The Filly with the Purest Heart

The cold air of the evening was blowing relentlessly as most of the inhabitants of Ponyville were long since asleep. It was now well past midnight as only a handful of restless ponies stared up towards the moon which decorated the entire ground with a color of silver. Morning approached within the next few hours, and the fog started to gather around the streets of the main square of the town. Sweetie Belle was always one of the first fillies to wake up in the morning. She always made it a point to go to bed as early as possible in order to wake up at an acceptable time. This ensured that she was never late for school.

Sweetie Belle quickly raced to her mirror to comb her mane, and then made her way downstairs to where she knew her sister usually was this early in the morning. She had finished her trot down the stairs, and continued venturing forward until she came pass the kitchen, and found herself in Rarity’s work room. She was her sister, ever focused on the task at hand, and called out her name, in order to let her know she was leaving for school.

“Bye Rarity, I will see you after school today.” said Sweetie Belle as she began to stop by the kitchen to gather a snack for school.

“You and your friends will not be going on another treasure hunt today?” asked Rarity as she made time from her work to turn her attention towards her precious sister, whom was about to depart for the morning.

“No, not today, Fluttershy said she had some business with Pinkie, but tomorrow she did say we could meet up again.” said Sweetie Belle cheerfully as she made her way to the kitchen.

“That is nice dear, make sure to pack enough lunch to last you the whole school day darling, and do have fun!” said Rarity with a gentle tone as she turned back to her sewing machine.

“Thanks sis, I will.” said the voice of Sweetie Belle from the kitchen, which was one room away from Rarity’s work room.

With that, Rarity heard the front door of her boutique open, and then quickly shut, cueing her that Sweetie had left for school.

“Speaking of Fluttershy, I will need to see her at some point today, maybe I can stop at Sugarcube Corner around three in the afternoon, Sweetie did say that she was going to help Pinkie today after all.” thought Rarity to herself as she took a small sip of coffee before getting back to sewing her latest dress.

Elsewhere, Twilight Sparkle had also awoken earlier than most ponies in her town, she was even known for putting the early birds to shame.

“Oh goodness, should not have slept on my left forehoof again.” mumbled Twilight to herself as she made her way to the living room of the library. Having basically been built into a large hollow tree, Twilight always found novelty in the unique history of the very tree itself. It truly did make her appreciate her current home all the much more.

“Oh, hey Twilight, I thought for once that I would get up earlier than you, but it seems that I failed that once again.” said Spike with a joking tone.

“Don’t feel bad Spike, almost no pony is able to wake up before me, as long as I am not kept up all night researching something special that is.” said Twilight with a light chuckle as she moved pass the many book shelves that surrounded the living room of the library.

“I can guess the real reason that you are up so early.” said Spike with a slightly more serious tone as he turned his attention towards the book that Twilight started to levitate towards her.

“Yeah, I could feel that strange presence again last night, it was hard to ignore.” said Twilight solemnly as she began to skim over the contents of the book that she had decided to select from the shelf.

“I assume it has to do with that premonition that you mentioned yesterday, am I right?” asked Spike with a worried tone.

“It cannot be coincidence that more of these unnatural feelings have been bothering me as of late.” said Twilight to her assistant as she began to trot towards the couch that was positioned in the left side of the living room.

“What bothers me more is that I can not pinpoint the location of these disturbances, I merely feel them, but I cannot figure out the area in which they occur.” said Twilight as she took a seat on the couch and continued to read the contents of the book.

“If anypony can figure that out, it is you after all.” said Spike as he began to sweep around the living room, while still paying some attention to Twilight.

“I will have to look around town today, maybe, just maybe, I can find out something that can aid me in this whole matter.” thought Twilight to herself as she studied the book closely.

Sweetie Belle was getting closer to the school house by now, and was looking around to see if she could spot either of her friends around her. She noticed that activity in Ponyville was rather lax for a bright, sunny morning, but she paid this no mind, only focusing on meeting up with her friends before heading to her classroom.

“Sweetie, there you are!” yelled Scootaloo as she rolled up beside Sweetie Belle on her trademark scooter. She had a pair of orange goggles around her eyes, but the lenses of the goggles were clear, and Sweetie could make out the stressful look on the filly pegasus’ face.

“Hey Scootaloo, I am glad to see you, is everything okay?” asked Sweetie Belle with some concern.

“Oh, yeah, I am fine, don’t worry about me, have you seen Applebloom yet?” asked Scootaloo as she rubbed the lenses of her goggles with her left forehoof.

“No I have not seen her yet, who knows, maybe she is already at the playground waiting on us.” said Sweetie Belle as the two fillies made their way towards the playground.

