Warped Destiny

Chapters

Ch: 1. Life Continues
Ch 2: Summer Sun Indignation
Ch 3: Losing Heart

Ch: 1. Life Continues

Twilight Velvet and her husband Nightlight were out having a nice dinner together, reminiscing on the events that had occurred recently. Most importantly was the acceptance of their daughter as Princess Celestia's personal student. The matriarch had initially wanted Twilight to move into the castle immediately, something that Twilight Velvet had managed to stop as she wanted one last night of having her little filly at home, something that Nightlight was hoping they wouldn't regret knowing how unpredictable their daughter's magic could get.

“Nighty, you seem distracted. Is there something the matter?”

“It's just that I have a bad feeling about things, something doesn't feel quite right.”

“Oh honey, you're just nervous about letting Twilight go away to live with the princess.”

“Of course I am Velvet, no parent should watch as their child is taken from them at an age where they've barely gotten out of kindergarten. I don't care what you say Velvet but what I told the princess back there was the truth.”

“Honey, when she said she'd be taking Twilight away you called her an inconsiderate witch that deserves to be chained up in the deepest pits of hell.”

“Velvet you are acting too calm when the ruler of your land just came and took your child away. Not to mention her running record of what happens with her students.”

“Nighty she said we could visit anytime we want to, and I'm certain those silly rumors are just exaggerations.”

“Velvet, do you really trust a stranger to take care of our child the way we would, and give her the love that they deserve. You seem to be forgetting that Twilight will be growing up without her parents, without us. Celestia is a ruler honey, she doesn't have time to care for a little filly the way they need to be. She'll be taken care of by the castle staff and then what? She'll have become as spoiled rotten as the worst nobles out there., and before you say we'll raise her when the princess is busy we can't go to the castle daily, in fact we'd hardly be able to manage once a week with our schedules.”

“Don't worry so much honey, Cadence will be there to take care of our little filly, she'll make sure Twilight doesn't end up like those pompous political pricks.”

“That pink floozy has had enough presence in our lives already, if it wasn't for Twilight liking her so much she wouldn't have babysat past the first time.”

“Really now, are you sure it isn't because she likes Shining Armor.”

“Hah! Like Shining Armor, that's rich. That pink pervert likes anything that will bed her. Plus that dance she taught Twilight is just obscene, thank goodness Twilight is too young to know that right now or notices how Cadance looks back at her when she does it.”

“There's nothing wrong with their dance honey, and maybe Cadance is a little loose.”

“Yeah right, she's so loose a full grown dragon wouldn't have problems with her. That dance is not okay either, you may not have noticed but when they do that anypony from the other side has a full view of everything, whether or not they want to see it.”

“Maybe you have a point, but aren't you happy that Twilight was recognized for her talent?”

“Of course I'm proud of her, but I can't be happy with the fact that she's being taken from us. Do you even care that she's being taken from us.”

“Of course I do honey, but she'll get to see us regularly and Shining's training at the guard academy is going really well so he could watch after her, now eat before your food gets cold dear.”

<><><><>

“So is this the road we're supposed to be workin' on boss?” A tan earthpony stallion asked.

“Of course, and put out that cigar you can't smoke on the job!”

“Got it boss.” The earth pony said before tossing the lit item into a nearby trash can that was filled with newspapers.

As the crew started to work on the road outside of the Twilight residence the newspapers caught fire and started to burn. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal as the fire wouldn't have escaped the trash can. However the dry clothes hanging on a clotheslines of a few careless nobles above the trashcan managed to catch fire and spread along the lines and into the building. As the workers continued with the road they began to notice an orange glow permeating the area.

“Ash Grey are you lighting up another cigar? I told you no smoking on the job.”

“That's not me boss, Holy Celestia the building's caught fire!”

“Everypony get clear and get some help! We'll finish this once things have become safe!” The boss pony yelled.

A few of the workers ran off to get the fire squad while the rest stayed behind to help any ponies that were exiting the building. As time progressed only a few elderly ponies within what most ponies would call an apartment complex exited the building. Thankfully they were certain that all of the other residents of the building were out for the night. As the fire raged on the stones the building was made of began to crack and the whole mess crumbled just as the fire squad made it there.

What was left of the building was nothing more than a smoldering heap of debris, and what was left of the building gave off an ominous moan as a cloud of black energy seeped up from the rubble. The fire squad went and made sure the rubble was put out and checked on the victims and other houses to make sure things were alright before leaving the scene and making sure to file a report on the damaged property. All that was left were the construction ponies who had been working on the road who just started milling about.

“Phew, I haven't seen a wooden foundation in Canterlot in years, most of them are stone just like the rest of the place.” Ash Gray said.

“That building was likely ancient, the reason it's so cheap is probably because the foundation might have given out at any time.” Another worker replied.

The workers got back to work with cleaning up the road and preparing to restart while their boss looked over what was left of the building's foundation. After a few minutes the order to get back to work was given as their boss went to make sure that a replacement of the foundation was going to be done. While the workers started to get back to their jobs Twilight Velvet an Nightlight had started heading home.

“Honey, somethings wrong.” Twilight said to her husband.

“That's what I've been trying to tell you all night, but do you listen.”

“Shut up Nighty! Sir what happened here!” Twilight asked a worker.

“Oh, you must live here. It's a right shame the whole building caught fire and the whole thing came down, wooden foundation and all. All that's left is a pile of rubble.”

“Did a thirteen year old filly or a eighteen year old colt leave the building?”

“I'm sorry mam, if they were in there then I'm afraid they didn't make it.”

“No... No! There's got to be a mistake, please Nighty use your magic to tell us where they are!”

Nightlight quickly used his magic and a hair from both of his children to track their location. As the spell gave him it's results the stallion started to weep as he realized that both of his children were buried under a building. Twilight Velvet didn't take long to figure out what the spell indicated and she began to weep with her husband as well over the loss of their children.

<><><><>

The funeral was a dour affair with Nightlight and Velvet openly weeping while others paid their respects to the deceased children. The bodies of the two had been recovered and what was left of them was placed into closed caskets that were waiting to be placed into the mausoleum that most of their family rested in.

“I'm terribly sorry for your loss, I too am saddened by the loss of a student that I'd only had for a day.” Celestia said as she looked over the funeral of Twilight Sparkle.

“She was never your student.” Nightlight growled at the Celestia.

“I suppose you are right about that, I only met the filly for a day before she was ripped from this world. It's saddening to see ponies perish in the eve of their youth.”

“Stop pretending that you care, she meant nothing to you.” Nightlight responded.

“All my little ponies mean a lot to me, even your daughter who I only met once.”

“Stop lying to me Celestia, if you actually cared for everypony, after all of these years you'd be twelve different kinds of insane after experiencing so much loss. I'm nearly there with just this!”

“I know you're grieving right now Mr. Nightlight, but please trust me when I say I truly do care. If it makes you feel any better I'm prepared to pay for your family's relocation after the fire. Now please don't blame me for the loss of your children when it was clearly nopony's fault.”

“I don't want your money I want my children back you whorse! And I never said anything about blaming you... YOU, you did this!”

“'What!? Mr. Nightlight please it is simply a misunderstanding, I would do nothing to harm your children.”

“... M-maybe your right. It wouldn't make any sense anyways. Killing your own student, my daughter just after you accepted her... It just hurts Celestia, it just hurts so much that even blaming you for no reason makes things feel a little bit better... like it wasn't my fault that she's dead.”

“You could not have predicted what would have happened my subject... Would you like to know something?”

“What?”

“Your children can see you right now, you may not believe it but it's true. You're all so much more special than me or any other immortal in this realm. You ponies have a greater existence that you never seem to realize, that your consciousness does not need a living body to exist or survive. All the body serves as is a way to interact with the mortal plane and as a form of reproduction, when it decays the spirit moves on to a plane of existence even I can't enter, things of this world are not pure enough to cross over but your spirits are. True there are some who give themselves over to corruption and face a fate even worse than death, but you know to do right. Ponies look at me like some deity, but in reality I'm much lower than you all. You fear death because you fear judgment, I fear death not because of judgment, but because I will cease to exist entirely. Your kind are the true immortals, those for who death is merely a new beginning and one that leads on to something that has no end. I am merely a product of this world, magic given sentience through the power within it, but magic is of this world and like all things of this world it and I will fade into oblivion... Sorry, I was supposed to be making you feel better, instead it seems I started to get rather depressing talking about my own fate.”

“It's alright Celestia, I was paying more attention to eulogy at that point anyways, but thanks for trusting me enough to know that about you, and that someday I'll be reunited with my children.”

“Think nothing of it, I merely wish to see you recover from this loss.”

“Thanks I guess, and you don't need to give us any bits, we... we were getting ready to move at that point and we were merely waiting to get enough bits to move everything over, looks like we'll be using it to buy new furniture instead... But thank you for helping me, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you just ask.”

“All I ask is that you remember me.”

<><><><>
[eight years later]

“Mom!”

“Ruby... please let me sleep.”

“But today's my birthday!” The seven year old filly proclaimed.

“Yes I know dear, but it's seven in the morning. Why is it that you're up this early on days like today and never on school days?” The filly's mother groaned.

“Because school's boring!”

“What about all of your school friends?”

“They're fun, but we don't get to play much outside of recess.” The filly said as she hopped off the bed.

“Well, where do you want to go for your birthday huh?”

“Doughnut Joe's! Doughnut Joe's!” The filly yelled at the top of her lungs before running off to wake up her brothers and sister.

Twilight Velvet sighed as she lay there thinking about how similar and how different Ruby was from Twilight. She was the oldest of her siblings and was almost always as energetic as Twilight would be when she got excited about something. Ruby hated school though, and Velvet doubted the filly would stay in school much longer than what was required, but she seemed so much happier than what Twilight did at her age. The deceased filly was always too busy reading to have any fun, and even though she seemed happy Velvet wondered if she truly ever had been.

Velvet put the thoughts out of her mind, knowing full well that there was nothing that could change the past, but at least her current four children helped with the pain. Of course Velvet couldn't forget her children, but she tried to remember them for the joy they brought, not the sadness that their parting left. That way of thinking generally left Velvet feeling a little better afterwords but she still missed them.

“A parent should never have to bury their child.” Twilight Velvet whispered to herself while getting out of the bed and rousing her husband.

As Twilight wandered down the hall after their daughter she briefly wondered how her husband was able to handle everything so well. As Twilight entered the kitchen she found Silver Dollop, their youngest daughter, giddily collecting the ingredients for pancakes.

Silver Dollop would be considered a genius by some at how early she earned her mark, but all the little filly ever talked about was pancakes and things that went into them. This was natural however as Silver Dollop's cutie mark was of a stack of pancakes with a few strawberries. The five year old filly had earned her mark when she helped her mother make pancakes one day. Of course the little filly was still too young to cook without supervision, but Velvet didn't doubt that she'd be one of the best cooks around once she got older.

The twin colts that were both six eventually came downstairs to join the family for breakfast. Streamline the energetic smokey gray pegasus of the two was wide awake and eagerly awaiting his breakfast, while his white coated unicorn brother known as Icy Haze looked like he was almost ready to fall asleep standing up.

As the entire family gathered for breakfast the light gray filly known as Silver Dollop began to bounce around excitedly at the prospect of finally getting breakfast started, and at the prospect of helping her mother prepare the breakfast. As the family started their meal Ruby couldn't help but notice that Streamline was nearly eating his breakfast while flying.

“So Ruby, Since tomorrow is the Summer Sun Celebration we've decided that we're going to be going to Ponyville to participate in all of the fun.” Nightlight said to the filly who instantly became excited along with the rest of her siblings... except for Icy Haze who was currently using a stack of pancakes as a pillow.

As the family went out to go have a fun time celebrating Ruby's birthday Twilight Velvet briefly shivered as she felt a ghostly chill pass by. The mare put the wind out of her mind as she summoned a light jacket and went on with the rest of her family to have fun. Nearby a floating book was gently placed on the ground and left there for a few minutes before floating again and flying off in the opposite direction.

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Mornings for Apple Bloom never changed much, it was get up, go to school, work, eat, sleep, repeat. Sure the filly would have been considered rather boring by most ponies including herself, but she had a farm to run. Big Mac was already outside working as Apple Bloom downed her breakfast and started to work on the farm. Days like today were some of the more peaceful days for Apple Bloom as they were ones where she could think about things.

Once Apple Bloom got into a steady rhythm she let her body go into autopilot as her mind wandered over the things that she found to concern her the most. Granny Smith was likely still asleep and a good thing too, ever since Applejack's death the older pony had started ranting about spirits haunting the place. Normally this wouldn't be a bad thing if there weren't a few things that happened that couldn't be explained, mostly the leaves on the trees falling without any help and the sounds of crying coming from the part of the orchard that the fruit bats inhabited.

The locals had started this silly game where if you could spend the whole night in the haunted part of the orchard you would get something akin to brownie points or whatever they called them. Nopony could claim they'd done it though as they always run out screaming around two in the morning. Apple Bloom had attempted the feat only once, and afterwords she began to wonder if Granny Smith was actually right about the orchard being haunted.

