Chapters “Remind me again why we're going to the beach today.”
A dark red pegasus with wild dark purple hair and a cutie mark of lightning through a cloud gazed out the window with her chin in her hooves. The weather was cruddy and she'd much rather stay inside by the fire, reading her newest copy of Captain Marevel, her favorite comic book heroine. Turning away from the drizzle outside, she looked at the bright pink unicorn with three heart lollipops for a cutie mark across the room adjusting her saddle bags. “You guys can totally go without me you know.”
“Not a chance,” laughed the unicorn, shaking her crimson and white mane from her eyes. “It's not that bad out, Thunder Clap. Remember the last time we went? You ended up having a lot of fun.”
Thunder Clap sank down to the cushioned window seat and crossed her hooves in front of her, pouting slightly. “I guess so.”
Smirking, the unicorn crossed the room to stand in front of her friend. “Come on, Clap. I'm counting on your positive and upbeat spirit.” As the pegasus glared at her the unicorn faltered a bit. “You know how much Pinwheel hates the rain and if you're in a grumpy mood then she'll be in a grumpy mood which will make me in a grumpy mood and if I'm in a grumpy mood-”
“Are you finished?” The unicorn looked at her hopefully and Thunder Clap couldn't help but give in with a chuckle. “Okay, okay! Instead of Candy Pop your name should be Smooth Talk or something. I don't know how you do it but you always rope us into doing things we don't normally want to do.”
“You make me sound so conniving!” said Candy Pop as they headed down the stairs together. “Think of it more as me giving you a friendly nudge into an ever-widening circle of experiences.”
“Sorry, are you still talking?” Thunder Clap teased. “I stopped listening a few seconds ago.”
Mouth dropping in mock hurt, Candy Pop watched as the pegasus shot past her and out into the bookstore below Candy's apartment. As was usual for a rainy day in Ponyville there were ponies scattered throughout the various aisles. While Thunder Clap headed out into the dreary morning Candy stopped at the door to find the mare who owned the bookstore. When she spotted the pale blue pegasus she waved, then hurried out after her friend. Together the two mares made their way through the city, Thunder Clap making sure to walk under every bit of shelter she could find while Candy Pop laughed at her and walked happily in the drizzle. When they reached the costume shop Candy knocked and was greeted by a white pegasus with a tousled bright orange mane and a blue and purple tail a four-colored pinwheel on her flank. Her expression was one of dread.
“Remind me again why we're going to the beach today.”
“Thank you!” shouted Thunder Clap, waiting across the street under the canopy of a vegetable stall.
“Oh good grief, Pinwheel” Candy laughed. She trotted into the store to get behind the tired looking pegasus and push her outside. “You two act as though you're allergic to rain. Remember? We're going treasure hunting!”
Pinwheel's ears perked. “Oh yeah! There was a storm last night!”
“And when there's a storm...” Candy prompted, glancing at Thunder Clap as she joined them in the drizzling rain.
“There's treasure washed up on shore!” Pinwheel's moment of resistance was suddenly gone, green eyes widening in excitement. “Well come on! What are we waiting for?”
As Pinwheel shot ahead, Candy Pop draped a hoof around Thunder Clap's withers and gave her a warm smile. “I'll race ya?”
Thunder Clap looked at her askance, sizing her up. “For real?” When Candy nodded, Clap grinned. “You're on!”
Racing through the city, the three friends laughed and splashed through puddles left after a night of fierce weather. The rain was all but forgotten, the sound of their hooves echoing off the buildings that lined the familiar labyrinthine streets. They passed the fire station and the greenhouse, City Hall and the school. By the time they passed through the outer reaches of Ponyville and were rushing over the open plain the drizzle had stopped and the dark gray clouds overhead were slowly breaking up and passing.
“Come on!” shouted Candy Pop as she ran. “If we hurry we can catch the rest of the sunrise!”
Down the well worn path the mares ran, giggles on their lips. There was a dense line of trees they had to pass at the crest of a hill, then it was nothing but beach and the ocean for what felt like forever.
The sand was clumpy and made running hard for Candy Pop but the smile she wore never dimmed. She sat, her soggy mane clinging to her face and her neck, and looked out over the cool gray waters before her. The sky in the great beyond was on fire with color. When Thunder Clap landed beside her and Pinwheel on the other, all three sat speechless and in awe. Candy Pop closed her eyes and listened to the way the waves rushed to shore in fervent whispers, the way the air smelled like brine and left a taste of salt in her senses.
“It's going to be a beautiful day,” Pinwheel said quietly.
“I love how no matter how I'm feeling or what I'm going through,” added Thunder Clap, “I can just look at a sunrise and know it's all going to be okay.”
Moved by the words of her friends, Candy Pop threw out her hooves and pulled them both in for a tight hug, a feat which started with complaints but ended with giggles and laughter. “Now,” said the unicorn, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “who's ready to look for treasure!”
It had been a long standing tradition of hers, one that went back so far in her memory that she didn't know when it began. Candy Pop would come out to the ocean shore with her father when she was very young, always after a big storm, and see what they could find washed ashore from the high violent waves and fearful winds. Most of the time they found junk, scraps of wood and things that would be of no value to anyone. But every once in awhile they'd get lucky and find something really amazing. When she moved away from her family it was a tradition Candy kept up all on her own, until she met her two best friends. After only one excursion they were hooked on the adventure, though not so fond of the very early mornings.
The three broke off from one another, trotting down to the soggy line in the sand where the water stopped and the beach began. For awhile it was silent as they searched independently, digging when they found something half buried, standing still and trying to peer into the cold ocean water at their hooves, or simply watching as the others continued on in their search. As the sun rose higher and higher the air turned warmer, creeping under their fur to chase away the cold of the morning. It was quiet and it was peaceful. Until Pinwheel screamed.
Candy Pop's head jerked around to see the white pegasus scrambling up the beach, trying to get away from something crawling out of the ocean. It had a dark red coat suspiciously like Thunder Clap's and a head covered in seaweed. “I am the pony from the black lagoon,” she garbled, tottering after Pinwheel like some kind of zombie pony. “I have come to kidnap you and make you my underwater prisoner.”
“Oh no!' Pinwheel yelled, running away and trying not to laugh. “I don't want to live underwater! Somepony help me!”
Dropping the piece of driftwood held in her magic, Candy smirked and rushed over, putting herself between Clap and Pinwheel. “Have no fear, fair maiden! Candy Pop is here!” She lowered her head and pointed her horn at the slimy mess that was Thunder Clap. “Back, foul being!”
“My hero!” swooned Pinwheel, draping a hoof across her forehead and falling dramatically to the ground. “Ow!” The exclamation had the other two turning to see Pinwheel rolling to her side, eyes on the sand.
“Are you okay?' Candy asked.
“Yeah, I just landed on something.” The pegasus was on her hooves now, digging in the sand. Candy Pop joined her, Thunder Clap doing the same once she pulled the seaweed wig from her head. “Oooh,” Pinwheel exclaimed. “I think it's a necklace!” She'd found a black leather necklace with a shining silver bell attached.
“Good find!” Candy Pop exclaimed. “That will look really cute on you. Can I help you put it on?”
“Okay!”
With a soft pink glow around her horn, Candy Pop grasped the necklace with her magic and slid it around Pinwheel's neck, fastening it before taking a step back to look. “Yep. It's you.”
“I can't wait to get home and see it for myself.”
“Not before I find something cool, too!” Thunder Clap flew back down the beach to resume her search, the other two just sharing a smile before doing the same. As the morning wore on they found among them a weathered picture frame with broken glass and a picture of an older mare in it, some foam curlers, a lampshade, lots of driftwood, some sea glass, and five sand dollars. Looking at their collected booty, Candy Pop sighed happily. The sun was now fairly high above them and all traces of ill weather were gone. It truly had turned into a beautiful day.
Collapsing on the sand beside her, Thunder Clap lay spread eagle and looked up at the shifting white clouds. “Please tell me you brought lunch with you.”
“Sorry,” Candy Pop said. “I honestly didn't think we'd be out this long. But it was a good morning!”
Shrugging, Thunder Clap lifted a hoof to shield her eyes and grinned at her friend. “It really was pretty great. Do you ever get tired of being wrong?'
Candy Pop smiled gleefully. “Nope!”
“Hey you guys! I think I found something!”
Thunder Clap groaned. “Why is she finding all the cool stuff today?” With a shrug, Candy Pop helped her friend up, then ran with her down the length of the beach to find where Pinwheel stood over a sandy mound of something light green. “Bet it's more seaweed,” Clap muttered before they reached Pinwheel.
“Oh my gosh.” The two drew up short, getting a better understanding at what Pinwheel had found the closer they got. What was minty green was the pelt of an animal. And it wasn't moving.
“Get back,” Thunder Clap ordered the other two, pushing Pinwheel away. “We don't know what it could be.”
Pinwheel stood back a few feet with Candy Pop, eyes wide. “I think it's a pony!”
Moving slowly and carefully, Thunder Clap nosed around the sandy mound, pushing drapes of salty seaweed aside to try and figure out which end was up. She found a white snout and frowned, glancing at her friends. “It's a pony,” she confirmed grimly. “A mare by the look of it.”
“Is she breathing?” Candy Pop asked.
Thunder Clap lowered her head and put her ear next to the pony's snout, jumping in surprise when she both heard and felt the sharp, shallow exhale. “She's breathing!” The other two rushed over, ignoring Clap's instructions to stay back. They helped rid the strange pony's body of seaweed to get a better look at her. While most of her coat was minty green she had white fur around her hooves and her nose. When they found she had wings they also discovered the top layer of her plumage to be white as well.
“I've never seen a pony with coloring like this before,” Candy Pop whispered. The mare had a mane and tail the same color of the beach sand and a cutie mark of a green bow on a clip on her flank. “She's not from here I don't think.”
“What do we do?” Pinwheel asked tremulously.
“We have to get help.” Candy Pop looked at Thunder Clap. “You go and find somepony. We'll stay here.”
Thunder Clap shook her head. “No way. What if she's dangerous? What if she wakes up and tries to attack you gu-” A rush of wind flew past as Pinwheel shot through the air and back toward town. Thunder Clap looked down, ignoring the sour look Candy Pop was giving her. “I wonder who she is.”
“Or where she came from.”
Sitting, Thunder Clap frowned in suspicion. “I guess we'll have to wait and hope she wakes up.”
Candy Pop sat as well, watching the pony on the ground. “I guess so.”
Now that the rain had passed and Celestia's sun shone down in glorious rays, Moonflower allowed herself the luxury of some time alone in her garden. The jasmine colored unicorn moved carefully through the rows of gem colored flowers, icy blue mane piled high on her head to keep her long locks out of her face while she worked. This was where she felt most like herself, where she enjoyed the most freedom. In her garden there was no one else around to scrutinize or judge, to whisper when they thought she wasn't looking or to compare herself to. Here she was just a pony, a happy pony with a passion.
Rose hued eyes closed as she paused to take in the scent of an orange hibiscus, the very same flower that was her cutie mark. Staying there all day among the bright colors and floral scents would have been perfect, but fate had something else in mind for her today.
There was a commotion outside, one she couldn't quite see through the cloudy windows of her small greenhouse, but inescapably loud. Moonflower lowered her head, ears flat, and sighed in annoyance. Was there ever a day in Ponyville where nothing extraordinary or exciting happened? Was that too much to hope for? As hooves rushed past her home, Moonflower headed back inside to ready herself for the world outside her own four walls. She pulled the tie from her mane and let it fall gloriously down her withers. She hadn't had much time in the garden so she wasn't very dirty, but gave her hooves a careful scrubbing just to be safe. One more fluff of her tail, a coat of mascara, and she was ready for the day. At least until she opened her door.
It always felt like another world when she was away from home. There were all these walls she'd built around herself for protection, ones most ponies looked upon and formed quick opinions. Moonflower was the pretty pony who worked at the jewelry store. She was the cool pony, the snooty, the selfish pony who cared for nothing and no one but herself. And she didn't mind being seen that way. Somehow, letting anyone see her true timid, self-conscious, vulnerable self was much more intimidating than driving off anyone who might care about her if she let them.
Standing on her doorstoop, she looked left and right to try and get a hint about what was going on. As indifferent as she tried to remain, action was action and she liked to know what was happening. Whoever had rushed by earlier was nowhere to be seen and most ponies were on about their usual business. Some, however, stood together talking quietly and glancing off in the direction of the road to the ocean. Moonflower took a breath in, lifted her nose to the air, and trotted out to join the ever-moving crowd of ponies in the center of town. Two mares speaking in low tones stood just to the side of a fruit stand and this was where Moonflower headed.
“Come on, Bon Bon, you always know what's going on.”
“Keep your voice down, Lyra!” Bon Bon glanced suspiciously at the pale unicorn at the fruit stand. “All I know is that Pinwheel raced into town just moments ago and then hurried back out of town with Nurse Redheart fast on her hooves.”
“That can't be good,” murmured the aquamarine unicorn.
Moonflower levitated a peach to her snout to give it a convincing sniff, then paid for the fruit before tucking it carefully into her saddlebags. As she passed the two friends she gave them a cordial nod and nothing more. Pinwheel was a familiar name indeed. The silly pegasus and her two friends were always around town causing some sort of trouble. And they were always together. The very idea of always having one pony around her, let alone two ponies, was somewhat revolting. Moonflower very much enjoyed her alone time. Yet there was also a quiet jealousy of the close relationships around her that the unicorn felt late at night when she had no one to talk to.
She'd just gotten to the front door of the jewelry store when the sounds of running hooves caught her ear. Turning, she first saw Pinwheel and Thunder Clap come up over the hill on the ocean road, then Nurse Redheart trotting below them pulling a cot with a minty green mass atop it, and Candy Pop right behind. Other ponies heard the group coming as well and stopped to watch the odd procession. None of them gave Moonflower a single glance as they passed, but she watched them. More accurately, she watched the cot being pulled and was startled to see the green mass was another pony.
“What happened?” someone asked.
“Who is it?” asked someone else.
“Are they okay?”
“Is that pony alive?”
Moonflower wondered the same thing. She didn't exactly know every single pony in Ponyville but the injured pegasus was not bringing any familiar faces to mind. She turned her gaze to Bon Bon and Lyra as the cot was pulled passed them, knowing Bon Bon's expression would tell her all she needed to know. The cream colored pony made it her business to be familiar with everyone and be up on the latest gossip. So when her face registered confused surprise and she looked at Lyra with a shrug of her withers it became clear that the injured pegasus was not one who frequented Ponyville.
The jewelry store door opened with the delicate ring of a bell and a pretty green earth pony with a turquoise mane and tail stepped outside, two diamonds for a cutie mark on her flank. She smiled politely at Moonflower before looking after the retreating group of ponies. “What was that?”
“I don't know,” Moonflower answered honestly. “Emerald, how long have you lived in Ponyville?”
“My whole life. Why?”
The unicorn shook her head. “I've lived in a few different places and in all the cities I've been to I have never seen a bi-colored pony before.”
Emerald blinked, confused. “Bi-colored as in her mane? Because we have lots of ponies here with two or more colors to them.”
