A few days later, newspapers all across Ponyville contained the following in the "Missing" section:

Gilda, Griffonstone's local scone baker, aged 24, has been officially reported as missing. Last seen leaving her hometown,
she has since been unseen by anypony for reasons unknown. The last ones to come in contact with her before she left were her mother and father back home. When questioned as to what their daughter told them, they remarked that she simply told them she would be going on an errand. Upon being asked the specifics, Gilda would try to be as vague as possible. "She was stuttering her words, not even looking us in the eye. She looked like she was embarrassed about something..." her mother recounted. The father was sitting in his living room chair, a dead-looking expression on his face and refusing to speak, and thus could not be reached for comment.

--

"I can't believe this..." Twilight mumbled to herself, reading the newspaper while sitting on the bed in her treehouse. She had encountered Gilda before, of course, but she had always assumed that when she stormed out of Sugarcube Corner, that would be the end of it. But all of a sudden, this news hit, and...she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Sure, Gilda was rude and crude and overall pretty jerkish, but Twilight had the sense that if they ever bumped into each other again, they would at least try to talk things out and make it up to each other. It was admittedly a stretch, but she could always hope.

Now she wasn't sure if that chance would ever come.

Just then, one of the doors leading into the room opened, and Spike, her baby dragon assistant, came in holding a tray of tea and cakes that he had made specially for Twilight.

"Oh, uh, hey, Spike." Twilight muttered distractedly, the news still reeling in her mind.

"Here you go, Twilight! Ginseng and honey tea, just the way you like it!" Spike exclaimed, puffing out his chest in a clear bit of self-aggrandizing. But then he took notice of Twilight's distracted and distant look, and his bold attitude was swiftly replaced by concern and worry for her. She had taken care of him ever since she magically hatched him out of his egg, and over time, he had come to see her as a sort of mother figure. Whenever he needed help and advice, she would be there to give it to him and vice versa.

Now appeared to be one of those times.

"Hey, uh...Twilight? Are you okay?" he asked, stepping towards her, his voice a little softer than usual.

Twilight, seeming to realize for the first time that Spike was really there, turned towards him and put on a not-so-genuine smile. "Yeah, I'm totally fine! Why wouldn't I be?" she responded, trying to sound as free of worry as possible.

But Spike was not one to be deterred so easily.

"Twilight, I know you. I can tell when you're worried about something. You can tell me anything. So what's up?" the dragon said importantly.

Sighing, Twilight relented. At times, she could really underestimate her #1 assistant. "Well...it's this news report. Apparently, Gilda's gone missing."

"Gilda...Gilda...oh! Wasn't she that griffon that kept sabotaging Pinkie Pie?"

"That's her, all right."

"She's...she's missing?" Spike asked, letting the news sink in. The most contact he had with Gilda was her pushing him aside just to have a bite of cake. That alone had put in him a negative first impression of her. But now that she seemed to be gone...he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"I don't know what could have happened to her, but...is it wrong that I want her to be okay?" Twilight wondered.

"I...suppose not..." Spike replied.

"Ah...heh. But hey, you're a baby dragon. You probably don't want to hear about all this stuff. Maybe there can be something fun we can do today to take our minds off- oh!"

Turning the page, Twilight noticed an advertisement, which read as follows:

Sugarcube Corner's New Mystery Cupcake: The First of Many!

In experimenting with new and never-before-tasted flavors, we at Sugarcube Corner have created a variety of super-delicious yummy-wummy cupcakes, each of them with a unique taste never done before by us or any other bakery! What flavors are they, you ask? We can't tell you; it's a secret! Cupcakes to come out as they're ready, available for a limited time.

Spike looking over Twilight's shoulder to read this ad and adopted a huge smile on his face, licking his lips. "New cupcake flavors?" he asked excitedly. "Maybe this is what Pinkie's been busy doing all this time!"

"Yeah...maybe..." Twilight replied, narrowing her eyes a bit at the ad. "Something about this doesn't seem right, though..."

"What do you mean?" Spike questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh...I'm...sure it's nothing. Why don't we head over there now? No time like the present, after all!"

Getting up, the unicorn and dragon headed to Sugarcube Corner, Spike ready for some cupcakes, Twilight still trying to put her hoof on what exactly felt so...wrong about all this.

