorly built playground with nothing to play on. “I made this all myself. I’m not as good as Applebloom at building things, but this all works awesomely.” Scootaloo said, sounding proud of herself. “I finished building it last night. I wanna show this to the rest of my friends when they get better.”

“Are they still sick?” Cherry asked. Scootaloo’s friends, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had been off school the last two days with a cold. Scootaloo said that they had all gone swimming in the lake, trying to earn their cutie marks as deep sea divers. The water was still cold at this time of the year, as it was spring, and summer was a long way off. Scootaloo bragged about having a tougher resistance to the cold, but really she had been the last one into the water and was out again very quickly.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll be back to school on Monday and then I can introduce you to them.” Cherry was looking forward to making new friends and she couldn’t wait. She turned her attention back to Scootaloo’s creations.

“So umm… what is all this?” Cherry asked. All of the wooden planks were all wet from the rain last night and most of it looked unsafe.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Scootaloo said. Looking a little insulted like somepony asked her what a cloud was. Suddenly they both felt the wind blow past them with a whoosh. They both turned and saw a cyan pegasus flying towards a few clouds. She kicked three clouds as she flew past them and each of them turned vertically. “Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo called out loudly. Cherry looked at Scootaloo and saw her eyes grow wider.

“Who’s Rainbow Dash?” Cherry asked. Scootaloo turned to face her.

“’Who’s Rainbow Dash?’ Only THE greatest young flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale!” They both looked back up and Rainbow Dash was flying upwards past each cloud, cutting them in half, bottom to top, using her wings. The three clouds had become six and looked like pillars floating in the sky. Rainbow Dash flew around the clouds, causing them to move and line up in a top left to bottom right formation. Each cloud was pretty close together with hardly enough room for a pony to pass through. The two fillies watched as the cyan pegasus flew higher into the sky and then when she was barely a dot in the sky, came flying down at a speed like Cherry had never seen before.

She watched in awe as Rainbow Dash came closer to the clouds leaving a faded rainbow trail behind her, moving so fast as she did a slalom between each cloud, yet somehow, amazingly kept her turns so tight that the trail she’d left behind in her wake seemed to not bend from the straight line she had made. Rainbow Dash turned, just in time to see the rainbow trail fade. She looked disappointed and bucked a cloud next to her in frustration.

“Why’s she so upset? That was amazing!” Cherry said, looking up at the pegasus as she cleared away the clouds.

“Ahh, she’s always like that when a trick doesn’t work.“ Scootaloo turned her scooter around and pointed it down the hill. “She was trying to make the clouds themselves spin as she flew past them, sending the rainbow trail across the sky. But as you saw, it didn’t work.” Cherry looked up at the clouds.

“I didn’t think something like that would be possible.”

“That’s what Twilight told her. Since then, she’s been determined to find a way to make that work.”

“Umm, who’s Twilight?”

“Oh she’s the pony who runs the library. Bit of a book worm, but she’s cool, I guess.” Scootaloo then, without another word, shot down the hill and flew up one of her custom built ramps. She spun her scooter in mid-air, and then landed on the other side of the ramp, then jumping up and grinding along a long bar above an oblong box. She hopped down from it and went up another steeper ramp, jumped off the end, flying higher than before, and then finishing up by coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Cherry had no idea what half of those trick were but Scootaloo was simply amazing on her scooter, just like Rainbow Dash was amazing in the sky. Scootaloo walked up the hill to Cherry’s stomping applause.

“Wow, Scootaloo. That was amazing!” Cherry cheered. Scootaloo took her helmet off and placed it on the handle of her scooter.

“Na, it’s really nothing. I just practise a bunch. That’s all.”

“I’d never be as good as you, even if I did practise.” Cherry looked down the hill then felt something heavy being put on her head. “Hey, what the…?” Scootaloo had put her helmet on Cherry and then handed her scooter over to her.

“You’ll never know unless you try!” Scootaloo said with a smile. “Come one, just give it a shot. It’s super easy.” She said as she pushed Cherry onto the scooter.

“But I’ve never been on one before. I don’t know how to ride it!” Cherry protested. Scootaloo ignored her and strapped the helmet on tight.

“You worry too much. Look, just simply stand on it, keep it going forward down the hill and then let it stop itself after you reach the bottom.” Cherry tried again to protest, but Scootaloo pushed her down the hill. Cherry screamed in fright. The hill suddenly seemed infinitely steeper and the speed she was going was terrifying. She wanted it to stop but she didn’t know how. The scooter wobbled uncontrollably for a moment, then she put all her strength into keeping it facing forward. Scootaloo cheered Cherry on, and then she shrieked as she watched the scooter hit a tiny dip in the hill, causing the scooter to tip forward and the brake peg on the front to dig into the ground. Cherry fell over the front of it and landed hard, rolling across the grass. Cherry screamed in pain. She was lying on her side, holding her right foreleg close to her without touching it. Scootaloo ran down the hill to where Cherry had landed.

“Cherry! Are you alright?!” Scootaloo asked. Cherry was crying loudly.

“MY LEG!! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!” She screamed several times. Scootaloo told her to quiet down. She knew Cherry was in a lot of pain, but her screaming wasn’t helping. Scootaloo couldn’t think straight and she started to panic. Just then, somepony flew in from above and landed next to Cherry.

“What happened here?!” It was Rainbow Dash. She was looking over towards Scootaloo as she got down on her knees to get closer to Cherry.

“She- I- I let her have a go on my scooter and I pushed her down the hill and she… she fell off.” Scootaloo couldn’t think of anything else to say. She was scared for her friend, as she continued to wail from pain.

“Hey, little filly.” Rainbow Dash was addressing Cherry. “Listen, I need you to calm down and be brave for me, alright?” Cherry did steadily quieten down, but she continued to cry. “Now, what’s your name?”

“C-C-Cherry.” She said between sobs, while still lying on her side.

“Okay, Cherry. Now tell me where it hurts.” Rainbow Dash had had many accidents when she was a little filly, even today she sometimes wakes up in hospital because of an over complicated stunt that went wrong, so she had a little knowledge about injuries.

“My- My leg it’s… It- It hurts!” She had started crying heavily again.

“Alright, lemme see it.” Cherry gently held out her injured foreleg towards the pegasus. “Okay, you can move your leg so it’s not broken. Can you move your hoof?” Cherry shook her head. “Okay. Sit up for me.” Rainbow helped the little filly to sit up. Scootaloo watched on, shaking from head to hoof, waiting to hear if Cherry was going to be okay. Cherry was now sitting up and her crying had calmed down to sobbing.

“Wha- What’s wrong w-with it?” Cherry asked. Rainbow’s best guess was a twisted hoof but she didn’t want to worry the filly. She took the safety helmet off of Cherry.

Thank Celestia she was wearing that. Rainbow Dash thought.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, but we better get you home. Where do you live?” Cherry wasn’t exactly sure where they were and wasn’t sure which way home was. Scootaloo then jumped forward.

“She lives by the house next to the Everfree forest. I’ll lead the way, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo picked up her safety helmet and quickly put in on as she reached her scooter and pulled it out the hill. There didn’t seem to be any damage to it, for which she was glad. Turning around she saw that Cherry was being lifted up onto Rainbow Dash’s back. Jealousy washed over Scootaloo for a second but then she forgot about it. She hopped onto her scooter and took off at speed, with Rainbow Dash right behind her.

* * *

Lance was sitting in the living room. He was ready to leave the house to go to work, and he was going to be late for work if Cherry didn’t get home soon. He looked out the window again. Still no sign of her.

“Come on Cherry. I told you not to be too long.” Lance said to himself out loud. He wondered where they had run off to. He then remembered the last time she’d disappeared. She had run off into the Everfree forest chasing Fluttershy’s rabbit. Lance shook his head. She wouldn’t go back there, not after she promised him. There was a rapid bang on the door, and then it opened.

“Mr. Angelswift?!” Lance heard Cherry’s friend from the hallway, she ran into the house shouting. Lance came into the hallway, and then saw not just Scootaloo, but also a cyan pegasus with rainbow coloured hair. Lance was about to ask who she was when he saw Cherry on the mare’s back. She was still crying silently.

“Cherry!? Wha- What’s going on? What happened!?” Lance looked back and forth between them all.

“Not now. Do you have somewhere we can put Cherry down? She’s hurt her hoof and can’t stand on it.” The pegasus said. Lance was worried about what happened to Cherry, but taking care of her first was a priority.

“Ye-Yes, bring her to the bedroom.” Lance led them to the room at the back of the house. It was the only room that had anything soft to lie on. He still hadn’t gotten the bits for any more furniture. They brought her in and Rainbow Dash placed her gently down onto the bed. Lance rushed to her and saw immediately that Cherry was being protective of her right foreleg. “Cherry, are you hurt? What’s wrong?”

“W-well s-sir, it was-“ Scootaloo started saying, but Rainbow interrupted.

“They were playing together and Cherry fell down a hill and landed badly. Could of happened to anypony.” Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash. She had lied for her. Why? Rainbow Dash kept her eyes locked with Lance then he turned back to Cherry.

"We need to get her a doctor, or to a hospital or…” Lance looked up. “Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash jumped into the air, flapping her wings.

“I’m on it!” She flew out the door leaving Scootaloo standing there feeling awkward. Cherry moaned quietly about how much her hoof hurt and Lance kept telling her not to move it. He’d never felt so useless. He knew nothing of first aid. Another minute or two later, they heard a bang as the front door swung open and the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy came into the room carrying a first aid kit in her mouth. She dropped it by the bed and immediately got infront of Cherry, pushing Lance away like she hadn’t even seen him.

“Cherry sweetie, are you okay? Oh my goodness, let’s take a look. Where’s it hurt?” Fluttershy was quickly caring for Cherry as she would have any of her animal friends. The cyan pegasus returned to the room and Lance laid down next to Cherry, comforting her, nuzzling her and drying off her tears. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo stood in the doorway, waiting on any good news. Fluttershy wrapped Cherry’s hoof in a tight bandage which made her cringe, but she didn’t whimper. She had now stopped crying and was feeling a bit better. Fluttershy then brought out an ice pack and slowly placed it on Cherry’s hoof. Fluttershy was a very gentle and caring pony and she’d helped so many small and tender animals that she knew how best to look after a patient. Lance watched everything Fluttershy did, trying to remember it and learn as much as possible. Maybe he’d take up a first aid course or something, just in case something like this happens again. Fluttershy then spoke to everypony in the room. They had all been so quiet that it was like she had been alone with Cherry.

“She’s just got a minor sprain. She’ll be absolutely fine in a day or two.”

“So…” Cherry spoke up. “So I’ll be alright for school on Monday?”

“Only if you stay off that hoof and get plenty of rest. Lance, you’ll have to keep that ice pack on her hoof to keep the swelling down.” Lance nodded.

“Thank you so much, Fluttershy. How can I ever repay you?”

“Oh no. You just make sure you look after her.” Fluttershy said with a smile. “And you…” She addressed Cherry. “Make sure to be more careful next time.” Scootaloo felt bad. Cherry was getting the blame for something she did to her. But Cherry and Fluttershy both laughed.

“I promise.” Cherry said.

“Come on squirt,” Rainbow Dash said to Scootaloo. “We should get going now.” Scootaloo looked up at her and then nodded before turning back to Cherry.

“I…I’ll see you at school, Cherry. Okay?” Cherry nodded and smiled at Scootaloo. “I’ll see you then. Get better quickly.” Scootaloo knew her friend was gonna be okay, but she still felt horrible. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash turned to leave, but then Lance jumped up.

“Wait!” Lance walked over to the cyan pegasus. “I just wanna thank you for helping Cherry. It really means a lot to us.”

“Na, forget about it. I’m always there to help when anypony needs me! Names, Dash. Rainbow Dash.”

“Lance Angelswift and Cherry Blossom” Lance nodded back to his sister as he said her name. Cherry smiled at Rainbow Dash.

“Thank you for helping me” Cherry said. The cyan pegasus gave her a wink then she and Scootaloo left, leaving Lance, Cherry and Fluttershy behind. After they got outside, Scootaloo turned to Rainbow Dash.

“Why… Why did you cover for me?” Scootaloo knew that she had done something awful and didn’t deserve being protected for it.

“Well, it was an accident, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“You feel bad for what happened, yes?”

“Yeah…?”

“And you’d never do it again, right?”

“No, of course not!” Scootaloo said loudly, shaking her head.

“Then there you go. You learned your lesson and there’s no point putting the blame on anypony.” Scootaloo looked up at her hero. She had lost the words to say. Rainbow Dash then hopped up into the air then looked down at Scootaloo. “Now you get yourself home, I’ve got more training to do.” Rainbow Dash flew off into the sky leaving Scootaloo behind. She wanted to call after her but she was already gone. Scootaloo sat there for a while by her scooter, thinking. She replayed the accident in her head over and over. She hurt her and wanted to make it up to Cherry. But how?

Chapter 9

The long weekend passed slowly. Fluttershy was with Cherry all Saturday until Lance got home late that night. He was forced to work overtime to make up for all the time he’d lost coming in late. Lance had explained to his boss about Cherry, but he was cold hearted and didn’t care. Saying that Lance should have just dropped Cherry off at the hospital then came straight to work. It took all of Lance’s self-control to not buck Post Pony Pete in his face. The Sunday was pretty uneventful. Lance setup one of Pinkie Pie’s board games on the bed and he played that with Cherry, but after a while, they both grew bored of it. Cherry asked if they could go outside, but Lance wasn’t sure if she could stand. Lance tried to help Cherry get up but it caused her too much pain, so instead, Lance just carried her on his back as they went outside into the sunshine. It was a beautiful day, with nothing to do but to just enjoy it.

Lance turned to have a quick look at the flowerbed under the window. None of the new flower seeds were growing and the Calla Lilly was still crushed into the dirt. Lance felt Cherry bury her face into his neck, as she too must have taken a look. She was still upset with what had happened that day. He walked away quickly, not wanting to linger at the spot. They spent the rest of the day just looking at all the animals, the trees and even taking the time to go see Fluttershy. She wasn’t too happy about Cherry being out of bed, but the filly had wanted to stop by, just to let her know how she was doing. They stayed with Fluttershy for the rest of the day. Fluttershy was acting all motherly towards Cherry and looking after her sprained hoof.

At the end of it, Fluttershy had said that Cherry should probably stay off school on Monday, but she absolutely refused. She was finally enjoying school and really wanted to see her friend Scootaloo. Cherry, determined to show she was okay, stood up on her bad leg and though she did tremble, she held herself up for a moment before both Lance and Fluttershy caught her as she started to fall. They smiled at each other than Lance told Cherry that she could go to school the next day, but only if she promised, not stand on her bad hoof again, until then.

Monday morning, Lance helped Cherry slowly walk around the house. She said she was fine over and over, but Lance wasn’t too sure. He made Cherry keep the bandage on, even at school. Lance had spoken to Cheerilee about it and she swore she’d make sure that Cherry didn’t over exert herself. While Lance was talking to Cheerilee, Cherry had limped over to Scootaloo who was waiting by the classroom door.

“Hi, Scootaloo.” Cherry called. Scootaloo looked at Cherry.

“Hey!” Scootaloo looked down at Cherry’s bandaged hoof. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Said Cherry. Scootaloo could see in her eyes that that wasn’t completely true and felt a knot in her chest.

“Cherry… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have forced you to go on my scooter. It was a really bad idea.” Scootaloo kept looking at the ground. She was terrible at apologies.

“Oh that’s okay. It was an accident.” Cherry just smiled at her friend. She could have been hurt a lot worse and she still would have forgiven her. Scootaloo was her first friend and she wasn’t going to let anything get between them.

“Hey, Scootaloo!” Cherry and Scootaloo turned as they heard two other fillies running up to them. A white unicorn and a yellow earth pony.

“Applebloom! Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo looked happy as her friends arrived. “You two feeling better now?”

“Yep,” Said the yellow one with the large pink bow in her red mane. “Mah big sister wanted to keep me in for the rest of the weekend, even though I told ‘er that I felt fine.” She had a thick southern accent, Cherry noticed.

“Same for me.” Said the white unicorn with the pink and purple curly mane. “Rarity would barely let me leave the room, let alone go outside. She didn’t want me conta- contain-… getting germs on her dresses. I would have just gone home if mum and dad weren’t on another vacation.”

“So, what’s goin’ on? Who’s your new friend?” Applebloom asked. Scootaloo turned to Cherry realising she had shied away from the other two.

“This is Cherry Blossom. You remember? She just started school last week.“ Scootaloo beckoned Cherry back over to them. “Cherry, this is Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.”

“Hello.” Said Sweetie Belle, looking slightly less awkward then how Cherry felt.

“Hey there!” Applebloom seemed a lot more enthusiastic about meeting somepony new. She reached out to shake hooves but then stopped as she saw the bandaged hoof of Cherry’s. “What happened to ya leg?” Cherry lifted it up a little higher.

“Oh, on the weekend I had an accident. Just a mild sprain.” Cherry smiled at Scootaloo who returned it weakly.

“Cherry!” Lance called out to his sister. She slow walked over to him and Cheerilee. “I’ve gotta go now, but if your hoof hurts too much, you tell Miss Cheerilee and she’ll arrange to have either me or Fluttershy come and take you home. Okay?” Lance gave his sister a serious look. He didn’t want her to be there today but she was very insistent and he would do anything to make her happy.

“Okay. I’ll be careful on it.” Cherry said, honestly. Lance gave her a quick nuzzle, then whispered quietly to her.

“I love you, sis.”

“I love you too, big brother.” She whispered back. Lance gave a nod to Cheerilee as he left, taking one more look at Cherry. She returned to her friends and Lance was glad to see that she was finally getting on well with other fillies. He just hoped that there wouldn’t be any more accidents.

* * *

The week passed quickly for Cherry. Her hoof had fully healed and she had made two extra friends. The four fillies laughed and played every recess, playing on the swings, spinning on the roundabout, sliding down the slide. She couldn’t have been happier. Or so she thought. Scootaloo said that she, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle had plans for the weekend and wanted Cherry to come along with them. Cherry was super excited about this. Her friends had always talked about their adventures, trying to find their cutie marks. Now she was going to be a part of one. The weekend couldn’t have come quickly enough.

Saturday morning, Cherry was jumping around the house. Through the week, Lance had managed to buy some new furniture for the house along with other items they had needed. Cherry was bouncing on their new sofa.

“-And they said they have their own clubhouse, and I’m gonna get to see it!” Cherry had been repeating herself for the last hour. Lance and Cherry had finished cleaning up around the house, and she was now waiting for her friends to come over and pick her up. Just as Cherry had started to tell the story of how Applebloom tried baking cupcakes to get her cutie mark for the third time, there was a knock at the door.

“That’s them!” Cherry jumped off the sofa and ran for the door.

“Cherry, wait!” Lance called after her, but she was already opening the door. Lance heard the voices of two fillies at the door and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. They had been here for weeks already, but he was still nervous about opening the door, not knowing what pony could be on the other side. Lance looked out into the hall and saw her friends Scootaloo and a white unicorn. Guessing from Cherry's stories, the white unicorn was Sweetie Belle.

“So you ready to go?” Said Scootaloo.

“You bet!” Cherry turned to Lance. “I’ll be back later.” Cherry jumped out the door but Lance stopped her getting any further.

“Hold on, Cherry! Do you know when you’ll be home? I’ve got to go to work, remember?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go right to Fluttershy’s if you’re not here when I get back.” Cherry had become a lot more confident after meeting her friends. He just hoped she wasn’t becoming reckless.

“Well just make sure that you don’t do anything like last time. You could easily hurt yourself again.” Lance warned her. Cherry’s friends stood next to her.

“Don’t worry Mr. Angelswift.” Said Sweetie Belle “We’ll make sure she’ll be okay.” Scootaloo just looked down at the grass. Her friends still didn’t know it was her fault Cherry got hurt last time. But Scootaloo would make it up to her today. She had something special planned.

“Well, just make sure you’re not out too long. And if I’m not home, make sure you get to Fluttershy’s but not too late. Okay?” Cherry nodded then turned to run off with her friends. Scootaloo didn’t have her scooter today, so they all traveled to Sweet Apple Acers on hoof, where they would meet up with Applebloom. Cherry was confused when they didn’t go to the farm house itself, but instead headed to an area of the farm, far in the back, away from anypony else.