“No, her coat.” Moonflower looked at her employer. “She was green and white.”
The earth pony frowned slightly. “It's not something I've ever seen here but that doesn't mean much, really. You know how fashion changes so quickly. Getting a coat dye isn't so uncommon anymore and, who knows? Maybe the new thing is having a multi-colored coat. Which means ponies are becoming flashier, which means we'll start to sell flashier pieces.”
“So good news for us.”
“Good news for us,” Emerald agreed with a grin. “Come on, we've got work to do.”
Inside the hospital Candy Pop, Thunder Clap, and Pinwheel watched anxiously as Nurse Redheart stopped briefly to chat with a doctor. The stallion gave the strange pegasus a cursory glance before telling the nurse pony which room to head to and that he'd be right in. As she hurried off with the cot the doctor turned to the three waiting friends. “Where did you find her?” he asked, a clipboard and quill floating before him held up by the purple glow of his unicorn magic.
“On the beach,” Pinwheel answered. “We were looking for stuff that might have washed up on shore after the storm last night. I thought she was just more seaweed at first.”
“Was she conscious?”
“No.” The pegasus shifted her hooves with worry. “Is she going to be okay?”
The stallion smiled but his eyes remained carefully blank. “Of course she is. Now, do any of you know her? Can you tell me her name?”
“We've never seen here before,” Candy Pop answered.
“No offense, Doc,” said Thunder Clap, “but shouldn't you be in there making sure she doesn't die or something?”
“If you'll just wait here I will send a nurse out as soon as we know anything.”
As the doctor turned to hurry down the hallway, Candy Pop looked at her friends with her brows drawn together. “I hope she'll be all right.”
“It's a good thing you dragged us down there,” said Thunder Clap, leading the other two toward the waiting room. As she found a seat, she frowned thoughtfully. “That storm last night was crazy. If she got caught up in it, she could be from just about anywhere.”
“I can't imagine how scared she must have been,” Pinwheel whispered sadly. “How scared she's going to be when she wakes up.”
“If she wakes up.” Candy Pop nudged Thunder Clap in the ribs and glanced at her with a scowl. The pegasus batted the unicorn's hoof away. “”She was barely breathing. I'm just saying...”
“She'll be fine,” Candy Pop insisted. “Ponyville has some of the best doctors this side of Canterlot.” She touched a hoof to Pinwheel's withers, watching the pegasus worry her bottom lip. “She'll be fine, Pinwheel. You've already saved her just by finding her on the beach.”
“But what if we were too late?”
“Have a little faith.”
Thunder Clap, unable to sit still for long, left her seat to pace to the window and look outside. She made a face and snorted. “Don't look now, girls, but here comes good old loose lips herself.”
“Bon Bon,” Candy Pop muttered. She went to the window as well to see the cream colored pony heading in the direction of the hospital. “She has her moments of being okay but most of the time she's just...”
“Insufferable?” Thunder Clap supplied.
Candy Pop nodded with a half-smile. “Exactly.”
The hospital doors opened and the pale earth pony trotted in, looking around to try and catch the eye of anypony who might spare her a moment. She appeared uninjured herself and it was probably for this reason alone that all hospital staff were suddenly very busy with paperwork and patients. Exasperation clearly on her face, Bon Bon turned her attention to the waiting room. Her expression lit up when she saw the three friends. As she totted in she had the decency to try and look a little more worried than excited. “Is everything all right?” she asked, breathless for no apparent reason. “I saw the three of you rush by with Nurse Redheart and I just thought the worst!”
Thunder Clap quirked a brow. “Well it looks like you came all the way over here for nothing, then. As you can see we're all just fine.”
“You can't imagine my relief, truly. But what about that pony you all were surrounding? That wasn't Apply Tarty, was it?”
In all honesty it was a very good cover for Bon Bon; the earth pony she mentioned had a blonde mane and tail like the strange pegasus and her coat color was somewhat similar, but Candy Pop knew better and wasn't afraid to call Bon Bon out on it. “You know very well it wasn't Apple Tarty. She's an earth pony and the pony we found was clearly a pegasus.”
“You found her?” Bon Bon's brows shot up. “Really?”
“Not that it's any of your business,” injected Thunder Clap.
“Isn't that strange?”
“What?” asked Pinwheel. “What's strange?”
Bon Bon gave a careless little shrug. “Well it's just that all these pegasus ponies seem to be disappearing from all over Equestria. And here you three stumble upon one nopony around here has ever seen before. She's clearly not from here or from Cloudsdale; her coat is unlike any other any of us has seen, I'm sure.”
“What are you getting at?” Candy Pop asked.
“Just that Ponyville and Canterlot haven't lost any pegesai thus far.” The niceness dropped from Bon Bon's voice and when she smiled it was false and saccharine. “It will just be very interesting to see if it remains that way now.”
Thunder Clap stepped in front of her friends standing so close to Bon Bon their noses were almost touching. “If I didn't know any better I'd say that almost sounded like a threat.”
“But you do know better,” Bon Bon whispered in return. Taking a step back she gave a sweet little laugh. “Besides, it's not like I had anything to do with the disappearances. I'm just a little old earth pony from Ponyville. If you're looking for a threat from anypony I'd suggest you keep your eyes on the pegasus you found.”
Pinwheel blinked, her brow furrowing. “Why would a pegasus pony be responsible for the disappearance of others her own kind? That doesn't make any sense.”
“If you ask me, none of it makes sense,” replied Bon Bon.
“We didn't ask you,” Candy Pop muttered, making Pinwheel lift a hoof to hide a giggle. The unicorn looked at Bon Bon and tried to give a polite smile. “Princess Celestia will get to the bottom of it, I'm sure. Something tells me if this pegasus has anything to do with the other missing pegasai it's that maybe she's one of them.”
Thunder Clap looked at her friend, confused. “Then how would she end up on our beach?”
“I don't know,” Candy Pop admitted, “but I'm not willing to condemn her just because she's a stranger. Besides, all of this is just speculation. We won't really know anything until she wakes up. What's the point in sitting here making up stories and snap judgments? It's not really very fair.”
Bon Bon sighed. “Whichever way you look at it, her appearance is still suspicious. I have things to do but I'll be sure to stop in later and see how she's doing.”
“I'm sure she'll be thrilled,” said Thunder Clap sarcastically.
With a narrow-eyed glance at the pegasus, Bon Bon turned and left the waiting room.
“Insufferable!” Thunder Clap grunted when the door swung shut.
“Come on.” Pinwheel headed for the doors now as well. “I want to get her some flowers.”
“Bon Bon?” asked the other two in confused unison.
“No!” said the pegasus with a laugh. “Our new friend. If I were to wake up in some strange place with strange ponies around me, I know flowers would help make me feel a little less scared.”
Candy Pop smiled at her. “That's a really good idea, Pinwheel. Come on, Clap. Maybe we can find some candy to share, too.”
The jewelry store had been fairly slow all day. This was one of their down times in between holidays and the months ponies seemed to favor for engagements, which left a lot of time on the hooves of the jewelers. Moonflower was behind one of the glass counters that contained pendants and rings of glittering red gems, her attention on a magazine she was flipping through. Emerald was sitting on a stool, back against the wall as she leaned against it for support while she filed her hooves. Neither said much to each other but it was the norm for their relationship. Moonflower made it very clear by her lack of sharing that she wasn't there to gain a friend but to earn a paycheck, and Emerald was fairly tolerant of the wall the unicorn always had up.
“More flowers?” asked the earth pony casually, setting her hoof file aside and examining her work.
Moonflower nodded, magically turning a page in her magazine. “There are a few that bloom better in the late spring that I think will be a nice addition to my garden.”
It was a simple exchange that was followed once more by silence. Every now and then the scratch of Moonflower's quill against the order sheet broke the monotony of the afternoon, but little else gave either pony cause for much excitement. Until Emerald walked to the front door and peered outside. She pulled open the door just as a cream colored earth pony was trotting by. “Did you find anything out?” asked Emerald with carefully contained excitement.
Bon Bon grimaced. “Not much of anything, really.” She looked in past Emerald at Moonflower, who only glanced up in mild interest. “I was at the hospital for a few minutes but you know how terrible they are about answering questions there.”
“Especially to ponies who aren't family to the patients,” said Moonflower to herself.
“Candy Pop and her tag-a-longs were there and they gave me the cold shoulder so I left and did some asking around town. Lyra and I went down to the beach and we didn't see anything unusual.” Bon Bon gave a dramatic sigh. “I guess we'll just have to wait until she wakes up.” Her expression quickly changed from downcast to solicitous. “But don't worry. As soon as there's anything to know, I'll know it.”
“And pass it on to the rest of us,” Emerald giggled.
Moonflower rolled her eyes and looked helplessly at the ceiling. Realizing the two were only starting to launch into a rousing gossip session, Moonflower tucked her magazine away and grabbed her saddlebags. “I'm going to run to the cafe to get lunch.” Neither pony seemed to hear her, or if they did simply chose to ignore her. So it was with a sigh of relief that the unicorn slipped out of the store by the back entrance and trotted toward The Four Leaf Clover Cafe. The tall gray stallion who ran the place was always nice to her and had her usual ready at the same time of day, and it made for a quick trip away from the store. Today, however, Moonflower wasn't as anxious to get back as usual. Gossip wasn't her thing and with Bon Bon there, peaceful silence would be a long-forgotten luxury.
She took her time eating her bean sprout salad, then window shopped as she slowly made her way back to the jewelry store. As the front entrance came into view she could still see Bon Bon and Emerald standing there. Clearly, business was not booming today. The pale unicorn stood there a moment, trying to think of something to do. Emerald wouldn't even realize she was gone at this rate, leaving Moonflower a bit more time to roam free. Her gaze swept the busy market, pausing only when she saw the hospital farther down. Just because she was quiet and anti-social didn't mean she wasn't curious about this pegasus as well. With a quick glance at her employer, she started for the hospital.
She must have come at the right time; the nurses station was abandoned and she could hear carts of food rattling along down the hallways as lunch was handed out to patients. Moonflower glanced into the waiting room as she passed, walking slowly and quietly. It wasn't as though she was trying to be sneaky or anything, but the last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. All she wanted to do was get a glimpse of the stranger, that was all. It would certainly give her one up on Bon Bon and for some reason, that was quite an alluring thought.
Her hooves echoed only slightly as she walked down the long sterile halls. Each room she passed she peeked into. Most of the ponies kept within were awake and didn't even spare her a quick look. Some were asleep or so sick that they couldn't move even if they wanted to. It was these that began to make her feel claustrophobic, like sickness was closing in around her. She was just about to abandon her mission when she peeked into one last room and saw a soft green pegasus with white hooves, a white snout and white plumage on her wings laying prone in a hospital bed. Moonflower glanced about nervously. Then, seeing no one, slipped into the room.
The stranger's blonde mane was a mess of tangles and had debris in it from the ocean waves. There was still sand behind her ears and her right foreleg was bandaged when she'd been hurt. Her breathing was slow and heavy, like that of a pony in a deep and peaceful sleep. Moonflower tilted her head, curious.
A nurse passed by, then backpedaled seeing the unicorn inside the room. “May I help you?”
Moonflower jumped, eyes going wide as she turned. “Oh! No, I was just...um...”
“Do you know her?”
As the nurse came into the room, Moonflower's brows lifted and she looked at the pegasus once more. “I...maybe.” It wasn't a total lie; she'd lived in a few other places before Ponyville and there was a possibility that she'd met this pegasus before, unlikely as it was. “What's wrong with her?” she ventured.
“We're not sure,” admitted the nurse, shaking her head. “Can't seem to get her to wake up.”
“What tests have you done?”
The nurse now eyed her. “The usual. We're still waiting on the results of a couple more.”
Moonflower nodded thoughtfully, then gave the nurse as innocent a smile as she could muster. “Is it all right if I sit here with her for a few minutes?”
“I suppose so. Just don't touch anything.”
With a nod of acquiesce, the unicorn wore her smile until the nurse had gone, then dropped it as soon as she was alone with the stranger once more. Moonflower moved to the side of the hospital bed to get a closer look at the pegasus. “Why won't you wake up?” she muttered in question. For a few minutes she didn't move, simply stood there watching the pegasus breathe in and out. Every once in awhile an ear would twitch or a hoof would move. Her brow would wrinkle as if whatever she was seeing behind her closed eyes was unpleasant. For some reason, it struck a sympathetic cord in Moonflower.
She cast a quick look to the empty doorway, then took a breath. A pale blue aura surrounded her horn as she summoned an inner magic and screwed her eyes shut. She leaned forward, bowing her head to touch her horn gingerly to the side of the stranger's face.
“What are you doing?”
The sharp question startled Moonflower and she gasped, taking a step back and opening her eyes. Thunder Clap stood in the doorway flanked by a skeptical looking Candy Pop and a concerned looking Pinwheel, a vase of brightly colored flowers on her back. Thunder Clap took another step into the room, her expression a cross between anger and surprise.
“I wasn't...” At a loss for words, Moonflower simply ran past them out of the room, leaving the three friends to watch after her.
“What in the hay was that all about?” Candy Pop asked.
“She's so weird,” Thunder Clap hissed, plopping down into a chair beside the bed.
Pinwheel let Candy Pop levitate the flowers from her back and watched as they were set down on the bedside table. “She's not weird,” the pegasus defended. “She just doesn't have many friends.”
“Because she's weird,” insisted Thunder Clap.
“You're weird,” said Pinwheel, smiling innocently, “but we still like you.”
“Come on, guys,” said Candy Pop gently.
Thunder Clap yawned. “I wonder how long she'll be out of it for.”
Candy Pop shrugged. “It was a big storm. If she was tossed around in it I doubt she'll wake up for awhile. I know I wouldn't.”
“I wonder what her name is,” said Pinwheel loftily.
“Shhh,” Candy Pop said quietly. “Look, I think she's dreaming.”
As she was before, the pegasus moved slightly in her sleep, ears and hooves twitching. Her brow furrowed deeper this time and her head moved to the side, then quickly back again. Her breathing was rapidly accelerating and becoming more shallow. Then, before any of them knew what was going on, she opened her eyes and screamed.
Black. Everything was black. Everything he touched died and shriveled away. Green grass, thick and full of life shrank to nothing under his hoof. Everything was black.
There were screams, cries for help echoing off the walls of her memories. They grew louder instead of fading away, growing distorted and warping into dark laughter and thick, liquid songs of destruction, pain, and dominance.
Everything was black. Everything but the red of his eyes and the white of his teeth as he opened his mouth and lunged with terrible, blood curdling laughter.
She screamed, screamed until it felt like every last molecule of oxygen was dispelled from her body. Light invaded her senses as she fought to get away and there were ponies, ponies she'd never seen before, standing over her with expressions of worry and fear on their faces. They were trying to calm her down but she couldn't stop screaming. She had to get away. Then something sharp pricked her neck and she jerked her head to the side. Another pony dressed in a white coat with glasses on the bridge of his nose looked down at her. The room grew fuzzy, faces blurred into shapeless hazes and soon, the blackness returned.
“What did you do to her?” the doctor demanded.
“It wasn't us!” Pinwheel insisted, looking like she was about to cry. “We were just standing here talking and she started screaming!”