--

Rarity woke up that morning refreshed and ready after such a long night of beauty sleep, which surprised her, given how concerned she was about Pinkie after the disastrous results of her birthday party. She hadn't seen her at all in the last few days, and this lack of contact was starting to worry her, probably more than it should have.

Rarity couldn't explain it, but there was something about Pinkie's withdrawal that...ate at her, for lack of a better phrase. Pinkie was her friend, there was no doubt about that. But even then, the fact that the party pony hadn't contacted her at all recently felt particularly saddening.

Putting those feelings aside for the time being, she got up, brushed her mane to get it all nice and perfect as usual, then headed back down to the kitchen to get some breakfast. On her way down, though, a smell hit her nostrils; a burnt, smoking smell. Realizing what it was before she reached the kitchen, she sprinted the rest of the way to confirm her suspicions.

Her sister, Sweetie Belle, had tried to make her breakfast in bed again...and was failing miserably at it.

"Awww, Rarity!" Sweetie Belle said, exasperated. "You spoiled the surprise!"

Meanwhile, Rarity was using her magic to levitate the pots and pans away from the stove, trying to get rid of all the smoke filling up the house. She knew her sister always meant well whenever she tried to help, she really did. It's just that Sweetie Belle was so...clumsy.

"Sorry..." the unicorn filly mumbled.

Rarity nearly got angry at Sweetie Belle for burning all the food, her face contorting in such a way to try and contain it. Finally, she managed to put on a smile.

"That's okay, Sweetie Belle. I know you just wanted to make your big sister happy." she said, her voice straining just a bit to stay calm and neutral.

Sweetie Belle smiled in return, oblivious to the effort Rarity put in trying to stay composed. "No problem, Rarity! Always happy to help."

Despite herself, Rarity couldn't help but genuinely smile at her enthusiastic little sister. She had to admit, Sweetie Belle's attitude was kind of infectious. "In that case, would you help me by getting the paper? It must be in the mail box by now."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sweetie Belle replied, giving off a salute in the innocently serious way that only a child could, and sprinted off to get the mail. After a minute of Rarity fixing up the kitchen, Sweetie Belle came back with the newspaper. She was trying to use her magic to lift it up, but due to it being so underdeveloped at this time in her life, the most she could was lift it up a fraction of an inch. So finally, she gave up and resorted to carrying it in her forearm.

Rarity made herself a simple bagel with cream cheese on it, not really wanting to eat anything elegant just yet, and began reading the paper. When she reached the "Missing" section and saw Gilda, however, she felt that she lost a bit of her appetite.

Rarity was no stranger to ponies and other creatures going missing. She had read this section in every paper she got, curious to know what the current cases were. But this is the first time she could remember where one of them turned out to be someone she knew, if only a little. The fact that a case like this had happened to someone of her acquaintance(even if it wasn't exactly positive) only added to her worry, on top of that for Pinkie.

At that moment, being the drama queen she could often be, she started to think about worst-case scenarios.

What if something horrible happened to her? she thought, her mind racing with the possibilities. What if she got into an accident? What if she got hit by a stray bit of magic? What if an Ursa Minor, or worse, a Major got her? What if...? That last thought led to the worst one of all.

What if she was murdered?

Paranoia crept up her spine and settled into her mind, filling her with images of a serial killer prowling around Equestria, possibly heading towards Ponyville right now, and other things that she had never considered before when looking at the missing cases. Warily, she peeked out of the window, making sure that nopony was watching right now...

"I'm heading out now!" Sweetie Belle's voice rang out, causing Rarity to jump out of the midst of her fear.

"Sweetie Belle, don't shout so loudly! You're going to give me a heart attack." Rarity said, holding her chest with her hoof.

The filly's ears drooped and she giggled. "Sorry. I'm just gonna go hang out with Applebloom and Scootaloo. Are...are you all right?" she asked, noticing Rarity's scared expression.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I just...I think I'm gonna stay in for today. I don't...I don't feel well..." the mare responded, aloof to keep the filly from worrying too much.

"Oh, uh...okay. Um...see you later." Sweetie Belle said, leaving Carousel Boutique. She may not have been the brightest filly out there, but she wasn't completely stupid. She could tell something was wrong with Rarity, and she wanted to help. But given her expression, the filly thought this was a time best leaving her to her own devices...