Aside from the bad sales and the constant threat of the fruit bats leaving their part of the orchard Apple Bloom had the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration to think about. The whole event was going to take place tomorrow and she still had work to do before the rest of the family would even show up. It was typical of course, Granny Smith was too old to work and Big Mac was too upset about his sister to work past seven and instead went to grieve, of course Apple Bloom didn't hold that against him considering he lost his parent s and his sister at roughly the same time.

It seemed that the entire world hated Big Mac because his “marefriend” dumped him and left him with their daughter Apple Bloom after the funeral. It was a miracle Big Mac escaped being sent to an asylum after the ghost talk got him yapping about how he talks with Applejack's ghost. Apple Bloom sometimes wondered if she was the only thing that kept her father sane at times, but his fragile mental stat left Apple Bloom with most of the work around the farm.

Apple Bloom had found her mother at one point when she was overseeing the stall in the market. Things had escalated rather quickly between the two and Apple Bloom had the unfortunate experience of knowing what it was like to get arrested, and to be picked up later by her grandmother because her dad was a complete wreck. Although Apple Bloom was glad the police showed up, she would have hated to have been tried for murder.

At one point Apple Bloom had wanted to leave the farm entirely and just run away, but the acquisition of her cutie-mark had put an end to that before it even began. Her cutie-mark had shown up the day before she decided she would leave the farm. It was a day mostly like any other and Big Mac was out working while trying to forget everything that had happened to him.

Apple Bloom had went into the barn to fix the roof before she left so that her dad wouldn't have to worry about it. As the roof was slowly fixed she had missed the fact that she had gotten her mark until her dad had mentioned it to her, an apple with a black gear in the center. Most ponies would have been happy when they received their mark, for her it only filled her with anger.

She had been found later that night repeatedly bucking the same tree with tears streaming down her face. She hated the farm, she hated the trees, she hated ever single one of the apples that she kicked out of the worthless pieces of wood that dotted the farm, and most of all she hated her cutie-mark. As Apple Bloom continued to think on this she barely noticed that she was now putting dents into the tree she was supposed to be bucking.

When the fantasy ended Apple Bloom picked up the baskets of apples that she had gathered and threw them onto the cart that was nearby. As she looked over the farm she was partially satisfied that her work for the day was done and she took notice of the one inch deep hoof prints on the nearby tree.

As Apple Bloom went inside for what would be her dinner her dad was already sitting at the table trying his best to act normal. Of course it was only so the rest of the extended family wouldn't worry when they came over, of course Apple Bloom knew he wasn't going to fool anypony.

As Apple Bloom started on her dinner Big Mac finally spoke up after having been quiet for a bit.

“Hey, Bloom, are ya feeling alright?”

“Haven't felt right since ah was three, so no ah'm not.” Apple Bloom grumbled.

“D-do ya... ya know. Want ta talk about it?”

“No. It won't change anythin' an' ah don't like thinkin' on it. Now ah'm goin' ta bed, if ya need me talk ta me tomorrow.” Apple Bloom said as she finished off her plate and stormed up the stairs.

As things started to turn to evening Big Mac merely sat at the table looking at his empty plate wondering why his daughter was so distant. As the stallion sat there he merely sighed and looked out the window, and wondered what Applejack thought of the situation. He reckoned he shouldn't ask her though, the spirit was morose enough as it was.

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Sweetie Belle got up that morning with a spring in her step and a song in her heart. Sometimes her parents swore that she was a little too cheery for a filly, but she just couldn't help it, the world around her was just so magical. After the filly quickly prepared her mane she slid down the railing on the stairs and made her way into the kitchen. Her parents were there eating their breakfasts already so Sweetie just passed them by and got out her favorite cereal.

Sweetie's favorite cereal was a sugary concoction known only as Smart Cookies, and it was essentially like eating a bowl full of cookies and milk. Sweetie didn't doubt that this was the favorite cereal of other ponies, but she always found that adding marshmallows to it was much more interesting. As the filly wolfed down her breakfast her parents looked at her and were secretly glad that she didn't know where the bag of sugar was kept. Once the little filly finished she briefly wished her mom and dad goodbye before heading out of the house.

As Sweetie went through the town she waved at all of the ponies she passed by and even greeted a few of them as she went on her way. As she went down the street she noticed Spoiled Rich steering clear of the local apple stand, apparently the filly that works at it tried to kill her. When Sweetie Belle asked her about it she only replied by saying she couldn't believe she was related to her.

As Sweetie Neared the edge of Whitetail Woods she took some time to smell the flowers, especially her favorite one, poison joke. Of course she knew the flower was a trickster but she made sure not to touch them and they always smelled so different and pretty. Once Sweetie Belle was inside the woods she headed over to a clearing that was rumored to be haunted, but that was silly since Miss Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash practically lived there.

Of course they were ghosts, but Sweetie Belle didn't think of them as haunting the place since they were really nice. Miss Fluttershy would teach Sweetie Belle how to sing and take care of the animals, while Rainbow Dash would play with her. The two were really fun to play with and Sweetie absolutely cherished their time together.

“Hey Miss Fluttershy?”

“Oh, yes Sweetie, what is it? I mean if you don't mind of course, you never usually stop singing practice.”

“Why can I see you when other ponies can't?”

“Well... You see, it's because you still have your childlike innocence. When ponies get older they become blinded by their desires and thoughts, and because of that they simply lose the ability to see and hear us.”

“Well you won't have to worry about me Miss Fluttershy! I'll never grow up!”

“Everypony grows up someday Sweetie, but not everypony loses their childlike nature.”

Ever since Sweetie Belle asked that she made a deliberate choice to never become a mature adult, and so far it was working now that it had become second nature for her. In fact Sweetie was getting better at communicating with the spirits that she came across and she was well past the age some fillies and colts stopped seeing ghosts. With enough determination Sweetie didn't doubt that she could make her ability to communicate with Miss Fluttershy permanent.

When Sweetie Belle entered the clearing sh could hear the haunting melodies that the deceased pegasus sung floating in the air. Sweetie hoped she could only be half as good as Fluttershy at singing someday as she sat down in front of the rock she was perched on. As the melody ended Fluttershy looked over to Sweetie Belle and smiled.

“Oh, hello Sweetie, here for your lessons.”

“Yes Miss Fluttershy.” Sweetie Said to the ghost.

“We'll begin in a minute, Mrs. Bunny over there was wanting to talk with me so I'll be right back.”

As Fluttershy went to where the rabbit was most likely at Sweetie Belle started trying to see if she could spot Rainbow Dash hanging around somewhere. As Sweetie looked around a grin crept up on her face as she quickly whirled around and yelled boo. The reaction the spectral pegasus behind her made was hilarious as Rainbow Dash backed up in alarm and nearly face planted into a nearby tree.

“Nice try Rainbow!” Sweetie said in between fits of giggles.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up kid. Hey, how did you know I was there anyways.”

“I don't know, I kinda just sensed it.”

“Well it was awesome being startled by something for once, Fluttershy over there isn't exactly one for pranks.”

“Yeah, but she's really nice though... It's ponies like her that make me want to see ponies smile wherever they go.”

“I can respect that kid... Hey what have you been eating by the way? You look like you've started packing on some weight since last time.”

“...Mostly sugar...” Sweetie Belle answered back sheepishly.

“Yeash, no wonder you're starting to get heavier. With a diet like that you'll end up getting fat. Don't worry though, I'll help you lose all that weight in no time.”

“Thanks Dash, maybe I'll talk to you about that later, but it's time for my singing lessons with Miss Fluttershy.” Sweetie said as she positioned herself in front of the rock and started her lessons.

After a few hours of singing practice Sweetie Belle got up and started to help Fluttershy tend to the animals, which greatly helped Fluttershy since ghosts had a hard time interacting with the physical realm. Some day Sweetie wished to bring just as much joy to ponies as Fluttershy did to animals and when thinking of that an idea came to the young fillies mind.

“Hey, Miss Fluttershy? Do you think some of these animals would like to be adopted?”

“Oh, you mean like become some nice family's pets... I suppose some of them would.”

“I was thinking that maybe I could take some ponies here and maybe have them pick out some.”

“That's really sweet Sweetie, but I'm afraid most ponies won't adopt completely wild animals unless they've been taken into a shelter.”

“Oh... Well that's alright, there are plenty of other things that make ponies happy, like candies, and sweets, and sugar puffs!”

“Well, maybe you can make some treats for ponies then. I'm sure you can find somepony who can teach you.”

“Alright, I'm sure I won't be burning anything in no time. I'll go ask the Cakes since they seem really nice, and they kind of know how I managed to burn juice.”

“Wait... Juice?”

“Yup!”

“Well... I'm sure you'll do fine.”

“Thanks Miss Fluttershy! Well it's getting late so I'm going to head home, bye Fluttershy! Bye Dash!” The little filly yelled before scampering off.

On the filly's way home she made sure to stop of at Sugar Cube Corner and apply for some lessons in cooking. After she had made her request, and been accepted under the strict rule of being supervised the whole time, the filly purchased some fudge for her trip home and briefly looked at the for hire sign that had been on the wall for as long as she could remember, maybe one day Sweetie would be the one to take it down.

As the little filly entered her home she took note that dinner had been left out for her, and it contained her most dreaded enemy, Brussel Sprouts. The fiendish vegetable had made it's way back into her life and no matter what her parents said she knew they were evil. So in a quick motion she scooped the ugly monstrosities into the cat food, thereby saving what was left on her plate from a fate worse than death. If anypony had seen the tragedy that was about to befall the poor filly's dinner they would have gasped in shock and awe as she single hoofedly stopped their tyranny.

Once the theatrics were over Sweetie eagerly wolfed down everything on her plate, and even though she wasn't supposed to she managed to sneak in a few cookies as well. After brushing her teeth with her bubblegum flavored toothpaste Sweetie Belle flopped onto her bed that housed her stuffed animal collection. Once all of her animals had been read their bedtime story the filly snuggled up under the covers and drifted off into a dream filled with sugary treats and many other things.

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The day was going really well for Scootaloo, she was with her family in Cloudsdale visiting the weather factory. Their tour was going really well and they had taken a break for lunch outside in a picnic area. The filly's parents were talking amiably about the Wonderbolts and their upcoming performance, while Scootaloo was just happy to be walking on clouds.

The energetic filly suffered from a wing deformation that made it impossible for her to fly so these rare trips for her were always good ones. The Wonderbolts were an interesting group of ponies to be sure and they did all sorts of amazing tricks much like Scootaloo on her scooter, but the little filly wasn't all that interested in them since she couldn't fly herself. It was a lucky thing that Scootaloo's wings were strong enough to get her moving on her scooter though since it was what she considered her passion in life at the moment.

As the tour continued Scootaloo could swear she had seen a few blurs of color whiz around, but nopony else seemed to be paying any attention. While in the snowflake production facility Scootaloo got to make her own snowflake out of paper which was placed on a nearby wall for decoration until the tour finished. Of course not everything went well since a mare brought in a fan and ended up blowing the snowflakes everywhere, but Scootaloo liked the display of all the snowflakes whizzing around.

Much to the annoyance of Scootaloo the more dangerous parts of the factory were off limits especially where the liquid lightning was stored because of an incident a few years ago. Apparently a worker had tried to taste the stuff and wound up in the hospital after managing to survive the experience. Although there was one last bit of the tour where they got to see something cool, it just so happened to be where they got to see where the raw liquid rainbow was made in the factory.

The tour stood on a catwalk with high rails overlooking a bunch of multicolored vats that were mixing the initial ingredients for what would become one of the spiciest things in existence. As the tour proceed it was mentioned that the vats they were over contained a slurry of highly acidic ingredients that would later be diluted into a nontoxic and safe form. Of course Scootaloo, wanting to get a closer look, managed to squeeze her head through the bars and look over into a vat.

The swirling mixture was almost hypnotizing to watch as the young pegasus was nearly put into a trance. Unfortunately her lapse in concentration sent the young filly plummeting into a vat of, fortunately, mostly diluted rainbow. The liquid stung all over her body and as the filly opened her eyes she could barely make out a cyan mare with a rainbow mane trying to grab her... but her hooves just seemed to never catch on anything.

“Hold on kid, just don't swallow or open your eyes!” A nearby worker yelled to Scootaloo as they grabbed a rope with a loop on the end.

The rope was tossed into the vat which Scootaloo hugged for dear life as she was pulled free of the vat. Her fur and mane had been stained a vibrant green and it continued deep into the filly's flesh likely permanently tattooing her skin green. Unfortunately the order to not open her eyes had been received a little too late as Scootaloo had managed to get a good bit of it in her eyes when she had went under at one point.

Scootaloo coughed up any of the green that had managed to get into her mouth, revealing the same thing that had happened to her skin on the inside of her mouth before anypony could get a good look at everything. When her eyes were revealed she was immediately rushed to where her eyes could get washed out and had to endure water being used to flush out her eyes.

