Author's Note

There is a section of this chapter that contains some graphic imagery; I'm sure you will recognize it once you reach it in the story. You have officially been warned; for anyone who might be sensitive to such material, just skip over it and continue with the story. For everyone else, um. . . .enjoy, I guess!

Chapter 4: Your Worst Fears

Shining Armor eventually finds himself in the references section, looking for any sort of history book, all the while worrying about Cadence. I hope Sunburst and Spike take good care of her, he thinks to himself, I don't know what I'd do without her. As he trots on, he notices the light around him darkening until he is completely shrouded in darkness; feeling a sense of urgency, he shoots magic into the darkness, which fails to dissuade it. He continues to fight back until he is eventually completely absorbed into the shadows.

. . . he walks through a set of double doors into a bright hospital hallway, completely devoid of any other signs of liveliness. No patients moaning, no doctors or nurses hurrying about - nothing. He begins to believe he is the only inhabitant until he hears a frantic shouting coming from inside one of the rooms. He trots in the direction of the shouting until he reaches the source; doctors and nurses are crowded around an operating table, bloody tools lying on a smaller table. The sight of the tools is not what makes his heart fall into his stomach; Cadence, his wife, lies motionless on the operating table.

"What's happening?" Shining Armor asks the ponies clustered around the table. They immediately freeze in their spot at being addressed; one of the nurses turns around and tries to lead him out of the room.

"Please, Mr. Armor, you'll have to wait out here-" one of the nurses pushes him back out the door.

"No, I need to know what's going on!" he demands as he tries to resist, but she doesn't budge.

"There have been some complications with the birth," the nurse says nervously, "but the doctors are doing the best they can." Before Shining Armor can say anything else, the door to the room closes, shutting him out. A little while later, one of the doctors exits the room, a somber look on his face.

"Well?" Shining Armor asks him, praying for good news.

The doctor shakes his head, "I'm sorry, Mr. Armor," he begins solemnly, "we tried everything we could, but nothing worked. We - were - unable to save your wife - or the child."

Shining Armor looks dumbfounded for a moment, taken aback by shock. As the realization of the situation sets in, he collapses to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably and calling out to his deceased wife and unborn child in the other room.

* * * *

"Um, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy says, "I don't think we'll find anything helpful about King Sombra here."

"Don't be silly - of course we will!" Pinkie Pie says as she bounces through the foal's section of the library, "Do you have any idea how much my life depends on these books?!"

"I can only imagine," Fluttershy chuckles, then returns to her timid demeanor, "But honestly, how can you be so cheerful, knowing that King Sombra could show up at any moment? Don't you remember what he did last time he was here? Pinkie Pie?" She continues her line of questions but eventually stops receiving feedback, causing her to worry even more.

"P-Pinkie P-P-Piiee," Fluttershy calls out again and again, but her friend has seemingly vanished into thin air. All the while, Fluttershy does not notice the air around her getting darker and heavier; too afraid to move, she allows the shadows to take her as she loses consciousness.

. . .Pinkie Pie bounces through the center of Ponyville, waving a friendly "Hello!" to everypony she sees, but for some reason, nopony returns the gesture. "What's going on with everypony?" she thinks to herself, "Did I miss some super big important town meeting or something?" As soon as she sees her friends, however, her doubts immediately dissipate, "Hi girls!" she greets cheerfully, "Why's everypony in Ponyville so mean and grumpy and, like - the opposite of fun?"

When her friends turn around, however, Pinkie notices something strange; they wear scowls on their faces similar to the townsponies. Twilight speaks up, "Maybe it's because of you."

Pinkie gasps, shocked at such a conviction, "Me?? Why?"

"Oh Pinkie Pie," Rarity sneers, "Poor, pitiful Pinkie Pie. Of course you'd be soooo clueless!" she adds with a cackle.

"I-I don;t understand, guys," Pinkie says, feeling tears welling up in her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rainbow Dash says bluntly, "Nopony likes you anymore. They've gotten over your stupid shenanigans long ago."

"B-B-b-but not you guys, right?" Pinkie asks, her voice quivering, "You're still my friends, right?" At that question, everypony in town - including the five ponies before her - starts laughing maniacally. Pinkie Pie tries to shy away from the teasing, but it just seems to follow her no matter where she goes.

"Gosh, it must feel awful," Applejack chimes in, "being the most hated pony in all of Equestria."

"No, please," Pinkie pleads, but to no avail; as scenes of ponies all across Equestria pass before her eyes, she crawls into a ball, sobbing and exclaiming, "What did I do wrong?!"

