Part 1

Fluttershy slowly sat up. She groggily opened her eyes.

"Wha…?"

The mare heard a soft groan from below her, and was suddenly conscious of the presence that was pressed up against her while she was a sleep.

Melodia sat up, shaking and slow.

"What…. Happened…?" She muttered.

Melodia let out a loud squeal, when she looked over and saw Fluttershy next to her. She fell on the floor, but sat up immediately. They both looked at each other and blushed.

Did I just… with Melodia….

I think I have an idea of what happened last night…

(The day before…)

At about 2 in the afternoon, Fluttershy's friends had met up at Sugar Cube Corner to get some cupcakes and head over to Fluttershy's cottage. They were excited to see their friend again, for the last time they saw her was before her trip.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Pinkie Pie screeched.

"We all are Pinkie." Twilight Sparkle said with a smile.

"I know, butI'msonervouscitedbecausemyPinkieSenseistellingmethatsomeonenewisintownandIhopewerunintothembecauseifwedoIgettothrowthemapartyandpartiesaresofantastic!!" Pinkie screamed with glee.

"Okay?" Twilight said, not understanding a word of what the pink pony said, but afraid to ask what she meant in case she goes into another story, like how Equestria was made, or something totally Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash, understanding most of what Pinkie said explained what she meant to the confused purple mare.

"She said something about being 'nervicited' because her pinkie sense is telling her that somepony new is coming to town." Rainbow Dash stated, impatient and bored.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Not to be rude, but shouldn't we head to Fluttershy's house?" Rarity intervened.

"Yeah, let's go ya'll." Applejack said, standing up and placing her leftovers - a glazed donut wrapped in a napkin, and a bottle of non-alcoholic cider - in her green saddlebags.

The five ponies -Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash - went out the front door. Pinkie was screaming with excitement, while AJ and Rainbow chatted about previous Cider Season which ended two weeks ago, and Rarity and Twilight were exchanging unicorn spells.

"Fluttershy!" The ponies chorused, hugging her when they saw the mare.

Fluttershy was surprised when she saw them but quickly recuperated.

"Hi girls!" She chirped.

"Fluttershy?" Came a voice from upstairs.

"Who's that?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Hold on a second." Fluttershy said. She turned to look up the stairs. "Yes?"

"Who's downstairs with you?"

"My friends, why don't you come down to meet them?" Called Fluttershy.

"M-meet t-th-them?" Came the stammering voice from upstairs.

"Yes, come down here! You'll like them."

"O-okay."

Hooves were heard on the stairs as Melodia came out. The five ponies outside the door's eyes widened at the new pony.

Melodia felt a wave of nervousness, panic, worry, and fear, when she saw that there was not one pony, but five of them. The way their eyes widened scared her. Was there something wrong with her? Were they going to reject her, then tease her for trying?

Quickly checking over herself, she found that nothing had changed. Her hair was neatly kept in a braid, the forelock brushed to the right side of her face only slightly hanging in her eyes, her tail was tamed, and there was no stains on her coat, why were they staring at her like that?

"This is Melodia, everypony." Fluttershy said, noticing her new roommate's discomfort.

The mare stood at the bottom of the stairs, shaking and quiet, and the five ponies outside came into the room.

"So, um, where ya from?" Rainbow questioned.

"E-e-eques-t-tri-a's b-b-borders." Melodia stammered nervously.

"Equestria's borders?!" Twilight gasped. "As in, 'The Barren Wastelands'?!"

"Y-yes?" Melodia said, still nervous, but confused by the purple mare's reaction.

"Oh my gosh! Nopony has ever survived out there alone before! This calls for an experiment!!" Twilight said gleefully.

"Calm down there sugarcube, you're scarin' the poor thing." Applejack said, with a slight chuckle.

"U-um, e-excuse me-e?" Melodia managed to stammer out.

"Yes darling?" Rarity said.

"U-m n-not t-to be r-rude," Melodia said, shrinking back farther at every word. "B-but I don't e-even, u-um, know y-your n-names."

Part 2

'Are you, Are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where they strung up a man,
They say murdered three…'

The haunting, yet beautiful melody, bounced off the walls. It echoed in the moonlit halls, creating an illusion, making it seem as if there were multiple voices. Was it an illusion, though? Or was more than one person, creating the peaceful, and eerie music.