“Hey... Is the stuff out of my eyes? I... I can't see anything... hello?” Scootaloo asked, confirming the fears of some of the workers that had rescued her.

Scootaloo instantly felt the embrace of somepony who started crying as they got a hold of her. It was Scootaloo's mother who had flown down after seeing the filly fall into the vat. Scootaloo returned the embrace, even if it was a bit painful.

After Scootaloo was completely rinsed off and sporting a very green look she was taken to the hospital for a thorough examination. It was there that she was told that physically she would recover, but the green wasn't going to go away as far as her skin was concerned. Scootaloo's main concern was why she couldn't see anything, and for that matter why the doctor hadn't said anything about it yet.

It was the next two tests of taste and sight from her incident that threw a wrench into the filly's life. As far as her sense of taste was concerned she was fine and would recover from any oral damage, her eyesight was a different story. Her retina and several other words that Scootaloo didn't recognize had been eaten away and wouldn't recover, leaving Scootaloo permanently blinded.

Scootaloo sat quietly listening to the world around her, it was something the filly did a lot of considering she was blind now. It was rather unfortunate considering she couldn't go anywhere without a cane, and that she wasn't able to ride her scooter as fast as she liked. It wasn't her fault though, not entirely at least since she became blind due to an accident. Sometimes she wondered who the ghostly mare that tried to save her was, or if the mare was just her imagination.

Scootaloo got up and walked over to her cane as she readied herself to go down the stairs and out into the town. As she wandered through the streets she came upon what she was looking for, which just so happened to be the local orphanage. Scootaloo hadn't been interested in the place for many reasons, and she still wasn't all that interested in the place. The ponies on the other hoof were a different story entirely.

She had first started coming to the place in order to get to know another blind little filly that lived there. After the first year the filly got adopted and Scootaloo just stayed at home for while afterwords until her boredom brought her back to the orphanage. That was when Scootaloo began to get to know the other ponies that lived in the orphanage and she had even managed to become friends with Mrs. Good Heart, the owner of the orphanage.

It was a way to ease her boredom and stressed mind at times when she visited the orphanage, and the ponies there had started to anticipate her visits. What Scootaloo did was always different based on what was happening on any particular day, but she usually helped out with serving the meals and other things around the place. Of course the newer ponies to the place occasionally asked her what was up with the green mouth, to which she always made some joke about eating too many limes.

As Scootaloo walked up to the reception desk she paused and let the pony at the desk fill out her visitors form before moving on and heading towards the main office. The office wasn't all that large, and Scootaloo had once thought that maybe there were a few bookshelves here and there before finding mostly filing cabinets. While waiting for Mrs. Good Heart to arrive Scootaloo sat down in a chair and started to hum to herself.

“Oh, Miss Scootaloo how is everything going!? The little fillies have been chatting nonstop about you recently hoping for you to play with them again.”

“I'm doing alright Mrs. Good Heart, and I'm just doing what comes naturally to me.”

“Well Miss Scootaloo your help around here has been very appreciated, I'm starting to think that you deserve some form of paycheck with how often you help around here.”

“Thanks Mrs. Good Heart, but I really don't have any use for money at the moment.”

“Of course, young ponies like you don't have much to worry about financially. Well maybe you could save it for something later like treats or for when you get older, anyways there is a pony I'd like for you to get to know.”

“Really? It's not very often that you recommend ponies to me.”

“That is true my dear, but little Miss Berry Pinch is a new pony to the system and it was a tragedy that she ended up here. Her mother is known to be a bit of an alcoholic and things finally came to a head in her situation and Berry Pinch was removed from her mother's care. I know how much everypony here loves you and that they feel better when you're around, so I was hoping that you'd be able to help Miss Pinch adjust.”

“Oh my, I'll do what I can Miss Good Heart.” Scootaloo said before allowing herself to be lead to where Berry Pinch was at.

The filly known as Berry Pinch had been located at the far side of the room sitting in the corner. She wasn't crying and had likely gotten all of that out of her system earlier. She was just sitting there drawing something on a piece of paper from the sounds of it, and Scootaloo thought that it might have been a drawing about her mother.

“Berry Pinch, this here is Scootaloo, she'll be showing around the place okay?” To which Berry Pinch didn't respond, but must have nodded to.

“Well I'll leave you two to mingle, I've got to go check on few things.” Mrs. Good Heart said before leaving the room.

Berry Pinch looked over the pony that she had been placed with for the day and immediately noticed three things: one she wore shades inside, two the inside of her mouth was entirely green, and three she had a cane with her. The pony known as Scootaloo smiled in her general direction, although she seemed to be looking slightly to the left.

“So... are you supposed to be the pony that is to show me around?”

“Yep! Whenever you're ready to go I'll start showing you the place.”

“Hey, what's with your mouth? It's all green.”

“It's what happens when you eat limes everyday, but at least it keeps the scurvy at bay.”

“... It's not that funny...” Berry Pinch mumbled.

“Well it's not easy to come up with a joke about that, so where do you want to go first.”

“I-I'm kinda hungry.”

Berry Pinch followed her escort down the hall and out into a large room that held several tables where some other ponies were already sitting. Her escort seemed to be reliant on tapping her cane in front of her for some reason and it was an odd sight she had never seen before. After the filly had selected her lunch she sat down with her guide who was groping the air until she found the juice carton.

“Hey... why do you have a cane? Are you hurt?”

“Na, I'm completely fine. I just need it to know where I'm going a lot of the time, especially in crowded places.”

“How does a cane help with that, and why don't you just take off your sunglasses if you have trouble seeing where you're going?”

“The shades are just to keep ponies from seeing my eyes, they tend to creep them out. As for the cane I'm blind so I can't see anything and the cane let's me know where things in front of me are, it gets a little trickier with stairs but it's not that bad once you're used to it.”

“Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't know you couldn't see anything, I just thought you were weird, I mean cool!.”

“It's alright, really. The weirdest thing about me is that my mouth is permanently dyed green, and someponies think it's actually cool instead of weird.”

“Right...”

The rest of the conversation devolved into nothing more than questions asked by Scootaloo, to which Berry Pinch merely grunted at. The filly had went back into a state of melancholy that Scootaloo had seemed to pick up on, but she didn't say anything until after their lunch was finished.

“So Berry, how about I take you somewhere that I know you'll like.”

“Sure...” Berry said while still in her funk.

Berry followed the blind filly hoping that this whole tour thing would be over soon and that she could just lay somewhere. Apparently Scootaloo had the exact opposite thing in mind as she was taken into another large room filled with play equipment where other ponies were busy playing.

“I...”

“Come on! There's a little game I want ta show ya that I'm sure you'll love!” Scootaloo said interrupting anything Berry Pinch was trying to say.

“oh... alright, but how will you play?”

“It's more of a game based around imagination, I'll get a few of the others and run you through the rules.”

After a group of ponies was gathered together the game started and to Berry Pinch's surprise it was actually kind of fun. If Berry Pinch had been older she might have considered the whole thing to be role playing, but being as young as she was she had never heard of the term. Scootaloo was surprisingly good at the game and Berry was grateful that she was acting as more of a mediator of some sort.

Berry didn't know at when she had began smiling, but by the time the game ended she had been smiling so much that her face felt slightly numb. Scootaloo was waiting for her with a juice box once she finished and she accepted it gladly. For once since entering the orphanage Berry Pinch didn't feel unhappy, and instead she was enjoying herself.

“Felling better yet?”

“Y-yeah... but it won't change anything.”

“Listen... It may not look all that great now but you can't let something like this define you. When I lost my eyesight I was a complete wreck and I would hardly leave my room and when I did I was usually angry about something.”

“H-how did you... you know?”

“Move past it? Well it wasn't easy. My parents took me here because there was another blind filly here at one point that I could talk to. I really didn't want to speak with her and we ended up just sitting with each other mostly... Then she taught me to smile. It was just a silly game really but it got me feeling good enough to actually listen to anything she had to say. She told me that things may look bad now, but that things didn't have to stay bad... That we could move on and have a brighter future than before because of them, as long as we don't let them drag us down... and she was right.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Well after becoming blind even though I couldn't do some of the things that I liked before there were new things that I could do and experience that I never thought to try before. I learned to read brail and ironically I read more now that I'm blind than when I still had sight.” Berry Pinch giggled a bit at that before listening to Scootaloo once again, “I learned to play with others more instead of just doing my own thing and I even found a new passion in life. I learned to cook and I learned so many other things after everything that I never would have otherwise, now tell me do things look all that bad anymore?”

“N-no? But how does that apply to me?”

“Well, have you ever had all that many ponies to play with?”

“Y-no... All I had was mom and she slept most of the time.”

“Well here you have all sorts of ponies to play with and you get three meals a day, and some ponies even get adopted and find a new family.”

“Well... three meals a day does sound kind of nice... mom usually never brings food home.”

“So do you think you'll be able to make it around here now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Well I'm sure you'll be fine then, hey do you want to hang out with me tomorrow? I know it's the Summer Sun Celebration and all but I thought you might like to hang out and have some fun with all of the festivities.”

“I... I'd like that, thank you.”

Scootaloo proceeded to take Berry Pinch on a tour of the rest of the place and where everything occurred at. Berry Pinch was amazed at how big the place was, while Scootaloo merely answered any questions she had about the place. After the tour ended and it was time for Scootaloo to go home she went back to the office to speak with Mrs. Good Heart before the day ended.

“Ah, Scootaloo! So how was Miss Pinch?”

“She's doing better now and she seems to be excited to stay here.”

“I'm glad to hear it Miss Scootaloo and I look forward to seeing you again. So do you know when your cutecienera is going to be, because I know every pony here would want to attend!” Mrs. Good Heart said with excitement creeping into her voice.

“Well I'd have to get a cutie-mark first, once I get mine I'll let you know.” Scootaloo said in confusion.

“Oh, silly me! You must have been so busy with Miss Pinch that nopony noticed.”

“Notice what?”

“Why you're cutie-mark of course! You must have gotten it sometime during the day.”

“Oh... So what does it look like?”

“It's the silhouette of a pony on a heart. You know what it means don't you?”

“Yes Mrs. Good Heart I think I do.”

“That's good Deary, some ponies are just out there getting a mark and completely missing the meaning behind it. Quite frankly I think that's quite silly, being so caught up in the mark itself that you forget what the meaning behind it is.”

“I guess so. Well I'll be coming by tomorrow to take Berry Pinch around the town for the festival, and I'll let you know when my party is.”

“Alright Miss Scootaloo, I'll see you then deary. Oh, here's a little something for you, there's a good bit of candy in here and if you're sure you don't want it you can just give the bits to your parents. I'm sure they'll appreciate it.”

“Thanks Mrs. Good Heart, you're too kind.”

“Think nothing of it my dear, now you better run on home before your folks get upset.”

As Scootaloo walked out of the orphanage and walked on the path that would take her home she began to smile. She had secretly enjoyed working at the orphanage even if she did nothing but pass it off as doing her part for getting to play with everypony there. Now her cutie-mark showed that it was what she was supposed to do with her life, and she was happy about it.

It was funny in a way to Scootaloo, she had previously never though much of others lives the way she did now that her vision was gone. If she hadn't lost her vision Scootaloo would have never found this great thing, she never would have found this much love. In a way she was blinded by her own ability to see and now she had what she felt to be a much better outlook on life.

Once Scootaloo entered her home she quickly showed them her cutie-mark, to which a celebration was set to occur next week. Then Scootaloo brushed her teeth and went to go lay down for the night. While Scootaloo drifted off into the land of dreams she knew that her and Mrs. Good Heart were going to be friends for years to come.

Author's Note

Well the first chapter has been completed and I'm feeling really good about this one. This story is supposed to focus on Apple Bloom the most as a character, but with backstories being so drastically rewritten it was hard not to have this chapter jump around a bit. Also I have a feeling I could write a reasonable story focusing on this Scootaloo, but maybe I'll save that for another time.

For those of you wondering why all of the cutie-mark crusaders are acting so OOC I was hoping that everything in the story would have covered it at this point. Apple Bloom is bitter about everything, she grew up with only a granny and a father who was never really there for her because of his own issues.

Sweetie Belle, well she likes sugar, sugar, stuffed toys, and sugar. Being an only child has lead to Sweetie Belle being her own mare instead of looking up to Rarity and trying to emulate her, in essence she became a bit of a girly filly before becoming a bit Pinkie-ish in an effort to not lose a friend.

Scootaloo... well her backstory ended up being the longest and I'm almost certain everything that explains who she is now was covered in story, but if you're confused please feel free to comment.

Also any comments on Celestia's weirdly religious musings?

Well with the first chapter finished and five of the six elements of harmony introduced it looks like things can only go up from here.

As always I enjoy reading you thoughts and ideas on my work and I would appreciate it if you left a comment telling me how you liked the story and what I could do to improve the story.