The nurse beside the doctor said, “There was another pony in here before. She said she knew this pony.”
“Moonflower knows her?” Thunder Clap was incredulous. “I'm going to go find her.”
“Wait!” Candy Pop blocked Thunder Clap's way, lips pursed. “I know you, Clap. You'll accuse first and ask questions later. We'll go with you.”
Pinwheel edged closer to the bed with a wrinkled brow. “I want to stay here. You know, in case she wakes up again.”
Thunder Clap snorted. “What you think you can keep her from flipping out again?”
“No,” Pinwheel retorted, an edge of irritation in her usually cheerful tone, “but I don't want to leave her here alone, okay? Just go without me.” Decisively, she looked down at the medicated pegasus and sat on her haunches.
“Come on.” Candy Pop urged Thunder Clap. “We won't find Moonflower just standing around here.” She nudged the red pegasus with a hoof and the two of them ran from the room, leaving Pinwheel alone with the stranger and the medical staff.
“Is she going to be okay?” Pinwheel asked in a tremulous voice.
“I've never dealt with a case like this,” answered the doctor. He looked up at the monitor above the bed and began scribbling on his clipboard. “Her vitals are all perfectly fine; O2 levels are good, BP had a high spike when she came around but that's leveling off now. We're still waiting on some bloodwork to come back and unless there's something in there, she may just be a victim of the storm and nothing more.”
“But why would she wake up screaming like that?”
The doctor finally looked at Pinwheel and took in a thoughtful breath. “It's possible she was reliving her last conscious moments before she woke up, maybe waking up in an unrecognizable place scared her, maybe the three of you scared her.”
Pinwheel frowned. “But we're not scary.”
“You're unfamiliar and sometimes what is unfamiliar can feel threatening to a pony, especially as disoriented as she must be.”
The pegasus looked down at the stranger with pity on her face. “We're not threatening, I promise. We're really nice. Well, Candy Pop and I are really nice. Clap has her moments but she's not scary.”
“Listen,” said the doctor, “I've known your family for a long time, Pinwheel, and I'd like to let you stay here...”
“Oh, please!” Pinwheel begged. “I promise I won't touch anything or do anything. I won't even move if you won't want me to!”
“We don't know if this pony is dangerous or not, and until we can get a better reading on her-”
“Dangerous?” All worry left Pinwheel's expression as she giggled. “Just look at her face, Doctor. Does that look like the face of a dangerous pony to you? She's not Slendermane or anything.”
The doctor chuckled and shook his head. “All right, stay if you want. But this door stays open. If she wakes up and starts acting funny you yell. Understand?”
“Yes, sir!” She saluted and grinned, watching the two medical ponies leave the room. Only when they were gone did she drop her hoof and turn back to the sleeping pegasus. “You're not going to act funny, are you? You're just scared. I understand that. But we're all really nice ponies. Ponyville is filled with nice ponies! Sure there are a hooffull of ones who can be hard to take sometimes but what town doesn't have ponies like that?” Very slowly and very gently, Pinwheel reached out to brush the stranger's forelock from her face. “You're going to be just fine. And don't worry, we won't leave you alone again.”
“Will you slow down?” Candy Pop huffed, racing over the ground directly under Thunder Clap. “I can't run as fast as you can fly! Do you even know where you're going?”
Halting in mid-air, Thunder Clap hovered with a frown, hardly noticing when Candy Pop zoomed past her, then had to double back. “Where do you think she'd go?' the pegasus asked. “I don't even know where she lives or anything. How in the hay are we going to find her?”
“She lives that way, toward the bakery,” said Candy Pop, pointing and trying to catch her breath. “But she works at the jewelry store which is that way, toward the market.”
Thunder Clap looked down at the unicorn in surprise. “How do you know all that?”
With a shrug, Candy Pop said, “When she orders books from the bookstore she has to leave her address. When we ran by earlier with Nurse Redheart we passed her and Emerald outside the jewelry shop, so I don't know for sure but it's an educated guess.”
“So you think she'd be back at the jewelry store now?”
Candy Pop shrugged once more. “I don't know. Let's try there first since it's closest.”
Needing no further prompting, Thunder Clap took off again. Candy Pop groaned and ran after her.
By the time Moonflower returned to the store Bon Bon had gone and Emerald was busy with a customer. Several pieces lay on the counter, resting atop a swatch of black velvet. Emerald glanced Moonflower's way and the unicorn gave a her a fleeting apologetic smile before ducking behind the counter.
“This particular shade of amethyst looks best in the white gold setting,” said Emerald, returning her attention to her customer. Moonflower let out a mental sigh of relief and thanked Celestia that she'd come back at just the right time. Using her magic, she grabbed a wash towel and a cleaning solution and decided to make herself busy at the other counters, cleaning off impressions left from noses pressed to the glass or hoofprints that left half-moon shapes everywhere.
As she cleaned her mind wandered back to the hospital room and the three ponies who'd come in and startled her in the middle of a spell. It was foolish to try, really. The pony was unfamiliar to everyone in Ponyville and nothing was known about her, so why bother helping her? Moonflower couldn't really pinpoint what it was that made her do what she'd done – or attempted to do – only that she wished she hadn't been found doing it.
The door opened and closed as the customer left, and she was alone once more with Emerald. With the wash towel suspended magically in the air, the unicorn turned to the green earth pony in full expectation of getting a scolding. Emerald, however, looked as though she couldn't care less about Moonflower. When she looked up from her ledger there was a huge smile on her face.
“That was a 250 bit sale!”
Moonflower's eyes widened considerably. “Wow! That'll be a nice commission.”
“Too bad you weren't here when she came in. It could have been yours.”
Recognizing the backhanded statement for what it was, Moonflower turned back to her work. “You have a family to feed, I don't.”
“Where did you disappear to, anyway?”
The unicorn glanced over her shoulder. “I told you, I went out to get lunch.”
“You never take that long at lunch.” Emerald was suddenly on the other side of the counter Moonflower was cleaning, eyes narrowed slightly. “You weren't...meeting somepony, were you?”
The very idea that she had a secret special somepony made Moonflower laugh out loud. “No.”
“Maybe you lingered to talk to the cute cafe stallion?”
“No.”
“A new waiter?”
“No.”
“Delivery pony?”
“That's it.” Moonflower looked up, an almost pained looking smile on her face. “I knew the delivery stallion was coming by today so I stayed a little longer in hopes of seeing him.”
Clearly satisfied with the answer, Emerald smirked self-righteously. “I knew it.”
The bell rang again as the front door opened and both ponies turned to see two mares entering, one looking positively irritated and the other looking determined. “What did you do to her?” demanded the irritated looking pegasus.
Moonflower glanced at Emerald. “I'll be right back.” Emerald simply watched, confusion on her face, as Moonflower headed toward the other two and practically pushed them outside. Once the door was closed the unicorn rounded on Thunder Clap and Candy Pop, angry. “This is my place of employment! How dare you come barging in and speaking to me that way!”
“How dare you go into somepony's hospital room and...and...do something that makes them wake up screaming!”
Candy Pop put a hoof to Thunder Clap's withers but looked at Moonflower. “When we walked in we saw your horn glowing.” Her tone was slightly tamer than that of the pegasus but there was deep suspicion in her gaze. “What were you doing?”
With a paranoid glance around, Moonflower spoke in a quieter tone. “I was just trying to help.”
“Trying to help, how?” barked Thunder Clap. “What did you do to her?”
“Keep your voice down,” Moonflower hissed. “I didn't do anything to her. I was trying...” She trailed off with a frown. “The nurse said she wouldn't wake up and they couldn't figure out why.”
Thunder Clap's eyes narrowed to slits. “So what, you were trying to wake her up?” When Moonflower said nothing, Thunder Clap raised a brow. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. Look, I'm sorry I even went in there, okay? Obviously it didn't work so if you don't mind I'd like to get back to my job before I lose it.”
She turned to head back inside but Candy Pop spoke. “But it did work.” Moonflower froze, back to the two, when the dark pink unicorn spoke again. “Whatever you did, it made her wake up. At least I think it did.”
“Screaming,” added Thunder Clap. “Don't forget she woke up screaming.”
Moonflower turned around, expression unreadable. “She woke up?”
“What did you do?” Candy Pop asked, gentler than the pegasus beside her had.
“I...nothing, really. I wanted to help so I tried a healing spell I learned awhile ago. Then you three surprised me in the middle of it and I didn't get to finish.”
Candy Pop and Thunder Clap looked at one another. “Maybe that's what went wrong. We interrupted the spell before it was finished and it had an adverse reaction.” Before Thunder Clap could reply, Candy Pop looked at Moonflower. “Would you consider trying again?”
“What?” both Moonflower and Thunder Clap asked at the same time. “Candy,” said Thunder Clap tersely, “what are you doing?”
“Think about it, Clap. The doctor doesn't know what to do, Moonflower more than likely was the one to wake her up. If she tries again with a completed spell, maybe the end results will be better.”
“And if they're not?” the pegasus asked.
The two unicorns looked at one another and Candy Pop grimaced. “They'll have to knock her out again.”
Thunder Clap groaned and turned away from the two, beginning a slow walk back to the hospital. Candy Pop took a step closer to Moonflower. “So will you do it? Will you try again?”
“I don't know. I really should stay here.”
“Because you're so busy and everything,” called Thunder Clap.
With a sigh through her nose, Moonflower glared at the back of Thunder Clap's head. “Okay. Just...give me a minute to let my boss know.”
Pinwheel hummed quietly to herself as she arranged the flowers in the vase for the third time, a contented smile on her face. “And then one time we went to Canterlot on vacation. You would not believe how many bits it costs for a simple salad and a glass of water. Oh, but my little sister, Sunny Flight, got this amazing crème de pirouline dessert after that was probably the most wonderful thing I have ever tasted. Have you been to Canterlot before?” She looked at the sleeping pegasus and paused, then smiled again. “Isn't it the most amazing place in all of Equestria? What was your favorite thing to see there?” Pinwheel paused again, then laughed as though the sleeping pony had just said the most charming thing. “Me, too!”
“Pinwheel, what are you doing?”
Thunder Clap walked into the room with Candy Pop and Moonflower, and Pinwheel eyed them curiously. “Talking to Spearmint – that's what I'm calling her.” Now she looked pointedly at Moonflower. “Why did you bring here here?”
“She tried a spell earlier,” said Candy Pop, “but we interrupted her. She's going to try again.”
Pinwheel moved protectively beside the bed, brow furrowed. “I don't know if that's such a good idea. What if she's upset again?”
With a smug “told ya so” expression, Thunder Clap sat and crossed her forelegs over her chest. Candy Pop ignored her. “Has the doctor found anything out yet?”
“No,” said Pinwheel tentatively, still glancing now and then at Moonstone. “He said her blood work is normal.”
“Then we have to try. Don't you see that? This could be our only way of finding out who she is and where she came from. Maybe it's just Bon Bon getting to me, but maybe she knows something about the missing pegasai.”
Looking at Thunder Clap, Pinwheel seemed to almost be asking for permission. The dark red pegasus just shrugged noncommittally. “Okay,” said Pinwheel after a moment of consideration. Her green eyes went to the unicorn lurking in the doorway, expression growing serious. “But if you hurt her...”
Candy Pop moved aside to let Moonstone pass. As Moonstone stepped to the side of the bed she cast a cautious glance at Pinwheel, then lowered her gaze to the sleeping pegasus. Swallowing, she took a calming breath in, closed her eyes, and lowered her head. Her horn glowed with a pale blue aura of magic. Moonflower touched her horn gently to the side of the pegasus' head and squeezed her eyes shut. The clock on the wall ticked the secondly by noisily, and nothing happened. Even when Moonstone exhaled and straightened, nothing happened.
Tick, tick, tick.
The three mares looked at each other in disappointment, then there was a gasp. It was Pinwheel, whose eyes had gone wide. The others followed her gaze and saw the minty green pegasus no longer lay with her eyes closed, but was blinking slowly, heavily as she came around. Pinwheel gasped a second time but they all understood why. As the pegasus crawled through her haze to wakefulness and her eyes opened more they could all see rather plainly that the blue of her eyes not only colored her iris, but a deeper shade of blue colored her pupils. She didn't scream and she didn't flail about, but she was clearly exhausted and confused.
“Is she blind?' Thunder Clap asked.
“I don't know,” replied Candy Pop in a harsh whisper. “Even if she was, that doesn't make her deaf.”
“Where...where am I?”
“You're in Ponyville,” offered Moonstone calmly, still beside her bed, “in the hospital.”
“Hospital?”
“We found you washed up on the beach this morning,” added Candy Pop.
The pony ran her forehooves over her face, scrubbing them over her eyes. “I don't understand.”
“What's your name?” asked Thunder Clap.
“My name?” She lowered her hooves and looked at the dark pegasus. “Skies. Sugarmint Skies.”
“Where are you from?” Moonstone asked.
“I don't...I don't remember.”
Candy Pop headed for the door. “I'm going to get the doctor.”
“You have amnesia?” asked Moonstone dryly. “Isn't that terribly convenient?”
“She can't have amnesia,” countered Thunder Clap. “She knows her own name. Amnesiacs don't know their names.”
“They do if they only have retrograde amnesia,” Moonstone argued.
“Only,” scoffed Thunder Clap.
As the two bickered back and forth, Pinwheel finally took a step closer to the bed. “Are you okay?? she asked, her voice quiet.
Skies looked at the pegasus, her expression a mix of confusion and fear. “I don't know.” Her gaze fell as if she was searching for something more to say, but stopped when she saw the bell necklace around Pinwheel's neck. “Where did you get that?”
Pinwheel glanced down and gave a small smile. “I found it one the beach. Not far from where I found you, actually.” She tilted her head. “Do you...does it look familiar?”
Skies stared at it, something in her eyes changing. The fear she had seemed to grow but she gave Pinwheel a small smile anyway. “No. No, not at all.”
The doctor came in then, followed by the nurse, and asked the other three to leave the room so they could examine Skies. The pegasus watched them all go, her gaze lingering mostly on Pinwheel until the door closed behind them.
“Okay, that was weird,” said Thunder Clap. “This whole thing is really weird. Her eyes? The way she was watching Pinwheel?”
“Maybe she's looking for her next victim,” said Moonstone flatly.
“Not funny,” returned Thunder Clap. “Besides, I'm a pegasus, too. Why didn't she look at me?”
“Maybe you're just not her type.”
“Girls,” interrupted Candy Pop. “Can we not? Moonstone, thank you for your help.”
“But I'm free to go?” When no one said anything the unicorn rolled her eyes and muttered, “Whatever,” before turning down the long hallway.
Pinwheel glanced at the closed door. “She's scared. And she recognized my necklace, I know she did.”
“We're going to have to find out more,” said Candy Pop. “That's all there is to it.” She looked at the closed door as well, a frown pulling down the edges of her lips. “We're just going to have to hope she's willing to open up to us.”
