Chapter 3: Tone shift

The room where all the beds were was known for one thing: its simplicity. Not a single decoration, no tapestry. Just a simple wooden floor with wooden walls and beds with simple white covers. But the beds were really comfy and that was all they were caring for. Even Rarity, who would normally have made a dramatic rant about this affront, was simply too tired to notice it and jumped on the mattress and after only three seconds, you could already hear her snoring. Pinkie Pie, her, was instead having a bouncing session on her bed like a little filly. But she missed a jump and landed straight on her neighbor, Rainbow Dash. It has flattened her with her tongue sticking out. And while she was lashing out to her, Twilight was looking frantically at her pile of books to see if they were alright.

‘’Fiouf. They had taken good care of my babies. And also my lists of theories on this new magithecnology. And my lists of unexpected problematic scenarios that may come and how to deal with them. And my lists of things to do in our free time. And//

And everypony in the room shouted loudly: ‘’Oh come on’’.

‘’Hey don’t complain girls, there has to be somepony who must do this job. Even though I admit it might be a little excessive. And even though I admit it is principally to reassure myself because I love a little order. (I might be having a problem.)’’

It was then that they all heard a voice coming from downstairs.

‘’Hello girls. I am just here to see if you are well settled.’’

‘’It’s mayor Paternal!’’

Fluttershy seem to be uncomfortable and was softly rubbing her leg.

‘’I know he only wants us to have a good day but I find him a little insistent. It is like his main motive is to pass the most time with us.’’

As an answer, Twilight gave her a slightly annoyed face.

‘’Yes, I am afraid that you are right. Don’t worry, I will deal with him. I have a little experience with this kind of fans.’’

She then climbed down the stairs to meet him. He had on him a warm and welcoming smile that was making it harder to be angry at him. And was also frustrating for Twilight because precisely she wanted to be angry at him. Even though a little.

‘’Ah Miss Twilight. Does the room is at your taste?’’

‘’Why yes it is simply perfect. I must say, your hospitality is simply top notch. In all the places I have been I had never seen ponies so kind and welcoming. (Too much maybe but there is no way I have the guts to say that.) We really have so much gratitude for your kindness.’’

‘’YOU, YOU, *inhale**exhale*, HAVE SO MUCH GRATITUDE FROM*inhale*exhale**inhale**exhale*’’

The mayor was so overjoyed to hear that it looked like he was having an asphyxia crisis. Actually, that might well be what was happening to him.

‘’WO WO WO WO! Slow down, take a deep breath! It won’t be such a great day if you die asphyxiated!’’

‘’Right. Right. I am very sorry for this outburst. It is just… … *sigh* when you think about it, you must surely see us all as strange weirdos.’’

‘’I may have this little impression. (No, a big one.)’’

‘’But it is just that we love happiness so much that we want it more and more. That why we go jump on every symbol of it.’’

‘’Like us or your little angel.’’

‘’Yes. To simply know that you exist is enough to bring inspiration to us to go even more forward. What is so wrong with that?’’

‘’I... guess not much.’’

‘’We are sorry if we might have been a little overwhelmed. I am not that blind for not having seen that. We just veneer you that much.’’

‘’Oh fine, I guess I can’t be mad at that. … You know, now that you are here there is something that I would like to ask you.’’

‘’I am listening.’’

‘’I had met a particular pony named Melancholia. He had said that his work was not well appreciated and that he was not that well accepted. But I find it hard to believe that it is possible in this town full of so nice ponies.’’

Right at the mention of this name, the warm smile of the mayor changed for one of embarrassment.

‘’Oooooh. I see. So you did meet Mel. I suppose it was inevitable after his own sister proposed it. Even though I would have liked it if you had avoided this… creepy weirdo. What did it say? He was not impolite or did he have scared you?’’

‘’I did find him a bit unsettling but beside that he was pretty okay guy.’’

‘’Well, I suppose he is, I must do justice to that. It is true he is a nice guy who has never caused any problems to us. But he had always been a very strange boy, even when his parents were still around. I guess you could say he is the black sheep of Happy Town.’’

‘’He did mention that.’’

‘’You must have seen what constitutes his work craft. Writing tragedies. Painting scary canvas. Doing sad music. You must understand that those things do not really have a place here. No matter how much we say it, he still stubbornly continues to do that again and again. Since as far we can remember, Mel was ever only capable of seeing the saddest things in life. Even at a tender age, each time there was something beautiful, he had the uncanny gift to always find an argument that says it is actually ugly. It is sad isn’t.’’

‘’I kinda see what you mean but… but is it really a reason to isolate him?’’

‘’Oh Miss Sparkle, it is not like we did not try to help him, I assure you. We try so many times to show him that there is a better way to live and that it is always possible to find happiness if you search for it. But… he is so stubborn and has always stuck to his way of life. In the end, it came that nearly everypony avoids him since like you say, he can be so unsettling. Not that he was the social kind in the first place.’’

‘’But what about all those, *cough**cough*, fanfictions about us. (Which is a questionable thing but I won’t mention it.)’’

• So he had shown you them. Yes, it is a pretty popular activity in this town. But we needed a place to stock them all. And we did want to give Mel something to do for the community. You know, for showing him that even if he is strange, we do not forget that he is one of us. And since literature is one of his passions, it seems a match made in heaven. It was his sister, Flo herself that had given the idea. Aaah Flo. She really is special. Even if they are so opposite, she still loves his brother very, very much. How can we be mad at him when he has such a great sister?’’

‘’Oh really. Interesting.’’

A third pony had talked. The door behind the mayor opened itself at a slow pace revealing that Flo was the one who had given it a push. Mayor Paternal, realizing what he had just said, was now feeling embarrassed and had difficulty looking at her straight. As for the little filly, she was still smiling. But her eyes were not smiling at all.

‘’You know... it almost sounds like the only reason you tolerate my big brother is because me, your dear angel, always say that she loves him.’’

‘’No Flo please, don’t twist my words, you know this was not what I mean.’’

‘’Hum, I wonder.’’

Twilight, seeing that the situation was going very personal, felt the need to go away discreetly. Not that she could.

‘’Believe me, we do consider Mel like one of us. But even you must admit that he is a little funny in the head.’’

‘’Okay I agree. So what? Just because he is weird does that mean he is a bad pony?’’

‘’But we do not think he is a bad pony. However he had never adapted to our way of life.’’

‘’Or maybe you had never give him a chance.’’

Mayor Paternal came closer to Flo and put his hoof gently on her shoulder in a very compassionate way.

‘’You really are a good sister. But sometimes I am scared that because of your love you see him with pink glasses. Your brother has many things to work out. Look, tomorrow we will have a party to celebrate the arrival of the Bearer of Harmony. And if your brother comes, we will all welcome him with open hooves. If he decides to come. Let us finish this conversation. I don’t want to upset you and I don’t want you to see me in a bad way. Goodnight Flo. And goodnight to you Miss Sparkle.’’

‘’Goodnight mayor.’’

‘’Goodnight.’’

The mayor went to the door and closed it behind him. Once he was gone, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

‘’Fiouf, that was awkward.’’

‘’Sorry Twilight about that, but when it comes to my brother, it often strikes a nerve. It feels just so frustrating that they cannot see him like how I see him. But what do you think, Miss Princess of Friendship? Do you think my brother is a lost cause? Do you think just because someone has difficulty to fit in that we should not give it a chance?’’

She was a little stunned that she went to ask such an important question. Guess it really struck a nerve in her, Twilight was realizing. At first she did not know what answer but then… she went to think of many faces of ponies who had difficulty fitting in. Her friend Starlight who felt abandoned and went to a self-destructive path when she was left on her own. Then there was… herself. The one for whom the concept of friendship was for a time a difficult concept to grasp. If Celestia didn’t have given her a chance, she may have been stuck in an eternal isolation for the rest of her life, even if she still had her family. She then smiled, knowing exactly what to answer.

‘’That's easy to answer. Of course we must always give a helping hoof to those who struggle to fit in. And sometimes, it turns out that the only thing they really need is just a little support. If you are one of my fans, then you should know that I am the living proof. I know... that having a head that thinks differently compared to the majority can be... a burden. Something that can really isolate you from everyone. In the end, the reason I could not make any friends was because friendship itself was a concept hard for me to understand. Family, that I could understand but not friendship. And might have stayed like that if I had not received just a little helpful push. I know, pretty weird to hear the princess of friendship saying that she had difficulty to comprehend what she represents.’’

‘’No... no I find that what you say make a lot of sense.’’

‘’So understand that I will never look bad on ponies like your brother. Especially not when I find that we are similar.’’

‘’Glad you see things my way. Even though I know the rest of the town would never truly understand him. He seems alright by himself but there are times when... I feel like he had only me in the world. That I am his only ally.’’

Flo then walked to the open window and stood up to see the sun that was slowly going down, bathing the sky in the twilight of dusk and shining a golden light on her fiery hair.

‘’Yet still, I will not give up hope. Hope that one day, Mel will surprise them all.’’

The night sky was being watched by Mel from his window. His eyes were fixing the shining stars like if he was searching for something in them. But he closed the curtain, putting the room back in the dark. He turned around and walked at a leisure pace to his desk. He then grabbed the pencil pot and spilled all its content on the wooden surface. Among them, there was a simple skeleton key. Mel took it with his mouth and used it to open a drawer. And from this drawer he pulled out a white object of rectangular size. It was made of a familiar material.

Once he tossed out all the pencils and put the rectangle right in the center of the desk, he pressed his hoof on a big button. Circuitry of blue light appeared on the ivory surface and the big button lighted on and projected a big and flat holographic map of Equestria. This hologram was bathing the room with its cyan light, though the contrast was making, in a way, more dark. And also… it was giving the soft smile of Mel a sinister touch. On the map, there were several blinking dots and they were spread across all the country.

‘’Good. Until now, everything went according to plan. Soon. Very soon all Equestria will receive his wake up call. Now then. Dirt. Dust. Have you done every of my instructions?’’

From the shadow step out the two diamond dogs brothers. Dirt tried to look professional but Dust looked uneasy and his eyes were cast downon the floor. Dirt took a step further and went directly right behind Mel.

‘’Yes boss, we did exactly as you have told us. We have sent by mail all those giant white cubes, that you call monitor, to all the towns on your list. It was so easy, they did not even question what was in those crates. Oh, we have also made sure to send each of them at the moments you insisted. Calculating the distance, they all should have already arrived today.’’

‘’Yes. I already know that. This map shows me that indeed all the monitors are safe and sound to the places they should be and that they all work just fine. Good job. And what about our little… devices.’’

‘’All have been installed personally by our paws.’’

‘’Discretely?’’

‘’Don’t worry. We have been very careful. No one has even the slightest idea that they are there.’’

‘’We will see that.’’

Mel waved his hoof in front of the holographic map and the dots changed to be replaced by other ones. These ones were at different locations than the precedents, but the majority were concentrated at one specific place.