Ch 2: Summer Sun Indignation

The day started just like any other with Apple Bloom getting up to the sound of birds chirping and with the sun at just the right angle to get into her eyes. Normally most ponies would simply roll over and grumble a bit at this while asking for another five minutes, Apple Bloom didn't have a choice in the matter and simply got up and lightly brushed her mane before putting on her signature bow and cursing the sun and the birds for defiling her dreams once again.

Sitting at the bottom of the steps was Apple Bloom's bum for a father Big Macintosh who was just idly eating the breakfast that was sitting at the table. With how much he ate you would think that the waste of space would actually help around the farm quite a bit, but you would be wrong as the most he ever did was attend the apple stand and occasionally help with mending the fences. Apple Bloom did everything else and Granny Smith... Well outside of cooking and taking care of the animals she was too old to handle much of the work anymore.

Before Apple Bloom could sit down and enjoy her breakfast a knock sounded at the door signaling an interruption from a family member who was just too far away or busy with their lives to even stay around for more than a day. Caramel was the only good one in Apple Bloom's eyes and he only stayed around because he was afraid Big Mac was too emotionally unstable. It didn't really matter anyways considering both of them were lazier than a parasprite drowning in a tub of lard and Caramel was only good at maintaining the fences and Apple Bloom would have fired him for incompetence if she didn't think he would have ended up in the poor house.

Apple Bloom being the only pony standing went over to the door and opened it up revealing a pony she didn't expect to be on the other side of it. Standing on the other side of the door was Diamond Tiara, a filly with rich parents and unlike other fillies with similar pedigrees she was rather generous to everypony and was known to be nice to talk to. All of these qualities were like acid to Apple Bloom, or maybe it was more like a bright light shining into the darkness of her soul, and she instinctively slammed the door in the poor filly's face before she could get a word in edgewise.

“Apple Bloom, is that anyway ta treat a guest!” Granny Smith called out from the kitchen.

Apple Bloom would have ignored anypony else in this situation but Granny Smith was an exception that had existed throughout the young fillies life. Granny Smith was the only one that radiated confidence and garnered respect from those around her, there was also the fact that she was the only one who would punish Apple Bloom. She was the only pony that presented Apple Bloom with consequences, and Apple Bloom was not one to argue when the mare demanded something of her, unfortunately that involved letting Diamond Tiara in the house.

The little filly thanked Apple Bloom for letting her in before heading over to the table and sitting down where Granny Smith had prepared her a plate. Knowing that the filly wouldn't be here normally she figured that she was here for a reason and the nervous looks coming from her father meant that he was likely the one responsible. It seemed for once in his life that the insufferable oaf was doing something, whether or not it would be productive would yet to be determined and in all reality it would likely end up just being a pain in the flank.

“So Pa why is Diamond Tiara of all ponies here, ya know ah hate her.”

“Granny Smith and ah thought that spending time with somepony yer age would help, an'... well since Diamond is yer half sister ah thought that she would be the best one ta spend the day with ya.”

“That's it ah'm leavin', ah'd say it was nice knowin' ya but ah already lie enough as it is.” Apple Bloom said as she started heading to the door.

“Apple Bloom sit down this instant! Now if yer so inclined ta disrespect family ah might as well punish ya now!” Granny Smith said.

“Ah'm not getting' out o' this am ah?”

“Not unless ya want twice as many chores around here for the next week.”

“Ugh... Fine! Ah won't like it though.”

“The least ya can do is try.” Big Mac said.

“Because it seems ah'm the only one who will try around here. An' ah still can't figure out what ya saw in the mare that gave us Diamond Tiara either.”

“If it makes you feel better I don't understand what my daddy sees in her either, she's so cruel to the staff at times and I just hope the extra bits I give them helps.”

“Of course the bits help little miss fairy godmother.” Apple Bloom said in a voice that was practically dripping in sarcasm.

If Diamond Tiara caught onto what Apple Bloom was implying she payed it no mind as she settled down and started to cut slices out of the pancakes that were set before her. In front of Apple Bloom was a plate of waffles, the divots in them holding pools of syrup that would eventually rupture and ooze out all over the place like a popped zit once her fork sliced into them.

Breakfast went on like normal... well as normal as it usually did for Apple Bloom considering she didn't have much of a sweet tooth and that her lazy father was sitting across from her. Diamond Tiara thankfully didn't attempt to incite another conversation for the remainder of the meal. As soon as it was finished though Apple Bloom wished that she could have died in her sleep with what was announced next.

“I was thinking of things we could do today and I thought we could head to the train station and welcome your family members that are arriving.”

“No.” Apple Bloom said flatly hoping the filly caught on to the fact that she wasn't interested.

“Come on I'm sure it'll be fun and who knows you might like it.”

“Ah'm pretty sure ah won't like it but ah guess ah don't really have a choice in the matter since ah have ta go everywhere ya deem necessary.”

“Then it's settled we'll be heading to the train station to welcome your family and then after that we can go get lunch and decide on another activity.”

“Goody.” Apple Bloom said in deadpan tone before being dragged off

If Diamond Tiara thought that greeting Apple Bloom's arriving would be a good way to bond with her she would have been partially right. While Diamond was enjoying meeting the interesting and sometimes strange members of the family Apple Bloom garnered a wide berth as her stink eye wasn't aimed at any one pony. By the time noon was starting to roll around Diamond Tiara was starting to think that she had made a bad decision when she thought of greeting the arriving family.

When the next train arrived things went from bad to worse as Apple Bloom's demeanor turned from icy to down right murderous when a group of well dressed earth ponies all with cutie-marks dealing with oranges stepped out. Based on appearance alone Diamond could tell that the family was well off and that they took pride in their looks. The looks on their faces when they saw Apple Bloom went from pleasant to downright uneasy and they began trying to look inconspicuous.

“ Mr. and Mrs. Orange, what a pleasure it is to see you again.”

“It's always good to see family again.” Mrs. Orange replied to the young mare.

“Right, right... just like how you two were so eager to come over and help when your nephew was orphaned and left without a sibling!”

“Now Apple Bloom we tried our best to help out with the tragedy, really. But we couldn't just up and move at the drop of a hat.”

“Save your excuses for someone who cares or for the fools who believe such trite garbage, the fact of the matter is you weren't there for your family when they needed you and that makes you about as worthless as the dirt you try so hard to keep off of your o' so perfect coats. I bet you never even told Big Mac that his sister died when she fell out of a window until after it showed up in the newspapers.”

“We tried what we could Apple Bloom, Big Mac was a mess when we came to tell him what happened and we didn't want our presence setting him off by having the ponies who were supposed to look after his sister be there all the time reminding him of what he lost. We did what we could and we kept the farm afloat and even got the land paid off so that if anything happened you'd still have a roof over your heads.”

“Well, look how well that ended, my brother's a complete mess and I'm stuck pulling all of the weight. You didn't even bother to try and get help for around the farm, even when we told you that the rest of the family was too thinly distributed among the farms to be able to lend any help.”

“We didn't know what we could do, we were trying our best to help your family in any way we could.”

“Oh, ya mean like using the namesake of a dead mare ta further yer own gain while yer own family is stuck fending fer themselves with little to no help whatsoever!”

“How about we just forget the past and look to the future, my name's Diamond Tiara and I'm sure you're a lovely couple that did what they thought was best for their family.”

“Oh, well hello there Diamond Tiara. I'm Mrs. Orange and I must say you are a rather pretty little filly, are you a friend of Apple Bloom's perhaps?” The earth pony said relieved that the previous conversation could be abandoned.

“We're half sisters, but by the end of it I'm hoping to have us acting like real sisters.”

“Well that's really sweat of you, now as much as I love to chat we really must be on our way to the farm. We wouldn't want everypony to think that we were trying to avoid helping with the cooking, right dear?”

“Oh, yes of course, and it was nice meeting you young filly, and the best of luck to you and your goals.” Mr. Orange said as the two made a quick move to exit the train station.

“So what was that whole fight about?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“What, are ya deaf now too? Ah'm not repeatin' mahself if ya weren't listenin' the first time.”

“It's not that, it's just that it sounds like whatever happened was long ago, and I'm concerned about why you haven't gotten past it yet.”

“Would it make ya feel better if ah was aimin' fer a blood feud.”

“Is there anything out there that can make you happy?”

“Plenty o' things make me happy, family just ain't one o' them, they're all backbiting hillbilly trash that act like they got yer best interest at heart, but when it comes down to it they are only in it fer themselves. The Oranges are the best lot out of all o' them and even they aren't above the rest.”

“Seems like you've got a grudge that runs pretty deep.”

“Don't act like ya care, because ah know ya don't, nopony has and nopony ever will.”

“That's not true at all. You may not have any faith left in your family but there are ponies out there who care, and who will care.”

“The only ponies that will care are the ones that are forced ta care and those who think they'll make a few bits out of it in the long run.”

“I'm not like either of those ponies and I care.”

“You only care because my pa isn't givin' ya a choice in the matter, once this day is over yer goin' to go back home an' go on like nothin' ever happened while ah get another reason ta hate the mare that helped ruin mah pa's life. At least your mother stayed there for your family.”

“Spoiled Rich may have given birth to me, but she's been about a good a mother to you as she has to me. The only reason she stays around is because she has a guarantee that she'll be living the high life, and my dad doesn't seem to notice that she's in love with his wallet instead of him. I view the maid that cleans my room as more of a mother figure than her, but you can't let her actions rule your life, you can make a change for the better and aim for a brighter future.”

“Hm... Maybe we are related, but don't think that means ah like ya, because ah don't.”

The train station lapsed into silence after that, mostly for Diamond Tiara to process the information that she had just received. She was so out of it she didn't see it when a brownish orange earth pony filly with a red mane came in, nor did she see the resulting hoof fight between her and Apple Bloom that ended with the brown filly running out of the station with a black eye and her tail tucked between her legs.

“Hey can we go now, ah'm getting' hungry an' waitin' around for stragglers isn't somethin' ah signed on fer.” Apple Bloom said.

Diamond Tiara merely nodded as she was led out of the rain station and out into the town. About halfway into the town square Diamond Tiara came back to her senses and started leading the duo to the spot she had picked out. Hopefully the food would improve Apple Bloom's mood or at least do nothing to make it worse.

As Sugar Cube Corner came into view Diamond Tiara picked up her pace as she started to smell the sweet scents from the bakery. Apple Bloom seemed to pay it no mind but the mere look of the building seemed to put a frown on her face. Once inside Apple Bloom's mood seemed to level out at neutral once again, that was until the pony taking their orders arrived.

“Hello! Oh, Diamond Tiara it's so good to see you, it's been like a whole week since we last got together!” Sweetie Belle said enthusiastically, “Oh, who's your new friend, is she nice, I bet she's nice, do you think she wants one cupcake or three, I'll make it three!”

Diamond Tiara hadn't planned on Sweetie Belle being here today, the normally energetic filly was usually busy around this time of day and wasn't anywhere near town. Apple Bloom's reaction seemed to be one more of shock than anything else and her left eye wast twitching in a way that was rather unsettling. It would have appeared that the dour filly had finally met a pony so optimistic and energetic that she was not able to comprehend what reality she was even from. The filly was white all over with a mane and tail that were a mix of purple and pink like somepony had decided to get two flavors of cotton candy instead of one. The filly was also pudgy and happily bouncing around the place in a way that reminded Apple Bloom of a marshmallow with legs.

“Sweetie this is Apple Bloom, you know... The Apple Bloom.”

“Oh, well it's nice to meet you Apple Bloom, so what can I get for you today?”

“Uh... Hay fritters and potato cakes, an' none of that sugary garbage ya usually peddle either.” Apple Bloom replied as her mind tried to restart.

“And I'll just have the usual, just put both of those orders on my tab.”

“Hm... I'm not sure we carry potatoes, but I'll go check, have this free cupcake while you wait!” Sweetie Belle said before giving Apple Bloom a cupcake with a tiny image of a potato on it with the words you're a spudding artist written in a loopy font around the outside.

“Ah hate that filly.” Apple Bloom once her mind finally registered everything.

“She's just trying to be nice Apple Bloom, and she gave you a free cupcake, as cheesy as the pun on it is.”

“Ah don't care, that filly ain't natural.”

“Just because she's happy a lot of the time doesn't mean there's anything unnatural about her.”

“Ah hate happy.”

“I'm beginning to think that you hate most things.”

“Good, keep that in mind for when you decide to drag me off to our next activity.”

“At this rate I'm not sure if there will be a next activity.”

The room lapsed into silence, well as silent as it could be with Sweetie Belle humming in the next room over. The tune seemed to have a mid of its own as its tempo and speed changed sporadically in a way that reminded one of somepony trying to choose a song to sing and instead ended up singing a bit of each song that came to mind. When Sweetie returned she had all of the food that had been ordered and some extra as she decided to sit down with the other two.

“So, Sweetie Belle, what is it that you're doing here exactly?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“I'm the Cake's new apprentice and today is my first day, it's mostly getting to know what's expected of a baker but I occasionally get to help out with the treats.”