“Where are we going?” Cherry asked.

“You’ll see. We’re almost there.“ Said Scootaloo. “You’re gonna love it.” About a minute later, they came to a tree house. It looked like it was in better condition than when Cherry and her brother first came to their own home. Scootaloo pointed up to it. “Cherry Blossom! Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse!” Cherry thought it looked really cool, and then saw Applebloom was sitting at the window. At the sight of her friends, she ran over to the door and opened it.

“Hey! What took ya’ll so long?” Said Applebloom. “I’ been waitin’ ‘ere for like 20 minutes.”

“Sorry” Called up Scootaloo. “Cherry hasn’t seen your farm before so we were looking around.” The three fillies walked up a ramp into the clubhouse. Inside was a Rainbow Dash plush toy, a picture of Rainbow Dash flying through space, leaving a rainbow trail behind her, and on the wall were two maps. One was hand drawn, with pictures of the different buildings on it, each having an X through them. Next to it was a hand drawn map of what Cherry guessed was the Everfree Forest.

“What are those for?” Cherry asked.

“There maps I drew.” Scootaloo said. “The left one is all the places we’ve tired crusading for our cutie marks and had no luck.” Every area on that map had an X on it. “The other is a map of the Everfree forest and here is where we’ll be crusading next!” Scootaloo tapped a certain part of the map. She was indicating a cave with a red circle around it. “We were thinking about being Cutie Mark Crusader Cave Explorers! And we want YOU to come with us?” Cherry looked behind her, expecting Scootaloo to be pointing at somepony else.

“Wait, you want me?” Cherry asked, surprised. “But I’m not allowed in the forest alone!”

“But you won’t be alone.” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Yeah, you’ll be with us” Said Sweetie Belle.

“’An we reckon that together we’ll defiantly discover our special talents!” Applebloom added. Cherry wasn’t sure about all this. But she really wasn’t going into the forest alone, so it should be okay.

“So, you in?” Scootaloo asked. Cherry stood frozen, thinking about it. But there didn’t seem to be much to think about, the forest was scary, sure. But it was day time now and last time she was alone in the dark. This time she would be with her three best friends.

“I’m in” Cherry said as she nodded. The other three fillies cheered and did a triple hoof bump. Cherry was shaking all over, but not from fear. From excitement.

* * *

The four fillies stood on the edge of the Everfree forest. Scootaloo ahead of the other three.

“You sure we don’t need the map?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo shook her head. “Na, I memorised it last weekend. I’ve already seen the cave. I just…” She stopped mid-sentence. She remembered the large bat that flew out of it and she had run off screaming.

“You ran off like a chicken, didn’ ya!” Applebloom teased, as she saw Scootaloo’s face.

“I did not!” She retorted. The two began to argue as Cherry stepped forward. She began having flashbacks of before when she first stood on the edge of the forest. The wind pushing her in, the sounds of the trees, groaning. It seemed like the forest was alive in a much different way than the rest of Ponyville. She felt a chill run down her spine. She could hear the forest calling her back in.

“Hey, Y’all alright?” Cherry snapped back to reality. Applebloom was next to Cherry and the other two fillies by her side, looking concerned. “Ya shouldn’ go into the forest without us.” Cherry noticed she had walked far forwards, away from her friends. She was in the shadow of the forest. It was much colder here. It was like the sun had disappeared and left nothing but the cold night behind.

“Cherry? Is everything okay?” Scootaloo sounded worried, because Cherry was looking ill.

“Umm…” Sweetie belle spoke up. “Maybe we should leave this for another day?”

“What?!” Scootaloo shouted. “But this is our big day! We gotta-“ Scootaloo never finished her sentence. At that point a cyan pegasus flew over the four fillies.

“Uh oh.” said Sweetie Belle under her breath, as Rainbow Dash landed next to them.

“Hey squirts. What’s going on here?”

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo jumped over to her hero. “We’re going to-“

“ZECORA’S HOUSE!” Applebloom shouted, jumping in front of Scootaloo.

“Err, Y-Yeah! We’re going for umm… for tea!” Sweetie Belle added.

Rainbow Dash looked disbelieving at them “Ah, ha. And I suppose your sisters know about this?”

“Yeh! Applejack knows that I’m always visiting Zecora’s. It’s just a straight path to her hut.” Applebloom was a much better liar then her sister, any day. But was she good enough to fool Rainbow Dash?

“Well, you four-“ Rainbow looked between the four fillies and then saw the pink filly, Cherry. “Hey there. I remember you. How’s the hoof?” Cherry had been in a world of her own. She then looked up at Rainbow Dash.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I’m much better now, thanks to you.” Cherry said. Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest, trying to look heroic.

“Hey, don’t sweat it. I’m always there when anypony needs me.” She then jumped into the air and flew around, behind them. “I’ve gotta get going. You four look after yourselves and stick to the path!” She then flew off towards Ponyville, leaving the four fillies behind. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief.

“Why’d you two lie like that?” Scootaloo asked.

“Because mah sister said I wasn’t allowed in the forest unless it was to see Zecora.” Applebloom said.

“And Rarity would kill me if she knew I was anywhere near this place.” Cherry looked at the two of them.

“So you’re not allowed in here either?”

“No. But we’re still gonna go.” Said Applebloom.

“Yeah! And if we get our cutie marks, it’ll all be worth it!” Sweetie Belle said. Cherry nodded, she’d never really thought about her cutie mark too much, because she’d always had worse troubles. Now that that was all behind her, she really wanted to focus on her cutie mark.

“So, are we ready to get our cutie marks, girls?” Said Scootaloo. The other three chanted ‘Yeah!’ in unison than the four hoof bumped together, before running into the forest.

* * *

It was coming up for the late afternoon and Lance had just one more package to deliver. He stood before Ponyville Library, laughing a little seeing as the library was, ironically, a giant tree. He knocked on the door and a moment later it began to glow purple before swinging open. A purple unicorn stood before him.

“Hello” She said.

“Good afternoon Ms.” Lance spoke politely. “I have a package for a Miss Twilight Sparkle.” The Mare smiled back at him.

“Yes, that’s me” Lance then reached into his bags and pulled out the package along with a few letters. The package looked an awful lot like a book. “Oh, thank you.” Twilight wrapped them all in her magic and levitated them by her side. Lance then pulled out a clipboard and a quill, Twilight again used her magic to lift the quill and signed for the package. “There you go.” Lance put the clipboard and quill away again.

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle.”

“That’s quite alright. Have a pleasant evening.” Twilight took a step back inside and was about to close the door, when Lance had a thought.

“Umm… Miss Sparkle?” Twilight looked back up to him. At first she thought maybe he had forgotten something. “I was err... Do you have any books on First Aid for Earth Ponies here?” Twilight smiled.

“I’m sure we have something like that. Please, come inside.” Twilight gave him room to enter the library and he stepped inside, nodding his thanks to Twilight. The inside of the library looked a lot larger on the inside then from the outside. Shelves and shelves of books lined the walls. Twilight closed the door with her magic and went up to a section of a wall. Lance followed behind her. “Here are all of our books on medicines and treatments. You should find what you’re looking for here. I’ll be back in a moment. Have a look and I’ll be with you soon.” Twilight headed over to a table in the back and began un-wrapping her package. Lance looked at all the books.

There were so many and he didn’t have a clue what he was exactly looking for. Reading the spines of the books, he soon came to a white one. ‘Nurse Redhearts, First Aid guide: Accidents at Home.’ Lance took it down and read the contents page. There was a lot of useful information here. From broken bones to respiration. Lance saw one of the contents was related to how to identify and treat sprains. Lance knew this book would be perfect and headed over to Twilight. Lance was about to say something, then the door opened up quickly and a cyan pegasus flew inside.

“Hey Twilight! You get that-“ Rainbow Dash stopped mid-sentence, then saw Lance in his mail pony uniform, then to Twilight unwrapping a new book. “YES!” She flew across the room and stared excitedly at the book, resisting the urge to snatch it. Twilight laughed under her breath then floated it to Rainbow Dash. Lance looked at the book as it flew to the pegasus.

‘Daring Do and the Forgotten Island’?

He’d never heard of Daring Do before, but if somepony like Rainbow Dash liked it, then it had to be good. She just didn’t look like the reading type.

Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Lance thought about what he just said to himself and face-hoof’d from the horrible pun.

“Are you okay?” Twilight was looking at Lance.

“Huh? Oh. Yes, I... Could I take out this book please?” Lance indicated the First Aid book he was holding. The book glowed purple and then floated alongside Twilight.

“Of course, please come this way.” Lance followed Twilight to a large book that was on another desk. They walked past Rainbow Dash who was now sitting on the stairs, already reading the brand new book. She seemed enthralled by it. “So, what’s this book for?” Twilight asked. “Thinking of a career change?”

“What? Become a doctor? No, I wouldn’t be able to do anything like that.”

“It was just a joke.” Twilight smiled at him.

“Ohh, right. Sorry. But really, I wanna be a Knight of the Royal Guard.” Lance stood tall and puffed out his chest. Rainbow Dash laughed in the background and Lance turned to look at her.

“Yeah right. You’ll have to bulk up if you wanna be a Royal Guard!” She never took her eyes off the book she was reading. “Maybe you should carry some heavier parcels.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight frowned at her friend. “Sorry about that.” She apologised to Lance. “She gets a bit rude when she’s reading.” Lance thought about what Rainbow said all the same. He wasn’t a very strong pony. He’d have to train hard to become a Royal Guard. “So what’s your name?” Twilight asked.

“Lance. Lance Angelswift.” Twilight made a note in her book.

“And you live, where?” Lance hadn’t expected this. He hesitated. He didn’t want the librarian to think he was a cursed monster like a few other irrational ponies.

“He lives in the weird haunted house by the Everfree Forest.” Rainbow blurted out. She had a smile on her face the whole time. Either from the book or that she was enjoying teasing Lance. Lance had frozen where he stood. Twilight looked from Lance to Rainbow Dash and back again.

“Is… that true?” Twilight asked. Lance nodded his head, expecting the worst. He was about to say that there was nothing wrong with the house when Twilight simply made a note in the book and then floated the First Aid book over to him. He was surprised that she was still going to let him take it.

“Wait? You’re still okay with me taking the book?” Lance questioned.

“Of course.” Twilight nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, most of the other ponies in town get scared of me when I say I’m living by the Everfree Forest.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Please. I don’t believe in any of their superstitious non-sense. There are no such things as ghosts and curses. It’s all make-believe.” Lance breathed a sigh of relief.

“So you don’t think the forest is dangerous then?” Lance took the book and placed it in his saddle bags. He smiled at her and then his smile fell as her voice took a serious tone.

“Oh no. The forest is very dangerous. There are all kinds of creatures in there. Like Manticores and Timberwolves. I’ve even seen a dragon in there.” Lance couldn’t believe this.

A dragon in a forest?

“I’d stay outta there if I was you.” Said Twilight. “Or at the very least, stay on the path.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said to your sister, earlier.” Lance and Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash.

“What?” Lance was confused.

“Oh, I saw her and her friends heading into the Everfree Forest, and I told them-“

“YOU WHAT!?” Lance shouted. “WHEN?!”

“Just before I came here, but it’s cool. Their heading to-“ Rainbow didn’t finish her sentence. Lance immediately bolted out the door and galloped as fast as he could to the Everfree Forest. He didn’t even hear Twilight calling after him.

Cherry! Please be okay!

Chapter 10

The Everfree Forest seemed so different during the day. At night, it was pitch black and you couldn’t see anything. During the day, it was dark but you could still see, like when the sky is clear and the moon is full. The shadows bathed everything in a dark green colour. The trees didn’t look like they had branches but instead, they looked like they had claws, and each one was reaching out, wanting to grab the passer-by. The four fillies had gone off the path, as they knew they would have too to reach the cave. Scootaloo walked ahead of the others, remembering exactly where they all needed to go. Cherry kept looking around. She felt like they were being watched with every step.

“You… You sure this is safe?” Cherry asked, worriedly. Sweetie Belle walked along side Cherry.

“Don’t worry, we’ve all been here loads of times. Why, I remember there was this one time we were in here and we were looking for a chicken, and instead we found a Cockatrice. “

“A what?”

“A Cockatrice is an animal with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. If you see one, don’t look at it. It’ll turn you to stone!”

“Y-You really saw one? Here?” Cherry looked around, worriedly.

“Yeah, but thanks to the stare-master, we-“ Cherry interrupted Sweetie Belle.

“The who?”

“Fluttershy!” Scootaloo called back. “She’s got the most awesome stare, and she just stared down that Cockatrice and it ran off like a baby!”

“Fluttershy did that?” Cherry couldn’t believe somepony as nice and gentle as Fluttershy could ever be intimidating to anypony. They kept walking along, and soon came to a stop. They had reached a swamp in the forest. The sky could be seen here and was lighting up the area in a grey light. A lot of clouds were floating over the sky here. The Pegasus ponies didn’t control the weather over the Everfree Forest, so it was left to move on its own. The ground was thick with brown muddy water. It wasn’t deep, but it would go up to their knees if they stood in it, and the trees hung limply with large vines drooping towards to ground.

“Umm, Scootaloo? Did we take a wrong turn?” Asked Sweetie Belle, as she looked over the swamp. “I don’t think this is the right way.”

“Yea, I don’t think this is the right way.” Applebloom said, looking around. Scootaloo thought about the route. She was positive this was the correct way.

“No, this is right. We just have to cut across it, that’s all.” Cherry looked over the swamp and saw a few bubbles coming up from the swamp water. Was something there?

“C-Can’t we just go, around it?” Cherry asked.

“Yeah.” Sweetie Belle agreed “I don’t want my sister yelling at me for getting covered in mud, again.”

“But that’ll take forever!” Scootaloo protested.

“Ah’ say we put it to a vote.” Said Applebloom. “All those in favour of goin’ around the swamp?” Cherry, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom all raised their hooves up. Scootaloo sighed then said ‘fine’ as she lead them around the swamp. None of them noticed the creature behind them slowly raise its head out of the water watching the fillies disappear back into the forest. It lowered its head again, disappointed about the loss of its next meal.

* * *

Lance had reached the forest. He looked all around for his sister but the hoof prints of the four fillies disappeared when they went off the path. He looked all over for them but at this point he had no idea where to go, or how to find them. He kept looking though. Lance repeatedly called out to his sister, but was met with silence each time.

Where are you, Cherry!? he kept asking himself.

He came to an area of the forest that had a steep drop in it. The girls wouldn’t have gone this way, he thought to himself. The fall could hurt them. He turned back, positive they wouldn’t have gone that way and soon found himself back on the path. He wasn’t sure which way was back home. He’d gotten himself lost but he didn’t care. His hooves were aching from so much running on uneven ground. He went off the path again, heading the opposite direction. He wouldn’t give up. Not until he found her.

* * *

“-And so ‘ah just started doing all kinds of things with the apples. Like playin’ with ‘em, and makin’ art. But still nopony wanted to buy some!”

The four fillies laughed as Applebloom told her story about how Applejack let her help run the Applecart at the market one time. Cherry loved hearing her friends talk about the stories of their own lives. It distracted her from her own thoughts, like being in a scary forest, for one. She looked around as Applebloom continued to tell her story and then she saw something. There was a beautiful large patch of blue flowers, sitting together in a bunch. There were hundreds of them. Cherry walked away from her friends without even realising it. She was standing right next to all of the flowers imagining how pretty they would look at her house. Cherry bent down to pick one up, so she could bring it home with her. Suddenly she felt something grab her from the side and throw her to the ground. Cherry screamed in panic, then opened her eyes to see Applebloom standing over her.

“DON’ TOUCH ‘EM!” She shouted at Cherry. “That’s Poison Joke! It’s dangerous.” Cherry looked over at the flower again. She couldn’t see how something so pretty could be dangerous. Scootaloo and Applebloom helped Cherry stand up.

“What’s dangerous about them?” Cherry asked. Applebloom then, as they continued walking, told Cherry about the time that Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie all touched the stuff. It changed all of them over night. Fluttershy had a deep stallion’s voice, Rarity’s hair grew in massive tangles that hung to the ground, Rainbow Dash’s wings were upside down and she kept crashing into everything. Applejack shrank to the size of a doll, Twilight’s horn became all soft and spotty, and Pinkie Pie’s tongue swelled up so much she couldn’t talk. Cherry laughed at this at first, but then though about what the plant would have done to her. She couldn’t think of anything worse than her ears becoming huge, like a bat. Or maybe having all her hair fall out! She shuddered and thanked Applebloom for saving her. They carried on through the forest then Scootaloo called back.

“We’re almost there!”

* * *

Lance had reached a large swamp. He stood looking over it wondering if Cherry had really come this way. He saw a few hoof prints on the soft mud right on the edge. They seemed to lead in huge circles and then disappeared back onto the hard ground.

They must have been here. But I don’t think they actually went into the bog.

Lance called out for his sister across the swamp, but as normal, he got no reply. He thought about crossing over the swamp, to the other side. Maybe they went around it and he could catch up to them. Lance slowly stepped onto the soft mud, his weight making it sink down a little bit. He carried on forward, he wanted to hurry and not take too long. He was a little worried about the creatures here. Frogs he didn’t have a problem with, but other small things, like bugs, mosquitoes, parasprites. They just creeped him out. Lance began to cross the swamp and tried to keep out of the water. He moved quickly and found himself at the end of his dry path. He could turn back and just look for another way, but he was wasting too much time as it was. Lance put a hoof down in the water and heard a crack from behind him. He jumped, looking back, but there was nothing there but smog. A green smog that hung heavy behind him.

Where’d that all come from? Lance thought to himself.

He looked around for the source of the noise.

“Ch-Cherry?” He barely got the words out, and then a bird flew out of the smog, right past Lance’s head. He fell backwards and landed in the swamp water. “Ugh. I’ve gotta stop falling over when I jump like that.” Lance stood up and shook the water off his flank. He felt a drop land on his head and wiped it off with a hoof. It was thick and sticky. It smelled really bad too. He felt another drop land on his head, he then looked up and saw a gigantic, brown scaled, four headed Hydra stood over him with drool falling out of its four hungry mouths. Lance took a few steps backwards slowly. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. How could he have missed something that big? There was nowhere for it to hide.

Unless…

Lance looked at the swamp water. Some parts must be extremely deep. But there was no way of knowing. He’d have to stay out the water completely. Tree’s covered the swamp, along with vines. He’d have to cross the water to reach solid ground again, but it was just too far. The Hydra then leaned forwards, its four mouths open, looking to swallow Lance whole. He dodged the heads, rolling into the water and then leaping onto an uprooted tree. Lance ran across it and jumped down to a patch of raised dirt. He ran across it and jumped onto a rock. The Hydra attempted to snap down and take a bite out of him but just missed. Lance had to jump quickly and landed in the water, luckily it wasn’t deep and he headed to the next tree. Lance ran a few feet forwards then he felt himself fall forward into the water and go under.

A large deep pool ran all the way down and stretched on forever. Lance kicked himself up above the water just in time to see the hydra coming at him. Lance went under the water again to try and hide from it, but that was a mistake. The hydra lived in the water so it could easily see under it, as well as move swifter. The Hydra jumped into the water and then gave chase to Lance. He couldn’t see very well and had to reach the surface quickly. Just as lance breached the water, he barely took a breath before being dragged under again. The Hydra had bit down on his leg and was planning to pull him to the bottom. Drowning him. Lance panicked and screamed. A huge mistake. His lungs were now desperate for air. He bucked with all his might, but the thick swamp water stopped him from having any real impact against the monster. His lungs began to burn, begging for air. Soon he’d have to breathe, and the only thing his lungs would take in, is thick lumps of slimy swamp water.

Lance did the only thing he could think of. He jammed a hoof into the eye of the hydra and it let him go enough so he could get free and swim to the surface. Lance took in a gasp of air and another and another, then swam for the edge. The hydra was right behind him again. One of the four heads was half blinded, but was now the most vicious, wanting to no longer toy with his prey. It lunged forward and Lance felt hard ground below his hoofs. He jumped up and rolled forwards. The hydra slammed head first into the ground, just under the water’s surface. Lance saw the neck buck and wriggle. It was stuck. Lance ran as fast as he could over the water. The Hydra tried to give chase, but with one of its heads stuck in the ground the other three heads couldn’t move. Lance made it to the edge of the forest and disappeared amongst the trees. The Hydra’s roar could be heard for miles around as once again, it would go hungry tonight.