‘’Great. They are all there and ready to be activated whenever I want. I am really impressed with you two. But now we have arrived at the trickiest part. The one that could easily ruin everything. We will have to be careful and prepare.’’

‘’Ooh don’t worry about that, to be prepared, we are. Hey Dust, bring the crate of goodies we have stolen.’’

‘’… Yes big brother.’’

Dust disappeared to the door and quickly came back, pushing on the floor a crate. The very same they had brought here this afternoon. Dirt then took a crowbar and forced it open. Revealing... many things.

‘’When the wonderbolt academy was struck down by lightning, they were in need of such a big number of extra workers. We took this chance and applied. It was such a mess that they did not notice that a few of their equipment were gone missing. This added arsenal should make our job a cinch.’’

Although not a single time did Mel turn around, they could easily tell from his posture that he was very pleased.

‘’You have surpassed all my expectations. I have really chosen the right guys for this. The ponies definitely did not treat your talents at their just value. But you must, but must not, underestimate them. The Mane 6 are a bunch of tricky ponies. This part will be the biggest gamble in my plan. You have studied the reports I made on them carefully.’’

‘’Yes. Each of them. What they can do, their personalities. We know with what we will soon deal.’’

‘’Then I guess we can only hope that everything will work out. Excellent work Dirt. Now, as for you Dust.’’

Dust had not spoken and had stayed by himself for all the duration of the conversation. Mel did not need to look at him to see that he was not feeling well. Finally, Mel turned around and looked at Dust with a soft and empty smile.

‘’What is wrong, Dust? You have been awfully quiet all the time. Is there something on your mind? It’s alright, don’t be shy, speak.’’

‘’Is just… … boss are we really going to do this?’’

‘’Is it not what you and your brother have prepared for?’’

‘’I know but… … we have done everything you ask us without question. We sent those monitors thingies, we planted those… gadgets, even though we have no idea what they were. But this… boss, this is kidnapping! What we are going to do is simply criminal.’’

‘’Yes. It is a crime. So?’’

‘’BOSS! Please, are we really have no choice but to do that?’’

Dirt, even though it was smaller than Dust, angrily grabbed his little brother by the collar.

‘’Dust, you stupid brother of mine! Are you getting cold feet now? We are so close to having at last a tranquil life. I won’t let you ruin it.’’

Mel went closer and put his hoof on the shoulder of Dirt to calm him down.

‘’It’s alright, let me do the talking please. Dust. Do you remember the reason you doing that?’’

‘’Yes but//

‘’You are doing the jobs I ask you to do and I will fulfill my promise. Tonight is the very last job I will ask you to do. And in exchange, I will give you all my fortune. I have already prepared several documents to transfer the money from my bank account to your. You did open your own bank account like I had suggested, didn’t you?’’

‘’… yes.’’

‘’Then all you need is just one signature. Signature that you can only get from me, willingly. It is a generous sum. With that you will be set on for many years. Years that you could use to leisurely find a way to get steady income for the rest of your life. Is it not your ultimate goal? Unless you prefer to return to your harsh life?’’

‘’No, I don’t want that!’’

‘’You two brothers have been banished by your pack. And although the ponies are known to be nice they are actually rather afraid of those who are not ponies. You had a hard time finding jobs and you are barely meeting needs. That is why you need my generous offer. Remember, this is bigger than you alone. You two are in this together. You are holding each other shoulder, and brothers always support brothers.’’

At these words, the brothers looked at each other's face and gulped down. And Mel was still continued to speak with his detached tone.

‘’So… are you in... or out?’’

‘’… … (*sigh* For my big brother). I am in.’’

‘’I never had any doubt. Then let's not lose time and go right now. After all, my game will begin in only three hours. Oh, and let's not forget those… precious tools given as a present from the ancient civilization.’’

Mel went back to the drawer where the device once was. He took out from it with his mouth two white stick things that he tossed out to the brothers who each caught them with dexterity. Those sticks were made of stone and they each have handles to grab. The brother pressed on a specific part of the handle and electrical arcs were projected noisily on the surface of the sticks.

‘’Only one physical contact with these sticks and anypony would be instantly knocked out. Added that with your arsenal, it should be a cinch as you say.’’

‘’And like you promised, we won’t have to deal with the princess or her student.’’

‘’Don’t worry about those two powerhouses. I will be the one to deal personally with Twilight and Starlight. That will only leave you the five others. But like I say, do not underestimate them.’’

‘’What you will do with these two?’’

‘’It’s simple. I will tell them//

‘’You want to guide us personally to the ruins this very night! It’s… out of the blue.’’

Twilight was talking in the hallway of the second floor of the boarding house to Mel who had come to her to make a proposition that she did not expect.

‘’Yes, I am sorry to have come here unexpectedly. But you see, I had already the intention to go there and so I told myself that I shall take the opportunity to bring you here. I am familiar with their layout which will make me the perfect guide. And you have been so nice to me that I feel I shall pay you back.’’

‘’I don’t know what to say. How do you know so much about the ruins in the first place?’’

‘’Twilight. Who is this stranger?’’

From the doorway in the hall, appear one after the other and one on top of the other, the heads of each of her friends who were curious to see to whom she was talking. Seeing them, the gray pony waved his hoof at them.

‘’Greetings everypony, I am Melancholia, the big brother of Floral, but please call me Mel. So you are the legendary Mane 6 that are venerated by all the town. I must say you do look like normal ponies.’’

And to that Rainbow Dash responded:

‘’Oh great, finally one who sees us for the simple mares we are. I tell you I was so tired of being elevated to godhood level and to constantly receive kisses on my feet. ... Did I seriously was the one who had said that!’’

*Gassssssp*

Pinkie was running like a racing car and went moving in all the directions around him at a supersonic speed.

‘’Oh my gosh, it’s you the writer of tragedies that Twilight tell us all, it is crazy how much you made me think to my sister Maud, when it’s your birthday, is it true that you have no friend in this town because that just too sad, then here something for showing that someone appreciates you.’’

She had burst a party popper who exploded in confetti. From which Mel calmly took a step behind and not receiving any on his hair.

‘’My my, thank a lot Miss Pinkamina. But I must say I did not expect to receive your support since we are literally opposite.’’

‘’Oh silly you. It is not because I dedicate my life to give smiles to everypony that I consider sorrow and pain my enemy.’’

‘’That… unexpected. (If only they were more like you… … let not think about that. It is pointless.)’’

Twilight, seeing that the conversation was derailing, got it back on track.

‘’Let's not get distracted from the subject at hoof. I repeat my question, how do you know so much about the ruins?’’

‘’Because I often go there on expeditions. I find that this is an inspirational place.’’

‘’You often go in there alone!!!’’

‘’That’s right. And that’s also why I can confirm that this place is perfectly safe.’’

‘’But… but why nopony had told me about that?’’

‘’Because they don’t know. First they have nearly no interest in these ruins. Secondly, to whom I could talk about. And third, they barely make attention to what I do.’’

‘’Oh! … ooooh.’’

‘’I am rather happy to finally share something with someone. I can be hard to have a hobby that practically no one practice.’’

‘’(Super, he plays the guilt and reciprocity card at the same time.) Look, I find this offer very interesting but we all had a hard day and we need some rest.’’

‘’Oh please. I know you are dying to go right now. Besides, something tells that anyway you will be so excited to explore those ruins that you could not sleep.’’

‘’Heh that’s not… … Okay, touché. Well, when it is said with such good arguments. STARLIGHT, CHANGE OF PLAN, WE ARE GOING IN THE RUINS RIGHT NOW. WHO NEEDS TO LOSE TIME WITH SLEEPING?’’

‘’Starlight is here, ready for adventure.’’

Starlight appeared from the doorway with bags on her back.

‘’Wait, you have already prepared.’’

‘’What do you think, we are talking about you Twi. Of course I knew right from the beginning that you could not resist going to these technological marvels wonderland like a little filly throwing herself to her Heart Warming Eve gifts. He got you right to a T.’’

Twilight did an embarrassed giggle and her iris nervously darted from left to right.

Twilight and Starlight were outside under the night sky. Even though the sky was mostly covered. The air at this hour was rather fresh and Starlight was feeling a chill. But Twilight was feeling none of that. Instead, the excitement was making her blood boil and she frantically could not stay put on her feet. She was looking right now just like a little kid.

‘’Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, I think can’t wait a second more.’’

Mel followed them and closed the door before locking it with a key.

Or rather simulated to lock it.

‘’We’re all ready. Follow me now. The ruins are waiting for us. You will love them, I’m sure of it.’’

Our three ponies then went at their pace on a trail leading them to the mountain. Blissfully unaware that two pairs of yellow eyes hiding in the bush were spying on them like the eyes of ferocious beasts. And once the ponies were out of their sights, the two diamond dogs came out of their hideout without making any noise. They then turned their heads to the window of the floor where there was light and where you could hear the noise of ponies having fun. Dirt, knowing now where his targets were, did a nod to himself.

‘’Good, they are all here in one place. This is perfect. Mel should have left the door unlocked so we could enter the boarding house unnoticed. We will attack them using the element of surprise, they will see nothing coming. But prepare yourself if something goes wrong, we can’t afford to fail. Are you ready Dust? … … Dust! Your paws are shaking!’’

That was true. The furry gray hands of Dust were trembling at an alarming rate and his fingers could not stay in one place. And his eyes were at the verge of hysteria.

‘’Yes brother, I am afraid. I, I, I really don’t want to do this. These ponies did nothing wrong. We don’t even know them. I am not sure I will be able to forgive myself.’’

As an answer, Dirt gently grabbed the hands of Dust and it stopped the shaking instantly.

‘’I understand little bro. It is the same for me. I know that what we will be doing is wrong but we have no other choice if we want to survive. So please, I really need you to be there because I could not do it on my own. Dust… we need that money.’’

This was all he needed. He has after all once made a sermon to himself. That he will do anything, but anything for his brother. His eyes were now focused and his face had changed. It was now the face of a hunter.

‘’All right big bro. There won’t be any hesitation anymore. Let’s go.’’

‘’Thank you little bro. Yes, let’s go.’’

The two dogs placed themselves discretely right next to the entry door. They gave each other a silent nod and covered their faces with what was resting on their heads. Gas masks. And it is with deep breathing noise that they slowly put their paws on the doorbell.

‘’The sky is covering. Sinister.’’

Was what Rarity had said, looking through the window to see her two friends disappear in the distance.

‘’And here they go. It seems we will have the night to ourselves alone. It makes me feel a little left-out.’’

Applejack had step-forward to put her hoof on the shoulder of Rarity to console her.

‘’Haaah don’t make that face. Do ya think we will have been in the mood for that tonight? Besides, it is not like it will be the last day we take here, there will be plenty of occasions to help Twilight with her research. At least ah think we could offer help of some sort. Which makes me think. Pinkie, why ya wanted so much to give a welcoming parade to this Melancholia guy? Ah know that it is yer thing but it is usually for the new ones in Ponyville. Not when we going outside town.’’