It took two days before the mayor made an official announcement regarding Medley. The pegasus had been missing for five days now and the news of her unexplained disappearance unsettled many of the ponies. It was also the very thing that made others step forward and mention others they hadn't seen for as much as a couple of days to as little as a few hours. Lily, Daisy, and Rose were the first to truly panic, though none of them were pegasai. They wanted to shut the town down completely and demanded a curfew but the mayor refused to be bullied and stood firm in her decisions.
"There is no need to go to extremes," she said patiently, "especially here in town. It is the pegasai that appear to be the target of attention and it is the pegasai we should would together to keep safe."
"T-target?" asked a nervous yellow pegasus quietly.
Mayor Mare frowned thoughtfully. "Canterlot still remains quiet on the issue so for now we will take the situation into our own hooves. We will be instating a buddy system for all winged ponies. No pegasus is to be by his or herself without any exception, save the obvious issue of privacy. Each pegasus should be partnered with either an earth pony or a unicorn, if not both. Pegasai should not partner up with each other."
"Because they could both be taken," Thunder Clap muttered. She stood with Pinwheel, Candy Pop, and Sugarmint Skies to the side of the gathered crowd. "Looks like we're all staying with you, Candy."
"I can't leave my family," Pinwheel negated.
"And one unicorn for three pegasai doesn't seem like it would be acceptable," added Candy Pop.
"Well if Pinwheel is staying with her family it would only be two to one."
"We can't abandon Pinwheel!"
"You wouldn't be abandoning me, really! We'll go stay with the neighbors."
As the three went back and forth, Skies looked out across the sea of ponies. She quickly found Bon Bon who practically jumped in excitement when they met eyes, but Skies quickly looked away. Seeing another familiar face made her peel off from her new friends and move through the crowd. Bon Bon started moving as well and Skies quickened her pace, weaving in between ponies until she drew up beside a pale unicorn wearing a rather chagrined expression. "Would you be my partner?"
For a moment the unicorn froze, confusion on her face. When she turned to see Skies and recognition hit, she blinked. "What?"
"You're Moonflower, right? You were in my hospital room. Would you be my buddy?"
Moonflower looked past Skies to Clap, Candy, and Pinwheel. "Not sticking with the Three Mareketeers?"
"We need another. Candy can't be with the three of us all the time."
"And neither can I. I have a job."
"So does Candy Pop, which is why we need somepony else." Skies glanced up nervously, Bon Bon almost reaching them. "Please, Moonflower. It's you or Bon Bon."
Just saying the earth pony's name seem to do something to Moonflower and the unicorn sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll do it for you and Pinwheel."
Skies chuckled quietly. "Thunder Clap isn't so bad once you get used to her."
"Yeah, that's what they say about a toothache, too." Moonflower looked up as Bon Bon broke through the crowd, the earth pony breathless with an expectant grin on her face. "I'm her partner," the unicorn barked, instantly deflating the earth pony. Skies gave Bon Bon a polite smile of apology, then nodded to Moonflower before leading her back to the other three.
"It's fine," Pinwheel was saying. "We'll be perfectly safe there."
"Moonflower is going to be my partner," Skies announced, a no-nonsense look on her face. "It wouldn't be fair for you to have to worry about both Clap and myself, Candy Pop."
"It's really not a big deal," the unicorn started. Moonflower's ears flattened.
"I knew this was a bad idea."
"No, it's not." With a patient smile, Skies looked at Candy Pop and shook her head. "It is a big deal. You can't keep tabs on two pegasai and work each day by yourself. Moonflower is just as capable as anypony to be another set of eyes." Glancing at the pale unicorn, Skies was confident in her position. "You all have been telling me for the past few days how warm and welcoming all the citizens of Ponyville are, that I'll be making new friends before I know it. Please forgive me if this sounds rude or unkind but the way you all talk about Moonflower and have treated her since I have been here has not shown me anything of warmth or friendship."
The group was silent at the gentle chiding. Thunder Clap, hovering in the air, crossed her forelegs over her chest and absently looked around at other ponies partnering up. Candy Pop shuffled her hooves and Pinwheel looked down in shame, her cheeks coloring. Moonflower, on the other hand, looked at Skies as though she was in awe. As the pegasus and the unicorn held one another's gazes, Skies offered her a small smile. She could tell just by Moonflower's expression that there hadn't been many times in her life when she'd had someone stand up for her, if ever. Deep down she knew there had been other ponies she'd known before the exact same way. Maybe Skies had been one of them herself. They were damaged and broken on the inside, desperate for acceptance and longing for love they didn't feel they deserved. Maybe that was why Moonflower was so cold toward others; it was a form of self-preservation. If you don't let anyone close enough to hurt you, you'll never get hurt.
"You're right," Pinwheel said quietly, finally breaking the silence. She lifted her head to look at Moonflower, eyes full of regret. "We're really sorry, Moonflower."
"Yeah," Candy Pop agreed. "Skies is right. It was unfair of us to make assumptions about you and write you off the way we have."
"Hello! Are you forgetting the way she talked to all of us at the hospital?" Thunder Clap threw her hooves out in exasperation. "Or when we went to her store?"
"You stormed into my place of employment and ambushed me," Moonflower argued, glaring up at Clap. "Did you want me to offer you tea and cake?"
"What about the hospital, then? After you woke her up for the second time? As I recall you had a nice attitude then."
"And as I recall you were giving it right back."
"Girls." Though she hadn't spoken very loud, Skies got the attention of all four mares. "Can we please put aside our differences just for now? Please? I'm not saying everypony has to get along and become best friends but there is something bigger than all of us going on. Forget how you were treated or how you treated each other in the past. Start over now. If you can't get along can you at least be cordial to one another?"
"Of course we can." It was Pinwheel who instantly agreed. She trotted over to Moonflower, the bell around her neck jingling, and extended a hoof to the unicorn. "Hi, I'm Pinwheel. What's your name?"
Moonflower blinked at the pegasus. "You...already know my name."
"We're starting over." To emphasize her suggestion she wiggled her extended hoof. Hesitant, Moonflower lifted her hoof as well and the two shook.
"I'm...Moonflower."
"Pleased to meet you, Moonflower! You're cutie mark's really pretty! What kind of flower is that?"
The unicorn looked up at Skies for help but the pegasus just smiled and gave a slight nod of her head, encouraging her to play along. "It's a hibiscus."
"I like it! Can I introduce you to my friends?"
"Um...sure?"
"This is Candy Pop. Candy, this is Moonflower."
Candy and Moonflower shook as well, the smile the unicorn wore being one to both humor Pinwheel and sort of apologize to Moonflower. "Nice to meet you."
"You as well," Moonflower replied. As her hoof brushed the ground again she looked up at Clap. The pegasus had an unreadable expression on her face and didn't appear as though she was going to come down anytime soon. They held each others gazes, neither wanting to be the first to look away or back down. But when Skies cleared her throat, Clap sighed in exasperation and said, "Fiiiiiiine," and landed.
"I'm Thunder Clap. There, introductions have been made. Can we get off the street now? It's getting darker."
"Come on," said Candy Pop, nodding toward the bookstore and her apartment. "I'll make us all some hot chocolate."
As the ponies headed off, Moonflower lingered a moment to speak with Skies. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For sticking up for me and giving me a chance. Nopony's ever done that before."
Skies tilted her head curiously. "Don't you have any friends?"
Moonflower shook her head, ears drooping in embarrassment. It made Skies feel sorry for her but she was careful to keep the sadness out of her expression. "You have friends now," she said with quiet insistence. "Come on, let's catch up with the others."
~~~~~~~~~~
Ponyville had never seemed so ill at ease. Thunder Clap and Sugarmint Skies rested on a cloud above the town, taking a break from their afternoon of moving storm clouds out. It seemed like every single pony was on edge. The slightest sound sent them scattering, a shadow in an unexpected place, a wind too strong through the trees. And should anypony be late for anything? It no longer mattered whether a pony was a pegasus, a unicorn or an earth pony. If someone was a second behind on when they were supposed to be somewhere a panic went up until the pony in question was spotted. One by one, everypony was falling prey to the fear that was gripping the town.
“Any word from Canterlot yet?” Skies asked her friend, watching three ponies below as they walked in a tight group from the cafe toward the library.
Clap shook her head. “Not officially. Last I heard was that the mayor got a letter from Princess Celestia saying she was looking into it.”
Noting the frustration in Clap's tone, Skies offered her a small smile. “I'm sure there's a reason why she hasn't been more visually involved. The princess may know a lot more about this than we think.”
“That's what bugs me so much! I'd bet money that she knows tons more than we do. It's that she's not sharing any of it that makes me want to spit nails.”
Skies shook her head. “Did you ever stop to think her not sharing is what's keeping this town from going completely nuts with fear? Sometimes it's good to be in the dark, especially when you know someone more capable than you is there to take care of things.”
“Speaking of dark, why do you want a night shift? Don't you like hanging out with me?”
The pale green pegasus chuckled softly. “Of course I do, Thunder Clap. It's just...” She trailed off, biting her bottom lip. “There are less ponies around at night.”
“Exactly! Wait, what?”
“I don't know if you've noticed but there isn't exactly a line of ponies waiting to get to know me better. I think they're all suspicious of me still.”
“You've been here for almost two weeks now.” Clap snorted. “I'm pretty sure if you were somepony to be afraid of we'd know already.”
Skies shrugged. “Still, I'd much rather get my work done when I don't have to feel like everypony is watching me.”
“I get that. Sorry.”
“It's not your fault, Clap.”
“This town, they can hold grudges for a long time sometimes. I hope they get over theirs against you quicker than...”
Skies looked at the dark pegasus beside her. “Than what?”
“Nevermind.” Thunder Clap got to her hooves and stretched. “Shift's over. Here come Flitter and Bubblecup. I'll fill them in if you want to head down to Candy and Moonflower. I'm sure they're ready for a break from each other.”
Skies grinned. “Sure, see you down below!” She tossed her blonde mane from her eyes and dove gracefully from the cloud, extending her wings to catch the updraft that would slow her descent. With less of the sun visible below than up as high as she and Clap had been, the evening felt darker and closer down in the village than it had in the sky. She found the two unicorns coming away from an apple stand with full saddlebags, the orange earth pony running the stand happily counting the bits they'd payed.
“We have cider!” Candy Pop announced as Skies landed.
“Two different kinds,” Moonflower added, a sly smirk on her lips. Skies didn't understand and tilted her head to the side making the unicorn's smirk only grow. “Don't tell me you've never had hard cider before.”
“I haven't.” Skies glanced between the two mares. “What is it?”
“You'll like it.”
Candy Pop shook her head and rolled her eyes before looking at Skies. “Where's Clap?”
“She's just giving Bubblecup and Flitter her report. She should be right down.”
It was Moonflower's turn to roll her eyes. “How that pony can keep lookout with her eyes that way is beyond me.”
“She wants to help,” Candy Pop scolded. “Besides, she's the best mailmare Ponyville has had in a long time. She's smart and really sweet, and she makes the best muffins this side of Sugarcube Corner. You shouldn't judge her just because she looks a little different from you.”
“You shouldn't judge her at all,” Skies added quietly. “You and I have both been on the other side of those critical glances and whispers behind hooves. We're not what ponies think we are just by the way we act or look sometimes.”
Candy Pop nodded. “That's right. Skies isn't an agent of evil just because she's new.”
“And I'm not as snobby or tightly wound as everypony thinks I am?” pressed Moonflower. When neither of the other two said anything, the unicorn huffed.
“You don't exactly make it easy,” said Candy. “We're trying, Moonflower. It's just that sometimes it feels like you have such high walls.”
“I like my walls. They are what have kept me safe since I was small.”
Skies furrowed her brow. “You don't feel safe with us?”
The question seemed to take Moonflower off guard and she blinked. There appeared to be a struggle going on inside of her causing her to look down as if in shame. When she finally answered her tone was so quiet that the other two almost didn't hear her. “No.”
“Moonflower...” Candy Pop dipped her head, trying to catch the pale unicorn's gaze. “You don't have to be afraid with us. We want to be your friends and part of friendship is accepting a pony just as they are. I don't know what happened in your past that made you so leery of others but I promise you, we would never do anything to intentionally hurt you or make you feel bad.” Moonflower lifted her gaze slightly and Candy Pop smiled in encouragement. “You have my word that from here on out I've got your back.”
“Me, too,” added Skies, smiling as well.
“I'll...try harder, too,” Moonflower promised.
Candy glanced skyward. “Don't worry about Thunder Clap. She'll warm up eventually. And as for Pinwheel... “
“I like Pinwheel.” The pale unicorn gave a half smile. “Okay, I said I like a pony. Happy now?”
Skies giggled. “It's a start.”
“Ugh, what is taking Clap so long?” Candy Pop looked at Skies. “Was there really that much to tell?”
The pegasus shook her head. “No, there wasn't really anything out of the ordinary that happened. Should I go check on her?”
“It might not be a bad idea.”
With a nod, Skies stretched her wings and was airbound. The higher she flew the lighter the sky became, and the easier to get a better view of everything around her. She flew up to the cloud she'd left earlier and gently touched down to stand and look for Thunder Clap. Flitter and Bubblecup hadn't been that far off and Clap had gone to meet them halfway. Shouldn't that mean they would have been close enough to be seen, even overheard at this height? Puzzled, Skies left the cloud behind and flew in the direction Clap had gone. “Thunder Clap? Where are you?” The sky was oddly devoid of any other pegasai and it sent a shiver down Skies' spine. “Clap?” Absolutely nothing.
Cloudsdale shone brightly in the setting sun just a ways off. Could the three mares have gone there? If they had, for what reason? Clap knew they were having a sleep-over at Candy's, she'd been talking about it all day. Why would she just disappear like that? Disappear. Skies could almost feel the word echoing throughout her thoughts. Her throat closed and panic welled inside her chest. She'd just been with Clap. Flitter and Bubblecup were there, too! Surely Thunder Clap couldn't have been taken without being seen and possibly stopped by the other two? Unless all three of them had been taken at once. Was that even possible?
Skies looked every which way feeling her heart beat faster than it had since the day she woke up in Ponyville, and for the very same reason; she was afraid of what she didn't understand. “Thunder Clap!” What was she going to tell the others? How could she have been so careless and let Clap fly off on her own? It was her fault. It was all her fault.
“Skies!”
She whipped around, startled and relieved to hear the familiar voice of her friend. Her relief, however, was short lived. Thunder Clap was flying her direction with the unmistakable look of horror on her face. Hurrying to meet her halfway, Skies asked, “What is it?” as soon as the two were close enough.
“Where's Candy?”
“She's below with Moonflower. What's wrong?”
Thunder Clap's brow wrinkled in sadness. “It's Scribes. She's been taken.”
“What?”
“Flitter and Cheerilee went to the bookstore together, they're partnered up you know, just a little while ago. They said she wasn't there.”
Skies let out a quiet sigh, relived once more. “That doesn't mean anything. There are lots of reasons why Scribes wouldn't be there.”
“She didn't lock up or anything.”
“Clap, I like Scribes just as much as you all do, but she's not the most put together pony I've ever known.”