Lance felt the adrenaline drain from his body. He was shaking all over. His lungs hurt. He struggled to catch his breath, his back leg hurt from where the Hydra had bite down on it. Head to tail he was soaking wet, filthy and stank of the hydra. He wanted to lay down and sleep, but if he did, who knew what would happen to him? He felt like he was on the verge of passing out anyway. He had to keep moving. It hurt to walk, but he had to. He thought of Cherry being in this forest and remembered that she was still out there and needed his help. He pushed forward, and kept looking for her.

* * *

“-And she got covered in ink!” The fillies all laughed together. They were talking about Diamond Tiara’s most embarrassing moments, which they all got a good laugh out of. Cherry would have loved to have seen these moments. Especially when she was forced to dress like a rabbit and hop over watering cans, singing. The walk in the forest had been pretty uneventful for all of them. Cherry had been scared a few times, sure, but as long as her friends kept her mind from wondering and she just focused on their stories, there wasn’t a problem. Cherry listened intently as Scootaloo started telling a story about how Rainbow Dash earned her cutie mark, which is something she had retold a few times, but Cherry enjoyed hearing it, all the same. She’d have loved to see a Sonic Rainboom herself. But Rainbow Dash didn’t do them unless there was an extra special occasion, or by accident. Scootaloo stopped suddenly, looking around. They all stopped behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We aren’t lost, are we?”

“You didn’t hear that?” Scootaloo asked, looking at the others. They stood in silence. They heard nothing but their own breathing. Cherry’s imagination was running wild, she thought she saw a bundle of wood moving towards her. Then she heard a growling noise, but she wasn’t the only one. They looked all around them, but saw nothing but trees, bushes and bundles of wood. Then the wood did move! One by one, they rose up, taking on the form of wolves.

“T-T-Timberwolves!” Applebloom stuttered. She knew how to scare them off but she had nothing large enough to make a loud sound with. They were surrounded. There were at least six timberwolves, each looking at the fillies, circling them. Waiting for the slightest movement. Cherry couldn’t find her voice, she took a step back and bumped into Scootaloo, they both screamed loudly, which made the other two scream as well. One of the wolves leapt right at them and was struck down in mid-air. A hooded figure had stepped out from the bushes and had bucked the timberwolf in the face. The hooded figure was hiding its face in darkness and with each step it made a jingling noise, like metal on metal. It tossed a cloud of green dust around itself and the fillies. The dust took the forms of huge Alicorns which jumped at the timberwolves, exploding again into dust. They each yelped and ran away into the woods. The hooded creature turned to face the fillies, its yellow eyes glowing from under its brown hood. Cherry trembled all over. Had this creature saved her and her friends, just to devour them itself?

* * *

Lance heard the scream. He ran as fast as his legs would take him. He knew it was Cherry and she was in trouble. He jumped over a log and tumbled on his bad hind leg. He looked up and saw Cherry and her friends, they were stood frozen before a hooded figure. It was staring at all of them. Lance saw Cherry was the closest and he jumped up. Lance charged at the hooded figure then jumped on top of it.

“Get away from here!” He yelled! Lance pinned it to the ground. It’s hood fell back and Lance saw it was a zebra, covered in gold jewellery. She looked like some kind of enchantress. Pinkies voice echoed in Lance’s mind.

The wicked enchantress of the forest will take your soul and use it to put on a puppet show, and the only guests are the monsters of the forest!“

Was this the enchantress that Pinkie had talked about? Lance looked back to his sister and then shouted.

“Girls! Run away quickly. I’ll hold this witch back!” The Zebra then bucked her legs up and kicked Lance away!

“What’s this you say, you think I’m bad? I save these fillies and you then go mad!”

Lance stood up, ready to fight the zebra, he hadn’t heard a word she said. Then Lance stopped when he saw three of the fillies standing in front of the zebra, blocking him.

“Please wait, Mr. Angelswift!” Sweetie Belle pleaded.

“Don’ hurt her!” said Applebloom.

“She just saved us!” Scootaloo added.

“What?” Lance stood still, the adrenaline he had picked up drained quickly from his body and he fell to his knees. Cherry ran over to him.

“Big brother! What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Cherry looked all over her brother. He was coved in dirt, his fur was all wet and she saw teeth marks in his hind leg, but it wasn’t bleeding. “What happened to you?”

“What happened?” Lance was tired. He hurt all over. He had fought against a hydra and almost drowned. He had mistaken the situation and just attacked an innocent zebra. The pain and frustration all boiled out of him at this point and he couldn’t hold back his anger. “What happened?! I came here to SAVE YOU! That’s what happened!” Lance stood up, his legs wobbling. “I was almost killed today coming in here to save you!”

“But-“

“A giant four headed hydra dragged me underwater and almost drowned me!”

“I-“

“And then after I escaped, I heard you screaming! So obviously you were in danger! If this zebra hadn’t arrived, I might have been too late and you’d be the one hurt! OR WORSE!!” Lance couldn’t stop himself from shouting. Even as he saw Cherry starting to cry he didn’t relent. She had been stupid coming in here.

“B-Big brother, Please I-“

“No! None of that! Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through by coming in here? After you PROMISED ME!? You promised you wouldn’t come here again!”

“But I-” Cherry couldn’t get anything out. Her brother just kept shouting at her.

“Stop this right here!” The zebra interrupted. “Can’t you see your hurting the poor dear?” Lance looked at Cherry, she was trying so hard not to cry, but silently her tears fell from her face to the ground. Lance’s heart had seemingly turned to stone though. He hated that his sister thought so little of him, that she would disobey him so quickly. Even now he thought her tears were only because of the fact she was in trouble. But truth be told, it was because her heart was breaking. Her brother had never yelled at her before. He’d never so much as raised his voice. He’s always been so kind, loving and generous. He’d given her everything he could to make her happy. But had she made him so angry that he stopped loving her? Cherry couldn’t hold back any longer.

“I’M SORRY! PLEASE I--”

Lance turned away from her. She couldn’t believe it. The world seemed to stop right there.

“We’re leaving!” Lance turned to the zebra and as calmly as he could “I-I’m sorry if I hurt you. Do you know which way Ponyville is?”

“Hurt me, you have not. But there will be more damage, if you do not stop. The path to the exit, you’ll find that way, but do not let more anger come out today.”

Lance didn’t care much for her rhymes, nor her advice on family issues. He headed the way she had indicated with Cherry following slowly behind. She kept her face down and hidden, not wanting to look at her brother. The other fillies, Lance assumed would be fine with the zebra since they knew her, but he was taking Cherry home immediately.

“I’m disappointed in you. You promised me you wouldn’t come in here again.”

“Bu-But I wasn’t alone! I was with my friends.” Cherry protested.

“And that makes it alright?! You thought nothing would happen to you if you stuck together?” Cherry said nothing. “I heard your scream. Something happened before I arrived and if that zebra never showed up. What would have happened to you?” Cherry continued to look at the floor. They came to the path after a while of walking in silence. Lance struggled to walk on his back leg but his anger kept him going forwards. Cherry looked up to her brother, seeing him like this hurt her so much.

“I’m sorry.” She said with all her heart.

“Well, I guess that makes everything better doesn’t it? Look my leg is all better too now! Oh wait, it’s NOT!” Cherry flinched as he shouted at her again. Lance didn’t notice it but Cherry hadn’t been so scared since this last time she was with her father. When he was standing over her with his hoof raised, ready to hit her. Her big brother would never hit her. Would he? Lance was shaking all over. A small voice in his mind told him to calm down, but he completely ignored it.

“I- I thought it would b-be okay, with my friends.” Cherry was really feeling heartbroken. She didn’t know what to say or how to make it better.

“Well, maybe you need some better friends who aren’t so stupid as to bring you into a forest full of MONSTERS!”

“B--B--“ Cherry couldn’t get the words out. And nothing would have prepared her for what he said next.

“From now on, you are not allowed to see them ever again? You got that!” Cherry thought she misheard him.

“W-What!?” Lance stopped and pointed back into the forest where they came from.

“Those three! You are not allowed to talk to them. Play with them at school or afterschool or see them ever again! GOT IT!?” Cherry couldn’t believe it. This hurt her far worse than anything. They were her friends. Her best friends!

“Y-You can’t! YOU CAN’T!” Cherry shouted back at him.

“I CAN!! In fact, I think you’d be better off, if I just pulled you out of school all together.”

“WHY!?!” Cherry screamed at her brother. She couldn’t figure out why he had become so horrible!

“Because you need to learn to do, whatever you're told to do!”

Cherry had tears streaming down her face as she saw her brother in a whole new way. His anger, the way he was trying to control her, ruining her life. He was just like her father! She turned and ran down the path as fast as she could. Lance shouted at her to get back immediately, but she was gone before he had a chance to try and chase her. In anger, he bucked the tree next to him and then collapsed from the pain in his hind leg. The pain snapped him to reality again as he realised that he had just taken out all his anger on the one he loved the most. He felt his own heart tearing as he realised what he had said to her. He laid and the dirt path, after everything that had happened to him, this was by far the worst.

And it was his fault.

Chapter 11

It was late at night. Lance was standing in the shower, looking up at the shower head as the tiny droplets of water splashed onto his face. The water stung his eyes with each drop but he ignored it. His hind leg was hurting a lot and he struggled to remain standing on it. His entire body was screaming in protest after the events of today. He had been through so much. Pushing his body to its limit, running across Ponyville and though the Everfree Forest, then crossing a swamp, escaping from a giant hydra and nearly drowning. That was only the physical toll he had taken. His heart had suffered a lot worse. After getting home, he found that Cherry was in the bedroom, crying her eyes out.

“Cherry, please listen to me.” Lance was trying to talk his sister into coming out of the bedroom, but she was having none of it. Each time he would open the door, she would slam against it, keeping him out.

“Leave me alone! I don’t wanna talk to you!” Cherry had refused to speak to her brother or let him speak to her.

“Please, you have to understand-“

“I don’t have to anything! You’re a horrible pony!” Cherry shouted at her brother. He’d threatened to take her out of school and forbid her from seeing her friends ever again.

“Cherry! I didn’t-“

“GO AWAY!” She screamed one last time. Lance hung his head low and walked into the living room. He sat on the sofa, unaware of how dirty he was getting it. His strength was drained. He felt numb. The events of the day were still haunting him. After what felt like forever he looked up out the window, and saw the sun was getting lower in the sky. He was hungry and he knew Cherry must be too. He stood up and walked to the kitchen to make some dinner for the both of them.

Lance had stood in the shower for so long that his hooves were getting pruney. He took down a bottle of shampoo and then began to wash himself with it, cleaning off all the stains in his ivory coloured coat. The water at his hooves quickly turned brown from the swamp stains and other dirt he’d gotten from the forest. The mud was dried in, but took minimal effort to scrub out. Lance winced as he started to wash his hind leg. He took a closer look at it, after wiping away all the mud and stains. Lance saw that the teeth marks were all flat. The hydra’s fangs must have missed him when he was caught by it, or the hydra was a smart beast and didn’t sink it’s fangs into him, in case it bit off his whole leg. The thought scared him, that such a monster could really be that smart.

After washing the rest of his body, he used the shampoo in his hair. He closed his eyes as the suds ran down his face. He saw his sisters face again in his mind. The dinner couldn’t have gone worse.

Cherry was sitting at the table with her dinner in front of her, untouched. Lance had made a salad for them both but the pink filly just stared at it, like it was poison.

“If you don’t want a salad, I can make-“ Cherry huffed as her brother tried to talk to her. It had taken a lot of effort to make Cherry come out of her room, but in the end she only did it to get him to stop talking. She was now giving him the silent treatment. She must have been hungry, but any food prepared by Lance, she was not going to touch. Cherry got up from the table and went straight for the cupboard where all the sweets were kept.

“Cherry. You should eat your salad before-“ Cherry slammed the cupboard door and had a box that had a lot of muffins in it. She ignored her brother and sat at the table with them. Lance was starting to get fed up with her bad attitude now. “Cherry, if you want sweets, you’ve gotta eat-“ The filly pushed the salad away from her with a lot of force, sliding it half way across the table. She then took the string off the box and went to lift the lid up.

Lance put a hoof on it.

“Cherry! That has got to-“ She knocked his hoof away and then he used his other foreleg to pull the whole box from her. She screamed, bucked the chair out from underneath her and turned to her brother.

“You can’t make me do everything you want, Lance! I’m not your slave!” Lance was taken aback for a moment. She had never called him by his name before.

“N-Now you listen here!” Lance began, getting down from the table.

“NO!” Cherry shouted. Her anger was building to a boil. “I’m sick of you!”

“Hey! I’m trying-“

“I don’t give a flying feather what you’re trying to do!”

“Watch your language!” Lance shouted back!

“I don’t care! You’ve ruined my life! I wish I didn’t have a brother! I HATE YOU!” Lance felt like a dagger had pieced his heart. Cherry ran out the room and slammed the bedroom door. Lance heard a scrapping noise coming from the room, like she was moving furniture to block to door. Lance ran to the bedroom door and pressed hard against it. It wouldn’t move.

“Cherry!” Lance pushed at the door a little harder. Whatever was blocking the door wasn’t too heavy, but he was hurting all over, had a pounding headache and this whole day had left him exhausted. “Cherry Blossom! Open this door, right now! You hear me?” She didn’t reply. Lance gave the door a few more shoves and then one mighty push. The door swung open enough for him to get inside. Cherry, somehow, had pushed the bedside cabinet to the door. He would have thought it was too heavy to move it from the bed to the door so quickly, unless she had slowly moved it to the door while she was in there earlier. Lance then looked up and saw the open window. His sister was nowhere to be seen in the room. He jumped up to the window and looked around. In the distance Lance could just see the pink filly running off into the distance. She was running away towards Fluttershy’s house.

Lance stepped out of the shower and wiped his face on a towel. Looking up, he saw a blurry refection of himself behind tiny droplets of water on the mirror. Wiping away the condensation, he saw a pair of eyes staring back at him. But they weren’t his eyes. They were all dark, bloodshot, red and puffy. They were his father’s eyes. The eyes of a heartless monster, that didn’t deserve any kind of love or friendship.

Am I becoming just like him?

Lance wiped the rest of the mirror and saw his full face. He was clean now, back to his normal colour. His mane was dripping wet as was his coat, but at least he looked better. He proceeded to towel himself off, and slowly he found himself falling asleep on his hooves. He’d have to go to bed immediately after he finished drying himself off. Lance looked back into the mirror, staring directly into his own eyes.

What have I done? Have I lost her forever? Will she ever forgive me? Lance put a hoof on the mirror and looked away. How can I even look at myself in the mirror again?

Lance banged on the door to Fluttershy’s cottage. She didn’t answer immediately and Lance could hear Cherry inside begging her to please not answer the door. Everything went quiet for a moment longer, than the door opened slowly. The yellow Pegasus stood at the door, looking worried. She tried not to make eye contact with lance, looking everywhere, but at him.

“H-Hello.” She said quietly.

“Fluttershy, I’ve come here to get my sister!” Lance spoke a little more harshly then he may have intended, but it was hard for him right now to keep his emotions in check.

“Oh, okay then. She’s-“ Fluttershy stopped mid-sentence, feeling something kick her hoof. The little white rabbit had an angry look on its face and shook it’s head at Fluttershy. “Oh, I mean, err, no. She’s not here.”

“Fluttershy,” Lance pressed. “I know that Cherry is here, I heard her before you opened the door.” Fluttershy looked down at the ground defeated. She went to step back, but again, the rabbit kicked her harder than before.

“Please Mr. Angelswift. Cherry is really upset right now. Maybe-“ Lance cut her off.

“Sorry but this is between me and her. Her attitude today has been completely off the walls. She went into the forest, against my rules. I told her not to go in there. She ignored me! She needs to learn what she’s done is wrong!” Lance was shouting into the house, at Cherry who was hiding in the back room.

“Yes, she told me a little of what happened, but I really think you’re handling this the wrong way.” Lance was getting annoyed. More advice about how he should behave. They didn’t know what he had been through or how hard he worked!

“I’ll handle this in my own way and I’ll let no one tell me, otherwise!” Lance took a step forward.

“Now see here!” Fluttershy looked directly at Lance and stared right into his eyes. He froze. He felt like he was unable to move or even talk. She seemed to stare directly into his soul. “If you think for a moment that you’re entering this house to take away this small frightened little girl, you’re completely mistaken young pony!” Lance had never seen Fluttershy like this. It was like she had grown twice as tall and he had shrank to the size of a mouse. “Now you think about everything that’s happened today, and you think hard!” He sat down, at a loss for words. All his anger was gone, replaced with fear and sadness. Fluttershy broke eye contact with Lance and then stepped outside with him, closing the door half way.

“I- I’m…” Lance didn’t know what to say. It was like he was looking down on himself, seeing everything he had said through the whole day. He was Cherry’s big brother and should be there to protect her. Not control her. She had done wrong, but not as bad as Lance was making it out to be. She was smart enough to avoid the swamp. He was the one who crossed it like a foal. He had made an extremely harsh and unfair punishment for Cherry, and he knew it. He shouldn’t have acted the way he did.

“I think you should let Cherry Blossom stay with me tonight.” Fluttershy said, in her most gentle voice. “You’ve both been through a lot together and I think maybe you just need some space for a while.” Lance looked up at Fluttershy realising how pathetic he must look, covered head to hoof in dirt, sitting on the floor. She just looked down on him and smiled. “You should go home, have a wash and get a good night’s rest.”

“But Cherry-“

“I’ll look after Cherry and I’ll make sure she’s back home tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll both feel better then.” Lance just looked at the Pegasus and then nodded his head. He stood up, groaning in pain. Fluttershy looked worried about him, but before she could say anything, he asked her for a favour.

“Please tell her I’m sorry, and that I still love her.”

Lance walked into the bedroom and looked around. The cabinet was still in the middle of the room and the window was wide open, letting in a draft. He went over and closed the window. Lance looked out into the night. The moon was up high in the sky at this point and Lance could barely keep his eyes open. He closed the curtains and fell onto the bed, noticing how quiet it was in the house. He felt so lonely without his sister, but after the way he had behaved today, he didn’t deserve to be anywhere close to her. He wanted so badly to tell her he was sorry. He’d taken all his anger out on her, and had even yelled at Fluttershy. That was a step too far. She was completely innocent in all of this. What kind of pony had Lance become? He had a lot to make up for tomorrow. Slowly, his eyes closed and immediately he fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Cherry was sitting on Fluttershy’s sofa with a cup of hot coco in her hooves. She was just staring at it, watching as the steam drifted upwards in a wavy fashion. She wanted to drink it, but just couldn’t find the strength to lift the mug any higher. She couldn’t stop thinking about what her brother said. The look in his eyes. He had become a different pony and she hated him for it. Fluttershy was sitting next to her, just watching. The pink filly hadn’t said much since Lance had left. Only nodding and shaking her head when Fluttershy asked her questions. Cherry wanted so little, and asked for less. Friends. Family. Had she lost both in just one day?

“Is something wrong with your coco?” Fluttershy asked gently. Cherry just shook her head and then forced herself to sip from the cup. It tasted nice. She felt the warmth of it spread all the way down in her belly. ”If you want anything, you only have to ask. Okay?” The little earth pony nodded her head. She took another sip from the coco and then looked over to the far wall. A small mouse was carrying a tiny piece of cheese in its mouth and it was taking it to a hole in the wall. Another smaller mouse came out the hole and ran to the other mouse. The mouse with the cheese bit a chunk of it off, which it gave to the smaller mouse. The two sat next to each other, eating the cheese together. Cherry thought of her brother and everything they had been through together. Since she was born, Lance was her only friend. Her guardian. Her teacher. Her family. He taught her so much and gave everything for her. How could he take it all away in a heartbeat? Why couldn't her life be better at home?

“What you thinking about?” Fluttershy asked the little filly. Cherry looked up at Fluttershy. Her gentle face wore a concerned and caring look. Cherry looked back at her coco.

