The Lost Firefly

Another day had passed, and Firefly was skipping down the streets of Ponyville once more. She was planning on meeting up with Scootaloo again, but she soon noticed that ponies were eye-balling her, as if she had done something wrong. It caused her mild discomfort, but she just carried on walking, pretending that she didn't see the ponies judging her.

Not long after walking around, she appeared next to a small group of ponies. They were huddled close together, not noticing where Firefly was, and the earth pony just managed to catch their conversation in her ear and stopped to eavesdrop when she noticed that it was about her and her mother.

"Didn't you hear?" One pony whispered. "She escaped prison!"

"I heard that she had a visitor not long before that." Another pony stated. "Do you think it was her?"

"I don't know." Some other pony shrugged. "Maybe we should of never trusted her."

Firefly's ears perked up, and she vastly trotted away from the crowd, trying to get as far away from any pony as possible. She ran into an alley way, then put her hoof to her head. Her eyes went small, and the area around her started spinning. She couldn't believe what she heard. Did StitchedHeart really escape prison?

The mare lifted up her head, and then raced out of the alley way, unaware of what was going to happen. She wanted to get to Pinkie Pie to find out if it was true or not. She saw Twilight's castle in the distance, since Sugar Cube Corner burned down, Pinkie and the Cakes lived there now.

When she came to the door, she knocked furiously on it, but a bit too hard. Her hooves started bleeding heavily, and so did her nose. She hasn't been freaked out this much since the decomposition of her 'teddy'. Finally, the door was opened by Twilight Sparkle. She immediately noticed the red liquid pouring out of wounds on Firefly's hooves.

"Is Pinkie Pie here!?" She panted, feeling a little bit feint.

Before Twilight could interject, or ask if she was okay, Firefly raced into the castle. She checked behind every door, causing bloodied hoofprints to follow in her path. If Twilight lost Firefly in the castle, she would find the hoofprints and race towards the source, resulting in finding the mare.

Finally, Firefly threw her body into a room with a map on a large table, with one unicorn, two earth ponies and a pegesus sitting around it. They all looked towards Firefly, quickly noticing that she was bleeding on the floor. Twilight ran behind her, stopping before she bumped into the mare.

Firefly took a running start and jumped on to Pinkie Pie, tears in her eyes. "P-Please... Don't tell me that my mom..."

Pinkie stroked Firefly's mane. "You heard, huh?"

Pinkie took hold of Firefly's hoof, examining it closely. The blood wasn't from any other pony, and Twilight told her that she banged on the door too hard. Firefly was still in tears, crying like a filly. Pinkie Pie realised that she might be a fully grown mare, but she still has a mind like a child. She smiled softly.

"Let's get these wounds cleaned up, and have some cake, okay?"

Firefly looked up at her friend in pain, but weakly grinned. "O-Okay..."

Pinkie Pie darted her gaze towards Twilight, who came in with a first aid kit. Pinkie Pie told Rarity to lead Applejack and Rainbow Dash into the kitchen and start decorating. Firefly didn't know what the occasion was for a party, but she was too agonised to care. She didn't know that Pinkie liked throwing random parties.

Once Twilight and Pinkie had patched up her wounds with painful stitching and bandages, they came into the kitchen to find that streamers and banners were hung up from wall to wall. Pinkie quickly went to make some baked goods, and the Cakes soon joined the party. Firefly didn't seem up to it, but Pinkie tried her hardest to get her friend happy.

Pinkie realised that she wouldn't cheer up, so she swung her arm around her. "What's up, chum?"

"She escaped..." Firefly gasped for breath within her tears. "P-P-Ponies think that I... I did it... But I-I didn't!"

Pinkie hugged her tightly. "I know you didn't." Firefly pulled away from the embrace. "I'll protect you, Pinkie promise!"

The tears clouded up Firefly's vision. "Why..?" She hiccuped. "Why do you protect me so much..? I-I don't deserve..."