‘’Oh that. Hummm how should I say this? I think is because I just felt that I should do it.’’

‘’What do ya mean?’’

‘’Remember when I said that he was like my sister. Well, there is one key difference between him and Maud. Even though Maud is expressionless the majority of the time, okay all the time, well, you could still see like a subtle spark shining in her eyes each time she felt something. Without bragging, I consider myself an expert in noticing them. However, for this Mel, I did not see a single sparkle in his eyes. That made me feel sad and I thought that he must be because he feels so lonely. So I tried to cheer him up but it seems to not even have made a dent. A shame.’’

Rarity could not help but to agree with Pinkie.

‘’He does seem to be a particular fellow. But at least he has good taste in accessories.’’

It was then that Rainbow, who was starting to get bored, did a loud yawn.

‘’Yaaawn. On another subject, what are we going to do tomorrow? I would love to avoid having a day as exhausting as this one.’’

Fluttershy landed on the couch next to her.

‘’Don’t worry Rainbow, this time it will be different. Our mistake was that we were separate. But if we all go together, it will be easier. No matter what will fall on us, we will know how to overcome them.’’

‘’I did not think I hear you say that one day Fluttershy.’’

‘’What can I say, with you around I learned more and more to be courageous. Well, at least a little bit.’’

Seeing how far she had grown, Applejack made a warm smile.

‘’She is right. We have faced many dangers and perils together and we have always been victorious. So what a few crazy days for us?’’

‘’Personally, I am not against some loony days.’’

All shouted ‘’Yeah Pinkie, we know.’’ But then Rarity made her face saying she was hit by an idea.

‘’You know, all this talk about our friendship is pretty inspirational. Like, humm… like: we serve as the strength of each other and together we are as indestructible as a shining diamond. Ooooh, this actually gives me an idea for a new dress.’’

‘’So dramatic. But now I am pumped up and I got my energy back. Alright, let them give us everything they got. With friendship power and our awesomeness, we will all knock them down.’’

Applejack did a small embarrassed chuckle.

‘’Geez, how did it lead up to us spurting out such cheesy speeches? Heheh.’’

While Pinkie rolled to the center of the room so that she could attract the attention.

‘’Ah who cares, we should never miss an occasion to remember the most precious thing we have. And I think the last thing to do is crown this moment. WITH A RAIN OF CONFETTI.’’

She took her famous party cannon from who knows where (where was the point to question it) and aimed it high at the ceiling with a huge grin. However, even Fluttershy could see her true goal.

‘’It sound to me like you just want an excuse to celebrate something.’’

‘’So what. Detail. Besides, it is a special blend of confetti that I was saving for an occasion like that. Now everypony, TO OUR INVINCIBLE FRIENDSHIP.’’

And all of them shouted at the unison ‘’To our invincible friendship’’.

And she pulled the string, making the cannon burst a cloud of confetti, but like she had said, they were very special. They were not made of paper but of a kind of aluminum reflecting beautifully the light of the room. They were made of seven colors, each representing the members of the Mane 6. And once they no longer had momentum, the cloud of sparkling scraps of paper stopped his ascension and fell at a slow pace. And the ponies could see that each color was arranged and positioned in a way that accentuated each other making it a true work of art. They immediately understood that Pinkie must have made many efforts and been very meticulous to create this and it was no wonder that she wanted to use it so much. They could not help but admire with shining eyes this living symbol of the bond that united them.

And… ... it was at this moment... that their happiness was shattered.

A kind of object, something like a metal cane, came flying through the confetti cloud, bursting it and ruining the beautiful harmony. And with perfect timing, or maybe bad timing, the light of the room went flickering in tandem each time the cane bounced on the floor with a metallic thud. Once it finally settled down, each pony, even Pinkie, looked at it with incredulous looks.

‘’… … Hum, that was not supposed to happen.’’

From the cane then came a continuous spray of white gas that was starting to spread over all the room. The ponies were transfixed because they simply did not understand what their eyes were showing them. All except for Rainbow Dash. She too at first was too surprised to comprehend what was happening, but she was a Wonderbolt and this thing was looking just like those canes of gas they were using for calming potential riot. Their use was extremely rare but they were effective. Could it be… … At this thought every muscle and neuron of Rainbow Dash tensed up to the max.

‘’SLEEPING GAS! BREATH IT AND YOU WILL BE KNOCKED OUT!’’

She acted by instinct and flew through the window smashing it with her own body. It did take only a second apart for her to do the same with the second from the outside. But she did not stop there and immediately she flew around the window in circles, faster and faster, until she became a blue twister, creating a vacuum sucking the gas before it can reach her friends and expelling it to the air outside. Applejack was the second to become aware that they were in danger. She took the advantage of this opening and ran to the metal cane still streaming the gaseous sleeping agent. Then she gave it a powerful kick that propelled it to the doorway and then to the hall. Very quickly, the white gas invaded the corridor and the doorway was covered in an opaque fog. She then shouted:

‘’EVERYPONY GET BEHIND ME.’’

This order awakens them and they all went to refuge themselves behind Applejack who was ready to defend herself. Rainbow, who had just finished clearing the rest of the gas, flew to AJ and took a position to mimic her. Rarity, behind them, was in shock and disbelief.

‘’But what the hay is going on!?’’

‘’Is it not obvious. Somepony is attacking us.’’

‘’Who is it, ah don’t know but we will not go down without a fight. Wait, Rainbow! Ya hurt!’’

From the forehead of Rainbow was streaming a thin stream of blood made when she had hit the glass. Without averting her gaze, Rainbow nonchalantly wiped it with the tip of her right wing.

‘’Not important. We have those to deal with. HEY YOU KNUCKLEHEADS. STOP HIDING LIKE COWARDS AND SHOW YOURSELVES.’’

Only silence answered her back and nothing was coming from the cloud covering the doorway. But then, two pairs of yellow lights appeared in the nebulous fog and step by step, they were coming closer. Until two figures came out of the gas to be bathed by the light of the room, showing fully the appearance of the assailants. They were by no way ponies. They were bipedal and their hands were showing gray fur. Their faces were covered by creepy gas masks with yellow slits for eyes. For those innocent ponies, it makes them look like creatures coming straight from a nightmare and the hard breathing noise didn’t arrange things. Also, these two were wearing heavy jackets with pockets full of tools not made for peaceful acts. In short, they were showing that they were here for business. They looked familiar to Rarity.

‘’Wait is that…’’

‘’Who the hay are ya and what in tarnation do ya want with us? We did nothing wrong.’’

The little one, Dirt, answered with a voice that was distorted by the mask.

‘’Sorry. Nothing personal. But you must come with us.’’

With synchronicity the two brothers took the lightning rods from their pockets and with a swing, turned them on and made them buzzing with electrical arcs. The ponies did not know what those things were but they could know one thing, they must not be touched by those rods.

Dirt went sprinting to them, his weapon ready to strike. But Rarity stepped front and used her horn to levitate one of the beds and threw it at him. Every unicorn could use levitation, even at a young age. It's one of the most basic spells. But it had a major default. For most of them, the levitation spell is only proportional to their natural strength. That is why they often use it on very light objects. For particularly heavy stuff you will need to be proficient in magic to bypass this weakness. But Rarity could have lifted the bed because in this moment of danger she had felt adrenaline rushing through her body. But Dirt easily grabbed the bed with one grip of his hand. Diamond Dogs have very strong arms. That is why they are such good diggers. And that is why he could easily overpower the levitation and throw at his turn the bed to the Mane 6, who all had to split to avoid it in extremis.

The bed crashed in splinters on the wall and Dirt resumed his course. Rainbow Dash was feeling it was enough and became aggressive. She flew at the speed of lightning and punched Dirt's arm, making him throw the rod which went slipping on the floor to go hide under a bed. She did not stop there, she flew all around him and hit him, punch after punch, everywhere and she was too fast for Dirt to do anything.

• Take that. And that and that and that, ouch, and that and that and even more. No one hurt my friends.

She interrupted her attacks and flew a little away. Dirt had received too many hits and fell on his knee.

‘’Ah, did you see that? I am too fast for you. Now I give you one chance to stop and to leave us alone and maybe there will be no more hurting for you.’’

‘’Heh! And tell us why ya are attacking us.’’

‘’Oh right, right. But before telling us what the big idea is to go after us and then, you could go away. And you better do it now without any nasty trick or I swear I will get very angry and WOAH!!!’’

Rainbow Dash suddenly fell on the floor with a painful thud. Once she got up on her hooves, she tried to flip her wings but only managed to flip the left one. The right has gone limp.

‘’Hey what gives!’’

Fluttershy, seeing her childhood friend that she was considering the strongest pony in the world, being hurt and vulnerable, was making her so but sooo worried.

‘’Rainbow, what wrong!’’

‘’It’s... it’s my wing. It does not move like I want. And I think… I think I no longer feel it!’’

She did not understand what was happening to her and a feeling of panic was starting to submerge her. A pegasus could not fly with just one wing. Now that her main attribute was gone, what was left of her, was what she was thinking. It was at this moment that Dirt did a malicious smile, even though it was hiding under the mask, and he began to chuckle. Everyponies turned their heads to him, and noticing the attention, he lifted his paw and showed to them a mini syringe with a needle hidden in his jacket sleeve under his wrist.

‘’This syringe contains a powerful muscle relaxant. We knew that you, Rainbow Dash, will be the biggest threat. And because of how fast you flap your wings, the blood, with the product in it, had quickly circulated in them. Now you are nothing more than a vulnerable pony. And what are you doing brother just standing there? After them!’’

The big one went like a rampaging rhino to knock them with his shoulder. Rainbow was feeling defenseless, something that was extremely rare for her, so much that she could not move. But Rarity stepped in and pushed her off the way with her horn glowing.

‘’Time for a change of strategy.’’

This time instead on a whole bed, it was just a sheet that was levitated by the blue aura. And just as she and Rainbow get off the track of the dog, she throws the sheet at Dust, covering him and his vision. It could have been electrocuted by his own rod if he had not instinctively shut-it down. And like a wailing ghost, he continued to run blindly to the wall, not to pass across it but to hit it with violence. And once he fell, he simply could not free himself from the sheet no matter how much he had to struggle.

‘’Get that thing of me!’’

Seeing that, Pinkie made the face of somepony who had an idea.

‘’And what a great idea it is. Fluttershy, go and take Rarity with you though the broken window and once outside go search for help. We three will soon follow you.’’

But Fluttershy, who was so shocked to be a witness of such out of nowhere violence, was a little out of it.

‘’Huh!... What!’’

Dust, tired of struggling, had instead opted to use his fangs to tear the sheet apart. Pinkie knew she had to be fast.

‘’There is no time to explain, you have to do it now.’’

Pinkie went to walk on two legs and grabbed Rarity with one arm like she was a roll up carpet.