“At least we are not late today.” said Scootaloo as she parked her scooter beside the fence surrounding the playground and trotted into the play area where many of her classmates have already gathered.

Sweetie Belle followed right behind her and began to look around, before something caught her attention. She turned towards Scootaloo and tapped her on the side, trying to gain her attention.

“Watch out for them, they will undoubtedly start to tease us soon, let’s try to find Applebloom quickly.” said Sweetie as she pointed in the direction of the area that she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon standing at.

“Good call, hey, I see Applebloom, she is sitting at the water fountain by herself!” said Scootaloo with excitement as she and Sweetie Belle trotted over towards the farm filly.

“Applebloom!” proclaimed Scootaloo with joy as she made her way over to Applebloom’s side. The earth pony was leaned against the water fountain with her saddle bag sitting next to her.

“You got here earlier than us, usually we meet up on our way here.” said Scootaloo as Sweetie Belle approached right beside her.

“Yeah, I was beginning to worry about you too.” said Sweetie as they both sat on either side of their friend.

“Hey girls, I just felt like getting here early, I figured you two would show up shortly.” said Applebloom as she picked at the ground in front of her with her forehooves.

“Let’s get to class before that Diamond and her lackey start to bother us.” said Scootaloo as she stood up and motioned for her two friends to follow her.

“Scoots, don’t be like that, just don’t let them get to ya’, remember what me and Sweetie said yesterday, and try to relax okay?” asked Applebloom as she stood up and calmly walked towards the school house with her two friends.

“Yeah, easier said than done.” said Scootaloo with a scowl as she tried to ignore the general direction of Diamond and Silver Spoon.

Diamond Tiara had noticed the moment when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo arrived right away, but she chose to ignore them for the time being as she and Silver Spoon waited for the rest of their classmates to enter the school building before they followed suit.

“This is rare for you, usually you like to get a word with those crusaders before the day begins.” said Silver Spoon as she trotted along beside her friend.

“We can discuss things with them during recess, with you here, I don’t feel as pressured.” said Diamond Tiara with a slightly disappointed tone as the two fillies began to enter the building.

“Let’s just ignore them for now, no doubt they will do the same for us, but once recess begins, me and you will confront them together and figure out what the hay yesterday was about.” said Diamond Tiara to her friend as the two approached the classroom.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” said Silver Spoon as she adjusted her glasses and followed right behind her friend.

All of the students had now taken their seats as the bell that signaled the start of class began to ring.

Cheerilee entered the room shortly after, having emerged from her office door that was located to the left of her desk. She glanced at all of the children that were present today. She gave off a warm smile as she began to address them.

“Good morning my beloved students, I am glad to see that all of your are here today.” said the teacher with a jubilant tone.

“Good mornin’ teach!” said Applebloom with enough positivity, that it made Diamond Tiara flinch at the sound of the farm pony’s voice.

“Just ignore her Diamond.” thought Diamond Tiara to herself as she tried to pay Applebloom no heed.

“Aww, good morning to you too Applebloom, and how was everypony’s day yesterday?” asked Cheerilee as she took a seat at her desk in the front of the classroom and began to pull out a sheet of paper from one of the cabinet drawers with her mouth.

Most of the students greeted the teacher back as she began the role call for the day.

“Don’t worry Tiara, recess will be here before you know it.” said Silver Spoon to her friend, which she sat right beside, quietly.

“I know Spoon, I know.” said Diamond softly as she tried to focus on the events happening before her at the moment.

Elsewhere, Pinkie Pie had just finished serving breakfast to all of the customers that had occupied her store earlier. All of the satisfied ponies had since left as ten o’clock in the morning began to roll around. She then began to sweep up around the store, humming happily to herself as she did. She then made her way back behind the counter and began to think about what treats she would need to make for the day.

“Hmm, today’s special is Raspberry Muffins and Cinnamon Apple Turnovers huh?” asked the pink pony to herself as she looked up at the menu on the back wall behind the kitchen, which was located further behind the employee counter.

“Mrs. Cake sure does know what awesome treats to have featured for each day, everypony is going to love this.” thought Pinkie to herself as she finished sweeping around the area behind the counter. She then took a seat at the stool that sat directly behind the cash register. The bell that a pony could ring to get her attention also sat directly to the side of the register, as Pinkie began to play around with it.

“Hmm, Fluttershy should be here soon, I better get ready for her arrival, she is supposed to help me with the baking today, she did Pinkie Promise after all.” thought Pinkie to herself as she ceased playing with the bell and moved towards the kitchen in the back.