“And there was this.” Thunder Clap pulled a piece of parchment from her saddlebags and showed it to Skies. The blonde pegasus read carefully, seeing nothing wrong with the invoice before her until the end. There whatever Scribes had been writing trailed off as though she'd jerked her head too quickly as she wrote, and used too much force; it was easy to see where the tip of the quill had gone through the parchment and tore as it was dragged. There was a big stain of ink near the bottom where the quill must have broken, and another stain that looked too crimson to be anything but blood. Skies swallowed hard.
“Nothing was out of place or anything,” said Clap, tucking the parchment away again. “Just the desk with this on it. The broken quill was on the floor and one of her ribbons was with it.”
“We have to tell Candy Pop.”
“She's going to freak out!”
“We can't not tell her.” Skies looked at Clap without really seeing her, her brain going a mile a minute. What was going on? And why was Canterlot doing absolutely nothing about it? “Come on,” she said after a moment. Tucking her wings in, she headed for the ground with Thunder Clap right behind her. It took them a minute to find the two unicorns because Skies had flown so far away in her search of Clap, and when they did the two stood waiting where they had been left.
“Well that took long enough,” grumbled Moonflower.
“You flew off, didn't you?” Candy Pop guessed, her eyes on Thunder Clap.
“Yeah, but it's not like that.”
“Clap, you know how dangerous that is!”
“It wasn't like that!”
“You could have been taken!”
“I wasn't taken, Scribes was!”
Candy froze, her mouth halfway open as she'd started to retort but was shocked into silence. Thunder Clap nodded, worry on her face. “Cheerilee and Flitter went to the library and figured it out. From the look of it, it didn't happen too long ago.”
“But that's impossible,” Candy insisted. “The bookstore always has at least one other pony in it. She's practically never alone!”
“Flitter and Bubblecup went to tell the mayor. Candy, I'm really sorry.”
Candy Pop shook her head, her brow wrinkling. “I don't believe you.”
Thunder Clap blinked. “Candy, I saw the store. I have an invoice she was writing when-”
“I don't believe you!” The unicorn turned on her hoof with determination in her eyes and sped off toward the bookstore before anyone could stop her.
“Come on,” said Skies. “We should follow her. She's going to need her friends.”
Candy Pop burst through the front doors of the book shop to find Cheerilee inside. The earth pony was shuffling through the scattered contents of the front desk and looked up quickly when Candy and the others came rushing in. “What are you doing?” Candy demanded, brow wrinkled.
“Candy Pop, I am so sorry about Scribes.”
“What are you doing behind the counter? Only Scribes and I are allowed back there.”
Cheerilee's expression was full of sympathy as she scooted out to stand before the upset unicorn. “I was looking for any hint as to what might have happened to her.”
“Nothing happened to her,” Candy insisted. “You guys don't know Scribes like I do. She's flighty and random if she's in the middle of a project. If she was hit with an idea she more than likely dashed home to get whatever story she has already in progress so she didn't forget her train of thought. That's why her invoice trailed off. You guys are making a big deal out of nothing.”
Clap wasn't convinced and it showed on her face. “But why wouldn't she just grab some random parchment and write it down instead of leaving the shop unattended?”
“Writers have weird quirks.”
The door opened again and the mayor trotted in with Flitter and Bubblecup following. Candy Pop let out a sigh and shook her head. “Mayor Mare, will you tell everypony to calm down? That this isn't anything new when it comes to Scribes?”
The older mare tilted her head to the side in a small shrugging gesture, grimacing. “While I can't disagree with you, Candy Pop, this is not something we can simply dismiss, not with everything that has been happening.”
Thunder Clap huffed. “That's it. I'm flying to Canterlot right now and demanding to talk with the princess. Skies, wanna come with?”
“Now hold on everypony.” The mayor waved a hoof to try and settle the pegasus. “Princess Celestia is aware of what is happening. Going there now would only compound the situation. If there was anything that could be done I am certain it would have happened by now.”
“So what in the hay are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Clap landed on the wooden floor with a light thud and tucked her wings against her side. “Should we just sit around and twiddle our hooves while we wait for more pegasai to disappear? Sorry but I'm not okay with that!”
“What else is there to do?” Moonflower asked. “If you fly to Canterlot and make a scene you'll just get yourself thrown into the dungeon or something.”
“At least I'd be safe there!”
“We will figure this out in the morning,” the mayor promised, slightly flustered. “Candy Pop, is there someplace you can stay tonight?”
Candy made a face. “I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay in my apartment with my friends so I'm here when Scribes gets back. That way I can find you and show everyone how far out of proportion this entire thing has been blown.”
“I'm staying, too,” Clap declared stubbornly.
“As am I,” said Skies.
Moonflower sighed quietly. “Guess I'm staying, too.”
The mayor's expression was unreadable as she stared at Candy Pop. But after a moment she pursed her lips. “Very well. I can't force you to leave your home and if you're all together...” She trailed off with a shake of her head, then looked pointedly at Thunder Clap and Sugarmint Skies. “Please, for everypony's sake, stay inside until morning.”
Skies shifted on her hooves. “I'm on duty tonight.”
“No pegasai will work the night shift until this entire thing has been settled.” The mayor's gaze on Skies was unsettling, as though there were a hint of irritation beneath her otherwise calm demeanor. “Do not leave until morning,” she repeated, then headed for the door with Flitter and Bubblecup. Cheerilee followed but paused to touch Candy Pop's withers with a hoof.
“If there's anything I can do...”
Candy forced a small smile and nodded. “Thanks, Cheerilee. And I'm sorry for earlier.”
The earth pony smiled warmly and shook her head. “Think nothing of it.” She left and quietly closed the door behind her. As silence settled in the air the remaining ponies all looked at Candy Pop as if awaiting something. If Candy had any answers or suggestions she was not ready to share them. Instead she turned and moved behind the counter to tidy up what had been left behind.
“I don't know how she ever finds anything back here.” There were rolled up pieces of parchment, bookmarks, quills, ink wells, and broken wax seals all over the place. And a single blue ribbon. With a mild shake of her head, Candy Pop looked at it all. As the others watched her they saw her resolve begin to crumble. The fierce belief she had that Scribes was really all right and just off writing somewhere was dissolving and fear was taking over. Candy's brow wrinkled and slowly, like she was fighting it with everything in her, tears filled her eyes.
“What if she was taken?”
Her question was so quiet it would have been missed if the others hadn't been paying attention. But they heard her and Clap and Skies rushed to embrace her and offer words of encouragement. Moonflower looked around the bookstore with a small frown on her face, clearly uncomfortable and not sure what to do with herself.
“The princess will do something soon,” said Clap. “She has to.”
Skies stroked a hoof down Candy Pop's back, trying to comfort her. “Come on. Let's all go upstairs and get something warm to drink. Staying here won't do anypony any good.”
Sniffling, Candy nodded. She levitated the blue ribbon from the counter top, taking it with her as the group headed upstairs to her apartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Everything was dark. It was like she was walking with her eyes closed and her ears plugged up. There was no way to tell if she was alone or if she was surrounded and that was what scared her the most. At any moment she could be attacked and there would be no way to know it was happening until it was too late. She should have kept her mouth shut. This was all her fault. All her fault. All her fault.
A light sparked up ahead and she lifted a hoof to shield her eyes. It really wasn't that bright for too long, soon dimming to nothing more than the flickering at the tip of a candle. She dropped her hoof and watched it from a safe distance, somehow more afraid of this light than the surrounding darkness. Her name echoed all around her, a sinister deep rumble that bounced off invisible walls and multiplied until it felt like she was hearing “Skies” in her very core.
“Please,” she whimpered, staring at the flickering light. “I want to go home.”
“You are home,” the voice said. Though the tone was gentle there was no mistaking the threat lying just beneath his words.
“This isn't home. Ponyville is my home.”
The voice laughed, softly in a chuckle at first but it grew in decibel and turned her blood to ice. “Ponyville?” the voice scoffed. “Ponyville is not your home. This is your home. This is where you belong.” It was all around her, this terrible malicious presence. Skies sank onto the black floor beneath her hooves, trembling. The presence drew back slightly and she could feel the change in the air. “My dear Skies,” he crooned. “Stay. Stay here with me.”
“Stay?”
“Be my queen once more. We can have everything we ever wanted.”
She knew this voice. It suddenly hit her that she knew this voice almost as well as her own. So why could she not see in her mind who the voice belonged to? “W-who are you?”
“Return to my side and we will rule over all of Equestria. Together we will raise up our people, our army, and we will be unstoppable.”
“Army?”
The darkness she'd been drowning in began a slow fade. Shapes came into vision with slim, defining lines of contrast from the ever flickering light. The shapes moved and as the darkness continued to lift she began to understand, to realize she had not been alone after all. There were hundreds of pegasus ponies sharing the nothingness with her, all of them walking aimlessly. A light brown stallion passed close to where she huddled. He turned to her and she gasped. His eyes! Where black pupils should have been was nothing more than a slightly darker shade of the brown of his irises. They were almost like her own. “Stay,” he whispered. As soon as the word passed his lips others around them repeated it, then more still until it became a whispered chant all around her.
“They are your servants,” the faceless voice purred darkly. “This is your army. Command them.”
Skies shied away from the stallion, backpedaling and running into another pony. She wheeled and cried out in horror. The mare she collided with had a sky blue coat and a teal mane and tail. Her blue eyes were blank as she looked at Skies, but Skies recognized Medley immediately. She reached out to take the pony by the withers and shake her. “Medley? Medley, it's Sugarmint Skies. Do you remember me? I just arrived in Ponyville a few weeks ago. You know Thunder Clap. Medley? Medley!”
The voice laughed and all the pegasai, Medley included, laughed as well. Skies let her go and backed up several paces. “Medley, Medley!” he teased. “Medley, Medley!” they all copied, the various voices mixing together like music at a twisted carnival. “She cannot hear you, my love. None of them can hear you until you choose to be their leader. Stay with me.”
“No!” Skies looked up into a fathomless black nothing above her, eyes ablaze in anger. “I will not stay with you!”
“Very well.” Any hint of tenderness the voice held for Skies was gone, replaced by a sharp coldness. “Some day you will thank me for what I must now do. Goodbye.”
Every single pony turned in her direction. Though their eyes and faces were still blank she knew something terrible was about to happen. They were converging on her and she had nowhere to go. “No,” she cried, looking for a way of escape. “No, please!” A pony tapped her from behind and Skies whipped around. “Scribes?”
The familiar icy blue pegasus with the tri-colored mane and bows in her hair stood right before her. Though her eyes were different like all the rest, she smiled. And then she lunged for Skies.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Skies!”
She sat up with a sharp gasp and would have screamed it if wasn't for Moonflower grasping her by her withers. “Hey, it's okay! You were having another nightmare.”
“No, it's not okay. Nothing is okay.” She felt like crying, like screaming, like tearing at her mane. Moonflower's grip on her tightened and she looked into her friend's face, light from the fire making odd shadows dance across her concerned expression. “Moonflower...”
“What happened?” the unicorn asked quietly.
Pulling herself free of her friend's grip, Skies got to her hooves and shook her head. She needed to slow her breathing, stop her racing heart before she could explain. And then what? What was she willing to share? She looked around the bedroom to find Candy Pop still asleep in her own bed. Thunder Clap had long since passed out on the couch and was laying on her back, spread eagle and snoring with one back leg over the back of the couch and her head hanging so low off the front that her spiky mane touched the floor. The sight off her was amusing enough to give Skies something else to think about for a minute and she let go of a long sigh.
“Are you okay?” Moonflower ask eventually.
“I think so.” Sitting on her bedroll on the floor, Skies looked at the unicorn. “I'm sorry if I woke you.”
“You didn't, I was up.”
“Can't you sleep?”
Moonflower glanced with meaning at Clap. “Not with that racket going on.” With genuine concern on her face, she focused once more on Skies. “Looks like it's a good thing I was up though.” She frowned. “Same nightmare?”
“Same nightmare.”
Moonflower's frown deepened. “This has been happening every night for how long now?”
Skies rubbed a hoof over her face. “I think it started when you tried to wake me up the first time in the hospital. Each time something is added. Like Medley being there last week, Scribes being there for two nights now.”
“What was different this time?”
The pegasus looked down, thinking, replaying everything in her mind. Nothing seemed new or changed. It was the exact same dream from last night and the night before. There were no new ponies that she could recall. Had the words been different? She knew them all by heart now, she'd heard them so many times. When she realized the difference her head jerked up. “He said something.”
“What?”
“He said someday I would thank him for what he must now do.”
Moonflower blinked. “What in the hay does that mean?”
“I don't know.” Once more Skies rose to her hooves. She paced to the window, restless, and pressed her forehead against the cool glass. Night was still heavy upon them and the outside world was silent and deceivingly peaceful. The feeling had been growing, gnawing at her that maybe the whispers she had been hearing were true; maybe it really was her fault that the pegasai were disappearing. After this latest dream the reality of it settled on her like an impossible weight. “I can't stay here,” she said, staring into her transparent reflected eyes. “You know that, right?”
“You can't leave.” Moonflower drew up beside her, brow wrinkled. “You have to tell them, Skies. Candy, Clap, Pinwheel...you have to tell them. We can help you figure this out. Just...don't leave.”
Skies looked at the unicorn. “Why not?”
“Because.” Moonflower glanced down in embarrassment. “You're my first real friend here. I don't want to lose that.”
“Moonflower...” Skies nuzzled her gently. “If I'm the reason all of these ponies are disappearing I can't stay. It's not safe for anypony.”
“Then I'll come with you. You need somepony to watch your back and I'm not a pegasus so I'm not in danger.”
“I don't think you can come with me.”
Moonflower blinked and was silent long enough to draw meaning from her friend's words. “You're not...seriously thinking about giving in to him, are you? About staying?”
Skies shrugged. “I don't know if there is any other option. Maybe if I go he'll release all the other ponies. At the very least I'll be there to try and figure out some way to get them home.” Moonflower opened her mouth to object but Skies shook her head. “If I can save them, Moonflower, I have to. This whole mess is my fault to begin with. Besides, you have the others now. They're your friends, too.”
“Skies, you can't!”
She looked out the window once more. “I have to. Before anypony else goes missing like Clap or Pinwheel...” Her brow wrinkled, attention caught by something outside. She narrowed her eyes and pressed her face closer to the glass.
“What is it?” Moonflower asked.
Realizing what she was seeing, Skies swallowed a sharp intake of breath. “Pinwheel!” She didn't care about being quiet now. As she turned and ran for the door, Moonflower right behind, the clamoring of their hooves on the wooden floor woke up the other two. Candy Pop opened her eyes in time to see the door swing closed and Thunder Clap reach up to wipe drool from the corner of her mouth.
“What's going on?” the pegasus asked sleepily.
“I don't know,” Candy replied with a yawn. “We'd better go see, though.”
Outside Moonflower and Skies raced around to the other side of the bookstore. Skies skidded to a halt so quickly that Moonflower almost ran right into her backside. “Oh no.” She saw now what Skies had spotted from upstairs. “Pinwheel's necklace.”
Scooping the little silver bell on a black ribbon up in her hoof, Skies shook her head. “No, it's my necklace. I remember it now.” She remembered a lot of things now. Too many things.
“Are you guys okay?” Candy and Clap came around the corner, Clap trotting instead of flying for once, with a blanket wrapped around her like a cloak to ward off the cold night air.