--

After reading the article, Applejack thought it best to head to the barn's cider cellar.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had a drink. Applejack used to have cider any time she felt like it, for better or worse. She had tried going clean sober ever since that one night where she took things too far, and Applebloom...

Whether she was doing this to celebrate or drown out her sorrow, she wasn't exactly sure. She knew Gilda wasn't exactly pleasant, but she was willing to talk things out, at least...or give her a kick in the hindquarters. One of the two. She felt such a flurry of emotions reading about her disappearance that the mare, after a few minutes of long and hard thought, decided to break out the cider once again.

Ever since the incident with Applebloom, Granny Smith had put on a note on the door to the cellar, saying "Only adults allowed in here. Drink in moderation...especially YOU, Applejack." After the regretful night, Applejack resolved to not even touch cider again, but now she felt the need to at least indulge herself a little.

As soon as she felt the cider go down her throat, she felt a sense of happiness she hadn't felt in a long time. It was like picking up on an old hobby for the sake of nostalgia. The fiery liquid burned in her throat, but it was the good kind of burn that feels pleasant nonetheless. Thus, she felt the uncontrollable urge to drink more...

After about half an hour, she came out of the cellar and made her way out of the barn, swaying a little as she walked. Her vision was a little bit blurry, but not enough that she couldn't see where she was going. Her brain had seemingly random images racing through it: a griffon, the article, a bottle of hard cider, her hoof swinging down to-

Applebloom came around the corner just then, smiling without a care in the world. Seeing Applejack, she remembered that she had to tell her big sister if she ever went out anywhere, so she went towards her to do just that.

"Hey, Applejack! I'm just heading out to meet the other Crusaders, so I might...be..." The filly then stopped when she got a closer look at Applejack's face, one that she recognized. Applejack had a flushed expression, her cheeks rosy, her eyes half-lidded, and her hair a little messy. Worse, she looked angry...

"I'll, uh...I'll just go..." Applebloom said, heading off. The last time she saw that look on AJ's face was when she got too much into the cider and...well, she didn't like to think about that night.

--

Fluttershy was cowering in her cottage, with only her animal companions for company.

She didn't like reading the paper, since the news always had the tendency of being very...negative. With her being as shy and easily frightened as she was, it was much too easy for the latest headline to terrify her too much to even want to leave her cottage, whether it be a pony in another town that got arrested or a deathly dangerous animal lurking around. She loved animals, of course, but she also had her limits. So her bunny Angel had to be the one to read about it. With some coercing, he had her read the article, and she relented under the mindset that maybe it won't affect her THAT much.

With Gilda missing, however, it hit a little too close to home.

She wasn't even sure why she was so worried about the griffon. Gilda had flat-out roared in her face just for being in the way. But all the same, she couldn't help but wonder...

More than Rarity even in her most anxious times, Fluttershy tended to think the worst whenever something bad happened, and it was one of the reasons that it was very hard for her to come out of her shell. She felt self-conscious whenever she let pessimism get the better of her. As such, she had the idea that somepony had killed Gilda. No, worse than that, she was sure somepony killed her. Now, the pegasus had only one goal in her mind:

Protect her animals.

Fluttershy barricaded all the exits around her house with furniture that she had gathered. Once everything was covered, she sighed and sat down on the lone couch left in the living room, all the animals looking at her curiously.

"It's okay, everyone. There's nothing wrong at all. I-I just think it's best if we stay inside for the day...yeah, that's it..." she muttered, trying to calm both herself and the animals, not really succeeding in either regard.

Angel hopped up next to her and glared at her with a scowl, folding his arms. It was a look that told her "Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"Trust me, Angel. I know what I'm doing..." Fluttershy consoled, not exactly trusting herself.

Angel merely rolled his eyes and went off to his food bowl, waiting for his owner's freak-out of the day to pass...if it ever did.

--

Rainbow Dash was trying to keep her mind off of Gilda for the moment by keeping it on her job.

Much like her friends, Rainbow didn't like to think about all the terrible news going on nowadays. She could read about all kinds of gossip, of course, but when it came to actually terrible things happening to others, it was something she'd rather avoid hearing about, especially with how many fillies and colts were reported missing. The whole situation was confusing enough as it is for her.