“My mommy.” The yellow Pegasus looked more closely at Cherry. She’d never talked about her mother before, and Lance certainly never spoke about their past. Fluttershy waited for Cherry to continue, but she didn’t.

“So, what’s your mommy like?” Fluttershy asked. The small filly said nothing for a while, and then took a few sips of her coco before answering.

“She…” Fluttershy thought that Cherry wasn’t going to say anything more. But what came next, Fluttershy wasn’t ready to hear. “She died just after I was born. I never met her.” Fluttershy gasped then moved closer to the filly.

“Oh no, That’s just awful. I’m so sorry.” Cherry kept looking down at the carpet, then she took another drink from the coco, slowly reaching the bottom of the cup.

“Lance said I look just like her. Only her mane was longer than mine. She was sweet and kind. She did everything that anypony asked of her. My father wasn’t horrible to her. At least he wasn't until he started to drink, Lance told me. She saw the good in him and wanted to help him get better. She was a caring pony and helped look after so many other ponies. She’d spend all her time working, helping the sick and the elderly.” Cherry’s voice began to crack. “She was loved by everypony, and jus- just w-wanted to help-” She dropped the coco on the floor and buried her face in her hooves. Fluttershy ignored the coco spill and just wrapped the filly in a hug.

“Shhhh, It’s okay.” Cherry had tears in her eyes, but didn’t want to start crying too hard.

“W-why did she h-have to die?” Cherry sniffed, as she looked up to Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry sweetie. I really am. But your brother loves you very much and-“ Cherry fought and pulled out of the hug, folding her forelegs. Fluttershy leaned back to away from the filly.

“He’s not my brother!” Cherry started sulking and sat looking away from Fluttershy, They sat in silence for a minute. Cherry then saw the coco spilled on the floor and looked ashamed. “I- I’m sorry about the coco.” The pink earth pony said as she looked back at Fluttershy.

“Oh, that’s okay. It was an accident. Now, it’s very late and I think you should go to bed.”

“But I-“

“No but’s,” Fluttershy said with a smile. ”Come on, you’ll feel better in the morning. I promise.” Fluttershy led the way up the stairs, with Cherry following closely behind her. They entered Fluttershy’s bedroom and the yellow Pegasus pulled back the sheets on the bed. She tilted her head towards the bed while looking at Cherry, telling her to climb in. The bed was much higher than her own and the filly had to jump up to climb in. Fluttershy gave her a gentle nudge to stop her falling backwards off the bed, since it was a lot fluffier then what she was used to.

Cherry laid down in the bed and realised just how fluffy it really was. Was the mattress made out of the softest feathers? Maybe this was what it was like to sleep in the clouds. Fluttershy was a Pegasus, so maybe the bed really was made using clouds? Cherry wanted to ask the kind pony this question but she felt sleep sneaking up on her. Fluttershy covered Cherry with the blanket and she had never felt so comfortable.

“You have a pleasant sleep now and wonderful dreams. Okay? And I’ll speak to you in the morning.” Cherry didn’t respond. She looked like she had already fallen asleep. She laid there, completely at ease. Fluttershy turned towards the door and then heard Cherry call her.

“Fluttershy…” Cherry was looking at Fluttershy, like she wanted to say something, but she was having trouble finding the words.

“Yes, Cherry? You want something?” Cherry shook her head.

“I…” Cherry closed her eyes, no longer looking at Fluttershy. “I wish you could have been my mom.” The room was silent, the only noises were those of the animals outside, the chickens making a few clucking noises. Cherry held her breath, feeling stupid. She heard the sounds of hoofsteps on the floor coming towards her. Cherry was afraid to open her eyes. Was Fluttershy mad at her? Did she think she was stupid for saying that? She felt Fluttershy gently nuzzle against the side of her head.

“I’ll always be here for you, when you need me.” Fluttershy whispered. Cherry’s emotions got the better of her. She could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Fluttershy stayed with the little filly that night, until she fell asleep.

Chapter 12

Cherry was running around outside in a meadow with her friends Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. The sun shined down on them as they laughed and played together, the birds were singing as they flew around the field, and the fillies laughing seemed to reach into the heavens, there wasn’t any way she could have been happier. Then it began to rain, clouds had formed in the sky seemingly out of nowhere and they poured heavy on Cherry and her friends. Cherry was the only one to seem to have noticed this as her friends seemed to get further away from her spreading apart. It then started to get darker and darker as she watched her friends disappear into the rapidly enclosing darkness. Cherry reached out for them, but they were already gone. She wanted to chase them, but didn’t know which one to run after or even which way they went. The rain stopped instantly and Cherry found herself alone in the darkness. Trees appeared behind her as she spun around and began reaching out for the little filly. Vines came out the ground and she screamed for help but no sound came out as they wrapped around her body and neck, then began pulling her into the ground. She looked upwards and saw her brother standing there. She smiled and reached a hoof out for him.

“No more friends! No more school! You’re never going outside again!” Lance’s voice echoed around in the dark bouncing off of invisible walls. Cherry wanted to ask why? She begged her brother to save her but he just stared at her with disappointment and turned his back on her. Cherry was neck deep in the darkness as she was pulled under. He brother turned back to her, but it wasn’t him anymore. Her father’s face looked down on her and laughed at her misery as she was finally pulled all the way under.

Cherry kicked and panicked as the weight of the darkness held her down. She threw it off of herself and saw daylight coming in through the window. She was in Fluttershy’s bedroom. Cherry looked around and saw that the thick duvet was lying in a heap on the floor. The birds Cherry heard in her dream were outside the bedroom window singing happily as the sun shined in, lighting up the entire room. The dream had felt so real to Cherry that she wanted to just wrap herself in the covers again and just let that darkness take her away. Instead she got out of bed and lifted the duvet back onto the bed and tried to tidy it up, but the bed was so big then she couldn’t manage to even get it all the way to the other side. She decided to leave it and went downstairs to see where Fluttershy was. Cherry’s emotions towards her brother hadn’t changed since last night and the dream hadn’t helped matters in any way. As Cherry Blossom reached the bottom of the stairs she saw a group of animals all gathered around a bowl, Fluttershy had already fed the animals which meant it must be later in the day then Cherry thought. The front door opened and Fluttershy walked in with a half empty bag of chicken feed on her back. She looked over and saw the pink filly standing at the foot of the stairs.

“Good morning Cherry.”
“Good morning. Have you fed all the animals already?” Cherry asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I did wait for you because I know you like to help me, but you slept in and I didn’t want to wake you, and I just couldn’t let my friends be hungry for too long. You’re not upset are you?

Cherry was disappointed that she missed out on helping to feed the animals but she knew that Fluttershy cared a lot about them and would never let her little friends miss feeding time. Fluttershy placed down the bag of chicken feed and walked over to Cherry.

“Are you okay? Did you not sleep well?” Cherry shook her head. She thought about telling Fluttershy about the dream but decided against it. “Maybe some breakfast will make you feel better. I know, I’ll fix you up some of my special soup. It’ll perk you right up.” Fluttershy walked into the kitchen while Cherry sat down on the sofa. All the animals were just finishing their meals and returning back to their little nests or running outside. Cherry sat there for a few minutes watching the last of the animals eaten then a pure white rabbit jumped up beside Cherry and looked at her with its large black eyes.

“Good morning Angel,” Said Cherry “Did you enjoy your breakfast?” The small rabbit put a paw onto Cherry’s leg, tapping it gently. “Oh, you wanna know if my hoof is feeling better?” Angel Bunny had tapped the leg which she had sprained before but the rabbit shook its head and then pointed to her directly. “You want to know if I’m alright?” Angel nodded at Cherry and just kept staring into her hazel eyes. “I’m sorry Angel, I don’t want to talk about it.” Cherry looked away from Angel but he moved around to face her. He sat down right where she was looking and he looked into her eyes again.

It was a look of understanding, like the rabbit knew what she was going through. Maybe he did. Cherry didn’t know anything about Angel’s history and rabbits often tend to have many brothers and sisters, but this one always seemed to be alone. Sure there were other rabbits but Angel was never with them. He would only ever make time for Fluttershy. Was he alone too?

“I just don’t know what to do. He was so horrible! If you had seen him yesterday…” Cherry broke off. She didn’t want to think about it again. Her brother just lashing out at her like that was completely unfair, she didn’t deserve it. Fluttershy then walked into the room holding a tray in her mouth that had a bowl of soup on it. Cherry should smell it from where she was on the sofa and it smelled delicious. She walked over to the table where Fluttershy had placed the soup and looked at the bowl. From the smell she had guessed it was tomato soup and when she got close, she saw she was right, Fluttershy smiled at Cherry before cautioning her.

“Now don’t be too quick with the soup, remember to blow on it first and make sure it’s cool, you don’t wanna spend the day with a burnt tongue, do you?” Cherry nodded at Fluttershy and then leaned in close to the soup. The steam was billowing off the top and Cherry blew on it to cool it down, she repeated this a few times till the steam was gone and then leaned down to take a sip. Too soon. She recoiled as the still hot soup touched her lips and she felt the heat of it. She could have burnt her tongue had she actually taken a sip but luckily she noticed how hot it was.

“Careful sweetie, just take it slow.” Fluttershy smiled at Cherry as she again leaned in close, blowing on the soup. This time she slowly waited after blowing to see if the steam would rise up again, this time it didn’t so she carefully took a sip. It was delicious, tomato soup was always a favourite of hers but this was the best she’d ever tasted. Slowly Cherry finished the rest of the soup and turned to Fluttershy.

“Thank you for the soup, it was really good.” Cherry smiled at Fluttershy as she smiled back.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“So what you wanna do now? Can we go see the chickens?”

“Umm… maybe later, but I first wanted to talk to you about something, come sit down.” Cherry walked over to the sofa and sat down where Fluttershy indicated right between herself and Angel. As Cherry sat down she suddenly had a feeling of dread like she wasn’t going to like what was to come next. “Cherry, I think you should go home and see your brother.”

“What?! But…” Fluttershy spoke over Cherry as she tried to complain.

“Now I know you both had a big fight yesterday and you both said things that neither of you meant but-“

“He said I could never see my friends again!”

“BUT you’ve both had time to calm down and really think about everything you’ve both said. Do you really think he meant what he said?”

“Yes!” Cherry said without hesitation. “You didn’t see him Fluttershy, he was a monster just like my father was when he would get angry at me and I did nothing wrong. I NEVER do anything wrong!”

“Cherry, the Everfree forest is not a place that you can just walk into and play in. It’s a dark scary dangerous place and unless you’re prepared for it, horrible things could happen. Can you blame your brother for being upset after fearing you were in danger?”

“I…” Cherry couldn’t argue that.

Maybe he was only upset because he was scared of the forest. Cherry thought. Her brother was going to punish her because he was scared of the forest?

“Why don’t you get ready and I’ll take you home.” Fluttershy stepped off the sofa and headed to the kitchen, taking the empty bowl with her. Cherry didn’t want to go yet, but she wasn’t going to say no to Fluttershy. Cherry didn’t want her to see her and her brother argue again. She hopped off the sofa and went to the kitchen.

“Umm, Fluttershy?” Cherry thought about how best to say it. “I… can I go alone? I’d rather talk to my brother on my own.” This was half true but Cherry really was just hoping that she could walk home slowly, since she really didn’t want to see her brother again so soon.

“Oh umm, if you really want that, I suppose that’s alright. You sure you’ll be okay?”

Cherry nodded.

“Thank you for everything Fluttershy. You’ve been great.” Cherry hesitated for a moment and then ran up to Fluttershy and gave her a quick hug and then ran out the door. Fluttershy was taken aback by the hug at first not really prepared for it, and before she could react Cherry had already let go and left the house. Angel sat on the sofa watching Cherry leave and then a moment later he followed her.

* * *

Lance slept in longer than he ever remembered doing so before. The sun was high in the sky, the birds were singing and all he wanted was the night to come back and to have silence. He awoke with a headache and the light shining through a gap in the curtains hurt his eyes. He rolled over away from the light and his body ached, it was like somepony had beaten him with a sack of horseshoes while he slept and bruised his entire body. The young stallion covered his head with a pillow to block out the noisy birds but that just made his head spin. He gingerly got out of bed and began walking to the bathroom, if he was going to throw up no way was he going to do it in bed.

Lance reached the bathroom across the hall and then turned on the cold tap. He splashed a few drops onto his face trying to wake himself up then looked into the mirror. Lance hardly recognised the pony there, last night he saw the reflection of his father, this time he saw himself as an old pony. He was tired with purple bags under his eyes, his mane completely scuffed up and going in all directions, all he needed was a few liver spots and wrinkles and he’d have the old pony look complete. He sure felt old, his body groaned and ached, his head felt heavy and made of glass, and he could barely move.

Lance brushed his light blue mane flat so it was back to normal then slowly headed into the living room, looking at the clock he saw it was coming up to lunch time. The house was completely empty without Cherry here and he thought about going right to Fluttershy’s to talk to her, but Fluttershy made it clear that she’d bring Cherry back next morning. Maybe they had been here and he hadn’t heard them come and they went back to her cottage? Lance shook his head and then raised a hoof to it. This headache was going to be with him all day, he thought. Lance looked out the window towards where Fluttershy’s home was. There was no one out there. He desperately wanted Cherry to come home soon so he could talk to her and tell her he was sorry.

* * *

Cherry had just left Fluttershy’s home and was slowly walking towards her own house, she wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation when she met her brother. She was sure he’d just yell at her and maybe lock her in her bedroom, barricading the windows so she couldn’t get out. Every worst case scenario that she could think of played out in her head. She heard him screaming at her.

“Cherry!”

The shouting sounded thousands of miles away, like he had trapped her in a well.

“Cherry Blossom!”

Cherry looked up realising that the shouting hadn’t been her imagination, looking to the right she saw Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom running over to her.

“Cherry! Hey!” Scootaloo was the first one to reach her. “Are you alright? We were so worried after what happened yesterday.” Cherry looked at Scootaloo and her friends and couldn’t think. Each of them were wearing cooking pots on their heads.

“Cherry? What’s wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked, wearing a pot that was much too big and she had to hold it up with a hoof to stop it covering her eyes.

“Umm… why do you have those on your heads?” Cherry asked, pointing at each of the cooking pots.

“Oh, these are for protecting ourselves?.” Said Scootaloo.

“Huh?”

Applebloom then stood in front of the others and banged the pot on her head and it gave a loud metallic clang.

“That noise keeps the Timberwolves away, Granny Smith taught me a while ago.” Applebloom smiled proudly. “See I thought that the Timberwolves only came during Zap Apple season but turns out that’s not true. We were all unprepared when we all went in there yesterday, and I reckon that this time we’ll have everything we should need.”

“Oh, can I still come with you?” Cherry Blossom asked. The other three fillies looked at each other.

“Umm, are you allowed?“ Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean your brother was very upset.” Cherry looked down at the ground and then over towards where her house was a tiny dot in the distance. Lance was never going to let her see her friends again. He’d already threatened her with the worst.

“I’m allowed to do what I want.” Cherry said with a tone of defiance and then turned to the forest. “Same place as last time?” Scootaloo walked around and stood in front of Cherry.

“Cherry? Is there something you-“

“It’s fine, really. Come on, don’t you wanna get your cutie marks?” The others knew something was wrong, Cherry had never been like this, it was like she was a completely different pony. Scootaloo walked along with Cherry towards the forest, leaving the other two fillies to hang back and whisper to each other.

“Y’all reckon she had a fight with her brother?” Said Applebloom.

“Yeah, I remember when I had a fight with my sister and I ran away and stayed with you and Applejack. Remember the Sisterhoof Social?”

“Ah yeah.”

“It’ll all work out in the end. Her brother just needs to do something special for her, that’s all.” Sweetie Belle then ran after Cherry and Scootaloo.

“Ah hope so.” Applebloom followed the other three fillies into the forest.

* * *

Lance stepped outside looking around, his head was pounding with each chirp of the birds and he thought that maybe a little fresh air would do him some good, but perhaps not. Lance looked around at all the work he and Cherry had both done, the litter was cleared away, the grass was cut flat, the weeds had been pulled and the flowers were growing.

Wait, flowers?

Lance looked down at the flower bed and he saw that a lot of the flowers Cherry had planted began to grow, they were only little and just poking through the dirt but they were growing, but that wasn’t the most surprising part, the Calla-Lilly had started growing again. It was no longer crushed into the dirt but instead had risen up, like it was guiding the other flowers, telling them which way to grow. The ponies of Ponyville said this place had a curse on it but this wasn’t a curse, it was a miracle. He had to tell Cherry, she had to see this. Lance turned and with a rush of adrenaline he headed towards Fluttershy’s cottage. His headache all but forgotten and his body feeling young again and rejuvenated, and all it took was for him to think of seeing his sister again and to see her smile. After a short while Lance was knocking on the door of Fluttershy’s home, a moment later it was opened by the yellow pegasus.

“Oh, Lance. I wasn’t expecting you. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s gonna be fine. Where’s Cherry? I wanna tell her some good news and it simply cannot wait.” Lance was practically beaming, but the sad confused face of Fluttershy’s threatened to bring it crashing down.

“You mean she never went home?”

And there it was. Lance felt the weight of the world crush down upon him, along with his headache slowly returning.

“What you mean?” Asked Lance. “Isn’t she here with you?” Fluttershy looked worried.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. She said she was going straight home. She couldn’t have gotten lost or-“

“Runaway,” Lance finished for her. “I’ve gotta go find her. Maybe she went to her friends.”

“Wait, I’ll come with you.” Fluttershy stepped outside shutting the door behind her. “She can’t have gone too far, she only left a short while ago.” Just then a white rabbit jumped between the two of them and began tapping at Fluttershy’s leg.

“Angel, it’s okay, I’m not going to be gone long.” The rabbit shook his head but Fluttershy didn’t notice.

“Do you know where Scootaloo lives?” asked Lance.

“The orange pegasus? No, I’m sorry.” Angel repeatedly bounced alongside Fluttershy trying to get her attention as she and Lance made their way down the path.

“Well let’s try Applebloom’s, she lives over on Sweet Apple Acers right?”

“Yes, and we can ask Applejack too.” Angel jumped on Fluttershy’s head and kept trying to make gestures with his paws. “Angel, I’m sorry but I’ve already fed you this morning and I’m really busy now. Please just wait until I get back.” The white rabbit jumped off Fluttershy’s back and then ran in front of Lance, he kept looking ahead of himself and just stepped over the rabbit, Angel sat there pulling his ears in frustration as the two walked away, Angel then turned and ran into the forest.

Chapter 13

“Th-This is it?”

Cherry looked up at the mouth of the cave. Long vines hung around the edges and large rocks surrounded the front of the entrance blocking it off, they each looked like they had fallen from the cliff above. The top of the cliff couldn’t be seen, it went up beyond the tops of the trees and the leaves obscured the view. The other three fillies climbed up onto the rocks then Scootaloo looked back to Cherry who was waiting behind, still looking at the mouth of the cave.

“Come on, Cherry! This is what you wanted right?” Scootaloo held out a hoof and helped Cherry climb onto the large rock.

“I -ugh- hope it’s not too dark in there.” Cherry said as she climbed onto the rock and then they both slid down into the cave entrance.

“Don’t worry,” said Sweetie Belle. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders have packed everything we'd ever need.” Sweetie Belle reached into her white saddle bag she was wearing and pulled out a small lantern which she held in her teeth by the handle. Inside the lantern a small group of fireflies flew around casting a light all around, they didn't seem too bright but as they went into the dark cave it made all the difference in the world. They walked inside and looked around the large cave, rocks were lying everywhere in large piles and some spread out across the floor, small ones, large ones, but everything mostly looked the same. It was grey, dull and dirty.

“Why are we in here again?” Cherry’s voice echoed in the cave and a squeak was heard from above, the four of them stopped and looked around, the ceiling of the cave was in complete darkness, Sweetie Belle held the lantern up as high as she could and then they saw them, yellow eyes looked down upon them from above, there was a scream and then about fifty black winged creatures swooped down upon them. They each screamed loudly and Sweetie Belle dropped the lantern as she dove for the floor. Cherry waved her fore-hooves in her mane, trying to keep the bats off her. All the bats flew out the entrance leaving the four fillies in the cave with Cherry still swatting at her mane screaming, Applebloom moved over to Cherry and grabbed her hooves.

