The Lost Firefly

Boy, were they itchy. The bandages that wrapped itself around her hooves irritated them deeply. She felt like the wounds were getting deeper and deeper every time she itches. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were put in charge of her, from what she heard was to make sure she was safe. Firefly had no idea what that meant. Did they still not trust her?

Firefly kicked her legs in the air. She was laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling and at her back hooves. She quietly turned her head towards her two friends. Rarity was busy creating a dress for her, and Pinkie was scribbling on some paper, occasionally looking up at her and smiling, then looking back at the piece of paper. Firefly put her tongue in between her teeth, biting lightly on them. She stared into the distance, then back at them. She coughed.

"So..." She said, looking back up at the ceiling. "Why am I confined in this room?"

Pinkie looked up from her paper, then at Rarity. They exchanged gazes for a while, then the pink one looked back at Firefly. "Um... What do you mean, silly?"

"I know that you won't let me leave." Firefly chuckled, biting her lip. "Every time I ask if we can go out, you two try your hardest to change my mind."

"N-No we don't, darling." Rarity gulped.

Firefly huffed. "When I asked if we can go and get something to eat, Pinkie said that she would make cupcakes instead." She looked at them, who were trying to avoid eye contact, then continued. "And when I asked if I could go home, you said that you were going to make me an outfit. When I said 'no thanks', you insisted."

Rarity put down the dress she was sewing things on to, and then reassured her. "Well, I just wanted to be generous."

"Okay, guys, what in the hay is going on here?" Firefly angrily asked, but maintained control in her voice. "There are guards outside the doors and the castle. They aren't even protecting Twilight!" She turned her body over, and then got up. "Are you protecting me? Is someone after me? Or do you still not trust me?"

Pinkie paused, looking up at her. She frowned, and stood up, Rarity mimicking. She stared deeply into Firefly's eyes.

"Don't you ever, ever think that I wouldn't trust you." Pinkie steadily told her, trying not to raise her voice. "Twilight told me not to tell you why, for your own good. But, if you want me to, I can tell you what's going on."

"Please tell me." Firefly steadied herself.

Rarity put her hoof on Pinkie, and was about to interject, but Pinkie carried on talking.

"Your mom." Pinkie began. "She did brake out of prison. She came here last night whilst you were sleeping. She tried to take you, Firefly."

Firefly crouched down. She flattened her ears. "Did she..." Firefly stuttered. "Did she h-hurt you..?"

"Nah!" Pinkie snickered. "I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm invincible!"

Rarity coughed, as a sign for Pinkie to start being more realistic. Pinkie looked over her shoulder and saw Rarity frowning.

"Darling, if you really want us to... I could go out and get you something that isn't some junk food?"

Firefly sat down, and started itching at her bandages again. Soon, red liquid started trickling down her hooves without her realising it. "No, it's not like I d-don't like Pinkie's cooking... I just wanted to know why..."

Rarity acted fast as the liquid started to pour out of Firefly's hooves. She grabbed a sheet of white silk that she was going to use for the dress, and used her magic to wrap it around her bloodied hooves. Firefly realised what had happened soon after, but desperately wanted to scratch the irritating sore spot.

"It.... Itches.... Badly..." She moaned, curling up into a ball. She refrained herself from scratching her wound with her hoof.

"We know, darling." Rarity put her hoof to her chest in a sympathetic way. "But until Twilight comes back from finding your mother, we cannot do much to help you."

"So that's where she went? With Applejack?" Firefly lowered her head. "Oh... But can't you heal it, Rarity?"

"Dear, I have never learnt how to do such things." Rarity explained. "I focus on my work, not other types of spells. If I knew that you needed it, I would've learnt it a long time ago."

Firefly smirked. "That... Makes me feel a little bit better."

Drops of red liquid were scattered towards the Everfree Forest. It was obvious that Stitched had headed there. Twilight, along with Applejack and a couple of police ponies, raced to find the unicorn. The word had spread that she was loose and near Ponyville, so all ponies had to stay inside at all times.

Earlier, Twilight and Celestia exchanged letters about the fact that they should kill her as soon as she was caught. As soon as she is caught, she will be taken to the Canterlot prison and strapped to a table for a lethal injection. There will be no hesitation when they inject it. As soon as she is strapped in, they will kill her. Simple as that.

Twilight followed the trail of blood towards the entrance of the forest. She then commanded some police pegesi to fly above the forest to get a birds-eyed view. Rage filled the alicorn's face, as all she wanted was to end what Stitched had started. They raced into the Everfree. Applejack followed behind her, occasionally over-taking her, as she wanted revenge as much as she did.

Occasionally, she came across dead bodies of monsters. Twilight could sense that magic was used on them, so she got the feeling that Stitched killed them to get through. Twilight carried on searching for the mare, excited to watch her die on the table. Everyone wanted the unicorn to die. Everyone. Even Firefly.

Applejack thought fondly of Applebloom and Fluttershy. She thought of what life would be like if they were still alive. Then she thought of Firefly, and what her life would be like if she had different parents. Water droplets formed in her eyes as she pictured a young filly dancing around with her parents, having a good life instead of being shipped to an orphanage when finding out that her parents were murderers. Applejack's face went red. She was more then determined to find Stitched.

A pink blur turned a corner. The blood trail followed. It was StitchedHeart. Twilight readied her horn. She memorised any painful or lethal spell that she could remember, and turned the corner to see that the unicorn had stopped. It was a dead end. Twilight stopped behind her, firing up her horn. Applejack was ready to kick Stitched if she needed to.

StitchedHeart quickly turned around. She grinned evilly and fired up her own horn. Applejack had a bad feeling about this. The police ponies backed up. Twilight blasted a powerful beam at the unicorn, and Stitched did the same. The beams hit each other, trying to overpower each other. Twilight was sweating as she struggled to maintain control over her beam, and Stitched grinned as if she had done this a hundred times before.

Twilight tensed her muscles, using all of the alicorn magic in her system. Stitched realised this, and then tried to pull back, but got hit by the beam due to powering down her horn. She was sent backwards, hitting a tree. Blood ran down her mouth, nose and ears, and her whole body was covered in burns, cuts and bruises. An ugly sight.

As the police ponies ran over to tie up Stitched, Applejack looked towards Twilight, seeing that she was about to topple over. She had used too much of her magic and needed to rest. Applejack ran to her side, acting as a support that she could lean on. The alicorn folded in her wings, and tried resting on her friend.

Finally, StitchedHeart had been caught. Twilight and Applejack took her back to the Canterlot prison, and Twilight went to Celestia to rest. Applejack quickly wrote a letter to Pinkie, Rarity and Firefly, telling them that they caught Stitched, and she has been immediately put up for a lethal injection. As soon as Firefly saw the letter, she and her two friends raced towards the train station to watch her mother die.