'Strange things did happen here,
No stranger would it seem.
If we met up at midnight,
In the hanging tree.'

The hairs on her neck stood up, and shivers were sent down her spine as they kept singing. She wished for it to stop, but it went on.

'Are you, Are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where the dead man ,
Called out for his love to flee.'

The young women covered her ears, but her rough fingers did nothing to quiet the sound. She could feel herself slipping into the dream world, as the singer tried to hypnotize her with their song.

'Strange things did happen,
No stranger would it seem.
If we met up at midnight…'

She doubled over, and her hands going over her ears. It was too late, though, the spell was cast, and the hall seemed to get darker as she slipped under. The world went black.

'…In the hanging tree.'

The last note was short, and silence fell after, the only noise being the heavy thump of a fallen knight.

Three girls turned the corner. Their malicious laughter filling the moonlight hallways, and the matching amulets around their necks glowing a deep red.[/I

Melodia came out of her trance, but the laughter from her vision kept going. It took a couple minutes to realize that the laughter was not the echoing laughter, full of vindictiveness. It was bubbly laughter, between friends.

Friends, Fluttershy, her friends…

The mare looked around the room to see six mares sitting on the couch, or on the floor.

The room had wooden walls, the couch was green with one lighter colored pillow and one darker. Animals were running around, a blue rug was on the floor, and various animal beds and bird houses spread about the house.

"Are you okay, Melodia?" a voice beside her asked.

She felt Fluttershy's soft hoof come from behind, and rest on her shoulder.

"Huh? Oh yeah." Melodia blushed.

Fluttershy was about to say something else, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie. "Oh! Oh! I have an idea, let's go to the pub!" The pink mare screeched.

Though they usually wouldn't drink, today was an exception, because not often would someone new come into their life so unexpectedly like this, and they were determined to make this mare's first day there fun.

Though most bars are rough, dirty, and basically not a good place to be, Ponyville's was kept under management, due to the town having a small population, and most ponies coming here in search for a quiet, peaceful life.

Every so often, quite a few ponies would come in to enjoy a drink or two with their friends, no sex, no bar fights, just the talk of ponies who came with their friends, or casually struck up a conversation with the bartender.

Melodia was interested in this place, seeing as ponies only ordered drinks, and no food, but one of the things she noticed, was that there were only adults, and no kids.

That's strange, I saw way more fillies and colts, than mares and stallions on the way here. Where are they all?

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a glass bottle hitting the counter in front of her.

She looked at the bottle carefully, it was tall, with drastically a bigger base than the top. The bottle was covered in droplets of condensation, and the liquid in the bottle smelled bitter and strange.

"Have you drank alcohol before?" questioned Fluttershy, who swiveled around on the bar stool to see Melodia contemplating the drink before her.

"Huh? What's that?" said Melodia.

"Um, huh" mumbled Fluttershy, befuddled at how to explain alcohol is to the mare.

Lucky for Fluttershy, Twilight heard their conversation, and turned to explain it to Melodia.

"Alcohol is, a colorless volatile flammable liquid that is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel."

"So, kind of like fuel for planes and things, but is used for drinks?" asked Melodia.

"Yes." answered Fluttershy . "Thanks Twilight."

"You're welcome." with that, the unicorn turned back to the conversation between the two ponies on the other side of her.

"So, are you ready to try it now?" asked Fluttershy.

"Sure." said Melodia unsurely.

"Melodia Wines!" came a whisper from the other side of Fluttershy, "She has the name of a type alcohol in her name yet she doesn't know what it is!" Another pony snorted.

Two mares stumbled out of the building, and into the night. They were quite tipsy, but not black-out drunk.

While inside the bar, their friends had left an hour before them, but the two were too caught up in their own conversations to notice.

The sun had already set not long after they arrived, and they had talked with their friends before that.

Finally, they got into their home. Fluttershy, the one who had opened the door, and went in first, collapsed on the couch, belly up. Melodia walked in after her, and without thinking, collapsed onto Fluttershy, laying in a position which would have ponies question how 'close' they really are.

Fluttershy and Melodia laughed it off.

We weren't sober enough to think. It's fine. thought Melodia, though a bit nervous. What happened the night before won't be forgotten, and will come back to haunt her.

It was about ten in the morning, so Melodia made breakfast, while Fluttershy tended to her animals. Since the two housemates were both vegan, they just ate salad.