“They’re all gone now!” Cherry looked around the cave, it was all silent again except the sound of whimpering coming from somewhere in the cave room they were in. They looked over to Sweetie Belle who was just picking up the lantern from the floor, the sound wasn't coming from her. They all stood next to each other looking for the noise, it seemed to be behind them. They all walked over to a large boulder in the corner where the noise was coming from, right by the entrance of the cave. The three fillies looked behind it and saw Scootaloo cowering down with her forelegs over her head, Applebloom leaned down close to Scootaloo who was still making whimpering noises, then she quickly brushed her hoof against Scootaloo’s mane and she jumped up screaming. The three fillies laughed as Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes and looked around seeing no bats, only her friends right next to her and Applebloom had a big smile on her face.

“That wasn’t funny!” Scootaloo looked angry at Applebloom.

“Haha, yeah it was. Now let’s get moving.” Applebloom put the cooking pot on Scootaloo’s head and then the four of them headed deeper into the cave.

* * *

Lance was quickly walking through Ponyville with Fluttershy, they were heading to Sweet Apple Acers but decided to cut through town first just in case they saw Cherry there.

“She better not of gotten herself in trouble again. I swear, I dunno what’s gotten into that filly latley.” Lance said. Fluttershy remained silent for a moment and then turned to Lance.

“Well umm… she told me it’s because of you getting angry with her.”

“What?!” Lance snapped his head around to look at Fluttershy. She didn’t meet his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, but it’s because of things like that. You sometimes get really angry and you scare her, and you also threatened to take everything she loves away from her.” Lance came to a stop and then Fluttershy stopped just ahead of him. “You can't be too angry with her, you know how sensitive she is."

"I can't let her run wild either! She said-" He stopped mid-sentence as Fluttershy turned to look at Lance, she had a very somber look on her face, like she was struggling with something she didn't wanna talk about.

"She… She told me about your mother as well.” Lance looked away from Fluttershy. His mother was the only positive pony in his life until she died. He took over for her, following the example she had left for him. Looking after his sister became his life.

“I…” Lance couldn’t think of anything to say, the words got stuck in his throat.

“I’m really sorry about what happened to her, but Cherry Blossom needs you. You’re not just her big brother, you’re the closest thing she’ll ever have to a father figure. You've got to be strong for her, protect her, you can’t just destroy her life when things aren’t going the way you want them.” Fluttershy was right. Lance knew he was wrong and he’d repeatedly tried to say he was sorry, but that wasn’t enough.

“Fluttershy… I almost died yesterday trying to save her from that forest. I found a hydra in the swamp and I barely escaped from it.” Lance turned to show the large bruise on his back leg where the beast had clamped down tight on it, she gasped and took a closer look.

“I think I might have some-“ Lance cut her off.

“It’s fine, that’s not what hurt. The monster could have killed me, and then who would look after Cherry? She’d have to go back home to her father, and without me to protect her I can only imagine the worst.” They both stood in silence. Lance had the best intentions for Cherry but was also handling the problems in the worst way. By being over protective of her, he was hurting her.

“Hey guys!” Pinkie Pie jumped out from a door beside the pair of them. “What’s going on? I heard you both out here but you weren’t coming in. Don’t tell me you forgot to use a door sillies.” Pinkie's randomness completely changed the atmosphere that had surrounded both Lance and Fluttershy. They had stopped right outside Sugarcube Corner and now Pinkie was bouncing out to meet them.

“Pinkie, have you seen Cherry Blossom or her friends around here recently?” Lance asked.

“Hmm, I saw her friends this morning. They were wearing some really funny looking hats!”

“Where’d they go? Do you know?”

“I have no idea!” Pinkie smiled as if she was proud of herself for what little information she had to share. Lance let out an exhausted sigh. His headache slowly banged against the side of his skull making it hard for him to think.

“Cherry’s gone missing,” Fluttershy said to Pinkie Pie. “and we’re trying to find her. If she’s not with her friends then…”

“Maybe she’s looking for her friends. OH! It’s like hide and seek all over again, I’ll go and check all the best spots!” Pinkie then ran off, Lance really hoped her crazy speed helped them find his sister.

“Let’s keep going Lance, she might still be heading to the farm.” Fluttershy turned and led the way. Lance rubbed the side of his head groaning and then followed after her.

* * *

The cave got much darker as they went deeper, Cherry was grateful Sweetie Belle brought the lantern, it would be impossible to see without it. They were in a larger part of the cave where a small pool of water ran through the middle of it and going around a corner, the water was reflecting the light from the lantern to brighten up the cave a lot more. Stalagmites and stalactites covered the cave and some were just solid from top to bottom like large pillars. Every rock and wall seemed to be wet and looked very slimy.

“Well, where do we go from here?”
-from here?
-from here?

Scootaloo’s voice echoed through the cave, it was like another pony was asking back the same question repeatedly.

“Ah dunno,” Said Applebloom a little more softly to stop the echo. “I reckon we should see what’s on the other side.”

“I- Is it deep?” Cherry asked quietly.

“Don’t tell me you can’t swim!”
-can’t swim!
-can’t swim!

Scootaloo's last two words echoed off the walls, Cherry looked down at her hooves and shook her head, she'd never been swimming or anything before. Scootaloo hit herself in the forehead with her hoof, Sweetie Belle put the lantern she was carrying in her mouth down gently on the floor.

“We can’t swim over anyway, how would we get the light across?” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

“Well what are we supposed to do then? It’s too long to walk around and we don’t even know what’s around that corner.”

“Isn’t that why we're down here?” Asked Sweetie Belle. “To explore?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong, ya chicken?” Applebloom smiled as she walked passed Scootaloo.

“I’m not a CHICKEN!”
-CHICKEN!
-CHICKEN!
-CHICKEN!

The cave rumbled from the echo, slowly rocks started to fall down and the four fillies screamed as the loudest crack sounded from above them, one of the stalagmites cracked and fell down next to them, as it hit the floor it fell over into the water and sent a huge wave of water over the fillies. The shaking stopped shortly after that and they each opened their eyes. They were wet and cold, each of them tried to shake themselves dry, but just ended up getting the pony next to them soaked.

“Hey, watch it.” said Applebloom quietly.

“Sorry.” Whispered Scootaloo making sure to keep her voice down from now on, Cherry walked over to the fallen Stalagmite and noticed that it reached all the way to the over side.

“Hey,” She called out quietly. “We can cross over now.”

“That’s... convenient.” Sweetie Belle said with a raised eyebrow, looking over at the suddenly made rock bridge.

“Ha, I knew that would happen.” Bragged Scootaloo. The other three fillies just watched her with a look of disbelief as she jumped onto the fallen stalagmite and began to cross it. Sweetie Belle looked at the lantern and saw that although it had gotten wet, the fireflies inside were completely fine. Picking it up in her mouth she followed Scootaloo over the new bridge and made it to the other side.

“After you.” Applebloom said to Cherry. Even after watching her friends cross it, Cherry was still a little worried, she gingerly put one hoof on it and then another, she took a little while but managed to cross it with Applebloom right behind her, on the other side it didn’t seem much different except for a small narrow tunnel that lead deeper into the cave. The fillies all looked at Sweetie Belle since she had there only light source and she slowly stepped forward poking her head inside. It was very dark and narrow, they’d have to walk single file, Sweetie Belle pointed it out that if she was going to lead, the pony behind would have to look over her back and call out if they saw anything. Applebloom volunteered and stood behind Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo suggested that Cherry go ahead of her since out of the four of them she was the smallest and Scootaloo still felt like it was her responsibility to make sure nothing happened to her. The four fillies walked single file and went down into the tunnel.

* * *

Applejack was carrying two baskets full of apples on either side of her and she was taking them to the barn, it was way past lunchtime and she couldn’t wait to take a break and finally get something to eat. She could smell the delicious apple pie Granny Smith was baking and could almost taste it. Over in the distance Applejack could see two ponies walking down the path towards the farm, one of which she recognised as Fluttershy but while the other one looked familiar, she couldn’t quite recall his name, Applejack dropped off the apples next to the barn door and went over to greet her visitors.

“Hey Fluttershy, how do’ partner?” She addressed Lance with a tip of her hat.

“Hello Applejack,” said Fluttershy. “Is Applebloom home?”

“We think that my sister may have come here to see her.” Lance looked around to see if he could spot her. The farm was huge and there were all kinds of buildings all over it, the farmhouse itself looked like it was in the shape of a barn, and later Lance would find out that it really was a barn attached to their house. Apple trees covered most of the farm all the way into the distance and it was impossible to see the end of it.

“Well, I ain’t seen the youngern since this morning, she was wearing one of Granny Smith’s old cooking pots on her head. Shoot, I told that filly to put them back but she just ran off towards their little clubhouse.”

“Where is the clubhouse? Could you take us there?” Lance asked Applejack, hopefully Cherry would be there.

“Well, I was just about ta have lunch and-“

“Please Applejack.” Pleaded Fluttershy. “We have to find Cherry Blossom, we think she’s run away.”

“Cherry Blossom? Wait a second, that little pink filly is your sister?” She asked looking at Lance.

“You’ve seen her?”

“Not today, but I seen her on the farm a few times with the other crusaders. I tell ya, they’ve been getting along like a haystack on fire. Gonna have ta keep an eye on ‘em else they might destroy all of Ponyville.” Applejack laughed and then started walking towards the apple trees. “Ya’ll just follow me, I’ll take ya to the clubhouse.

* * *

The narrow tunnel grew wider as they went deeper down, their hoofsteps echoed off the walls around them and the tunnel itself was slowly becoming more jagged, the ceiling looked like any rocks could come falling down with the slightest vibration.

“Umm, maybe we should go back.” Said Cherry as she looked around the tunnel, Scootaloo whispered from behind her.

“Hey, don’t get scared now, we’re just getting to the good part.” Cherry didn’t know what Scootaloo considered a good part and was about to ask before Sweetie Belle stopped and Cherry walked right into the back of Applebloom, causing them both to fall over.

“Ow. Careful there,” Said Applebloom as she got up then turned to help pick Cherry up. “Don’t wanna hurt yourself again, do ya?”

“We’ve got a choice to make here,” Sweetie Belle said back to the others behind her. “Left or right?” The tunnel split off into two separate directions, both way looked exactly the same and Cherry guessed it didn't really matter which way they went, so long as they remembered the way back. At that thought she started to get worried, the deeper into the cave they went, the more chance they had of getting lost.

“Well,” Piped up Scootaloo. “I say we go to the right.”

Applebloom agreed with a nod, Cherry looked at her friends and although she wanted to go back and leave she wasn’t going to ruin this for them. She’d insisted on coming in the first place to prove a point. Cherry straightened up and looked down the tunnel, she was here to prove that she wasn’t a baby that needed to be constantly looked after, she could look after herself and intended to prove it.

“Let’s go right then.” Cherry gave a determined smile and the four fillies took the tunnel to the right. They travelled for another five minutes in silence, each step seemed like it was getting louder and louder, and the walls began to be narrow again as they went down a slight slope that curled to the right, they headed down with Sweetie Belle still in front with the light and they reached the bottom. The tunnel went a little further and they all noticed that the walls were very old down here and there were many holes in the walls where things had been removed.

“Ya’ll reckon they were digging for fossils?” Asked Applebloom.

“Why would any pony dig a small narrow tunnel like this for old bones?” Said Scootaloo, calling over Cherry’s head.

“Well, how you reckon these tunnels were made?” Retorted Applebloom.

“Well…” Scootaloo slyly smiled to herself. “I heard it was a giant worm that dug its way down, burrowing into the walls feasting on little creatures within. Some ponies say that very worm is still here, lurking around in the dark, waiting to jump through the walls at its next prey!”
-prey!
-prey!

The tunnel echoed with the sound of Scootaloo’s voice, Cherry shook her head.

“That was the worst monster story ever.” Cherry giggled then turned around, Sweetie Belle had stopped and was looking up at the wall ahead of them. It was a dead end. She placed the lantern of the floor and turned to the others. Applebloom was the first to speak up.

“I guess we’re going back then.”

“Can we just go home?” Sweetie Belle asked. “My legs are killing me and I’m tired of carrying this thing.” Indicating the lantern.

“But we havn’t gotten our cutie marks yet.” Whinned Scootaloo.

“Well, I’m not sure I even want a cutie mark of a cave on my flank anyway. It’s not even that fun down here.

“Yeah, I gotta agree with Sweetie Belle,” Said Applebloom. ”We’ve accomplished nothing down here other then get attacked by bats and get soaking wet.”

Cherry nodded in agreement with the other two then Scootaloo sighed and gave in, Applebloom offered to carry the lantern for Sweetie Belle and stood in the front with Sweetie Belle standing behind her, Cherry went to stand in their single file formation when she saw something in the wall ahead, She walked up to it and saw a red gemstone, it was beautiful and Cherry thought that it might make a nice gift for Fluttershy. The gem looked like that if Cherry hit it hard enough, it could be broken lose.

“Cherry? What are you doing?” Scootaloo called over to her, the other fillies looked too and saw what she was about to do.

“NO!” They each shouted but she had already kicked the wall, the red gemstone came loose and fell at her hooves. The shout of the three fillies echoed down the tunnel and up the long slope. They were silent for a moment as Cherry looked at her friends wondering what she had done wrong. Then there was the sound of cracking and then a rumbling, where Cherry had kicked out the ruby a few small cracks started to spread upwards, which became large ones spreading into the top of the tunnel. The cracks split wide and the entire tunnel began collapsing on them, the fillies all screamed and Cherry felt somepony jump on top on her, pinning her to the ground. The ceiling collapsed around her and she closed her eyes, not daring to open them even after hearing a loud metallic sound just over her head followed by a loud thud just an inch from her nose. She waited without daring to move as the sounds came to a deafening silence.

Chapter 15 (The Final Chapter)

Lance felt his heart sink down to the very pit of his stomach, he had a feeling that something terrible had just happened.

“Lance, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. The purple glow from Twilight’s horn was the only thing casting light in the cave, Lance looked at Fluttershy and she looked a little worried.

“I’m fine” Lance told her, but something told him that they had to hurry. The cave seemed to stretch on forever and it was like they were moving in slow motion. The cave looked really unstable and Lance didn’t trust it. They soon came to a wide open part of the cave. Twilight’s horn lit the entire cave up in a deep purple, there was a large pool of water that separated one side of the cave from the other, stalagmites and stalactites covered the cave, the floor was soaking wet and Rarity was quick to start complaining about getting her hooves wet. The cave stretched on around a corner but they couldn’t see beyond that.

“Well Twilight, where you reckon we should go from here?” Applejack asked. They each looked around but there didn’t seem to be any immediate clue as to which way the fillies went, or even if they were down here.

“Well, the way I see it, we have two options.” Said Twilight. ”We can cross this fallen stalactite here to get to the other side of this pool or check and see what’s around that corner.”

“Ooo Ooo, what if we split up into search parties?” Pinkie suggested, bouncing up and down.

Trust Pinkie to come up with the idea of search “Parties”. Lance thought to himself.

“That’s a great idea Pinkie,” Agreed Twilight. “But we’ll need to think about how we should split up.”

“Well, I happen to have a lantern from the barn with me.” Applejack reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a lantern. Applejack gave the lantern a few taps and the fireflies inside began flying around, casting a light that mixed with Twilight’s to give a lighter glow.

“Alright then. Applejack, you can go with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Head around that corner and see what you can find.”

“Why don’t I take the lantern and just go alone? I can fly through this cave in a dash!” Rainbow boasted.

“Because we don’t know what’s around that corner.” Twilight answered. ”And remember what happened to you in Ghastly Gorge?” Rainbow Dash turned away from Twilight. She remembered that she got hit by a rock during an avalanche and it crushed her wing. No pony was there to help her and if it wasn’t for Tank, her pet tortoise, coming to her rescue she could have been trapped down there.

“Twilight’s right.” Said Rarity. “We should at least try and stay in groups.”

“Alright then,” said Applejack, taking the lantern in her mouth. “le’s ho.” She mumbled as the three ponies headed off around the corner. The remaining four walked across the stalactite bridge over to the other side. Fluttershy watched Lance as he crossed over. He was more determined now and wasn’t letting his leg slow him down anymore, or his headache. Once on the other side he walked right up to a tunnel opening just to the side. It looked very narrow and a tight fit, but no doubt the fillies would have most likely gone this way.

“Twilight, can you shine your light down here?” Lance asked. Twilight moved over and looked down the tunnel. It was indeed narrow but if they travelled one pony at a time, they could fit.

“Ugh, you can’t expect me to go down there. Those walls might leave a mark on my beautiful coat.” Rarity whined. Lance looked at her then said,

“Well, it’s not too late to catch up with the others. If you don’t mind going back to the wet and icky side again?” Rarity wanted to say something, but thought against it. Instead she lit up her horn and entered the tunnel first. Her horn glowed white and Lance was surprised to see that not only was she able to fit without touching the walls, but was also cleaning them of dust and grime with her magic as she went past. Lance turned to Fluttershy.

“Is she always like that?” Fluttershy smiled and nodded her head. Twilight motioned to Lance and Fluttershy to follow Rarity, Twilight followed behind them using her horn to light up all the space between them. After a few short minutes of walking in silence, Twilight called forward to Lance.

“So, umm, Lance. How are you enjoying Ponyville?” Lance thought that Twilight was just making small talk to try and take their minds off the dreariness of the cave.

“Ponyville is really nice. Made a few friends, everypony else seems to fear me.”

“Well, try not to take that too personally. Before I came to Ponyville, the citizens would hide in their houses and lock the doors when Zecora came to town.”

“The Zebra? Why?” Lance asked.

“The same reason they fear you. They just don’t understand that not everything here in the Everfree Forest is a monster.”

“Twilight dear,” Rarity called from the front. “Not everything we Ponyville Ponies fear is because we don’t understand. I mean, look at Pinkie’s ‘Pinkie Sense’. We don’t understand that, but we don’t fear it and even rely on it at times.” Twilight laughed.

“You’ve got me there Rarity, but Lance, don’t take it to heart. You’re obviously a kind pony who cares about his sister a lot, just keep being yourself and sooner or later the rest of the town will come around.” Lance nodded and kept walking down the tunnel, Rarity doing a miraculous job of tidying the tunnel and keeping herself spotless, they reached a part were the tunnel got bigger and then it split off into two separate paths.

“Well, we could split up again.”

“Do- do we have to?” Fluttershy asked, sounding a little scared.

“I think that we should so we can find the girls faster.” Said Lance. “Since both Twilight and Rarity, can cast a light, I think it’s a no brainer that you two should lead down the separate paths.” Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Okay, Fluttershy you can travel with Rarity. Lance, you’re with me.”

“Will you be okay Lance?” Fluttershy asked, worried about his leg.

“A little thing like this won’t keep me slowed down for long. I can rest it when I get back home.” Fluttershy looked away then back to him.

“If you find Cherry, please don’t be mad at her.” Lance had a thousand reasons to be upset with Cherry right now, but he’d do his best to keep a level head, even if this headache was making it hard for him. The four ponies split into groups of two and headed down their respective paths. Fluttershy with Rarity in the lead took the left, and Lance with Twilight ahead took the right. With the bright white glow of Rarity’s horn gone, the tunnel was bathed in a deep purple. Walking along the path they noticed a lot of loose rocks scattered about the tunnel, recently fallen it seemed.

“What you suppose happened here?” Asked Lance.

“I dunno, but we better be careful. This cave is really old and the Diamond Dogs used them for digging for gems before they went up to the mountains.”

“Diamond Dogs?”

“Big dogs that dig tunnels under the ground. They live in caves like these, until they harvest all the gems of course. This one has been abandoned for years.”

“Wait, these Diamond Dogs made these tunnels?” Lance looked around, and saw that the tunnel walls had large scratch marks in them. The height of the tunnel was proceeding upwards, Twilights light only dimly lit it up. “It doesn’t look safe.”

“Diamond Dogs don’t really care about safety. They just greedily hunt after the gems in the walls.”

It must take an awful lot of strength to just dig through these walls. Lance thought.