“Wow, that's great Sweetie, I never thought you'd be one to take on a job this early.”

“Anything to make ponies smile. Hey, maybe we could hang out today, all I have left to do is a delivery to the orphanage for their party.”

“We're busy, so you can deliver your cart of heart attacks on your own.”

“I was wondering when you'd get grumpy again, and they can't be that bad, I eat sugar everyday and I'm perfectly fine!”

“Ah bet ya won't be able to walk by the time yer eighteen.”

“I'd guess fourteen.” Sweetie Belle said to a dumbstruck Apple Bloom.

“We'd be happy to walk with you to the orphanage Sweetie, maybe we'll find something to do while we're there.” Diamond Tiara said.

“What do ya mean we'd be happy ta go with her!? Ah don't even want her sitting at this table but unless ah want mah back broken in two fer ditchin' ya that ain't happenin'.”

“You could at least pretend to tolerate some ponies.” Diamond Tiara replied.

“Ah think yer sorely mistaken, ah'm already actin' nice, if ya want ta here some truth from me then here's some, ah hate the food here and the decorations are rubbish, inside and especially out. Ah'd almost say that this place was decorated by a blind pony, but ah have a personal rule about insulting the disabled.”Apple Bloom said with as straight a face as she says everything with.

The table lapsed into silence as Apple Bloom seemed content to let them soak in the comment that she had just made before they would inevitably have to walk out into public with her. For a brief moment Diamond Tiara seriously considered if staying around Apple Bloom all day was worth it in the end. That thought was quickly pushed aside by the desire to give her half sister at least something to be happy about in the world, even if it was only Diamond Tiara's presence that did such a thing.

Sweetie Belle on the other hoof was left completely unfazed as she scarfed down her food with all the gusto she could muster. Sure Apple Bloom was a downer and had a personality that was as abrasive as a cheese grater, but the little ghost fillies that made fun of Apple Bloom whenever she said something always got a giggle out of Sweetie Belle. It may have been a little mean on Sweetie's part, but it wasn't like anypony was getting hurt by the antics of a dead pony.

After lunch was finished Diamond Tiara helped Sweetie Belle hook up to the cart she had prepared with all of the sweets the orphanage needed. Apple Bloom, not being inclined to do any work she wasn't required to, opted to simply watch the two before following them to the orphanage on their seemingly inane quest to make orphans happy. While the other two members of the trio were excited about what they were doing, Apple Bloom simply wanted to avoid doing anything that required her to stay at the orphanage longer than was needed.

When the trio arrived at the orphanage Diamond Tiara and Sweetie Belle trotted off with the cart to go take it to the cafeteria. Apple Bloom was left in the lobby where she promptly sat down on one of the benches and dozed off. The two fillies who had been left to take care of the pastries went about their business and set the cart down in the kitchen for when the celebration was going to be held.

“I'm going to go let the staff know their delivery is here, you can stay here if you want.” Sweetie Belle said in a chipper tone before bounding off into a different room.

Diamond Tiara walked back into the room where Apple Bloom was sleeping and sat down beside her noticing that even when asleep Apple Bloom was frowning about something. The silence seemed to drag on forever as Sweetie Belle took her sweet time getting back to the lobby. As time dragged on for what felt like an eternity Diamond Tiara began to think that Apple Bloom had the right idea, but before the pink filly could doze off Sweetie Belle came back into view chatting amiably with a pegasus wearing sunglasses.

“Come on Scootaloo, I just know you can work your magic on her.”

“Sweetie, for the last time a pony like Apple Bloom isn't going to budge much when it comes down to it. I get that she had issues, and those can be worked past, but from the sounds of it she's to the point where she acts mean because she enjoys it.”

“B-but how can anypony enjoy being in a constant funk like hers all the time!? I-it's just not possible!”

“Just trust me on this one Sweetie, some ponies are only happy when they've got something to complain about. To them it's like a form of entertainment, they find everything else boring, or in Apple Bloom's case irritating, so they do what makes them happy, even if that entails making everypony around them miserable.”

“So you're saying Apple Bloom is only happy when everypony else is miserable... But that's just evil!”

“Call it what you want Sweetie Belle, but Apple Bloom's happy the way she is and I don't think anything in the world is going to change that.”

“Would ya stop talkin' bout me as if ah ain't here, an' fer yer information Sweetie ah don't enjoy making ponies miserable... Ah love it.”

“Well, well, well. If it isn't the wicked b!@#$ of the west, are you enjoying causing havoc for these little munchkins?” Silver Spoon said as she walked into the lobby.

“Only if the Ice Queen can come up with some truly great ideas for causing mayhem with her frozen heart.”

“It's surprising to see you here Bloomy. Are you here to pick on the foals that live here?”

“Trust me Spoony ah'd rather be somewhere else than in a home for gutter fillies right now, but mah family insists that ah hang around my half sister fer the day.”

“Ugh, family! I wouldn't be here either if my parents didn't think that I needed a sibling close to my age, it's like they think I don't have friends like you or something.”

“So what made them decide that today was a good day ta do this?”

“Sometimes I think they just want me out of their manes, and today being a day to spend with family, what do you think motivated them to pick today.”

“Yep, she's totally evil.” Sweetie Belle whispered to Scootaloo.

“You're just not trying to understand her Sweetie, Silver Spoon obviously understands her to some degree. So maybe you just need to find what she likes.”

“Ooh! Do you think she'd like to see my collection of Discord plushies.”

“Why do you have a collection of Discord Plushies?”

“He's the funnest historical figure ever, duh!”

“You do realize he killed all of the alicorns except for Celestia right?”

“Hey, it's not his fault that the alicorns were so stuck up that they couldn't take a joke, blamed each other for what was happening, and ended up in a fight to the death.”

“You know what, forget it.”

“Great! What were we forgetting by the way?”

“Sweetie, while I enjoy our time together I really need to get back to what I was doing earlier, Berry Pinch might start to think that I don't want to help her, or that I've forgotten my promise to take her to see the ceremony.”

“Ooh! You're going to see the ceremony! That's great, then we can all go together and have fun and get to know each other and become great friends.”

“I'll talk to Berry about it.” Scootaloo said as she walked off into another room.

The room lapsed into a relative silence as Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom talked to each other about some of the most heinous things they could do to other ponies. The relative silence was replaced by a brooding silence later when Silver Spoon's parents came in and took her into a different section of the building. Apple Bloom wasn't pleased with this and gave the two ponies a glare that could have set the frozen north on fire for having interrupted her time with Silver Spoon.

The silence that followed was deafening and made it seem like time had trickled to a near stop, maybe it was because out of the trio only Sweetie Belle had any idea of what was going to happen next, or maybe they were all just a bunch of fillies that were trying their hardest to be patient. Sweetie was taking it the easiest, but that was only because the spirits of a couple of fillies were doing their best to entertain her. Diamond Tiara on the other hoof was utterly bored and was at too much of loss after hearing the conversation with Silver Spoon to think of anything that Apple Bloom wouldn't immediately be irritated by.

Apple Bloom couldn't care less about any of the ponies in the room with her at that moment. The one pony in the world that she actually liked had been taken off into another room by her snobby parents who probably don't even give two cents about her. It wasn't a secret that Silver Spoon's parents didn't like Apple Bloom, in fact the parents of most ponies didn't like Apple Bloom, and they were quite adamant in keeping Silver Spoon away from her as they claimed Apple Bloom was a bad influence. Apple Bloom didn't care about being a bad influence or not, if ponies looked up to her in some way then that was their problem not hers.

Apple Bloom just sat there looking over to her half sister and then back to the marshmallowy abomination that is Sweetie Belle. The two were sickeningly happy most of the time and Diamond Tiara was way too pink for Apple Bloom's liking. Sweetie Belle, while a color that Apple Bloom can tolerate, was single hoofedly the most irritating pony in existence. She was hyper and happy all the time and quite frankly she smiled was too much in one day to be clinically stable. Then there was the fact that she was dragged to one of the most boring places in existence while all that shmuck would do is look around and giggle to herself in a way that brought her sanity even more into question.

“Ain't ya got a job ta do fat flanks, an' if ya don't then ya have ta at least take that cart back.”

“Nope, that was the last delivery of the day, and the orphanage is returning the cart, meaning we get to play together!”

“Hm... Do ya happen ta have a rubber band and a few pebbles?”

“Yep! That's such a silly thing to ask for though, what are you going to do with them!?” Sweetie Belle asked as she handed over the items.

“Just this.” Apple Bloom said as she began to pelt the unicorn with her newly acquired weapons.

Sweetie Belle for the most part took it in stride and managed to avoid most of the rocks that were launched at her. The rocks would hit their mark more often than not, and with Sweetie's slightly pudgy body the rocks only left a stinging sensation that quickly faded. Of course this didn't mean that it was good, but Sweetie was having fun trying to avoid Apple Bloom's fury. Apple Bloom on the other hoof was quite happy with her rain of stony projectiles that pelted the white filly.

“Apple Bloom, don't you think that's a little mean?”

“Ah'm begginin' ta think ya got cotton between yer ears instead of a brain.”

“You're pelting a filly who just wants to be friends with rocks.”

“An' yer point is?”

“Well... Don't you want to have some friends?”

“Ah already have enough, an nothin' ya say ta me will change mah mind, not ta mention she annoys me with her unusual happiness.”

“She's a happy filly most of the time, but give her a little time to calm down after her first day of work and she should be more tolerable.”

“Why do ah have the distinct feelin' yer lyin ta me?”

“Not everypony hates their job like you do Bloomy.”

“Ya don't have the right to use that name, only mah friends can use that name, an' ya haven't earned that title yet.”

“I'm beginning to wonder if I'm in over my head...”

“Probably, almost definitely ta be exact.”

“Ugh! I wish there was something that could get you to open up to us, but everything we do just seems to agitate you or get us nowhere!”

“As far as ah've counted we really ain't done much except eat and stand around a lot.”

“You're not helping Bloom.”

“Yer welcome!” Apple Bloom said with a grin that just dared her half sister to try and say something in response.

“Can you spend one minute without acting like a complete a-corn!” Diamond Tiara said in a clipped tone.

“Nice save, but ya still called me an a**. Which is a little bit tribalist in mah honest opinion, ah know quite a few asses that would be offended to have their kind talked of in that kind of way.”

“There's no winning with you is there?”

“Ah've yet to meet a pony who has.”

By the time Scootaloo returned with Berry Pinch things had just gotten to the point where Diamond Tiara was nearly using profanity. It would seem that even the one pony in existence that tried not to hate anypony was having trouble keeping calm around the blatant toxicity that Apple Bloom exuded. Scootaloo was beginning to wonder if Berry Pinch and her should just go to the celebration on their own and enjoy it without bringing along a pony whose attitude was comparable to a manticore that just woke up.

Berry Pinch just didn't need something like Apple Bloom right now, she was just getting over being separated from her mother. However, it was unlikely that Sweetie Belle was going to let them separate anytime soon, the girl was fun to hang around with but she was rather stubborn at times. The filly was known to be weird and start and stop conversations at the drop of a hat at times, but why did she have to pick Apple Bloom of all ponies to try and be friends with.

Scootaloo wasn't one to judge a pony unfairly in any circumstance but Apple Bloom could be considered the rare exception. The pony was known to be a bit of an oddity, sleeping through every class yet passing every test and even getting her homework done, it was so suspicious that Mrs. Cheerilee started having Apple Bloom take her tests alone in a room where she was monitored at all times. She was smart, and she knew it too, it was likely one of her best tools when it came to insulting ponies and in Scootaloo's book that made Apple Bloom a bad apple.

“So I guess we're going to the celebration then huh?” Scootaloo asked.

“Why, ya as bored as the rest o' us?”

“Not really, but it's getting late and we're not exactly close to the town.”

“Right, now ya mind explainin' ta me who thought it was a good idea ta have the town orphanage about an hour's walk from said town?”

“It's an old building that was donated, while the location isn't ideal it's spacious enough to allow for a large number of ponies.”

“Must have been a busy stallion then.” Apple Bloom said with a grin plastered on her face.

“Right... We'll Berry and I are going ahead so we can get some concessions before the main event.”

“Ooh! Do you think they have cotton candy!?” Sweetie asked.

“Do they ever not?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yay!” Sweetie said as Scootaloo and Berry Pinch followed her out.

“I just can't figure you out Apple Bloom.” Diamond Tiara sighed.

“Well if ya were expecting a pony to be simple ya were wrong, but if ya want a general idea of who ah am, ah'm an a** and ah don't care who knows it or what others think.”

“That much was obvious... I just feel like I'm supposed to do something you know?”

“Not really.”

“... So what do you like?” Diamond Tiara asked after thinking for a little bit.

“Yer the first pony ta have tha guts ta ask me that, but ah'll humor ya, not much.”

“Ugh, it just feels like I'm going around in circles with you.”

“An' that is one o' the things ah enjoy in life, irritatin' others.”

“Now that I think about it you've been having a field day haven't you?”

“Outside of the abomination with legs and talking ta the very people ah hate, meh.”