‘’Heh what! No wait Pinkie, I am not exactly in agreement. No no no no no noooo WAAAHHHHHH!!!’’

Pinkie was not listening to her and threw her away to the outside. Which had awokwen Fluttershy.

‘’Rarity!!!’’

And she went flying through the broken window and caught Rarity in-extremis. Pinkie did a sweep of her forehead.

‘’Fiouf, nothing bad happened. Okay, it’s my turnnnn.’’

Dirt had recovered enough to stand on his legs. Pinkie Pie went to bed and jumped on it as if it was a trampoline. She did not stop there and she went from bed to bed, while doing some impressive aerial acrobatics and also while crying ‘’weeeeeeh’’. Dirt tried to catch her without success and when Pinkie had enough fun, she did a backflip and landed on the chest of the masked diamond dog, putting to the ground and cutting his breath and as a mockery she had said:

‘’Ten points.’’

She then goes running to the doorway still covered in gas, even though the cane had nearly emptied its content.

‘’Time for you all to see my mastery of my own biofeedback. Aww that sounded better in my head.’’

She made her fluffy tail turn around so fast that it became a fan and with it, she turned around and made it blow on the smoke, which was already at its last reserve, dispersing it and creating a safe passage to the alleyway.

‘’AJ, Dashie, run for your lives.’’

That's what they did. Dust freed himself at last but only to see his target going away for good. Panic submerged him and vivid images of a past time were coming by force in his head. A time he rather forgot.

‘’No, no, I must not fail!’’

He was running with the energy of despair and didn’t even notice that he had brutally pushed aside his dear brother. It was not to the door he was running but to the wall and with a burst of all his strength, smash through the old wood. The ponies could do nothing but stop in their tracks. How you will react if a gargantuan figure with a creepy mask went through a wall and blocked your passage. Dust was panting from his effort and spread his arms, using his own body as a barricade to forbid them to take the L-shaped stairs, the only way out.

‘’You *pant* are going *pant* anywhere.’’

Okay now I am fed up with this. I will show you who the vulnerable pony is.

Rainbow had accumulated too much stress and she could no longer contain it. She charged toward him like a fury, jumped while making a war cry and pushing him through the stair with her. The hit was so strong that they went flying across all the steps and pulverized the handrail before Dust back had met painfully the hard surface of the floor. But even if he was feeling so much pain that it was numbing his senses and that his strengths were nearly depleted, he was still struggling the most he could against the blue pegasus who was doing her best to use her hooves to make him stay on the floor.

‘’Oh no, you stay there you big brute. AJ, Pinkie, go, NOW.’’

Applejack and Pinkie Pie throttled the stairs with Dirt following them with difficulty. AJ didn’t even take the time to open the door and instead opted to give her a kick with her back legs, which broke the door off its hinges and fell on the soft ground of the outside.

‘’Okay now let’s go.’’

‘’You two run away and go searching for help. I stay here keeping him busy.’’

She was saying, her teeth clenching and with the most aggressive look she could muster.

‘’But Rainbow, we can’t abandon ya.’’

‘’I, said, GO AWAY RIGHT NOW, I WILL KEEP HIM BUSY. Don’t worry, have you forgotten that I am the most awesome pony in the world. No one can beat me.’’

‘’Rainbow, we… we will come back quickly. You better respect yer promise.’’

Then went to the cold air of the exterior. Dirt had at last taken the last step off the stair.

‘’Dirt, go after them.’’

‘’What! No you don’t little doggie.’’

This moment of distraction was a grave mistake for Rainbow because Dust had taken the advantage and grabbed her by the neck.

‘’You mine now.’’

And he threw her all the way to the kitchen. A noise of broken dishes was a good hint of what had happened to her.

‘’ Go big bro, I will take care of Rainbow Dash. I will come back to you after.

‘’Alright. Please be careful.’’

Dirt went outside but I could not see any of the ponies. But diamond dogs have an excellent sense of smell. So he had taken off his mask which had become useless anyway. After having taken several sniffs of the air, he could smell two tracks. But since he could only take one, he had decided to take the one on his left, hoping that his brother would take the other.

And so the hunter went tracking his prey. And like to emphasize how grim this story has become, the sky was covered by a curtain of dark clouds.

‘’The sky is really becoming dark.’’

Was what was saying Twilight as she and Starlight were following Mel across a path between a forest and the foot of the mountain. The sky looked like it was coated with dark clouds in its entirety. No single centimeter was clear. No little peek at the beautiful tapestry of Luna. And no stargazing for Twilight. What a shame. Also, the curtain of clouds was in constant movement like a slow and flowing river, which was adding to the ominous appearance of the sky. But Mel was looking at it with a smile.

‘’Yes, the weather pegasi had said that it will be like that all night. Apparently, they had been stuck with a surplus of dark clouds and have decided to get rid of them in one shot. But don’t worry, there will be no rain or thunder. They are too thin for that anyway.’’

‘’Thanks but what I was really saying was that it was making the night… eerie.’’

‘’Really! I find rather that it is a pretty view and the perfect ambiance for… …’’

‘’For what?’’

‘’… for inspiration.’’

‘’Ah, of course. (Damn, I have so much difficulty reading him.)’’

Starlight went to talk to Mel.

‘’You know Mel, there is a question that was on my mind for some time.’’

‘’Yes Miss Glimmer.’’

‘’How is that you have explored those ruins in the first place?’’

‘’Their discovery was too recent so they did not have the time to put restrictions to stop ponies to enter them.’’

‘’No I mean, why you go to them?’’

‘’When this big pillar of light appeared, it gave quite the scare to the whole town. Everypony went out of their house and looked at it with fascination. But for me I was principally curious to know what the cause of this phenomenon was. After the investigation team had told us that ancient ruins were hiding in our mountains, I knew I had to go see them. So I did it. Many times. Because I find the idea of a whole world that had today completely disappeared so fascinating.’’

‘’But wait, if everypony can go when they please, what about the other inhabitants of Happy Town? They are not curious? Those ruins are at only two steps of their home and they had produced a big column of energy. They are not even a little bit worry?’’

‘’Not at all. They have only seen that as a beautiful show and then they have decided to let the authorities deal with that. They also hope that one day these ruins could be used as a future attraction for tourists.’’

‘’You're kidding right. They cannot be carefree at this point!’’

‘’Oh you have no idea. We will follow this path.’’

He had pointed his gray hoof to a section of the mountain that looked like he was easy to climb.

‘’This is a natural path that leads to the entrance of the cavern. It is very safe to take, I have used it many times. Alright, follow the guide.’’

He started to climb the rocky path and Twilight and Starlight did the same.

‘’It will be soon, Starlight. Soon we will see a place of many wonders. I feel like I was a little filly once again. This could be the best day of my life.’’

Dust had entered the kitchen while making mechanical breathing noises and slowly pushing the door open. Contrary to the other rooms, the roof lamps were not lit. The only sources of luminosity were the night sky from the window, which was not much, and the rectangle of light made by the open door. It was dark but you could still see where you were going. And he could see Rainbow Dash leaning against the cabinets and a lot of broken plate shards on her, her head and all around her, that were clearly coming from the dishes cabinet above her with one door smashed and its content nearly empty.

‘’Guuuuh. *cough**cough* Hey… you think it is a way to treat a lady? You really did a number on me. Damn I am sure you just give me a lot of bruises. Well, good thing I am already blue.’’

‘’Still conscious. I had really hoped that it was not the case. Then I will no longer have to use violence. But I guess luck it’s not on my side. Now I would like it if you please OH DAMN THAT THING IS BOTHERSOME. It is useless anyway.’’

The gas mask was seriously tampering his vision and it was uncomfortable. With irritation he grabbed it, took it out of his face and tossed it.

‘’A diamond dog! I should have known. Nothing good comes from you.’’

As an answer, Dust grabbed his lightning rod and turned it on.

‘’I know I am the bad guy in this story and you have the right not to forgive me. No. You should not. I'm just asking you, to let me hit you with this, and it will be over in an instant.’’

‘’Are you kidding, what kind of deal it is!’’

‘’Then you leave me no choice. You are pretty hurt, you can’t fly and I am better equipped. You know you have no chance to win.’’

And Rainbow was thinking the same thing. She was not that dense, she knew that the odds were against her. And that was making her afraid. So afraid. The light shining from behind Dust was ironically making him a shadowy figure, slowly approaching her with his dangerous weapon and his glittering and evil yellow eyes. Something terrible will soon happen to her but she could not even imagine what, or rather could not dare to imagine. She tried to tell herself, in her thoughts, that she was not scared the hell of her mind. But the noise of her clattering teeth was proving her it was a lie. ... … However…

‘’Aha. Bwahahahahaha. Don’t you know who I am? I am Rainbow Dash. And I never back down from a challenge. Especially the hard ones. For me, the greatest pleasure in life is to surpass myself. To push back my limits. I did it countless times. Sometimes I lose… but sometimes I am victorious. So I have no chance to win? HA. This only pump me even more.’’

She went back on her feet and by forcing her teeth to stop clattering, she gave the cockiest smile she could muster. Then she put herself on her back legs and went moving and hitting the air like a boxer.

‘’So come here, so that I can kick your butt.’’

‘’As you WISHHHHH.’’

He rushed to her, ready to electrocute her. But even though she could no longer fly, she still had the best reflexes in the world. He had swung his rod like a knife, leaving a trail of blue light in his path. He first went to a vertical strike but she had avoided it by going to the left. But within a fraction of second, he did a lateral swing that Rainbow avoided in extremis by doing a back jump. So Dust instead opted to do a stabbing to the head which he once again missed when she tilted her head to the side. But it was so close that she could feel the electricity tickling her cheek.

‘’(Wo, too close! Too close for comfort. I need to get rid of this rod otherwise I am toast.)’’

Rainbow Dash was caught in this moment of dread and made a misstep that made her fall. Dust saw this as his chance and got ready to trust his rod. In her panic, Rainbow saw a half-open drawer and took the first thing she could get her mouth on. And used it to protect herself against the rod. Luckily, it was a kitchen clamp and she was using it like a sword to parry the rod. Normally, the metal would have conducted the electricity to her poor flesh but luckily again, the handle was in plastic so Rainbow was safe. She got back up using the clamp to parry every hit his adversary was giving her. From an outsider point of view, it may have looked like a sword fight. With strange swords. Every time they were hitting each other, bleu sparks were flying in the air. The courageous blue heroine got an idea and grabbed the rod with the clamp and with a powerful thrust, knocked it out of Dust paw.

The rod went flying high in the air with the two looking at it avidly, throwing their hands to catch it. But it fell on the side of Rainbow who did a powerful jump and kicked it, sending it to the top of a hanging cupboard. It was now out of reach for anyone.

‘’Haha, now what are you going to do without your toy GYAAARG!!!’’