There was a slight shaking from ahead of them, Lance and Twilight stopped as the rumbling was growing louder, coming towards them. The ceiling above was shaking a few rocks loose, Lance had to jump out the way and into the wall as one came down next to him. The rumbling sounded like an earthquake but only the roof was shaking. Twilight shouted to Lance to get close, he quickly moved towards her, unaware of what she was hoping to accomplish, then he saw a large section of the ceiling over her break away from the rest of the tunnel, Lance had no time to think, he charged into Twilight, knocking her down onto her side. Twilight looked up at Lance just as she saw the large rock land right where he was stood.

“Lance!” Twilight shouted. The rumbling continued and Twilight finished her spell. A bright purple sheet of magic fired out her horn in all directions, covering the walls in a protective shield, preventing any further rocks from falling. It wrapped around the walls all the way down the tunnel to keep them intact and prevent the tunnel from collapsing. Twilight ran to where the large bolder had landed. “Oh no, Lance! Lance!”

“I’m okay!” Lance stepped around from the other side of the boulder, limping on his bad leg again. ”It missed me by a hair. I might have hurt my leg through getting to you quickly to push you out the way. Are you alright? I’m sorry if I hurt you. I just reacted.” Twilight looked relieved that he hadn’t become a Pony Pancake.

“Am I okay? Lance, you almost got yourself killed saving me.” Lance smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well… It’s what I’m supposed to do, right?” Lance looked back at his cutie mark. A shield. His dream was to be a Royal Guard, but right now he needed to find his sister. Without her, he had no dream.

“I’ve cast a protection spell over this tunnel but it won’t hold forever.” Said Twilight. The spell made the entire tunnel glow a faint purple, it wasn’t very bright and it didn’t light up the tunnel, but atleast they could see how deep the tunnel went.

“Wait, what about Fluttershy? And Rarity?” Lance asked worriedly.

“The spell should have coved the entire tunnel, even their side. That’s why it took me a while to cast it. My brother is much more experienced with casting a shield that can cover an entire city, but mine will only hold for a short time.“

“Then we should move fast.” Lance took a step forward and then fell to a sitting position as he put weight on his back leg, Twilight stepped forward leaned down by Lance.

“We NEED to get you to a hospital. There’s no telling what injuries you’ve caused yourself.” Twilight said, worried. Lance stood up again.

“Sorry, I’m not -ugh- leaving without my sister.” Lance stepped forward, carefully moving his leg. The ground was now covered in rocks, large and small, and they were making it hard for him to navigate without tripping. Suddenly Lance felt his leg become much lighter. Twilight had cast a levitation spell on his leg so he wouldn’t have to stand on it.

“If you’re going to be stubborn about this, then that’s the most I can do, you should be able to move faster now.”

“Thanks Twilight.” Lance could indeed move faster but felt really awkward having Twilight telekinetically carry his leg for him. They careful made their way down the tunnel and reached a slope going down, it wasn’t steep so lance had no trouble reaching the bottom. Upon reaching it though, they were met with a dead end. A huge pile of rocks prevented anypony from going any further.

“I guess we have to turn back. Maybe the others had better luck.” Twilight and Lance turned and headed back up the slope. Lance looked back at the wall and then stopped. “Lance? We have to hurry, that spell won’t hold much longer.”

“Twilight, you said the spell goes to the end of the tunnel, but it’s going beyond that rock wall.” Twilight saw what Lance meant, the protective spell was indeed going beyond the wall as if there was more to the tunnel.

“Wait, you don’t think that-?” Lance headed back down to the wall, Twilight still using her magic to carry his leg and he listened carefully trying to hear something beyond the wall. He was sure he could hear something. Crying. Very faint crying.

“They’re behind here! Cherry, are you in there?!” Lance started digging his way past the wall, moving the rocks. “Hold on girls! We’re getting you out of there!” Lance’s shouts carried up through the rest of the tunnel, Twilight was worried about the spell losing power shortly and began using her telekinesis to lift the heaviest rocks. They made a hole at the top of the wall and then the rest fell down causing Lance to jump back. He then climbed over the rocks and into the room. He could see the three fillies crowded together in the room, but he couldn’t see Cherry. Twilight climbed over and lit the room up with her horn. Lance could now see the fillies faces, their eyes shining brightly from tears. There was Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and… Lance’s heart froze cold.

“CHERRY!” Lance scrambled to get to his little sister but couldn’t move his back leg. “Twilight! Let me go!” Twilight’s stuttered something then pointed her horn at Lance’s leg. The levitation spell faded and Lance landed on it hard. He didn’t care, he moved as quickly as he could, ignoring the pain. Cherry was lying on her front, motionless, the other fillies were lying around her and Lance found a gap between them to get to his sister. “Cherry! Cherry, can you hear me? Oh Celestia, SOMEPONY HELP!”

The fillies were taking in ragged breaths, Twilight stood frozen far back. Lance grabbed his sister’s hoof in his own, she seemed so small and so cold. She wasn’t moving.

“Cherry! Please… You have to wake up, you hear me? You can’t… CHERRY!” Lance felt so alone, helpless, his sister was in desperate need of help and her brother couldn’t save her, he didn’t know anyway to help her. “Cherry! Open your eyes… P-please!” She didn’t respond. His entire world was crumbling around him.

The protective spell was beginning to weaken, but no pony noticed. Lance ever so gently picked up his little sister into a hug, he sat with her and held her tight. The fillies in the room were crying silently.

“You can’t be gone. You just can’t. You know how I know? Because of our garden. Your flowers are growing Cherry, their growing. And your favourite too… the Calla-Lillie… it’s okay. So I know that you’re gonna be okay.”

The tunnel shook slightly, but no pony moved.

“I-I’m sorry. Cherry I’m sorry! I'm a horrible brother.”

Lance could feel the tears sting his eyes as they began to run down his face, his little sister held in his embrace, not moving.

Cherry… Y-you remember when you was little, I told you that I’d always be there for you. Well, I’m never going to leave you again. I Promise… I’m n-never going to leave you ever again… W-we’re going t-to go to see Canterlot. You remember? I… I promised to take you. We were going to see the princesses. Celestia, Luna. But you have to wake up!... C-Cherry!... Please!” Lance held her close to his chest, his tears falling into her mane. She didn’t deserve this.

Please Celestia, take me instead, don’t punish her for what I’ve done.

Lance felt a hoof rest upon his neck. He ignored it. He didn’t care which pony it was. They could try and convince him to leave all they wanted but he’d never leave his sister again, not even now. He saw images of Cherry going back in years, Cherry smiling, running around the house, when he would hold her while she slept, when they hid under the covers and watched the Wonderbolts together, the time he taught her to write, her first steps, her first word, the day she was born and he saw her being held by their mother. He couldn’t take it, he couldn’t go on without her.

I’m sorry!

“Big brother.” The words echoed off like in a far off dream. Lance couldn’t believe this was the end. He’d never got to tell her… “You’re hurting me”

Lance pulled back and looked down to see Cherry’s bright hazel eyes staring back at him.

“Cherry!” Lance held back nothing, his heart exploded in his chest and a flood of tears broke out. “Cherry! I-I… I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I love you so much! Please don’t ever leave me!” Only the sound of Lance’s crying filled the cave at his point,

“I promise.” Cherry said weakly.

The cave shook violently. Twilight snapped to her senses then ran into the room, grabbed the three fillies in her telekinesis and lifted them onto her back.

“Lance! We have to get out now!” The protection field around the cave wall looked like it was beginning to crack like glass. Lance looked down at his sister.

“Can you hold onto me?” She nodded and Lance lifted her onto his back. She wrapped her fore-legs around his neck and held on. Lance stood up strong on all four of his legs. Nothing was going to stop him from protecting his sister now. The tunnel was still shaking hard as Lance ran forward with Twilight ahead of him, his leg was burning from pain but he ignored it completely and kept going, he ran up the slope, down the long tunnel, with all the lose rocks threatening to trip him up, but he never slowed down. They reached the fork in the tunnel and saw Fluttershy and Rarity standing there. Lance shouted ahead for them to get out the tunnel and they turned on the spot than started running for the exit.

Lance, with Cherry Blossom on his back, was right behind Twilight with the three other fillies, she was getting tired but pushed herself. There was a sound of repeated breaking glass from behind them, Lance looked back and saw the protection spell shatter along the tunnel, followed by rocks falling and the tunnel beginning to collapse. His leg was starting to give in but he wasn’t going to. He’d never let his sister down again. The spell shattered over his head, Lance and Cherry closed their eyes as it fell in shards around them. Lance looked forward and saw the end of the tunnel, Fluttershy and Rarity were already out and Twilight was just ahead of him. The tunnel began collapsing around his ears, Twilight was out but Lance wasn’t going to make it. He jumped forwards, sliding as he hit the floor, just as the tunnel collapsed.

“Lance! Cherry! Are you both okay?” Fluttershy asked, leaning down next to them. Lance turned to look back at his sister on his back. Cherry slowly opened he eyes and then looked down at her big brother. She then threw herself into a hug around his neck.

“Big brother! I was so scared!” She started crying softly into his neck.

“I know, I was pretty scared too.” Lance chuckled. Cherry then pulled out the hug wiping her eyes.

“No, I-I thought I was never going to see you again. I’m so sorry I never came home!” Cherry looked at Fluttershy. “And I’m sorry to you too Fluttershy. If I just let you take me home in the first place, none of this would have happened.” Fluttershy smiled gently at Cherry.

“That’s okay sweetie, I’m just glad you’re alright.” Lance lifted himself up halfway before falling down a little. Fluttershy leaned down and helped him to stand up. “Are you okay, maybe you should let me-“ Lance raised a hoof to her.

“That’s okay Fluttershy, I’ll be fine.” Lance held himself up, while his sister rested on his back with her head against his neck. Lance leaned back and gently rested his head on hers. The other three Crusaders had gotten down from Twilight’s back and Sweetie Belle was with Rarity joined in a hug. The other two Crusaders were smiling at Lance and Cherry, seeing that everything worked out for their friend.

“Come on Cherry.” Said Lance. ”Let’s go home. There’s something you have to see.” They crossed over the pool and saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash waiting on the other side after coming back from around the corner. Applebloom immediately ran over to her sister and jumped into her and knocking her down with a hug. Applejack looked like she wanted to yell at her sister, but after getting bowled over, she just laughed and rubbed a hoof in the filly’s mane. Fluttershy was fussing over Scootaloo and her head injury, but she was refusing any first aid and saying she was fine. Rainbow Dash landed next to Lance, Cherry and Twilight, Twilight asked where Pinkie Pie was. Rainbow just said that she’d disappeared shortly after they heard the tunnel collapse.

“I’m sorry for everything.” Cherry whispered to Lance.

“No Cherry. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. This has been my fault.”

“But-” Lance cut her off.

“Listen, let’s just forget this whole thing ever happened, okay? Or else we’ll both be apologising forever.” Lance turned to face his sister on his back, he smiled at her and she returned it with an added hug. The group of ponies all left the cave together and made their way out of the Everfree Forest just before sundown. Lance and Cherry said their “Thank you’s” and “Goodbye’s” to everypony before they left and returned to their house. After today, the only things they were gonna do was, wash, eat, then sleep until morning. Lance opened the door and was immediately hit with an explosion of confetti, streamers and a very loud pink pony!

“SURPRISE!”

Lance fell backwards in shock once again, but he was surprised when he was caught by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

“Huh? What?” Lance looked confused. Flutterguy giggled at Lance.

“After you left, Rainbow Dash quickly told us that Pinkie had a surprise waiting for you.”

“A surprise-“

“PARTY!” Pinkie blew into a party horn and then loads of ponies from Ponyville came out of every room cheering and celebrating, Pinkie then placed a pair of party hats on both Lance and Cherry. Everypony travelled out into the front garden carrying a table with drinks and snacks. There were balloons, lights, cake and Lance saw so many of his friends, Doctor Whooves, Derpy, Cheerilee, Mr and Mrs Cake with the twins and lots of other ponies he’d barely had the time to meet.

“Pinkie! What is all this for?” Lance called out as loud music started to play.

“It’s a ‘Surprise, welcome home, everything turned out great, garden party’!” The party was already in full swing, with many ponies drinking and having fun.

“Pinkie, look, this is nice of you and all, but Cherry and I just wanna-“ Pinkie spoke over Lance.

“I know you wanna get to the party, I mean who doesn’t? I certainly wouldn’t wanna be held up at my own party they’re just so much fun, and who wouldn’t have…“ Pinkie Pie kept talking as Lance walked away from her. She had stopped paying attention to him ages ago anyway and with his bad leg, drumming headache and all over aching body, he just couldn’t deal with a party. They stepped inside the house and headed into the living room, Lance and Cherry sat on the sofa and could hear the noise of the party coming through the window. Lance stayed by Cherry’s side, nothing in the world would separate him from her now. They said nothing to each other as they both rested, slowly the fatigue was getting to him, but he didn’t mind, he’d let it take him, he was with his sister now and he always would be.

Lance wasn’t sure at what point he had fallen asleep, or how long he slept, but the crack of the door and the loudness of the party woke him up. Lance and Cherry looked over towards the living room door as Rainbow Dash flew inside.

“Hey Lance, you might wanna come outside, somepony wants to talk to you.”

Without a word Lance stood up slowly, his body still aching and his leg feeling like it was going to fall off, begging for rest. Cherry walked beside her brother as the three of them headed outside. Everypony was still partying and Lance noticed a few other ponies had joined in the celebration, most of which were ponies that had at one time called him a cursed pony. Rainbow led Lance and Cherry over to Twilight who was talking to a rather large stallion. He had a pure white coat, and a long messy mane with blue stripes of many different shades running along it. His cutie mark was very similar to twilight’s, but he had a shield on it as well.

“Ah! There you are.” Twilight called out to Lance then turned back to the stallion. “Shining, I’d like you to meet Lance Angelswift and his little sister, Cherry Blossom. Lance, Cherry, this is my brother, Shining Armour.”

“Hi. P-Pleasure to meet you.” Said Lance with the headache fighting against his manners. Cherry said nothing and stayed hidden behind her brother, Lance had hoped she was passed that stage by now.

“Hey there.” The stallion said casually. “So, Twily told me about your heroics in the cave today?”

Heroics, what? Lance couldn’t really think straight.

The cave felt like forever ago. Noticing Lance’s confusing, Twilight laughed.

“When you saved my life, from that fallen boulder.”

“Oh. Oh yeah! No, that was nothing, anypony would have done the same.” Lance said, dismissing it.

“Yeah? Well, you DID do it,“ Shining Armour said. “And that’s what’s important, and no good deed goes unrewarded.” Lance shook his head.

“Reward? No no, I just-“ Lance started, but was cut off.

“Twilight and I have been talking. And I thiiink I can help you out.”

“Help me?” Lance asked confused.

“Well, yeah.”

“Don’t you know who this is?” Twilight smiled at Lance, enjoying that he was getting confussed. “This is Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot.” It took a moment for Lance to register this information. Then he looked at Shining Armour in realisation.

“S-S-Sir!” Lance’s body froze and grew rigid as he saluted the Captain. Shining Armour laughed at Lance.

“At ease solider.” Shining laughed again. “You ain’t a cadet of the guard. Well… not yet at least.” Lance lowered his hoof.

“What? What are…?” Lance could barely get a sentence out his hanging open mouth. The music died down but Lance barely noticed, nor that everypony was now looking at them.

“Lance Angelswift. As Captain of the Royal Guard, for saving the life of not just my sister but also for aiding in the safe rescue of four young ponies, I would like to extend a personal invitation to you, to join the Royal Guard Academy in Canterlot, where you shall be trained and become a cadet of the Royal Guard.”

Everypony began cheering loudly and Pinkie was firing off her Party Cannon, raining confetti everywhere.

“You’ll be moved to Canterlot with your family of course, where you’ll live and have access to the finest education for your sister and the best healthcare available.” Lance couldn’t believe it, he was really going to be a Royal Guard. His dream was going to come true.

This is the happiest moment of my-

Lance turned back to face Cherry, in the entire crowd of ponies, she was the only one not smiling.

Wait, what’s wrong?

As if reading Cherry’s mind, he knew what she was thinking. Lance’s expression turned blank as he turned back to face Shining Armour.

“Thank you very much, Sir.”

Shining Armour smiled at Lance.

“But I must decline.”

The crowd stopped their celebrating, many gasping. Even Pinkie stopped in mid bounce and fell to the floor.

“Decline?” Questioned Shining. “But Twilight told me this was your dream.”

“It is. Well… you’ve offered me exactly what I thought I always wanted, but the best advice can often come from where you least expect it. When I first got my cutie mark, it was from standing up for another pony against bullies. I thought then that my destiny was to be a guard. But it isn’t. Post Pony Pete told me that you can’t be anything else other than what your cutie mark says you have to be, but that’s not true. Your cutie mark only means what your special talent is. My talent isn’t to be a guard, it’s to protect. You can be anything you want in this world.

Lance looked back to his sister.

“And I want to be the protector of my little sister. That’s why I can’t take any job that might separate my sister from her friends.”

Lance wrapped a hoof around his sister’s neck.

“Besides, looking after this one is a full time job.”

Shining armour smiled and nodded at Lance in understanding. The crowd began applauding and then cheering again, stomping their hooves in approval as Lance and Cherry shared a hug in the middle of their garden. The other three crusaders ran in and Lance took a step back as they jumped onto their friend.

“We were so worried.”
“We thought you were leaving.”
“Your big brother is so cool.”

Lance let the fillies be, Shining Armour and Twilight were beaming at the scene before them.

“Umm, Lance.” Lance turned around to see Fluttershy. “I’m err… I’m really glad you choose to stay.”

“Well, Cherry and I have made such great friends here, I doubt we could ever leave.” Lance smiled at Fluttershy and she shyly smiled back. The moon was getting high up in the sky and Pinkie Pie had just started setting off fireworks lighting up the beautiful night.

***
Two Months Later
***

It was a Saturday afternoon. Lance was in the kitchen washing up the plates after serving lunch for four very hyper and hungry fillies. He was looking out the window on the beautiful clear summer blue sky. The letter box clanged on the front door and then Lance saw Derpy in her mail uniform flying off, she saw Lance in the window and then waved at hoof at him. The grey mare took the job after The Doctor had to leave town for a while, apparently he does that often. Lance had quit his job at the post office a few weeks back after he and Cherry had started up a home business of selling flowers. It didn’t bring in as much money as being a mail pony, but it meant he got to spend a lot more time with his sister.

There was a single flower on the windowsill, the first white Calla-Lilly that had been with the house since before they moved into their home. Lance dried his hooves off and then went to check on the mail. He’d gotten three letters, but not a single one was addressed to him. Lance just laughed about it. This was perfectly fine by him because this was a great way to keep in touch with friends when he’d take them their letters. Lance opened the door and stepped outside, a small white picket fence surrounded the front of the house and the garden that he and Cherry (Mostly Cherry) had grown was in full bloom. All kinds of colourful flowers decorated the front garden, the grass was a deep green and along with a coat of yellow paint for the house it made their home look just as inviting as many of the other homes in Ponyville. The warm sun shined on his face and made him think that today was going to be perfect.

There was a scream from behind the house and Lance immediately looked around. He ran around to the back. The back garden was much larger, since it stretched all the way to the Everfree Forest and they had turned it into where they grew their flowers for selling. Cherry always had it well kept and Lance built the fence to keep the animals out. Lance saw Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in the middle of the garden and they were surrounding Cherry Blossom. Lance had a flashback of the cave from months and dashed forwards.

“What’s happened? Cherry!? Are you…?” The other fillies turned around to Lance and made room, Cherry had a huge smile on her face.

“I did it big brother! Look!” Cherry called out gleefully. Lance looked where she was indicating as saw it. A brand new cutie mark had appeared on her flank, it was still sparking gently. The cutie mark looked just like the exact same Calla-Lilly that was on the windowsill of their kitchen.

“Cherry! That’s… That’s…” Lance was at a loss for words.

“That’s so great!” Said Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah! But I don’t get it.” Said Scootaloo, throwing down a hoe. “How come we didn’t get a cutie mark too? We’ve been at this all day.”

“Ma’be ‘cause of the fact that yah made a bigger mess then you did help.” Applebloom pointed to the side of the garden when where Scootaloo had been digging, it seemed like it had been attacked by a diamond dog digging for gems rather than a tiny pony with a hoe.