“You know, you never told me how old you are... Being half sisters I just assumed I was a year younger than you, but you seem too mature to be eleven.”

“Ah'm fourteen, and yer too mature fer an eleven year old.”

“I never really had a choice, I had to grow up to survive almost. Mother only cares about money, father is too busy with work to do anything with me and the maids have their own schedules to follow. Mother was supposed to fix me meals since she was the only one home at that time of day, guess what she never did. I learned to cook simple things before getting into a little bit more advanced stuff later on, my first attempts were underwhelming but it kept the hunger away. When I got older I'd start leaving meals for the maids since it was something to do, you'd think being a rich filly I'd have all the toys I want, in truth it's just a bunch of big empty halls with nothing to do and nopony to do it with. I essentially became one of the maids just for something to do every day since most ponies at school assumed my generous nature was a way of flaunting my wealth. It was only a year later that the maid that I started to consider my real mother was hired on as staff.”

“At least you weren't doin' back breakin' labor at five years old, now we better get goin' before tha' sun sets.” Apple Bloom said as she went for the door.

The walk to the festival was done in relative silence as the two ponies really had nothing to talk about at that point. Diamond Tiara had a small bit of information to mull over in her mind, but it wasn't anything that she didn't already know. The mare next to her was hard for her to understand, but maybe she just wasn't old enough to fully grasp it yet. As the carnival came into view she hoped that the games would help her get to know the pony next to her.

The next hour or so was spent playing games with Apple Bloom and unsurprisingly the pony had the aim of a trained professional, likely from many attempts at shooting spit wads or throwing rocks at ponies. It was starting to look up from there as Apple Bloom seemed to actually be enjoying the festivities, but Sweetie Belle arrived just in time to make things head south. Thankfully of all ponies Berry Pinch intervened and walked off with Apple Bloom leaving everypony else just standing there with a jabbering Sweetie Belle.

“So... you're Apple Bloom... I heard you broke Cheerilee's foreleg last year for waking you up in class.”

“She got what was coming to her.” Apple Bloom said.

“You... you care about Diamond Tiara don't you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at her. You see yourself in her at points but your both incredibly different, I used to look over these things but my mother taught me how to see them and be honest with ponies.”

“Ah, yes the drunkard.”

“To be honest it was only a matter of time until I was taken from her, but after living with a pony for thirteen years it begins to feel like your time together will never end.”

“Yer mother taught ya well if yer only thirteen and spoutin' that kinda' stuff.”

“Well... actually I though it would be something Scootaloo would say in my position, she's one of the wisest ponies I've ever met and even though I've only met her for a day I look up to her.”

“An' exactly how old is Scootaloo?”

“Sixteen if what I've heard is accurate, to be honest she is taller than the rest of us by quite a bit, I'm almost surprised you didn't pick up on it.”

“Ah didn't pay enough attention ta her height when ah met her, ah was more concerned with the fact that she was blind.”

“So do you have a special somepony yet?”

“Do ya think any stallion in Ponyville would want ta live with me?”

“Maybe not from here, but there's somepony out there in one of those cities who'd love you.”

“An' why exactly do ya care about mah love life.”

“Because... never mind forget it... just be honest with yourself.”

“Ah may never tell a lie but even ah have secrets, just keep out o' my business an' yer gonna be fine.”

“Noted, I feel bad for Sweetie though. She tries so hard to make ponies smile and laugh and here you are the one pony in the world that seemingly hates her.”

“Don't go preachin' ta me about that abomination of a filly, ah don't care about what ya say or how, that filly is the embodiment of evil.”

“*giggle* I bet every pony like Sweetie is evil in your eyes.”

“Laugh all ya want it won't change mah mind.”

“I'm not trying to, come on the shows about to start we better get to the town hall.” Berry said as she lead Apple Bloom to the town hall leaving a stunned group of fillies in their wake.

“Did... did Berry just?” Diamond Tiara stuttered.

“Yep, she made friends with Apple Bloom...” Scootaloo added.

“Aw come on, I've been trying to be her friend all day!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“Last time I checked you didn't show up at breakfast and spend your entire day with her, you kinda just showed up halfway through the day and talked with everypony but Apple Bloom.” Diamond Tiara said.

“Hey, I played with her!”

“For all of twenty minutes Sweetie, the only pony here who's spent less time with Apple Bloom is Scootaloo.”

“B-but... I just wanted to be her friend.”

“Sorry Sweetie, but I just don't think Apple Bloom is interested... Come on let's go to the town hall the show's about to start.”

“Yeah! And don't worry Apple Bloom I'll never give up on you!” Sweetie Shouted into the air as the two other fillies behind her groaned.

When the trio got to the town hall Apple Bloom and Berry Pinch were already sitting down and waiting for when the princess would be revealed. Once all five of the fillies were situated a small family of unicorns made their way into the crowd and sat down next to them. The oldest filly in the family sat down right next to Apple Bloom, one of the worst fates anypony could ever succumb to.

“Ooh, an earth pony filly, what is it like!?” Ruby Sparkle asked.

“Ruby! Please behave yourself, earth ponies are just like everypony else.”

“Yer obviously not from around these parts, Canterlot ah assume?”

“Wow, how'd you know that?”

“Lucky guess, an' if ya really want ta know it's a lot of physical labor and sweaty work, a lot of which ah don't appreciate.”

“What's your cutie-mark mean!?”

“Not so fast filly, ah don't answer that, an' nopony has the guts ta figure it out either.”

“Huh? Why is that, do you not like your special talent?”

“Ta say ah hate it is bein' nice.”

“Come on, it can't be that bad, tell you what I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

“Dont' ya have somethin' else better ta do?”

“Nope!”

“Then ya must have a really short attention span.”

“Now you sound like some of my teachers.”

“They must have the patience of the gods to deal with ya then.”

“Probably, my cutie-mark is in fire magic by the way, so what's yours.”

“My cutie-mark is the antithesis of my very existence and it's only purpose is to remind me that my life is a living hell and that no matter what I do there will be no happiness in my life outside of the happiness ah draw from from torturing those around me.”

“So... accounting?”

“How old are you?”

“Eight!”

“Of course, no pony close to my age is as oblivious as you...”

“You must be really smart if you know such fancy words, all I really know is how to use my special talent.”

“I'm guessing that yer cutie-mark being a lit candle is the only way you've managed to make it useful.”

“Yeah... but I know other uses will present themselves, I just have to try harder!”

“Right...” Apple Bloom said as the show started allowing her to end the conversation.

“Fillies and Gentle Colts, I present to you the guiding light of the world, Immortal Sun, Shepherd of the Sun and Moon, Great Fire of the Heavens, Queen of the Cosmos, The Great Life Giver, The Matron of Spring and Summer, bringer of Fertility and Life, Matron of the Hearth and Home, Winter's bane,

Matron of the Ocean breeze, Queen of the Oceans themselves, bringer of Rain and Wind, Goddess of the Morning Dew, the Breath of Fall, the Whisper of the Great Forests, Matron of the Dryads, Bringer of Order, Harmony and Love incarnate, Chaos' bane, Mother of the Ponies, Defender of the just, Destroyer of all things evil, Darkness' bane, Dragon of the East, Blessed mother of the World, Great Goddess of Life, Princess Celestia Equestris!” Mayor Mare said as the curtain was drawn back to reveal nothing.

“Hm... Seems the princess got stage fright and bailed on us.” Apple Bloom said.

“Really Apple Bloom now's not the time.” Diamond Tiara whispered.

“Duh.” Apple Bloom commented back.

As concern began to mount among those attending the event a dark swirling mass of energy began to form on the podium in front of them. When the mist faded away standing in front of all the ponies was an entity that they had all believed to be a legend and nothing more.

“What, does my crown mean nothing to you flies now that a thousand years has passed? Did none of you hear of the legends or feel my presence in your dreams? Or has elevating my sister beyond her position and heralding her throne as higher than even the stars drowned out everything else in your blasphemous minds!?” The alicorn screamed as a dark wave of energy washed over the crowd tossing some of those attending around.

“Are there any among you who even knows the name of Nightmare!?...” The alicorn yelled to no response outside of panicked whimpering from the crowd.

“Pathetic, your minds have rotted under the rule of my pathetic sibling and now there is nothing in your heads outside of worshiping her fat flanks. Relieving you of her rule will be a blessing, remember this night for it shall not end until my sister Celestia is dead!” The alicorn bellowed spurring the guards into action.

“Stop her, we will not let her harm the princess!” One of the guards yelled, only to be silenced as soon as he spoke it.

All of the guards around the Nightmare fell down as pools of blood began to spread out from under them while ethereal spears jutted from their broken bodies. Once the Nightmare was certain the guards were dead she called the spears back. The alicorn looked over the fully terrified crowd now and spoke softly for once.

“Now... All those who appose me will meet the same fate, those who wish to join me can meet me at the edge of the forest, NOW BEGONE!” The alicorn said before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Back home Apple Bloom watched as her home became the headquarters for an army of ponies who thought that the best place to plan a strike against an alicorn was an Orchard. While the trees would provide some cover there was little room to really hide and Apple Bloom doubted it would do much against the mare of darkness that wanted nothing more than to cause a bloodbath. Of course even in all of the commotion she wasn't able to shake the ponies that had decided they had nothing better to do than follow her all day.

“So... does anypony want marshmallows?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No.” Apple Bloom said.

“Aw come on, I'm just trying to have some fun.”

“Yer the opposite of everything that ah am, just being in the same room with ya is a waking nightmare, and yer wanting to have fun while an ancient evil is running around? Ponies are going to die and all you care about is a couple of snacks, does anything that goes on in tha' world penetrate yer skull, or am ah right to assume yer head is a solid slab of concrete.” Apple Bloom said finally saying something to make the filly cry.

“Apple Bloom can I talk to you, in the hall.” Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom followed the blind pony out of the room leaving the other ponies to help Sweetie Belle feel better. Once outside the room Scootaloo proceeded to shut the door and then slapped Apple Bloom across the face so hard a crunching sound was heard.

“What the h*** is your problem! She's just trying to keep everypony in high spirits so they don't think about the disaster that is looming before us and here you are being an a**, seriously are you just trying to be the biggest b**** in existence!”

“Ya got some nerve ah'll tell ya that much, an' yer lucky yer blind otherwise you would have walked out of here with broken bones.” Apple Bloom said before spitting out a tooth.

“I'm aware. Listen I don't know what's going to happen next or if anypony is going to survive to be honest, maybe somepony will stop that Nightmare thing, or maybe we'll be forced to live under a tyrannical rule with the blood of Celestia painting our roads, but sitting around belittling others is not helping things, if anything it's just making things worse.”

“If ya seriously think being happy about a future that can't and won't change is being productive go right ahead, ah'll be over here in reality where getting ponies hopes up only to have them crushed later doesn't happen. You call me an a**, yer giving hope to a filly that an unstoppable monster is going to be dealt with, and when that doesn't happen yer goin' ta be there with the crushed dreams of bunch of ponies around ya, that's what ah call monstrous.”

“You make a twisted sort of sense, but allowing them to feel happy even for a little bit before everything goes to Tartarus is better than letting them wallow in sadness for the rest of their life.”

“Yes, lift them up so they'll fall even harder, one of mah favorite tactics when terrorizing tha' town. Yer supposed ta be the kindest pony in the whole town an' here ya are committing one of the greatest cruelties there is.”

“Depends on how you look at it.”

“Possibly, but ya can't deny yer hurting them in tha long run now can ya?”

“Hey, have the other in the room gone unusually quiet?”

“Conceding defeat already, ah was hoping ya had a bit more fight in ya.”

“I'm serious Bloom.” Scootaloo said as she threw open the door revealing an empty room.

“Huh, did that parasprite in a jar that ah keep under mah bed get out?”

“Parasprites don't eat ponies, and Your bed sheets are tied into a rope that's hanging out the window.”

“Did they seriously not see the mountain of hay bales outside mah window?” Apple Bloom said as she looked outside.

“Apparently not.” Scootaloo said.

“Well it's not mah problem.”

“Apple Bloom, we can't just let them run around during a crisis.”

“Yes we can, they decided ta run off so it's not mah fault if they get killed.”

“If Diamond Tiara dies your Granny will ground you for life.”

“Ah'm listening.”

“Well they can't have gotten far, we just need to figure out where they're heading.”

“If the book lying on the floor is anything to go by they're heading into the Everfree.”

“Great, just great...” Scootaloo said as she followed Apple Bloom outside into the dark grove of trees that made up the farm and off towards the sounds of a giggling filly.

Author's Note

Well... Ugh... So do you hate Apple Bloom yet?

I'm very interested in what you have to say about Apple Bloom either as a character or anything that you want to say about her really.

With Apple Bloom the way she is how do you think the elements of harmony are supposed to work now that this universe's mane six have been united. I don't think this is a spoiler at this point since it's pretty obvious at this point.

If Apple Bloom were to ever get a date who would you ship her with? I already have my own answer that will come up later but that doesn't mean you can't have a guessing contest.