Dust had given her a punch that made her fall and then grabbed her and sent her flying right to the sink with such strength that her body smashed it. Literally. The sink had been ripped off the wooden structure, which had become a pile of splitter, and even the plumbing was broken, making water spilling freely on the ground. It was a miracle that our bleu pegasus didn’t have any broken bones. Though she was still in pretty bad shape. She was spread motionless on the floor on a bed of broken wood and a puddle that was slowly becoming bigger and the detached sink was resting on her face. An embarrassing sight. But then she finally expressed a grunt.

‘’Heh, out of my ways sink.’’

Rainbow got back on her feet again and this time she had an irritating face on her like if this ordeal was just a simple annoyance. Dust ran to her to grab her but because of the dark he didn’t see the wet floor and slipped off his feet. She had used this as a chance to run on the table in the middle of the room to get some distance. She then jumped to a counter, was looking intensely at Dust, kicked with her back leg the wall. The choc had the effect of opening a plate cupboard which was making all the plates fall. Without even looking away, she raised her right front hoof and all the plates landed on it on a perfect pile.

‘’Let play frisbee Fido.’’

‘’Oh no, not that jokeHAARG!!’’

Rainbow was hurling one plate at a time with her mouth, at a rate faster than a throwing baseball machine set at high difficulty. Dust tried to protect himself with his big arms as a cover but it was still hurting. When Rainbow had no more ammunition, Dust entered into a blinding rage and made a huge scream.

That... was exactly what Rainbow Dash wanted.

As he was lunging to put down this blue pest, she had jumped before he could catch her, landed on the extremity of the table and quickly dived under it. Dust wanted to follow her and follow the same road as her. But of course, he was way too big to go under the table. It would have been simpler to just lift it but anger had made him no longer capable of rationalizing. Rainbow sprinted to the other side of the table and once there, she waited to see his assailant lift his head. He did and was not happy. But Rainbow Dash was.

‘’(There's your ugly muzzle. Sorry, but I will make it even more ugly.)’’

She pounded her hooves at the end of the table. This created a pendulum effect, propelling the other end right to the chin of Dust. The choc was brutal, his vision went blurry and his ears were buzzing. Seeing that as her chance, Rainbow went running on the table and used the last of her strength and did a great jump, clung herself on his shoulder and did a head-butt on his skull.

This blow... was too much for his brain. He staggered on his feet and then fell on his back, unconscious. It was finally over. Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief. It was then that all the fatigue and the damage finally caught on her and she allowed herself to fall on the side. On the wet floor. Wanting a comfy position, she leaned her back on the drawers and looked at the mighty adversary that she had beaten.

‘’Haha… ... I really have done it. I won. I WOOOON. I bet that you had not seen that coming. (To be honest, me too.) BWAHAHAHA. It's me Rainbow Dash, the one that no one can vanquish. ‘’

But fate can be very cruel.

It was at this moment that the rod, which was in a precarious balance, was at last conquered by gravity and fell. It first bounced on the counter then he did many flip in the air... like it was mocking her. Seeing that, Rainbow could do nothing but shrink her pupils in terror as this electrical weapon hit the puddle.

And then, all the kitchen was brightened by a bleu and flickering light, casting on the wall the shadow of a pegasus convulsing and wriggling in every way.

Dust opened his eyes when he felt cold water hitting his feet. He got up while grumbling and rubbing his head that was hurting him. Then it all came back to him. What he was doing and what had happened to him. He looked around to find where the multicolored menace was and…

Rainbow Dash was there, spread on the water, inert, the mouth wide open and her eyes were now a pure white. She was unconscious. Dust could do nothing but cover his mouth with his paw because of how much he was shocked to see what had happened to this poor pony. And above all else... shocked that he was the one responsible. He also saw his lightning rod loitering farther and understood immediately what had happened. He took it and tried to activate it without success.

‘’Drat, it must have been short-fused. It's useless now. *sigh* Come one Dust, go back to your feet. One down, only four left. Rainbow Dash will be knocked out for quite some time, I can leave her here and go search the others.’’

He was ready to go but he had stopped on his track then looked at Rainbow. After a painful moment of silence, he decided to take her unconscious body and put her delicately on the table.

‘’Here. At least you will be dry and comfortable. It’s the least I can do. … … What I have done! I could never be able to atone for this. ... ... In what I have embarked myself?’’

He exited the kitchen the fastest he could, because it was way too hard for him to stay here a minute longer.

‘’Hurry Fluttershy, we must quickly find help. But why the hell must they all sleep like logs!’’

Rarity and Fluttershy had managed to flee to the populated area, but everypony were fast asleep at this hour and the streets were devoid of life. So Rarity opted to bang on the doors and plead for help in a rather hysterical way. But our two mares had the rotten of luck because nopony answered them or were even showing the little sign that these houses were habited.

‘’Oh dammit, it is the six one! What is their problem, they all have taken sleeping pills before going to bed and now they all knock out? Well that's it! To hell with politeness, we are going to break a window, trespass, slap a pony in his bed and finally come back with help to save our friends. … Fluttershy?!’’

She then finally became aware that Fluttershy had stayed silent during all this time. She took a look at her and saw that the pegasus was shaking uncontrollably and was hyperventilating. The clear signs of a panic attack.

‘’Fluttershy! Are you alright?’’

‘’I... I am sorry Rarity, I know, I know it’s not the time to get scare, and I I I know I must come back to my senses and act because our friends are in danger but… but…’’

In addition to the shaking, water was starting to flow from her eyes and her voice was changing to a panic one.

‘’Why is this happening to us? Who are those two guys? Why are they attacking us? What do they want? It was so out of nowhere, none of this make sense! We were just having a good time. We were just sharing happy moments of friendship full of joy and without warning it changed in a split-second into danger and fear. It’s not supposed to happen just like that. It's like I am in a nightmare and I can’t wake up. I just can't. Why Rarity? Why is this happening to us?’’

‘’I… I don’t know. I have really no idea. (Though I may have one on who were those guys.)’’

‘’And now anything could have happened to our friends. I know that panicking is useless and I really try so why… why I just can’t.’’

‘’Stop Fluttershy and listen.’’

Rarity had gently put her hoof on the check of Fluttershy to calm her down and she looked at her like a mother who wants to reassure her child.

‘’There is no shame to be afraid. I too am scared but it is perfectly normal. And you should not worry about our friends. You know them, they would not let themselves go down so easily and they have seen others. And we will come back with help and stop those ruffians.’’

‘’You really think so.’’

‘’I am sure of it, everything will be alright.’’

‘’THERE YOU ARE!’’

Dirt appeared at the other end of the street, wielding his rod whose sparks were giving a menacing blue glow to the diamond dog and his maw full of pointy fangs. Rarity stepped before Fluttershy and stretched her hoof to the side, silently telling her not to move.

‘’Stay behind me. And don’t worry, I know how to deal with these brutes.’’

She then went forward to face him. She felt no fear. For the reason that she was too busy protecting her friend.

‘’I recognize you. You are Dirt the handyman. What do you want with us?’’

He was coming closer at a slow pace while keeping his eyes fixated on the ponies.

‘’Just another job. Someone has asked to capture you. Who and why, that I won’t tell you. I could ask you to simply surrender without complications but I am not that stupid. If I was at your place, I will defend myself to the death.’’

‘’Well, you’re RIIIGHT.’’

Rarity lighted her horn and threw a rock at his face. It worked and he received it right at his eye.

‘’GAAAAH!!!’’

‘’Quick Fluttershy, let’s run!’’

‘’I thought you knew how to deal with them?’’

‘’Something tells me the usual tricks of seduction and whining will not work with him.’’

They had managed to outrun him and they ran to a dark and thin alley. She then saw a barrel and she got an idea. First she took off the lid, then she levitated the entire body of Fluttershy, which made her do a squeak of surprise, and put her in the empty barrel. Rarity puts back the lid and half closes it to be able to speak one last time to her friend.

‘’Stay here darling, you will be safe. I will come back later when there will be no more danger.’’

‘’Rarity no! I can’t leave you alone with him!’’

‘’Don’t worry, everything will be fine. You know that if there is one thing I am not, it is a damsel in distress. I will give him the lesson of his life until his face becomes the ugliest thing in the world. Then tomorrow we will forget that all this awful thing happened and we will all come back to have fun. That is what will happen. I promise.’’

‘’Rarity!’’

But the little crevice of light disappears, along with it the reassuring blue eyes of Rarity. And she was left in complete darkness, alone with her fears and anxiety.

As for Rarity, she had heard footsteps approaching and indeed, here he appeared. The dog, now more wolf than dog, was showing his teeth like a rabid beast. But the young mare showed that she had the courage of a warrior by facing him. Because there was somepony she had to protect no matter the cost.

‘’You know, I was feeling very guilty to have misjudged you only because I had a bad experience with your species. It was not fair and it made me feel like trash. But now, here you are, showing me that I was right to be wary of you. That an even worse feeling.’’

‘’It is no use to give me morals. I know that what I am doing is bad and criminal. But I still chose to do it. And it’s not with tears that you will change my mind. I… I am just too much in need of the money.’’

‘’In that case, I will show you no mercy.’’

She had put herself upright and with her arms, proceeded to do very exaggerated martial art moves.

‘’Yuuuuuuuuh. Whuaaaaaaah.’’

‘’… You know the kung-fu!’’

‘’A girl must know how to defend herself.’’

It was like seeing a samurai movie. The two put themselves in attacking positions but didn’t move an inch. Dirt ready to jump at her and Rarity ready to counter-attack. They were like statues except for their hairs that were floating on the wind.

That it’s until Rarity turned around, galloping at fast speed, and disappeared at the crossroad of the alley while Dirt stayed there like an idiot.

‘’… … Heh! Hey wo wait waitwaitwait come back!’’

Realizing far too late what just happened, he went running to find the target that had cleverly escaped from his grasp. But at the moment he too exited the alley, a white hoof emerged and struck him at the side of his head, making him fall on his back.

This retreat was just a feint.

Rarity quickly took his weapon in her mouth, walked brutally on his belly and put it and the dangerous sparkles at just an inch of his face.

Even in his precarious state, I could not help but to compare the blue eyes of the unicorn to two blue sapphires, since Diamond Dogs were fascinated by gems after all. But two sapphires shining with hatred and rage. A beautiful and terrific as hell vision.

‘’Play time over, you will leave me and my friend in peace. Do I make myself clear?’’

Dirt was scared out of his wits, so by reflex, he punched her in the face. The blow was so powerful that she was thrown across many meters and she had dropped the rod. When she got up, she had a big and nasty bruise on her cheek and an air of serious indignation.

‘’*gasp* You dare hit a lady!’’

‘’Yeah, and I will do it again.’’

The tables had turned. She knew her only chance now was to escape. She searched frantically for a way out and saw a double door of a big building. Without even thinking she burst it open with her magic and ran inside. And she found out that she had entered a huge warehouse full of crates stacked in piles. But especially, she found out that there was no way out.