Besides, she had a job to do.

Ever since she had started avoiding Pinkie Pie, she had more of an inclination to do her work than she did before. She had worked as one of the weather pegasi, having to move the clouds and cause rains as scheduled by the higher-ups. The problem was that she could be pretty lazy at times, not having the motivation to do any work, instead wanting to either nap or spend time with her friends, most notably Pinkie.

Nowadays, however, her work ethic seemed to improve. She was more inclined to be on time, do the tasks assigned to her, and help the other pegasi in doing the same. There were even points where she showcased her experience with leadership, actually guiding the rest. Despite everything going on with Pinkie and the recent news, her improved work life left her feeling overall pretty good about herself.

Later that day, her boss, Winter Weld, flew up to her with a rare smirk on his face. He was often very cold and stone-faced, preferring to maintain a hard expression so as to keep the workers in line. So when he came towards one of them with actual emotion on his face, they could tell that it was either good news when he was smiling or bad news when he wore a scowl.

Here, it at least seemed to be good news for Rainbow.

"Well, well, well." Winter Weld said, looking around to make sure nopony was listening, chuckling a little. "It seems I've underestimated you, Rainbow. I don't know what happened, but you've really stepped up your game lately. Not gonna lie, I was considering firing you, but now, you seem to actually be taking your work seriously for once."

Rainbow knew it was a compliment overall, but she wasn't sure how to exactly take it. Peppered in it, much to Winter Weld's style, were a few tiny insults and jabs thrown her way. But since she didn't want to antagonize her boss in any way, she accepted the compliment and replied "Well, thanks. I guess I am pretty great, aren't I?" Her bold and brash side peeked out a bit at that moment, but that only made Winter Weld's smile bigger.

"Indeed you are, Ms. Dash. In fact..." He looked around, making sure again that nopony else was around. "Can I talk to you in private?"

Rainbow was a little bewildered as to what exactly he wanted to talk about, but thought it best not to argue. So, though not without a bit of apprehension, she followed him around behind a particularly big cloud that was meant to be moved to the west that evening.

"See, Ms. Dash," he began, "I've been keeping a close eye on your performance lately, noticing all your improvements. For once, you're actually doing your job 100% of the time. But I think out of all of them, you've showcased a strong sense of management. You seem to know your stuff when it comes to leading the others. So...I have an extra special new position for you to take."

Pausing a bit for a taste of dramatic flair, he continued, "I think you'd be an excellent worker for the Rainbow Factory."

Rainbow was taken aback a bit, to say the least. She had heard about the Rainbow Factory before, of course, but had never gotten the chance to actually go inside. The Factory was only allowed to be seen on the inside by a very select few ponies, because what went on inside was apparently so secret that only the most qualified are allowed permission to peek into its doors, let alone take part in working there.

"You...You're serious?" Rainbow said, disbelief evident in her tone.

"Dead serious." Winter Weld answered, smirking once again. Ignoring her shocked face, he patted her on the back with a hoof. "Congratulations."

"Wow..." Rainbow whispered to herself, thinking about the chance to work in the Factory. "This is so awesome!" she finally shouted out.

"Sssshhh!" Winter Weld shushed, putting a hoof to his lips. "Yes, yes, I know it's a great opportunity, but nopony else must know. What goes on in there must not be known to anypony outside its doors."

Rainbow calmed down a bit and chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. "Sorry. Um...thanks, sir."

Winter Weld took a deep breath and smiled again. "You're welcome, Ms. Dash. Now, go head up to the Rainbow Factory. Your new position is effective immediately."

"Yes, sir!" Rainbow Dash yelled, but then covered her mouth with her hooves, blushing. "Um...yes, sir." she said quietly, and she began making her way to the elusive Rainbow Factory. She couldn't believe it. She was actually being given the chance to work at the Factory! This was an opportunity that very few were granted at all, and she had managed to earn it! As she made her way to the Factory, all bad news she had heard left her mind, and she just knew that nothing else could go wrong, and that no horrible things would hit her again.

How very wrong she was...

Author's Note

Lately, I've been hit with inspiration and a new drive to continue this story. Once again, let me know what I can improve on or what you liked about this story so far. I welcome any and all constructive criticism!