“It's Pinwheel,” Moonflower answered. Skies held up the necklace and the other two gasped.
Clap threw off her blanket and flapped her wings, darting into the night sky. “Pinwheel! Pinwheel!” She looked left and right, cupping her hooves over her mouth to amplify her voice. Turning toward the center of Ponyville, she dropped her hooves and gulped. “Um, guys?” The three down below looked up at her and she pointed. Skies took to the air as well to get a better view and nearly stopped flapping at what she saw.
It looked like every pony left in town was headed their way with torches and lights. Even from so far away it was easy to tell they were not coming for a social visit. “It's my fault,” Skies said quietly. “They've finally realized it, and they're coming for me.”
The citizens of Ponyville came down the darkened streets of the town with scowls, accusations, and hooves pointing in the direction of the minty green pegasus that landed before them. Sugarmint Skies was patient as everyone talked at once. It took everything in her to meet the angry gazes that held her but she kept her chin high. It helped when Thunder Clap landed beside her and Candy Pop stood on her other side. When Moonflower stood directly in front of her, head down, ears flat and a growl on her lips, the pegasus touched a hoof to the unicorn's withers and shook her head gently. “It's all right. They have every right to be angry.”
“Yeah, but not at you,” Clap argued. “You're the scapegoat just because you're the newest pony in town.” The pegasus smiled darkly when she saw Bon Bon mixed in with the group. “So much for being Skies' new best friend, huh Bon Bon?”
“Somepony is to blame for the disappearances of the pegasai,” the earth pony spat.
“And what makes you so certain it's Skies?” Candy Pop asked.
“How can you defend her?” asked a voice from the crowd. “It's her fault Scribes is gone!”
“And Raindrops!”
“And Spectrum!”
“And Medley!”
Skies visibly flinched as the last name was called out, visions of her nightmare swimming through her mind. There was nothing telling her for certain that any of this actually was her fault but the voice that called to her from the darkness. He wanted her to stay. He'd taken the pegasai to create an army, specifically an army for her. But for what reason? And how would any of this help in defending herself now? She should have left when she was well enough to have her wits about her and none of this would have happened. Looking at the bell necklace in her hoof only made her feel worse. Pinwheel, the one pony who made it her mission to truly make her feel comfortable from the very start, was now somewhere in that darkness.
“Everypony, please!”
The mayor's pleading voice broke through the winged mare's thoughts. The hostility in the air as voices raised all around her was palpable and made her shrink back. As though protecting her from a physical attack, both Clap and Candy closed ranks before her acting like a shield with Moonflower aiding them. There wasn't a silent pony in the entire group. Skies could see the two ponies she recognized to be Pinwheel's parents and the little filly with them, Pinwheel's younger sister. They too were yelling, pain and fear evident on their faces. Their daughter was gone because of Skies. Seeing them hurt more than any of the words she heard and she took a few more steps back. It was time to go. She needed to get as far away as possible and as quickly as she could.
But ponies were closing in around her. There were so many more of them than her three friends could push back and soon all four of them were encircled in a blur of color and anger. The mayor had given up trying to keep order and now stood back to watch helplessly.
“Skies,” yelled Clap. “Use your wings. Make a run for it!”
It was the only way now. Skies flexed her wings and crouched down, prepared to spring. Then someone behind her gasped and shouted, “Look!” The dark night sky erupted in light so blinding for a moment that no one could stand the sight. Hooves covered eyes, young ones hid behind their parents, and then the light was gone. In its place was an alicorn of the palest pink, her multi-colored mane and tail flowing in an ethereal breeze felt by no one else, two royal guardsponies at her side.
“Princess Celestia!”
Every single pony dropped to the ground in a bow, temporarily forgetting the situation at hand. In the middle of the crowd Sugarmint Skies clenched her eyes shut, her body low to the ground in a bow as fear raced through her veins.
“What is the meaning of all of this?” the princess demanded, her tone gentle yet still maintaining authority.
For a moment no one breathed a word, then everyone was talking at once. Only Skies remained silent, still bowed until Moonflower nudged her to get her to stand. The pegasus looked at the ground as she listened to the accusations presented before Celestia. It seemed that everyone wanted to give her their version of things and everyone had a different account of events, different ideas of what should happen now. For awhile Skies wondered if it would ever end. Timidly she glanced up to find Celestia listening patiently, but her violet eyes were on the young pegasus and her expression unreadable. She lifted a hoof to quiet everyone before turning fully to Skies.
“Well, my little pony. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Skies swallowed and tried to find her voice. She may not have remembered much about her past before tonight but there was no way to forget who and what the pony before her was. Though Celestia was known for being a gentle and just ruler there were tales of her swift and uncompromising punishment that frightened Skies now. She looked up at the alicorn and tried to keep her legs from wobbling. “I...” Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth and words would not form. All she wanted was to fly as far away as she could. But everyone was looking at her now, not with the anger and intolerance from before but with expectant silence. Somehow it made her feel worse.
“They...” She wet her lips and took a breath. “They're right. It is all my fault.” If only the ground would open and swallow her whole right now.
“I see.” Celestia regarded her with her carefully blank expression. “What is your name, my dear?”
“Sugarmint Skies, your majesty.”
“Perhaps you and I should have a talk, Sugarmint Skies.”
Candy Pop stepped forward, nervousness on her face. “Princess, we can go to the bookstore.”
Celestia looked at the unicorn and nodded, sparing her a quick kind smile. “Thank you, Candy Pop. I think that is a good idea.” She returned her attention to Skies, her smile fading. “Would you please follow me to the bookstore?” Looking at the three faithful ponies surrounding Skies, a twinkle of something, was it amusement, sparkled in Celestia's eyes. “You three as well if you wouldn't mind.” She lifted her head, her mane billowing out before her. “Everypony else should go home and get some rest. Be assured that I have things well in hoof. Your loved ones will be returned to you safely if it takes all of my magic to see that it happens.”
The crowd was pacified enough with this promise that they turned for home, though not reluctantly. Celestia was quick to offer private words of comfort to Pinwheel's family sparing a few moments for the four friends to talk quickly. Skies shook her head. “I'm going to be exiled.”
“You're not going to be exiled,” Candy soothed.
The pegasus looked at her. “How does the princess know your name?”
Clap smirked, answering for her friend. “Princess Celestia comes to Ponyville all the time. She gets stuff from the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner a lot.”
“And she comes into the bookstore sometimes when she's in town. She knows most, if not all of us by name.”
Skies groaned. “I'm going to end up on the moon like Princess Luna.”
“That's just an old mare's tale,” said Moonflower with a roll of her eyes. “You haven't done anything wrong.”
“I haven't done anything to stop it or get anypony back yet, either.”
“Shall we?”
The four looked up to see the princess waiting for them. With a unified nod they all fell into step behind her to go inside the bookshop. Candy unlocked the door for everyone to enter through, save the guardsponies who waited outside, then locked it behind herself. Celestia looked around the store, a slight look of sadness in her eyes. “I was very sorry to hear of Scribes' disappearance, Candy Pop. How are you fairing in her absence?”
The unicorn smiled sadly. “The shop is fine. I just miss her.”
“I'm sure you do.” Celestia looked at Skies. “You have a lot of ponies very upset with you, my dear.”
Skies hung her head. “I know, Princess.”
“Some of the things I have heard tonight are rather startling. To think they could imagine one single pony being responsible for the disappearance of hundreds. They must think you hide a secret power.”
“I don't!” Skies looked up at the alicorn, desperate. “I didn't steal anyone away or help another pony to take any of the missing pegasai. But it is my fault.”
“Skies,” Moonflower moaned.
“She has to know, Moonflower.” The pegasus looked at Candy
“For awhile I thought he was just rambling, that it was just something to say. Wicked liked to hear himself talk a lot, I do remember that. And I played along sometimes because...well, I don't really know why. Maybe I was afraid of him, maybe part of me thought he was right. I shouldn't have encouraged him no matter what the reason was, even if I didn't really believe him to be serious. Then one day he told me about another idea of his, one that would take him to the nations of the zebra. He'd heard about their strange magic and the dark ways of some of their kind. He had decided it was time to test his little theory but wanted some assurances only magic could provide.”
“What kind of assurances?” asked Thunder Clap.
“The kind that take away free will. He wanted to find a zebra who could enchant him with an unnatural gift. He wanted to be able to talk anypony into joining him just by speaking.”
Moonflower's brow furrowed. “What kind of idiot zebra would put that kind of a spell on anypony?”
“To be fair Zuri, the zebra, didn't fully know what he was doing. Wicked lied to him and told him he was in trouble and needed to be able to talk himself out of it.” Skies grimaced. “You'd be surprised what a good story and a bag filled with bits can do.”
“Not really,” grumbled Candy. “So he got the enchantment put on him?”
Skies nodded. “It was a spell just strong enough to last for a few hours but Wicked used it against Zuri. He talked him into making a stronger potion and to making multiple vials of it. Then he talked Zuri into becoming his personal potion maker.”
Candy frowned. “So how do you figure into this?”
“The necklace.” She held out the little bell on the black ribbon. “Before he left Wicked gave it to me and said it was his promise to return for me. I thought it was just a simple gift like it was something to remember him by if we should never come back. But he was claiming me even then just by putting it around my neck.”
“What about Pinwheel?” Clap asked. “She's been wearing it since the day we found you.”
The light green pegasus looked down, pained. “He knows this necklace. To find another pony wearing it when he gave it to me...”
“Can we not think about that right now?” asked Candy anxiously. “Get back to your story.”
“Wicked was gone for almost a year,” Skies went on, rubbing her head. “I don't remember much of anything from that time, just that I was overjoyed to see him come home. Except he was changed. There had always been this darkness behind his smiles but now there was something sinister. He had come home to collect me, he said. I would be the first, the best, the most prized. I would be his queen. I remember laughing it off at first but then feeling the allure of going away with him. I didn't want to be where I was anymore.” She stopped, puzzled, and tried to remember why she would ever want to leave her home. There was so much of her past that was lost to her and all that she remembered involved Wicked Winds. Somehow she knew it was not a coincidence.
“I know part of it was his enchantment but there was a very real part of me that wanted a new life. The one Wicked promised me was better than anything I could have hoped for myself. He said he would always take care of me and protect me.” Her cheeks colored slightly. “What mare doesn't want that from a stallion? So I went with him and little by little I slipped under his spell. We traveled together, Wicked, myself, and Zuri. Wicked spoke to as many pegasai as he could and slowly he began leading them away. We started in bigger towns and cities where missing ponies would not be as easily noticed. Soon we were large enough to need a place of our own to call home. Once Wicked found it we all lived there together while our numbers continued to grow every day.”
“Where?” Moonflower asked.
Skies sat and looked down at her hooves. “It's in the shadow to the gates of Tartarus. You'd never know it was there unless you knew what you were looking for. The shadows are entire worlds all their own and Wicked took one of them as his personal kingdom.”
Clap spread her wings. “Looks like we're going to Tartarus, girls.”
“Wait a second.” Candy tugged on one of Clap's forelegs to bring her back to the floor. “We still need more information.” She looked at Skies. “So Wicked doesn't physically steal anypony, he just talks them into following him?”
“Yes. Most of the time.”
Moonflower quirked a brow. “Most of the time?”
“The strong willed ponies that are harder to convince may have force used against them.”
The room fell silent for a few moments, each pony playing over the tale laid out before them, all four of the mares wondering if Pinwheel was all right and whether she had been one to need force used against her. Skies closed her eyes and let herself picture her nightmare again. Finding her necklace discarded had not been a coincidence. She knew when Wicked took Pinwheel he left it there for her to find. He wanted to make her feel as miserable as he could, and it had worked.
“Your tale is not yet finished.”
It was the first time since Skies began to speak that Celestia had something to say. The pegasus looked up at the princess and wished she could see into her thoughts. Her expression was inscrutable and did nothing to comfort her. She suddenly felt more tired than she could remember ever being before. No, her tale was not yet finished there was still one part left. It was a part she had hoped to somehow avoid telling. “Go on, my dear,” said Celestia kindly. “Tell us how you came to be here in Ponyville and why your eyes are so different.”
Skies bit her lip and nodded slowly. She took a minute to simply breathe before finishing her story. “My eyes used to be like all of yours. There was nothing different, nothing special about them. But I guess one day they began to change. It could have been a day after I joined Wicked, a week, even a year. I don't know. I didn't bother to care. He had me believing that there was nothing I needed to worry about beyond our lives together and the pegasai that were our subjects. I didn't call it an army then because I didn't know that's what they were becoming. All I knew was that I was happy and protected, and had more friends than I could have ever dreamed of. Then in came the first pony to fight back.
“Up until that point every pegasus who was part of our family, that's what we called it, had either come willingly or had been made to submit outside my awareness. Under Wicked's spell as I was, I truly believed every single pony had come of their own free will and wanted to become part of the kingdom we would eventually raise up.” She glanced up at Celestia sheepishly. “I'm ashamed to say that I thought we could even overthrow you.”
“Go on,” urged the alicorn quietly.
“One day Wicked brought in a spirited young mare. I swear he must have seduced her on her way to Flight School, she was so young. But was brought to us kicking and biting, screaming at everyone that we had all been put under a spell and that we were being used, that Wicked had us all fooled. I saw him strike her and it startled me. More importantly, it made something click in me. I remember looking at Wicked with disapproval and the slick smile he gave me in return. 'It's all right, my love,' he'd said. 'She is ill. When she wakes she will be well and happy just like you.' His words repeated themselves in my head and I remember feeling like they were worms trying to dig into my brain. I'd never felt that before. His words had always been truth but this time, with the proof right in front of me, I had a harder time believing him. He realized it and spoke soothing words to me again but it only made me fight harder. The more I fought the angrier I became and the more self awareness I received.
“I looked around and saw hundreds of pegasai, all with blank and faded eyes, all walking around as though in a stupor and bending to anything Wicked said. I ran from him, ran from our dark kingdom and out into the open sunlight for the first time in...I don't even know how long. I just remember the light hurt my eyes but I kept running until I stumbled and fell into a small stream. It was there that I saw my new reflection for the first time. My eyes were faded just like the others, only far more so. Beside Zuri, who had disappeared at some point, I had been under the spell the longest.” She stopped and shook her head. “Poor Zuri. I realize now that Wicked probably has him captive somewhere.” She looked at Celestia pleadingly. “When we save the others we have to find him as well.”
“We will,” the princess promised.
Candy Pop frowned. “So he simply let you go?”
“No.” Skies laughed humorlessly. “No, he came after me with his most trained pegasai. After he tried several times to convince me to return with him he realized his hold over me had somehow been damaged. I was not as susceptible to his words anymore. So he tried to use force. I fought back and I remember the fight did not last long. His pegasai took to the air and stirred up winds the likes I had never seen before. They sucked entire stones from the ground as they gathered strength and eventually sucked me in as well. The last thing I remember him saying was that he hoped my end was quick because if he had to find me and kill me himself, I would beg to come back to him before I met my end.” She sighed quietly. “The next thing I remember after that is waking up here in the hospital.”