‘’Ooooh I did not think this through. That what you get for running on panic.’’

‘’That right little missy, now you are trapped. So please, be gentle and let yourselves be electrocuted nicely.’’

‘’A coward. That's all you are. You nothing more than a stupid coward.’’

Fluttershy was finally in a moment of quietude where she could be alone with her thoughts. But this had the side effect of letting all her fears sink in. She was shaking and her blood felt cold since she couldn’t stop thinking about how a dog could soon open the lid at any moment and show his mutt to her, trapped and defenseless. However… there was also another feeling, far stronger, that was gnawing at her heart. Guilt.

‘’Your friends were afraid too, I could see that in their faces. But they did not falter. No, they were brave and faced the danger head on. They all did. All, except you. You were so frozen by fear that you could not move and you could do nothing for them. The only thing you are useful for is to be protected by others. A chain ball, that what you are.’’

Her self-loathing was growing so big that she could hear the word coward being repeated again and again in the dark, making her remember her shame. Some past fillyhoad traumas, that were already vanquished, were dangerously close to being awakened again. Her face was contorted by emotional pain, but slowly, she started to grind her teeth and forced herself to shut up the voices in her head.

‘’NO! This is no time for self-pity. My friends are in danger and they need my help. Does all the past times you put yourself on the line to protect them mean nothing? Do all the steps that you have taken for being more courageous and assertive were useless? I won’t deny the progress I made. Who cares if I am scared to death? Because for my friends… FOR MY FRIENDS I COULD GIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT HESITATING.’’

She then burst from the barrel while doing a big cry that she was using to kill all the fear in her. And then she fell on the ground. But she put herself back up and did another war cry while running to rescue her friend, with tears in her eyes.

Rarity could no longer go backward, her back was hitting the cold wood of the crates. Dirt was slowly raising his rod with not a hint of mercy in his gaze. The unicorn had no longer any hope for her fate and she was wondering if it would be painful or not. It was enough to make her gulp. But in the corner of her vision, she glimpsed at a rectangular wooden pole and it made her remember a scene of one of her favorite novels. Acting on an impulse, she levitated it and used it to at the last second block the strike of the rod. Now with her new weapon, she used her magic to turn it around like a fan, making her enemy stand back and gaining more ground. Dirt wanted to retaliate but Rarity juxtaposed each time the pole to parry each strike in a rain of blue sparkle.

‘’Nice tool. I always knew that reading Shadow Spade would one day save my life.’’

‘’You can’t do that eternally. At one point you will get tired and you will lose your concentration and then GAAAAH!!!’’

Dirt had just received a whole crate on his head that had been demolished in contact. His ears were buzzing and he was rubbing the big lump under his cap.

‘’Ouch… what was that!?’’

Wondering both where it was coming from, they saw Fluttershy standing on the crates with an angry look.

‘’Fluttershy! What you are doing here, I told you to hide?’’

‘’I'm sorry Rarity. I know you wanted to protect me but there is no way I could just leave you alone. Friends protect each other.’’

‘’Well, here goes my dramatic sacrifice. Oh well, I kind of had the feeling it was to end this way. So darling, what do you say we put him down together.’’

‘’I promise I won't back down in fear. Now as for you.’’

The fire in her turquoise eyes was first that Dirt could not believe that she was the same pony from earlier. She placed herself into position to kick the crates beside her.

‘’Take that, and that and that you big bully.’’

The shy pegasus was throwing crate after crate by kicking at them. Fluttershy was known for being rather frail but adrenaline and danger can make everyone do wonder. As for the poor dog, the continuous assault was so fierce that he was literally on his knees. That was when something clicked in Rarity head. An idea.

‘’Fluttershy, the ceiling lamp.’’

Understanding quickly what she meant, Fluttershy went flying to the only lamp of the entire warehouse and kicked it. It went swinging widely and with it the sole ray of light. Using the advantage of this moving spotlight Rarity was vanishing in the brief moments of darkness after reappearing under the light at a different place. And each time, she was striking Dirt with her pole with the talent of a swordmare since levitation allow to bypass the limitations of joints. Also, she couldn’t resist giving each strike by doing a gracious and dazzling pose before disappearing in the dark and doing all that again. Dirt could not follow her nor parry, he could only be her punching bag until the last hit had made him drop his weapon. He had received too much damage and nearly all his strengths were depleted. Seeing that they had won, Rarity pointed her pole to his throat.

‘’It is over Dirt, give up now.’’

‘’*pant**pant* No *pant* I can’t give up. I am not allowed. This is not the first bad time I have had. I will overcome it like all the other times.’’

‘’Please, stop this madness!’’

Was saying Fluttershy flying down to the ground.

‘’You don’t want to do this. I can see it in your eyes.’’

‘’Shut up! You couldn’t understand. It does not matter that I want it or not, I have no choice but to do it.’’

‘’That's false and you know it. Nobody should be forced to do things against their morality. If you have a problem there must be a solution without involving crime.’’

‘’Where is the point! I have already gone too far to be forgiven. Too far to stop.’’

‘’Pufft, oh please, it is not like you are the first lost soul that has chosen the wrong path that we see. We have a reputation for being a pretty forgiving group. We could also do the same to you.’’

‘’She is right. We may even give a helping hoof to you, if you give us the chance. I know it may sound hard to believe, but not matter what you have done, it is never too late to make the right choice.’’

‘’(No, no please stop, don't look at me with these kind eyes! You only make things more difficult. But if I don't... Dust! My promise!) No no no I can't stop, I can't fail, I am in a corner and I can't escape.’’

The ponies were taken aback. They have never seen so much distress in someone.

‘’I am the big brother, I must take care of my little bro! And for him, FOR HIM I WILL CROSS EVERY LINE! AaaaAAAAAH’’

In a fit of desperation, he summoned the last of his strength and grabbed by force the levitated pole and threw it at Fluttershy who was nearly hit if she did not have the reflex to get down. But it hit the pile of crates behind her, shaking them precariously. One of them at the summit tilled down until gravity exerted his force and made it fall. And unfortunately, on his track, was the poor Fluttershy who could only look up and had only the time to say:

‘’Oh dear!’’

And it smashed her. Breaking into a pile of wood, in a noise spreading across all the warehouse, leaving only behind complete silence. The only thing that was visible of Fluttershy, now buried under the wreckage, was her yellow hoof that was moving slightly, for then falling flat. And no longer moving.

‘’FLUTTERSHY!!!’’

Rarity went rushing to her side, her iris shrinking and her brain refusing to acknowledge what she was seeing. Feeling her hoof, she was still sensing a pulse but no sign that she was conscious. She was at first at shock, but it quickly disappeared to leave place for anger so great that she was biting her lips so much that they nearly bleed.

‘’How… dare you.’’

She turned around to show to Dirt a face filled with murderous rage and her horn summoning magic like she never did, taking the form of an intense and all-consuming flame.

‘’HOW DARE YOUUUUUU.’’

Dirt was so afraid it could not stop looking at this vengeful fury. He desperately wandered his hand on the ground to find something, anything, that could help him protect himself and when he touched the rod, he did the first thing that came to mind and threw it like a dagger. Luckily, or unfortunately, it landed right between her eyes, hitting all the body of the fashionista with a shock of many volts.

When she had stopped convulsing and she had no more lightning coursing through her flesh, Rarity stood on her feet, motionless, her eyes now nothing more than a white expanse.

‘’… … You… ruf… fiannnn…’’

And with the last of her consciousness gone, she fell ungraciously for then no longer moving. Leaving Dirt alone… to fully grasp what he has done… and looking with terror at his now shaking paws.

‘’After this natural bridge, the doors to the ruins are not far.’’

The three ponies were inside the mountain, exploring the tunnel that was rather spacious. And each time they talked, their voices reverberated in echo in this cathedral of rock. As Mel and Starlight were crossing the crevasse, Twilight gaze was wandering at all this mineral beauty until she sighted a strange pile of falling boulders. She wanted to come closer but//

‘’Miss Twilight, if I were you I would stay away from these. This area can be unstable. I do not want you to be crushed.’’

And she went backward with a slightly shocked face.

‘’Oh right, right, better stay away. But I can't help but be amazed by these caverns. They are beautiful and by them alone they can be worth this trip.’’

‘’Ah sorry Twi but I do not think these are caverns. Well, I mean, those walls do not look natural but instead ponymade. You see, the formation of this tunnel is not rugged but instead looks nearly symmetrical and it goes forward in a straight line. Also the cuts look clearly to be made by tools.’’

‘’Now that you mention it, you're right. How do you know so much about tunnels?’’

‘’Ha you see, when you spend some time with Maud, you learn a thing or two about rocks and caverns.’’

‘’You are correct Miss Starlight. This tunnel, except for this crevasse, use to be a mine very long ago.’’

‘’Oh! So that is why I spotted a few diggings tools. They seem so decayed they could fall in dust with a single touch.’

‘’Allow me to explain. Since I started to explore the ruins, I was interested to know how this tunnel came to be so I did some research. It was even before Happy Town was founded. Some diggers had found that a generous gold vein was resting in Mount Heaven. So naturally, they opened a mine to collect this resource for making bits. But it turns out that this generous vein was not so generous after all. And yes. The gold was principally concentrated in one spot but scarce elsewhere. But still, the diggers had still hoped to find more so they dig deeper and deeper in the mountain, until they gave up and abandoned the mine.’’

‘’And they never find the ruins!’’

‘’You will soon understand. Look, here the doors to the ancient ruins.’’

They were all standing before the massive double doors made of an unknown white material. They were staying there in silence before this wonder, like if something was compelling them to pay respect to this eon-old wonder. Twilight then noticed many stone fragments on the front of the doors and what seems to be the outlines of a natural stone wall.

‘’Ah, I see you starting to understand Miss Twilight. The reason why the diggers never find it. When they had abandoned the mine they had no idea they were just a few steps from these doors. It’s really such a shame, if they had still continued to dig just, but just a few centimeters… then instead of gold they would have found the biggest archeological site in all history.’’

‘’But then how this stone wall crumble?’’

‘’I don’t know. But it is so thin, anything could have done the job. Maybe some tremor did it. Come to think of it, I think I felt it some months ago. But enough distraction, it is time to taste the main dish and... ohoh. And I think one of us can’t just wait.’’

Obviously, he was talking about Twilight whom the enthusiast was so intense that she was hyperventilated. Mel chuckled.

‘’Alright, I understand, enough with ceremonies. Follow my lead. And don’t worry, there is not a single trap. Trust me I have come here many times after all.’’

Mel went first to the door and opened it easily. It made a loud and ominous sound just before he went inside without a trace of hesitation.

‘’Starlight, starlight, this is it! This, is, it! In a few seconds we will see so, but I’m sure, soooo many scientific and magical wonders that will blow our minds. Can you imagine?’’