“Cherry, I’m so proud of you!” Lance said as Cherry beamed with pride. “You know what this calls for?”

“A PARTY!” Pinkie Pie popped up from under Lance, causing him to jump and land on his back. His heart was doing flips in his chest as everypony around him laughed and then he joined in too.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lance and Cherry walked through Ponyville, heading towards Sugarcube Corner. A few of the market stalls had packed up and were leaving, while a few others were making their last few sales. There were so many different foods there from Apples, Carrots, Celery stalks and colourful flowers too. Looking at them made Lance's stomach twist with hunger. The weak grass they had was horrible, at best. He and Cherry made their way through the market as quickly as possible, and then they saw it. If the market had been hard on them, this next sight was torture. Sugarcube Corner was a house that looked like it was made out of sweets. Gingerbread walls, a chocolate roof, candy cane supports and on the roof was what looked like a giant cupcake with three giant burning candles. Lance later would wonder how they lit them, but right now, all he could feel was his stomach grown in protest. This had to be hurting Cherry Blossom too. Lance cursed silently to himself.

I shouldn't have brought her here.

Lance couldn't help feeling bad, but it would only be for a short time. He just had to find a job.

I just hope that they're hiring.

Lance and Cherry walked inside the sweet shop and even before walking in, they could smell them. The smell of freshly baked cupcakes attacked their nostrils and oh my Celestia did they smell good. The rest of the sweets inside were mouth watering. Cakes. All kinds of different cakes. Big ones, small ones, chocolate cakes, carrot cakes. Never before had Lance felt so hungry. There was a giggle from behind the counter. Lance looked over and saw a pink pony with large pink poofy hair.

“Hey! If you keep drooling like that, we're all gonna need bootsies on our hoofsies!” The pink pony continued to giggle at the expression on Lance's face as he realised that his mouth was hanging open and was watering. Cherry Blossom looked up at her brother and laughed a little. Lance turned back to the pink pony behind the counter but she was gone.

Huh? Where'd she-

Lance's thought was lost as the pink pony appeared right in front of his sister, leaning forward on her fore hooves with unnatural balance. Cherry backed off a step at the rapid appearance of the strange mare.

“Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?” Pinkie Pie had a large smile on her face. She looked extremely happy to see two new customers in her store, especially a filly. Cherry struggled to find her voice after the shock.

“I- I'm err- My name's... C-Cherry Blossom.” She didn't look at pink earth pony while she said it. She just stared at her hooves as she backed off behind her brother. Lance looked up from his sister to Pinkie Pie, only to find her nose to nose with him.

“And what's your name? Huh huh?”

Yikes! Can I get some personal space?

Lance took a step back.

“My names Lance Angelswift. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Pie.”

“Oh Pleeease, call me Pinkie! All my friends do!” Pinkie danced around back to the counter, she was really happy to make new friends apparently. “So what can I get for you two? We just had a batch of cupcakes freshly baked!” She pulled out a tray full of the cupcakes. Each with pink icing and sprinkles with every colour of the rainbow. The heat was still visibly coming off of each one. “So you want some? Huh?” Pinkie was hardly giving Lance time to breath, let alone talk. Each cupcake looked delicious. The hunger came back and this time, it hurt.

“A-Actually Pinkie, we're... we're not here to buy.” Pinkie's ears drooped slowly then instantly perked back up.

“Okay!” Pinkie (thankfully!) put the cupcakes away under the display counter again. “So does that mean you came just to visit lil' ol' me?” Pinkie had a huge playful smile on her face.

“Well, what we're really here for, is this.” Lance reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the letter for Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Carrying it in his teeth he placed it down on the counter. “Are either of these ponies here today?” Pinkie's eyes lit up!

“Hey! This is my party invitation I sent them last month! They said they never got it and I wasn't sure why, but now I know! You had it all this time, didn't you! How'd you get it? Why'd it take so long for you to bring it here? Did you get lost? Did you crawl here? Did you ride on the back of a tortoise? Oh my gosh! That must have been so much fun! What was it like? Was it comfortable? Is it outside right now? Can all three of us ride it together? Or did you take a tortoise each?”

Whoa! Wait! What?!

Pinkie's flurry of question came one after the other. Lance couldn't get a word in edgewise. Pinkie kept firing off questions until Cherry Blossom started laughing. Pinkie's questions stopped as she looked down at the little filly. A big smile on her face.

“T-Thats so silly!” Cherry Blossom kept laughing, and now that Pinkie had been silenced for just a moment, Lance told Pinkie about how they just moved into Ponyville and about all the mail that had been incorrectly delivered over the years. Lance hadn't been paying close attention to Pinkie while he talked. If he had, he might have seen Pinkies eyes grow wide as well as her smile. It was just after he finished talking about the pink envelopes that Pinkie jumped up high into the air and floated there for a second before shouting.

“You've just MOVED here?!” Pinkie landed on the ground and then ran behind the counter and grabbed something.

“I... I...” Lance was at a loss for words.

“You know what this calls for?” Lance didn't have a clue what Pinkie was talking about. Instantly shock and horror gripped the ivory coloured pony as Pinkie pulled out a large blue cannon and pointed it at him!

“Pinkie! What are you-?”

“A PARTY!” Pinkie shouted and fired the cannon right at Lance. He only just managed to drop to the floor in time. The cannon didn't make as much of a boom as he had expected. Instead it made a bang and a squeak noise as if a balloon had deflated. Lance looked up and saw confetti and streamers all over himself and Cherry. He turned to where the shot landed and saw a table with a cloth over it, party hats, confetti, balloons and streamers. They weren't there when they came in.

Did she just shoot that stuff out of the cannon? Lance thought.

“I sure did!” Pinkie replied. Lance snapped back to her. “This is what I call a Party Cannon!”

Did I say that out loud before?

Lance felt himself being picked up off the floor.

“We've just gotta have a welcome party for you! I mean you can't move to Ponyville and not have a signature 'Pinkie Pie Welcoming Party!' I mean what would I do? I sure as hay can't let my newest friends not have a party!” Pinkie started getting food out from under the counter. Lance stepped forward and stopped her.

“Wait! I-I can't afford any of-” Pinkie cut him off!

“Ohh silly, you're not paying for them. This is my party for you!” The pink pony took the tray of warm cupcakes over to the table. Lance again had to step in front of her to stop her, but she just bounced around him.

“But Pinkie. I can't ask you to do all this for us. It's all too soon!” Pinkie stopped mid-jump.

“Hmm, you're right!” Pinkie said, looking like she was thinking rationally about it. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. “I still have to invite everypony in Ponyville!”

Lance's heart jumped.

E-Everypony!? Lance thought.

“Yeppers! Everypony!” Pinkie's reply startled Lance for the second time. But before he could question her, she jumped out the door. Just as another two ponies walked in, a mare and a stallion. The mare had a light blue coat, two shades of pink in her curly mane and two large pink pearl earrings. The stallion had a yellow coat with orange ruffled hair under his white and orange hat, and a stripy bow-tie of the same colours. He was pushing a pram into the store.

“Goodness, what's gotten into Pinkie?" The mare said. She then looked around the store and saw Lance and Cherry Blossom stood there in the middle of the store alone. “Oh my, are you two okay there? Pinkie didn't leave without serving you, did she?” Lance had an inkling that he knew who those two were.

“Umm... Mr. and Mrs. Cake?” Lance asked, just to make sure.

“Yes, deary. That's us. I'm Cup Cake and this is my husband, Carrot Cake.” Mr. Cake gave a nod and a smile to Lance. “And how can we help you?” Mrs. Cake said as she looked at the two earth ponies in her store.

“Hi, my name's Lance Angelswift and this is my sister, Cherry Blossom.” Cherry had been lifting her head up to see into the pram from a distance, but at the sound of her name and all eyes looking at her, she squeaked down and back behind her brother. “I brought you a letter that was mistakenly delivered to my home. But apparently it's been there for months and it's a bit late now.” Lance showed the letter to Mrs. Cake. She looked at the letter and recognized it immediately.

“That's one of Pinkie Pie's party invitations.” At this, Mrs. Cake looked around the store and saw the party favours all over one corner of the shop, then she realised where Pinkie must have gone. “Ooh dear, I think I know what's going on now.” Mrs. Cake walked over to Lance and Cherry. “Tell me dearies, did you just move to Ponyville?”

“Yes, we arrived just this morning.” Lance said. “We moved here from, Las Pegasus.” Mrs. Cakes smiled as she saw Cherry Blossom trying again to get a peek into the pram. Mrs. Cake leaned down to the little filly.

“You wanna see them?” Cherry shrunk down as she realised that Mrs. Cake was speaking to her. “Come on deary, it's okay.” Mrs. Cake walked over to the pram as the pink filly just stared after her. Lance nudged his little sister.

“Go on then. Don't you wanna see them?” Cherry smiled and then ran over to the pram, slowing down as she got there. Mr. Cake had pulled back the blanket covering the two foals just a little so that Cherry could get a better look. She could only just see into the pram by standing on her hind legs. Inside was the two foals, a tiny little filly and an equally tiny little colt. Twin foals. But they had a difference that was very clear. The filly was a unicorn, and the colt was a pegasus. Cherry Blossom paid this no mind. The foals were just so adorable that she just wanted to look at them. Lance came over and was about to ask how two earth ponies could have a unicorn and a pegasus for foals, but at that moment the door swung open. Pinkie Pie came storming in and shouting.

“Woohoo! It's time to PAARRR-TAYY!!” Lance instantly look down at the foals, expecting them to wake up and start crying at the loud noise. Instead they just woke up, yawning and beginning to make a fuss, reaching up out of the pram. Lance looked at Mrs. Cake and she was already looking at him. She reached out with a hoof and gave Lance a gentle nudge.

“Ohh, don't worry deary. Pinkie's been with our foals so much that they've gotten used to her wacky antics.”

These foals are only a few months old. Lance thought to himself. I don't think I could get used to Pinkie's "wacky antics" in a lifetime.

Pinkie let a few ponies into the Cake's shop. Lance recognised a few of them as the ponies running the stalls at the market.

Wait. Did she just grab a group of random ponies and invite them to a party she just decided to throw less than five minutes ago?

“Come on everypony! The party is this way!” Pinkie shouted down the street.

Eeeeyep! she did.

Cherry Blossom was still with the little foals ignoring the noise and the swarm of ponies now entering the shop. The tiny little filly reached out and Cherry awkwardly reached into the pram, touching hooves with her.

“Hello,” Said Cherry Blossom. “What's your name?” Mr. Cake leaned in close and whispered.

“This is Pumpkin Cake." Indicating the filly "And this is Pound Cake.” Mr. Cake smiled at Cherry Blossom. She returned his smile and then looked back at the little foals.

“Hello Pumpkin Cake. Hello Pound Cake. My name is Cherry Blossom. How are you doing?” Cherry was still touching hooves with Pumpkin cake. The little filly was using both her forelegs to try and, by the looks of it, pull Cherry Blossom's hoof closer to herself to try and chew on it, but Cherry Blossom was so short that she couldn't get any closer. Pinkie began playing some music, shouting for everypony to shake their 'groove thing'. Lance looked outside and noticed that a large number of ponies were making their way here.

How did Pinkie contact all those ponies? He thought.

Suddenly there was a tray of cupcakes under Lance's nose.

“Come on Lancie! Try one! They're really good!”

Lancie?!

Pinkie was holding the tray full of pink frosted cupcakes under Lance's mussel. They smelled delicious and he could still feel the warmth. His mind protested against his stomach.

“Pinkie, I can't accept all this without offering you something in return.” Lance said seriously.

“Ohh, don't be a silly billy. I dunno what it's like where you come from, but around here friends share! Sooo...” Pinkie took one of the cupcakes and forced it into Lance's mouth. “Now, you enjoy yourself and leave everything to me. Your auntie Pinkie Pie has it all taken care of.” Lance had never tasted anything so good. The cupcake was delicious and Lance didn't dare swallow. He wanted to savor every chew. Finally he did swallow and it filled that hole in his stomach. But that didn't stop him from wanting another one. Or two... or five! Lance turned to see Pinkie had given one of the cupcakes to Cherry as well. Lance then remembered the other letter he had.

“Mrs. Cake. I have another letter to deliver.” Lance opened his saddle bag. “Do you know this Pony?” Lance pulled out the letter to Cheerilee and showed it to Mrs. Cake.

“Ohh, I know her. In fact I think she's right here.” Mrs. Cake pointed over towards the table where a punch bowl had been set up.

When did Pinkie set that up? Lance wondered.

There was a mare earth pony with a mulberry coat and two tones of pink in her mane. Lance thanked Mrs. Cake and headed over to where the mulberry pony was getting herself a drink.

“Excuse me, Ms. Cheerilee?” Lance asked. The pony placed her glass down.

“Yes? Oh hello. You must be Lance... Angelsmith?”

“Er, Lance Angelswift, yes. H-how do you know my name?” Lance asked, confused.

“Oh, Pinkie Pie was running though the streets telling everypony about a welcome party for two ponies who just moved to Ponyville. I'm guessing the young filly over with the foals is your sister? Cherry Blossom, right?” Lance looked over to where Cherry was playing with the foals in their pram while Mr. Cake watched on, laughing as they played.

“Yeah, that's her.” Lance turned back to Cheerilee. “I have something here for you” Lance drew the pink envelope from his saddlebag and placed it on the table for Cheerilee. “This letter was mistakenly delivered to my house a few months ago.” Lance then explained about the large pile of letters that had built up over the years.

“Oh I see. Well, I must thank you for bringing me this.” Cheerilee said with a smile. “It's no good now, but still the fact that you were willing to track me down to bring me this means a lot. We should really learn not to trust the mail ponies here. It's just one catastrophe after another.”

“Ms. Cheerilee, there's something I wanted to ask you.” Lance glanced over to Cherry. “It's about my sister.” Lance turned back to Cheerilee. “She was supposed to join a school back a few months ago but...” Lance didn't wanna go into any details about his father. If possible he'd like to avoid it completely. “T-There was a complication. But well, you are a teacher at the school right? I mean, the letter was addressed for there.”

“Ohh.” Cheerilee said. “Yes, I am. And I think I know where your going with this and of course we would love to have little Cherry Blossom join us at our school.” Lance had a huge smile on his face. That was thankfully easier then he thought.

“Thank you so much, Ms. Cheerilee.” Lance looked at his sister again. She, Pinkie Pie and the twins were all running in circles, and having lots of fun. “I'm really glad we came here.”

Chapter 14

The entire cave was silent save for the far off rumbling sounds echoing through the cave. Cherry heard a moaning sound from on top of her which she recognised as Scootaloo’s.

“S-Scootaloo?” Cherry whispered very gently.

“Ow. That hurt.” Cherry heard the pain in her voice.

“Are you okay?” Cherry asked. Scootaloo didn’t respond right away, she just groaned in response. Cherry opened her eyes and the lantern had rolled right next to her. There was so much dust around that some quickly got into her eyes and she had to blink a few times to clear them, so she could see again. Cherry heard Applebloom call out softly from close by.

“Is everypony okay?” Sweetie Belle started coughing from right next to Cherry, they were all pretty close together. Cherry felt an immense guilt come over her, her want for a stupid gem almost got her friends hurt and she’d never forgive herself if anything had happened to them. Cherry looked up at Scootaloo and saw the cooking pot on her head was crushed, most likely from the large rock that almost landed on her.

“Scootaloo!” Cherry shouted. The cave rumbled again, a few loose stones shaking down from above.

“Shh, Cherry.” Scootaloo groaned as she got off of her. “I- I’m fine.” The cooking pot Scootaloo was wearing on her head had a large split in it and Cherry could see a large lump swelling up on Scootaloo’s head, just under her mane from where a heavy rock had fallen on her, if she wasn’t wearing that as protection then that spilt would have been her skull. Scootaloo dropped the pot onto the floor with a metallic thud then she sat against the wall. “Well, I guess that makes us even.” She groaned as she leaned back and closed her eyes.

“Yo-You’re hurt!” Cherry said as she got up and moved to her friend’s side.

“Na, I’ve had worse falling off my scooter. I’ll be fine” Scootaloo put on a brave face, it was hurting quite a lot but she wasn’t about to admit that to anypony. Cherry turned to Sweetie Belle who was still lying in the dirt with Applebloom checking if she was alright. She hadn’t gotten up since the cave collapsed.

“We’ve gotta get some ice for Scootaloo. It’ll take the swelling down, just like when I sprained my hoof. Quickly, we need to get her home!” The cave rumbled again, Applebloom looked at the pink filly and shook her head.

“We can’t.”

“What? Why?”

Applebloom pointed at where the cave collapsed and Cherry saw that they were trapped. The cave-in had blocked off the only exit, the rocks blocked it all the way up to the top, she couldn’t even see through to the other side. Cherry started panicking, tapped in a small narrow corridor and with her friend in need of help, Sweetie Belle coughed again then slowly, with Applebloom’s help, stood up and saw Scootaloo against the wall.

“Oh no! What happened?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“A rock landed on her. The cooking pot took most of the impact.” Cheery said in a panic. “Don’t you have anything in your saddlebag that could help?” Sweetie Belle shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I never expected anypony to get hurt.” Sweetie Belle looked closer at the lump forming and also saw a deep bruise starting to come out from there the rim of the cooking pot had smashed into her head. Scootaloo would be lucky if she didn’t have a concussion from this.

“You two wanna stop fussing over me? I told you I’m fine.”

“Yeah, but fer how long? We’re trapped in here!” Applebloom’s panic was rising but she kept her voice down, she didn’t want an extra cave-in.

“How are we going to get out?” asked Sweetie Belle, tears starting to show in her eyes. Cherry’s heart was begging to break. This was all her fault, she had to fix this. She moved over to the fallen rock wall and began shoving some of the rocks out the way, but as the tiny one’s were moved, they revealed much larger ones, they were not going to be shifted by a pony of her size. The other four fillies tried to help Cherry move the larger boulders but it was in vain. There was no way they were going to move this wall.

* * *

“Y’all are kidding me right? You attacked Zecora?” Lance was telling the story of how he had encountered a hydra in the swamp and what happened after that, Lance had never seen the timberwolves that the zebra had saved the fillies from, so he thought it was Zecora that was attacking the girls.

“I know I jumped to the wrong conclusion, but after the hydra I was in so much pain I wasn’t thinking straight, I just reacted. Tell me would wouldn’t do the same for your sister.”

“I take protecting my kin very seriously. I’ve just come to realise that you can’t always be there when they need you most so ya’ll gotta teach them as much as you can, and not treat them like a baby.” Lance wasn’t sure he agreed with Applejack on this, but it seemed like everypony had a different way to deal with young fillies and colts, so who was to say that his way was wrong?

Applejack pushed a few bushes out of her way as she lead Lance and Fluttershy further onto the farm, soon they reached a really well made and beautifully kept tree house, Lance couldn’t help but notice that this little fillies clubhouse was in better condition than his own when he first came to Ponyville.

“Applebloom?” Applejack called out as she walked up a pair of slopes leading to the front door of the clubhouse, Applejack knocked and then looked in the window and saw no pony was in there, opening the door she stepped inside followed by Lance and Fluttershy.

“Oh my, they’ve done a wonderful job of keeping this place looking nice.” Fluttershy complimented, taking note of all the small items placed around the clubhouse to make it look like a home. Lance’s attention was drawn to the wall in the back where two hoof drawn maps were placed on the wall, the first looked like Ponyville with X’s through each building, and the other looked like the Everfree Forest, Lance took a closer look and saw the swamp he was attacked in and on the other side was a cave with a large circle drawn around it.

“Hey, either of you two know where this is?” The other two ponies looked at the map, Fluttershy was the first to respond.

“That’s the cave on the other side of Froggy Bottom Bog.”

“Where ya’ll was attacked by that hydra. Now wait a second, you said that Zecora chased off timberwolves? That’s why Applebloom took those cooking pots! She’s gone and went back into the forest!”

“And there heading to that cave!” Added Fluttershy.

“And Cherry went with them I bet.” Lance’s headache was starting to get as strong as it was this morning, all this stress over Cherry was not good for him. ”I’m going to go get her!”

“Heh, not alone yer not!” Said Applejack. “My sisters out there too and I plan on giving that filly a piece of my mind. She knows not to go off the path and sir, that’s as far off as you can get!”