"It's what friends do, silly!" Pinkie grinned. "It's what I do."

The party lasted all day. By midnight, Firefly had passed out on some cushions. It might not seem comfy, but to her, they were. She made acquaintance with Rarity and Dash, though she didn't talk much with Applejack nor Twilight. Pinkie seemed to have guided her throughout the night, to make sure that she was okay, plus she walked with a limp.

Her mind clouded with doubt. She had nightmares about her mother coming during the night to kidnap her and take her away from her new friends. She struggled through the night, her dreams plaguing her opinions, and her mind resorted to a vulnerable state.

Twilight, Pinkie, Dash and Applejack were still awake, chatting and laughing and eating cupcakes. They were having fun, until a loud knock was at Twilight's door. The four got up and raced each other to the door. The last pony there opened the door, and when it opened, it revealed StitchedHeart.

"Applejack, go and call the police." Twilight shouted at the orange earth pony. Pinkie had to put her hoof in front of her to stop her from attacking the unicorn. Twilight quickly lit up her horn and prepared a trap spell, and fired it at StitchedHeart, who deflected it off using a powerful shield with her magic.

"How'd ya'll escape!?" Applejack spat, ready to pounce on her. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and quickly flew away to get the police.

"Simply, dear." Stitched smirked. "But I'm not here to chat. I just want my daughter." StitchedHeart's mane was messy and dirty, so she flicked a piece that was hanging in front of her eye back on to her head. "If you could so kindly show me where she is?"

Pinkie immediately stepped in front of her. "You're not gonna touch her, ya hear!?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm just seeing if she's okay, and getting her into the family business!" Stitched laughed maniacally. Twilight noticed that she wasn't the same pony that she locked up years ago.

"You are a fool for coming here." Twilight spat.

"Ya'll better know what ah'm about to do!" Applejack jumped on to Stitched, who quickly teleported away before the earth pony could get to her. Applejack fell on her stomach, which caused her to breathe heavily.

"Better try harder, dear." Stitched appeared behind them, inside the castle. "My best guess is that she's here somewhere. I can feel her presence."

Twilight once again fired up her horn, blasting out a quicker beam, but Stitched still managed to dodge it. It caught a piece of her tail, and that's it. Stitched's horn lit up, and shot out multiple powerful beams. This was magic that Twilight had never seen before. She quickly teleported her and her friends away from the crossfire.

"Give up, StitchedHeart!" Twilight yelled down at her. "Police are on their way!"

"I'm not leaving without my daughter!" StitchedHeart lit up her horn once more, teleporting to several different rooms until she found Firefly, sleeping restlessly on some cushions. Stitched grinned evilly, levitating her daughter and prepared to teleport away, until Twilight found her. The alicorn quickly charged up her beam, and fired.

The unicorn got hit on the shoulder, causing her magic to deactivate as a flinch, and she dropped Firefly on the floor. Luckily, she landed on the cushions, so it didn't wake her up. Stitched bled fast on the floor, scrunching up her face to the pain. She quickly leapt out of the window, teleporting herself to the safety of the ground, and ran.

The police had arrived, but not in a happy state. If only Twilight would've distracted her for a little longer, they could've caught Stitched. Pinkie woke up Firefly, telling her to follow her into the map room. Firefly saw a pool of blood on the floor, and asked what was going on, but Pinkie didn't reply. Twilight told her not to tell her what happened.

Confused and sleepy, Firefly was concerned of the sight of the police. They asked Twilight if Firefly could be pulled out into questioning, but Twilight refused, protecting her new friend. Twilight, Dash, Applejack and Rarity seem to have accepted Firefly now, but she didn't know what made them change their minds. Maybe it was because of the party?

Firefly sat there, itching and picking at her bandage. Pinkie's pet Gummy was keeping an eye on her, though the two mainly had staring contests. Firefly gently put her face to the table, and relaxed her body. Her green eyes slowly closed, and she was soon drifting off into a deep sleep. But this time, the dream was... Happy.