. . ."Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy calls out as she trots along a dirt road. She recognizes the path before her and realizes she is trotting towards her cottage at the edge of Ponyville. "Maybe I'll find her there," she says to herself and continues along her way. When she eventually reaches the front door, however, she notices the eerie silence hanging thick over her house like a wool blanket. With a wildlife caregiver being a 24/7 job, she rarely finds her house quiet at all with her animals constantly running around.

"M-Maybe they're just sleeping," Fluttershy says nervously, then looks up and realizes it is the middle fo the day. Fearing the worst, she approaches her door and opens it, discovering it to already be unlocked.

The sight before her can only be described as the most gruesome and cold-hearted act Fluttershy has ever witnessed in her life. She gasps and screams as she looks out across a sea of animal bodies lying motionless on the floor, their eyes yielding no signs of life whatsoever. She picks up a dead squirrel, takes a whiff, and gags as she smells hints of the poisonous Nighthowler flower - the deadliest plant to most species of animals in all of Equestria. She weeps furiously for the loss of her most beloved friends in Equestria, wondering who could possibly possess such a horrible attitude against animals to commit such a crime.

Her query is soon answered as she hears clattering coming from her kitchen, and Rainbow Dash flies through the door, a Nighthowler flower in one hoof, and a dead Angel Bunny in the other. Fluttershy gasps and bursts into fresh tears.

"RAINBOW DASH!" she screams again in agony, "H-H-how c-c-could you d-d-d-do t-this?"

"Because I didn't like how much more attention you were giving your stupid animals than to me!" Rainbow Dash exclaims, throwing Angel's body on the floor in front of Fluttershy.

"But why, Dashie?" Fluttershy asks her foalhood friend through her tears, clutching Angel's frail body, "After all we've been through together? After w-we t-took you in as one of our own. . .?" Rainbow Dash only cackles maniacally as Fluttershy continues to weep over this tremendous betrayal.

* * * *

Rarity trots along through the aisles, grabbing books every now and then which she think will help in their search. She is almost ready to get back to the others when she walks by the fashion section; she pauses, looking on earnestly.

"Nonononono, not today, Rarity," she tells herself, "There are more pressing issues at hand right now." She almost continues on her way, but her last shred of willpower eventually gives in as she races down the aisles, admiring old trends and textiles of the Crystal Empire.

"Ooohh," she ogles, "I think I'll reference this in my next line of coats." She is too busy looking through the books that she does not notice the creeping shadows.

"Hmm? Who turned out the lights?" she asks nopony in particular when she is suddenly surrounded by darkness. The last thing she sees before she blacks out is a page concerning ancient robes and crowns for stallions with the tagline "Fit for a king!"

. . .Rarity finds herself standing on a stage in front of a large audience, consisting of prestigious designers fashionistas, and potential buyers, most of which she recognizes from magazines. She feels extremely nervous as she displays her latest line of clothing, which took her months to develop, to the audience, who seem to give mediocre feedback concerning various aspects of the dresses.

"Just keep it together Rarity, it's almost over," she keeps telling herself until her rival, Suri Polomare, struts out onto the stage with a display that causes the alabaster unicorn make a double-take. Suri's display is essentially a carbon copy of her own line, with only a few minor cosmetic adjustments Rarity can politely describe as "questionable".

"Suri!" Rarity exclaims, "You can't do this! These are my designs!"

"Well, they don't know that," Suri responds snootily, gesturing to the audience, "And it seems like they don't care, either!" she adds as several designers in the front row trample over Rarity's display to reach Suri's. As Rarity is pushed aside by the surging crowd, the scene suddenly changes to the inside of a large factory with assembly lines of labor ponies fixing up the same dresses Suri presented to the audience. Rarity looks down and realizes she wears the same uniform as the other ponies on the assembly lines.

"Hey! You there!" a voice comes from above; Rarity looks up and sees an angry-looking Sassy Saddles yelling into a megaphone, "Did I call break time yet? Didn't think so, now get back in line!" she screams at Rarity, who immediately moves back to her position along the assembly line.

"Well done, partner," Suri Polomare, who appears alongside Sassy, congratulates, "Way to whip this lot into shape," she adds as they exchange a hoofshake together. Rarity turns back to the frock she is supposed to be working on and buries her face in it, hiding her tears from her coworkers, who pay no attention to her and her sorrows.

* * * *

Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash scout the various aisles at random, unsure of where to find any information about King Sombra - and how to kill him. "These darn shelves are too big," Applejack says, "How can anypony find anything in this place?"

"Beats me," Rainbow Dash says, aimlessly following her friend, "What we should do is go after Sombra and kick his sorry butt once and for all!" she adds enthusiastically, waving and kicking the air.