For a moment no one had anything to say. With Skies being a pony they all thought of as a friend now, none of the other three mares wanted to believe the pegasus could have ever had a hoof in something so horrible. They each wanted to comfort her and try to make her feel better, but at the same time there was something that kept them from offering soothing words. Moonflower, at least, gave Skies a small smile of encouragement. Then one by one their attention went to their stoic princess. When Celestia remained quiet and pensive, Skies bit her lip once more.
“Wicked has been coming to me in dreams.” She quickly looked at Clap and Candy. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know what to make of them before tonight and I didn't want to worry you. Each night I see a little bit more than the previous night. Tonight he warned me that if I did not stay with him I would not like the consequences. I think that's why he took Pinwheel specifically.”
“She shouldn't have been out so late by herself,” Clap argued gruffly.
“She may not have been.” Skies shook her head. “If he can come to me in dreams it is possible he visited Pinwheel as well. He may have convinced her to go out alone. She would have been powerless to stop it even if she knew what was going on.”
“Now that you remember,” Celestia said finally, “can you find your way back to the shadow kingdom?”
Skies nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “I...I think so.” She looked up at the princess with a line of worry on her brow. “I don't know if I can go back there. I don't know if I'm strong enough on my own.”
“You won't be on your own,” said Moonflower definitively. “There's no way I'm staying here knowing even a part of what you're heading into.”
“If Wicked Winds has Pinwheel and Scribes,” added Candy Pop, “then you know I'm going too.”
Thunder Clap puffed out her chest importantly. “Count me in! Together the four of us can kick some serious tail and get our friends and the rest of the pegasai back!”
Smiling thankfully, Skies pulled them all into a tight group hug. “I don't remember life before any of this but I know I never had friends as wonderful as any of you.”
“I wish I could accompany you,” said Celestia somberly, “but I cannot leave Canterlot unprotected.” She gave a slight frown and fixed her eyes on the four mares huddled together. “You are all very brave and I do not envy you the trials ahead. Stay together and always remember you have each other.”
Skies nodded. “Thank you, Princess.”
“Rest now,” the alicorn instructed gently. “You will need your strength. I will leave my guards here to watch over you until the time of your departure is upon you.” There was something different in her eyes now, something that looked like pride. “Good luck, my little ponies.”
They moved aside so that the princess could leave, watching through the window as she spoke to her guards, then disappeared into the night sky completely alone. Candy Pop and the others filtered out into the night to watch Celestia leave, then headed back upstairs to Candy's apartment.
“He'll know we're coming,” Skies lamented as she lay down on her blanket roll.
Thunder Clap set her own blanket on the floor beside Skies and settled down. “Good. I'd hate to take him by surprise and have this whole thing over with before a good fight.”
Skies shook her head. “It's not the fight I'm worried about. It's what I'm going to see when I close my eyes.”
“We're all right here,” said Moonflower. “We'll take turns keeping watch over you. If it looks like you're having a bad dream we'll make you up.”
“Thank you, Moonflower.” Skies nuzzled the unicorn gently. “Thank you, all of you. How you can still be my friends after all of this...”
“None of it was your fault,” Candy Pop argued amiably. “You were under an enchantment.” She smiled at the pegasus. “Close your eyes and get some rest. All of you. I'll take the first watch.”
Clap yawned and rolled over onto her back. “Don't have to tell me twice.”
With one last look around at her friends, Skies rested her head on her pillow and sighed to herself. How she ever ended up with such caring friends she'd never know. But she knew she'd never been more thankful for any other ponies in her life.
Sleep was blissfully uneventful for Skies that night. There were no voices in the dark, no soulless eyes of ponies staring at her, no cold feeling of guilt with every quiet breath. She felt warmth and comfort, even traces of peace as she drifted off. Her breathing deepened into that of a pony truly resting and a satisfied Moonflower shared a small smile with Candy Pop. “I didn't think that was going to work.”
“Did you put a spell on her?” Candy asked.
“Not really.” Moonflower's pale cheeks colored slightly in the light of the fire. “I've always had this kind of gift...I can heal damaged plants, injured animals, sometimes even heal a pony if the injury isn't too great. I just used the same magic on her mind that I did when she was in the hospital and it seems to be keeping away anything damaging.”
“Like the nightmares.” Candy Pop nodded, impressed. “That's really a special talent, Moonflower.”
“I discovered I could do it a few years after I got my cutie mark. A small shipment of delicate flowers I had delivered were not handled with the best care and when I got them I was so determined to save them I just kind of...discovered what I could do.”
“You really love your flowers, don't you?”
Nodding, Moonflower looked down. “They've always been the only constant in my life, you know? They don't judge me or criticize and make fun of me. They depend on me and they live and flourish because I take care of them. When I was younger, before I moved here to Ponyville, they were the only friends I had.” She smirked and laughed quietly. “Even after I moved to Ponyville.”
Candy Pop's brow wrinkled. “You didn't have any friends at your old home?”
“No...”
The darker unicorn bit her bottom lip. “But...why not?”
Moonflower shifted on her bedroll uncomfortably. “Somepony needed to be the butt of everypony's jokes.”
“Oh, Moonflower...”
She shrugged her withers as though it didn't matter. “I was overweight as a filly and that provided a lot of entertainment for my schoolmates, the colt I had a crush on included.”
“I am so sorry.” Candy Pop reached down from her bed to touch a hoof to Moonflower's withers. “There is no excuse for something like that.”
“It doesn't matter. Their constant tormenting was what drove me to hide myself away in my garden. It helped me discover my cutie mark and my passion for plants and later find my healing abilities. And it made me change myself for the better.”
“And,” Candy added gently, “it brought you here. I'm so sorry for anything I said or did in the past that was unkind.”
Moonflower shook her head. “You didn't know, and it wasn't as though your reactions were unjustified. I...tend to be a bit abrasive in an effort to keep ponies away.”
“Whether I knew or not doesn't matter. I didn't know you and I judged you based on things I came up with in my own thoughts. Had I ever taken the time to actually get to know you-”
“You would have seen your judgments were correct.” Moonflower laughed at herself but there was sadness in her eyes.
“No,” Candy Pop countered gently. “I would have seen that you were a pony in need of true friends.”
Slowly, Moonflower looked first at Skies and then up at Candy Pop. “I think I have them now.”
“You do. And Clap will come around. She's the protective one of the group so she acts all hard and tough. It's really because she doesn't want to see her friends get hurt.”
“Which makes her one of the best kinds of friends to have.” Moonflower turned her gaze to Skies as the pegasus let go of a deep, peaceful sigh. “We have to protect her,” the unicorn stated quietly. “She's going to try and protect us but I just feel it. She's the one who will need the most protection.”
Candy Pop nodded but said nothing on the subject. Instead she told Moonflower, “You should get some sleep now. Tomorrow's going to be a long day.”
~*~*~*~*~
In the morning Skies awoke to find herself alone in Candy Pop's bedroom. The bed was made, the blanket rolls used by Thunder Clap and Moonflower rolled up and set to the side of the room, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Beneath her covers she stretched, laying on her side like a cat, and let her mind slowly shake off the grogginess of sleep. She could hear voices through the floorboards and figured everyone else was already awake and waiting downstairs for her. Yet there was hesitance in getting up. Leaving the comfort of where she was now meant having to face the very thing she did not want to.
The door opened and a voice asked, “You awake yet?”
Skies lifted her head to see Thunder Clap's nose poking in through the open door. She smiled at her friend and stretched again, her wings extending themselves fully before tucking back against her body. “I'm awake.” Tossing her blanket aside, she got to her hooves and shook out her blonde mane. “You could have nudged me or something. I didn't mean to keep everypony waiting.”
“It's okay. We all just got up ourselves.” Clap went farther into the room and sat on her haunches. “You sure you're ready for all of this?”
“Do I really have a choice?”
Clap tilted her head. “No, not really.”
“But you do.” Skies fixed the dark pegasus with a serious gaze. “Tell me I can still talk the three of you out of coming with me.”
“Not a chance.”
She sighed. “All right, then. Let's get going.”
Down in the book shop she was surprised to see that Princess Celestia had once again joined them. Skies was quick to bow and, when given permission to rise, joined her friends. “Are you coming with us, Princess?”
“If things were different, perhaps I would.” Celestia smiled ruefully and shook her head. “But no, my dear. This is a journey the four of you must make on your own. I have simply come to make sure you have the best head start possible.”
“Princess Celestia is going to teleport us to Tartarus,” said Clap excitedly. But the princess chuckled quickly and gave another delicate shake of her head.
“Not exactly. I will teleport you close to Tartarus but you must make the end of your journey on hoof. I cannot tell precisely where this shadow kingdom is but with the information you provided last night, Sugarmint Skies, I will be able to get you fairly close.”
Skies nodded. “It beats having to walk there. No matter what, he'll know we're coming.”
“I will watch over you as best as I can.” The princess swept her serious gaze over the faces of the mares before her. “Are you ready?”
“So ready!” growled Thunder Clap.
“Be safe, my little ponies.” A translucent blue light gathered around Celestia's horn as she lowered her head toward the group of friends. Each one of them felt a warmth envelop them, a feeling like stepping from a shadow and into the heat of a ray of sunlight. It was hopeful, and then it was gone.
Everything was gone. The princess, the shelves of books, the musty smell in the air, absolutely everything.
“Where in the hay are we?” asked Candy Pop. There were no trees, no buildings, absolutely nothing but sand in every single direction she looked, nothing to break up the uniformity of their surroundings but each other.
“I don't really know.” Skies looked left to right, her brow furrowed. How were they supposed to know which way was the right way to go, let alone know where to find Wicked Winds? Would they really have to wait for him to find them. “Stay close,” she instructed quietly. The three other ponies obeyed, each with their eyes trained in a different direction than the rest and Skies directly in the middle of their protective triangle. “It's been too long since I've seen Wicked. His powers were growing every single day. There's no telling what he's capable of now.”
Clap bristled and whipped her head around, peering menacingly at the horizon. “Let him come!”
Ignoring Thunder Clap, Candy glanced at Moonflower and asked, “That spell you put on Skies last night, the one to keep her mind safe? Can you do that with all of us?”
The pale unicorn shook her head uncertainly. “I don't know. I didn't even know I could use my magic on another pony until that day in the hospital. I didn't even know it worked the way I wanted it to until last night.”
“And you won't know if you can protect all of us until you try right now!' Clap declared impatiently.
“Don't yell at me!” the unicorn barked.
“Everypony, just calm down.” Skies wasn't looking at any of them, her blue eyes staring straight ahead, concentrated. “The second we start fighting is the second Wicked will exploit to defeat us. We have to stay close and I don't mean just physically.” Finally she looked at Moonflower. “Please...try.”
With pursed lips, Moonflower gave a slight nod and closed her eyes. As the rest of them watched a pale orange aura gathered around her horn. Moonflower's eyes squeezed shut in effort and within moments she let go of a breath she'd been holding in. Her eyes opened and she looked suddenly very weary. “I can't. I'm not strong enough.”
“Okay. It's all right.” Skies tried to give her an encouraging smile but she was too tense for it to feel genuine. “What about just protecting Thunder Clap?”
“Huh?” The dark red pegasus perked her ears and looked at Skies in confusion. “Why me? You're the one he's after, remember?”
“That may be so, but I don't think he can get to me anymore. Not the way he used to at any rate.” Taking notice of the ways the others were looking at her, she shook her head. “If Wicked could just persuade me to come back the way he's persuaded every other pegasus to be here then he would have done it by now. I think when I woke up from his spell the day I ran away I somehow broke that part of his hold over me. That's why he's been coming to me in my dreams and trying to guilt me into coming back. He knows his magic doesn't work on me anymore.”
“Okay,” Clap conceded slowly, “but why protect me? Moonflower should protect herself if she protects anypony. She may be the only one who'll be able to get us out of this mess if we all get sucked in.”
Skies shook her head once more. “He won't even bother with Moonflower or Candy Pop. They're unicorns, therefore beneath him. They're nothing more than annoyances.”
Huffing, Moonflower bared her teeth. “I'll show him just how much of an annoyance I can be.”
“I don't think we should stand around here for too much longer.” Candy Pop shuffled on her hooves. “Whoever we decide should be protected, can we figure it out as we walk? I don't like it here.”
Thunder Clap opened her mouth, doubtless to ask where she thought they should walk to, but Skies silenced her with a look. “Candy's right,” said the minty pegasus. “Let's keep moving.”
Seemingly as one body all four mares began a slow trek forward. Though they were making sure to stay together both unicorns moved slightly away from Skies and in front of her. Clap fell into step direction behind Skies, keeping the blonde pegasus in the middle the protective triangle of her friends. Every now and then Clap would turn to walk backward for a few paces, then would turn around once more to keep her eyes forward.
Skies kept her ears open to any sound that might be out of the ordinary. She was expecting to hear the familiar beat of wings in the air at any given moment and when that happened she did not want to be caught off guard. As much as her friends thought she needed to be protected she feared they didn't understand just how much danger they had put themselves in by coming with her. She'd never seen Wicked Winds kill another pony but after what he'd almost done to her, what he'd threatened to do to her? It was hard enough to imagine Pinwheel in Wicked's grasp. If anything else should happen to any of her new friends she would never forgive herself.
“Maybe we should see what we can spot from above,” she suggested after several minutes of silent walking. The horizon had not changed in any direction and there had not been any sign of movement except for a slight wind that had picked up. “Clap and I might be able to-”
“Where is Clap?” Candy Pop was looking in the direction from which they'd come, the other two turning quickly to look as well. Nothing but endless sand. Gazes raised skyward to see if the pegasus had taken things into her own hooves but she was nowhere to be found. “Thunder Clap?”
The wind that had been a quiet breeze whistled as it gained intensity, picking up lighter grains of sand and throwing them in the faces of the mares. “He's coming,” Skies said evenly. “Wicked. He's coming.” Now flanked by the unicorns, Skies bore down and narrowed her eyes. The wind whipped past her as though laughing at her, then blew so sharply against her she could have sworn she'd been struck. Then the sand opened up beside her and Moonflower was sucked under before anyone, herself included, had time to react.
“Moonflower!”
The other two scrambled in panic, Candy Pop instantly digging where the other unicorn had been pulled under. Then the sand gave way beneath her and sucked her under as well. With a cry of fear, Skies jumped into the air and flapped her wings.
The wind rushed past her in violent currents that left her unsteady and bobbing like a filly on her first flight. There was so much sand swirling around her that it was nearly impossible to see. “Candy!” she called fruitlessly, covering her face with a foreleg. The wind was too strong and unpredictable. Her wings were already shaking with overexertion and Skies knew it would only be a matter of moments before her fight was lost. This was worse than any tornado or hurricane. These winds were unnaturally strong and maliciously unkind. Soon enough there was a pinch of cramping up in her withers and one of her wings seized in pain. The pegasus was tossed through the air like a rag doll, blown this way and than before being thrown recklessly down on sand that felt less forgivng than it should gave been.
All at once the wind slowed. It wasn't enough to be considered normal but the gusts no longer felt as though they were ripping at her pelt. She lay sprawled out on her side trying to catch her breath. Was this it, then? Was he just going to kill her with his magic and be done with it?