“I’m coming too.” Lance and Applejack looked at Fluttershy and she ducked down. “I-If that’s alright, I mean, you’ll need a pony who knows the forest pretty well.” Lance nodded to Fluttershy and then they all headed out the door. The forest was on the other side of Ponyville and it was going to take them forever to cross town so they took off at a quick trot. Applejack said she needed to pick up extra supplies and she’d meet up with Lance and Fluttershy at the forest. They carried on without her, traveling as quickly as they could. Lance couldn’t believe his sister did this again, he couldn’t believe he was going back in the forest, but Lance knew that he would travel to hell and back for his sister without a second thought.

* * *

“I ain’t giving up.” Sweat was breaking out across Applebloom’s forehead. She was exhausted from trying to dig her way out past the rocks as were the rest of the fillies, but they hadn’t made any progress. They had been at it for so long they couldn’t even guess what time it was. Scootaloo was again leaning back against the wall, Sweetie Belle was sitting by the lantern rubbing her hooves and Cherry Blossom was sitting beside Scootaloo, staring at the floor. She was the one responsible for all this, all because she wanted a dumb gemstone which she didn’t even have now, it was buried under the rubble.

“I’m sorry girls.” she said, not looking up.

“Oh will you stop it,” Scootaloo snapped at Cherry. “Saying you’re sorry a thousand times isn’t going to help anypony.” Applebloom gave the wall one last weak buck.

“I just can’t budge it.” Applebloom walked away from the rock wall, admitting defeat. They had all tried to move the rocks but nothing short of a miracle was going to break it down. Applebloom was struggling to catch her breath.

“Applebloom,” Sweetie Belle whispered. “We should probably just wait for help.”

“But no pony knows we’re down here.”

“They might come looking for us. Also,” Sweetie Belle stopped talking and looked at the lantern, none of the other ponies had noticed it, but some of the fireflies were losing their light. “A firefly dies when its light goes out, but these little guys should of lasted much longer than this.”

“What do you mean?” Cherry asked.

“I think we should stop trying to exhaust ourselves any further. I…” The other ponies in the cave looked at her with confused looks. “I-I don’t think any…” Sweetie Belle mumbles the next part silently to herself, the others looked at Sweetie Belle as tears started to roll down her face. “We… We’ve p-probably only got a few hours of a-a-air left.”

“What?!” Applebloom and Scootaloo shouted. The cave rumbled slightly. Cherry buried her face in her forelegs crying silently. Her friends could still hear her sniffling in the complete silence that followed after the rumble, but none of the fillies moved. Only after Sweetie said that did they notice that there breathing was becoming deeper which caused there heart rates to rise in a panic, they thought that maybe it was because of their exhaustion, but now they feared that Sweetie Belle might be right. Scootaloo turned to Cherry.

“Oh stop that. You don’t see me c- crying, do you?” Scootaloo was on the verge of tears, but she was using anger to cover it up. They then all looked away from each other, lost in their thoughts.

“Please…” The three fillies looked at Cherry. “I wanna go home!” Cherry jumped up and ran at the wall, scrapping away at it with her fore-hooves. “Somepony help us! Please! Big Brother! Fluttershy! Help!” Cherry’s screaming and kicking was only making things worse, the shaking was getting louder and Applebloom had to grab Cherry and pull her back. Cherry cried as Applebloom held her back.

“That ain’t helping no pony! Yeh hear?” The tears fell fast down Cherry’s face as she looked down at the floor, then she whispered silently to herself.

“Mommy. Help me.”

* * *

Lance and Fluttershy travelled through town as quickly as they could, Lance desperately wanted to run but his body was causing him so much pain as it was from just a quick trot. It was getting late into the day. Crossing Ponyville took maybe an hour and not only had they made that journey twice, but they had also crossed Sweet Apple Acers and were also heading into the worst place anypony could travel. If they were lucky, they could make it in and out of Everfree Forest before the night came. Fluttershy kept by Lance’s side at all times, although he knew she could fly off ahead, she refused to go without him. They reached the edge of Ponyville and could see the forest.

“There you two are!” A voice from above made them both jump. Looking up they saw Rainbow Dash flying towards them. “Been looking all over for you. You find your sister yet?”

“Huh? How’d you know she was missing?” Lance asked.

“I told her!” Lance looked down and jumped backwards. Pinkie Pie had appeared out of nowhere, as she always does, and was right nose to nose with Lance. What with everything else on his list of aches and pains, he was planning on adding a heart attack somewhere near the top.

“We think they’re in the forest,” Said Fluttershy. “In a cave on the other side of Froggy Bottom Bog.” Pinkie’s smile turned to a frown.

“W-W-With the h-h-hydra?”

“Ha!” Rainbow Dash scoffed, still flying in the air above them. “I tell you. If you had me with you, that hydra would have run off with its tail between its legs.”

“We’re not going through the swamp.” Lance said, coming back to the conversation. “We can go around it easily enough.”

“Ugh, but that’ll take forever!” Whined the cyan pegasus.

“No it won’t.” The four ponies looked around and saw three more heading towards them. Applejack had a pair of green saddlebags with a red apple on the strap on either side of her. The other two ponies were unicorns, Lance recognised the purple one as the Ponyville librarian, Twilight Sparkle, and the other was a stunning beauty, a white unicorn with long well groomed purple mane, Lance was surprised he’d never seen her around Ponyville before.

You’d think a pony like that would stand out.

“See something you like, Lancie?” Pinkie was giving Lance a sly look and fluttered her eyes a few times. Lance turned slightly red realising he might have been staring and quickly went on the defensive.

“What? No! I just… I was…” Pinkie giggled then bounced away. Lance, clearly embarrassed, turned to Applejack. “Umm, what’s going on?”

“Well, I was just coming to meet ya’ll but I wanted to stop by Rarity’s first, check if the girls were there, but she wasn’t and also my suspicions about them going into the forest increased when she said ‘er sister had taken a cooking pot too.”

“Sweetie Belle said she was taking one of my pans to try and earn a cooking cutie mark, oh that filly is going to get an earful when I get her home.” The white unicorn, that Lance guessed was Rarity, looked really angry. He’d hate to be around her when she really gets mad.

“And Twilight here has charted us a route through that forest to get us to the cave, lickity split.”

“Wait, how’d you do that so fast? Me and Fluttershy only just got here.” Said Lance confused.

“Well Applejack is one of the top athletes in Ponyville, next to Rainbow Dash.” Said Twilight.

“Yeah! Next to.” Rainbow Dash gloated from above. Applejack gave her a look of disdain.

“So I guess she just ran a lot faster than you.” Twilight surmised. Lance could see her point. He was hurt and couldn’t move fast, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him.

“Now, let’s get moving.” Applejack took a few steps forwards.

“Now hold on,” Lance called out as they all moved forward. “I thank you for your help, but do we really need so many ponies going in there?”

“What are you talking about darling?” Said Rarity. “Did you forget that OUR sisters are in there too?” She walked past him, towards the forest.

“Yeah, we ain’t just doing this for you alone. Our kin is in there and we’re gonna get them out.” Applejack walked past him as well followed by Twilight, Rainbow flew in overhead then Pinkie bounced by them leaving Lance and Fluttershy.

“Am I really that selfish?” Fluttershy walked over to Lance and placed a hoof on him.

“You do what you think is best for Cherry. But you’ve got to realise that there’s more to it than just what you think.” Fluttershy took a step back, thinking maybe she was invading his personal space. “Oh, umm… I’m sorry. But you should think about what she thinks. What she wants.” Fluttershy followed her friends into the forest. Lance thought about it for a second then looked up. It was starting to get late. He turned and moved as quickly as he could to catch up with the others.

* * *

The four fillies sat around the lantern, it was growing dimmer with each passing hour. At least they guessed it was an hour, could have been five minutes. They just sat still, hardly moving, their breathing the only noise in the cave, it scared them but they couldn’t think of anything else. No way out, no pony was coming. Scootaloo’s bump on her head was throbbing gently and she really wanted to sleep, Sweetie Belle warned her not to even dare close her eyes. They were each feeling tired and wanted to lie down, but Sweetie Belle had told them all that if they did they fell asleep they might not wake up again, especially Scootaloo. They were starting to get cold and the lantern, while providing light, didn’t provide any heat. The light wouldn’t last much longer, they could only see each other now and the light barely touched the walls around them.

“Should we let them go?” Sweetie Belle asked. The others weren’t sure what she was talking about.

“Let who go?” Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle like she’d go mad.

“Them.” Sweetie Belle was looking at the fireflies in the lantern. There were only four left.

“But then we won’t be able to see.” Applebloom complained.

“We won’t be able to see for much longer anyway and they’re in the same situation as we are, trapped in a small space with no way out.” Sweetie Belle said, reasoning with the others. Cherry felt a sharp pain in her chest. This was her fault. Those four word repeated over and over in her mind. If she had just listened to her brother, as horrible as it was to think about, and never seen her friends again they wouldn’t be in this mess right now. They were better off without her.

“I say let them go.” Scootaloo said. There was nowhere for them to really go, but it’s better to be trapped in a big open space, flying free then trapped in a small area like they were. Applebloom agreed then they looked at Cherry, she nodded her head but didn’t look up. Sweetie Belle reached for the lantern.

“Wait,” Cherry interrupted, surprising the other fillies. “I… I’m s-scared of being alone in the dark.” Scootaloo rolled her eyes and smiled as she slid closer, wrapping her foreleg around Cherry’s.

“You won’t be alone.” Cherry looked at the orange pegasus, she was the first friend she ever made and Cherry couldn’t have asked for a better one. Applebloom then moved over to Cherry’s other side.

“Yeh, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“Till the very end.” Sweetie Belle finished as she moved over to join her friends. Cherry didn’t deserve such great friends, but she couldn’t help but smile. Each of them had a smile on their faces as Sweetie Belle opened the lantern and the four fireflies flew upwards and around the small cave. They imagined the fireflies were playing and laughing, enjoying their freedom. The Crusaders just watched the four little lights until they faded out, one by one.

* * *

It had taken longer than they expected, the sun was starting to come down and they guessed that they had maybe two hours before night time. They finally made it to the cave but only just spotted it. The mouth of the cave was huge, large boulders surrounded the entrance and a few vines drooped down trying to hide it from sight.

“Eww, we have to go in there?” Rarity whined.

“Oh quit yah whining girl, you knew we were heading to a cave.” Applejack said as she jumped up onto one of the large boulders.

“I just prefer not to get my hooves dirty, but if I-” Rarity was interrupted midsentence as Rainbow Dash flew over her head.

“Are you coming inside or not?” Rarity scowled at Rainbow then tossed her head up as she headed to the rocks. Lance was already trying to climb them, being helped up by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, his bad leg refused to give him enough strength to climb over alone. He felt pathetic and a little embarrassed.

“I swear. That little filly is gonna be in so much trouble when I see her.” Lance said after getting helped down the other side.

“You should take it easy on her,” said Fluttershy “You don’t want go upsetting the dear again.”

“Hmm, it’s very dark in here.” Twilight looked around the cave and could barely see a thing. She then tilted her head up and the tip of her horn glowed, casting a purple light to every corner. “That’s better, come on everypony.” They all followed Twilight into the cave and pinkie bounced alongside Lance.

“What happened between you and Cherry anyway?” Asked Pinkie Pie.

“Bit of a long story.”

“Well, it’s a long cave!” Pinkie smiled at Lance and so to take his mind of his headache, he told Pinkie the entire story. Lance knew the others would be listening in, but these ponies were good friends of Fluttershy’s and Pinkie’s. Lance told them about the hydra, the attack on Zecora, the argument they had afterwards, then the fight at dinner, Lance finished the story after the moment Cherry had run away to Fluttershy’s home and then turned to Fluttershy.

“Then the next morning, you told her to come back to my home and she ran away, right?”

“Umm, well actually, she said she wanted to go alone after I told her I’d be taking her home. Oh, I’m such a foal. I should have guessed something was wrong.”

“Hey, now don’t beat yourself up, sugarcube. Ain’t no pony could have seen that coming.”

“Well I think it’s just awful what happened.” Rarity said before turning to Lance. “How could you be so insensitive to the little dear’s feelings?” Lance did a double take.

“Huh?”

“Well I mean honestly, I’m very glad you weren’t hurt worse then you were, but it sounded like you just, in your anger, took it all out on her.”

“But I…”

“And to treat her like that? Forbidding her from seeing her friends again, of course she’s going to run away. “

Lance was really beginning to not like this pony. She seemed to have a know-it-all attitude that he didn’t like, though he couldn’t help but think that she might be right.

“Being siblings is a give and take relationship. You’ve been doing a whole lot of taking by the sounds of it and not enough giving. You’ve got to be like apple pie.” Lance didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, Applejack just laughed.

“Wow Rarity, if yah gonna re-gift my advice, maybe you should try and have it make sense.” Rarity said nothing and kept walking. “Listen Lance, she’ll come around soon enough and you’ll be a happy family again, but if ya’ll are gonna stay in that filly’s good graces, you’d better start thinking about what she wants. Sure it’s easy to know what’s best for the filly but sometimes you have to give in to what they want. Be her big brother when she needs you, don’t try and control her.”

Lance looked at both Applejack and Rarity. His headache was certainly not improved his attitude when it came to taking advice.

“Well if you both are such great experts in foal sitting, then tell me what your sisters are doing in this cave in the middle of a dangerous forest?” Applejack and Rarity looked at each other, then turned to Lance.

“Just trying to give some neighbourly advice. No need to be like that.” Applejack said, sounding offended. Rarity said nothing and just kept walking forward. Lance felt a pang of guilt. This wasn’t who he really was.

“Look, I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to act like that. I’ve just been through the worst weekend of my life and I’m worried sick about my sister.” Applejack turned back to look at him again.

“That’s alright partner, given yeh situation, I might have a short fuse ‘en all.” Lance smiled back at Applejack and they kept walking with Twilight still leading the way.

* * *

Surrounded by darkness the fillies kept close to each other, their breathing was becoming deeper as their lungs tried to pull in more air. The fillies were tired and could no longer remain sitting down. They were lying next to each other, hoof in hoof so they knew that their friends were with them. They didn’t stay in silence because it was too horrible to consider the alternative, so they kept talking in whispered hushes.

“-and then I tipped over the table cloth and fell into the music player, which scratched to a stop.” Applebloom was telling Cherry about how she first met Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “With everypony looking at me, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just made fun of me, calling me a blank flank.”

“And that’s when Sweetie Belle and I stepped in to defend her.” Scootaloo added.

“Yeah, we started talking about how Applebloom had the potential to be anything she wanted, from a scientist, to even the mayor.”

“We’ve since then tried, but none of us got a cutie mark while trying those.” Applebloom laughed. “Soon everypony at the party was paying attention to us instead of Diamond Tiara. We never saw them again for the rest of the party after that.“ After Applebloom stopped talking they were all silent for a few seconds, Cherry could hear each of the girls breathing heavily. The talking was draining each of their strengths too fast but none of them wanted to stop talking because the silence was so much worse. It was becoming scary for each of the fillies.

Cherry felt sick, like her heart was going to erupt out of her throat at any moment. They were all suffering because of her and she wanted to cry, but she’d already shed all the tears she had, apologised as often as she could have before her friends told her to stop. Hearing her say that was felt like it was the end. They had all agreed that they shouldn’t give up, that they would tell stories until somepony saved them.

“Well, should I go next?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Go on then.” Said Scootaloo.

“This was one of the best days of my life. It’s about the Sisterhoof Social. Me and Rarity had a big argument the day before about how much un-sister like she always was, and how she never wanted to spend time with me, and she was made at me because everything nice I did for her always ended up with my ruining something of hers. I ran away and stayed with Applebloom and Applejack for the rest of the day. Watching them both playing and working together was getting me upset because my sister would never do anything with me, or want to work as a team. She tried to butter me up that night and try to take me home, but she was still being the same selfish pony.” Sweetie Belle stopped talking for a moment. She needed to rest for a moment, catch her breath.

“Sweetie Belle?” Cherry asked worriedly.

“I’m… I’m okay. Anyway, on the day of the social, Applejack said she’d run the race with me and I was so happy. At the start she fell in the mud and disappeared.”

“That was a good part.” Applebloom laughed quietly.

“When she came back up,” Sweetie Belle continued. “She was coved from head to hoof in mud. We ran the entire race and were doing great together, and almost won the whole thing but we were beaten by another pair of ponies. It was only after that did I realise that it wasn’t Applejack I raced with, it was my own sister. They were all in on it together to get me reunited with my sister.”

“I can’t believe ya didn’t notice sooner.” Applebloom laughed. “Ah was worried that the eyes were gonna be a dead giveaway.”

“What about you Cherry? You have a story?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well…” Cherry struggled to think of something, than she thought about her brother. Something he said to her. “One time, before I came to Ponyville, me and my brother were in his room looking out the bedroom window while covering ourselves with the bed sheets, if our dad came in, we could quickly lie down and pretend to be sleeping. In Las Pegasus the bright lights outside were always on. We lived in a small house that was cheap because of all the advertising boards that blocked out almost all the scenery. The bright lights… well they kept us awake most night. We had no curtains either…”

Cherry was quickly losing her breath. She took a moment then carried on.

“Well, we were watching out the window, watching a Wonderbolts performance at night. I’ve seen fireworks before, but this was different. I’d never seen such amazing flying before, the stunts they did, even though they were so far away, I could see how amazing they were...” Cherry was struggling to catch her breath. She stopped talking again for a moment.

“Cherry, don’t push your-“ Scootaloo wanted to tell her to take it slower, but the little filly carried on.

“I looked at my brother… and I asked him if we could go to see them one day. He- He then… m-my brother whispered to me that o-one day… he’d t-take me to not only see them, but h-he’d s-s-show me the best places…” Cherry broke down in tears again. She missed her brother with all her heart. Her friends next to her said nothing but they let her know that they were there with her, staying right by her side. Scootaloo reached over Cherry Blossom’s head and pulled her into a one legged hug.

“It could still happen.” Scootaloo whispered.

“Y-yeah, when we get out of here… We’ll see the world together.” Sweetie Belle added.

“Together.” Applebloom placed a hoof over Cherry’s. Their eyes had adjusted to the dark, just enough to see their own outlines against the dark. Sweetie Belle placed a hoof over Applebloom’s and Scootaloo placed a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s. Cherry calmed down and smiled, she truly did have the best friends in the world. They stayed like that for a moment, and then Applebloom broke the silence.

“Scootaloo, it’s your turn. What’s your favourite memory?” Scootaloo smiled but no pony saw it.

“You have to ask? It would have to be that awesome talent show we sang at!”

“But that was awful.” Said Sweetie Belle. “They laughed us off stage.”

“I know, but think about it. It really was hilariously bad.”

“What happened?” Asked Cherry.

“Well, we were putting on a rock show. I was the lead singer, Sweetie Belle was in charge of the sets and props,”

“Which all looked terrible.” Sweetie Belle added.

“And Applebloom was our main dancer.”

“Ah was just throwing punches and kicks, even got my hoof stuck at one point.”

“Well,” Scootaloo continued. ”We got to perform in front of the entire town, my singing was wonderific-“

“That’s not a word.” Sweetie Belle interrupted with a laugh.

“Oh hush up, you walking dictionary.” Scootaloo gave a weak laugh as well. “Anyway, we were singing the Cutie Mark Crusaders theme song and everything was going wrong, but we never stopped. Props got in our way, we were blinded by the smoke machine-”

“And don’t forget the weird costumes we were wearing.” said Applebloom.

“Hey, I thought you liked my costumes?” Said Sweetie Belle, sounding a little hurt.

“But with the crowd standing in total silence, we thought we had them in awe at how awesome we were.”

“More like they had gone in ta shock.”

“When we had finished they had indeed laughed us off the stage, but when we went back on they gave us the award for best comedy act because we were so awful, they thought it was a parody of a real rock concert.” The three fillies laughed quietly together.

“Yer right Scootaloo that is a great memory.” Said Applebloom.

“Totally.” Agreed Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo laughed again and then noticed Cherry wasn’t laughing, Scootaloo gave her a gentle shake.

“What’s wrong, didn’t you like that one? …Cherry? …Cherry Blossom?!”