"Don't be ridiculous," Applejack ridicules, "Surely ya know better than to simply go after somepony that powerful, right?" she asks, but receives no reply. "RD?" she asks again, whipping her head around, but seeing nothing but shadowy darkness before her, "Hey, where'd ya go? If this is another one of your pranks, it ain't funny!" she calls out again, but the shadows continue towards her until she is engulfed in darkness.

. . ."RD?" Applejack asks again, but Rainbow Dash does not hear her as she floats through an ethereal fog towards a closed door labeled "Spitfire; Wonderbolts Commander." She looks down and she is wearing a Wonderbolt's Reserve uniform; in that moment, Rainbow realizes, all of her dreams and aspirations could come true. She marches through the door and sees Spitfire herself sitting at her desk, leafing through some paperwork.

"Ah, Rainbow Dash," Spitfire says, looking up from her papers, "There you are. I have something to tell you."

"Sure thing, ma'am!" Rainbow responds, feeling a little anxious, but mostly excited.

"Listen, I know you're a great flyer," Spitfire continues, looking back at her papers, "One of the best I've seen in my time as commander. I would've certainly recommended you for the academy sooner if I'd known any better."

Rainbow cocks her head, doubt creeping into her mind, "Ma'am?" she asks nervously.

"But, the truth is. . ." Spitfire pauses, looking up again, "I'm pulling you from the Wonderbolts - permanently."

Rainbow's face contorts in shock, "What? Why?!"

"I just don't think you have the right dynamic to be part of a team," Spitfire answers, "I'm sorry, cadet, but from here on out, you're no longer an official member of the Wonderbolt Academy."

"But ma'am. ." Rainbow Dash starts to say, but the scene suddenly shifts from Wonderbolt headquarters to the Wonderbolt Academy graduation ceremony. Once her head stops spinning, she faces her former peers laughing at her sitting in the stands; as she turns away from them, she suddenly spies her parents "cheering" her on with disappointed expressions.

"Yay Rainbow Dash!" her mother shouts, "You've finally failed us as parents! Congratulations!"

"You're truly the worst daughter we've ever had!" her father adds with scorn.

"B-But. . ." Rainbow Dash begins, but her friends suddenly appear behind her, bearing similar looks of disappointment as her parents.

"Oh Rainbow," Twilight says, "What are you gonna do now? Because we can't be friends with somepony who can't do the one thing she was practically born to do."

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie adds, "We can't be friends with a loser like you." As her friends, family, and the rest of the audience continue to throw insult after insult, Rainbow Dash curls into a ball with tears in her eyes, begging for the nightmare to end.

. . . The last thing Applejack remembers before blacking out is calling out to her friend, only to have herself be cloaked in shadows. She closes her eyes and sees a jumbled mixture of images and scenes from her life, specifically all the horrible memories of her childhood. Her first day of school, when the fillies made fun of how shabby her outfit was; the nightmares she would have whenever she fell asleep - everything, all leading up to the death of her parents.

When she opens her eyes again, she finds herself walking through a dark hallway towards a green wooden door. "This looks familiar," she thinks to herself; suddenly, the realization hits her: she is at Sweet Apple Acres, walking towards Applebloom's bedroom door. As she creeps closer, she can hear sobbing coming from the other side of the door; afraid of what she might find, Applejack slowly opens the door to her sister's room. Once inside, she sees Applebloom sitting in the middle of her room, crying her eyes out, a framed picture of their parents lying next to her.

"Applebloom, what's wrong?" Applejack asks. Her sister turns around, her eyes red and tears staining her cheeks.

"AJ!" she exclaims, "I-I. . .i-it's nuthin'," she says quickly, wiping her eyes.

"Come on, now," Applejack says sternly, "What's got yer mane in a twist?"

"Well, i-it happ'ned again," Applebloom admits.

Applejack gasps, "With those two fillies? Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?"

"Yeah," Applebloom confirms, "Only this time it was over mah parents," she adds, to which Applejack's eyes widen. "AJ?" she continues, "Where are our parents?"

Applejack gulps nervously, "We already told you about that."

"I know ya did," her sister says, "But what really happened?"

Applejack knows she has to tell her the truth; being family, Applebloom deserves to know. So she tells the entire story about how her parents died, how Applejack had inadvertently caused their own parents' deaths. When she finishes, Applebloom grows silent for a minute; then, she explodes.

"How could ya keep somethin' like that from me of all ponies?!" she screams in frustration, fresh tears pouring from her eyes, "I can't believe mah own sister - the Element of freaking honesty - would lie to ME!" and she gallops out of the room, sobbing. Applejack eventually breaks down and sobs even harder for her sister, clutching the picture of their parents with all her heart, which feels torn in two.

* * * *