The Lost Firefly

"I'm very happy to see you again!" An orange and purple pegesus told the earth pony. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

Scootaloo and Firefly had finally met up a few days after the fire in Sugar Cube Corner. They had to re-schedule, thus having to meet up at a cafe that sells daisy sandwiches. Firefly was glad to get her old friend back. Her mother took a lot of things away from her, but she won't take away her friendship with others.

"I'm glad to see you too..." Firefly hastily responded. "I'm sorry I ran off, Scootaloo."

"No, it's fine, you were forced into the orphanage." Scootaloo took a bite out of her sandwich. "I used to be an orphan too, until I escaped."

"Oh, you escaped? I did too." Firefly mimicked her old friend, nibbling her lunch. "I fled into the Everfree. I lived there for years, but then I decided to move back into civilisation."

"Neato." Scootaloo smiled with glee after she stomached down the sandwich. "My flying skills have improved since you were gone, and I was also able to help a ton more ponies!"

"That's cool, Scootaloo." Firefly weakly smiled, then wiped her mouth.

"Hey, how come you haven't gotten your cutiemark?" The pegesus pointed to her flank.

"Dunno what my talent is." Firefly shrugged. "It's not farming, nor baking, or I'll have it by now. My mom... She thinks its something to do with what she did."

"Do you want it to be?" Scootaloo asked with haste.

"No." Firefly stood her ground. "If it was, I would kill myself."

"Don't talk like that..." Scootaloo put her hoof on the earth pony's shoulder. "Plus, it probably won't be, anyway. Bet you'll have an awesome cutiemark, just you wait and see!"

Firefly giggled. "Yeah, guess you're right." She swallowed a lump in her neck. "So, what have you been up to?"

"I'm now a filler-in for the Wonderbolts!" Scootaloo boasted. "You know, like if someone got hurt I'd have to step in for them. Rainbow Dash is also a Wonderbolt, and she thinks I'm good at it!"

Firefly stared at Scootaloo, listening to her go on and on about how cool it is to be a Wonderbolt. Though she had little knowledge of them, she was fascinated by how much she adored them and Rainbow Dash. She watched as her old friend boasted, but she didn't mind, as she found the sound of her voice very soothing.

She soon realised that Scootaloo had stopped talking. "That all sounds wonderful."

"I know, right?" The pegesus grinned. "But enough about me, I wanna know some things about you!"

"Me? What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

Another gathering had been held in Twilight's crystal castle. Spike was still fast asleep, so they went on without him. Applejack was the last to arrive due to a family circumstance, but as soon as she placed her cowboy hat on the map table, they started talking about the new mare: Firefly.

"The fire wasn't her fault!" Pinkie yelled at Twilight, who was accusing the earth pony of setting the bakery on fire. "It was me who started it, not her!"

"Are ya sure, Pinkie?" Applejack sighed. "We know ya'll like this girl, but she just don't belong here-"

"What do you have against her!?" The pink mare snapped at the farm pony. Her hair went droopy, but not completely straight.

"We don't have anything against her, dear." Rarity tried calming Pinkie. "She just seems... Er... Suspicious?"

"Suspicious!?"

"Pinkie, please calm down." Twilight told her in a calm voice. "We just need to talk to you about her."

"Yeah, like, maybe you should stay away from her?" Dash interrupted.

"Stay away from her!?" Pinkie jerked her head towards the rainbow pegesus. "Dashie, how could you?! I thought you had my back on this one!"

"Now, I'm not so sure..." Dash replied. "The fire didn't happen until she came..."

"Why do you all distrust her so much!?" Pinkie slammed her hoof on the table. "It was her parents that did all of the killings, not her!" Pinkie's mane went completely straight.

"Listen, sugarcube..." Applejack muttered.

"No, you listen!" Pinkie raised herself from her chair. "I tried so hard to get her back on her hooves! She has a job, and friends that love her! Don't think I will let you throw her out without throwing me out as well!"

After a long pause, Twilight sighed. "Fine, Pinkie. She can stay."

"Thank Celestia you finally listened to me!" Pinkie gasped for breath.

"Where is she, anyway?" Applejack asked.

"Having lunch with Scootaloo. They were old friends, so I got them connected again!" Pinkie's mane went poofy again. "Isn't that great?"

Dash's eyes widened. "Scootaloo is with a killer?"

Pinkie frowned. "She isn't a-"

"Right, sorry..." Dash stopped flying and landed on the floor. She almost broke her legs as she didn't know how fast she was going when she stopped her wings from letting her hover.

Pinkie Pie sighed, and began trotting towards the door.

"Where're you going?" Twilight asked, opening up her wings.

"You don't trust her..." Pinkie turned back to them. "Then I don't trust you."

"Wait- Pinkie!" Twilight took to the air and landed in front of the pony. "We trust her! Honest to Celestia, we trust her!"

"You sure have a funny way of showing it."

"Honestly, Pinkie!" Twilight desperately told her. "We trust her."

"Twilight, do you trust her?" Pinkie glared.

"Y-Yes! I do!"

"How 'bout you, Dashie? Do you trust Firefly?" Pinkie turned to the rainbow pegesus.

"Yeah. I do."

"Rarity?" Pinkie cocked her head towards the unicorn.

"Obviously, darling."

Pinkie twitched her ear and then turned to Applejack, the most honest pony in Equestria. "And you?"

"I..." Applejack couldn't lie... She couldn't tell the truth, either. If she tells the truth, Pinkie would walk out of that door. If she lied, Pinkie would sense it and leave. She wouldn't talk to her ever again. Pinkie closely examined her, and watched as she sweated on the spot. She could tell that she didn't want her to leave, but she didn't want to lie, either. The pink mare sighed, and walked up to her friend, hugging her tightly.

"I know you don't trust her, but try, okay? For me?"