‘’I don’t know Twi. You don’t think there is something wrong? Maybe//

‘’AAAAAH THIS IS TOO MUCH. I CAN’T WAIT A SECOND LONGER, I MUST GO!’’

Twilight deployed her wing and went flying inside the ruins with a nearly crazy glint shining in her iris.

‘’Twi wait! … Twi… I have a bad feeling about this. (This Mel guy... he knows way too much.)’’

Two young mares were running under the curtain of moving dark clouds covering the sky. A perfect metaphor of their dire situation. They were nearly forgetting what they were running away from. Just that they had to get away the most possible from this danger. They, at first, were galloping in any precise direction because of their half-panic state but a little sense came to them and so went straight to the town. But for Pinkie Pie, there was a sense of worry that was buried under the panic, just wanting to emerge. These kinds of thoughts have the gift to invade us when we are less expecting it. Which had happened to be right now, and when it did, she could not think of anything else. So much that she had to share her worry.

‘’Applejack.’’

‘’Not now Pinkie. We must… we must get help. Find ponies... for help.’’

‘’Applejack, stop right now.’’

For forcing her to stop galloping, she had caught her blond tail with her teeth, making Applejack fall head first on the dirt.

‘’Ouch! … Pinkie Pie what’s the big idea?! Ya want me to break all mah legs?’’

‘’Applejack, we have to come back. We can’t abandon Dashie.’’

All anger instantly left her face. She had just remembered what she had done and what she had ashamedly tried to forget.

‘’She is all alone with this brute and she can no longer fly. I know she had told us to trust her but… but I can’t help to be afraid.’’

‘’That exactly the reason we are going to search for help.’’

‘’But it might be too late!’’

It may have looked like Pinkie Pie may have been in control of herself but the truth was that she was nearly snapping. You could see in her eyes that they were full of fear. Fear for her friend. And Applejack knew that if something could scare the pony who finds fun in everything, then it was damn serious.

‘’If she ever loses to him then… then who knows what horrible things he might do to our Dashie. I don’t even dare to imagine.’’

‘’Hey hey, calm down sugarcube, ah know it looks grim but it is Rainbow we are talking about. This girl is a fighter. She is the strongest, bravest and she never gives up. If she says she could deal alone with him, then we have to trust her. Well… even if she is not the type to think things thoroughly. Even if her ego had often cloud her judgement, that she stupidly never back down from a challenge, that she has many times bite more than she could chew, that she mess up a lot and that if her friends are in danger she will only think of their safety while disregarding her own AAAAAAAAAH!!! But what the hay ah was doing, there is no way ah can leave that idiot alone, come Pinkie Pie, we are going back to rescue her.’’

Although her fear did not completely dissipate, she was now overjoyed.

‘’Alrighty AJ, I follow your back.’’

And so they went back their way to return to the old inn. The inverse travel had taken less time than the first. It seems they had run faster than when they had run away. But before they could have entered, they stopped on their track because the front door just opened. They had hoped that it will be Rainbow Dash that will exited and that she will brag no stop about her glorious victory. But alas, their hope was shattered when they saw the massive figure of Dust.

‘’… … You two came back. You really are loyal friends.’’

‘’What have ya done with Rainbow Dash?’’

‘’Rainbow? I have defeated that feisty pony.’’

‘’What! Ya lie!’’

‘’No. And you will be next.’’

He had taken a few careful steps toward them. Pinkie Pie wanted to do the same but Applejack stepped in front of her and stood a hoof, blocking her way.

‘’Go hide in the forest, he will never find ya there. Ah will deal with him.’’

‘’What are you gonna do?’’

‘’Ah will make him pay.’’

Her voice had a tone that did not allow any to doubt her promise.

‘’But//

‘’JUST GO.’’

She was startled from this outburst, but she knew it would be useless to discuss further, so she complied and went galloping to the forest. Dust did not go after her nor did he move. He knew that the cowgirl pony would not let him go without a fight. No matter what, he had to deal with her first. And he knew it wouldn't be an easy fight. She was strong and he had nearly run out of tools, he had to use brute force.

So without saying a word, he ran toward AJ to lunge at her and then gave hit after hit of his fists from left to right. But Applejack managed to avoid them all each time by a combo of backsteps and side steps. During the years in working on the farm she had to deal with many animals. Some of them can be a tad aggressive, and that especially true in rodeo. You need to have good reflexes. With all the experience, she had become so good that she could predict what they would do by instinctively observing their muscle movements. Dust tried to be more aggressive and give her a diving punch but she saw that as a chance, jump to the side in an acrobatic way and give him on his lowered face a kick of her back legs. He was propelled and fell head first on the grassy ground.

He got up, while coughing dirt, but then, he could not help but stay frozen before the sight of this mare. The continuous blowing wind was making her blond hair and tail floating on her side and her hat was shadowing her face which was accenting the determination shining like iron in her emerald eyes.

‘’Ya know… ah don’t like violence. And I hate hitting on people. It’s just not in mah nature. If there is a chance, ah immediately prefer to solve problems with a peaceful solution. But… if someone dares to hurt mah friends, no, to hurt ‘’my’’ family, then ah won’t hesitate to use force on whoever will hurt them. Ah leave ya one last chance. Leave us in peace and get the hell out of here. Or ah beat you to a pulp.’’

‘’… Unfortunately... I am not allowed to give up.’’

‘’So be it.’’

She went fast running without fear at the massive canine. He tried to grab her with her two big arms but she slipped past between his legs and once behind him, kicked him in the back. Once he fell on his knees, Applejack went jumping on him and grabbed him by the neck. He tried to shake her off by moving frantically in all the ways but she stayed firmly on his back like a rodeo champion.

‘’Yeehaw. It’s no use, ah tamed more savage beasties that you.’’

‘’ENOUGH.’’

Losing patience, he grabbed her foot with her paw, threw her in the air just like a ragdoll and gave her a punch to her guts that sent her flying a few meters. Earth ponies were known for their strength and that was especially true for those whose talents were physical labor and those who constantly worked their muscles, like our apple farmer. However, their capacity to take damage was the same as everypony. Which means not that great. And as she was lying down, her back against the ground, trying to find back her breath, the dog jumped on her, his maw full of pointy teeth. But he never had the chance to even touch her. AJ used her legs to give him a brutal kick in ‘’his’’ gut. The kick was so powerful that a cloud of dust went flying into a wave around AJ. Oh and our ''Dust'' also went flying, for his first time. And once landed on terra firma, they were not sure, but it seems for both of them to have heard something like bone breaking.

Because of this fight, they had become so tired and were staying immobile for a time so that they could recuperate. Then in synchro, they sat back, looked at each other in a silent stare that was saying a thousand words. And once again, lunged at each other to beat the crap of their respective enemy. Applejack went upright on her two back legs and assaulted him with a barrage of punches and Dust did the same. Hooves against fists, fist against hooves. Again and again, faster and faster.

It was then that Dust had decided to change tactics and so he opened his fists and grabbed Applejack hooves, putting the two adversaries in a deadlock.

‘’I got you now tigress.’’

‘’The tigress will show you what she can do.’’

They each tried to overpower the other by pushing with all their strength. And although they seem to be on an equal footing, Applejack was slowly gaining the advantage.

‘’You... are... strong... but... not... enough.’’

She grinned her teeth and pushed her muscles to their limits. And with a final jump, she managed to push him down with her on top of him. And once he was at her mercy, she raised her hoof to soon punch him in the face.

‘’Now, take a good nap for me would ya.’’

It was mentioned before that Dust was nearly out of tools. Nearly. And seeing that his chance had come, he did an evil smile and as fast as lightning, grabbed in his vest his can of sleeping gas and opened right at AJ. And she received, right at her face, a stream of white gaseous soporific.

‘’What *cough**cough* what in tarnation!’’

She knocked the can far away and moved away from him but it was too late, the deed was done. Sleep had already invaded her brain. Even though she tried her best to fight it.

‘’No! No, this is… no time to sleep. Ah must… ah must protect mah friends.’’

She tried to move but it was like her body had become lead. Everything felt so heavy and it took her a huge effort just to take a step.

‘’Come on legs… move. Why… won’t ya obey me?’’

Her eyes were closing without she could do anything. She was using every inch of her will to stay conscious… but she knew she could not win. But she just could not accept it.

‘’No… ah can still… ah can still… mah friends, they count on me… ah must protect them. Mah friends… my… friennnd…’’

Dust then gently put his hand on her forehead.

‘’It’s alright. You did the best you could. You can fall without shame.’’

And her consciousness was finally conquered by slumber and she fell down. She had only the time to say to herself a final thought.

‘’(Forgive me. Ah fail you.)’’

Pinkie Pie had watched the entire fight. She didn't listen to Applejack plead. She had already felt that she had cowardly abandoned Rainbow Dash and doing it a second time was just beyond her. But she could also not disobey her friend so she had opted to quietly watch them hitting each other while she was hiding behind a tree. And she was tempted many times to go help her but she seems to be winning. But her eyes opened wide with horror and she felt all her breath disappear when she saw that her dear friend was defeated. And when Dust turn slightly his face to her direction and show her his ferocious yellow iris, she couldn't help but do little cry of fright. Contrary to what she had believed, she wasn't hiding that well. He knew she was there from the start. So she did the first thing that came to mind: run away. ... ... Again.

And so she galloped and galloped between the trees, with tears in her eyes blurring her vision. Until she could not even see where she was going. And it nearly could have ended in disaster. If her pinkie senses did not activate, she would have run straight into a ravine. And if she did not have brakes at the last second and pushed her legs frantically backwards once at the edge, she... no need to repeat, let's just be happy that it did not happen. And seeing what could have happened, she tried to catch her breath and then to calm down, she had shaken her head like no tomorrow.

‘’Brouhwhouhwhouhwhouh. Ah. Much better. This is no time to panic or get sentimental. This big meanie has ruined our fun time so it came to me to punish him Pinkie style and to save everyone. Haha, this should be nothing compared to planning my massive giga parties. Yeah. Youuuu can do it. Yeah, should be easy, haha.’’

But the truth was that she was only half convinced and was trying her best to lie to herself. But she then spotted a stone-pit. The cogs in her head were starting to turn at full speed until a light bulb flashed on.

‘’That's it! I know what to do. I may be the best party planner in Equestria but I am also coming from a proud line of rock farmers. Ho ho, this boulder will be perfect. Now let see if I did not get rusty.’’

She put the boulder on her lap and after having taken a deep breath, went to hit the rock at a supersonic speed with her hooves that were moving like jackhammers. And she was constantly changing the angle of the boulder when she felt the need to polish another face. She was working with the deep concentration and precision of an artist. It even got to the point where droplets of sweat were forming on her forehead. After not more than a minute of work, she finished her craft when she had reached in her eyes a satisfying result. She then proudly brandished her finished product: a boulder that had become nearly spherical in shape.

‘’And doooone. It’s perfect. My parents will be proud of me. This thing will make the perfect cannonball. Now I just need my eternal companion.’’