“She should be here by ten forty-five, at least I hope so.” said Pinkie quietly as she began to wash the dishes from the meals that she had served earlier during the breakfast hour.

All of a sudden, she heard the door to the front of the bakery open, the bell that ringed when the door opened particularly got her attention. She finished washing the dishes at the kitchen sink and began to playfully bounce back towards the front counter to see who had just entered. Once she had arrived at the counter, she saw that Fluttershy had indeed arrived.

Before she could begin to greet her friend, she noticed that Fluttershy had dark circles around her eyes, and her mane still appeared to be as if she had not even combed it yet. The bloodshot eyes of the yellow Pegasus did not do much to make Pinkie feel happy as she began to worry about the reason for her friend’s troubled appearance. Instead, she could only watch as Fluttershy meekly made her way towards the counter. Fluttershy then took a seat at one of the stools sitting directly in front of Pinkie, as she stared down at her own forehooves, twiddling them around.

‘Oh, Fluttershy, how are you doing today?” asked Pinkie with a quiet, yet endearing tone.

“Umm, I am doing.. Okay.. I guess.” said the Pegasus as she continued to twiddle with her forehooves, not even looking up to Pinkie.

“Are you sure you are doing okay, you look like you have not gotten much sleep last night?” asked Pinkie with a worried expression on her face.

“Yeah, I am fine, I swear.” said Fluttershy as she looked up at Pinkie, and stared her right in the eyes.

Pinkie could feel her throat tighten up as she saw the bloodshot eyes of her friend meet her own lively eyes. Fluttershy’s mouth began to quiver as she looked as if she could begin to cry any moment. Pinkie began to really grow concerned after this, as she placed her right forehoof over the counter to pat Fluttershy gently on the head.

“Look, you can be honest with my Flutters, if something is bothering you, which certainly seems to be the case, you can tell me.” said Pinkie with a gentle tone as she gently stroked the timid mare’s mane.

“Nah, I am just anxious to start helping you bake, that is all, I promise.” said Fluttershy as she gently moved herself off of the stool and began to trot behind the employee counter. She moved over to Pinkie’s direction, all the while staring at the floor.

“Do you Pinkie Promise that everything is okay?” asked the party pony as she put her forehoof under Fluttershy’s chin and gently lifted her face up, so that their eyes could meet.

“No, I cannot Pinkie Promise that everything is okay, I just.. Cannot do that.” said Fluttershy as a single tear began to fall down her cheek. The tear hit the floor and gently splashed apart.

“Oh dear, what is wrong, that you cannot even do a Pinkie Promise over?” asked Pinkie as she moved her hoof away from Fluttershy’s chin.

“It is just in my head, you know how I get some times Pinkie, the only thing that can make me free my mind at the moment, is umm... Baking with you.” said Fluttershy as she tried to sound as genuine as possible.

“I don’t buy that Fluttershy, I have never seen you like this, whatever happened to you, whenever it happened, has clearly gotten you upset!” exclaimed Pinkie with a concerned tone.

After Pinkie had uttered those words, a horrible image managed to resurface from Fluttershy’s subconscious. The horrible sight of the being that had stared her and Angel down through the window the previous night. That horrible, accursed foal, the foal... That.. Had.. No skin.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, I can’t, I JUST CAN’T!” yelled Fluttershy as she began to fall to the floor and ball up into a fetal position.

“Fluttershy, I don’t... Understand.” said Pinkie as her own lips began to quiver up at the sight of her own friend in such misery.

“No... There is no way for you to understand, there is no way for anypony to understand.” said Fluttershy as she began to cry loudly into her hooves as she balled up onto the floor as tightly as she could physically muster.

“Please let me try to help you Fluttershy, forget about the baking, just tell me what is bothering you!” yelled Pinkie as she sat on her haunches directly beside her bewildered friend.

“Don’t you listen, there is nothing you can do, please, just leave me alone, LEAVE ME ALONE!” yelled Fluttershy as she quickly stood up and looked down at Pinkie with a fearful, frenzied look in her eyes.

“Fluttershy?” asked Pinkie with a soft, scared tone as she began to stand up too, and looked her Pegasus friend right in the eyes.

"Hey Flutters, 'sup Pinkie?" asked a voice from behind the two ponies, as both of them turned their attention to the front door of the bakery.

Standing in the wide open doorway, was Rainbow Dash, who had a look of shock on her face. She had just entered the shop right as Fluttershy had yelled at Pinkie Pie. Her magenta eyes were wide open, and she could only begin to slowly trot towards the employee counter.

"Wha… What is going on?" asked Rainbow Dash with a tone of confusion in her voice.