“Coward!' she cried, her voice lost in the howling whistles surrounding her. “You are a coward, Wicked! You can't even face me before you kill me?” Stubborn, she struggled to her hooves and bore down against the wind once more. “Come on then! Show me what you've got!” He could try his worst and just may best her, but Skies knew there was no way she was going down without a fight.
A shadow grew in the distance before her, something approaching through the sandy gale. It started out small then grew and spread until it had her surrounded on three sides. Distinct shapes took form, bodies, heads, wings. They crossed the lines of the worst of the sandstorm and pressed forward until Skies could see faces and blank, emotionless eyes. The pegasus whipped her head around to look for Wicked but he was not there. She saw many faces that were familiar to her from Ponyville, some she remembered from the time before she'd left the company of Wicked Winds. Yet none were so familiar as the one who came to stand directly before her.
“Pinwheel!” Skies rushed forward and took Pinwheel's face in her hooves. Her eyes were still fairly normal; it hadn't been long enough that she'd been under the spell to really look any different and for that Skies was thankful. But there was a blankness in Pinwheel's gaze that frightened her. “Pinwheel, it's me! It's Sugarmint Skies! Can you hear me? Do you remember me?” Pinwheel didn't even blink. “Pinwheel, please. You have to fight this!”
Pinwheel's lips curved into a smile that made her look psychotic and Skies let go of her. All around her the other pegasai broke out into similar grins and yet they all stood unblinking and unmoving. “Sugarmint Skies,” said the white pegasus, mocking laughter in her usually sweet voice. All around Skies her name was repeated, dozens of different ponies peering at her, sightless, and threatening. “Sugarmint Skies, Sugarmint Skies, Sugarmint Skies!” It started quietly in the sweet lilting voice of Pinwheel but as the others began joining in the sweetness turned to malevolence.
“Stop it!” Skies cried, covering her ears with her hooves.
“What's the matter?” asked an expressionless Pinwheel. “You wanted to know if she knew you, this one meaningless pegasus. I wanted to show you that she knows you. They all know you!”
“Wicked.” Skies glared at Pinwheel, knowing the stallion was using her to speak through somehow. “Let her go.”
“I don't think so. She's come in rather handy already. Just seeing that wildness in your eyes, my pet, makes me really believe all of this has been worth it. All the late nights of hunting, all the manipulation, all the mornings filled with painful injections.”
Skies furrowed her brow. “Injections?”
“This is a conversation better had face to face. I have been waiting for this reunion. Are you ready?”
There was no time for her to answer. A hoof struck hard against the back of her head. The last thing Skies saw before she lost consciousness was Pinwheel, Scribes, and Medley grinning sightlessly down at her from where she lay sprawled on the sand.
It was hard to get to know a pony when they didn't really know anything about themselves but their name, but Pinwheel tried her hardest all the same. The hospital wanted to keep Skies for another night just to be safe, and Pinwheel stayed as long as she was allowed. Thunder Clap and Candy Pop stayed for awhile as well but it was Pinwheel who decided to devote her time to trying to dig something out of the mysterious pegasus mare with odd blue eyes. Skies watched Pinwheel as she cheerfully shared stories and facts about her own life and talked about things of Ponyville but she never offered anything more than a polite nod or an occasional muttering of acknowledgment. Every once in awhile Pinwheel would catch her looking at the bell necklace she wore and swore to herself she could practically feel a shift in Skies' demeanor.
"Do you like it?" Pinwheel finally asked at one point, glancing down to look at her necklace. "I found it on the beach just a little while before I found you."
Skies nodded and said nothing.
"Candy Pop, Thunder Clap and I have always found really neat stuff down there after a big storm, but you're the first pony we've found." Pinwheel sat beside the hospital bed and tilted her head curiously. "Can you remember anything before the storm?"
The minty green pegasus shook her head, her eyes halfway closed in either boredom or weariness, it was hard to tell which. Still Pinwheel stayed and talked with her for awhile longer until one of the nurses finally told her visiting hours were over and politely asked her to leave. From the hospital she went straight to the bookstore and up to Candy Pop's apartment. Thunder Clap was there as well and they both looked at Pinwheel expectantly.
"Did you find anything out?" Thunder Clap asked.
"No," said Pinwheel sadly. "She didn't say more than three words to me all day."
Thunder Clap frowned. "I think she's hiding something."
Rolling her eyes, Candy Pop shook her head. "Or she could be, oh I don't know, depressed because she has no idea who she is or where she came from, not to mention she's in a town she's never been to full of ponies she's never seen before in her life."
"Okay. That could be a possibility, too."
Candy looked at Pinwheel. "You tried, Pinwheel. There's nothing else you could have done."
"I'm worried about what happens tomorrow when they let her go." Pinwheel looked at her friends with a wrinkled brow. "She doesn't know where she's from so it's not like she can just fly home. Where will she have to go?"
"She's going to stay with me." Candy Pop nodded to a bed she'd made next to her own bed. It was nothing extravagant, just a simple cot with a pillow and some blankets, but it was close to the fire and looked cozy.
"Yeah, Candy Pop thinks it's a smart idea to have a stranger who hardly talks share her apartment with her."
Candy Pop gave Thunder Clap a look of exasperation. "You're just letting Bon Bon and Moonflower get to you. She's not dangerous, Clap, she's lost. And besides, only pegasai have gone missing. Out of any of us, I think I'm the safest here." She turned to Pinwheel. "I haven't asked Scribes yet if it's okay but I don't think she'll mind."
"Scribes is a pegasus," Thunder Clap pointed out. "What if she goes missing? What if she's already missing?!"
"We saw her this morning when we were leaving, remember, feather brain?"
"Oh...yeah."
Pinwheel smiled sadly. "Maybe you'll be able to get more out of her than I did. You're such a good pony, Candy Pop, for letting her stay with you."
The unicorn shrugged. "If you didn't have a housefull you'd have done the same thing." She looked at Clap. "Little Miss Suspicious and Cynical over here, though."
"I prefer Cautious and Misanthropic."
Candy Pop laughed. "Which are just flowery words for what I said. Do you girls want to spend the night and we can maybe take Skies out to breakfast in the morning?"
"I can't," lamented Pinwheel. "With all the craziness that happened today I completely ignored my chores. I really should get home and do them so I don't have to worry about them tomorrow."
"I have to cover half a shift tonight," added Thunder Clap. "But we can all still have breakfast in the morning."
"Yeah, that would be fun." Pinwheel bit her lip. "Should we invite Moonflower?'
The other two looked at her like she'd just spoken another language. "Why would we want to do that?" asked Thunder Clap.
"Well because she was there when Skies woke up and it would be another sort of familiar face. Plus, Moonflower seemed kind of nice to Skies. Maybe she's not as weird or snobby as everypony thinks."
"I don't know." Candy Pop and Thunder Clap looked at one another, both coming to a silent agreement before Candy gave Pinwheel a tight smile. "Maybe another time. Three strangers is enough at once. If Skies seems to be settling in, maybe then we can talk about inviting Moonflower to join us for something."
"Oh. Okay." Clearly not agreeing with her friends, Pinwheel stood. "What time should we meet in the morning?"
"How about eight?"
"Works for me," said Clap.
"Me, too." Pinwheel took a breath in. "Okay then, see you in the morning!"
The two pegasus ponies headed downstairs together, leaving Candy Pop to spend the night by herself.
In the morning when Pinwheel and Thunder Clap returned they met a rather confused looking Candy Pop outside the bookstore. "What's up?" Clap asked.
"It's weird," said Candy Pop in a distracted tone, "but it's probably nothing?"
Pinwheel tilted her head. "What's probably nothing?"
"Well Scribes isn't in yet. She's usually here before seven unless she's decided to take a holiday or something, but there's no sign."
"Maybe she forgot," Pinwheel suggested, and Candy Pop nodded.
"It's possible. As sweet as she is, she can be a bit flighty. Still, you'd think she'd remember telling me she was closing down if it was for more than a few hours or something."
Thunder Clap lowered herself into a crouch and looked around. "Or maybe she was...ponynapped!"
"Give it a rest already." Candy Pop dismissed the red pegasus with a wave of her hoof. "Nopony is missing or taken, okay? Let's just go get Skies and have a nice breakfast. I'm sure by the time we get back she'll be here. Everypony has an off morning once in awhile."
Conversation fell onto easy topics as they headed for the hospital, each one of them expressing their hopes that Skies would be well enough to be released and even want to hang out with them. Candy Pop told the others that she was thinking about sending a letter to Canterlot in hopes of reaching Princess Celestia, but Clap reminded her that the princess had bigger problems to worry about than some random mare showing up in Ponyville.
"She's right," said Pinwheel. She lifted a hoof to hide a giggle, pointing to the sky. "Like missing pegasai." Scribes raced overhead, her tri-colored mane a mess and a panicked look on her face that said she knew how late she was. "See, Clap? Nothing to worry about."
"I still think it's all just a rumor that's been blown out of proportion." Candy Pop waved to her employer before she disappeared. "If there was really this weird outbreak of missing ponies, why wouldn't it have happened here?"
"You're probably right," Thunder Clap agreed. "Like one or two went missing for some random reason and then somepony heard it was three or four, somepony else heard six or seven, and it just grew from there."
Candy Pop nodded. "Unfortunately that's what happens when gossip gets spread like that."
Pinwheel cleared her throat and nodded subtly toward the front doors of the hospital. "Speak of the devil. Sort of."
Bon Bon was exiting the tall building with her head held high and a certain twinkle in her gaze that said she was well pleased with something. Seeing the three approaching ponies her lips twitched into a wide smile that was as smug as it was unnerving. "Good morning, girls."
"Hey, Bon Bon," said Pinwheel politely. "How are you?"
"Just fine, thank you. And yourself?" Before any of them had a chance to reply she continued. "I've just been in to see Sugarmint Skies. Poor thing, she doesn't know her up from down at the moment. It's lucky she ended up here in Ponyville instead of someplace like Manehattan of Trottingham. She'd just be another face in the crowd there. Here she can be taken care of and make some friends. Like me! I figured since she was a stranger here she would need a place to stay so I made up my guest room for her and she'll be staying with me until she can get back on her hooves."
The three of them just looked at her and Bon Bon, clearly satisfied with their stunned silences, nodded. "Anyway, I am off to get some things from the market. Can't have an empty icebox with company in the house." Without another word they rushed inside to see if this was true.
"Maybe we can change her mind," Pinwheel hoped.
Skies was out of bed when they got to her room, her back to the door and her eyes trained out the window. Upon hearing hooves approaching she turned with an expression that would have been blank if it weren't for the hints of sadness in her odd eyes.
"Good morning," said Pinwheel cheerfully. "How did you sleep?"
"I didn't."
The pale pegasus blinked. "Oh."
Thunder Clap and Candy Pop glanced at each other. "So we saw Bon Bon," Candy hedged. "She said you were staying with her?"
Skies tilted her head. "I am?"
"You didn't tell her you were?"
Shaking her head, Skies frowned slightly. "She told me I was. I never agreed or disagreed."
"Good," said Clap, "because she's the worst. You should stay with Candy Pop. She lives above the bookstore in a big apartment by herself. Bon Bon lives with her friend Lyra who is actually kind of awesome but that earth pony..."
"Is the worst?" parroted Skies. Her lips twitched in what might have been a smile but didn't quite make it. She looked at Candy Pop. "If you really don't mind."
"Not at all." The unicorn smiled warmly. "It would be nice to have another pony around."
Thunder Clap flapped her wings to hover just a few feet off the floor. "I'm going to enjoy breaking the news to Bon Bon. Meet you guys at the cafe!"
Before anyone could say anything else the dark red pegasus was gone. "Cafe?" asked Skies.
"We thought we could all go out for breakfast," enthused Pinwheel. "That is, if you're allowed to leave."
"Breakfast sounds good. What about the other unicorn who was with you?"
Pinwheel had to bite down on a smirk as she looked at Candy Pop. The unicorn gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Moonflower usually works during the day. We thought it would be nice if it was just us three. I hope that's okay."
"Of course." This time Skies managed a small smile. "I'm sorry, I don't think I got your names yesterday."
"I'm Pinwheel and this is Candy Pop. Thunder Clap is the pegasus who just left."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry about yesterday."
"Please don't apologize!" Pinwheel moved to stand before Skies. "Really, there's nothing to worry about."
Candy Pop nodded in agreement. "I can't imagine what it must be like to not remember anything about yourself. We just want to help by giving you a place to stay until you start to remember."
"And new friends," added Pinwheel with a smile. It made Skies smile in return.
"That would be very nice."
"Come on then," prompted Candy. "Let's go get some breakfast."
At the cafe, Clap was more than happy to regale her thrilling jaunt into town to find Bon Bon and not-so-gently breaking the news to her that Skies would be staying with Candy. Apparently Clap had never seen a pony blow smoke from their ears before, and she was laughing about it again as she munched on her hashbrowns.
"She can't really be that bad," said Skies, looking at the three friends.
"She's horrible!" Clap exclaimed. "If things are too quiet around here she makes up stuff to say."
"I haven't heard her do that," countered Pinwheel kindly. "She can be a hooffull but everypony has their moments. I think Bon Bon just talks a lot because she wants to feel important and like she has a lot of friends. Sometimes I feel really bad for her."
"Don't," said Clap. "She brings it on herself."
As the three began telling Skies about Ponyville and other ponies she should meet or avoid, her gaze wandered and her attention drifted from thing to thing. She took in the thatched roof of the cafe, the stallion behind the counter, the mailmare with different angled eyes, the cream colored earth pony with orange curls at a table just down a ways from them. Skies took in the expression the mare wore, one of concern as she spoke in hushed tones with an almost white colored unicorn with pink hair. The others had stopped talking when they noticed Skies wasn't paying attention. Now their gazes followed hers, though they at least had the decency to try and be subtle about it.
"I don't know, Twinkleshine," said the earth pony. "It's been three days. I know Medley was upset but to just disappear like that?"
"Medley's missing?" Thunder Clap didn't have any reservations about dropping into the conversation, especially once she recognized the name of one of her pegasus friends.
Twinkleshine and Golden Harvest looked at the pegasus and Golden Harvest nodded. "A few days ago she was bothered about somepony who said something to her. I don't even know what. When I asked her if she wanted to talk about it she said she just wanted to go home and be alone so she left and that was the last I saw of her. I thought about asking somepony to go check on her-"
Clap cut her off with a shake of her head. "No, now that you mention it I haven't seen her for a few days either. In fact that was why I had half a shift last night, because she didn't show up."
Golden Harvest's brow wrinkled. "I didn't want to say anything because of all the rumors going around. But it's been three days."
"I think we should tell the mayor," said Twinkleshine.
"So do I," Clap agreed.
"I'll go now," said the earth pony. "I can't eat anyway."
As the two left, Thunder Clap looked at her two friends and Skies. "Medley's not a flake. She wouldn't bail for three days just because her feelings were hurt."
Candy Pop pursed her lips. "Clap, you don't really think-"
"I don't know." The pegasus glanced at Skies. "I don't know. I just know I'm not very hungry anymore. Come on, let's get out of here."