Ruby will get more development on the next leg of the adventure, which from this point onward becomes a lot darker, and Ruby... being a pyromancer... I'll let you speculate on that.

The deaths of the original mane six from the show will be mentioned later, just be a little patient.

As always I enjoy reading you thoughts and ideas on my work and I would appreciate it if you left a comment telling me how you liked the story and what I could do to improve the story.

Ch 3: Losing Heart

Author's Note

Hi! It's me. So... I kinda realized I made Apple Bloom too unlike-able and from this chapter onward her attitude is being toned down. She's meant to be witty not irredeamable, and I feel that with the knowledge given about her in this chapter it helps paint her in a better light.

I hope to use other ponies as the main focus of the story after this chapter with Apple Bloom being a jerk but toned down from what she currently is.

Like always feel free to comment and criticize me all you want. I love reading the comments and I need more ideas on how to improve this story. (Also if you've made it this far past Apple Bloom I'm sorry, I thought she was interesting enough to override the evil.)

Ch 3: Losing Heart

“So Ruby are you sure we should be going into the forest to get these elements, I think the adults have a better idea of what we should be doing.” Diamond Tiara asked nervously.

“Well I'm not going to sit around and let a monster attack the princess, we'll be heroes!” Ruby declared.

“Or never be heard from again.” Apple Bloom said as she walked up with Scootaloo trailing behind her.

“Your not stopping us, we're going in no matter what you say!” Ruby declared.

“By Discord yer a dumb filly.” Apple Bloom groaned.

“Well I'm not going to let some meany hurt my family!”

“An what makes ya think she has any interest in yer family?”

“She's a scary monster duh, monsters always eat the parents or kids my story books.”

“Great, a filly with my taste in fairy tales. Ah think ya need ta lay off the brother's Grimm stories fer a while.”

“Well we heard of these magical artifacts that the princess used to defeat the Nightmare the first time and that they're in the forest so we're going to go find them.”

“An' yer sure the princess doesn't keep them with her like a pony who has a single brain cell in their head.”

“Well... the book said that she couldn't take the elements because they didn't like her anymore.”

“Great we're looking for stones with an attitude.”

“It would seem that's the case, which is a shame since you already have enough attitude for all of Manehatten.” Scootaloo added.

“At least ah'm not a shallow shell of a pony that lives almost entirely off sugar.”

“Sweetie is not shallow, there's a lot more to her than most ponies care to think about. Sure she's a little hyper and quite frankly very odd at times, but there's a lot more there than just a giggly little filly with a sugar high.”

“I'd really appreciate it if you both weren't acting like I'm not here.” Sweetie mumbled.

“Ah am actin' like yer here, an' since ah'm not leavin' Diamond ta get killed in a forest yer stuck with me unless ya go home.”

“Okay! So we're all going into the forest then?” Sweetie asked.

“Unfortunately.” Apple Bloom said.

“I have to agree with Apple Bloom on this one, we need to stay in town and let those who are supposed to defend Equestria handle this. We're only kids and I'm blind, we don't stand a chance against that thing.”

“B-but... what about the elements? They're the only things capable of stopping Nightmare...”

“I'm sure the guards can find them, and just running into the forest is only asking for more trouble than what the Nightmare presents. I'm also fairly certain Apple Bloom won't let any of us live it down if we do run into the forest.”

“Darn right ah won't, only a pony with less than one brain cell in their empty skull would attempt such a thing, an' if ah read right those elements need positive emotions ta work an' ah don't think ya realize who yer tryin' ta get ta use them.”

“Did you see how easily the Nightmare took out those guards, they're useless only ponies like us that Nightmare wouldn't expect to fight her would even stand a chance at slipping by her defenses and getting the elements.”

“Yer reasonin' is good, but ah seriously doubt the Nightmare is going ta go easy on a bunch of fillies wandering in the forest, especially ones that she probably knows are after an ancient artifact.”

“And how would she know we were after the elements exactly?”

“Ah wouldn't be surprised if the Nightmare was listenin' to us right now, ya know monsters like it usually like to keep an eye on the populace.”

“Well I'm going after the elements with or without help.” Ruby said with a gaze of pure determination.

“An' what are ya goin' ta do if ah decide ta drag ya back to the farm?”

Ruby merely answered the question by igniting her horn and letting a glowing orb of fire hover in front of her. While a little excessive to most ponies Ruby wasn't the kind of pony to back down when she was dead set on doing something, even when other ponies were against her. This tended to get her into trouble later, but she wasn't one to care for consequences when her word was at stake.

“Hm... if yer tryin' ta scare me it ain't workin' but ah doubt yer family would be happy if ah brought ya back home unconscious, so ah guess ah'm goin' ta have ta keep an eye on ya until ya realize this was nothin' more than a waste of time.”

“I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.” Ruby said.

“Ah doubt that, even if things end well ah doubt that it'll be pleasant.”

“Well... let's go then. The faster we get this done the faster we can be done with Apple Bloom.” Ruby said to the group.

“Yer not all that enjoyable to be around either, in fact ah have been dragged around town all day by ponies ah don't want ta be around. An' if yer so inta tryin' ta be the leader here ya best be prepared ta answer ta every little thing that crosses my mind.” Apple Bloom said as she followed the group of ponies into the forest.

After twenty minutes of wandering in the forest and many members of the group starting to get tired or complain of bug bites and cuts, Apple Bloom was left leading the group through the forest as the others started to lag behind. Being the being of pure angst that Apple Bloom is she soon found the slowed pace of the others to be irritating and almost as annoying as the swarms of mosquitoes that plagued the forest. She kept her head level though, well only level enough to keep from making any snide remarks until one of the others decided to open their mouth.

The forest was a confounding place for any pony that decided to walk into its depths, fortunately Apple Bloom was known to head into the forest for extended periods of time. Of course this led to speculation among the towns ponies that she went there to smoke, do drugs, and most infuriatingly hang out with the zebra shaman. It wasn't hanging out with Zecora that she was pissed about though, no it was the xenophobic racism of the ponies around her that was the source of her ire, not that the slander of her getting intoxicated in the forest was much better.

After a good trot through the dense and twisted foliage of the forest a small clearing opened up before them. In the center was a large stone dragged there by Apple Bloom herself, and all throughout the clearing was a blanket of Blue flowers with a single path leading up to the stone. After getting to the clearing Apple Bloom went ahead of everypony and stood in front of the stone as the others looked around at the plants blooming all around them.

“Ooh, what is this place?” Berry Pinch asked.

“A plant orgy.” Apple Bloom stated as if it were obvious.

“W-while you're not wrong that's a little crass to be spouting out in front of everypony else here.” Scootaloo stuttered.

“It's a spot ah put together fer when ah need ta clear mah head.”

“Well the flowers are pretty.” Sweetie Belle said as she went to pass through the field of flowers.

“Feel free to roll around in them and pick some ta bring home.”

“Wow, really!? That's so nice... too nice, what are these flowers?”

“They're poison joke Sweetie, they play a nasty trick on anypony that touches them, only a pony like Apple Bloom would grow a whole field of them.”

“Well yer choice of flowers isn't all that impressive either, at least mine smell nice, and they're fun to use on unsuspecting ponies.” Apple Bloom said almost conspiratorially.

“Well why are we here then, we need to find the castle!” Ruby shouted indignantly.

“The path forward is on the other side of the clearing.” Apple Bloom said as she pointed to the other side and made a gesture to go forward.

“Why am I not surprised?” Diamond Tiara said as she started making her way across the clearing.

The next part of the journey was spent with all of the ponies gingerly trying to avoid touching any of the sinister blue petals of the plants that coated the clearing. It wasn't easy as they grew together in a dense weave with their roots and foliage forming a massive network all around them once on the other side none of them could say that avoiding the touch of the plants was successful, except for one.

“Ya'll know that ya could just go around the clearin' right, although ah can't wait ta see what the plants decide ta do with ya.”

“You wanted us to go through them didn't you!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Call it a hopeful thought, but don't get yer tails in a twist the cure is as simple as taking a bubble bath.”

“I guess that's not so bad, and maybe the jokes aren't that bad.” Ruby said.

“Your naivete knows no bounds it seems.” Apple Bloom replied

“Come on girls once this is all over we can get cleaned up and remove the effects of the poison joke.” Scootaloo said as she took over leading the group.

The paths through the forest were sticky and full off weird noises that spooked the fillies almost every time they were heard. Apple Bloom was the only one that seemed unconcerned, and it was partially true since she knew the forest well enough to keep the others safe, but the Nightmare was another beast altogether.

As time progressed and their endless trekking through a forest infested with bugs and other pests such as poison ivy or the occasional telemarketer brought them no closer to any foreseeable destination a new feeling began to spread throughout the group. It started as a little twitch, and maybe just a passing sensation of a pinch but it was still there. Then the real show happened as the poison joke took its course and played its pranks on the ponies who were unfortunate enough to touch it.

A gasp of terror emanated from Ruby as her body convulsed before becoming absolutely covered in a thick layer of fur that made her look like a giant fluff ball. The filly having a talent in pyromancy was appalled at the current state of her body since there was no way in Tartarus that she would be able to cast a single spell without singing herself at best. Then there was the laughter emanating from those around her, but most of all it was the cruel smirk and snickers of the monster that called herself Apple Bloom that truly made things worse.

Thankfully for Ruby the next pony was soon to be affected by the rather sinister sense of humor the boisterous blue plants known as poison joke had. Sweetie Belle was next to fall victim to the plants and the maniacal apple farmer, as everything she tasted had the flavor of the most horrible thing to ever grace Equestrian soil, Brussel Sprouts. Sure other ponies enjoyed them, but to Sweetie they were a plague on pony kind that needed to be exterminated, and to her utmost horror she was cursed with their foul taste upon her tongue.

Berry Pinch was truly punished for daring touch the foul flowers by having her keen sense of intellect dulled by the horrendous sounds of the worst pop song in existence to play continuously in her mind. It was an ear-worm of the most insidious nature, worming it's way into the victim's head whether it was wanted or not and torturing the listener until they ended up buying the accursed artists album. Unfortunately there was no pony strong enough as of yet to burn the albums and send their horrid tunes to the depths of the darkest pit of Tartarus where they belong, to torture those who are truly damned.

Diamond Tiara wasn't spared her fate either as she soon found that she was unable to stop thinking of tacky and useless items to give to those around her. Her generous nature was turned into a terrible offense as she thought of horrible sweaters and cheap plastic toys to give ponies as if they were truly meaningful gifts that would improve their lives. It was a truly tragic effect and she could only scream in terror as she thought that giving somepony a broken pez dispenser was a good gift.

Scootaloo the bastion of the wayward pony and guiding light to those who would listen was only grazed by the plants curse. Truly her mental and physical fortitude was strong as all that could come against her was a tongue swollen to the point of preventing speech. Her greatest ally and greatest tool in helping the weak and comforting others was rendered useless as only spittle and the most flatulent of fart noises escaped her mouth. Leaving the filly known as Apple Bloom to roll on the ground in laughter at the plight that Scootaloo found herself in.

“Hah, ah must say ah'm enjoyin' the physical changes the poison joke has done. An' ah bet the less obvious effects are even funnier.”

“Grr... You better fix this ya big bully!” Ruby shouted.

“Like ah said a bubble bath is all that's needed, and yer temper is goin' ta get somepony killed. Ah don't want ta have ta explain that ya died because a cragodile looked at ya funny and ya decided ta attack it.”

“This isn't funny.”

“Well ah think ya need ta lighten up, a good joke does wonders fer a pony.”

“Guh! I'm done with this conversation, and I bet you have a small stash of the cure nearby in case you touched the plants.”

“Sorry Sparkle, but ah'm not Sweetie Belle.”

The whole party lapsed into a terse silence as they trotted along each one slowly contemplating the best way to get rid of Apple Bloom. The pony was a scourge to society and had only been a nuisance so far, not to mention she constantly insulted all of them. So it was of little consequence when Ruby decided to “accidentally” push Apple Bloom off an embankment and into a cave down below. The others noticed of course, but paid no real head to it since the farmer was probably the worst thing that had happened to them.

“Um girls shouldn't we go make sure Apple Bloom is okay?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“I don't see why we should, all she would have done is laugh at us and make some rude remark if it happened to one of us.”

“You're not giving her the credit she deserves, she's been through a lot in a short period of time okay and it never lets up. While she may take pleasure in our pain I think that she might actually care about us.”

“Her, care? You're deluding yourself, there's no way she cares about anypony but herself.”Ruby said.

“Guh! Fine I'll go down and help her, at least she knows where she's going in this forest.”

As Diamond wandered down the embankment she noticed that Apple Bloom wasn't anywhere nearby. This only made Diamond sigh in agitation because it meant that her half sister had been knocked into the nearby cavern. The thing was like most caves, dank, musty, and made of the grayest stone to ever exist. If she had been paying any attention she would have noticed that there wasn't any moss or other plants attempting to invade the cave yet, and that the walls were eerily smooth for any natural formation.