Pinkie Pie went behind a tree and came back pushing one of her precious party cannon. How she had hidden that huge thing in ways that seem to defy the law of physics… don’t ask me, it’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it.

‘’It is a good thing that I had hidden a spare in the forest right in the middle of nowhere. You know, just in case of an unexpected excursion in the woods. Which when you think about it is what is happening to me right now. Now I just have to install it inside and I will be ready to... ... wait. Will I just use my party cannon, my tool to bring fun... has a weapon?!’’

Pinkie just realized what she was doing. She looked into the distance as if she could find some answers for her questions.

‘’Would I look at it the same way as before after that? No, more like, will I be able to forgive myself after that? This... goes against everything I worked for. Everything I believe. ... ... No. It is not the time to think about that. Not when my friends must be rescued. I will worry about that later and even if I do will feel guilt, then it will be a small price to pay for seeing again the smiles of my friends.’’

Having made her decision, she put the improvised cannonball in the cannon.

Dust was walking inside the forest. With his hand over his ribs and a leg that was limping... but he still had the determination in his gaze. He was also constantly sniffing the air with his muzzle, tracking her scent.

‘’What a rotten day it was. Nothing went according to plan. The boss did warn us that it could have happened. At least finding that Pinkie Pie will be easy. She thought the forest would be a good hiding place but this pony stinks of cotton candy. Wait *sniff**sniff* her smell grow stronger, I am getting closer.’’

Dust then went faster and faster as he felt that he was not far until he found something that he did not expect at all. Before him, attached to a tree, was a wooden panel with big ink letters painted on it. The ink was fresh and recent. They were saying: Pinkie Pie went this way. There was also an arrow under the words, pointing to the right.

‘’... ... Seriously! No but does she really think I will fall for a trap as crude as that!!? Beside the smell clearly comes from the left.’’

Ignoring the signpost, and feeling a little insulted, he went running to find the source of the smell that was growing so strong. He arrived at the place where the track stopped: the ravine. But no pony in sight. He was very confused and did not understand. Could it be that she fell in the ravine? He tried to get closer to the edge but then saw something curious. On a bush, stuck to a branch was a tuft of pink hair floating softly in the wind. Dust then understood everything far too late.

‘’I got myself play like an idiot.’’

‘’Oh don't look down on yourself. You were just not lucky that you had to go against Pinkie Pie the genius.’’

‘’What the *gasssssssssp*.’’

He had turned around at the sound of this playful voice and at his horror, saw Pinkie Pie. Within her hooves her party cannon pointing right at Dust… and a very crazy smile.

‘’Ingenious trap is it not. I am a master at making pranks. Alright little fellow, here is how we will play. Instead of my usual confetti, I had put in my cannon something more, humm, punchy, if you see what I mean. And all I have to do is just to pull this rope and you will be here for a world of hurt. Maybe worse, I don’t care. You have nowhere left to run so there is only one thing left to do. Leave us alone, go far away and never come back or I use my cannon on you. I’m not joking by the way.’’

All traces of fun were now gone from her face and she was of the utmost seriousness. Which was very rare for Pinkie. On the other hand, Dust was so scared that his feet were shaking. He was ready to receive at any moment a projectile that will insanely end his life and he could see in the eyes of the pink pony that she will not hesitate to… to… … wait! At this moment, all his fear was gone and he became as serious as her.

‘’You are bluffing. You don’t have what it takes.’’

He even started to walk toward her.

‘’Hey stay where you are, I had said I will do it.’’

‘’No you can’t. You don’t have the face of someone ready to do anything, but anything, to get out of hell. And I do recognize that face. Have you ever faced hunger so terrible that you have felt your stomach shrinking so much that it had become painful for days and days?’’

‘’I had said stay back!’’

‘’Have you ever been at the mercy of the cold? A cold so intense that you could feel it seeps in into your very heart?’’

‘’I will do it! I will really do it!’’

But he continued to go forward, so much that Pinkie was starting to take steps backward with her cannon.

‘’And also, have you ever been left on your own in this cruel world with no one to teach you how to survive, so you have no choice but to do it yourself by learning the hard way? Again and again. Oh that I'm sure you didn't.’’

‘’Stay back. St, stay... back.’’

All confidence and bravado had now completely left Pinkie Pie and she was now like a scared little filly. And Dust has at last reached her. She couldn’t have put any of her threats into action. He had laid his hands on the metal of the cannon and had cut the trigger rope with his fangs.

‘’You see, you don't have the will. You had much too happy of a life to be able to do it. And I envy you so much for that.’’

‘’Hey get... get your paws off me!’’

Dust had grabbed Pinkie who was struggling like a chimpanzee in fury. She had accidentally kicked the base of the cannon, turning it around in the opposite direction. In their wrestling, they had lost their balance and fell flat on their stomachs on the cylindrical weapon. Which had the consequence to cause a click sound. Which in turn, made the two of them to stay as frozen as statues. They were looking silently at each other with fear of what they had just done… and what they dread will happen.

Yes, they had accidentally fired the cannon, which burst the boulder in a noise loud as thunder. It also did not help that in the haste, Pinkie Pie has completely forgotten to put the brake of the wheels. The force of propulsion was so great that it had sent the cannon, and the two riding it, right at the ravine where it pummeled into the abyss along with two pairs of screams.

Luckily, Pinkie landed unharmed on a stone ridge. At first, she had difficulty believing that she was, well, fine. What were the odds after all? But once the realization started to sink in, the big grin formed on her face and all negative thoughts were quickly washed out by a torrent of jubilation.

‘’WHOOOOHOOO! I am saved! What luck I have. Guess miracles can happen. What I’m saying, of course I always knew it. No matter how grim or sadpressing things are there is always a way to bring sunshine back if you believe in it. Now there is no more danger, I can find back my friend and do a bye-bye trauma party WAIIIIIIIT! I am an idiot, what about the puppy!’’

Fearing the worst, Pinkie Pie went to look down, and there he was. Dust was precariously grabbing from one hand a root sprouting from the rock wall. It was now his turn to have all his bravado gone away. And how scared he was. The root couldn’t obviously support his huge weight eternally, it was tearing apart more and more after each passing moment. And each time, Dust was crying a whelp of fear. Seeing that was making Pinkie morally torn-up.

‘’(Oh no, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do? Should I help him? Should I let him fall? That meanie did attack me and my friends. He deserves it. … … What are you thinking Pinkie, this is not you. Of course there is only one thing to do.)’’

She went to the edge of the ridge, turned back and let her fluffy cotton candy tail hang in the void.

‘’Hey you. Quickly grab my tail and use it to climb up.’’

‘’What! Why would you do that!? After all I did.’’

‘’Good or bad, it has no importance. If someone is in danger, I must save it. Now hurry up, my pinkie senses says there is not much time.’’

He simply could not understand why she was showing her so much altruism. He was the first to say that he was deserving of his fate. But like she had said, now the root was only holding on by a few filaments. He tried his best to extend his hand but his fingers were only grasping air and missed several times the tail by a few. It was only when the root had snapped that he finally grabbed it. Pinkie Pie was giving all the strength she could muster to support this heavy weight, so much that she was grinding her teeth and her pink face was turning blue, and it was with difficulty that she was taking a few steps forward while Dust was climbing the ridge. And when the diamond dog was at last safe, they both collapsed on their back, breathing and recovering from this oh so strenuous effort.

‘’Fiouuuuf, that was intense. Even for me and I usually love intense. Well, now that it is over, what do you say that we forget all this bad episode and we become friends because in stories when bad guys are saved by the good guy that when they see the error of their way and stuff and that what just happen so by logic we should//

‘’You really should have abandoned me.’’

He grabbed by the neck to pin her on the ground. The shocked pink pony could do nothing except watch powerlessly Dust raising his arm in a fist… and his remorseful face with so much tears, streaming like torrents, from his yellow eyes.

‘’I’m so sorry.’’

She could not help but to think that he was looking like a helpless child before he smashed his fist on her with a big thud and everything went black.

The weather was still terrible. Dirt has managed to come back to the old inn while transporting two unconscious ponies on his shoulders. Everypony was fast asleep so no one noticed him walking through the town. He then saw on the grass the orange pony with the cowboy hat. He came closer to have a better look. Though she was not moving, he could notice a faint breathing.

‘’I see that for him, things didn't also go easy. But where is this brother of mine?’’

Right on cue, Dust came out of the forest with Pinkie Pie in his arm.

‘’Dust! You are all right!?’’

‘’Well, I wouldn't say all right. They give me quite a beating. I am sure it will hurt for days. I see you got them.’’

‘’Yeah but... ... *sigh* let's just say I would have liked it to go more smoothly. Hey what happens with the blue pegasus Rainbow Dash?’’

‘’Do not worry. She in the kitchen, completely knockout.’’

‘’Then that means we have the five of them. That... good. Let us put them in the chariot and let go quickly to the secret entrance of the ruins.’’

‘’Wait! Before we are supposed to put the monitor that is in the house of the boss, right at the plaza.’’

‘’Crap, I completely forgot. Do we really have to do that? We are already so late on schedule.’’

‘’The boss had clearly said this was one of the most important parts and that we should not skip it. Come on, I know it is frustrating but we can't afford to displease the boss. Not when we are so close of the goal.’’

‘’Alright then let's do this quickly. I take these two, you take the other three. Now let’s hurry up cause I want to get rid of this dirty job the fastest possible.’’

Not many know but the blue house of Melancholia had a backward warehouse where one of these cubicle monitors was hidden. And it was from there that the two brothers transported it to the plaza. Even if it had a big size, its composition was making it relatively light. Enough for two diamond dogs to lift it without problems. And it’s right at the center of the plaza, which was also the center of all the town, that they left it so that it can be seen by everypony.

They looked nervously around but it seemed that no one noticed them. They sure know how to sleep like lugs. Once their job was done, they quickly ran to the chariot where our five ponies were… ‘’resting’’. After, Dirt and Dust went to the hitch and pulled the chariot themselves to go straight to the mountain.

‘’This is the last thing we have to do. If one of those ponies awake before we arrive, I just have to… zap them again. But after that we will be able to put that day behind us.’’

‘’If we are ever able to do that. Big bro! What wrong, you look so sad?’’

‘’Oh. It’s nothing, I just... I just thought… that things could have been different if I had met those ponies way before.’’

‘’I… I feel the same way.’’

Author's Note

Now you understand why I had to complete the first four chapters before publishing my story. It is because you will have not understand the true tone of this fanfic.

One of my favorite authors once said that when you writting a scene of pain and tragedy, it is important to write before a scene of mundane and happy life. Because the clash between these two contrasts will create a emotional roller-coaster for the readers. But this chapter was only a little aftertase.

Stay tune for the next chapter: happy denouement.

UPDATE: Thank to the help of SkyeyPony, I can finally show you what the ponies I had created look like.
Here a image of Flo and Mel, the pony of happiness and the pony of pain.