Fluttershy came in not long after Melodia finished setting the table. "Salad again?" She said with a smirk.

"Well, yeah. The only other breakfast foods aren't vegan." Melodia said, looking up.

"Vegan my a-"

"Fluttershy!!" screeched Melodia, screaming with laughter. How unexpected it is to come across the rare times when her friend would swear freely without her being a changeling or cursed.

The buttercream pegasus just laughed, and when they calmed down they ate breakfast. Over breakfast, they talked, and talked, until they finished their food.

"I should go, my 'spa date' with Rarity is soon." Fluttershy whispered, getting up and wiping her mouth.

'Are you, are you,
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we would both be free.'

The haunting, and beautiful melody, seemed so familiar, but I've never heard it. Such a stupid song. Disgusting that people would pass this down in families,

'Strange things did happen,
No stranger would it seem.
If we met at midnight,
In the hanging tree.'

They sung together, drawing out notes so they overlapped others. It went on, and on, until they overlapped so much it was all fuzzy, and the world seemed to spin rapidly.

'Are you... you,
...... to the tree?
...... necklace of....
.... by side with.....'

Those were all the words I could pick out past that, the rest of the lines were fuzzy sounding and unintelligible.

Then, like a church bell in the morning, one line rang out. Crisp, and clear.

'In the hanging tree.'

All hell broke loose.

Melodia awoke, panting, and sweating. Eyes wide in fear. She was sitting on the couch, a book open, and pages on her chest, and her hooves loosely grasped around it.

The mare tried to calm herself, but after an hour, she decided it wouldn't work. So, she wrote.

A quill captured in her magic (since nopony was home but her), and a paper spread out in front of her, she wrote.

From consonants, to dissonants that oddly sound good together, she wrote it all. Fermatas, to staccatos, she memorized it all. Played it over, and over again 'till it was permanently etched in her mind.

That night, she was up until hours into the next day, just barely missing the chance to get sleep before the sun rose. Peaceful, was the only was to describe her sleep.

For once, after so long. Melodia had found the courage to take on whatever life threw at her the next day.

Fluttershy never came home.

Melodia had woke up late, but she would've left a note. Where the hell was she?

Dammit Fluttershy...

Without breakfast, she fed the animals, and went into town.

Arriving at the Carousel Boutique, Melodia knocked on the frilly, decorated door, counting her knocks.

The door was replaced with a white mare, with an indigo mane, and sapphire eyes. Tears were streaming down her face, carving valleys into her dry fur like rivers. Her mane, usually tamed, was wild like a lion had attacked it.

"M-Melodia?" She said.

"Oh my god! What happened?!" Melodia questioned, panicked.

"It's F-Flut-ters-shy-y!!" Rarity wailed.

"Rarity, tell me. What the fuck happened here?!" Melodia yelled.

"She's in the hospital! She-" Rarity started, but Melodia ran away before she could finish.

Gasping for air, sweating, and doubling over from exhaustion, she got to the front desk in the hospital.

"Here... to see... Fluttershy..." Melodia gasped.

"Room 112" The nurse mouthed.

With that, Melodia dashed to the room. Silence fell apron her, as she stared in shock at the pony inside.

She had hoped, and prayed that Rarity was just being over-dramatic, she wished this wasn't real.

Alas, this was anything but a dream.

Author's Note

Part 1-
Little random. Not gonna lie. Courtesy of my friend TheNobodyFace, because I was texting her while I was writing the part about meeting the mane six. If you don't like it going everywhere BLAME HER!!!!
D'aww but you know you love me...
Leave TheNobodyFace, you are not welcome in my notes. -.-
:-3
Anyways thanks for reading my stories and keeping up so far! Hope you enjoy them!
BYE =D
LEAVE!

-Byeee

Part 2-
Yes! The 'vision' was based on a Hunger Games, and if you start a war against me on it, I will go all Katniss Everdeen/Cato super-breed on you. Also, here's the version I based it off of (the one with multiple voices): youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKrCE1aYz7o See? Look how nice I am, finding the video for you.
Any opinions/reviews? Words of wisdom? I could really use some feedback on my stories.

[10/13/16] I put the last chapter along with this one, messed with it a bit, and I hope it might be better. The word 'befuddled' will be one you see a lot, I love that word... and I love love in a way... it's a strange-paradox-thing