Diamond wasn't an expert in geology though, so she plunged further ahead to look for her friend... no acquaintance really, until she noticed the cave becoming more and more like the halls of a temple. Further and further she went into the old building taking note of several images of ponies made by embedding gemstones into the walls. The pillars that had started cropping up were tall and ominous holding several glowing crystals that served as the light for the place.

The pictures on the wall depicted some sort of great war and ponies fighting against some monstrosity that looked vaguely like a goat. There seemed to be depictions of ponies rising from the dead to fight against those that were still living and there was an image of a powerful group of ponies building some sort of temple. The rest was hard to make out as the gems in the walls had fallen out of their sockets leaving only smeared outlines. Further down the line the images returned showing a kingdom being buried under the bitter frosts of winter with no ponies reappearing in any of the remaining depictions.

The halls ended in a large amphitheater of sorts with a large raised dais at the far end of the room. All around the dais were several large statues of the ponies seen before and made out of the same gems as before, the only difference was that the statues were holding staves that each held an ominously pulsating crystal. Bound to the altar at the focal point of where all the staves were pointing was Apple Bloom who was struggling to get off the altar but was held in place by an unknown power.

“Let me out whoever ya are!”

“Please do not fight this, everything will be over momentarily.” A voice said seemingly coming from nowhere.

“Like ah said before ah'm not goin' down without a fight ya evil piece of $#@%!!”

“What is evil? That term is not in my lexicon.”

“What are you going to do to her!” Diamond shouted alerting everypony there to her presence.

“Long ago my people built this place to create the artifact they would need to survive tyranny, now long past the artifacts need for existence the final pony has come that is required to finish my mission. This pony is full of wickedness though and all of her will be consumed as a result.”

“You can't kill her, we need her to stop the world from ending.”

“That is not in my directive, the artifact must be completed.”

“Can't you use something else!?” Diamond screamed.

“Hmm... While I do not think this waste of pony life is worth saving a suitable replacement is here. Your heart is pure and noble and is more than enough to create the artifact at this point, we will require it if you want to save her.”

“M-my heart!?”

“Yes, the very organ that pumps your life blood through your veins, in exchange fore her life your heart must be given, you have ten minutes to decide before we proceed to turn this pony into solid crystal.”

Diamond sat down contemplating exactly what was going on at the moment and how to fix it. All she could think of though was that she should offer the statues a moth eaten sweater in exchange for Apple Bloom. A quick shake of her head cleared out those inane thoughts for the moment and she decided to get down to the meat of the issue, Apple Bloom's life, or hers.

Diamond Tiara had to really think about it, Apple Bloom was her half sister even if that didn't really mean anything in the long run. She was one of the worst ponies in town to be honest, and everypony including the mayor was afraid of her. Although she has had a rough life and never had any real ponies she was allowed to look up to, making her more of a victim in Diamonds eyes, but she still was an absolute prick to everything. Diamond couldn't stay angry or hold anything against Apple Bloom though, even in her state of being affected by poison joke she knew that the most generous thing she could do was give herself up.

“I... I've made my decision.”

“What is the decision that you have made, does the pony live or die?”

“Even though everypony hates Apple Bloom and I have a hard time putting up with her... I give my life in her place.”

“Truly, alright then your heart will be given as sacrifice!”

A wracking pain erupted in Diamonds chest as magic curled around her heart and stopped its beating before ripping the organ out of her chest leaving an empty hole. Magic soon began to swirl around the bleeding organ until it was turned to solid crystal. It was a light bluish artifact that had taken on the visage of a hearts and hooves day heart before the piece of crystal vanished letting both Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara out of the grip of the altar's magic.

Apple Bloom rushed up and grabbed Diamond before she hit the floor the pony seemingly dead with a large hole in chest. More magic from the altar surged forth however, sealing the wound and letting the lay there motionless for what felt like an eternity. Apple Bloom brushed the mane out of her sisters face before gently laying her on the cold stone floor.

“Y-you stupid idiot! Why! Why did you do it! I was the one that deserved to die not you! Why... why does everypony that loves me die in front of me... I-I know you can't hear me but I actually liked you, all of the attitude was just me being careful. Nopony likes me, nopony ever does. Every pony that ever comes to meet me is always in it for themselves, it's either getting brownie points for spending more than a minute with the meanest pony in town to therapists who only care about the check they are getting. You... you cared... and I... I... didn't want to let another backbiting leach get close to me, I was so un-trusting that I didn't even notice that you actually cared about me... I-if it means anything I'm sorry this had to happen.”

“I-I always knew your accent was fake.”

“Holy mother of Discord! How are you even alive!?”

“He-he... magic... maybe?”

“I'll get you out of here, and if ya tell anypony that ah actually care you'll be buried six feet under.”

“I thought you didn't want me to die.”

“Ya know what ah meant.”

Apple Bloom quickly positioned Diamond across her back before making a hasty retreat from the underground deathtrap. Once the entrance of the cave came into plain sight Apple Bloom sighed in relief as she started making her way up the embankment. Ruby was at the top looking as irritated as a cream puff could and the large fluff ball of a pony only dropped the attitude when she noticed the downed Diamond Tiara.

“Oh my gosh Diamond are you okay! Did Apple Bloom do this?” Ruby said as she rounded on the farmer.

“Can it Sparkle, it was your fault this even happened, she hurt herself helping me get out of that cave you knocked me into. Of course that's assuming everypony else noticed that you were the one that threw me down that embankment, and sent her down by herself on top of that. You're despicable, at least ah don't do anything that could potentially kill somepony.”

“W-well you started it!”

“I don't care who started anything, because if you two don't stop I'll end it! Ruby you're staying in the back with me and I have half a mind to drag you home right now!” Scootaloo said.

“Fine...”

“I-if it's alright with you, I think I can walk now.” Diamond said her vocal tone oddly flat.

“Ya sure, ya look paler 'n a ghost.”

“Yes.” Diamond said as she dropped off Apple Bloom's back.

Apple Bloom resumed her place at the front of the group of ponies leading them on to where the Elements of Harmony were supposed to be. As they continued on Apple Bloom could here them whispering about how she must have been somehow responsible for Diamond's injuries. The pony in question remained silent walking slowly at the back with Scootaloo and Ruby. Of all the ponies Apple Bloom was happy to be in the back it was Ruby, the little twit was still somehow managing to use herself as a hostage to keep the rest of them moving forward.

Once the fortieth minute had passed and they passed their fourth sleeping cragodile the rest of the group began to think that they had all made a grave mistake in entering the forest. Apple Bloom on the other hoof wasn't worried in the slightest, unlike the others she was fully aware of what part of the forest they were in, and she may have been purposefully leading them in a large circle. Of course that wasn't to say Apple Bloom didn't have her reasons, it just seemed that nopony could see far enough past their snouts to come close to understanding them.

“Girls I'm pretty sure that was the same cragodile from last time, and that group of trees over there looks familiar.”Berry Pinch said.

“Are ya sayin' ah'm lost?”

“No...? Maybe?”

“Well if ya want ta move forward why not have somepony else take the lead?”

“So you've been leading us in a circle on purpose!” Ruby shouted.

“Ya never said ah couldn't an' ah would call it taking time ta prolong yer life.”

“You're a jerk you know that?”

“Ah've been told, but at least ah'm not putting foals in the line of fire.”

“I'm helping my friends do what's right!”

“Well yer doin' it wrong, pitting foals against an ancient evil is about as evil as anypony can get without being that ancient evil.”

“Shut up!” Ruby said as she fired a bolt of fire at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom for he part stood still and threw her hooves on front of her to block the blast. The blast for the most part didn't have much heat to it outside of slightly singing her fur, but the force behind it was enough to send the mare tumbling down the nearby embankment. Some of the others in the group gasped, Diamond Tiara in particular looked like she wanted to hit Ruby for a moment before trotting over to the embankment.

“Ruby, what were you thinking!?” Diamond said as she continued to look for Apple Bloom still sounding unusually dull toned.

“B-but... she was trying to get us to go home.”

“So you attack her!? Apple Bloom may be cruel but at least she doesn't attack us, your reaction makes me want to go home more than what she was doing.”

“S-sorry...”

“I'm not the one who needs an apology... girls, I think we're in trouble.”

“Why?” Ruby asked.

“Apple Bloom has fallen into an underground cave system... again.” Diamond said just as dully as before.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“Byte!, Byte where are you?” A tiny bat pony filly called out into the darkness of the cave that she called home.

“In the study my dear, and do please wipe your hooves on the mat, you don't want your mother having more work on her hooves than she already does.” A voice called out from nearby.

The tiny filly giggled as she scampered down the cave and made sure to wipe off her hooves before she opened the study. Inside was a large number of bookshelves, all of them filled with stories passed down from her people and some of the other races in the world. Sitting in a large chair reading near the fire was the changeling drone known as Byte that lived with the family. As far back as the little bat pony could remember Byte had always been there, being the best uncle that she could ever ask for.

“Uncle Byte!” The little filly cheered as she jumped up onto the changeling's lap.

“Hello my dear, here to hear another story of Juniper the June bug? I'm certain there's one that you haven't heard yet.”

“Ooh! Not today uncle Byte, a pony filly has fallen into the cistern.”

“How unfortunate, the ponies in charge of it really need to make it safer to be around.”

“Not a pony from here, she's from the surface. Do you think I'll get to meet her uncle Byte?”

“I'm sure if she's a nice filly you'll get to see her around Peach Blossom.”

“I hope she's nice, most of the stories of the ponies on the surface don't paint them as being very good.”

“Ah, yes. They do have a history don't they, their xenophobia has caused them to commit many a terrible act. The near genocide of the bat ponies, the exile and forced starvation of the changeling race, segregation of sheep, donkeys and cows... I could go on, but counting the sins of the ponies is not why I'm here. I'm here because your kind took a starving race in and showed us kindness, and I'm here because I have a lovely little niece who would probably enjoy a good story before being sent to bed. So what do you want to here young one?”

“Juniper June bug and the quest for the Ruby Sun Stone!”

“Alright... Now lets see... the story begins with Juniper crawling onto the mainland after her ship sunk...”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“Somepony better have a good explanation fer this.” Apple Bloom said as her and the rest of her group were getting dried off.

“You surface dwellers fell into our cistern, what else is there to explain.” A bat pony in black armor said to her.

“What's a cistern?” Ruby said to nopony in particular.

“A place for collecting rainwater, we have many scattered throughout the forest and they all lead to a main holding pool near the center of the colony. The one you fell into was the furthest from the center.”

“Right... and what exactly is a colony of bat ponies doin' in the Everfree? From what ah heard yer kind were nearly wiped out.”

“We're here as one of the last remaining colonies of my people, a people that your kind tried to kill off if I might add. As for the forest itself, it is large enough and houses enough natural caves to properly sustain what remains of my kind.”

“I... I never knew that...” Ruby said.

“Ah did, and it's part of why ah hate our species.”

“I thought you hated everything.” Scootaloo replied.

“Ah don't hate the bat ponies.”

“Uhg... this makes me wonder what you would do if you were to ever meet the princess.”

“Sorry to cut your conversation short but we are ready to escort your group now.”

“Oh! Where are we going!? Are we going to get a party?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Something like that, you being from the surface puts us in a bit of a predicament. Since your kind nearly wiped all of us out, and from our sources still would if given the chance, we can't exactly return you to the surface without needing to relocate. In any of our other homes that wouldn't be a problem, but with the size of the colony here it's not feasible, and while I would like to trust that you would keep our colony a secret most of you are fillies and more than one of you aren't exactly trustworthy.”

“Understandable.” Apple Bloom replied.

“What do you mean understandable, he just said we can't go home!” Diamond Tiara said trying to put some emotion behind her vocal inflections, but fell terribly short.

“Ah thought ya already knew what ah thought about mah family?”

“I'm talking about the others, unlike you they love their family and would get homesick.”

“Well ah've been sick of mah home fer years, an' look where ah am now. A place where ah can start over an' get on with mah life an' finally do what ah want instead of what mah family demands of me.”

“Apple Bloom, we can talk about your problems later, we've got more important things to deal with right now.”

“Like getting acquainted with our new neighbors, or are the bat ponies right in thinkin' we don't like 'em.”

“I... I'm sorry Bloom, but maybe it's for the best if we parted ways... You obviously want no part n this and I've been trying to force you to go along with our plans all day... I'm no better than the rest of your family, but I won't force you to do anything from here on out. You can stay here, we'll go on without you, I'm sorry to have been a burden.” Diamond Tiara said as she walked off into the caves with the others.

“Well that came out of nowhere.”

“Yeah... yeah right, she's the closest pony to you and you treat her like garbage, I'm surprised she held out this long.” Scootaloo said as the rest moved on.

“Humph, this only proves my point, none of you care... none of you ever did, ah was just a prize to be won, or an obstacle to be overcome, never a pony, never anything at all.” Apple Bloom said as she made her way after her own escort.